Union Commonwealth University Privacy Policy
Introduction
Union Commonwealth University (“Union,” “we,” “our,” or “the University”) is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who access our website at unionky.edu (“Site”) or otherwise interact with us (“Users”).
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information.
By using our Site, you consent to the practices described in this policy.
Grounds for data collection
Processing of your personal information—meaning any information that may reasonably allow your identification (“Personal Information”)—is conducted only when supported by lawful grounds. These grounds include:
- Performance of contractual obligations: Processing is necessary to provide you with requested university services such as admissions processing, event registration, academic functions, or donor transactions.
- Legitimate interests: We may process information to support and improve our operations, enhance user experience on our website, safeguard university systems, and promote the university’s mission, provided such processing does not override your rights and interests.
- Compliance with legal and regulatory obligations: We may process Personal Information to meet requirements of federal, state, or local laws, accreditation bodies, or financial and reporting regulations.
By using our website (“the Site”), you consent to the collection, storage, use, disclosure, and other processing of your Personal Information as outlined in this Privacy Policy.
We encourage all users to read this policy carefully and use it to make informed decisions about interacting with the university’s online resources.
Information We Collect
We collect two types of data and information from Users.
1. Non-Personal Information
Information that does not identify you directly, including:
- Browser type and operating system
- Device information
- Pages visited and activity on the Site
- Date/time of access
This information is used to improve the functionality and performance of our Site.
2. Personal Information
Information that may identify you, including:
- Name, email, phone number, mailing address
- Information submitted through forms (admissions, events, donations, etc.)
- Academic interests or application-related details
- Communication or inquiry content
How We Collect Information
We receive your Personal Information from various sources:
- When you voluntarily provide us your personal details in order to register on our Site;
- When you use or access our Site in connection with your use of our services;
- From third party providers, services and public registers (for example, traffic analytics vendors).
How We Use Your Information
We may use the information for the following:
- Communicate with you
- Provide services (admissions, events, student support)
- Improve our website and operations
- Conduct analytics and research
- Send updates or marketing communications (with opt-out options)
We do not sell your personal information.
Information Sharing
In addition to the purposes listed in this Privacy Policy, we may share Personal Information with our trusted third party providers, who may be located in different jurisdictions across the world, for any of the following purposes:
- Hosting and operating our Site;
- Providing you with our services, including providing a personalized display of our Site;
- Storing and processing such information on our behalf;
- Serving you with advertisements and assist us in evaluating the success of our advertising campaigns and help us retarget any of our users;
- Providing you with marketing offers and promotional materials related to our Site and services;
- Performing research, technical diagnostics or analytics;
Mobile Privacy
Mobile information—including phone numbers, message content, and opt-in data—will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.
If you wish to stop receiving mobile communications, you may opt out at any time by texting:
STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL, or UNSUBSCRIBE
Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency may vary.
We do not sell or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. All data collected is used solely to provide services, respond to inquiries, and maintain communication as requested.
For assistance, contact: support@unionky.edu
Cookies & Analytics
We and our trusted partners use cookies and other technologies in our related services, including when you visit our Site or access our services.
A "cookie" is a small piece of information that a website assign to your device while you are viewing a website. Cookies are very helpful and can be used for various different purposes. These purposes include allowing you to navigate between pages efficiently, enable automatic activation of certain features, remembering your preferences and making the interaction between you and our Services quicker and easier. Cookies are also used to help ensure that the advertisements you see are relevant to you and your interests and to compile statistical data on your use of our Services.
The Site uses the following types of cookies:
a. 'session cookies'
which are stored only temporarily during a browsing session in order to allow normal use of the system and are deleted from your device when the browser is closed;
b. 'persistent cookies
' which are read only by the Site, saved on your computer for a fixed period and are not deleted when the browser is closed. Such cookies are used where we need to know who you are for repeat visits, for example to allow us to store your preferences for the next sign-in;
c. 'third party cookies'
which are set by other online services who run content on the page you are viewing, for example by third party analytics companies who monitor and analyze our web access.
