This privacy statement covers the site www.sloan-c.org.
- What personally identifiable information Sloan-C collects.
- What personally identifiable information third parties collect through the
web site.
- What organization collects the information.
- How Sloan-C uses the information.
- With whom Sloan-C may share user information.
- What choices are available to users regarding collection, use and distribution
of the information
- What types of security procedures are in place to protect the loss,
misuse or alteration of information under Sloan-C's control.
- How users can correct any inaccuracies in the information.
If users have questions or concerns regarding this statement, they should first
contact Customer Support by emailing publisher@sloan-c.org.
Information Collection and Use
Information Collection
Sloan-C collects information from our users at several different points
on our web site. Only users who have established an account on the Sloan-C
system are able to post information onto the site.
Registration
There is no need to register to view most portions of our web site. However,
only users who have established an account on the Sloan-C system are able to
post information to the site. In addition, there are some areas of the site
where viewing is restricted to those with accounts.
In order to establish a Sloan-C user account, a user must first complete
the registration form. During registration a user is required to provide
contact information (such as institutional affiliation, name, and email
address). Sloan-C uses this information to contact the user to confirm
his/her account and password and to inform him/her about services on our
site for which he/she has expressed interest. All other information collected
is optional. We never collect information such as income or security number.
Order
Sloan-C requests information from the user on our order form. A user must provide
contact information (such as name, email, and shipping address) and financial
information (such as credit card number, expiration date). This information
is used for billing purposes and to fill customer's orders. If we have trouble
processing an order, the information is used to contact the user.
Information Use
The purpose of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) is to make education a part of
everyday life, accessible and affordable for anyone, anywhere, at any time,
in a wide variety of disciplines. Sloan-C encourages collaboration, sharing
of knowledge and effective practice to improve online education in the areas
of learning effectiveness, access, affordability for learners and providers,
and student and faculty satisfaction.
Among the information that Sloan-C shares is a catalog of degree and certificate
programs offered by a wide range of regionally accredited member institutions,
an effective practices database, conference and workshop proceedings, articles
from our newsletter, articles from the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks
(JALN), articles from volumes of applied research studies, and research, surveys
and forums to inform academic, government and private sector audiences.
Profile
Sloan-C does not link information that we collect through cookies, log
files, and/or third parties to create profiles of our users. Collected
information are not tied to the user's information except in aggregate
form.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on a user's computer tied to information
about a user. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally
identifiable information while on our site. We use only session ID cookies,
once a user closes the browser, the cookie simply terminates. We do not
use persistent cookies, a small text file stored on the user's hard drive
for an extended period of time.
We use cookies so, for example, a user would not have to log in a password
more than once, thereby saving time while on our site.
No business partners or other third parties use cookies on our site (for example,
advertisers).
Third Party Advertising
Sloan-C does not host or use any third party advertising system or software
on the www.sloan-c.org site.
Log Files
Like most standard web site servers, Sloan-C uses log files. This includes
internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider
(ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number
of clicks.These log files are used to analyze trends, administer the site,
track user's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information
for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable
information.
Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)
Sloan-C does not employ a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. Web
Beacons/Web Bugs).
HTML-based emails
HTML-based emails sent by Sloan-C often contain images (gifs or jpegs) that
are located on our web server. The loading of these images when the HTML-based
email is opened is logged as part of our normal web-logging process. This allows
us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness
of our marketing campaigns. If users would like to opt-out of these emails,
please see the Opt-out section.
Communications from the Site
Special Offers and Updates
Sloan-C sends all new members welcoming emails to verify password and
username. Established members will occasionally receive information on
products, services, special deals, and a newsletter. Out of respect for
our users' privacy we present the option to not receive these types of
communications. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.
Newsletter
If a user wishes to subscribe to our newsletter, we ask for contact information
such as name and email address. Out of respect for our users' privacy
we provide a way to opt-out of these communications. Please see the Choice
and Opt-out sections.
Service Announcements
On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related
announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for
maintenance we might send users emails. These communications are not promotional
in nature. Users may opt-out of these communications. Please see our Choice
and Opt-out section.
Customer Service
Sloan-C communicates with users on a regular basis to provide requested services
and in regards to issues relating to their account. We reply via email or phone,
in accordance with the users wishes.
Sharing
Legal Disclaimer
Though Sloan-C makes every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need
to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have
a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current
judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our web
site.
Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable)
Sloan-C shares aggregated demographic information with our members, sponsors,
and the general public. This is not linked to any personally identifiable
information. Examples of the type of information we may share include
the aggregated results of a survey, a listing of our member institutions
(but not individual member names), or a report on the state of online
learning based on information provided by our members.
Third Party Advertisers
Sloan-C does not share web site usage information about users with any
third parties for the purpose of targeting Internet banner advertisements
on this site and other sites.
