This policy is part of the larger聽General Order 54.
A. Individuals are not required to provide personal information to access information on the VMI website considered public. Some dynamic web pages and forms require entry of personal information and authentication in order to interact with those pages.
B. Certain applications on the VMI website, such as the Institute鈥檚 email system, library server, and Citrix may place a “cookie” on your computer. Information gathered with these cookies is only information needed to interact with the application. In addition, it is possible that third party vendors working with VMI could use cookies to push ads based on a user鈥檚 prior visits to our website. Users may opt out of Google鈥檚 use of cookies by visiting the Google advertising page at . Alternatively, a user can opt out of a third party鈥檚 cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiatives opt out page, .
C. VMI does not share, sell, or trade information such as email address lists.
D. For statistical tracking purposes, there are several pieces of information that VMI collects each time the websites are accessed including the computer’s IP address, the URL that referred a user to VMI鈥檚 site, the pages accessed on VMI sites, and the type and version of both the user鈥檚 operating system and web browser. VMI also tracks any terms and phrases entered into our search engine service. This information is not collected for purposes of personal identification, but rather it is used to generate reports of site usage. These reports help to identify what parts of the site are most popular, what search engines visitors are using to find VMI websites, and what information visitors are having trouble finding. These reports help VMI determine overall website usage, identify problem areas, and ultimately provide better services for visitors and all users of the website.
E. Occasionally there will be a service provided by VMI鈥檚 website that will require users to provide personal information such as VMI鈥檚 online admissions application, which could not be completed without providing some personal information. When VMI requests personal information, VMI protects it during transmission and provides an explanation of why users are asked to provide this information. Users choosing not to provide personal information through VMI鈥檚 website may be unable to utilize some of the features. When possible, VMI will attempt to provide users with an alternative method for the same service that does not require the online provision of personal information.
F. The VMI website issues and reads cookies to track any customization options users may have selected. Users can configure a web browser to allow or disallow cookies by changing the browser’s options or preferences, but disabling cookies may prevent some areas of the VMI websites from working properly.
G. VMI鈥檚 website contains links to other VMI pages. The privacy practices of affiliate or personal faculty pages may vary with the purposes of the page. Consult the privacy statement on each page. VMI鈥檚 website contains links to other sites. VMI is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.
H. VMI has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under VMI鈥檚 control. VMI complies with all statutory requirements with respect to access to and security of information. Users should also consult VMI鈥檚 policy on聽Acceptable Use of VMI Information Systems.
I. IT privacy concerns should be referred to the Information Technology Department. The Information Technology Security Officer can be reached at (540) 464-7725 or聽ISO@vmi.edu.