Privacy Statement

Niagara University’s website is found under the domain niagara.edu.   Related URL names include but are not limited to www.niagara.edu, mynu.niagara.edu, gradbusiness.niagara.edu, and apps.niagara.edu.   All are collectively known as the “Site.” By viewing, accessing, and temporarily duplicating (hereinafter, “using”) the Site, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions, including related policies referred to herein and incorporated by link and/or reference.

These Terms constituted a binding agreement between the University and the User, whether you are a staff member, faculty member, student, alumnus/alumna, or a party with no other association to the University.

If you do not agree to these Terms and Conditions, you are not authorized to use the Site.

The University reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions as needed, and amendments are effective as of the date of posting.   Regular Users are therefore encouraged to periodically review this policy to ensure compliance.

The Niagara University Site is used by many people, from alumnae connecting with their alma mater, to student groups listing their events, to faculty posting updates about their research and publications.  

While the Site is the host to a diverse array of communication, there are uniform rules for how the users are treated, and that includes how the information submitted by Users is logged and used by the University.

By Using the Site, you consent to the University’s collection and use of information about you per the following Terms and Conditions.

Type of Information Collected

The University collect three kinds of information from the Users of the Site: Education Records, Personally Identifiable Information, and Anonymous Information.

1. Education Records (ER)
   ER is information that qualifies as information maintained by the university that pertains to students and alumnae.   The definition of and University procedures governing such information is in our FERPA policy.   ER is only collected on the intranet portion of the Site.
2. Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
   The University collects personally identifiable information about you, both through the Site and otherwise.   PII collected on the Site may include:
   • Name
   • Home and business contact information
   • Age
   • Gender
   • Alumni status
   • Financial information, such as credit card numbers and eligibility for matching contributions from your employer
   • Educational background and professional qualifications

     Review and Correction of Personally Identifiable Information
     If you need to correct, amend, or update your personal data, please use the options provided to you on the Site, or, if you cannot locate what you need, itsupport@niagara.edu.

3. Interactive Services

   The Site hosts many interactive services intended to foster communications among students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the community at large.   These interactive services may collect the PII listed above, and other content you choose to share with us.   The University has in part prepared this Policy to enable Users to make informed choices regarding the information and content they post on these services.

   Third Party Services

   Users will also note that certain services who may collect PII are hosted by third party providers linked to the University; these third party providers will have their own Terms and Conditions, and the University accepts no liability for activity conducted on a Site or Service maintained by a third party.

The University uses PII for the purposes disclosed at the point of providing it, and for other purposes unless you ask us not to do so, such as:

• Communicating with you
• Development and fundraising
• Promoting the Mission of the University
• Announcing and promoting University events and news
• Analyzing what services on the Site you use and promoting further services to you
• Creating electronic and print directories
• Creating University publications

Sharing of PII with Third Parties

The University does not share, transfer or release PII collected on this Site except as otherwise described below:

• Certain service providers may have access to PII when they are providing their services to the University. For instance, if you submit PII to request a newsletter, a vendor printing the newsletter may be given your address in order to prepare it for mailing. If you make a purchase or donation by credit card, the University may submit your information to a third party for processing.
• For development purposes, the University may disclose PII to outside research firms. Such firms are contractually obligated to keep PII disclosed to them confidential.
• Alumni groups may be provided with PII to facilitate their organization.
• Student loan agencies requesting federally authorized student status confirmation reports.

The University reserves the right to disclose and use PII to protect the University, Users of the Site, and others, in particular to prevent or investigate crime, fraud, a violation of these Terms and Conditions, a violation of any University policy, or when the University believes the law compels such disclosure.

Children Under 13

The University does not knowingly collect PII from children under the age of 13 without the consent of a parent or legal guardian.   Upon notice or discovery that PII from a child of under 13 has been collected without parental consent, the University will delete the PII.   Parents and guardians concerned their child may have submitted such information may contact itsupport@niagara.edu.

The Site automatically logs certain information when you interact with it; for example, your operating system, the browser you use, the content accessed, and the date and time of your visit to the Site.   This information is anonymous.   The University uses this AI to analyze the manner in which the site is used; this information is used to improve your experience with the Site.

