Confidentiality & Security of Personally Identifiable Information
We care about the confidentiality and security of your personal information. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to keep your Personally Identifiable Information private and will not share it with third parties, except as set forth in this Privacy Policy. However, no method of transmitting or storing electronic data is ever completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that such information will never be accessed, used, or released in a manner that is inconsistent with this policy. As used herein, "Personally Identifiable Information" means your full name, email address, your physical address (if you provide it) and your student identification number, if applicable.
This Privacy Policy only applies to information that we collect through the Site and does not apply to information that we may collect from you in other ways (for example, over the phone, by fax or through conventional mail). In addition, your educational records are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") to the extent FERPA applies.
What You Consent to by Using Our Site
By submitting any Personally Identifiable Information to us, you consent and agree that we may collect, use and disclose such Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service ("TOS"), and as permitted or required by law. If you do not agree with these terms, then please do not provide any Personally Identifiable Information to us. If you refuse, or if you choose not to provide us with any required Personally Identifiable Information, we may not be able to provide you with the services that can be offered on our Site.
Information We Collect and How We Use It
We collect information, including Personally Identifiable Information, when you sign up for a User Account, participate in content creation, view content, and/or send us email messages. We may collect information about student performance and patterns of learning. We track information indicating, among other things, which pages of our Site were visited, the order in which they were visited, when they were visited, and which hyperlinks and other user interface controls were used.
We may log the IP address, operating system and browser software used by each user of the Site, and we may be able to determine from an IP address a user's Internet Service Provider and the geographic location of his or her point of connectivity. Various web analysis tools are used to collect this information. Some of the information is collected through cookies (a small text file placed on your computer). You should be able to control how and whether cookies will be accepted by your web browser. Most browsers offer instructions on how to reset the browser to reject cookies in the "Help" section of the toolbar. If you reject our cookies, many functions and conveniences of this Site may not work properly.
Among other things, we may use the information that you provide (including your Personally Identifiable Information) in connection with the following:
- To help us improve ODL offerings, both individually (e.g., by course staff when working with a student) and in aggregate, and to individualize the experience and to evaluate the access and use of the Site and the impact of ODL on the worldwide educational community.
- For purposes of scientific research, particularly, for example, in the areas of cognitive science and education.
- For the purpose for which you specifically provided the personal information, for example to respond to a specific inquiry or provide you the specific course and/or services you select.
- To track both individual and aggregate attendance, progress and completion of an online course, and to analyze statistics on student performance and how students learn.
- To monitor and detect violations of the Terms of Service, as well as other misuses and potential misuses of the site.
- To publish information gathered about MecQBank access, use, impact, and student performance but only as non-personally identifiable data.
- To send you updates about online courses offered by ODL or other MIT events or to send you email messages about Site maintenance or updates.
- To archive this information and/or use it for future communications with you.
- As otherwise described to you at the point of collection.
In addition to the above situations where your information may be shared with others, there is also the possibility that MIT or ODL will affiliate with other educational institutions. In that event, the other educational institutions and/or separate entities will have access to the information you provide, to the extent permitted by FERPA.
Sharing with Third Parties
We may share the information we collect with third parties as follows:
- With service providers or contractors that perform certain functions on our behalf, including processing information that you provide to us on the Site, operating the Site or portions of it, or in connection with other aspects of ODL services. These service providers and contractors will be obligated to keep your information confidential.
- To respond to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process, in response to a request for cooperation from law enforcement or another government agency, to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, or to enforce our user agreement or privacy policy, or to protect our rights or the rights of others.
- As otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent. For integration with third party services. Videos and other content may be hosted on YouTube and other web sites not controlled by ODL. We may provide links and other integration with social networks, and other sites. Those web sites are guided by their own privacy policies.
Personalization and Pedagogical Improvements
Our goal is to provide current and future visitors with the best possible educational experience. To further this goal, we sometimes present different users with different versions of course materials and software. We do this to personalize the experience to the individual learner (assess the learner's level of ability and learning style, and present materials best suited to the learner), to evaluate the effectiveness of our materials, to improve our understanding of the learning process, and to otherwise improve the effectiveness of our offerings. We may publish or otherwise publicize results from this process, but only as non-personally-identifiable data.
Changing Our Privacy Policy
Please note that we review our privacy practices from time to time, and that these practices are subject to change. We will publish any such modifications online on this page. By continuing to access the Site after such changes have been posted, you signify your agreement to be bound by them. Be sure to return to this page periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version of this Privacy Policy.
Privacy Concerns
If you have privacy concerns, or have disclosed data you would prefer to keep private, please contact us at sei_privacy@mit.edu.
Effective Date: August 5, 2015