HOME /

Additional EEA Privacy Disclosures

Effective Date:  May 25, 2018
Last Updated:    May 25, 2018

The following EEA privacy disclosures (the “Disclosures”) provide information about the collection, use, processing and sharing of data about individuals located in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway (the “European Economic Area” or “EEA”). 
In these Disclosures, 

  • “GDPR” means the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation; 
  • “Personal Data” means information that relates to an individual who is directly or indirectly identified or identifiable; and
  • “EEA Processing Activities” means the collection, use, processing or sharing of Personal Data when those activities are within the scope of the GDPR.

These Disclosures apply only to the use of Personal Data in EEA Processing Activities.  Further, these Disclosures apply only to the Harvard University Schools, Centers, and other Harvard units and controlled entities (collectively, “Harvard Entities”) that link to these Disclosures or expressly adopt them in writing.  In these Disclosures the words “we” or “our” refer to each such Harvard Entity.  In some cases a Harvard Entity may provide other information about its EEA Processing Activities in its own supplemental or separate disclosures.

These Disclosures apply to EEA Processing Activities by any means, including hardcopy (such as paper applications or forms) and electronic means (such as websites and mobile applications).

A.    How We Collect and Use Personal Data
 

We collect several categories of Personal Data in circumstances that may involve EEA Processing Activities, including data you provide, data collected automatically (potentially including location data), and data we obtain from third party sources.

 We use the Personal Data that we collect to carry on various institutional and educational activities.  As described in more detail below, we rely on a number of legal bases to lawfully process your Personal Data.

The ways in which we collect and use your data vary depending on the relationship between you and us, as well as the Harvard Entity with which you interact.  The following sections of these Disclosures describe in more detail how we collect and use Personal Data in various circumstances that may involve EEA Processing Activities.  Please note that, depending on the situation, some of the processing of Personal Data we do in the various circumstances described below may not fall within the scope of the GDPR. 

1.    Personal Data We Obtain from You

Websites and Mobile Applications

As is true of most digital platforms, we gather certain data automatically when you use one of our websites or mobile applications, such as your IP address, browser type and device type.  Certain web-forms also collect Personal Data you provide, for example when you enter the data into form fields on a feedback page.  If we also process data through our websites or mobile applications for one of the activities described further below, those sections will provide additional information about how data are collected and used.  We and our third-party vendors collect Personal Data for the primary purposes of conducting analytics, responding to your requests and providing you with relevant information.

Read More

What Personal Data Do We Collect?

We and our third-party vendors collect Personal Data through websites and mobile applications.  We and our third-party vendors may collect:

  • Contact Information:  for example, your name, home address, email address, phone number and social media usernames;
  • Log Files:  Information collected automatically when you are interacting with websites or mobile applications, for example, IP address, browser type, internet service provider, pages visited (including referring/exit pages), operating system, date/time stamp and/or clickstream data;
  • Cookies and Similar Technologies:  Information collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies.  For more information regarding our use of cookies and similar technologies, see the “Cookies and Similar Technologies” section below;
  • Location Information:  We may use your IP address to identify the general geographic area from which you are accessing our website.  Our mobile applications may collect more precise location information about you to provide functions identified in the application, such as a map feature; and
  • Mobile Device Sensor Information: Some of our mobile applications may use various sensors and components of your mobile device (for example, your camera or microphone) to collect information for the purposes of providing you with additional functions and features. 

What is the Purpose of Processing?

We process your Personal Data collected on our websites and mobile applications:

  • To facilitate our online interactions with you, for example, by responding to your requests;
  • To operate, maintain and improve our websites and mobile applications, for example by conducting analytics to improve and manage our websites and mobile applications, analyze user trends, and create custom audience lists;
  • To collect data about you and your activities online over time and across different websites and social media channels for marketing purposes, including delivering relevant marketing communications to you; or
  • To engage in other activities described under “Additional Uses of Personal Data” below.

What is Our Legal Basis of Processing?

