August, 2025

Data Protection and Privacy Policy University of Haifa General Information Websites

1.     Preamble

The University of Haifa, Israeli Institution of Higher Learning and Research established under law with corporation No. 50-070162-8 of 199 Abba Hushi Boulevard Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838 Israel (hereinafter: “UH” or “Our” or “We” or “Us”).

We at UH, are committed to protect your Personal Data when you make use of the Service. This Data Protection Policy explains how UH collects and processes the personal data from you or other data subjects through our Main Website and our Informational Websites for our Faculties and Sub-Units (all collectively: the “Website”).

Be advised, that this policy shall not apply to: (i)websites through which students may apply for degrees, whether aimed at our local, Israeli campus or to our international school and (ii) our admissions website (www.admissions.haifa.ac.il), all of which are governed by a separate data protection policy available through the appropriate application websites.

As used in this policy, “Personal Data” means information that refers to, is related to, or is associated with an identified or identifiable individual, whether directly or indirectly where such can be reasonably used to identify an individual, or as otherwise may be defined by applicable law, such as a name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, information about activities directly linked to a person, such as that person’s GPS location or IP information.

This Data Protection and Privacy Policy (hereinafter: “Policy“) may be revised or updated from time to time, and such changes shall come into effect from the moment UH publishes the new policy on our website or any other reasonable manner.

For any questions regarding the collection, processing or use of Personal Data relating to you and exercising your data subject rights (all as explained below) please contact our data protection officer at: privacy-officer@univ.haifa.ac.il

2.     General Principles of Our Privacy Protection

UH is committed to ensuring that your Personal Data and the privacy of your data is protected according to the appropriate industry standards and practices in relation to the data we collect, and all in correspondence to UH’s relevant legal obligations.

This Policy further applies to UH’s use of cookies and tracking tools, as specified in detail in our Cookies and Tracking Tools Policy (see section 4 below) as we use cookies and tracking tools on our Website to distinguish you from other users and to give you a better user experience when you are using our Website, and in some cases, certain features may not function if you remove the cookies from your browser.

If any collection and processing of Personal Data will be carried out by external data processors on Our behalf, UH will require, within the framework of its contracts with such external

processors, for them to comply with relevant legal data protection rules and legislation applicable to the services they provide to UH, prior to the transferring your Personal Data and data.

Important note: please refrain from making use of the Website, or any service available there through, if you do not consent to the collection, use, processing or disclosure of this data as set forth herein.

3.     Your Rights regarding our Collection and Processing Of Your Personal Data

You have certain rights in relation to the Personal Data that we hold about you, as detailed below:

• Transparency and Right to Review Personal Data. You are entitled to ask us for information about what type of Personal Data about you is being processed by UH, in specific cases where such personal data includes personal data of third parties (which shall be communicated to you when relevant) we may substitute this summary with physical presentation of personal data at our facilities.

We may ask for reasonable means of identification prior to disclosing the personal data as aforementioned, or invite you to one of our facilities to view the personal data processed, depending on the personal data in question.

• The Right of Rectification of False, Outdated or Incorrect Personal Data – You may, following also request the erasure or correction of any outdated, false or inaccurate personal data that is processed by UH.

Upon your request, UH will accommodate your request and delete (or alternatively equivalently irreversibly anonymize) or correct your Personal Data, as per your request, and unless there is an overriding legal interest or other authorized basis for the continuation of the processing of your Personal Data, which we shall notify you in response to your request.

• Automated decision-making. UH does not deploy any automated or AI-based decision-making at this time, and shall not intentionally take any potentially damaging decision concerning you and/or your right based on the aforementioned means.
• Personal Data of children and minors – We do not knowingly collect or process Personal Data relating to children and minors under the age of 18 without the consent of their parents or legal guardian.

• Important Notes:
  • In the implementation of these data protection rights, UH is committed to providing a timely and transparent response to your requests and upholding your right to contact us through an online form available in the university web site.
  • Any data subject request to fulfill any of the aforementioned rights which you send us may not be fulfilled if you do not provide Us with relevant and/or sufficient information required for us to identify you as the data subject of said Personal Data, and we shall inform you accordingly in such an event on what will be required and why.

