Web & social media privacy

Personal information

The University of Victoria will only collect personal contact information from our website that you choose to give us (for example, if you fill out a form).

When you use any of our website’s forms, send us electronic mail, or send direct messages through social media platforms, we may collect your email address, contact information, and your message, so that we may reply to you. We recommend that you don’t send sensitive personal information using these methods.

Our web server may collect personal information in the form of cookies; that information is used for analytics as well as the operation and security of our website. We do not collect any further personal information if you browse or download from our website.

The University of Victoria may not retain this information unless it was used to make a decision about an identifiable individual.

Cookies & web analytics

This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember your browser. We use this information to improve and customize your browsing experience, for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media, and for marketing purposes. By using this website, you accept and agree to be bound by UVic’s Terms of Use and Protection of Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the above, you can configure your browser’s setting to “do not track”.

We use cookies to track use of our website by users in an anonymized format, such as how and when they use a site and which site they visited immediately before. We have implemented IP address anonymization in order to ensure that the privacy of users is protected.

We use Google Analytics to analyze non-identifiable web site traffic data to improve our marketing. This data is collected and stored by Google Analytics. For information on how this data is stored, refer to Google Analytics’ Terms of Service of Google Analytics and How Google Uses Data When You Use Our Partners’ Sites or Apps.

Our web analytics will respect any “do not track” setting you might have set on your browser. You can also opt-out of Google Analytics by installing a browser plug-in available on Google’s website.

To disable cookies, you can follow these instructions:
Internet Explorer | Mozilla Firefox | Google Chrome | Safari | Safari (Mobile Version)

Uses of personal information

If you choose to give us personal information, we only use it for the purposes for which you give it to us.

The University of Victoria will also be notified when you engage with it on social media platforms.

UVic uses LinkedIn, which is a third-party social media provider. Any personal information you provide through LinkedIn is not hosted on our server and is subject to LinkedIn’s terms of service and privacy policies. Information from and about public posts, comments, or direct messages may be extracted and stored by UVic for the purpose of improving our communication services.

Meta: Facebook, Instagram & Threads

UVic uses Meta, which is a third-party social media provider. Any personal information you provide through Meta’s social media platforms is not hosted on our server and is subject to Meta’s terms of service and privacy policies. Information from and about public posts, comments or direct messages may be extracted and stored by UVic for the purpose of improving our communication services.

TikTok

UVic uses TikTok, which is a third-party social media provider. Any personal information you provide through TikTok is not hosted on our server and is subject to TikTok’s terms of service and privacy policies. Information from and about public posts, comments, or direct messages may be extracted and stored by UVic for the purpose of improving our communication services.

BlueSky

UVic uses BlueSky, which is a third-party social media provider. Any personal information you provide through BlueSky is not hosted on our server and is subject to BlueSky’s terms of service and privacy policies. Information from and about public posts, comments or direct messages may be extracted and stored by UVic for the purpose of improving our communication services.

UVic uses Reddit, which is a third-party social media provider. Any personal information you provide through Reddit is not hosted on our server and is subject to Reddit’s terms of service and privacy policies. Information from and about public posts or comments may be extracted and stored by UVic for the purpose of improving our communication services.

Youtube

UVic uses Youtube, which is a third-party social media provider. Any personal information you provide through Youtube is not hosted on our server and is subject to Youtube’s terms of service and privacy policies. Information from and about public posts or comments may be extracted and stored by UVic for the purpose of improving our communication services.

Hootsuite

UVic uses Hootsuite, which is a third-party platform that allows us to manage our social media. Any private message you send to us through social media platforms may also be viewable through Hootsuite. Please review Hootsuite’s Privacy Policy for a description of how personal information is stored and used.

This website is covered by B.C.’s Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy Act. As per this act, we do not share your personal information with government agencies or other organizations without your permission unless:

it is necessary to provide you with a service that you have requested;
it is required or authorized by law; or
compelling circumstances exist that affect anyone’s health or safety.

External links

Our website contains links to other sites. When clicking on a link, we encourage you to examine the site’s privacy policy and make your own decision regarding the information provided.

Important information

Although we try to see that all information posted on our website is accurate and complete, we do not represent that it is so, or guarantee it, and accept no liability or obligation for accuracy or completeness.

Contact us

If you have questions about this privacy policy, email us at martech@uvic.ca.