Version Date: April 2025
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GENERAL
Western Theological Seminary (“Western Theological Seminary” or “we” or “us” or “our”) respects the privacy of everyone (“Sites’ visitor” “user” or “you”) that uses our website at westernsem.edu, as well as other device or online applications related or connected thereto (collectively, the “Sites”).
The following Western Theological Seminary Privacy Notice (“Privacy Notice”) is designed to inform you, as a user of the Sites, about the types of personal information that Western Theological Seminary may gather about or collect from you in connection with your use of the Sites. It also is intended to explain the conditions under which Western Theological Seminary uses and discloses that personal information, and your rights in relation to that personal information.
The Sites are hosted in the United States and are subject to U.S. state and federal law. If you are accessing our Sites from other jurisdictions, please be advised that you are transferring your personal information to us in the United States, and by using our Sites, you are agreeing to that transfer and use of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Notice. You also agree to abide by the applicable laws of the State of Michigan and U.S. federal law concerning your use of the Sites and your agreements with us. If your use of the Sites would be unlawful in your jurisdiction, please do not use the Sites.
Company Information Western Theological Seminary
101 E 13th St
Holland, MI 49423
Email: info@westernsem.edu
Phone: (616) 392-8555HOW WE COLLECT AND USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Western Theological Seminary gathers personal information from users of the Sites. When you browse our Sites, subscribe to our services or contact us through various social or web forms you are voluntarily sharing personal information with us. This personal information also includes various data that we collect automatically. This may be the user’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, operating system, browser type and the locations of the Sites the user views right before arriving at, while navigating and immediately after leaving the Sites. It may also include various technical aspects of the user’s computer or browser and users’ browsing habits that are collected through cookies.
Western Theological Seminary may analyze various mentioned personal information gathered from or about users to help Western Theological Seminary better understand how the Sites are used and how to make them better. By identifying patterns and trends in usage, Western Theological Seminary is able to better design the Sites to improve users’ experiences, both in terms of content and ease of use. From time to time, Western Theological Seminary may also release the anonymized information gathered from the users in the aggregate, such as by publishing a report on trends in the usage of the Sites.
When we believe disclosure is appropriate, we may disclose your information to help investigate, prevent or take other action regarding illegal activity, suspected fraud or other wrongdoing; to protect and defend the rights, property or safety of Western Theological Seminary, our users, our employees or others; to comply with applicable law or cooperate with law enforcement; to enforce our Terms of Use or other agreements or policies, in response to a subpoena or similar investigative demand, a court order or a request for cooperation from a law enforcement or other government agency; to establish or exercise our legal rights; to defend against legal claims; or as otherwise required by law. In such cases, we may raise or waive any legal objection or right available to us. We will notify you if permitted before undertaking such disclosures.
Western Theological Seminary reserves the right to transfer all information in its possession to a successor organization in the event of a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy or other sale of all or a portion of Western Theological Seminary’s assets. Other than to the extent ordered by a bankruptcy or other court, the use and disclosure of all transferred information will be subject to this Privacy Notice, or to a new privacy notice if you are given notice of that new privacy notice and are given an opportunity to affirmatively opt-out of it.
DO WE USE COOKIES?
A “Cookie” is a string of information which assigns you a unique identification that a website stores on a user’s computer, and that the user’s browser provides to the website each time the user submits a query to the website. We use cookies on the Sites to keep track of services you have used, to record registration information regarding your login name and password, to record your user preferences, to keep you logged into the Sites and to facilitate purchase procedures. Western Theological Seminary also uses Cookies to track the pages that users visit during each of the Sites’ sessions, both to help Western Theological Seminary improve users’ experiences and to help Western Theological Seminary understand how the Sites is being used. As with other personal information gathered from users of the Sites, Western Theological Seminary analyzes and discloses in aggregated form information gathered using Cookies, so as to help Western Theological Seminary, its partners and others better understand how the Sites is being used.
SITES’ USERS WHO DO NOT WISH TO HAVE COOKIES PLACED ON THEIR COMPUTERS SHOULD SET THEIR BROWSERS TO REFUSE COOKIES BEFORE ACCESSING THE SITES, WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT CERTAIN FEATURES OF THE SITES MAY NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY WITHOUT THE AID OF COOKIES. SITES’ USERS WHO REFUSE COOKIES ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY RESULTING LOSS OF FUNCTIONALITY.
DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Western Theological Seminary does not and will not sell, rent, or share your personal information—including your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, or any other contact or identifying information—with third parties for marketing, advertising, or lead generation purposes.
We may share personal information only with authorized service providers who are contractually obligated to use your information solely to provide services on our behalf, such as processing payments or managing event registrations. These providers are not permitted to use your information for their own purposes or to share it with others.
Western Theological Seminary takes your privacy seriously and adheres to a strict policy of confidentiality. Any sharing of information is limited to what is necessary to fulfill the services you have requested and is governed by appropriate data protection agreements.
THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS
We may share your personal information, including your name and contact information, only with authorized service providers who are contracted to perform specific tasks on our behalf. These tasks may include order fulfillment, technical support, or event management. These service providers are strictly prohibited from using your information for any marketing, advertising, or independent purposes.
[Remaining sections on analytics, social media, security, privacy rights, etc. remain unchanged from the original version unless updates are requested.]
CONTACT
If you have any questions regarding our Privacy Notice, please contact our Data Protection Officer at:
Western Theological Seminary
Anne Chanski
101 E 13th St
Holland, MI 49423
Email: info@westernsem.edu
Phone: (616) 392-8555