This Privacy and Security Policy discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices for the Message Me Emergency Notification System Homepage (http://www.messageme.harvard.edu) (the "Site"). The Site is maintained by President and Fellows of Harvard College ("Harvard"). As used in this Policy, the terms "we," "us" and "our" refer to Harvard. This Privacy Policy applies to information collected by the Site both from users who log on to interact with the Site and from users who view and use the Site without logging on. By using the Site, you are consenting to our collection and use of your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Information gathering
- Registering for an Account If you register for an account on the Site, we will ask for information such as your name, email address, phone number, and affiliation with the University. When you create your account profile, you may choose to provide additional personal information, such your username for certain social media outlets, or preference information. We use this information to administer your account, customize your experience on the Site, and provide you with notifications.
- Browsing Information and Cookies When you access the Site, our servers automatically record information that your browser provides. This may include, among other things, your Internet Protocol address, web request, browser type, the date and time of your request, web pages visited, files accessed, and one or more cookies that uniquely identify your browser (see below). The Site will attempt to store a small piece of data known as a "cookie" on your computer. For example, when you visit a page within the Site, a cookie will be placed on your computer (if your computer accepts cookies) or will be read if you have visited the Site previously. We may use cookies to establish continuity between related requests, to personalize the Site to your preferences, to authenticate your log-in, and to analyze web traffic. Cookies do not themselves contain any personal information. The Site logs this session identifier along with other information about each request. [You may choose to block cookies with your browser, but if you do, you may not be able to take advantage of the Site's personalized features.]
- User Communications When you send email or other communications to us, we may retain the communications in order to process your inquiries, respond to your requests and improve our services.
Use of information
We use the information collected for the following purposes, in addition to those described above: enabling the University to send alerts to users; tailoring the Site to user needs and improving our service; generating data and reports about the Message Me service and usage of the Site and its content; supporting the functioning and security of the Site and our network and systems; protecting our rights, property, or safety or those of others; research; and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Except for internal University purposes, we do not disclose site usage by individual visitors.
In addition, we occasionally monitor search terms, but the search terms are never associated with individual users. This information is used to optimize the Site for our visitors.
Web server logs are retained on a temporary basis and then deleted from our systems.
All personally identifiable information provided by users is strictly reserved for use for University-related purposes only. Personal information may be shared with third-party partners to the extent necessary to provide the Message Me service 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. The information referred to in this section may include personally identifiable information. In addition, we may share with third parties information about the use of the Site and its content that is aggregated or anonymized so that it does not identify any individual user.
Children's Privacy
This Site's content is not intended to attract children under 13 years of age and we will not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years of age. If you are under 13 years of age, you should not use the Site or register for an account.
Security
This Site has security measures in place to help protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. However, we cannot guarantee that those security measures will be effective.
Contacting this web site
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this site, you can call 617-495-7777 or send email toMessageMe@Harvard.edu.
This web site may contain links to other web sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites.
Changes to this policy
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time without advance notice. If we change the policy, we will post the modified policy on this page, and will note the date of modification.
Effective Date
The effective date of this policy is July 26, 2010.
