Overview

The following information details the privacy practices for the Harvard University Graduate School of Design’s Site Builder platform and website (https://sites.gsd.harvard.edu/), and all subsites built on the Site Builder platform. By accessing and using this site, or any of the subsites, you accept and agree to this policy. 

As used in this policy, “we,” “us,” “our,” and “GSD” refer to the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. 

Subsite Compliance

All subsites on the Site Builder platform are required to adhere to this policy and make it available in their footer. In some situations, a subsite may need to adjust its privacy policy because of circumstances that are unique to that site. Any subsite that needs to make adjustments to this policy must publish their own “Privacy Policy Amendments” page and link to it in the footer of their site. This must first be approved by the GSD’s Digital Governance Committee. 

What information do we gather about you? 

We use Google Analytics to collect information about the way our visitors engage with our website and subsites. This helps us understand what users want from the sites so we can continually improve them. The data we collect includes the IP address of the device used and browser details. All of your session information is anonymous and most of it comes to us in the form of statistics. 

What do we use your information for? 

Our staff uses the information we gather from you to track user trends, and for the other purposes described in this policy. 

If you contact us via email, the email address you provide may be used to send you information, respond to inquiries, and/or other requests or questions. We will not share or sell your email address to any other third party, unless 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 our rights and safety and the rights and safety of our users or others. 

How is this information collected and how can you opt out? 

This site uses cookies to gather information about your visit. Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer (unless you block them). We use cookies to compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions, so that we can offer a better site experience in the future. You may disable cookies through your individual browser settings, or you can opt out of the collection and use of this information through tools such as the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page. 

For more information on Google Analytics, consult their terms of service and privacy practices. 

What happens when you submit a form on a Site Builder site? 

If you submit a contact form on one of our subsites, your details are sent to the appropriate staff or faculty member so they can respond to your inquiry. These details are also stored on the site, but can only be accessed by select website administrators. Please do not share or send confidential or personal information through our subsites.

FERPA  

In compliance with FERPA regulations, this site does not store or publish student educational records. Some subsites may choose to publish information about students involved with that program, lab, initiative or group, but that must be limited to student directory information or student projects (with written permission).  

Parents/Guardians of students under 18 years old, or students over 18 years old, may request that their student information be removed from a subsite by contacting [email protected]. 

Subsites must receive permission from students via email before publishing their projects to a subsite on Site Builder. Students and alumni may request that their project be removed from a subsite at any time by emailing [email protected].  

Links to external sites 

This website and subsites may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of third-party websites. 

Information Security

This site complies with Harvard’s Information Security Policy and has reasonable security measures in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.  

Subsites must not publish any content above a Level 1 security level. 

Users located outside of the United States

If you are located in a country outside of the United States which has enacted a personal data protection law, please review Harvard’s Additional Privacy Disclosure Statement for information that may apply to you. This includes ways that certain Harvard University Schools, Centers, units, and controlled entities, including this website, may collect, use, and share information about you.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact the GSD’s Web Team at [email protected]. 

Changes to this Policy

This Privacy Policy may be amended from time to time. Any such changes will be posted on this page. 

Effective Date

The effective date of this policy is November 02, 2022.