The Site contains links to third-party web sites.   If you follow any link to a third-party site, you are leaving the Site and the representations in these Terms and Conditions no longer apply, while the site you are viewing may have its own terms of use that you may wish to review.

• The University takes appropriate precautions to ensure the security of the Site, but Users should be aware that no mechanism can absolutely guarantee that information stored electronically or transmitted over the Internet is free from the possibility of unauthorized access and use.
• As set forth in the section on “Interactive Services” and “Links” above, the University also cannot control what a third party will do with the information you choose to share on an interactive service or linked provider. With that in mind, the University cannot and does not guarantee that the content you post, or the PII you make available, will not be used by unauthorized persons. The University is not responsible for the compromise or circumvention of any privacy or security controls on the Site.
• Users hereby acknowledge that copies of the PII and content they provide, even if removed by the University, may remain viewable in cached and archived pages stored by third parties.
• The University makes no warranty, guarantee or representation that the Site is protected from malware, viruses, or other security threats. Please consider this when deciding what User Content you post or what Personal Data you authorize the University to post.

The Site is maintained by the University to host communication from the University to the world at large, and the foster communication among the students, alumni, staff, faculty, and anyone interested in the operations and Mission of Niagara University.   It is therefore a valuable resource that bears many of the trademarks, intellectual property, and information about the University.     To play this role, the Site must allow Users to post textual, visual, and audio content, including but not limited to   digital files, photographs, video, recordings, computer files, and computer programs (such contributions are collectively known as “User Content”).

The University is not responsible for damage, either intentional or unintentional, caused by User Content.   The University has no obligation to (and generally does not) pre-screen, monitor, edit, or delete User Content.   However, the University absolutely reserves the right to do any of the aforementioned controls if any User Content fails to comply with these Terms, or, in the sole discretion of the University, is harmful, inaccurate, not accessible or objectionable.

The University is not responsible for any failure or delay in removing User Content that fails to comply with these Terms and Conditions.   User Content does not represent the opinion of the University, and the University does not endorse or advocate the use in any way of third-party web sites that may be listed in User Content.

• The User takes sole responsibility for any User Content the User creates or posts. 
• In no event shall a User create or post User Content that frames the content of another Site.
• User hereby acknowledged that User Content is not confidential and will not be treated as such.
• User hereby warrants that the User Content they supply does not violate any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, right to privacy or publicity, or any other proprietary or person right, does not violate the law or any regulation.
• User will not upload any materials that contain or link to such malicious content as viruses, spyware, adware, keyloggers, backdoors, Trojans, or any kind of code that can corrupt, destroy, compromise, or arrange for the unauthorized access to data.

In consideration for using the Site, Users grant the University a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free unrestricted license (assignable) of all copyright interests in the User Content.

In keeping with Niagara University’s Catholic, Vincentian traditions, and its emphasis on civility and respect for all persons, Users of the Site are required to temper their posts with discretion and thoughtfulness.  

• Users may not use the Site to transmit, in any way, content that is unlawful, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, hostile, harassing, or abusive.   To familiarize yourself with Niagara University’s process for address discrimination-including acts that discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, disability, predisposing genetic characteristic, and age-Users may read the University’s policy on discrimination and harassment. 
• Users may not use material or User Content from the site for any commercial purpose, or in a manner that attributes an endorsement by the University and/or the Users of the Site.
• Without a license to do so, you may not reproduce, distribute, publicly display or perform, transmit, incorporate into any other work, adapt, translate, modify, or in any way exploit or use the content of this Site.
• Users may not impersonate or mislead others regarding their identity.
• You may not use the PII of others listed on this Site for anything other than personal use, and in no event shall you conduct or cause to be conducted any systematic collection of PII for any reason.   The use of this Site to collect e-mail addresses for political mailing lists, commercial solicitations, or SPAM is expressly forbidden and the University will use all legal means available to report and punish such use.
• If you have been given a username and password to access any portion of the Site, you agree to not share that username and password with any third party.   If you are a university student or employee, you agree to abide by the university’s Policy on Use of University Owned Electronic Equipment.
• As a condition of your continued privilege to use the Site, the User hereby warrants that they will not use the Site for any illegal or fraudulent purpose, and that they will abide by the Terms and Conditions.   The University reserves the right to deny access, delete User Content, and take any other step necessary to address a User’s violation of this warranty.
• You may not frame the content of the Site on any other website.
• You may not create links to the Site from a web site with content that is libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, illegal or otherwise objectionable, or in a manner that would constitute a criminal or civil offense.
• You may not link or otherwise reference the Site is a manner than implies the University’s partnership with, endorsement or approval of another.

