HECS Privacy Statement

Updated: 16/07/2010

Higher Education College Scotland is committed to protecting your privacy. 

This privacy statement explains data collection and use practices of the HECS site (www.hecs.uk.com); it does not apply to other online or offline Higher Education College Scotland sites, products or services. By accessing the Site, you are consenting to the information collection and use practices described in this privacy statement.

We will ask you when we need information that personally identifies you (personal information) or allows us to contact you to provide a service or carry out a transaction that you have requested such as receiving information about Higher Education College Scotland products and services, entering a contest, ordering e-mail newsletters, joining a limited-access premium site or service, signing up for an event or training, or when purchasing, downloading and/or registering HECS products. The personal information we collect may include your name, title, company or organization name, work e-mail, work phone, work or home address, information about your job function, information about your company, and credit card information. 

The Site may collect certain information about your visit, such as the name of the Internet service provider and the Internet Protocol (IP) address through which you access the Internet; the date and time you access the Site; the pages that you access while at the Site and the Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to our site. This information is used to help improve the site, analyze trends and administer the site. Some of our sites collect information about your hardware and software in order to provide a requested service. Windows Update, for example, needs to know information about your computer in order to recommend needed operating system updates.

Higher Education College Scotland technical communities provide opportunities to interact with Higher Education College Scotland employees, experts, and your peers in order to share knowledge and news about Higher Education College Scotland products and related technologies. In order to avoid your e-mail address or other personal information from being gathered and used by others for inappropriate or harmful purposes, Higher Education College Scotland  advises that you should be cautious about posting a real e-mail address or other personal information to newsgroups, chats, or other public forums. Read more about guidelines for safe use of Higher Education College Scotland technical communities. 

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The personal information collected on this Site will be used to operate the Site and to provide the service(s) or carry out the transaction(s) you have requested or authorized.

In support of these uses, Higher Education College Scotland may use personal information to provide you with more effective customer service, to improve the Site and any related Higher Education College Scotland products or services, and to make the Site easier to use by eliminating the need for you to repeatedly enter the same information or by customizing the Site to your particular preference or interests. In order to offer you a more consistent experience in your interactions with Higher Education College Scotland , information collected by Higher Education College Scotland.com may be combined with information collected by other Higher Education College Scotland services.

We may use your personal information to provide you with important information about the product or service that you are using, including critical updates and notifications. Additionally, with your permission, we may send you information about other Higher Education College Scotland products and services, and/or share information with Higher Education College Scotland partners so they may send you information about their products and services.

We merge site-visitation data with anonymous demographic information for research purposes, and we may use this information in aggregate to provide more relevant content. In some limited-entry sections of Higher Education College Scotland.com, with your approval, we will combine site-visitation data with your personal information in order to provide you with personalized content. If you decline permission, we will not provide you the personalized service and won't merge your personal information with site-visitation data.

When you sign up for a newsletter or agree to receive promotional e-mail, Higher Education College Scotland.com may use customized links or similar technologies to track e-mail links that you click. We may associate that information with your personal information in order to provide you more focused e-mail communications or purchase information. Each e-mail communication includes an unsubscribe link allowing you to stop delivery of that type of communication.

Some services on Higher Education College Scotland.com offer individuals the ability to publicly display certain personal information, such as for a Higher Education College Scotland partner who wishes to publish contact information as part of offering a business service. Participation in such services is always optional. 

Higher Education College Scotland occasionally hires other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, such as Web site hosting, packaging, mailing and delivering prizes, answering customer questions about products and services, and sending information about our products, special offers, and other services. We will only provide those companies the personal information they need to deliver the service. They are required to maintain the confidentiality of the information and are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose. 

Higher Education College Scotland may disclose personal information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Higher Education College Scotland or the Site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Higher Education College Scotland and our family of Web sites; or (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of Higher Education College Scotland employees or agents, users of Higher Education College Scotland products or services, or members of the public. 

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Except as otherwise described in this statement, personal information you provide on the Site will not be shared outside of Higher Education College Scotland and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates without your permission. 

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You can review and edit the personal information and contact preferences you provided at this Site by contacting Higher Education College Scotland company 

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Higher Education College Scotland is committed to protecting the security of your personal information. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. 

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We use cookies on this Site to ensure the integrity of the registration process and to personalize the Site. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. 

One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. For example, if you personalize a web page, or navigate within a site, a cookie helps the site to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of delivering relevant content, eases site navigation, and so on. When you return to the Web site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the site's features that you customized.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of this or other Web sites you visit. 

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If you have questions regarding this statement, you should contact hecs.uk.com. 

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We may occasionally update this privacy statement. When we do, we will also revise the "last updated" date at the top of the privacy statement. For material changes to this privacy statement, we will notify you either by placing a prominent notice on the home page of our Web site or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to periodically review this privacy statement to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. Your continued use of the service constitutes your agreement to this privacy statement and any updates.

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Higher Education College Scotland welcomes your comments regarding this privacy statement. If you believe that Higher Education College Scotland has not adhered to this privacy statement, please contact us electronically or via postal mail at the address provided below, and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.