Privacy Policies and Cookies

Effective Date: [March 20, 2023]

Web Privacy Policy

DigiPen (USA), LLC, dba DigiPen Institute of Technology (“DigiPen”) respects the privacy of people who visit our web site, www.discoveropenworld.com (referred to herein as the “Site”).

This Privacy Policy reflects the current information practices of Open World by DigiPen. If you have questions or concerns about this policy, please contact us at openworld@digipen.edu. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected on the Site.

Information Collection, Sharing, and Use

DigiPen may collect personal information from users of the Site. DigiPen may also use automated technologies on the Site, such as cookies, to collect information about you, such as your IP address, domain name, operating system, or the type of browser you use. Automated technologies enable DigiPen to recognize you when you revisit the Site and can provide you the benefit of not having to reenter certain information, such as your email address, because the information is stored by our servers. DigiPen may also use automated technologies to better operate the Site and help improve web site usage. Further, we may use automated technologies to expand our academy offerings, including by understanding our prospective and current students and the effectiveness of our marketing them, and to tailor advertising to you.

We also collect personal information that you voluntarily supply us with. DigiPen may disclose personal information to third parties (including without limitation, governmental agencies) if required to do so by law or based on the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (i) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process; (ii) protect and defend the rights or property of DigiPen or its agents or contractors; or (iii) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of DigiPen, the Site, or the public.

Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you in the future to tell you about our programs, upcoming events, educational opportunities, special announcements, or changes to this Privacy Policy. The information we collect from you will be used solely for the purpose intended. For example, if you provide us with admission information, we will use that information for admission purposes. DigiPen may also use the information collected through the Site to: respond to requests for information; improve our Site; provide you with products or services; process and keep track of your payments; deliver tailored advertising based on your preferences or interests across services and devices; measure the effectiveness of ads; or enforce the terms of use for our Site.

DigiPen engages the following types of vendors to perform functions on our behalf, such as:

• Billing and collection providers, such as payment processors that assist us in assessing your payment status
• Platforms that host our chat functions on our Site and help us gauge online activity on our Site
• Entities that assist with website design, hosting, and maintenance, data and software storage, and network operation
• Analytics services that help us analyze traffic to and on our website and assist with identifying and communicating with potential customers

We also partner with companies that assist us in marketing our programs to prospective students. We also partner with other companies who use automated technologies to display advertising to you on our Site and other sites. These companies may use tracking technologies to collect or receive information about activity on our Site and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide measurement services and display ads. While DigiPen will not share information that identifies you by name with unaffiliated companies for their own use, such other companies may, with sufficient data from other sources, be able to personally identify you.

Your Access to and Control Over Information

You may opt out of marketing communications from us at any time by contacting us via the email address or phone number given below or by following “unsubscribe” steps for email, as appropriate.

Security

You are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords or any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you are online. While we strive to protect your personal information, DigiPen does not ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.

Third-Party Sites and Links

You may access third-party web sites through this Site, and those third-party web sites may collect personal information about you. This Privacy Policy does not cover the information practices of third-party web sites. If you have any questions about the personal information collected by third-party web sites, including how they collect and use personal information, you should contact the third-parties directly. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other sites.

Children’s Privacy

The Site is not intended for or directed to children under the age of 13. Any person who provides their information to DigiPen through the Site represents to DigiPen that they are 13 years of age or older.

Updates

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time, without notice, and all updates will be reflected on these pages. If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, please contact us immediately via email at openworld@digipen.edu.

California Privacy Rights

California Shine the Light

Residents of the State of California have the right to request information from DigiPen regarding other companies to whom the company has disclosed certain categories of information during the preceding year for those companies’ direct marketing purposes. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please email openworld@digipen.edu.

California Consumer Privacy Act

The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) provides California residents with rights to receive certain disclosures regarding the collection, use, and sharing of “Personal Information,” as well as rights to know/access, delete, and limit sharing of Personal Information. The CCPA defines “Personal Information” as “information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household.” Certain information we collect may be exempt from the CCPA because it is considered public information (i.e., it is made available by a government entity) or covered by a specific federal privacy law, such as the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

To the extent that we collect Personal Information that is subject to the CCPA, that information, our practices, and your rights are described below.