We process your Personal Data for the purposes described above to facilitate transactions requested by you and meet our contractual obligations (for example, registering you for events); on the basis of our legitimate interests (for example, website analytics); or on the basis of your consent, where applicable. 

Admissions and Financial Aid

We collect and use various kinds of Personal Data when you apply for admission to a School, program or course offered by us, and when you seek financial aid, if available.  The primary source of these data is your application.  We may solicit additional data, for example, from interviewers as part of the admissions process, if applicable, or from other available sources when identifying potential candidates for admission in connection with recruiting activities.  The Personal Data collected by us, or on our behalf, during the admissions process is collected for the primary purposes of considering your candidacy for admission to the relevant School, program or course, evaluating your eligibility for financial aid, if applicable, and, if you are admitted and enroll, facilitating your education (such as by sharing Personal Data with registrars and others in order to enable your enrollment and participation in the School, program or course to which you have been admitted).

Read More

What Personal Data Do We Collect?

We collect Personal Data as part of our admissions and financial aid processes.  We and our third-party vendors (including, but not limited to, application and admissions/financial aid data base vendors such as the Common Application, the College Board, Technolutions, and the American Medical College Application Service) may collect:

  • Contact Information: for example, your name, home address, email address and phone number;
  • Demographic Information:  for example, gender, age, and other information you may volunteer, such as in your application or essay;
  • Education History:  for example, your prior schools, transcripts, school activities and disciplinary records;
  • Testing History:  for example, standardized testing and corresponding identity verification documentation;
  • Personal Information and History:  for example, personal interests, extracurricular activities, recommendations, other personal information you may choose to volunteer, including in your application or your essay, and other information we may learn about your background;
  • Employment History:  for example, job title, location and work experience;
  • Personal Financial Information:  for example, government identification number, personal and business tax reports, wage reports and statements, bank statements, socioeconomic status, scholarships and grants, and family support;
  • Family Information:  including family member names, ages, education information, occupations, wages and savings; and
  • Payment Information:  depending on your means of payment, your payment card number or your bank and bank account number.

What is the Purpose of Processing?

We process your Personal Data as part of our admissions and financial aid processes:

  • To consider your candidacy for admission and eligibility for financial aid;
  • To respond to your requests and communicate admissions and financial aid decisions;
  • To facilitate our operations relating to the admissions and financial aid process;
  • To conduct research and analytics (for example, relating to application and admissions trends);
  • To satisfy legal, regulatory and contractual obligations; or
  • To engage in other activities described under “Additional Uses of Personal Data” below.

What is Our Legal Basis of Processing?

We process your Personal Data for the purposes described above on the basis of our legitimate interests (for example, providing educational offerings and conducting admissions research); to process transactions requested by you and meet our contractual obligations (for example, to process your application for admission); as necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (for example, financial aid reporting); or on the basis of your consent, where applicable.  

How is My Personal Data Used if I Am Admitted?

If you are admitted to a School, program or course offered by us, your information will be shared as necessary for registration, including, as applicable, with the registrar of the school admitting you.  Your Personal Data may also be shared as necessary to deliver and administer your education and related activities with other persons or entities, including Harvard departments, faculty and staff, financial aid sources, and governmental authorities.  For example, your name and other contact information may be shared with a professor in whose course you enroll, in order to administer financial aid, with Harvard University Health Services to enable you to obtain treatment, or for other reasons consistent with our efforts to provide educational services to you. 

Alumni and Donors

We collect and use various kinds of Personal Data about alumni, donors and prospective donors from a number of sources, including data you provide to us, for example, when you update your alumni or donor profile, connect with us on social media, complete a donation form or register to attend Harvard events.  If you were a student or studied at Harvard University, some of your Personal Data are transferred from your student record into our alumni databases.  We may also collect Personal Data from publicly available sources or third-party sources that support our operations.  The Personal Data collected by us, or on our behalf, is collected for the primary purpose of providing you opportunities to engage with Harvard, alumni, donors, prospective donors and students through interactions, events and your gifts or donations.  We may disclose your data to other Harvard affiliated entities and individuals such as alumni clubs and special interest groups (SIGS) or volunteers when their work meets one of the purposes described below. 

