Privacy Policy

 THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION AND UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

PRIVACY POLICY

The University of South Carolina Development Foundation and University of South Carolina Educational Foundation (collectively, referred to herein as the “USC Foundations” “www.uofscfoundations.org,we,” “our,” or “us”) takes Your privacy very seriously. This Privacy Policy describes our collection and protection of the information You provide to us during visits to our website www.uofscfoundations.org (the “Website”). By using the Website, You agree to and consent to the collection and use of Your information as described below.

If You do not want us to use Your information as stated in this Privacy Policy, please do not use our Website.

Information We Collect

When You use our Website we may collect the following information from You:

Your name and contact information if You join our email list or request information from us;

Your name, contact information, and comments, questions or other information You provide if You communicate with us;

Your device information such as Your hardware model, IP address, other unique device identifiers, operating system version, browser type, and device settings and other information related to how Your device is interacting with our Website;

Your device event information such as errors, system activity, and the dates and times of Your activity; and

The location of the device You are using to access our Website.

We may also collect the following information related to Your use of the Website:

When You use the Website we automatically collect and store some information about You and Your device through cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies. We use these technologies to enhance Your experience on our Website. A "cookie" is a small data file sent from a website and stored on Your device to identify Your device in the future and allow for an enhanced personalized user experience. A "session cookie" disappears after You close Your web browser, or may expire after a fixed period of time. A "persistent cookie" remains after You close Your web browser and may be accessed every time You use our Website. We may use both session and persistent cookies. You should consult Your web browser to modify Your cookie settings. Please note that if You delete or choose not to accept cookies from us, You may not be able to use certain features of our Website.

There may be other tracking technologies now and later devised and used by us in connection with the Website. Further, third parties may use tracking technologies with our Website. We do not control those tracking technologies, and we are not responsible for them. However, You consent to potentially encountering third party tracking technologies in connection with Your use of the Website and accept that this Privacy Policy does not apply to the tracking technologies or practices of such third parties. In such cases, You must check the third party websites to confirm how Your information is collected and used.

Children’s Information

We do not knowingly collect identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 through the Website. If You are under 13, please do not give us any information that would allow us to identify You. Children under the age of 13 may not use the “Contact Us” feature of the Website.  We encourage each parent and legal guardian (referred to herein as the “Parent”) to monitor his or her own child’s Internet usage and to help enforce our Privacy Policy by instructing his or her child to never provide identifying information through any website without their permission. The Parent is responsible for reviewing and understanding this Privacy Policy, and for providing consent for such child to use the Website.  If a Parent has reason to believe that his or her child under the age of 13 has provided identifiable information to us, the Parent should contact us, and we will endeavor to delete any such information from our databases.

How We Use Information

We may use Your contact information, including, but not limited to, Your email address, to contact You for administrative purposes such as responding to Your questions or providing You with information.  We may also contact you in connection with gifts or donations to either of the USC Foundations or for the benefit of USC or any Affiliate.

We use the information that we collect to operate, maintain, enhance, and provide all features of the Website and our services and resources provided on the Website.  We also use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”).  Google uses cookies that generate information about Your use of the Website, and such information is generally transmitted to and stored on a Google server.  Google will use this information to evaluate use of the Website, to compile reports on Website activity, and to provide other services related to Website usage and internet usage to us.  We use the IP Anonymization feature in Google Analytics to masks the full IP address of Your visit so that Your exact IP address is not stored by Google.  We use Google Analytics to analyze and regularly improve the use of our Website.  With the statistics gathered by Google, we can make our Website more interesting to Users.  Aggregated reports from Google Analytics may be shared with internal teams, Affiliates, and service providers.  You may prevent the collection by Google of the data generated by the cookie and related to Your use of the Website as well as the processing of this data by Google by using the browser plug-in available under the following link to download and install: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

If You provide us with Your email address and choose to join our email list, we will place you on our list to receive email regarding updates, special offers, important issues and new services or resources from the USC Foundations and/or our Affiliates.  The personal information that You provide may be shared internally with our Affiliates.

We may use Link Tracking in email marketing campaigns. Link Tracking is a very common practice with all websites. The information gathered through this process helps us determine whether email sends are opened and what actions subscribers take on information contained in that message. We respect Your privacy and do not sell or otherwise disclose the information gathered in this process. We use this information to improve our marketing campaigns and provide You with information we believe will be of interest to You.

By providing Your email address to us, You automatically grant permission to us to send communications to You, unless You opt out at that time. You may also manage Your preferences at any time and opt out of receiving email communications by clicking “unsubscribe” from an email sent to You by us.

Legal Basis of Processing Information

We may process Your personal data for the purposes described above to facilitate transactions requested by You and meet our contractual or non-contractual obligations, including, but not limited to, responding to Your questions or comments; on the basis of our legitimate interests including, but not limited to, Website analytics, to request gifts and donations, to perform marketing, promotions and advertising; and/or on the basis of Your consent, where applicable.

