Privacy Policy

This Policy applies to all alumni and donor records held by AUS, whether maintained in offline databases by the OAAA or created by individuals through online profiles on this website. AUS Office of Advancement & Alumni Affairs (OAAA) maintains a database of alumni and donors to stay in touch with our community and keep you updated about news, events, career initiatives, and fundraising activities. 

Some of our database (but not all) choose to join our online community by registering on this website and creating an online profile. In both instances (individuals with offline database records and individuals with online profiles), we collect and store personal information (or “data”) about you. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, and this Policy sets out what information we collect about you, where and how we use (“process”) it.

This privacy policy should be read in conjunction with the American University of Sharjah (AUS) Privacy Policy, which governs the broader data protection and privacy practices applicable to all AUS platforms and services. For more information, please refer to the AUS Privacy Policy

We may change this Policy from time to time. If we make any significant changes, we will advertise this on the website or contact you directly with the information. Please check this page occasionally to make sure you are happy with any changes. 

If you have any questions about this Policy or concerning your personal information, please email us at  PrivacyOfficer@aus.edu.

What type of personal information do we collect

The information we have about you depends on where we collect it, but may include:

• First name
• Last name
• Email 
• Address
• Photographs
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Family relationships
• Years at AUS
• Higher education and work details
• Participation in our events, emails, competitions, surveys, and other activities 
• Donations made to AUS
• Geo-location data (your geographical location based on your IP address)
• Log-ins and activity on the website
• A record of payments made via the website (but we do not store your credit/ debit card details as these are processed securely externally by a third-party payment provider), which could include event tickets, shop purchases or online donations
• Consent options and communication preferences
• Content (such as announcements, stories, photos, documents, comments, events, jobs) that you post on this website or provide to us by other means
• Messages that you send to other community members via the direct messaging system when logged in to this website

Where do we collect information from

We collect personal information when you:

• Visit this website
• Create or update your online profile
• Post content on this website or other websites and social media sites managed by AUS
• Take part in an event
• Attend a meeting with us and provide us with information
• Contact us in any way, including online, email, phone, SMS, social media, or post
• Open an email sent from this website
• Send a message via the direct messaging system on this website
• Some basic details about you are retrieved from Student information System

How do we use your information

We will use your personal information in a number of ways, always with a legal basis for processing your data. These may include:

• Providing you with the information or updates that you have asked for
• Sending you communications (with your consent if required) that may be of interest, including invites to events, newsletters and fundraising campaigns
• Seeking your views on the services or activities we carry out, so that we can make improvements
• Updating our records and ensuring we know how you prefer to be contacted
• Analysing your engagement with our website and other content to help us improve our services for you
• Running our mentoring programme/ club activities/ reunion events/ sports fixtures
• Displaying your name as a list of potential ‘matches’ when you (or someone with similar details) signs-up for an event, make a donation, or join the online community, and the system is trying to match your information to an existing record stored in our database

Our legal basis for processing your information

The use of your information for the purposes set out above is lawful because one or more of the following applies:

• You have given us your consent for the information to be used
• It is necessary for us to hold and use your information to carry out our obligations under a contract entered into with you
• It is necessary for our legitimate interests to hold and use your information, and we are not impacting your privacy by doing so

Updating your consent preferences

If you have an online profile on this website, you can update your consent options by logging in and clicking on “My Settings” in your profile.  Scroll down to find your ‘Consent options’, where you will see a list of consents and the options “opt-in”, “opt-out”, and “unspecified”. 

Via ‘My Settings’, you can also choose to hide your profile from Google, limit access to your profile so that it’s only viewable to your connections, and adjust some of the automatic notifications that you receive from this website.  Please note that your name (but not full profile) may appear in various places around the community website, such as a ‘Recent Joiners’ box and in ‘Search’ results, irrespective of the privacy settings you have selected.  

If we are using consent as our legal basis for processing your data, we must have an explicit “opt-in” from you for this specific type of processing. 

If we are using legitimate interests as our legal basis for processing your data, we will process your data responsibly in a way that you would reasonably expect, and you can "opt-out" at any stage.

If you click ‘unsubscribe’ at the bottom of one of our emails sent you will be automatically "opted-out" of these types of email communications in the future.

If you want to contact us about your consent preferences, please contact the Office of Advancement & Alumni Affairs by email at oaaa@aus.edu.

