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Privacy Policy
The Center for Educational Technologies® (CET)
respects the privacy of visitors to its web site(s) and to its various programs
and projects. The CET strongly believes that if electronic commerce and online
activities are to flourish and realize their fullest potential for the good of
society and education, then consumers must be assured that information provided
online is used responsibly and appropriately. To protect online privacy, the CET
has implemented a comprehensive web site policy.
Why does the CET collect information?
The information the CET collects is not intended for personal use but for
educational purposes and is wholly intended to help the CET better serve its
customers and patrons, who are, for the most part, members of the greater
educational community.
The CET collects aggregate data from those
visiting the CET's files.
The CET will not collect personal information from visitors who are simply
browsing its web site and who wish to remain anonymous. Aggregate data—such as
the number of hits per page—is collected. This data is used for internal and
statistical reporting purposes and does not include any form of personal
identification.
The CET gathers information from educators and
other customers by voluntary registration only.
To gain access to clearly specified, restricted-access areas of the CET's web
site(s), visitors are asked to provide information. The CET asks visitors to
provide their name, job title, company, school/business address, school/business
phone, school/business fax and/or e-mail address, and age or date of birth. The
CET does not request home addresses, home phone numbers, or home e-mail accounts
for use of restricted-access areas but will accept this information if a visitor
submits it during registration. Furthermore, the CET web site's
restricted-access areas are designed almost exclusively for the use of teachers,
educational leaders, and other educators and authorities who wish to participate
at a professional level in the educational programs offered by the CET.
The CET has a clearly defined policy regarding the
registration of children who visit its web site.
The CET openly requires children to obtain parental or legal guardian permission
before the child provides any information. The CET does not collect any personal
information from any visitor regarding gender, ethnic background, or religion.
The CET requires the name of an employer or school on all orders or requests for
information. However, CET's products are designed for educational use by
children, their families, and schools, and to this end they have intrinsic
entertainment and educational appeal for children of all ages.
Participation in the CET chat rooms or other
online services is project specific.
The CET will require any person under the age of 18 years to download a parental
permission form and forward this form to the CET with the signature of a parent,
guardian, or teacher before participation in any chat room or other online
service that requires interaction with other children or adults. The CET does
not disclose this information to outside third parties and uses it exclusively
for achieving the goals and objectives of the specific project or program.
However, the CET is not responsible if children under 18 years of age, who have
submitted the requisite permission, publish personal and/or confidential
information during a chat session or other interactive activity hosted by the
CET.
How does the CET use the information it collects?
The CET uses information voluntarily submitted by educators and other visitors
in the following ways:
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The CET wishes to enhance its services and
products.
Generally, the CET uses information to
improve its own web site content; to respond to visitors' interests, needs,
and preferences; to develop new products and services; and to provide
individuals and their companies with information about complementary CET
products, services, promotions, or special offers.
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The CET conducts intensive, formal educational
research projects.
Consistent with its educational research
function, the CET and Wheeling Jesuit University will not disclose, without
permission, any information regarding specific individuals. Information that
the CET and WJU discloses will generally be in an approved,
research-reporting format.
How does the CET ensure compliance with its
privacy policy?
The CET is committed to ensuring that its privacy policy is understood and
respected by all of its employees and has taken the following steps to ensure
compliance. CET employees who collect or have access to information about
visitors and/or customers are required to attend a training seminar to ensure
that they understand the CET privacy policy and that adherence to this policy
affects an individual's job responsibilities. In addition, regular network
audits ensure that only the CET and WJU employees who have a business need to
access personal information have such network privileges. Access to the CET
network resources is limited to the CET and WJU employees and interns.
How does the CET handle concerns or complaints?
The CET believes that individuals should have the right to review their personal
information to ensure its accuracy. To review the information submitted to the
CET, users can contact the CET at ip@cet.edu or
(304) 243-2388.
The CET maintains all data and information as
sensitive and confidential.
The information visitors submit to the CET is considered sensitive and
confidential. No one outside of the CET or its parent, WJU, can view visitor
profiles. CET will not sell or market visitor information without the specific
permission of our visitors.
The CET has a policy regarding the practice of
using "cookies".
A "cookie" is an electronic, software program that is communicated via
an Internet browser from a web site to a visitor's computer. The CET may place a
cookie on a visitor's computer for two reasons and then only with the visitor's
full knowledge.
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To keep track of a visitor's predefined,
customizable options.
The CET may use cookies to store preferences
that have been identified by a visitor. Each time a visitor logs on to our
web site, the browser will check to see if there are any predefined
preferences contained in the visitor's cookie. If so, the browser will send
the cookie information to our server.
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To enable authorization for access.
The CET web site may send a cookie to a
visitor's computer via the browser at the beginning of a session. This
cookie includes a "ticket" that tells our server who the visitor is so the
server doesn't have to request reauthentication with every request made.
This method/ticket improves system response time and performance. A ticket
is used throughout a visitation to allow continuous, uninterrupted access to
our web site's resources.
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