Privacy Policy

Effective Date: November 4, 2026

Protecting Your Privacy 

Kalamazoo College (the “College,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. During your visit to our website, we may collect and store certain information automatically through cookies, pixels, tags, scripts, session replay tools, and similar technologies (collectively, “Tracking Technologies”), including your IP address, device and browser type, operating system, referring website, the pages you visit, the links you click, the date, time, and duration of your visit, and how you interact with each page (including mouse movements, clicks, scrolling, taps, and, subject to the masking described under “Analytics” below, text entered into on-screen fields). We use this information for the purposes described in this Policy. Some of this information (such as IP addresses and device identifiers) may be considered personal information under certain laws, and we may combine it with other information we hold about you. 

Scope of this Policy. This Policy applies only to information collected through the College website(s) that link to or display this Policy, including through forms, email communications sent through the website, and Tracking Technologies on those pages. It does not apply to information the College collects offline, through other College websites, portals, or applications that do not link to this Policy (which may have their own notices), or by third parties, including through third-party websites, applications, embedded content, or advertising that may be accessible from our website. The College may provide additional or different notices for specific services or activities, such as admissions applications, event registration, or online giving. 

By using this website, and by making selections in our cookie consent tool, you acknowledge that you have read this Policy and consent to the collection, recording, use, and disclosure of your information by the College and by the third-party providers identified in this Policy and in our Web Cookie Management Policy, in the manner described. If you do not agree, please do not use this website, or decline non-essential Tracking Technologies through the cookie consent tool.

Analytics 

We utilize Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics to capture how users interact with our website through tags, cookies, behavioral metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve the usability, accessibility, content, and performance of our website. Session replay technology records a visitor’s interactions with a page (such as mouse movements, clicks, scrolling, and taps) and can record text entered into on-screen fields unless the field is masked. The College configures Microsoft Clarity to mask user images and text from being sent to our servers by way of the “Balanced” masking mode. By default, Clarity masks all sensitive text and does not use session replay to collect email addresses, passwords, payment card numbers, or Social Security numbers entered by users. Microsoft and Google receive this information directly from your browser, may associate it with other information they hold about you, and may use it for their own purposes as described in their privacy policies. These tools are loaded only after you consent through our cookie consent tool. For more information about how Microsoft and Google collect and use data, please visit Microsoft Privacy Statement and Google Privacy Policy. 

We use the information we collect through this website, whether collected automatically or provided by you, to respond to inquiries, send admission and College communications, process applications, analyze and improve our website, deliver relevant advertising about the College, maintain security, protect the rights, property, and safety of the College, our community, and others, comply with legal obligations, and for any other purpose disclosed to you at the time of collection or to which you consent. The College does not use personal information collected through this website to train artificial intelligence or large language models; our analytics and advertising providers may use information they collect to improve their own services, including through machine learning, as described in their privacy policies. 

In addition to the choices available through our cookie consent tool (see “Cookies” below), you may limit collection by Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on. You can opt out of Clarity telemetry by selecting Microsoft in the DAA WebChoices Tool; the Protect My Choices browser app can preserve your opt-out preference. These third-party tools are not controlled by the College, and the College does not guarantee their availability or effectiveness. 

Personal Information 

Personally identifiable information that you provide directly to us (for example, your name, email address, telephone number, and mailing address) is collected when you choose to provide it, such as when you fill out and submit a web form, request information, apply for admission, register for an event, make a gift, or send us an email. We may share it: (a) with service providers that process information on the College’s behalf (such as website hosting, customer relationship management, email, payment, event, and analytics providers), who are contractually required to keep it confidential, to use it only to provide services to the College, and to maintain appropriate safeguards; (b) with advertising platforms, in hashed or otherwise de-identified form, to deliver College advertising to you or to similar audiences on third-party platforms, subject to the choices described in this Policy; (c) with affiliated College entities and organizations, such as alumni and giving organizations; (d) as required or permitted by law, subpoena, court order, or other legal process, or where we believe disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of the College, our community, or others; (e) in connection with a reorganization, merger, or transfer of College operations; and (f) with your consent or at your direction. To the extent any disclosure or use of your information through Tracking Technologies is considered a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information, targeted advertising, or profiling under applicable law, you may opt out as described under “Cookies” and “Your Privacy Rights” below. This information is also used to provide you with more targeted information about the College or its programs and to enable connections for Kalamazoo College alumni, students, staff, faculty, and families, as well as to enhance the user experience and services. The College uses the safeguards described under “Retention and Security” below; however, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure, and the College cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted to or through this website. In particular, email, chat, and web form submissions may not be secure, and any transmission of personal information is at your own risk; please consider carefully what information you send through those channels. 

The categories of personal information we may collect through this website include: 

  • Identifiers and contact information, such as name, email address, telephone number, mailing address, and, where you provide it, date of birth and student or applicant identifiers; 
  • Admissions, enrollment, event, and giving information you submit through forms, such as academic interests, intended enrollment term, affiliation with the College, and donation details; 
  • Device and Internet activity information collected automatically, such as IP address, device and browser identifiers, pages viewed, links clicked, referring website, and interactions with pages (including session replay data as described above); 
  • Approximate location derived from IP address; 
  • The contents of communications you send to us through the website, including email messages; and 

Inferences drawn from the above to understand interests in College programs. The categories of recipients to which we may disclose personal information are: service providers that act on the College’s behalf; advertising and analytics platforms (as described under “Analytics” and “Digital Marketing Technologies”); affiliated College organizations; government authorities, courts, and other parties as required by law; and successors in a reorganization or transfer of College operations. The categories of personal information disclosed to advertising and analytics platforms are device and Internet activity information, approximate location, and, where used for audience matching, hashed identifiers. 