Read More

What Personal Data Do We Collect?

We and our third-party vendors may collect: 

  • Contact Information:  for example, your name, home address, email address, phone number and social media usernames;
  • Demographic Information:  for example, gender, age, and other information you may volunteer;
  • Personal Information and History:  for example, personal interests, charitable activities, other personal information you may choose to volunteer and other information we may learn about your background;
  • Education History:  for example, prior and subsequent schools, awards, honors and student activities;
  • Employment Information:  for example, your title, employer, location and work experience;
  • Harvard Affiliations:  for example, your social network, group memberships and Harvard-related correspondence;
  • Family Information:  for example, family member names, ages, occupations and relevant medical information (if provided in advance of events);
  • Financial Information: for example, your contribution history, publicly available data on wealth and assets, and contributions to other organizations; 
  • Payment Information:  for example, when you register for an event, make a donation or request a service, depending on your means of payment, your payment card number or your bank and bank account number;
  • Contribution History:  your contribution history to Harvard;
  • Health and Dietary Information:  for example, medical conditions that may require additional accommodations or dietary preferences, if you volunteer such information; and
  • Your Image: for example, when a photograph or other image is used in online networking or announcements, or when you participate in Harvard events that are recorded by photography or video.

What is the Purpose of Processing?

We process your Personal Data as part of our alumni and donor outreach and services:

  • To provide you and your family opportunities to engage with Harvard, alumni and students;
  • To facilitate alumni and donor communications, events, fundraising and operations;
  • To request and process your contributions and subscriptions;
  • To communicate with you about other opportunities for giving, and to understand better your interests and how you might help support Harvard through volunteerism and philanthropy; 
  • To conduct analytics to improve our alumni and donor services, analyze engagement and contribution trends, and create custom experiences;
  • To satisfy legal, regulatory and contractual obligations; or
  • To engage in other activities described under “Additional Uses of Personal Data” below.

What is Our Legal Basis of Processing?

We process your Personal Data for the purposes described above on the basis of our legitimate interests (for example, requesting gifts or donations); to process transactions requested by you and meet our contractual obligations (for example, registration for events or processing of donations); as necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (for example, to provide required tax information); or on the basis of your consent, where applicable.  

Online Education

We and our third-party vendors collect your Personal Data when you apply or register for online education offerings.  Further Personal Data collection occurs upon enrollment for courses or programs and throughout your online education interactions.  In some cases, our collection of Personal Data from you in connection with online education activities takes place as part of a “hybrid” program in which you also may participate in person.

The Personal Data collected by us, or on our behalf, are collected for the primary purpose of providing online education courses and programs, and, if applicable, evaluating qualification for online education certificates or credit. 

Read More

What Personal Data Do We Collect?

We and our third-party vendors may collect: 

  • Contact Information:  for example, your name, home address, email address and phone number;
  • Payment Information:  depending on your means of payment, your payment card number or your bank and bank account number;
  • Tax Information:  for example, government identification number;
  • Personal Information and History:  for example, personal interests, other information about yourself that you volunteer in profiles or otherwise on the online learning platform, and other information we may learn about your background;
  • Employment History:  for example, prior employers, titles and work experience;
  • Education History:  for example, prior schools, transcripts, awards and honors;
  • Health and Dietary Information:  for example, medical conditions that may require additional accommodations or dietary preferences, if you volunteer such information;
  • Learner Interaction Data:  for example, exchanges with other learners, forum contributions and community posts;
  • Course Engagement and Assessment Data:  for example, assignment responses, test scores and course interactions (such as the ways in which you move through and interact with the course materials);
  • Log Files:  for example, IP address, browser type, internet service provider, pages visited (including referring/exit pages), operating system, date/time stamp and/or clickstream data;
  • Cookies and Similar Technologies:  Information collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies when you are interacting with our online education offerings.  For more information regarding our use of cookies and similar technologies, see the “Cookies and Similar Technologies” section;
  • Location Information:  for example, latitude, longitude, date and time (the precision of these data varies greatly and is determined by factors controlled by your device or mobile service provider); and
  • Your Image:  for example, where you voluntarily provide a photograph or other image for use in an online course or program (for example, in a profile), or where you have decided to use a remote proctoring third-party service software (such as Proctorio) for the purposes of remotely completing an examination or assessment for a Harvard Entity offering such remote proctoring services.

