Privacy Statement

Florida A&M University Privacy Statement

At Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), we are committed to protecting and respecting the privacy, security, and accuracy of your personal information. The University is dedicated to ensuring that we abide by applicable federal and state laws and implementing University regulations and policies that protect the privacy and confidentiality of personally identifiable information. This Privacy Statement describes how we collect, use, and disclose your personal data when you interact with us through our website, applications, and other services. Please contact the Office of Compliance and Ethics (OCE), Privacy Program (PP), or the Department of Information Technology Services (ITS) with any questions or concerns regarding the notice.

It is imperative that we all recognize that threats to the privacy and security of individuals’ personal data remain on the rise. FAMU has and will continue reasonably and appropriately securing its systems and applications, maintaining policies to properly guide members of our University community, and investigating all issues involving suspected and actual data-related issues.

We have the discretion to update this Privacy Notice at any time. When we do, we will revise the updated date on this page. If we make material changes to this Privacy Notice, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on the University site prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage you to frequently check this page for any changes to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal data we collect. You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to review this Privacy Notice periodically and become aware of modifications.

As a member of the University community, it is vitally important that you let us know as soon as possible if you discover, or become aware of, a privacy or security incident that involves sensitive information. By addressing any incidents proactively and vigorously, we strive to safeguard the privacy of those individuals whom we serve all members of our University community.

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Use of Cookies and Similar Technologies
A cookie contains a small amount of visitor and website information stored on an individual’s computer. These files interact with the visitor and the website to provide a webpage tailored to the user through its awareness of information held within the file. Cookies also can carry all, or parts, of the information stored within the file to other websites that the individual may visit or to third parties.

Your personal information will be retained and/or disposed of in accordance with Florida law and FAMU’s records management policies and practices. 

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Electronic Mail (E-Mail) Communications
Under Florida law, most emails sent to FAMU are considered public record. If you do not want your email address released in response to a public records request, do not send email to FAMU. Instead, contact the office you wish to reach by phone or in person, as appropriate.

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Student Rights to Privacy
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a United States law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the United States Department of Education.

For students in K-12, FERPA gives parents certain rights, e.g., consent to disclose, right of inspection, or correction of their children’s education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are “eligible students.”

Generally, FAMU must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student’s education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to certain parties or under the specified conditions stated in 34 CFR § 99.31.

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Use of Third-Party Services

FAMU does not sell your personal information, yet we may share that information with third party service providers for the purposes of communicating with you regarding our educational programs and services or to facilitate improvement of our services, our websites, and our marketing efforts, or to help us provide services to the University community (e.g., software/information technology providers).

Some pages within the FAMU website may contain content that is provided by external third parties (graphics, logos, scripts, or similar). When you visit one of our pages that contains this third-party content, information such as IP address, date, browser, and device type, and requested page may be transmitted to that third party. Some pages may contain links to external third parties in order to provide services or products to you. FAMU is not responsible for the privacy practices of these external third parties. While we request these third parties protect your information, we do not make any representations about their practices and policies. These third parties may be subject to this Privacy Notice.

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Individual Rights under the GDPR and Similar Laws

FAMU is based in the State of Florida within the United States of America (U.S.), operates primarily in Florida, with its primary place of business in Florida. However, there are occasions when a particular foreign law may apply to FAMU, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR applies to any person who is located within the European Economic Area (EEA) regardless of citizenship or permanent residency.

The GDPR applies to entities wholly located outside of the EEA if:

• they process personal data of anyone located within the EEA, or
• offer goods and services or monitor behavior in the EEA, or
• transmit personal information to the EU for any purpose. For example: cloud server, payroll processor, or vendor. GDPR applies to all different types of entities.

Although FAMU may be subject to a foreign law (e.g., GDPR) under limited circumstances, if there is any conflict between such foreign law and any U.S. or Florida law, as a state entity of the State of Florida, FAMU will resolve that conflict in favor of U.S. and Florida law.

The GDPR, as well as similar laws and regulations, provide individuals who are covered by those laws and regulations the right to request, from FAMU, access to and rectification or erasure of their personal data, restriction of processing, objection to processing, the right to portability of their personal information, and the right to opt out of receiving communications for the purpose of marketing; however, the foregoing is specifically subject to U.S. and Florida law and in the event of a conflict between the GDPR or a similar law or regulation and the rights afforded individuals thereunder and U.S. and Florida law, FAMU will follow U.S. and Florida law.

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Updates to this Privacy Notice

Updates to this Privacy Notice occur periodically; this page was last updated April 24, 2024.

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Contacting Us 

If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy you may contact us using the information below.