The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) maintains it's website, www.utrgv.edu, as a service to its students, employees and to the general public. UTRGV has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy and to address concerns about the types of information gathered and how that information is used for all pages on the official UTRGV site. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for the website: www.utrgv.edu.
- Cookies
A "cookie" is a small file containing information that is placed on a user's computer by a web server. Typically, these files are used to enhance the user's experience of the site, to help users move between pages in a database, to customize information for a user or for web analytics. Information stored in cookies by UTRGV web servers is used for internal purposes only. It is not used in any way that would disclose personally identifiable information to outside parties unless the University is legally required to do so in connection with law enforcement investigations or other legal proceeding.
- Logs and Network Monitoring
UTRGV maintains log files of all access to its site and also monitors network traffic for the purposes of site management and security. This information is used to help diagnose problems with the server and to carry out other administrative tasks. Log analysis tools are also used to create summary statistics to determine which information is of most interest to users, to identify system problem areas, or to help determine technical requirements.
The following is an example of types of information collected for analysis needs:
Hostname: the hostname, site name, username, and IP address of the computer requesting access to the site
User-Agent: the type of browser, its version, and the operating system of the computer requesting access (e.g., Netscape 4 for Windows, IE 4 for Macintosh, etc.)
Referrer: the web page the user came from
System date: the date and time on the server at the time of access
Full request: the exact request the user made
Status: the status code the server returned, e.g., fulfilled request, file not found
Content length: the size, in bytes, of the file sent to the user
Method: the request method used by the browser (e.g., post, get)
Universal Resource Identifier (URI): the location of the particular resource requested. (More commonly known as a URL.)
Query string of the URI: anything after a question mark in a URI. For example, if a keyword search has been requested, the search word will appear in the query string.
Protocol: the technical protocol and version used, i.e., http 1.0, ftp, etc.
The above information is not used in any way that would reveal personally identifying information to outside parties unless UTRGV is legally required to do so in connection with law enforcement investigations or other legal proceedings.
- Information Collected by Email and Forms
If a member of the general public sends UTRGV an e-mail message or fills out an e-mail or web-based form with a question or comment that contains personally identifying information, that information will only be used for the purposes for which the form is intended, to respond to the question or comment, and to analyze trends. The message or form may be redirected to another department or office in the University, institution, government agency or person who is better able to respond to the question or comment. UTRGV does not use such information in any way that would reveal personally identifying information to outside parties unless we are legally required to do so in connection with law enforcement investigations or other legal proceedings.
- Notice About Information Laws and Practices
With few exceptions, you are entitled on your request to be informed about the information UTRGV collects about you. Under Sections 552.021 and 552.023 of the Texas Government Code, you are entitled to receive and review the information. Under Section 559.004 of the Texas Government Code, you are entitled to have UTRGV correct information about you that is held by us and that is incorrect, in accordance with the procedures set forth in Business Procedures Memorandum 32.
The information that UTRGV collects will be retained and maintained as required by Texas records retention laws (Section 441.180 et seq. of the Texas Government Code) and rules. Different types of information are kept for different periods of time.
- Links
This site contains links to other sites outside of the utrgv.edu domain. UTRGV is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.
- Security
This site has security measures in place to protect from loss, misuse and alteration of the information under the control of UTRGV web server administrators. Web pages that collect personal information from visitors will use the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol and provide a link to their privacy policy.
- Contacting the Web Administrators
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or dealings with this website, you can contact us at websupport@utrgv.edu.