The right to privacy is a fundamental human right. Acknowledging this, Notre Dame of Dadiangas University, hereafter referred to as “School”, is committed to protecting its stakeholders’ data privacy by adhering to data privacy principles and using standard safety measures in the collection, processing, disclosure, and retention of personal data in accordance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (R.A. 10173), its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), issuances of the National Privacy Commission, and other applicable laws. School is dedicated to protecting the personal information of the Data Subjects. School follows three (3) principles in processing students’ personal information: Transparency, Legitimate Purpose, and Proportionality.

        School also strives to find a balance between your personal privacy and the free flow of information mandated by the Freedom of Information Act (Executive Order No. 2, s. 2016), especially when pursuing our legitimate interests and when necessary to carry out our responsibilities as an educational institution.

         If you are the parent or legal guardian of a student applicant or student (current or past) who is a minor (below 18 years old), please be aware that this data privacy notice refers to the personal data of your child/ward.

Information Collected

School collects, acquires, or generates your personal information in various forms, including paper-based, photographic and filmed pictures, digital, or online processing systems. Personal data collected may include information upon admission, information we acquire during your stay with us, and unsolicited information, particularly:

• Information you provide us during placement exams or enrollment upon acceptance into School. When you apply with us for admission, we collect, among others:
• Contact information such as complete name, email and physical addresses, telephone numbers, previous academic standing (Form 137, Form 138) and other contact details;
• It may obtain, hold and process the sensitive personal data (the term used by the DPA) of students including racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, biometric data, personal
• declaration/s pertaining to physical/behavioral/disciplinary conditions and degree program/s applying for;
• data about your personal circumstances, such as your family background, history, and other relevant circumstances, previous schools attended, academic performance, disciplinary record, employment record, and medical records; and
• any or all information obtained through interviews and/or during entrance tests or admission examinations.

Legal Guardian - Personal Data which includes name, address, contact information (e.g. telephone number, mobile number and email address). Government Issued IDs that are classified as sensitive personal information. Scholar Applicant/Student - Personal Data same as that of an Applicant/Student.

Legal Guardian of Scholar Applicant/Student - Personal Data same as that of the Legal Guardian, proof of financial standing that includes utilities billing statements, bank or credit card statements, and similar proofs of financial standing.

• Information we collect or generate after enrollment and during your stay with us: After you join School, we may also collect additional information about you, including but not limited to:
• Your academic or curricular undertakings, such as the classes you enroll in, scholastic performance, attendance record, etc.;
• Details of co-curricular activities, e.g. internship, on-the-job trainings, apprenticeships, service-learning, and other university-sanctioned extension services;
• Your extra-curricular activities, such as membership in student organizations, leadership positions, and participation and attendance in seminars, competitions, programs, outreach activities, and field trips;
• CCTV footage from surveillance cameras installed across the campus for security purposes;
• Any disciplinary incident that you may be involved in, including accompanying sanctions; and
• There will also be times when we will acquire other forms of data like pictures or videos of activities you participate in, via official documentation of such activities or through recordings from closed-circuit security television (CCTV) cameras installed within school premises.
• Unsolicited Information. It's possible that your personal information is provided to or received by School without School’s prior request. In such cases, School will determine if we can legitimately keep such information. If it is not related to any of our legitimate interests, we will immediately dispose of the information in a way that will safeguard your privacy. Otherwise, it will be treated in the same manner as information you provide to School.

Use of Information

To the maximum extent allowed by law, School may use personal data to pursue its objectives as an educational institution. This may include a variety of academic, administrative, research, historical, and statistical purposes. For example, School may use the information to:

• Process admission applications and student selection (and to confirm the identity of prospective students and their parents);
• Verify the authenticity of student records and documents;
• Process confirmation of incoming, transfer students in preparation for enrollment;
• Gather and maintain records, manually, electronically, or through other methods, of class attendance and participation in curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities, and other activities;
• Monitor and report on student progress, such as homework, seatwork, quizzes, essays and presentations, long tests, exams, term papers, theses, dissertations, culminating or integrating projects, research papers, reflection papers, processing of evaluations, exam results, and grades;
• Record, generate, and maintain records, whether manually, electronically, or by other means, of grades, academic history, class schedules, class attendance and participation in curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities;
• Establish and maintain student information systems such as creation, activation, and reactivation of student’s portals;
• Share grades between and among faculty members, and others with legitimate official need, for academic deliberations and evaluation of student performance;
• Process scholarship applications, grants, allowances, reports to benefactors, and other forms of financial assistance;
• Investigate incidents relating to student behavior and implement disciplinary measures;
• Maintain directories and alumni records;
• Compile and generate reports for statistical and research purposes;
• Provide services such as medical or health, insurance, counseling, information technology, library, sports/recreation, transportation, parking, campus mobility, safety, and security;
• Manage and control access to campus facilities and equipment, whether manually, electronically, through Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), or other means;
• Communicate official school announcements;
• Share marketing and promotional materials regarding school-related functions, events, projects, and activities;
• Solicit your participation in research and non-commercial surveys sanctioned by School;
• Process and generate financial records, including payments and statements of accounts;
• Process applications for graduation and evaluation for board examinations;
• Enable distance learning and learning from home, and other learning management systems and online learning tools;
• Support synchronous learning via video conferences.
• Utilize for educational, research, and institutional quality assurance purposes, such as in establishing trends in admission to programs in order to inform decisions on future program offerings and projected resource needs; and
• Use in emergency situations to protect the vital and medical interest of the applicant/student.

If we are to use your personal information for purposes other than our legitimate interests as an academic institution, we will obtain your written consent for that specific purpose, unless you request us to use or share your personal information for such purpose, or processing without your permission is allowed under the Data Privacy Act or other applicable laws.