What is the Purpose of Processing?

We process your Personal Data for online education:

  • To provide and administer the course or program in which you are participating, including evaluating your success in and engagement with the online education offering;
  • To respond to your requests and communicate with you regarding current or future courses or programs; 
  • To conduct research (for example, in the areas of education and cognitive science) and analytics related to our online education offerings;
  • To satisfy legal, regulatory and contractual obligations; or
  • To engage in other activities described under “Additional Uses of Personal Data” below.   

What is Our Legal Basis of Processing?

We process your Personal Data for the purposes described above on the basis of our legitimate interests (for example, providing educational offerings and evaluating your performance); to process transactions requested by you and meet our contractual obligations (for example, registering you for an online education course); as necessary for compliance with a legal obligation; or on the basis of your consent, where applicable.

Employees and Job Applicants

We collect your Personal Data when you apply to work for us.  Further Personal Data collection occurs at hiring and throughout your relationship with us.

The Personal Data collected by us, or on our behalf, are collected for the primary purpose of providing employment or enabling authorized persons to utilize our services and facilities.

Read More

What Personal Data Do We Collect?

We and our third-party vendors may collect: 

  • Contact Information:  for example, your name, home address, email address and phone number;
  • Payment Information:  your bank and bank account number for processing your compensation;
  • Tax Information:  for example, government identification number, wages and filing status;
  • Personal Information and History:  for example, marital status and other information about your background, and when relevant for your position or required by law, credit history, driving record, self-reported and publicly available criminal records, citizenship and work authorization status;
  • Employment History:  for example, prior employers, titles, wages, work experience and disciplinary record;
  • Education History:  for example, prior schools, transcripts, awards, honors and disciplinary records;
  • Family Information:  for inclusion in benefits plans;
  • Demographic Information:  for example, gender, age and date of birth; and
  • Health Information:  for example, medical conditions that may impact your ability to work.

What is the Purpose of Processing?

We process your Personal Data for employment or other work relationship and job application purposes:

  • To evaluate your application for employment or other work relationship and communicate hiring decisions;
  • To administer HR-related processes and facilitate employment-related operations, including payroll processing and the provision of employee benefits;
  • To satisfy legal, regulatory and contractual obligations; or 
  • To engage in other activities described under “Additional Uses of Personal Data” below. 

What is Our Legal Basis of Processing?

We process your Personal Data for the purposes described above on the basis of our legitimate interests (for example, managing internal administrative tasks); to process transactions requested by you and meet our contractual obligations (for example, managing employment or other work relationships); as necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (for example, to provide required information to tax authorities); or on the basis of your consent, where applicable.

Educational Programs Conducted in the EEA

We conduct certain educational programs in the EEA, including executive education offerings and summer school programs, among others, and collect Personal Data as part of our administration of these offerings.

The Personal Data collected by us, or on our behalf, are collected for the primary purpose of providing educational offerings and, if applicable, evaluating qualification for certificates and credit. 

Read More

What Personal Data Do We Collect?

We and our third-party vendors may collect: 

  • Contact Information:  for example, your name, home address, email address and phone number;
  • Demographic Information:  for example, gender, age and date of birth;
  • Personal Information and History:  for example, personal interests, profession and other information about your background;
  • Education Information:  for example, your prior schools, transcripts, school activities and disciplinary records;
  • Employment Information:  for example, your title, employment history and work experience;
  • Course Assessment Data: for example, assignment responses, test scores and course evaluations;
  • Health and Dietary Information:  for example, immunizations, medications and medical conditions that may require additional accommodations or dietary preferences, if you volunteer such information;
  • Residential Information:  for example, local host information and personal preferences that you volunteer; and
  • Payment Information:  depending on your means of payment, your payment card number or your bank and bank account number; or 
  • Your Image: for example, for inclusion in a class roster to be distributed to classmates and faculty, where applicable.