Right to Notice at Collection Regarding the Categories of Personal Information Collected

You have the right to receive notice of the categories of Personal Information we collect, and the purposes for which those categories of Personal Information will be used. This notice should be provided at or before the time of collection. The categories we use to describe the information are those enumerated in the CCPA.

• Personal Identifiers
  • We collect your name, phone number, and email address and contact address when you create an account, complete a transaction, or apply for admission into one of our programs. If you choose to create an account, you will also be asked to create a username, which may sometimes be your email address, and we will assign one or more unique identifiers to your profile. We use this information to provide the Site and our services and products, process your application to our programs, respond to your requests, and send information and advertisements to you.
  • We collect your social media handle and basic account information when you interact with the Site through social media.
  • We collect a unique numerical identifier, assigned to you by a first-party cookie, automatically when you use the Site in order to identify you, provide the Site, keep you logged in to the Site, prevent fraud, and provide you with targeted information and offers.
  • We collect payment information when you provide it to us, which may include your credit card number when you complete a transaction. You have the option to store this information to your account. We use this information to streamline and facilitate payments and transactions.
  • We collect your IP address automatically when you use the Site. We use this information to identify you, gauge online activity on our website, measure the effectiveness of online services, applications, and tools, and serve targeted advertisements based on your online activities.
  • We collect your Device ID automatically when you use the Site. We use this information to monitor your use and the effectiveness of the Site, to identify you, and to provide you with targeted information and offers.
  • We collect your Social Security number if you submit financial aid documents to us. We use this information to process any financial aid documents and facilitate the process of providing you with such financial aid.
  • We collect medical information and health information about you if you use certain medical or social services provided by us. We use this information to provide such services to you, including mental health counseling or Disability Support Services.
• Protected Classifications: We also collect your age, date of birth, race, and ethnic origin when we process your application for admission into our programs. We may collect your disability status if you use our Disability Support Services in order to provide you with such services.
• Commercial Information: When you engage in transactions with us, we create records of goods or services purchased or considered, as well as purchasing or consuming histories. We use this information to measure the effectiveness of the Site and to provide you with targeted information and advertisements.
• Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity Information: We collect information about your browsing history, search history, information regarding your interaction with websites, and applications or advertisements automatically when you utilize the Site. We use this information to gauge online activity on our website, measure the effectiveness of online services, applications, and tools, and to serve targeted advertisements based on your online activities.
• Geolocation Data: As described above, we collect your IP address automatically when you use the Site. We may be able to determine your general location based on the IP address.
• Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information: If you contact us via phone, we may record the call. We will notify you if a call is being recorded at the beginning of the call.
• Professional or employment-related information: If you submit a resume as part of an application, we collect information about your current employer and your employment history. We use this information to process your application into our programs and conduct background and other screening activities. If you are a student, we use this information to connect you to employers that may be interested in hiring our students.
• Inferences drawn to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences or characteristics: We may analyze your actual or likely preferences through a series of computer processes. On some occasions, we may add our observations to your internal profile. We use this information to gauge and develop our marketing activities, measure the appeal and effectiveness of the Site, applications, and tools, and to provide you with targeted information, advertisements, and offers.

We may use any of the categories of information listed above for other business or operational purposes compatible with the context in which the Personal Information was collected.

We may share any of the above-listed information with Service Providers, which are companies that we engage for business purposes to conduct activities on our behalf. Service Providers are restricted from using Personal Information for any purpose that is not related to our engagement. The categories of Service Providers with whom we share information and the services they provide are described in our Privacy Policy above.

We also sell some information to third parties, as described below. To opt-out of the sale of your information, visit our “Do Not Sell My Information” web page.

Right to Know About Personal Information Collected, Disclosed, or Sold

You have the right to request that we disclose to you the Personal Information we collect, use, disclose, or sell. Our collection, use, disclosure, and sale of Personal Information is described in our Privacy Policy above.

Right to Know/Access Information

You have the right to request access to Personal Information collected about you and information regarding the source of that information, the purposes for which we collect it, and the third parties and service providers with whom we share it. You may submit such a request as described below. To protect our customers’ Personal Information, we are required to verify your identify before we can act on your request.

