Privacy Policy

American College of Healthcare Sciences Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which American College of Healthcare Sciences (“ACHS”) and the Apothecary Shoppe College Store collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected directly from users (including site visitors, applicants, customers, students, and graduates, referred to collectively as “User” throughout this policy) using the ACHS (www.achs.edu) and affiliated websites, mobile apps, browser extensions and API-accessible databases (“Service”). This privacy policy applies to all products and services offered by ACHS and the Apothecary Shoppe College Store (www.apothecary-shoppe.com). This Privacy Policy governs our data collection, processing and usage practices and describes your choices regarding use, access and correction of your personal information. If you do not agree with the data practices described in this Privacy Policy, you should not use the ACHS or Apothecary Shoppe websites or services.

What Data Do We Collect?

We may collect personal data and identification information from Users in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, when Users visit our site, register on the site, are added by their employer or organization, place an order, subscribe to the newsletter, respond to a survey, fill out a form, and in connection with other activities, services, features or resources made available by ACHS. The types of information we ask for depend on the type of user. Newsletter subscribers may provide simply a name and email address. Students are required to provide more extensive personal information to ensure academic integrity. So, depending on the relationship with ACHS, Users may be asked for, as appropriate, name, email address, mailing address, phone number, profile photo, and similar directory information as well as personally identifiable information such as social security number, demographic information, billing information, and other data required to process student enrollment and registration information or retail orders. Information such as credit card numbers and social security numbers are only collected via PCI-compliant or SSL-secured sites. We collect personal data from Users only if they voluntarily submit such information to us. Users can always refuse to supply personally identification information, but be aware that this may prevent them from engaging in ACHS-sponsored activities, attending the institution, or completing retail transactions.

We may collect non-personal identification information about Users whenever they interact with our site and affiliated services. Non-personal identification information may include, but is not limited to, the browser name, operating system, IP address, versions, the type of computer and other technical information about Users device and software. This information is referred to as Navigational Information and is used to operate and improve our Websites and services. We may also use Navigational Information alone or in combination with Personal Information to provide you with personalized information about ACHS.

Log Files

When you use our services our view content provided by us, we automatically collect information about your computer hardware and software. This information can include your IP address, browser type, domain names, internet service provider (ISP), the files viewed on our site (e.g., HTML pages, graphics, etc.), operating system, clickstream data, access times and referring website addresses. This information is used by ACHS to provide you with support related to inquiring about studies or studying with ACHS, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the ACHS Website. For these purposes, we link this automatically-collected data to Personal Information such as name, email address, address, and phone number.

Information we collect from third parties

From time to time, we may receive Personal Information about you from third party sources including publicly available sources such as social media websites, professional organizations such as when graduates pass industry examinations, and sources such as the Department of Education for the purposes of administering Title IV federal student aid programs.

Information About Children

Our sites are not intended for or targeted at children, and we do not knowingly or intentionally collect information about compulsory age children without parental consent or notification; for example, compulsory age students may apply for admission to ACHS. If you believe that we have collected information about a compulsory age child without consent, please contact us at compliance@achs.edu, so that we may delete the information.

The ACHS and Apothecary Shoppe websites do not:

  1. Collect online contact information without prior parental consent or parental notification, which will include an opportunity for the parent to prevent use of the information and participation in the activity. Without prior parental consent, online information will only be used to respond directly to the child’s request and will not be used for other purposes without prior parental consent.
  2. Collect personally identifiable offline contact information without prior parental consent.
  3. Distribute to third parties, any personally identifiable information without prior parental consent.
  4. Give the ability to publicly post, or otherwise distribute personally identifiable contact information without prior parental consent.
  5. Entice by the prospect of a special game, prize, or other activity, to divulge more information than is needed to participate in the activity.
In Short:

We need some data from you to provide you quality products, services and instruction. We always take the security of your data very seriously and collect only what we need to provide you with the quality of service and instruction you deserve.

Why Do We Collect Data?

Compliance with Our Privacy Policy

We use the information we collect only in compliance with this Privacy Policy. We will never sell your Personal Information to any third party.

Use of Personal Information

In addition to the uses identified elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, we may use your Personal Information to:

  • Share ACHS programs, services, and informational content with you in accordance with your contact preferences
  • Share information about ACHS’s programs and services including retail products available from the Apothecary Shoppe College Store in accordance with your contact preferences
  • Meet legal requirements

Our legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described above will depend on the personal information concerned and the specific context in which we collect it. However, we will normally collect personal information from you only where we have your consent to do so, where we need the personal information to perform a contract with you, or where the processing is in our legitimate interests and not overridden by your data protection interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. In some cases, we may also have a legal obligation to collect personal information from you.

If we ask you to provide personal information to comply with a legal requirement or to perform a contract with you, we will make this clear at the relevant time and advise you whether the provision of your personal information is mandatory or not (as well as of the possible consequences if you do not provide your personal information). Similarly, if we collect and use your personal information in reliance on our legitimate interests (or those of any third party), we will make clear to you at the relevant time what those legitimate interests are.

Customer Testimonials and Comments

We post User testimonials, reviews, and comments on our Websites, which may contain Personal Information. We obtain each customer’s consent prior to posting the User’s name, location, program, and testimonial. Users can request that testimonials, reviews, and comments include only the initial of their last name and only their state instead of their town and State.