How we keep your information safe

We understand the importance of keeping your personal information secure and take appropriate steps to safeguard it.

Your data is stored on a dedicated, secure cloud server hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the UAE and managed by our website provider, ToucanTech.  Industry standard firewalls, anti-virus, encryption, and back-up methods are in place, as well as strict data handling protocols.

We always ensure only authorised persons have access to your information, which means only our approved employees and contractors, and that everyone who has access is appropriately trained in data management.   

If you have an online profile for this website, you are responsible for keeping your login details (email and password) confidential, and we ask that you do not share your password with anyone.

No data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. So, whilst we strive to safeguard your information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you provide online, and you do this at your own risk.

Who has access to your information?

• When we run events with external partners, only the minimum necessary information will be shared, and those partners are bound by confidentiality and data protection obligations. ToucanTech, our website provider, acts solely as a data processor on behalf of AUS, hosting and maintaining the alumni platform.
• Web hosting, email hosting, analytics, and search engine providers that enable us to run our community database and improve our website and its use
• Your data is hosted on servers located in the UAE. If data is transferred outside the UAE (for technical support or backup purposes), we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information.

Other than this, we will not share your information with other organisations without your consent.

Keeping your information up to date

Please would you let us know if your contact details change. Online members can update your details directly by logging-in to the website and clicking on ‘My Settings’ under your profile.  You can also update your details by contacting us at oaaa@aus.edu.

Use of aggregated data

Where data can be aggregated and anonymised, our website provider (ToucanTech) might use this for research purposes without restriction. For example, they may monitor traffic patterns, site usage, response rates and data trends to help make improvements to the website software. They are entitled to do this because the resulting data will not personally identify you and will therefore no longer constitute personal data for data protection laws.

How long we keep your information for

Alumni records are retained indefinitely in order to maintain a minimum record of attendance at AUS, even if deletion is requested. Donor financial and payment records are retained in line with UAE legal requirements, typically for 5–7 years.

We rely on your consent (‘opt-in’) to send you fundraising communications. For alumni relations communications (such as event invitations, networking, and community updates), we may rely on our legitimate interests, provided this does not override your rights.

Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out prior to your withdrawal.

If you ask us to remove your personal data from our database, we will delete all the information we hold apart from your name and the dates that you attended American University of Sharjah (AUS) and archive your record in our database.

Cookies/analytics

This website uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your browsing experience and to help us understand site usage. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings.

Your rights

An individual can make a complaint about how the American University of Sharjah manages personal information, including a privacy breach, by notifying us in writing as soon as possible. We will respond to the complaint within a reasonable time (usually no longer than 30 days), and we may seek further information in order to provide a full and complete response.

American University of Sharjah does not charge a fee for the handling of complaints.

An individual has the following general rights with respect to their personal Information:

• to obtain a copy of their information in an easily accessible format;
• request for their information to be corrected or updated;
• to restrict or limit the ways in which their information is used;
• to object to the processing of their information; and/or
• to request the deletion of their information.

A person may submit a request to us to access the personal information we hold, or request that we change the personal information Such requests have to be made in writing by contacting oaaa@aus.edu.

Upon receiving such a request, we will take steps to verify the individual’s identity before granting access or correcting the information. We will respond to an individual's request within a reasonable timeframe.

If we reject the request, the individual will be notified accordingly. Where appropriate, we will provide the reason/s for our decision. If the rejection relates to a request to change personal information, an individual may make a statement about the requested change and we will attach this to their record.

If an individual withdraws their consent to our use or sharing of their personal information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, that individual may not have access to all (or any) of the services that we provide, and we might not be able to provide them with all (or any) of the services.

American University of Sharjah can be contacted about this Privacy Policy or about personal information generally, by:

• Emailing: PrivacyOfficer@aus.edu

• Writing To:

Privacy Officer American University of Sharjah PO Box 26666 Sharjah United Arab Emirates

An individual can contact us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. However, in such circumstances, without identification, we may not practically be able to provide information or assistance.

If you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been handled, you may escalate this matter to the relevant data protection officer at AUS, PrivacyOfficer@aus.edu.”

In the unlikely event of a data breach that affects your personal information, AUS will notify you in accordance with UAE law and take steps to mitigate any impact.

This Privacy Policy and any dispute arising from it shall be governed by the laws of Sharjah and the United Arab Emirates.

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This Policy was last updated in October 2025