These are the instances in which we will share users' personal information:
We DO NOT Share Personal Information with Third Parties.
Third Party Intermediaries
Sloan-C may use an outside shipping company to ship orders, and a credit card
processing company to bill users for goods and services. These companies do
not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any
secondary purposes.
Service Providers
Sloan-C does not partner with other third parties to provide specific services.
We do not share names, or other contact information, with any third party.
Business Transitions
In the event Sloan-C goes through a business transition, such as a merger,
being acquired by another company, or selling a portion of its assets,
users' personal information may be part of the assets transferred. Users
will be notified via email and a prominent notice on our web site for
30 days prior to a change of ownership or control of their personal information.
If as a result of the business transition, the users' personally identifiable
information will be used in a manner different from that stated at the
time of collection they will be given choice consistent with our notification
of changes section.
Choice/Opt-out
Our users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their information
used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where
we ask for information. For example, our order form has an 'opt-out' mechanism
so users who buy a product from us, but don't want any marketing materials,
can keep their email addresses off of our lists.
Users who no longer wish to receive our newsletters and promotional communications
may opt-out of receiving these communications, information on how to opt-out
is always provided on our member services page at http://www.sloan-c.org/aboutus/contact.asp.
Users of our site are always notified when their information is being collected
by any outside parties. We do this so our users can make an informed choice
as to whether or not they should proceed with services that require an outside
party.
Links
This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we,
Sloan-C, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites.
We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read
the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally
identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information
collected by this web site.
Surveys
From time-to-time our site requests information from users via surveys. Participation
in these surveys is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice
whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically
includes contact information (such as name and email address), and demographic
information (such as zip code). Survey information will be used for purposes
of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site. Users' personally
identifiable information is not shared with third parties.
Tell-A-Friend
If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about
our site, we may ask him/her for the friend's name and email address.
Sloan-C will automatically send the friend a one-time an one-time email
inviting him/her to visit the site. Sloan-C stores this information for
the sole purpose of sending this one-time email and tracking the success
of our referral program. The friend may contact Sloan-C using the contact
information provided on our member services page at http://www.sloan-c.org/aboutus/contact.asp
to request the removal of this information from our database.
Security
This web site takes every precaution to protect our users' information.
When users submit sensitive information via the web site, their information
is protected both online and off-line.
When our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information
(such as credit card number), that information is encrypted and protected
with encryption software - SSL. While on a secure page, such as our order
form, the lock icon on the bottom of web browsers such as Netscape Navigator
and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked,
or open, when users are just 'surfing'.
While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also
protect user-information off-line. All of our users' information, not
just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices
and the secure location of our server-hosting provider. Only employees
who need the information to perform a specific jobs (for example, our
billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access
to personally identifiable information. ALL employees are kept up-to-date
on our security and privacy practices. Every quarter, as well as any time
new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded about
the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our
users' information is protected. Finally, the servers that store personally
identifiable information are in a secure environment, in a locked facility.
If users have any questions about the security at our web site, they
can contact Sloan-C using the contact information provided on our member
services page at http://www.sloan-c.org/aboutus/contact.asp.
Supplementation of Information
In order for this web site to properly fulfill its obligation to users it is
necessary for us to supplement the information we receive with information
from third party sources.
Credit Check
Sloan-C does not request credit reports for any user.
ID and Address Verification
Sloan-C does not use any third parties or third party software to verify a user's
identity or address.
Purchasing History
Sloan-C does not share information about the purchasing habits of users with
any third parties.
Enhancement of Marketing Profile
Sloan-C purchases third party marketing data and adds it to our existing user
database to better target potential new users of our site. This information
is not linked to the 'profile' of individual users.
Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal
Information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code,
phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service,
we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users' personally identifiable
information. Procedures for correcting this information are provided on our
member services page at http://www.sloan-c.org/aboutus/services.asp.
Notification of Changes
If Sloan-C decides to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes
to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate
so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it,
and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information
in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.
If, however, Sloan-C is going to use users' personally identifiable information
in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will
notify users via email. Users will have a choice as to whether or not
we use their information in this different manner. However, if users have
opted out of all communication with the site, or deleted/deactivated their
account, then they will not be contacted, nor will their personal information
be used in this new manner. In addition, if we make any material changes
in our privacy practices that do not affect user information already stored
in our database, we will post a prominent notice on our web site notifying
users of the change. In some cases where we post a notice we will also
email users, who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying
them of the changes in our privacy practices.
Contact Information
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please
contact us at:
Phone: 781-292-2523
Fax: 781-292-2505
Email: publisher@sloan-c.org
Postal Address:
Sloan-C
The Sloan Center at Olin and Babson Colleges
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Olin Way
Needham, MA 02492-1200
Web site URL: http://www.sloan-c.org
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