Use of Credit Card Information

If you provide us with billing or personal credit information, we use it solely to check your financial qualifications and/or collect payment from you. We use a PCI-compliant third-party service provider to manage credit card processing. This service provider is not permitted to store, retain, or use information you provide except for the sole purpose of credit card processing on our behalf.

Security of your Personal Information

We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your Personal Information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. We secure the Personal Information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. All Personal Information is protected using appropriate physical, technical and organizational measures.

Social Media Features

Our Websites include Social Media Features, such as the Facebook Like button and Widgets, such as the Share This button or interactive mini-programs that run on our sites. These features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our sites, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social Media Features and Widgets are generally hosted by a third party. This Privacy Policy does not apply to these features.  Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy and other policies of the companies providing them.

External Websites

Our Websites provide links to other websites. We do not control, and are not responsible for, the content or practices of these other websites. Our provision of such links does not constitute our endorsement of these other websites, their content, their owners, or their practices. This Privacy Policy does not apply to these other websites, which are subject to any privacy and other policies they may have.

Public Forums

We offer publicly accessible message boards, blogs, and community forums. Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose any information through our public message boards, blogs, or forums, this information may be collected and used by others. We will correct or delete any information you have posted on the Websites if you so request, as described in “Choice/Opt Out” below, if we have the means to do so.

Retention of Personal Information

How long we keep information we collect about you depends on the type of information, as described in further detail below.  As a higher education institution, we are generally required to maintain all student records indefinitely. Records for applicants and retail customers may be expunged in accordance with state and federal requirements.

We retain Personal Information that you provide to us where we have an ongoing legitimate business need to do so (for example, as long as is required in order to contact you about your interest in studying with ACHS, pursuant to the terms of your Enrollment Agreement, or as needed to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements).

When we have no ongoing legitimate business or educational need to store or process your Personal Information, we securely destroy information that is not part of a formal student record in accordance with state and federal requirements.  

If you have elected to receive marketing communications from us, we retain information about your marketing preferences for a reasonable period of time from the date you last expressed interest in our content, products, or services, such as when you last opened an email from us or ceased using your ACHS account.  We retain information derived from cookies and other tracking technologies for a reasonable period of time from the date such information was created.

In Short:

We use the data we collect from you to provide a high level of customer service, provide personalized data, and carry out the terms of our legal obligations to you as an applicant, student, graduate, or customer.

How Do We Share Information We Collect?

Service Providers

We employ other companies and people to assist us to provide services to our Users and may need to share your information with them to provide information, products or services to you. Examples may include analyzing data or performing statistical analysis, processing credit card payments, and providing customer service or support. In all cases where we share your information with such companies, we explicitly require the agent to acknowledge and adhere to our privacy and customer data handling policies and share data under contract.

Compelled Disclosure

We reserve the right to use or disclose your Personal Information if required by law or if we reasonably believe that use or disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or comply with a law, court order, or legal process. More information regarding our legal requirement to disclose student information can also be found online here under the requirements for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) guidelines.

In Short:

We will never sell your personal information and take every precaution to protect your data.

How to Access & Control Your Personal Data

Reviewing, Correcting and Removing Your Personal Information

You have the following data protection rights:

  • You can request access, correction, updates or deletion of your personal information.
  • You can object to processing of your personal information, ask us to restrict processing of your personal information or request portability of your personal information.
  • If we have collected and process your personal information with your consent, then you can withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.
  • You have the right to complain to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your personal information. Contact details for data protection authorities in the EEA, Switzerland and certain non-European countries (including the US and Canada) are available here.)

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at compliance@achs.edu or by mail to American College of Healthcare Sciences, 5005 SW Macadam Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97239, Attention: Privacy. We will respond to your request to change, correct, or delete your information within a reasonable timeframe and notify you of the action we have taken.

Choice/Opt-out

You have the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communication from the College or the Apothecary Shoppe at any time.

ACHS provides the following options for removing your information from our database, to discontinue receiving future communications, or if you wish to longer receive our service. Students cannot opt out of receiving transactional emails related to their account with us under the terms of an Enrollment Agreement.

  1. You can manage your preferences including fully opting out of electronic communications using the Manage Preferences link in the footer of ACHS emails. Note that this option may not be available within transactional emails sent under a legal requirement such as student notifications sent to carry out the terms of an Enrollment Agreement.
  2. You can send an email to compliance@achs.edu.
  3. You can send a letter to the following address:
    American College of Healthcare Sciences
    5005 S. Macadam Avenue
    Portland, OR 97239 USA

For corrections/updates, or contacting the webmaster regarding issues with this website, you may also use the above information.

In Short:

We want you to feel confident sharing your information with ACHS and the Apothecary Shoppe, and we want you to receive communications from us based on your preferences. If you have questions at any time or want to review or update your records, we are here to help.

Confidentiality

ACHS maintains the confidentiality of all student records. As an Institute of Higher Learning, the confidentiality of student records is governed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Learn more online at https://achs.edu/student-records-privacy-ferpa.

Contact:

American College of Healthcare Sciences
Attention: Privacy
5005 S. Macadam Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97239
503-244-0726

ACHS Data Controller Contact: Tracey Abell, President