Terms of Use

ECU Website

The information contained on Official University Web Pages is provided pursuant to the established teaching, research, and service missions of the University. While the University strives to provide the best information possible, East Carolina University makes no representations or warranties, either express or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided. All information is provided “as-is”.

By using this website, you agree to abide by this Privacy Policy as well as any other applicable policies.

East Carolina University shall not be liable for any damages of any kind, including consequential or incidental damages, arising from the submission, installation, maintenance, transmission, copying, modification, distribution or use of any information/materials.

Links to Internet resources outside of the ecu.edu domain are provided solely for the convenience of those viewing Official University Web Pages. Provision of these links is in no way an endorsement of the linked sites by East Carolina University, nor is East Carolina University in any way responsible for the content and/or operation of these sites.

Unofficial Web Pages (including, but not limited to personal web pages of ECU students, employees, and officially recognized ECU student organizations) residing on ECU servers do not in any way constitute official University content. The views, opinions, and content of these pages are strictly those of the page author(S), and not of East Carolina University.

Consistent with the East Carolina University Web Page Policy, the authors of Official University Web Pages and Unofficial Pages represent to East Carolina University that all aspects of these pages comply with applicable state and federal law (including, but not limited to copyright, patent and trademark), ECU policy, and the policy of the University of North Carolina.

East Carolina University reserves the right to modify and/or delete web pages/web content without notice. Basis for such modification/deletion includes, but is not necessarily limited to:

  1. Out-of-date content;
  2. IT Resource Use Concerns;
  3. IT Security Concerns;
  4. The web page and/or its content is in violation of law or University policy

Oversight of University Web content will be consistent with the First Amendment.

East Carolina University does not guarantee that the system will function error-free or without interruption.

Copyright and Trademark

East Carolina University retains the copyright to all Official University Web Pages as permitted by the ECU Copyright policy and applicable law. East Carolina University retains all rights to its trade and service marks, and may not be used without express permission. It is the responsibility of all parties storing materials on web sites with an ECU domain address to ensure that such material is lawfully used and does not violate applicable ECU computer policies.

Privacy

East Carolina University is committed to protecting the privacy and accuracy of confidential information submitted by employees, students, and visitors to our Web site. However, because ECU is a public institution, some information collected from the ECU domain may be subject to the North Carolina PUBLIC RECORDS Law. Thus, in some cases we may be compelled by law to release information gathered from our Web servers. This may include server log information, e-mail messages sent to an individual identified on the Web site, and information collected from Web-based forms. We may share customer information with third parties to provide services on our behalf (e.g., IP address). We will not actively share personal, confidential information to other third parties unless required by law.

This website uses cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is sent by a website to your computer or mobile device where it is stored by your web browser. A cookie contains limited non-personal data, usually a unique identifier and the name of the site. This enables a website to recognize you as you move around the site and/or each time you revisit. Cookies are used for a wide variety of purposes such as to keep you logged in, to remember your preferences and settings, to analyze how the site is used by you, and to customize and personalize communications and market our activities to you.

Cookies may be served to you by the website you are visiting (a “first party cookie”) or by another organization providing services to that website, such as an analytics company or advertising network (a “third party cookie”). They will either be stored for the duration of your visit (a “session cookie”) or they will remain on your device for a fixed period, which could be months or even years, to remember you across multiple browsing sessions (a “persistent cookie”).

The information gathered is used to improve web services for our users. Google Analytics and Quantcast uses a browser cookie to gather and process data related to your browsing behavior on ECU websites. Data typically collected includes IP address, network location, hostname, web pages requested, referring web page, browser used, screen resolution, date and time. No personal information is stored within cookies. Additionally, cookies may be used in conjunction with University advertising and marketing. The university uses Google, Facebook, and other services to deliver advertisements across the Internet, and these ads may be targeted based on a user’s prior visits to specific areas of our site. If you choose, you may opt out of this feature by turning off cookies in your browser preferences, downloading a browser extension to block cookies, or by using the tools available at the Network Advertising Initiative’s “What are my options?” page.

Online Surveys and Other Information Provided by the User

In the course of using ECU Web sites, a user may choose to provide information to help East Carolina University serve that user’s needs or conduct research. At any time there are numerous online surveys being conducted on ECU Web sites. Person(s) responsible for conducting online surveys that collect personally-identifiable information should clearly state at the survey site the extent to which any information provided will be shared. Data from surveys may be shared with external third parties.

Public Forums

Units of East Carolina University may provide chat rooms, forums, message boards, and news groups for their users. Any information that is disclosed in these areas may become public information and a user should therefore exercise caution when deciding to disclose one’s personal information in such places. Chat sessions and discussion forums may be logged.

E-Commerce

ECU departments are allowed to provide online options for the selling of products, payments for services and collection of donations. Consumers will generally be directed to a non-ECU website to process their payments as normal protocol. The various payment methods in place across campus are required to be approved prior to implementation to ensure secure handling procedures are in place. Consumers should be cautious when providing personal information like a credit/debit card number if they are utilizing a public workstation/device or public internet/wifi connection. Public workstations and internet connections are not always secure and subject to increased risk.

Information We Gather

Our Web servers generate temporary logs that contain the following information:

  • Internet Address of Computer Being Used
  • Web Pages Requested
  • Referring Web Page
  • Browser Used
  • Date and Time

The data is used in aggregate by system administrators and Web content managers to tune the Web site for its efficiency and is not ordinarily associated with specific individuals. Summary reports produced from the logs help Web administrators to determine what Web browsers and pages are most popular.

The Way We Use Information

The ECU PiratePort portal requires clients to login using PirateID and passphrase. Client information is used to route the requested Web page and specific content to your computer for viewing. Essential and nonessential technical information helps us respond to your request in an appropriate format [or in a personalized manner] and helps us decipher technical difficulties.

Changes to our Web Terms of Use

We reserve the right to update and amend our Web Terms of Use as needed. A current version of the Privacy Policy will be posted on this Web site.

Contacting Us and Reporting Misconduct

For more information or to report any misconduct or abuse of this Web site, please email helpdesk@ecu.edu or contact the university help desk at 252-328-9866.