If you believe that any content posted on the Site infringes your copyright, per Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. Section 512(c) (3), you may request removal of those materials by following the below procedure:

A notice, in writing, must be sent to the University’s duly registered agent for matters of infringement:
Director of Information Technology,
Richard P. Kernin,
Room 108,
Niagara University, NY 14109
Phone: (716) 286-8042  
Fax: (7167) 286-8045  

The items listed below must be included in your notice:        

1. A physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works;
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the College to locate the material;
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the College to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which you may be contacted;
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury, and that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

The University shall removed the material described as soon as it receives a notice that complies with the above criteria, and will take reasonable steps to inform the User who posted the allegedly infringing material (“Alleged Infringer”) of the allegations and removal.

The Alleged Infringer may then provide the University with a counter-notice (“Counter-Notice) that the initial infringement notice was erroneous.  

Such Counter-Notice must be in writing and must include:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the alleged infringer;
2. Identification of the material removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that the alleged infringer has a good faith belief that the material was removed or access to it disabled as a result of error;
4. The Alleged Infringer’s name, address (no P.O. Box), and telephone numbers; and
5. A statement of consent to jurisdiction in the Western District of New York federal court and consent to service of process from the complaining party or their agent.

Upon receipt of the Counter-Notice, the University will notify you of the Complaining Party of the Counter-Notice ad restore the material within 10 to 14 business days of receipt of the Counter-Notice, unless the Complaining Party informs the University that they have filed an action seeking a court order to retrain the allegedly infringing party from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material on the Site.

“Niagara University,” the Niagara University logo, “Purple Eagles,” the Purple Eagles logo, “Education that makes a difference,” and “The Power of Niagara” are the federally registered trademarks of Niagara University.   Without express written permission, third party registration of domain names and other online accounts incorporating these trademarks, and other infringing uses, is forbidden to the extent allowed by law.

The site and the services and material available through it are available “as is” and “as available.”   the college does not warrant that the site or any of the services or materials available through it will be uninterrupted or error-free.   The university makes no representations or warranties about the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, reliability or non-infringement of any content on the site or services available through it, including the user content, or through links to other web sites.   The university reserves the right to correct any errors or omissions in the site.   If you rely on the site and any materials or services available through it, you do so entirely at your own risk.

To the maximum extent permitted under law, the university disclaims all express or implied warranties with respect to the site and any content, information, goods or services that are available through it, including without limitation any warranty or merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose (even if that purpose has been disclosed).

Though the university takes reasonable steps to prevent the introduction of any and all malicious code to the site, the university does not guarantee or warrant that the site, or services or materials that may be available through the site, are free from such destructive sources.   The university is not liable for any damages or harm attributable to such sources.

The university, its directors, trustees, employees, and agents are not liable for any claim of any nature whatsoever based on loss or injury because of errors, omissions, interruptions or inaccuracies in the site or any services or materials available through the site including loss or injury that results from your breach of any provision of these terms.

Under no circumstances will the college or its directors, trustees, employees or agents be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages (including lost revenues or profits, loss of business or loss of data) arising out of or in connection with your use of the site or services available through the site or these terms.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the University and its officers, trustees, employees and agents against all liabilities, losses, damages and costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) that the University may incur based on  claims arising out of your violation of these terms.   The University reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter to which it is entitled under the indemnification.

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of the State of New York.   You consent to jurisdiction in the State of New York for any action related to these Terms and Conditions.