How We Disclose Information

We may work with business partners in making our Website available to You. Our policy is to require companies with whom we do business to support the same privacy policies we do. We will share information only as necessary for the third party to provide related services or assist us in providing the Website.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, we may disclose Your information if required to do so by law to comply with state and federal laws, in response to a court order, judicial or other government subpoena or warrant, or to otherwise cooperate with law enforcement or other governmental agencies.

We also reserve the right to disclose Your information that we believe, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary to (i) take precautions against liability; (ii) protect ourselves or others from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses or activity; (iii) investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations; (iv) protect the security or integrity of the Website; or (v) protect our property or other legal rights (including, but not limited to, enforcement of our agreements), or the rights, property, or safety of others.

Information may be disclosed and otherwise transferred to an acquirer, successor, or assignee as part of any merger, acquisition, debt financing, sale of assets, or similar transaction, or in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership in which information is transferred to one or more third parties as one of our business assets, to the extent and in the way as prescribed by applicable law.

Other than as described in this Privacy Policy, Your personal information is never shared outside the USC Foundations or by its service providers and Affiliates without Your consent, except when required by law, or in urgent circumstances, to protect personal safety, the public, or our site.

Aggregate information is information that describes the habits, usage patterns and/or demographics of users as a group but does not reveal the identity of particular users. We may use aggregate information to understand the needs of individuals using the Website.

Data Retention

We will retain Your personal data for as long as is necessary for the purposes set forth herein, unless a longer period is required under applicable law, or is needed to resolve disputes or protect our legal rights or otherwise to comply with legal obligations.

Data Security

We take appropriate physical, managerial, and technical safeguards that are designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and security of any personal data that we collect and maintain against accidental or unlawful loss, theft, and misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, destruction, or any other type of unlawful processing. Unfortunately, no website, server or database is completely secure. We cannot guarantee that Your information will not be disclosed, misused, or lost by accident or by the unauthorized acts of others.

Accessing Third-Party Websites from uofscfoundations.org

The Website provides links to websites of other organizations or companies that may offer materials and services as well as links to other sites. Such third party organizations include, but are not limited to, the University of South Carolina, University of South Carolina-Business Partnership Foundation, University of South Carolina Alumni Association, South Carolina Research Foundation, and BoardEffect.  In using uofscfoundations.org or the linked sites of other organizations or companies, You may have the option to sign up for email lists operated by these organizations or companies. If You choose to request that Your address be removed from the organizations’ or companies’ lists, we cannot control whether or not they will immediately stop using Your address. To stop receiving communications from these organizations or companies, You should contact them directly.  We do not control third party websites or the content or links that appear on those sites and are not responsible for the practices employed by third party websites.

Do Not Track

Our Website does not support Do Not Track requests at this time. Do Not Track (DNT) is a privacy preference that You can set in Your web browser to indicate that You do not want certain information about Your webpage visits collected across websites when You have not interacted with that service on the page. For all the details, visit donottrack.us.

California Shine the Light Law

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, known as the “Shine the Light” law, permits individuals who are California residents to request and obtain from us a list of what personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year and the names and addresses of those third parties. We will never disclose Your personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes without Your authorization. However, if You would like to make a request for information under the Shine The Light law, please contact us by email at founit@mailbox.sc.edu or floydtp@mailbox.sc.edu.  Requests may be made only once a year and are free of charge.

European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”)

The GDPR protects certain information that relates to an individual located in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway who is directly or indirectly identified or identifiable and that is collected, used, processed, or shared pursuant such individual’s visiting or using the Website.  Individuals may have certain rights and choices pursuant to the GDPR as provided below.

Rights and Choices

You may have certain rights regarding the Personal Data, (as such term is defined in the GDPR), we maintain about You. You may have the right to request access to receive information about the Personal Data we maintain about You, or have Your Personal Data rectified, blocked, or deleted if it is incorrect, inaccurate, or outdated.  You may also have the right to restrict or limit the ways in which we use Your Personal Data, to object to the processing of Your Personal Data, to request deletion of Your Personal Data; and to obtain a copy of Your Personal Data in an easily accessible format.  You may also have the right to withdraw Your consent to our processing of Your Personal Data where our processing is solely based on Your consent, subject to certain limitations at law.    

If You have questions about Your rights and choices in relation to Your Personal Data, or would like to request additional information, please contact founit@mailbox.sc.edu or floydtp@mailbox.sc.edu. Following Your request, we will accommodate Your inquiry as required by applicable law.

If You have any complaints regarding our privacy practices, You have the right to make a complaint with Your national data protection authority (i.e. supervisory authority).

Cross-Border Transfer of Your Information

The Website is operated in the United States.  If You are located outside of the United States, please be aware that any information You provide to us will be transferred to, processed, and stored within the United States. By using the Website, You consent to the transfer and use of Your personal data, including Your contact information and location data, to countries outside of Your country of residence, including to the United States, in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

The United States may have different personal data protection laws than the country in which You initially provided the information. In doing so, we comply with applicable legal requirements pertaining to the transfer of personal data to other countries and will protect that information as described in this Privacy Policy.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy, and when updated, the effective date of the new version will be at the top of this policy.

Contact

If You have any questions, comments or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our processing of Your information, please contact: founit@mailbox.sc.edu or floydtp@mailbox.sc.edu.