The HCC Foundation Web Privacy Policy

As an organization, the Houston Community College Foundation complies with and endorses the principles listed in the “Donor Bill of Rights” of the Council for Advanced and Support of Education (CASE). Above all else, we strive to respect our donors and ensure their full confidence in our organization and its mission. Insofar as our online activities, we are committed to treating visitors to our website with respect and common courtesy and to protecting the privacy of those who entrust us with their personal information.

Security of Online Transactions and Communications

1. The HCC Foundation donation pages have been developed to ensure a high level of security to protect donors’ personal information and safeguard it from any unauthorized use. The web pages were developed and are maintained by Blackbaud, a respected provider of database and online solutions to nonprofits. As indicated by the VeriSign seal, information for credit card transactions is encrypted using SSL, an industry standard technology. SSL encryption is shown on your web browser by the image of a lock or key in the status bar. For Blackbaud’s complete privacy policy, please visit the Blackbaud’s website.
2. Online contributions will be processed and transferred to the HCC Foundation in a timely manner. Only authorized personnel will have access to the credit card data. 
3. All recipients of online communications or solicitations from the HCC Foundation will be given a convenient way to “opt in” or “opt out” of future electronic communications. In the event that the HCC Foundation obtains e-mail lists from an outside source, such lists will only be obtained from trusted sources who can verify that owners of the e-mail addresses have “opted in” to communications from charities.
4. The HCC Foundation will not share e-mail addresses of its donors, student scholarship applicants, or faculty grant applicants with any outside organization unless required to do so by law.
5. Web servers may temporarily track information such as the web pages requested or browsers used. This information may be useful in helping the HCC Foundation to understand how our website is functioning and appealing to users; it will not be used to track individuals. Cookies, or small pieces of data stored by the web browser, may remember some of visitors’ information. These cookies are typically used to facilitate visitors’ future use of the site. Users can accept, disable, or remove cookies through their browser’s cookie settings. 
6. The HCC Foundation will not reproduce, display, or distribute copyrighted material in a manner that infringes on the copyright holder's rights. However, "fair use" applies in some cases. If a small amount of the work is used in a non-commercial situation and does not economically impact the copyright holder it may be considered fair use. Linking to another web page is not usually considered infringement.
7. The Houston Community College Foundation endeavors to keep all official pages accurate and up-to-date; however, constantly changing data makes it impossible to monitor or guarantee accuracy at all times. If misleading or otherwise inappropriate information is brought to the HCC Foundation’s attention, we will make an immediate effort to correct or remove it.

Security of Scholarship Applications

1. Online scholarship application submissions are captured and housed in an offsite database. Access to them is password-protected.
2. To further protect students’ identity, scholarship applications are reviewed “blind,” with students’ names and social security numbers deleted.
3. Information submitted through student applications will be shared with other HCC departments and outside organizations and individuals only to the extent required to verify information submitted through students’ applications. Such information that requires verification from sources outside the HCC Foundation includes but is not limited to high school and college grade point averages, personal references, financial aid, and address.
4. The HCC Foundation may communicate with student applicants and scholarship recipients from time to time, but we will not share any students’ e-mail addresses with outside organizations.
5. Once scholarships for an academic year have been awarded, all student social security numbers will be purged from the HCC Foundation database.

Freedom of Information

Certain federal, state, and local laws place additional requirements on institutions of higher education for safeguarding individuals’ personal information and for making certain disclosures as requested by the individuals themselves. These include the Texas Public Information Act and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). If you have any reason to believe that your private information has been released without your permission, please send an e-mail to info@hccsfoundation.org.