Emerson College Policy no. 2019-02
Last Modified Date: [11-1-2019]
This Cookie Policy explains how Emerson College and authorized third parties use cookies to collect and process information about visitors to the officially administered and operated websites of Emerson College that link to this Cookie Policy (collectively, the "Emerson Sites"). It also provides details on how you can exercise your right to a greater degree of control over our use of cookies, where applicable under law. Please recognize that your experience with the Emerson Sites may be degraded and may stop working all together if you prevent the use of all cookies. You can read more about the types of cookies we use, why we use them, and how you can exercise your cookies choices below.
What are cookies?
We use the term “cookies” to refer to all technologies that store and access information on the device that you use to access the Emerson Sites, such as your computer, tablet, or mobile phone. For example, we use “http cookies”, which are small data files (typically made up of numbers and letters) that are downloaded when you access the Emerson Sites and which allow us to recognize your device. We also use technology such as pixel tags and software kits embedded in the Emerson Sites.
Emerson and third parties will also use cookies that allow us to analyze trends, administer the Emerson Sites, understand how visitors are using the Emerson Sites, collect demographic information about our site visitors as a group, and optimize our marketing efforts to provide ads that are relevant to your interests. We may report on this information at the aggregate or individual level.
There are different types of Cookies, for example:
- Cookies served directly by Emerson ('first party cookies') and cookies served on our behalf, for example by advertisers and data analytics companies ('third party cookies')
- Cookies that endure for different periods of time, including those that only last as long as your browser is open (referred to as 'session cookies'). These are deleted automatically once you close your browser. Other cookies are 'permanent cookies', meaning they survive after your browser is closed. For example, these cookies recognize your device when you open your browser and browse the internet again.
Which cookies do we use and why do we use them?
The following table sets out the different categories of cookies that the Emerson Sites use and why we use them.
| Type of Cookie | Source | What these cookies do | How to exercise your Cookie choices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential website Cookies | Emerson College | These Cookies are necessary to provide you some of the features of the Emerson Sites, such as logging into user accounts and implementing security features to protect the Emerson Sites. These types of cookies allow you to access email, our student portal and bill payment elements of the Emerson Sites. | You can control and delete these cookies through your browser settings; however, if you choose to do so, you will not be able to use the full functionality of the Emerson Sites. |
| Personalization Cookies | Emerson College | We use these cookies to store choices that you have made that indicate general information about you, such as whether you are a faculty/staff member, a current student or a prospective student. We also use these cookies to better understand whether or not you have interacted with certain elements of the Emerson Sites that are only meant to be seen once, such as a "hero" banner or popup form. | You can control and delete these cookies through your browser settings; however, if you choose to do so, you will not be able to use the full functionality of the Emerson Sites. |
| Performance and Functionality Cookies | Springshare (e.g., LibCal, LibApps) European Porphyria Network (EPNet) | We use these cookies to enhance the performance and functionality of the Emerson Sites, but they are not strictly essential to the use of the Emerson Sites. For example, these cookies provide chat and messaging capabilities in your web browser, calendar functionality, media content, streaming video, documents, research database search functionality, and other functionality and performance features. | You can control and delete these cookies through your browser settings; however, if you choose to do so, certain functionality will become unavailable. For more information on specific cookies or features, please visit the links to the left. |
| Analytics Cookies | Emerson College Alexa (AlexaMetrics) | We use analytics cookies to compile usage data regarding the Emerson Sites. We use this information to make high-level decisions about changes to the Emerson Sites. The data collected in these cookies allows us to: Analyze site traffic volume and the general behavioral flows of site visitors Understand the effectiveness of on-site elements (such as links or images) Understand the effectiveness of off-site marketing campaigns (such as paid search or banner advertisements) | You can control and delete these cookies through your browser settings. For more information, including how to opt out of certain analytics, please visit the links to the left. |
| Advertising Cookies | Google (including | We work with third party advertising networks that collect information using cookies to help make the advertising you see on the Emerson Sites and elsewhere on the internet more relevant to you, and to measure the effectiveness of the advertising on the Emerson Sites. We do not decide which cookies are set or how your data is used by these third parties, and therefore you should refer to their privacy policies for further information about which cookies are set and their privacy and information usage practices. | You can find information about advertising cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your device and how to manage and delete them here at Your Online Choices. For more information, including how to opt out of certain analytics (e.g., Google’s Dynamic Remarketing), please visit the links to the left. |
