LSU Privacy Statement

1. Commitment to Privacy

Louisiana State University (LSU or “University”) is committed to maintaining the privacy and security of any collected confidential or highly sensitive personal information. This policy has been adopted to address the collection, use, and dissemination of personal information by LSU. This policy is subject to change over time, as the technologies utilized to provide services via the Internet continue to develop and evolve. Despite changes in technology, any alterations to this policy will not affect the University’s commitment to privacy.

2. General Statement

This policy applies to all information digitally collected by or submitted to LSU. LSU receives information via two primary methods:

  • Information collected automatically via websites
  • Information voluntarily provided by the user in order to receive information and/or services (via web forms and email).

3. Information Collection

3.1 Automatic Collection

If a user has not taken specific steps to anonymize their personal web traffic (e.g. apply mechanisms such as the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on that disable the collection of data for analytical purposes), official LSU websites may collect certain information automatically. This information includes, but is not limited to:

  • User’s Internet protocol (IP) address
  • Internet service provider
  • Operating system
  • The time and date of the visit
  • Browser
  • The site from which the user visited
  • Cookie information (if applicable)

Any information collected automatically is not associated with any other information held by LSU (i.e. not linked with information voluntarily provided to LSU) unless LSU is required to do so by law.

3.2 Voluntary Submission

In order to provide information and/or services, LSU may request users to provide personal data, some of which may be personally identifiable information. Information such as name, date of birth, email address, etc. can be collected via voluntary submission of an email or web form to an LSU entity.

4. Information Use

Website information that is gathered automatically is utilized to improve the understanding of how LSU-provided websites are being leveraged by the user community. For example, some LSU websites use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses “cookies” (i.e. files used to track website activity) to determine how users navigate LSU sites. Google uses this cookie data for various purposes, including the evaluation of website use, reports on website activity, and other services. Please visit the following pages for more information on Google Analytics’ terms of use and Google’s privacy practices.

Any information submitted to LSU voluntarily in order to receive services and/or information will only be utilized to conduct official university business. LSU may disseminate voluntarily submitted information to third parties and offices/departments within LSU to the extent necessary in order to provide the requested services and/or information. LSU may also disseminate such information if required by applicable law-enforcement agencies.

LSU will not disclose any information submitted voluntarily for reasons other than mentioned above, without clear notice and the opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such uses. LSU will never sell or trade voluntarily submitted information to other entities unless a prior consent has been obtained and/or such information is being shared in response to a subpoena, court order, or legal process.

There is no legal requirement for a user to provide any information to LSU. However, without certain information, LSU websites and services may not function as intended and features may be inaccessible.

5. Use of Cookies

Some LSU websites use cookies (beyond cookies utilized by Google Analytics), which enable LSU to further tailor its web services to the needs of the user community. Cookie data assists the University in improving both web content and distribution. Users have the right to refuse the use of cookies by implementing technical configurations in their web browsers; however, functionalities of certain sites may be impacted if such configurations are implemented.

6. External Links

Some LSU sites may contain links to external websites not owned by, or officially affiliated with, LSU in any way. If a user decides to navigate to external links, he/she will leave the LSU website and thus, the University is not responsible for privacy practices or the content of such websites. Navigating to external links is done at the user’s own risk and users should be aware that LSU’s policies no longer apply. LSU recommends that users review the privacy policy and applicable terms of all sites they visit.

7. Data Security

LSU implements stringent security measures wherever possible to promote confidentiality, integrity, and availability of any information in the possession of LSU. LSU websites that allow users to submit information voluntarily utilize encryption to prevent third-parties from viewing the submitted data. Personal information voluntarily submitted via email cannot leverage encryption in most cases, and thus email is not a mechanism that LSU will recommend for submitting confidential and/or personal data. Users that submit unsolicited confidential and/or personal information via email must do so at their own risk.

While the security of user data is of the utmost importance to LSU, due to the nature of Internet communications, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Any information transmitted to LSU by the user is done so at the user’s own risk. Once the information is received by LSU, the University will make every effort to ensure the security of data on LSU’s systems.

8. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this privacy statement or if you would like to report an issue or complaint, please contact the University at privacy@lsu.edu.