What is the Purpose of Processing?

We process Personal Data relating to course offerings in the EEA:

  • To provide and administer the course or program in which you are participating, including sharing information about you with other participants, providing academic guidance and evaluating your success in the course or eligibility for a degree or certificate;
  • To provide you with services related to the course or program, including assistance with travel, residential lodging and dietary or medical needs. 
  • To respond to your requests and communicate with you regarding current or future courses or programs; 
  • To conduct analytics to improve our educational offerings; 
  • To satisfy legal, regulatory and contractual obligations; or
  • To engage in other activities described under “Additional Uses of Personal Data” below. 

What is Our Legal Basis of Processing?

We process your Personal Data for the purposes described above on the basis of our legitimate interests (for example, conducting analytics to improve program offerings); to process transactions requested by you and meet our contractual obligations (for example, providing educational programs); as necessary for compliance with a legal obligation; or on the basis of your consent, where applicable.

Research

Our researchers and affiliates may collect, use and share your Personal Data as part of a research study in which you have agreed to participate as a research subject or researcher, or in which your existing data are used.  Most often, before any Personal Data are collected for research purposes, you will be provided a consent and/or authorization form relating to the specific research project that explains the types of data collected and the purposes for which such data are processed and shared.  In such a case, the description of the collection and use of your Personal Data provided in the consent and/or authorization form will replace the information provided here.  The Personal Data collected by our researchers and affiliates, or on their behalf, is collected for the primary purpose of furthering research and understanding in fields of academic study.

Examples of Personal Data that may be collected for research purposes are listed below.  Not every research study will collect each of these types of data.  If you have questions about the processing of your data in connection with a research study, you should contact the Harvard personnel who are conducting the research or the contact persons named in any consent form you signed when you joined the study. 

Read More

What Personal Data Do We Collect?

Examples of Personal Data that we and our third-party vendors may collect for research purposes include the following.  Please note that in most cases these data, if identifiable, would initially be provided voluntarily by you:

  • Contact Information:  for example, your name, home address, email address and phone number;
  • Tax Information:  for example, government identification number if you are being paid in connection with the research;
  • Demographic Information:  for example, race, ethnicity, gender, age, education, profession, occupation, income level and marital status;
  • Personal Information and History:  for example, personal interests, profession, and other information about your background;
  • Family Information:  for example, family members, ages, occupations and health;
  • Employment History:  for example, prior employers, titles, wages, work experience, trade union membership and disciplinary record;
  • Education History:  for example, prior schools, transcripts, awards, honors and disciplinary records;
  • Health and Dietary Information:  for example, doctor’s records, surgical records, immunizations and medications, allergies and dietary preferences;
  • Biometric Data:  for example, facial measurements, finger prints and retinal scans;
  • Genetic Data:  for example, genetic information obtained from your biological samples;
  • Course Engagement and Assessment Data:  for example, assignment responses, test scores and course interactions (including, for example, the ways in which you move through and interact with the course materials);
  • Log Files:  for example, IP address, browser type, internet service provider, pages visited (including referring/exit pages), operating system, date/time stamp and/or clickstream data;
  • Cookies and Similar Technologies:  Information collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies.  For more information regarding our use of cookies and similar technologies, see the “Cookies and Similar Technologies” section; and
  • Location Information:  for example, latitude, longitude, date and time (the precision of these data varies greatly and is determined by factors controlled by your device or mobile service provider); and
  • Mobile Device Sensor Information: for example, health-related information that may be available through an application using a sensor or component of your mobile device.

What is the Purpose of Processing?

