This Privacy Policy discloses the privacy practices for Harvard.edu and online-learning.harvard.edu. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, unless otherwise noted, all references to "Harvard.edu " include online-learning.harvard.edu.

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE GATHER ABOUT YOU?

We collect information from you when you access Harvard.edu and when you subscribe to our email service.

WHAT DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION FOR?

We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our website by identifying (1) which parts of our site are most heavily used, and (2) which portion of our audience comes from within the Harvard network. We do not link IP addresses to anything personally identifiable. This means that user sessions will be tracked, but the users will remain anonymous.

The email address you provide may be used to send you information, respond to inquiries, and/or other requests or questions.

User information may be shared with third-party partners to the extent necessary to provide and improve web services or other communications to users. Any third parties who receive user information for this purpose are prohibited from using or sharing user information for any purpose other than providing services to users.

We may also provide your information to third parties in circumstances where we believe that doing so is necessary or appropriate to: satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request; detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; or protect the rights, property or safety of us, our users or others.

DEVICE INFORMATION COLLECTED BY US

We may collect non-personal information about the computer, mobile device or other device you use to access Harvard.edu, such as IP address, geolocation information, unique device identifiers, browser type, browser language or other information of this nature. We use this information in an aggregate fashion to track access to Harvard.edu. At no time do we disclose site usage by individual IP addresses. Web server logs are retained on a temporary basis and then deleted from our systems.

COOKIES

Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer (unless you block them). We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors. These service providers are not permitted to use the information collected on our behalf except to help us conduct and improve our business.

THIRD-PARTY COOKIES

Cookies may be set by an organization other than Harvard.edu. These “third-party cookies” may, for example, originate from websites such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus or other social media services for which Harvard.edu has implemented “plug-ins.” Since the cookie policies of these sites change over time, you should determine their policies by visiting the privacy policy pages of these sites directly.

You may disable cookies through your individual browser options. If you would like to learn more about cookies please refer to the following website: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/

LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

We may provide hyperlinks to third-party websites as a convenience to users of Harvard.edu. Harvard.edu does not control third-party websites and is not responsible for the contents of any linked-to, third-party websites or any hyperlink in a linked-to website. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of third-party websites.

EMAIL POLICY

We will not share, sell, rent, swap or authorize any third party to use your email address for commercial purposes without your permission.

INFORMATION PROTECTION

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy and ensure the appropriate use of information we gather about you, we have taken commercially reasonable steps to protect the information. However, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

This Privacy Policy may be amended from time to time. Any such changes will be posted on this page. The effective date of this policy was October 16, 2012.