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Privacy Notice for students

This Privacy Notice explains how Concordia University collects, uses, shares and protects your Personal Information on its website and in connection with its activities. This Notice also contains information about how you can exercise your rights, for example, to access or correct your information.

Overview

If you choose to provide us with Personal Information via our website or any other service involving the transmission of Personal Information, we assume that you agree to this information being processed as described in this Notice. In some instances, we may ask you to give express consent.

Why do we collect your Personal Information?

  • To process admission applications or enrolment requests;
  • For any other purpose required or permitted by law;
  • For payment processing purposes;
  • To communicate with you and answer your request(s).

What Personal Information do we collect about you & why?

Unless authorized by applicable law, we only collect Personal Information that is necessary for the exercise of our activities.

We collect different categories of Personal Information for a number of reasons.

1. When you create an account with Concordia University

2. When you apply for a program

3. When we communicate with you regarding acceptance in a program

4. When you make a payment

5. In communications with us throughout your studies and after graduation

How do we obtain your consent?

We collect, use and disclose your Personal Information with your consent or as permitted or required by law. How we obtain your consent (i.e., the manner in which we obtain it) depends on the circumstances.

Directly with you

Typically, we will seek your consent at the time your Personal Information is collected. If we want to use your Personal Information for a purpose not previously identified to you at the time of collection, we will seek your consent prior to our use of such information for this new purpose.

From a third party

We may collect your Personal Information from third parties. If we do so, we will ensure that we comply with applicable privacy laws.

If you provide us with Personal Information about another person, you are responsible for obtaining that person's consent.

With whom do we share your Personal Information?

Your Personal Information is shared internally with staff and faculty for the purpose of providing services to you during your lifecycle as a student at the University.

We may share your Personal Information with service providers to perform services on our behalf. We ask them to adopt appropriate confidentiality and security practices, procedures and measures in processing the information we share with them.

Category of third parties

What we share with them

What they do for us

Service providers:
  • Website management
  • Payment processing service
  • Electronic learning platforms
  • First and last name
  • Email address
  • Enrolment information including program of study
  • Student ID number
  • Payment information
  • They help us process payments, host our websites and provide you with electronic learning platforms.
Public bodies or partners in Quebec, including:
  • The Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur (MES)
  • Libraries of other Québec universities with which Concordia University has established reciprocal borrowing agreements
  • Concordia University student associations
  • The school or college where you graduated
  • Authorities involved with the external or internal funding of your fees
  • Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI)
  • First and last name
  • Email address
  • Optionally, home address
  • Enrolment information including program of study and status in a program
  • Student ID number
  • Biographical information
  • The information is shared for the application of various laws in Quebec.
  • They help us provide certain services to you including interlibrary loans.
  • They help in the administration of tuition fees.
Experiential learning partners
  • First and last name
  • Email address
  • Optionally, home address
  • Enrolment information including program of study and status in a program
  • Student ID number
  • Biographical information
  • They help us provide certain services to you related to experiential learning.

How do we protect your Personal Information?

We have procedures in place that provide security measures for access to physical and electronic records containing the Personal Information that is under our control. For example, only authorized personnel have access to both the physical and electronic files containing Personal Information. Personal Information stored electronically is adequately protected by security measures and passwords and is accessible only to personnel who require access to perform their duties.

Where do we keep your Personal Information?

We currently keep your Personal Information in Québec. If necessary, it may be stored and processed in another province or country where we use third party services. If your Personal Information is processed outside of Quebec, our practices regarding your Personal Information will at all times be governed by this Notice and applicable privacy laws.

How long do we keep your Personal Information?

We will keep your Personal Information in accordance with our business and legal obligations and only as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill those obligations, subject to the time limits set out in our retention schedule.

What rights do you have regarding your Personal Information?

We take steps to ensure that your Personal Information is kept as accurate, complete and up-to-date as reasonably possible. Where necessary, we expect you to provide us with updates to your Personal Information.

Right of access and correction

You may request access to and a copy of the Personal Information we have about you.

If any Personal Information about you is inaccurate, incomplete or misleading, or if its collection, disclosure or retention is not permitted by law, you may request that it be rectified.

If any Personal Information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, in some instances, you may be able to correct the information via your student portal. If it is not possible to correct the information on your own via your student portal, you can submit a request to the Birks Student Service Centre or contact the Privacy Officer by email at privacy.office@concordia.ca.

You may also request information from us about the ways in which your Personal Information was collected from you, as well as the names of the individuals and organizations who have access to your information and details about how long we store it.

Right of withdrawal of consent

You may refuse to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of your Personal Information. In some cases, refusal to consent to the collection request may mean that we will not be able to process your application, to answer your request or to deliver a document such as a diploma.

You may also withdraw your consent to our collection, use or disclosure of Personal Information indicated as optional at the time of the collection by using the contact information in the How to contact us section. However, before we implement the withdrawal of consent, we may require proof of your identity.

Note that in some cases, withdrawal of your consent may mean that you will not be able to obtain required services. We will indicate the possible consequences of your withdrawal, if any.

Where applicable, you may have the right to request that the Personal Information held about you no longer be disseminated.

How to exercise your rights

To exercise your rights, please send a written request, with proof of your identity, to our Privacy Officer, Me Frederica Jacobs.

Once your request has been received, we will provide you with a written response no later than 30 days from the date of receipt of your request.

In some specific cases, we may refuse to provide you with the Personal Information requested or we may redact (black out) certain information from the records that we provide to you.

For any questions or complaints, please contact our Privacy Officer.

How to contact us

Please direct any requests, questions, complaints or comments regarding this Notice or our privacy practices to the Privacy Officer at the contact information provided below.

Privacy Officer
Me Frederica Jacobs
1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Room GM-620
Montreal, QC  H3G 1M8
privacy.office@concordia.ca

How will we update our website Privacy Notice?

Please check this page regularly to stay informed of changes to this Notice, as we may update it from time to time.

If we change the website Privacy Notice, we will make an updated notice available on our website 15 days before the changes take effect, indicating:

  1. The date of the update Notice,
  2. the amendments made and
  3. the effective date of the amendments (if later than the date of the publication).

Your continued use of our website following the implementation of the revised Notice indicates that you have read, understand and agree to the current version.

Questions and comments

For questions or for more information on accessing documents held by Concordia, please contact:

Gabriel Desjardins
Officer, Access and Privacy
Office of the Secretary-General
gabriel.desjardins@concordia.ca 
514-848-2424, ext. 4804

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