| Social networking Cookies | The Emerson Sites use plugins to allow you to connect to social networking sites including Facebook, X (Twitter), Vimeo, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. These connections are activated when you click on the logos of these services on the Emerson Sites. When you access the Emerson Sites with these plugins, they are provided directly by the owner of the plugin, not by us. When you access the Emerson Sites and are logged in to an account with the providers of those services, your personal information will be shared with those providers whether you interact with the plugin or not. | You can find information about social networking cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your device and how to manage and delete them here at Your Online Choices (or visit the links to the left for more information about specific services and their cookies). Furthermore, to prevent your personal information from being accessed by the owners of these platforms, you can log out of your accounts before accessing the Emerson Sites. |
Information We Collect Via Cookies
Generally speaking, most of the data we collect about you as an individual is provided through form submissions. There are some cases where we obtain certain information from cookies.It includes things like:
- Unique identification tokens to enable live chat sessions across pages and other features.
- Information about your current browsing session (e.g., IP addresses, browser type, internet service provider, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp and/or clickstream data)
Special Disclosure Regarding Our Use of Google Analytics
The Emerson Sites use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies to help Google (and us) analyze how visitors use the Emerson Sites. The information generated by the cookies about your use of the Emerson Sites (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purposes of evaluating your use of the Emerson Sites and compiling reports on user activity for us and other Google customers. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.
Special Disclosure Regarding Our Use of Ad Serving Technology
The Emerson Sites may engage third party advertising platforms that collect information about users across networks in order to serve advertisements of particular relevance to you.
Emerson or third parties operating the ad serving technology may use demographic and geo-location information as well as information logged from your hardware or device to ensure that relevant advertising is presented via the Emerson Sites. Emerson or third parties may collect and use information from you for such purposes, including but not limited to your IP address, Device ID, MAC address, installed software, application usage data, hardware type, operating system information, browser information, unique identifiers in browser cookies, Flash cookies, HTML5 local storage, internet and online usage information and in-app information.
The foregoing categories of data may be used and disclosed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the privacy policy of the company providing the ad serving technology.
Emerson may display to you behaviorally targeted advertising. Some services may include the use of in-app advertisements or brand placement. Such ads or sponsorships will be noted as such within the services. Please note that if you opt out of receiving behaviorally targeted advertising, it does not mean that you will no longer receive advertising of any kind. Instead, the advertising you see displayed will not be customized to you and your interests and may be less relevant to you.
How Do You Restrict Cookies?
You have the right to choose whether or not to accept cookies. However, they are an important part of how the Emerson Sites work, so you should be aware that if you choose to refuse or remove cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of the Emerson Sites.
If you do not want the Emerson Sites to use cookies, please follow the instruction in the table above and below.
For further information about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your device and how to manage and delete them, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org and www.youronlinechoices.eu
Website (Browser) Opt-out
Most browsers accept cookies by default. You may be able to change the settings to have your browser refuse certain cookies or notify you before accepting cookies. To do so, please follow the instructions provided by your browser which are usually located within the "Help", "Tools", or "Edit" facility. Some third parties also provide the ability to refuse their cookies directly by clicking on an opt-out link, and we have tried to indicate where this is possible in the table above.
If you wish to opt out of third party marketing cookies on our site and on the rest of the web, you can opt out by clicking here, or, if you are based in the European Union, click here to access the cookie access instruction page.
Mobile app opt-out
To limit interest-based advertising on your mobile device, you can review and adjust the settings provided by your device manufacturer, such as "Limit Ad Tracking" for iOS or "Opt out of interest-based ads" for Android.
Contact us
If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us at web [at] emerson.edu (web[at]emerson[dot]edu).