4.      Non-personal Data That We Collect.

• What Are the Purposes for Using Cookies? We use cookies to store and manage user settings and preferences chosen during visits to our website, to retain preferences of returning users for future visits (e.g., geographic location, accessibility choices, and language preferences), to perform statistical analysis of website performance and trends, customize advertising content, measure marketing campaign effectiveness, and detect and track errors.
• What Types of Cookies Does the University Use? We utilize two main categories of cookies and tracking technologies on our website:
  • Essential Cookies and Tracking Technologies These are technically necessary cookies and tracking tools required for the proper management of the They enable fundamental website functionality (such as user authentication requests, page navigation), enhance site security and fraud prevention (such as protection against DDOS attacks), and gather anonymous traffic data.
  • Additional Cookies and Tracking Technologies These tools serve additional internal purposes for the university, including statistical analysis, marketing and promotions, improving website appearance, and enhancing user experience. Additionally, the website collects certain information (such as domain name, web browser, IP address, user-agent, HTTP referrer, the last URL requested by the user) about visits to our site. We may use this information to analyze traffic patterns and perform routine system maintenance, specifically:
    • Analytics Cookies These cookies collect anonymous data on how users interact with the site. They track metrics such as page views, time spent on pages, bounce rates, and loading speeds, helping site administrators improve functionality and user
    • Marketing Cookies These cookies track user behavior for advertising They collect information on interactions,

preferences, and browsing habits, enabling targeted digital marketing, such as personalized ads and retargeting campaigns.

• Functional Cookies These cookies enhance user experience by remembering preferences like language settings or customized layouts. While essential cookies are required for basic website operations, functional cookies improve usability but are not strictly necessary for core functionality.

• When Will We Request Your Consent for Cookie Usage? The University ensures that when you first visit the website you are informed about our use of cookies and other tracking Similarly, if you clear all cookies from your computer or browser memory, the next time you access the site, you will be prompted again to consent to our use of cookies.

4.4.                Can I Withdraw My Consent for Cookies or Tracking Tools?

• If you wish to withdraw your consent, you can opt-out of receiving cookies at any time by managing and/or deleting cookies through your browser settings. Please note, most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies from your system. Should you choose this option, please refer to your browser’s privacy settings to understand how to manage cookies and web beacons. At any time, you can withdraw your consent specifically to non-essential cookies required for basic functionality and security of the website through the designated user interface.
• For your convenience, here is specific information on managing cookies for the most popular browsers:
• Internet Explorer: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cookies/en
• Mozilla Firefox: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Cookies
• Google Chrome:

http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95647

• Safari: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5042
• Opera: http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/security/privacy/
• Please be aware that blocking or removing cookies and other tracking technologies might result in limited or unavailable functionality of the Website, including certain services provided By choosing to delete or block cookies through your browser, you hereby release us from any responsibility for malfunctions, disruptions, or the inability to use the website or its services.

We may use external service providers to obtain the non-personal data detailed in section 3 above, according to the stated purposes and restrictions on sharing information with third parties as detailed further below.

5. THE PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT AND PROCESS AND OUR PURPOSE OF PROCESSING:

Be advised that there is no legal obligation to provide UH with Personal Data, and any Personal Data that will be processed shall be according to your discretion, however if you do not provide us Personal Data, the Website may not display or function correctly and/or you may not be able to send us any queries, requests or use any services available on the Website.

