J-WEL Site Privacy Policy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (“MIT”), acting through its MIT Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL), offers online information and services via online platforms, including WebFlow and HiveBrite. We care about the confidentiality and security of your personal information, and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to keep your Personal Information secure, in compliance with this Privacy Policy. "Personal Information" is defined below. As used in this Privacy Policy, "we," "us," and "our" refer to the J-WEL public and membership sites.
This Privacy Policy applies to information that we collect through the J-WEL public and membership websites (the "Site," which consists of all content and pages located within the jwel.mit.edu and jconnector.mit.edu web domain), as well as information that we may collect from you in other ways (for example, information that you may provide to us via email, mail, phone, fax, social media, or other means).
Usernames and Postings
Comments or other information posted by you to our forums, wikis, or other areas of the Site designed for public communications or communications among registered site users may be viewed and downloaded by others who visit the Site. For this reason, we encourage you to use discretion when deciding whether to post to those forums (or to other public areas) any information that can be used to identify you.
Consent to Processing Outside Home Country
By using our Site, or providing information to us, you understand and affirmatively consent to the collection, use, disclosure, and retention of information for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy and the J-WEL Terms of Service. You hereby consent to the collection, use, disclosure, and retention by us of your Personal Information as described under this Privacy Policy, including but not limited to the transfer of your personal data to us, as defined in the Terms of Service. For further certainty, any consent relating to a right to transfer information referred to in this paragraph shall be deemed to include your consent to the transfer of the applicable Personal Information to a jurisdiction which may provide a different level of privacy protection from that available in your own country.
If you do not agree with these terms, then please do not access, browse, or register for the Site. If you choose not to provide us with certain information required to provide you with various services offered on our Site, which may include (but is not limited to):
- Biographic information: your name, email address, contact information, country, gender, date of birth, title, and occupation.
Information We Collect and How We Use It
We collect information, including Personal Information, when you sign up for a user account, access content, participate in online interaction, send us email messages, and/or participate in our public forums and social media. We also collect certain usage information about user performance. In addition, 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 analytics tools are used to collect this information. Some of the information is collected through cookies (small text files placed on your computer that store information about you, which can be accessed by the Site). 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.
Use and Disclosure to Third Parties
Among other things, we may use the information about you collected through the Site (including your Personal Information) as follows:
- To enable us to provide, administer, and improve J-WEL offerings, both individually (e.g., by staff when interacting with a site user) and in aggregate, and to individualize the experience and to evaluate the access and use of the Site and the impact of J-WEL 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 information, for example, to respond to a specific inquiry or provide you with access to the specific course content and/or services you select.
- To track both individual and aggregate attendance, progress and completion of an online workshop, 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, but not Personal Information, gathered about J-WEL access, use, impact.
- To send you updates about online offerings by J-WEL or other events, to send you communications about products or services of J-WEL, or affiliates that may be of interest to you, or to send you email messages about Site maintenance or updates.
- To archive this information and/or use it for future communications with you.
- To maintain and improve the functioning and security of the Site and our software, systems, and network.
- For purposes described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy (including, e.g., sharing with third parties).
- As otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent.
- To authenticate your identity when you register for a workshop.
We will share information we collect (including Personal Information) with third parties as follows:
- With service providers or contractors (including but not limited to Hivebrite) that perform certain functions on our behalf, including processing information that you provide to us on the Site, processing purchases via third party providers, and other transactions through the Site, operating the Site or portions of it, providing or administering online workshops, or in connection with other aspects of J-WEL services.
- With other visitors to the Site, to the extent that you submit comments or other information or content (collectively, "Postings") to a portion of the Site designed for public communications; and with other members of an J-WEL group of which you are a member, to the extent you submit Postings to a portion of the Site designed for viewing by those group members. If we do re-post your Postings originally made to non-public portions of the Site, we will post them without your real name and email (except with your express permission), but we may use your username without your consent.
- For purposes of scientific research, particularly, for example, in the areas of cognitive science and education. However, we will only share Personal Information about you for this purpose to the extent doing so complies with applicable law and is limited to the Personal Information required to fulfill the purposes stated at the time of collection.
- To provide opportunities for you to communicate with other users who may have similar interests or educational goals. In such cases, we may use all information collected about you to determine who might be interested in communicating with you, but we will not disclose your real name or email address, except with your express permission.
- To respond to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, or security or technical issues, or to enforce our Terms of Service or this Privacy Policy; as otherwise may be required by applicable law; or to protect our rights, property, or safety or those of others.
- As otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent.
- To support integration with third-party services. For example, videos and other content may be hosted on JW Player YouTube and other websites not controlled by us.
In cases where we share or disclose your Personal Information: (1) the third party recipients are required to handle the Personal Information in a confidential manner and to maintain adequate security to protect the information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, alteration, and destruction; and (2) we will only disclose and share the Personal Information that is required by the third party to fulfill the purpose stated at the time of collection. In addition, we may share aggregated information that does not personally identify you with the public and with third parties, including but not limited to researchers and business partners.
If you have questions about how we use your personal information, please contact jwel@mit.edu.
Links to Other Websites
The Site contains links to websites published by third parties, including other content providers and certain service providers. These other websites are not under our control, and you acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the collection and use of your information by such websites, unless we have otherwise indicated in this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to be aware when you are redirected to a third-party website and review the privacy policies of each website you visit and use.
Security
J-WEL protects Personal Information in its possession or control. This is done through a variety of privacy and security policies, processes, and procedures, including administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that reasonably and appropriately protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the Personal Information that it receives, maintains, or transmits. Nonetheless, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure, and therefore we do not guarantee its absolute security.
Changing Our Privacy Policy
Please note that we review and may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time. When changes are made, the Privacy Policy link will include a notation "Revised (date)." indicating that you should review the new terms, which will be effective immediately upon posting on this page, with an updated effective date. The notation will be included in the Privacy Policy link for at least seven (7) days after the update has been made. By accessing the Site after any changes have been made, you signify your agreement on a prospective basis to the modified Privacy Policy. Please return to this page periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version of this Privacy Policy.
Minors
Our Site is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from those in this age group. If we become aware that someone under the age of 13 has registered, we will expunge any related Personal Information from our records.
Rights for Individuals in the European Economic Area
You have the right to in certain circumstances to (1) access your personal information; (2) to correct or erase information; (3)restrict processing; and (4) object to communications, direct marketing, or profiling. To the extent applicable, the EU’s General Data ProtectionRegulation provides further information about your rights. You also have the right to lodge complaints with your national or regional data protection authority.
If you are inclined to exercise these rights, we request an opportunity to discuss with you any concerns you may have. To protect the personal information we hold, we may also request further information to verify your identify when exercising these rights. Upon a request to erase information, we will maintain a core set of personal data to ensure we do not contact you inadvertently in the future, as well as any information necessary for MIT archival purposes. We may also need to retain some financial information for legal purposes, including US IRS compliance. In the event of an actual or threatened legal claim, we may retain your information for purposes of establishing, defending against or exercising our rights with respect to such claim.
The controller of your personal information is MIT.
You may contact MIT Representatives at the following offices:
For individuals in the EEA:
J-PAL Europe
48 Boulevard Jourdan
75014 Paris, France
With copy to: dataprotection@mit.edu
For individuals in the UK:
MIT Foundation (UK)
19 Norcott Road
London N16 7EJ
United Kingdom
With copy to: dataprotection@mit.edu
Additional Information
We may change this Privacy Statement from time to time. If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information we will make this clear on our MIT website or by contacting you directly.
Effective Date: February 1, 2018; Updated: October 2024