We may use and disclose aggregated or de-identified information, which does not identify any individual, for any purpose, including institutional research and reporting. If we combine aggregated or technical information with personal information so that it identifies an individual, we treat the combined information as personal information. 

Cookies  

To optimize your web experience, we may store small amounts of information on your computer using cookies. Cookies and similar technologies (including pixels, tags, web beacons, and scripts) may be set by the College or by third parties. We use strictly necessary cookies to operate our website, analytics cookies and pixels to understand how visitors use it, targeting cookies and pixels to make our site and advertising more relevant to your interests, and functionality cookies to remember you and your preferences. Except for strictly necessary cookies, these technologies are deployed only after you consent through our cookie consent tool, and you may change or withdraw your consent at any time by selecting “Cookie Settings” in the website footer. Some state laws treat the use of targeting cookies and pixels as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information or as “targeted advertising.” Where required by applicable law, you may opt out of those uses, and the College treats a Global Privacy Control signal received from your browser as a request to opt out of targeting cookies. The College does not otherwise respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals. For additional information, including the specific cookies we use and how to manage them, please review the Kalamazoo College Web Cookie Management Policy, which is incorporated into this Policy by reference. 

Digital Marketing Technologies Used by the College 

The College and contracted service providers may use marketing technologies such as cookies and pixels provided by Google Ads, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and other advertising platforms  to automatically collect data about how visitors interact with the website, deliver College advertising on third-party websites and platforms, and provide measurement and attribution services. These technologies are deployed only after you consent through our cookie consent tool. When a pixel fires, the applicable platform may receive information such as the page you visited, the actions you took on that page, and identifiers associated with your browser, device, or platform account, and may associate that information with your account on that platform in accordance with its privacy policy. The College does not deploy advertising or targeting technologies on pages of our website that request or relate to health, counseling, disability services, Title IX or other reporting, financial aid, or other sensitive personal information, and does not knowingly use these technologies to collect sensitive personal information or consumer health data. The College also does not configure these technologies to transmit the titles of specific video content you view on our website together with information that identifies you. Information collected may be stored in tools such as Google Analytics, advertising platform accounts, and the College’s customer relationship management systems. You may opt out of interest-based advertising through the cookie consent tool, through the settings offered by the platforms listed above, and through the Digital Advertising Alliance’s WebChoices Tool at optout.aboutads.info and the Network Advertising Initiative’s opt-out page at optout.networkadvertising.org. 

Use of Links 

At various points on our websites, we provide links to other servers that may contain information of interest to our readers. This Policy applies only to information collected through the College’s website. We take no responsibility for and exercise no control over the views or accuracy of the information contained on these outside websites, their privacy practices, or any information you provide to them, and we encourage you to review their privacy policies. Our website may also embed content from third-party platforms (such as video players, maps, and social media plug-ins). Those platforms may set cookies or collect information about you when the content loads, even if you do not interact with it, and their privacy policies govern that collection. Also, if you wish to make a text link from your website to any portion of ours, you may do so without asking permission. 

Retention and Security 

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information. We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, to comply with legal, accreditation, and records-retention obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements, after which it is deleted or de-identified. Website server logs are retained for 4 days unless needed for a security investigation. This website logs IP addresses locally for security purposes. Advertising partners are prohibited from retaining our audience lists beyond the scope of the specific project.    

Enrolled students’ education records are protected under FERPA; this policy does not alter those rights. 

Children 

This website is not directed to children under 13, and the College does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through this website. If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information to us, please contact us using the information below so that we can delete it. Prospective students and other visitors between 13 and 17 may use this website and submit information through it; however, the College does not knowingly use the personal information of a visitor it knows to be under 16 for targeted advertising, sale, or profiling, or otherwise process it in a manner that requires consent under applicable law, without the consent that law requires. 

Your Privacy Rights 

Depending on where you live, you may have the right under applicable law to request access to, correction of, deletion of, or a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or to opt out of certain uses such as targeted advertising. To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@kzoo.edu. We may need to verify your identity before responding, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights. If we decline to act on your request, we will explain why, and where applicable law provides a right of appeal you may appeal our decision by replying to our response / emailing privacy@kzoo.edu with “Appeal” in the subject line; we will respond to your appeal within the time required by law and, if we deny it, tell you how to contact your state attorney general. 

Changes to This Policy 

We may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, law, or our practices. Changes will be posted on this page with a revised effective date, and your continued use of the website after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised Policy. If a change materially expands our use of Tracking Technologies, we will seek renewed consent through the cookie consent tool. 

Use of Text and Images 

If you would like to publish information that you find on our website, or use our logo or images, please send your request to info@kzoo.edu.  

Questions About Our Policies 

If you have any questions about this Policy, the practices of this website, or your dealings with this website, or wish to submit a privacy-related request, please contact us at privacy@kzoo.edu or by mail at Kalamazoo College, Attn: Sarah Frink, Senior Director of College Marketing & Communications, or Todd Watson, CIO, 1200 Academy Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006.