Our Processing of Personal Data hereunder is performed while operating under our relevant legal and data protection legislation and regulations obligations based both on your consent and to fulfill our Contractual Obligations hereunder in response to your requests or queries:, as detailed herein below:

5.1.               When Do we Collect Personal Data From You:

• When you agree to receive marketing and/or promotional messages and correspondences from Us, through the dedicated footer on the Website
• When you call, e-mail, fill in an online form or correspond with our representatives through the contact details and/or are re-directed to instant message programs embedded in our Website.
• When you browse through the Website and agree to provide identifiable information by cookies and tracking technologies.
• When you agree to interact with the automated Chatbot deployed on our Website for AI-based guided browsing or for referencing to the appropriate points of contact for your query.
• Note: The automated Chat-Bot is powered by an AI-functionality powered by Third-party service provider only for such referencing for customer support and/or guided browsing, while ensuring there is no training of AI modules based on the Personal Data inputted in the chats with the Chat-

5.2.               What is the Personal Data We Collect From You:

• Any information you provide us through WhatsApp, Phone Call, dedicated emails that appear on our Websites independently or after being referred by the “Chatbot” deployed on our Websites, including but not limited to:
  • Full Name
  • Contact Details
  • Type of Query
  • Any identifying personal data required if you have follow-up queries (reference no. / ID number)
  • Any Personal Data you will provide during such chats, queries or email messages.
• Any information you give us When you send us a query/question through the “Contact Us” or any other electronic form in order to request we contact you.Full Name

• Full Name
• ID number (Voluntary)
• Content of your Query
• The Type of Degree you are Interested in (Voluntary)
• Contact Details (E-mail Address, Mobile Phone Number)

• When you make a donation to the university—either through an online interface added to the website or via an alternative method following direct contact with the university, the processing of your donation-related information will be subject to this Privacy Policy. This may include:
  • Full name
  • ID number or foreign passport number
  • Purpose or designation of the donation (if provided voluntarily)
  • Donation amount
  • Personal message accompanying the donation (if provided voluntarily)
  • Payment Method Information, any or all of the following:
    • Bank Account Number and Details
    • Four-Digit token by the Credit Card Processor
    • Check Number
    • IBAN number

When Payments are made Online, they Procssed on our Website As follows:

Secure Checkout. When you elect to donate to the Universityof Haifa through online payments, you will be redirected to a secure payment page hosted by an independently-certified payment-processors we have engaged with to this end, [Tranzila], which is subject to PCI-DSS standards and other regulatory regimes used by International Payment processors. This partner processes your payment on our behalf.

Personal Data We Share for the Transaction.

We transmit only the data strictly necessary to complete and verify your purchase:

We do not store your full card details. After authorisation we receive a non-reversible token (and the last four digits) for reference and invoicing.

We share the payment details you provide with such third-party payment processors solely to authorise and settle your purchase under a data-pro-cessing/service-provider agreement they provide their global clientele, and subject to our general obligations relating to sub-processors as per article 11 below;

Be advised that they may also process your information for their own legal or compliance obligations under its separate privacy notice, as available by re-routing to their website from within their secure payment window.

Processor Safeguards. We use internationally recognised payment plat-forms (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, Visa/Mastercard-acquiring banks) that:

Operates under industry-standard Data Protection Addenda (DPA)

Hold independent security certifications such as PCI-DSS Level 1 (card-data security) ISO 27001 / SOC 1 & SOC 2 Type II audits (where offered) etc.

Limit data use to payment services and KYC and legal requirements relat-ing to processing payments.

• When you Schedule a Frontal or Telephone Counseling Meeting prior to apply for a degree in our institution through the dedicated interface on our Website:
  • Full Name
  • ID number (Voluntary)
  • Content of your Query
  • The Type of Degree you are Interested in (Voluntary)
  • Contact Details (E-mail Address, Mobile Phone Number)
• When you browse through our websites and/or specific pages/portions thereof, we may collect data relating to your browsing through the Website, the device your browse with, create profile for analytics and/marketing.
• When You browse and interact with the Website, We we may collect certain unique identifiers, such as Internet Protocol (IP) address, your Unique Device Identifier (UDID), or other unique identifiers for security purposes and analytics and in order to provide you with services available on the

5.3.                Why UH Uses your Personal Data:

UH uses the Personal Data on You set out in articles 2-3 above for the following reasons:

• to ensure that content in the website is presented in the most effective manner for you,
• to process your contact request when you contact us through e-mail, electronic forms, WhatsApp messages or leave a message on our telephone number, and/or to revert back to you accordingly;