Please note further that School will not subject your personal data to any automated decision-making process without your prior consent.

Information Sharing and Data Transfer

Personal data under the custody of School shall be disclosed only to authorized recipients of such data. Otherwise, we will share your personal data with third parties, other than your parents and/or guardian on record for minors, only with your consent, or when required or permitted by our policies and applicable law. For example, we may share, disclose, or transfer your personal data for purposes such as but not limited to:

• Posting of acceptance to the University; award financial aid and scholarship grants; post class lists, class schedules, online or on school bulletin boards or other places within the campus;
• Communicate information to parents, guardians, or next of kin, as prescribed by law, on a need-to-know basis, or as determined by the University, in order to best serve your interests and to ensure your health, safety, and security, or that of others;
• Share data with relevant departments and authorized personnel within the university for academic, administrative, and support purposes;
• Disseminate information to donors, funders, or benefactors to encourage contributions for scholarships, grants, and other forms of assistance;
• Disclosures to recognize students’ achievements, such as through the publication and distribution of the commencement exercises, and other materials containing the names of graduates, their respective courses/certificates, and honors received, or sharing of relevant information with honor societies or entities that confer awards with your consent;
• It is a statutory requirement for School to send some of the information it holds to these government agencies every year: (e.g., Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Bureau of Immigration (BI) re: foreign students, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) for those who intend to take licensure examinations, Civil Service Commission (CSC) for honor graduates for civil service eligibility), and potentially other such organizations for defined purposes, when required or allowed by law;
• Sharing of information with entities or organizations (e.g., Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU), International Organization for Standardization (ISO) auditors, and Marist Education Council (MEC)) for evaluation, accreditation, and university ranking purposes, ensuring they adhere to data protection standards;
• Providing academic records of student athletes to sports organizations where School is a member or is participating, (e.g., Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA), and Notre Dame Educational Association (NDEA)) for determining eligibility in sports or academic competitions, as well as other similar events;
• Compliance with court or quasi-judicial agency subpoenas, orders, and other legal processes or statutory requirements, in order to prosecute or defend legal claims;
• Conducting research or surveys for institutional development and marketing and promotional activities of School’s programs, research, extension services, and initiatives;
• Publishing academic, co-curricular, and extra-curricular achievements and success, including honors lists and names of awardees in school bulletin boards, website, social media sites, and publications;
• Use of photos, videos, and other information in order to promote the school, including its activities and events, through marketing or advertising materials, such as brochures, website posts, newspaper advertisements, physical and electronic bulletin boards, live-streaming of School’s events and other media;
• Publication of communications with journalistic content, such as news information in School publications, and social media sites;
• Live-streaming of School’s events;
• Business partners and other academic linkages who provide internships and job opportunities to our graduates;
• Provide references to education institutions and employers, usually with the consent of the student or graduate;

Storage and Retention of Information

Your personal data is stored and transmitted securely in a variety of paper and electronic formats, including databases that are shared between the School’s different units or offices. Only authorized personnel are given the rights to access the data thru various access control mechanisms who have a legitimate interest in them for the purpose of carrying out their contractual duties.

The applicants’ data that are transferred to the Office of the University Registrar upon acceptance and enrollment are stored by the university in perpetuity as needed by general practices of registrars of universities. Although there is a clause on not allowing perpetual storage of personal data under RA10173 for undeclared and unforeseen purposes, the university is applying the National Privacy Commission Advisory Opinion 2017-24 as a basis for the storage of the personal data in perpetuity which includes the Diploma and the Transcript of Records of the student.

School retains your personal data only for as long as necessary for the fulfillment of the purposes for which it was obtained, and in accordance with our records management policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Once your personal data is no longer necessary for these purposes, or upon your request, we will securely dispose of or anonymize it to prevent further processing, unauthorized access, or disclosure.

Data Protection and Security

The integrity, confidentiality, and security of your personal data are paramount to us. School strictly enforce information security policies and implement technological, organizational, and physical security measures to safeguard your personal data. Access to your personal data is limited to authorized School personnel who have a legitimate interest in it for the purpose of carrying out their contractual duties.

Individual Rights

Individuals whose personal data and sensitive personal data is held by the School have the following rights regarding their data:

• The right to be informed – As a data subject you have the right to be informed that your personal data shall be, are being or have been processed. The right to be informed about the processing of your personal data through this and other applicable privacy notices.
• The right to access – concomitant to your right to be informed, you also have the right to gain reasonable access to your personal data.
• The right to object - Students can object to the processing of their personal data by School in certain circumstances, including the sending and receipt of direct marketing material. Kindly note however that, as mentioned above, there are various instances when the processing of personal data you have provided is necessary for us to comply with School’s mandate, statutory and regulatory requirements, or is processed using a lawful basis other than consent.
• The right to damages – you may claim compensation if you suffered damages due to inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, false, unlawfully obtained or unauthorized use of personal data, considering any violation of your rights as a data subject.
• The right to file a complaint – If you are the subject of a privacy violation or personal data breach, or who are otherwise personally affected by a violation of the DPA may file a complaint. The right to lodge a complaint before the National Privacy Commission provided that you first exhaust administrative remedies by filing a request with the proper offices or a complaint with the DPO through the email address indicated below regarding the processing of your information, or the handling of your requests for access, correction, blocking of the processing of your personal data and the like.
• The right to rectification – You have the right to dispute any inaccuracy or error in your personal data and have the personal information controller correct it immediately, unless the request is vexatious or unreasonable.
• The right to data portability – allows you to manage your personal data, and to transmit your data from one personal information controller to another.

Other School Policies

Other policies of School, which are not inconsistent with this one, will continue to apply. If any provision of this Policy is found to be unenforceable or invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision will not affect the validity of the other provisions, which shall remain in full force and effect.