Privacy Policy

The Virtual Immersive Platform (VIP) is a digital platform developed by the Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub to connect students, educators, institutions, and communities with educational resources, programs, projects, innovation opportunities, and other materials.

VIP includes public informational pages and The Source, a repository where visitors can explore projects and access publicly available resources.

The current version of VIP does not require visitors to create an account to browse public content or download publicly available resources.

VIP does not currently require visitors to provide personal information to browse the website or access publicly available resources.

Some pages may provide links to external forms, registration systems, programs, or other third-party services. If you choose to provide information through those services, the information you provide may be subject to the privacy practices and policies of the applicable service.

If you contact the Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub directly, we may receive the information you choose to provide as part of that communication.

Like most websites and cloud-hosted services, VIP and its supporting infrastructure may automatically generate limited technical information when the website is accessed.

This information may include:

• Internet Protocol (IP) address
• Browser and device information
• Date and time of a request
• Pages or resources requested
• Server and application activity
• Error and diagnostic information
• Security-related events

Technical and operational information associated with VIP may be used to:

• Operate and maintain the website
• Deliver requested pages and resources
• Monitor website reliability and performance
• Diagnose errors and technical problems
• Protect the security and integrity of the platform
• Detect or investigate suspicious or unauthorized activity
• Support maintenance and troubleshooting
• Meet applicable institutional, security, legal, or regulatory requirements

VIP does not currently use cookies for advertising, targeted marketing, or user-behavior tracking.

VIP also does not currently use third-party analytics tools to build profiles of visitors or track their activity across websites.

Standard browser, server, or infrastructure technologies may still be necessary to deliver website content and operate the underlying service. These technologies are used for technical, security, or operational purposes rather than advertising or behavioral tracking.

If VIP introduces analytics, authentication, personalization, or other features that materially change these practices, this Privacy Policy will be updated as appropriate.

VIP may contain links to third-party websites and services, including services related to forms, registration, programs, challenges, media, or other educational resources.

When you leave VIP or interact directly with a third-party service, that service may collect information according to its own privacy practices.

The Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub does not control the privacy practices of third-party websites and services. We encourage visitors to review the applicable privacy policies before providing personal information to an external service.

The Source provides access to educational materials, project outputs, grant resources, and other digital assets.

Public resources can currently be accessed without creating a VIP account.

Requests to access or download these resources may generate standard technical or infrastructure records, such as server requests, IP addresses, timestamps, or security logs. These records may be used to operate, secure, and troubleshoot the platform.

We do not sell personal information collected through VIP.

Technical, operational, or voluntarily provided information may be accessible to authorized personnel when reasonably necessary to operate, maintain, secure, or support VIP.

This may include:

• Authorized Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub personnel
• California State University, Northridge personnel responsible for technology, security, accessibility, compliance, or platform operations
• Service providers supporting the hosting, operation, security, or maintenance of VIP
• Other parties when disclosure is required by applicable law, regulation, legal process, or university policy

We take reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures to protect information associated with VIP.

VIP’s technical infrastructure is designed to support secure network communications, controlled access to systems and resources, protected storage, and operational monitoring.

However, no website, network, or electronic system can guarantee absolute security.

Technical and operational information may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to support security, troubleshooting, platform operations, institutional requirements, and applicable legal obligations.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type and purpose of the information.

VIP provides educational information and resources that may be relevant to students and educators, including K–12 communities.

The current public website does not require children or other visitors to create accounts or provide personal information to access publicly available VIP content.

Programs, events, forms, or third-party services involving minors may be subject to additional consent, privacy, and institutional requirements separate from general use of the VIP website.

If you believe personal information from a child has been collected through VIP inappropriately, please contact us.

VIP is an evolving platform.

Future versions may introduce features such as user accounts, authentication, personalized experiences, challenge participation, project submissions, file uploads, or other interactive services.

These features may require the collection or processing of additional information.

If future functionality materially changes our privacy practices, this Privacy Policy will be updated to explain what information is collected, why it is collected, and how it is used and protected.

We may update this Privacy Policy as VIP evolves or as our technical, institutional, or legal requirements change.

The Last Updated date at the top of this page indicates when this Privacy Policy was most recently revised.

If you have questions or concerns about privacy or this Privacy Policy, please contact:

Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub California State University, Northridge Email: [Privacy/Hub Email] Website: [VIP Website URL]