We may process your Personal Data for research in accordance with the purposes of the particular research projects, and also:

  • To further research and understanding in fields of academic study;
  • To enroll you in a particular research study as a research subject or to administer the study if you are a researcher;
  • To satisfy legal compliance requirements; or
  • Where applicable, to report earnings from research participation as a research subject or researcher to the tax authorities.

What is Our Legal Basis of Processing?

We process your Personal Data for the purposes described above on the basis of our legitimate interests (for example, conducting research); to process transactions requested by you and meet our contractual obligations (e.g., paying faculty, employees, research collaborators and research consultants); as necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (for example, to report adverse events to regulatory authorities like the U.S. Food & Drug Administration that oversee the safety of medical products and research); as necessary for the performance of tasks we carry out in the public interest (for example, to further research and understanding in fields of academic study); where processing is necessary for scientific or historical research purposes and performed consistent with required data protection safeguards; or on the basis of your consent, where applicable.

2.    Personal Data We Obtain from Third Party Sources

As part of our EEA Processing Activities, we may obtain certain Personal Data about you from third party sources, which we may use for the purposes and in the ways described in “How We Collect and Use Personal Data” above and in “Additional Uses of Personal Data” below.  In some cases, we may obtain your consent for additional uses.

Partners and Service Providers

We use partners and service providers, such as application facilitators (for example, the Common Application and the College Board), payment processors (for example, CyberSource) and analytics providers (for example, Qualtrics), to perform services on our behalf.  Some of these partners have access to Personal Data about you that we may not otherwise have (for example, when you sign up directly with that provider) and may share some or all these data with us.

Single Sign-On

Some of our online services or research activities may allow you to register and login to those services through a third-party platform.  When you login to our service through a third-party platform, you allow us to access and collect any Personal Data from your third-party platform account permitted under the settings and privacy statement of that platform.

Supplemental Personal Data 

We may receive additional Personal Data from third-party sources, such as public or private databases (for example, compilations of email or postal addresses), or companies or institutions that may sponsor or facilitate your participation in one of our programs, which we may also append to existing Personal Data.  

3.    Additional Uses of Personal Data

In addition to the uses described above, including under “How We Collect and Use Information” and “Personal Data We Obtain from Third Party Sources,” we may use your Personal Data for the following purposes.  These additional uses may under certain circumstances be based on your consent, may be necessary to fulfill our contractual commitments to you, may be necessary for legal compliance, or are necessary to serve our legitimate interest in the following operations:

  • Conducting our operations and administering our educational offerings;
  • Administering fellowships, grants and other programs in support of individual study and research projects; 
  • Contacting you to respond to your requests or inquiries;
  • Providing you with newsletters, articles, service alerts or announcements, event invitations, and other information that we believe may be of interest to you;
  • Requesting gifts and donations;
  • At your request, processing and fulfilling transactions for merchandise or other Harvard products;
  • Alerting you about a safety or security announcement;
  • Conducting research, surveys and similar inquiries to help us understand trends and needs of our applicants, students and others using our websites or other services;
  • Meeting the requirements of our accreditors;
  • Disclosing directory information as described here;
  • Performing marketing, promotions and advertising, either directly or through third-parties.  These activities may include interest-based advertising, targeted advertising and online behavioral advertising in order to increase the likelihood that the content would be of interest to you;
  • Preventing, investigating, taking action regarding or providing notice of fraud, unlawful or criminal activity, other misconduct, security or technical issues, or unauthorized access to or use of Personal Data, our website or data systems; or 
  • Responding to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; enforcing our agreements; protecting the health, safety, rights or property of you, us or others; and meeting legal obligations.

4.    Legitimate Interests

We rely on several legitimate interests in using and sharing your Personal Data.  These interests include:

  • Providing, improving and customizing our educational offerings;
  • Administration of our operations;
  • Promoting the success of our current and former students;
  • Furthering research and understanding in fields of academic study;
  • Maintaining an ongoing relationship with alumni, donors and prospective donors, and helping to connect them with others;
  • Requesting gifts or donations;
  • Offering attendance to events and opportunities to volunteer; 
  • Conducting admissions research;
  • Understanding how our online platforms are being used;
  • Exploring ways to develop and grow our operations; 
  • Ensuring the safety and security of our students, faculty, fellows, employees and others; 
  • Cybersecurity; 
  • Enhancing protection against fraud, spam, harassment, intellectual property infringement, crime and security risks; and
  • Meeting our obligations and enforcing our legal rights.