Right to Request Deletion of Information

You have the right to request in certain circumstances that we delete any Personal Information that we have collected directly from you. You may submit such a request as described below. To protect our customers’ Personal Information, we are required to verify your identify before we can act on your request. We may have a reason under the law why we do not have to comply with your request, or why we may comply with it in a more limited way than you anticipated. If we do, we will explain that to you in our response.

How to Submit a Request

You may submit a request to exercise your rights to know/access or delete your Personal Information through any one of three means:

• By emailing us at openworld@digipen.edu
• By calling us at (425) 629-5046
• By filling out a Consumer Data Request Form

Verification Procedures

In order to process your request to know/access or delete Personal Information we collect, disclose, or sell, we must verify your request. We do this by asking you to:

• provide personal identifiers, such as your name, email address, and or birthdate (if available), we can match against information we may have collected from you previously; and
• confirm your request using the email or telephone account stated in the request.

Authorized Agent

You may authorize another individual or a business registered with the California Secretary of State, called an authorized agent, to make requests on your behalf. We require that you and the individual complete notarized affidavits in order to verify the identity of the authorized agent and confirm that you have authorized them to act on your behalf. Parents of minor children may submit a birth of the child certificate in lieu of an affidavit, in order to make requests on the child’s behalf. Please see our required affidavits here.

Right to Opt Out of Sale of Personal Information to Third Parties

We sell information to third parties. You have the right to opt out of any sale of your Personal Information by DigiPen to third parties. To “sell” information means to disclose it to a company for monetary or other benefit. A company may be considered a third party either because the purpose of sharing is not an enumerated business purpose under California law, or because our contract does not restrict them from using Personal Information for other purposes.

We sell the following information:

• Personal Identifiers:
  • We provide your IP address and Device ID to our advertising and analytics partners.
• Inferences drawn to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences or characteristics: We provide our observations about you to our advertising partners.

To exercise your right to opt out of the sale of your personal information, please visit our “Do Not Sell My Information” web page or call us at (425) 629-5046.

Please note that your right to opt out does not apply to our sharing of Personal Information with service providers, who are parties we engage to perform a function on our behalf and are contractually obligated to use the Personal Information only for that function.

We may also disclose information to other entities who are not listed here when required by law or to protect our company or other persons, as described in our Privacy Policy above.

Cookie Policy

This policy describes the use of cookies and other technologies. Like many websites, DigiPen uses first-party cookies and third-party cookies on www.discoveropenworld.com. By using the Site, you consent to our use of cookies and other technologies as described below.

What are cookies?

Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website or mobile application. Cookies are then sent back to the originating site on each subsequent visit, or to another site that recognizes the cookies.

How to Manage Your Cookie Preferences

Most web browsers allow you to modify and manage your browsing preferences. You can modify your web browser to refuse cookies or to delete certain cookies. You may be able to manage other technologies in the same way that you manage cookies using your browser’s preferences. On your mobile device, you may also have a “Limit Ad Tracking” setting (on iOS devices) or a setting to “Opt out of Interest-Based Ads” (on Android) which allows you to limit the use of information about your use of apps for purposes of serving ads targeted to your interests.

There is no accepted standard on how to respond to Do Not Track signals, and DigiPen does not respond to such signals. Rather, you may visit the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) or the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) to receive more information about the collection and use of information about your online activities for online behavioral advertising or to learn how to opt out of having your data used for online behavioral advertising. European users can also visit the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance to learn how to opt out of having their data used for online behavioral advertising.

Please note that if you choose to block cookies, you may impair our Sites or prevent certain elements of our Sites from functioning. Also, if you delete your cookies in the future you will need to opt again and if you use multiple web browsers, you may need to opt again.

Please note that even if you opt out using the mechanisms above, you may still receive advertisements when using DigiPen’s Sites.

Types of Cookies and Technologies Used

First-Party Cookies

DigiPen uses a number of first-party cookies, most of which expire when the user’s browser is closed. Generally, these cookies help to store user information (i.e., language preferences) or ensure that users are aware of specific events related to their campus.

Third-Party Cookies

Third-Party Pixels

Questions or Comments

If you have any questions or comments about this policy, please contact us at openworld@digipen.edu.