Privacy Policy

If you contact BKU (such as by submitting contact forms on our sites, reaching out to us via chat, attending BKU events or other occasions, sending an email, or by visiting social media platforms), we process Information about you to communicate with you and to respond to your requests or other inquiries. We can also process PII to interact with you on outside entity social networks.

When you choose to register with us (such as to access our student portal or learning management system), we need to process the PII provided by you so that we can create a BKU account for you.

We may process PII in order to analyze, develop, improve and optimize the use, function and performance of our sites and services, including for quality assurance and training purposes, as well as for marketing and recruitment campaigns. This includes processing PII to conduct surveys to improve BKU services. In case the sites permit you to participate in interactive discussions, create a profile, post comments, opportunities or other content, or communicate directly with another user or otherwise engage in networking activities on BKU sites, BKU may process PII when moderating these activities.

If you subscribe to our newsletters or publications, we process Information about you to manage your subscription.

We may collect site use data for security and operations management to help keep our sites, facilities, networks and systems secure, or to investigate and prevent potential fraud, including academic fraud and cyber-attacks and to detect bots.

BKU must comply with national and local laws and regulations related to privacy in Sierra Leone. In some cases, we have to process PII to comply with applicable laws and regulations. For example, to respond to a legally issued subpoena for records, request from a regulator, or to defend a legal claim. We may also process PII in the performance and operation of our business, such as to conduct internal audits and investigations or for finance and accounting and archiving and insurance purposes.

We must process Information about students for admissions, enrollment, and academic assessment and support purposes. This includes but is not limited to processing Information about students to:

• Evaluate background to make admissions decisions
• Administer student accounts (including charging and collecting tuition and fees)
• Administer student financial assistance and scholarship programs
• Process registration and completion of classes necessary to satisfy enrollment requirements and degree requirements
• Schedule and staff courses
• Assign coursework, administer exams, and/or facilitate group instruction and learning
• Maintain student educational records
• Provide student support services
• Evaluate academic performance
• Manage access to BKU information resources

We collect and process Information about you to evaluate your personal, educational, and work background in order to make employment decisions and otherwise process such applications, to compile statistical data to evaluate the university's compliance with employment laws. We also process PII to manage payroll and benefits accounts, to maintain personnel files and evaluate performance, and to manage access to BKU information resources.

• As an educational organization, Information about you may be accessed and/or shared within BKU's organization.
• BKU may monitor, analyze, and record learner activities such as engagement patterns and behaviors to better understand and support student success.
• BKU employees and contractors are authorized to access PII only to the extent necessary to serve the applicable purpose(s) and to perform their job functions.

• We may disclose PII to outside entities in order for those entities to perform business functions on behalf of BKU.
• We also disclose PII as required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or other legal process, when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to government requests, including public and government authorities in Sierra Leone and internationally, for national security and/or law enforcement purposes.
• We may disclose PII to outside entities at the request of the data subject.
• When outside entities are given access to PII, we will take appropriate contractual, technical, and organizational measures designed to ensure that PII is processed only to the extent that such processing is necessary, consistent with this Privacy Policy, and in accordance with applicable law.

BKU does not sell your PII to outside entities.

BKU websites, analytics tools, and selected outside entity online advertising networks store small fragments of text, called "cookies," in the visitor's web browser with limited information such as how the visitor was directed to the website (for example, from an advertisement), which advertisement was displayed to the visitor, whether the visitor has submitted a form, or how recently the visitor last accessed university websites.

BKU uses these cookies to measure the performance of university websites and advertising, to provide interest-based advertising messages, and to inform development of new content, functionality, or services. Please review your internet browser's help file for instructions on rejecting or deleting cookies.

BKU partners with outside entity media agencies to run advertisements and to measure performance of that advertising across a myriad of placements, which may include websites, mobile applications, streaming platforms, or a variety of media networks.

BKU's advertising efforts include ads targeted to new prospective students; prospective students who have previously visited the university's web properties; and current and/or former students.

Audiences targeted with BKU advertisements are identified within advertising networks and/or platforms based on a variety of qualifiers (e.g., demographics, behaviors, etc.) or prior actions. The given qualifiers used are based on advertising performance data and aggregate data on prospective, current, and/or former students. BKU shares limited PII with outside entities in order to conduct targeted advertising.

BKU digital advertisements may appear on a variety of sites across the internet, or within applications, including those owned and operated by advertising networks/platforms, such as Google, Facebook, and other social media platforms. BKU advertisements are not guaranteed to appear on all of these sites at any given time and this list is to serve as a representative sample of the types of channels used within BKU's digital advertising efforts.

To opt-out of targeted BKU advertising on specific websites/advertising networks, you may review how cookies are being used/stored in the internet browser you are using via your browser settings and/or closely monitor your privacy settings on any social media channels utilized. You may also contact us directly to request removal from marketing communications.