5.    Data Retention

We will retain your Personal Data for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in these Disclosures unless a longer period is required under applicable law, or is needed to resolve disputes or protect our legal rights or otherwise to comply with legal obligations. 

Where we are processing Personal Data based on our legitimate interests, we generally will retain the data for a reasonable period of time based on the particular interest, taking into account the fundamental interests and the rights and freedoms of the data subjects.

Where we are processing Personal Data based on your consent, we generally will retain the information for the period of time necessary to carry out the processing activities to which you consented, subject to your right, under certain circumstances, to have certain of your Personal Data erased (see “Your Rights” below).

Where we are processing Personal Data based on contract, we generally will retain the information for the duration of the contract plus some additional limited period of time that is necessary to comply with law or that represents the statute of limitations for legal claims that could arise from the contractual relationship.

Where we are processing Personal Data based on the public interest, we generally retain the information for the period of time that continues to serve that underlying interest.

B.    How We Share and Disclose Personal Data

We share your Personal Data with third parties in the ways described in these Disclosures.  We may share your Personal Data with third parties as described in the “How We Collect and Use Personal Data” section above, as well as between Harvard Entities.  Additionally, we may share information as described below:

Service Providers

We share your Personal Data with third-party service providers that complete transactions or perform services on our behalf or for your benefit, such as:

  • Payment and contribution processing;
  • Customer relationship management (CRM) services;
  • Marketing and analytics;
  • Processing admissions applications;
  • Alumni and donor outreach and engagement;
  • Event registration and coordination;
  • Providing course platforms or tools that enable or enhance our offerings;
  • Course registration and administration;
  • Course evaluations and assessments;
  • Enrollment verification;
  • Research insights and analytics;
  • Research collaboration;
  • Educational operations and collaborations;
  • Performing human resources administration; and
  • System maintenance and security.

Partners

We may share your Personal Data with other institutions for the purposes of administering programs and services, such as:

  • Cross-registration for courses and events with other universities;
  • Course registration and administration; 
  • Course evaluations and assessments;
  • Study at other universities including study abroad at foreign universities;
  • Online education offerings through online platforms;
  • Research arrangements with other universities or partners; and
  • Events and activities of Harvard-affiliated clubs and special interest groups.

Third-Party Mobile App Providers

With your knowledge and consent, our services on your mobile device may gather and transfer your Personal Data, including location information, from and to other applications, functions and tools within your mobile device if you use our mobile applications.

Social Media Platforms

We may also use services provided by third parties (such as social media platforms) to serve targeted ads or sponsored content on third-party platforms.  For more information regarding our use of cookies and similar technologies, see the “Cookies and Similar Technologies” section below.

Legal Process, Safety and Terms Enforcement

We may disclose your Personal Data to legal or government regulatory authorities as required by applicable law.  We also disclose your Personal Data to third parties as required by applicable law in connection with claims, disputes or litigation, when otherwise required by applicable law, or if we determine its disclosure is necessary to protect the health, safety, rights or property of you, us or others, or to enforce our legal rights or contractual commitments that you have made.

C.    International Data Transfers

Harvard may transfer your Personal Data between Harvard Entities and/or to the third parties discussed above.  We may transfer your Personal Data outside the EEA relying on appropriate or suitable safeguards or specific derogations recognized under data protection laws, including the GDPR.

The European Commission has adopted standard data protection clauses, which provide safeguards for Personal Data transferred outside of the EEA.  We may use Standard Contractual Clauses when transferring Personal Data from a country in the EEA to a country outside the EEA.  If your Personal Data are affected, you can request a copy of our Standard Contractual Clauses by contacting us as set forth in the Contact Us section below.