• to process your request to schedule a frontal or telephone counselling meeting through the dedicate part of our Website.
• To ensure the integrity, security and fulfillment of the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy by your users, including but not limited to detecting, monitoring, and preventing fraud and/or monitoring account activity.
• Subject to your consent to subscribe to our mailing list, to send you marketing messages, direct marketing content and/or other offers, news and/or newsletters.
• To perform statistical analysis and analytics on non-identifying or aggregate data on User browsing preferences and usage.
• To enforce this Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions of the Website and/or to act in accordance with law or any other legal obligations UH is subject to.
• Learn about user behavior using various statistical methods with third-party tools and service providers as stated herein above and and improve to improve our Website and our services accordingly.

6.     How you can assist Protecting your Information

If you receive an email that looks suspicious, e.g. refers to an application for a degree you do not recall making or requesting information already provided, or you have doubts as to whether an email was sent by Us, please contact us and report this.

Please note that we will never ask for payment method details via email and/or any personal information.

Similarly, when We send you marketing and advertisement content and/or offers and newsletters, we do so by using the same email account through which we send you all our communications, and we will not ask for your personal information in these emails.

7.     How We Protect Information:

We implement generally accepted industry standards technologies and internal procedures to maintain the safety of your Personal Data against loss, alteration, theft or access by unauthorized third parties when you enter, submit, or access your Personal Data and once we receive it.

Please note, however, that there are inherent risks in transmission of information over the Internet or other methods of electronic storage and we cannot guarantee that unauthorized access or use will never occur.

Therefore, while we strive to protect your Personal Data via the aforementioned technical and organizational means, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. What we can guarantee is that we will not sell, share, transfer or use the data We collect from you for purposes other than those purposes stated expressly herein above.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE ABOVE, UH SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, HACKING, OR OTHER SECURITY INTRUSIONS OR FAILURE TO

STORE OR THE THEFT, DELETION, CORRUPTION, DESTRUCTION, DAMAGE, OR LOSS OF ANY DATA OR INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THE PERSONAL INFORMATION.

8.     Third Party Sites Linked On Our Website

• Links to Third-Party Websites:

Our Website may contain links to third party websites or social media platforms. We have no control over third-party sites or services, and all use of third-party sites or services is at your own risk.

UH will not accept responsibility for the privacy policies of any such third-party sites and such third-party websites are governed solely by such third parties’ privacy policies and you are advised to be careful and responsible for checking any such third party’s privacy policies and compliance with laws, prior to supplying them any of your personal data on such websites.

UH is not responsible for content available by means of such third-party sites, except content UH publishes on UH’s page or handle on social media platforms, the use of such social media platforms is all times subject to the privacy and data protection policies and terms of use of each such platform.

UH does not endorse any information or products offered by third parties linked to our Website and we urge our users to exercise caution in using third-party services.

• Links to other University of Haifa Websites:

When you click on the “Apply” button on the Website you will be re-routed to a separate, dedicated Website for applying to a degree or any other service provide by the university and pay application fees relating thereto.

Be advised that websites where applications for degrees and/or programs the University offers ARE NOT SUBJECT TO THIS POLICY, and you will be asked to review and consent to the specific Terms and Conditions and Data Protection and Privacy Policies of each such application Websites before applying through such websites.

9.     Data retention and deletion

UH deletes (or equivalently irreversibly anonymizes) personal data where the purpose for which the data was being collected or processed ceases to apply, except the extent it is prohibited to do so under local, Israeli law (and in such cases only to the extent required and shall purge any excessive information) and/or or if applicable data protection rules require us to delete such personal data.