Cookies do not contain any information that personally identifies you, but Personal Information that we store about you may be linked, by us, to the information stored in and obtained from cookies. You may remove the cookies by following the instructions of your device preferences; however, if you choose to disable cookies, some features of our Site may not operate properly and your online experience may be limited.
We also use a tool called “Google Analytics” to collect information about your use of the Site. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users access the Site, what pages they visit when they do so, etc. We use the information we get from Google Analytics only to improve our Site and services. Google Analytics collects the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit sites, rather than your name or other identifying information. We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with personally identifiable information. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this Site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use
and the Google Privacy Policy.
Data Security
We use industry-standard safeguards to protect your information, including:
- Secure servers and firewalls
- Encrypted data transmission where appropriate
- Restricted access to authorized personnel
- Ongoing system monitoring
While we take reasonable measures, no system can guarantee complete security.
Data Retention
We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services, and as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our policies. Retention periods will be determined taking into account the type of information that is collected and the purpose for which it is collected, bearing in mind the requirements applicable to the situation and the need to destroy outdated, unused information at the earliest reasonable time. Under applicable regulations, we will keep records containing client personal data, account opening documents, communications and anything else as required by applicable laws and regulations.
We may rectify, replenish or remove incomplete or inaccurate information, at any time and at our own discretion.
User Rights
You may request to:
- Receive confirmation as to whether or not personal information concerning you is being processed, and access your stored personal information, together with supplementary information.
- Receive a copy of personal information you directly volunteer to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
- Request rectification of your personal information that is in our control.
- Request erasure of your personal information.
- Object to the processing of personal information by us.
- Request to restrict processing of your personal information by us.
- Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
However, please note that these rights are not absolute, and may be subject to our own legitimate interests and regulatory requirements.
Third party collection of information
Our policy only addresses the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. To the extent you disclose your information to other parties or sites throughout the internet, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the information you disclose to them. Accordingly, we encourage you to read the terms and conditions and privacy policy of each third party that you choose to disclose information to.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, or to individuals whom we do not employ or manage, including any of the third parties which we may disclose information as set forth in this Privacy Policy.
Transfer of data outside the EEA
Please note that some data recipients may be located outside the EEA. In such cases we will transfer your data only to such countries as approved by the European Commission as providing adequate level of data protection, or enter into legal agreements ensuring an adequate level of data protection.
Advertisements
We may use a third-party advertising technology to serve advertisements when you access the Site. This technology uses your information with regards to your use of the Services to serve advertisements to you (e.g., by placing third-party cookies on your web browser).
You may opt-out of many third-party ad networks, including those operated by members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI") and the Digital Advertising Alliance ("DAA"). For more information about this practice by NAI and DAA members, and your choices regarding having this information used by these companies, including how to opt-out of third-party ad networks operated by NAI and DAA members, please visit their respective websites: http://optout.networkadvertising.org/#!/ and http://optout.aboutads.info/#!/.
Marketing
We may use your Personal Information, such as your name, email address, telephone number, etc. ourselves or by using our third party subcontractors for the purpose of providing you with promotional materials, concerning our services, which we believe may interest you.
Out of respect to your right to privacy we provide you within such marketing materials with means to decline receiving further marketing offers from us. If you unsubscribe we will remove your email address or telephone number from our marketing distribution lists.
Please note that even if you have unsubscribed from receiving marketing emails from us, we may send you other types of important e-mail communications without offering you the opportunity to opt out of receiving them. These may include customer service announcements or administrative notices.
Updates or amendments to this Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to periodically amend or revise the Privacy Policy; material changes will be effective immediately upon the display of the revised Privacy policy. The last revision will be reflected in the "Last modified" section. Your continued use of the Platform, following the notification of such amendments on our website, constitutes your acknowledgment and consent of such amendments to the Privacy Policy and your agreement to be bound by the terms of such amendments.
Contact Us
If you have any general questions about the Site or the information we collect about you and how we use it, you can contact us at technology@unionky.edu
Last Modified 04/20/2026