D.    Cookies and Similar Technologies

We may collect Personal Data about you, or information that becomes Personal Data if combined with other information, when you visit or use our websites and online services.  This information may be collected through the use of cookies, which are small data files placed on your computer or mobile device that allow us to collect certain information whenever you visit or interact with our websites or online services.  Some of these cookies are managed by us (first-party cookies), while others are managed by third parties that we do not control (third-party cookies).  This information may also be collected through the use of other data collection technologies (such as web beacons, pixels or tags) that embed graphic files in our websites and online services.  These graphic files contain a unique identifier that enables us to recognize when someone has visited our website or online services, or in the case of web beacons, opened an email that we have sent them. 

These small data files or graphic files serve various functions:

  • Strictly Necessary: Necessary to deliver our services;
  • Performance and Functionality: Enhance the performance and functionality of our services but are non-essential to their use;
  • Analytics and Customization: Allow us to understand the effectiveness of our services and marketing campaigns, as well as to customize our services based on this information; or
  • Advertising: Make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. 

You can control the use of certain cookies and similar technologies by:

If you choose to reject certain cookies and similar technologies, you may still use our websites and online services though your access to some functionality and features may be restricted.  If you have any questions regarding our use of cookies and other similar technologies, please contact us as set forth in the “Contact Us” section below.

E.    Your Rights 

We will provide you upon your reasonable, good faith request with information about whether we hold any of your Personal Data as part of our EEA Processing Activities, to the extent required by and in accordance with applicable law.  In certain cases, you may also have a right, with respect to your Personal Data collected and used in the EEA Processing Activities, to:

  • correct or update any of your Personal Data that is inaccurate; 
  • to restrict or limit the ways in which we use your Personal Data;
  • to object to the processing of your Personal Data;
  • to request the deletion of your Personal Data; and
  • to obtain a copy of your Personal Data in an easily accessible format.

To submit a request, please send an email message to EEADataSubjectRequest@harvard.edu.  Because we want to avoid taking action regarding your Personal Data at the direction of someone other than you, we will ask you for information verifying your identity.  We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.

You also have the right to withdraw your consent to our processing of your Personal Data as part of the EEA Processing Activities, where our processing is solely based on your consent, subject to certain limitations at law.  In some cases, you can do this by discontinuing use of the services involved in the EEA Processing Activities.  This would include by closing all of your online accounts with us and contacting us at EEADataSubjectRequest@harvard.edu to request that your Personal Data be deleted.  If you withdraw your consent to the use or sharing of your Personal Data for the purposes set out in these Disclosures or the other Harvard privacy statements that link to or expressly adopt these Disclosures, you may not have access to all (or any) of the related services, and we might not be able to provide you all (or any) of the services.  Please note that, in certain cases, we may continue to process your Personal Data after you have withdrawn consent and requested that we delete your Personal Data, if we have a legal basis to do so.  For example, we may retain certain data if we need to do so to comply with an independent legal obligation, if we still need the data for the lawful purposes for which we obtained the data, or if it is necessary to do so to pursue our legitimate interest in keeping our services and operations safe and secure.

If you have any complaints regarding our privacy practices, you have the right to make a complaint with your national data protection authority (i.e., supervisory authority).

F.    User Generated Content

Some of our services involved in EEA Processing Activities may enable users to submit their own content.  Unless otherwise indicated, please remember that any Personal Data you submit or post as user-generated content could become public information.  You should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal, financial or other information in such submissions or posts.  We cannot prevent others from using that information in a manner that may violate these Disclosures, the law or your personal privacy and safety.  We are not responsible for the results of such postings.

G.    Updates to the Disclosures

We may update these Disclosures from time to time without prior notice by posting revised Disclosures to this site.  You can determine when these Disclosures were last revised by checking the Last Updated date in these Disclosures. 

H.    Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments, requests or concerns about these Disclosures or other privacy-related matters, you may contact us in the following ways: