Privacy Policy

Privacy and Security

Information gathering 

Our web server software generates log files of the IP addresses of computers that access this web site and of what files they access. 

These web server logs are retained on a temporary basis and then deleted completely from our systems. We also may ask our visitors to provide information about themselves. 

We may use cookies to maintain a user’s identity between web 

Use of information

We use your IP address and files you access to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our Web site by identifying which parts of our site are most heavily used. We also use this information to tailor site content to user needs, and to generate aggregate statistical reports. At no time do we disclose site usage by individual visitors.

In addition, visitor activity is tracked using Google Analytics.  Google Analytics is subject to the privacy policy of Google, Inc., which you can find on Google’s website. These data are used to optimize our website for our visitors, and do not include personally identifiable information such as name, contact information, or credit card numbers.

All personally identifiable information provided by alumni is strictly reserved for use by individual alumni and The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) for personal and University-related purposes only.  Personal information is shared with third parties or made publicly available only under the following circumstances:

•Printed directories.  Directory information, including name, degree, address, phone, and email, may be included in printed alumni directories.  Alumni may request to be excluded from directories.
•Class Notes.  Information submitted voluntarily through the “Alumni Notes” area of the site may be published in alumni magazines, or re-posted to sites which are not password-protected.
•Provision of services to users.  User information may be shared with third-party partners to the extent necessary to provide web services or other offers 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.

Security

HAA has taken reasonable precautions to secure the personal information available through the online community.

•Areas of clubsandsigs.harvard.edu where personal information is displayed or can be entered are password protected to allow access by registered users only.  These areas include the online directory, profile update, account management, and registration for some events.
•The site provides a “blind” email function that allows alumni to contact one another without having to make the prospective recipient’s actual email address visible to the sender.
•Users have the option to suppress the information fields in their records that they wish to keep private, which will prevent these fields from being viewed by other community members.

Although these precautions should help to protect any personal information available through clubsandsigs.harvard.edu from abuse or outside interference, a certain degree of privacy risk is faced any time information is shared over the Internet.
Do you process credit card transactions over this site?  If yes, do you do the processing or is this done by a third party vendor?  

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 contact clubs@harvard.alumni.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 

An announcement of any changes to this policy will be posted on this Privacy Policy page.

Effective Date

The effective date of this policy is October 29, 2009.