However, we shall keep your personal data as long as necessary to fulfill the following legal obligations and/or legitimate interests:

• follow-up on your inquiries and/or contact or meeting scheduling requests, via the
• complying with our regulatory and/or legal obligations, and resolving disputes, such as the following circumstances:
  • Where we are required to retain the personal data for our legal, tax, audit, and accounting obligations and/or regulatory requirements, we will retain the necessary personal data for the period required by applicable law.
  • Where we are required to retain the personal data to be able to provide copies of your educational credentials, records and/or degrees to authorized governmental authorities, and/or to You, as we are obligated under applicable law.
  • Where necessary to process it for our legitimate interests such as fraud prevention or to maintain the security of our other users.
  • If it is necessary to cooperate with a criminal investigation by law enforcement agencies and/or any regulatory authority’s inquiry and/or audit, in each such case solely subject to extent request and as per the applicable law.

The above notwithstanding, there are types of Personal Data we process will only be kept for as long as the original purpose of processing persists, such as your e-mail address and other information sent as part of a request to sign up to our newsletter or marketing mailing list etc. or when consent is granted by You for browsing the Website as long as your consent to usage of Cookies and Tracking Tools is required and in force. Where such a request has been withdrawn and/or your cookies and tracking tools consent was revoked and/or sufficiently fulfilled and no longer relevant, we shall delete such as part of our commitment to data minimization.

Note: We will also be able to delete your Personal Data upon your expressed request to fulfill your data subject right as mentioned above, provided you forward such a request through the appropriate channels and manners, as mentioned above.

10.  Newsletter, Marketing Messages, Updates, Alerts and other Communications Sent by Us

You may select to subscribe to our Newsletter or join our mailing communications list to receive alerts, notifications and marketing information through the during the dedicated consent interface when filling an online form or using the receive marketing communications / newsletter footer available on our Website in the appropriate parts relating thereto.

If you confirm the receipt of the aforementioned newsletter and/or marketing communications list, direct mailing or marketing messages from UH, then your Contact Details and name will be to our marketing communications ling list for sending messages to the user by various means,

including but not limited to, messages, e-mail, multimedia messages (MMS), text messages (SMS), an automatic dialing system and/or through any other means of communication regarding sales promotion, advertising etc..

This consent also grants UH the right to use this information for the purposes of sales promotion, advertising, improving the Website or the efficacy or our promotional activities provided by UH and enriching the content of the website in accordance with the provisions of the Communications Law (Telecommunications and Broadcasting) (Amendment No. 40), 5768-2008 (hereinafter: the “Spam Law”).

You can unsubscribe from our newsletter or mailing lists at any time by by clicking the “unsubscribe” link provided in each marketing message, advertisement or newsletter issue and/or by sending us a direct e-mail request to be removed from our newsletter or marketing communications list sent to: helpdesk@univ.haifa.ac.il

In addition, if the information in UH’s databases is used for the purpose of personally contacting the user, based on the user’s affiliation with a population group determined according to one or more characteristics of people whose names are included in one of our Databases (hereinafter: “contact with a commercial offer”), then the user is entitled under the Privacy Protection Law, 5741-1981 to demand to be removed and your contact details and name deleted from our mailing list in the manner set out in the prior paragraph.

In this case, UH will delete Personal data that we need to the extent it is used solely to contact the user with commercial offers as stated above. However, Personal Data collected and processed for other purposes hereunder – will continue to be retained by UH by law but will no longer be used for the purpose of sending you marketing materials, direct mailing advertisements and/or newsletters.

11. ransfer of Your Information:

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your Personal Data, except as specifically stated in this Policy.

The above statement does not include trusted third parties service providers and/or affiliates who assist us in operating our Websites and/or Our routine business and academic activities, or where required to provide you and our other users services directly, provided and subject to our undertaking to ensure that prior to any such processing by said third-parties, they will be contractually bound or bound under mandatory law to keep your Personal Data confidential, ensure they employ appropriate organization and technical data protection measures when processing your Personal Data and that they do not use it for any purpose other than to fulfill their obligations towards us or towards you in relation to the provision of services to you on our behalf.

We will refrain from transferring Your Personal Data outside of Israel, the EEA or a Country subject to am adequacy decision by the European Commission, however in the event we must perform a transfer to jurisdictions not fulfilling the aforementioned, we shall only if it is strictly necessary, and in any such case we will abide by the Israeli Privacy Protection (Transfer of Data to a Database outside of the Country), 2001.

