Privacy Statement

Visits to the VHL University of Applied Sciences (VHL) website are private. No one should be able to see what pages you are visiting or what you are looking at, neither should they be able to gain access to your personal data. For this reason, we do everything possible to protect your private information. When processing personal data, we comply with the requirements established by the General Data Protection Act. These include the following:

  • clearly stating the purposes for which the personal data will be processed. This information is provided in this privacy statement;
  • requesting your explicit consent to process your personal data in instances where such consent is required;
  • taking appropriate security measures to protect your personal data and setting requirements for the parties that we have commissioned to process personal data;
  • respecting your right to inspection, correction, and deletion of your personal data.

In this policy statement, we explain what we do with your personal data, how you can change these data, and who to contact if you have any questions. We therefore recommend that you carefully read this privacy statement.

Personal data

VHL processes your personal data, because you use our services or you have provided these data to us on your own. Below is a summary of the personal data that we process:

  • First name and surname
  • Address information
  • Phone number
  • E-mail address
  • Location data
  • IP address
  • Education preferences
  • Exam year
  • Prior education
  • Internet browser and type of device
  • Information about your activities on our website
  • Other personal information that you actively provide, e.g. in correspondence or by telephone

Data of minors (under 16 years of age)

In some cases, VHL processes personal data that involve minors. We do not intend to collect or process the specific information of minors, but we are aware that some website visitors are underage. If you are a minor, you must receive your parents’ permission for us to process your information. We are not always able to check whether our website visitors are underage.

We also recommend that parents be involved in the online activities of their children in order to prevent the data of children from being collected without parental consent. If you get the impression that we have collected personal data about a minor without this consent, please contact us at [email protected]. We will process your complaint and if it is discovered to be true, we will delete the information regarding the minor.

How long we retain data

VHL will not retain your data for longer than is strictly necessary to achieve the objectives for which the data has been collected. Our retention period is two years.

Sharing with others

VHL shares your personal data with various third parties when required to comply with an agreement or to satisfy any legal obligations. We conclude processing agreements with companies that we commission to process your data in order to ensure that the same level of security and confidentiality is employed regarding your data. VHL is still ultimately responsible for these processing actions.

Mapping out website visits

VHL uses functional, analytical, and tracking cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is stored in the browser of your computer, tablet, or smartphone during your first visit to the website. VHL uses cookies for purely technical purposes. We use them to optimise the website and to ensure that the website works as it should. These cookies allow us to do things such as saving your user preferences and ensuring that the website works properly.

We also use cookies to keep track of your browsing behaviour, so that we can provide you with customised content and advertisements. During your first visit to the website, we will inform you about these cookies and request your consent to use them. You can opt out of using cookies by changing the settings in your internet browser so that it does not save them. You can also change the browser settings to remove any information that has previously been saved. An explanation of this process can be found at Veiliginternetten.nl.

Third-party cookies are also used on this website. These include cookies from advertisers and social media companies. On behalf of these advertising programmes, www.vhluas.com uses advertising cookies that provide anonymous visitor information, such as the pages that have been visited, to relevant parties. Google, Twitter, and Facebook use these cookies to check whether you have previously seen or clicked on an advertisement on their platforms. The visitor information recorded is also used to provide visitors to www.vhluas.com with personalised advertisements.

Custom audiences

If you are 16 years or older and have given us your consent, VHL will use your e-mail address for Custom Audience targeting via Facebook. In this process, we encrypt your e-mail address by hashing it. Hashing is a technique used to convert your e-mail address into a unique code, a technique that is also used to safely check passwords. We only provide Facebook with the hash value, not your unencrypted e-mail address. More information on the purpose and scope of collecting data, including the processing and use of data by Facebook, and the settings options to protect your privacy, can be found in Facebook’s privacy policy.

If you do not want to be a part of a Custom Audience advertising tool, you can indicate this at any time by e-mailing the following address: [email protected].

If you want to opt out of advertisements from VHL advertisers other than Facebook, please visit www.aboutads.info/choices.

Please note! If you used one of the options above to opt out of targeted Facebook advertisements, you may still see advertisements from VHL on Facebook. This happens when Facebook links your profile to a general VHL advertising campaign, for example. We are not involved in this in any way. If you are unsure whether we have processed your opt-out request, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Inspecting, modifying, or removing data

You have the right to inspect, correct, or remove your personal data. Please send requests for inspection, correction, or deletion to [email protected].

Complaints

If you have any complaints about the processing of your personal data, we will be happy to assist you. In these cases, please contact our privacy officer at [email protected]. If we are unable to reach a resolution, privacy legislation gives you the right to submit a complaint to the privacy supervisory body, the Dutch Data Protection Authority. Please contact the Dutch Data Protection Authority to do so.

Security

VHL is serious about the protection of your data and has taken the appropriate measures to combat abuse, loss, unauthorised access, undesired publication, and unauthorised changes. If you are under the impression that your data are not being properly secured or there are signs of abuse, please contact our privacy officer at [email protected].

Disclaimer

See the disclaimer-page for the disclaimer.