Notwithstanding the above, all our service providers and other third parties will be subject to contractual obligations limiting their use of your Personal Data and subjecting their activities to the applicable data protection and privacy legislations applicable to your personal data, or by using well-known global service providers whom grant guarantees and hold international standards which we can rely on under law.

Further to the foregoing, outside of the service providers and affiliates necessary to our routine activities or providing your services, we will only share your personal information with third-parties for fulfilling our legal obligations under Israeli law and/or for legimitate interests require for the operation of the Website or necessary for our routine day-to-day operations:

• To prevent harm. We will share your personal data if we believe it is necessary to detect, investigate, prevent, or take action against illegal activities, fraud, or situations involving potential threats to the rights, property, or personal safety of our or any
• Adherence with Statutory or Legal Obligations. We will share your personal where we are legally required to do so, such as in response to court orders, law enforcement, regulatory inquiry or investigation or legal process, in order to establish, protect, or exercise our legal rights and/or to adhere with any requirements we are subject to under applicable law.

Be advised that We will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity or behavior of any user suspected to have engaged in illegal behavior and thereby we may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law or our legal obligations as an institute of higher learning vis-à-vis the authorized Israeli Authorities (e.g. Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Education et.c), enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety.

• Enforcing our Terms and our Rights under the Policy. as required to enforce our rights under the Terms and/or this Policy and/or any other contracts we have executed with your and/or to defend against legal claims or demands you have filed against us.
• To Operate and Manage the Website, and to Secure and Protect the Users Browsing it, by receiving services in the following fields:
  • fraud prevention, data protection and/or network and cyber security services
  • cloud storage and CRM and office tools Software-as-a-Service services for our general business activity,
  • the maintain, design, upgrade and/or implementation of changes to our Website by our website designers and/or IT support.
  • Processing of Payments on the Website
  • Analytics and statistical data providers

Note: Without derogating from anything for the foregoing, in regard to non-personally identifiable, whether aggregate or anonymized, to the extent it cannot be used to decode/reverse engineer your identity or for profiling You, we may freely share such data with third other parties for analytics, trends studies, or other uses, as previously established is one of the purpose of use herein above.

12. Updates and Changes to this Data Protection and Privacy Policy

We may revise this Policy from time to time, and such changes shall come into effect from the date of publication, we suggest that you review the policy from time to time.When we make material changes to this Policy, we’ll provide you with prominent notice as appropriate under the circumstances, e.g., by displaying a prominent notice within the UH website or by sending you an email message to that effect.

13. Miscellaneous.

• NOTICES and CORRESPONDENCES.

You hereby agree that should you provide us with contact information during your registration process, via a “Contact Us” form or through e-mail correspondence that by virtue of accepting these Terms and our Privacy Protection Policy – that you hereby agree that UH may contact you on the basis of such information by electronic means, including but not limited to email communications, SMS or text messages, or by phone-calls via the information provided as mentioned above.

Notices sent by electronic means shall be deemed received when they are sent and will be responded to as soon as reasonably possible according to the nature of the correspondence/notice.

13.2.           Entire Agreement.

These Terms represent the entire agreement between the parties regarding the subject matter hereof and supersede any and all other previous agreements between the parties regarding the subject matter hereof. UH may assign its rights or obligations pursuant to these Terms. Users shall not assign any rights under these Terms and any attempted assignment shall be void. If any provision of these Terms shall be deemed invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be interpreted to have maximum effect to its terms as permitted under law, and such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other part or provision of these Terms which shall remain in full force and effect.

13.3.           Jurisdiction.

These Terms shall be governed by the laws of Israel and any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms, will be referred solely to the competent courts of the District of Haifa, Israel.

• Data PROTECTION Officer Contact Details for Queries and Data Subject Requests:

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Policy, believe your rights have been violated/impeded on or wish to exercise any of your Data Subject Rights hereunder, please contact our Data Protection Officer at: privacy-offices@univ.haifa.ac.il, and we shall address your inquiry as soon as practically possible.