Carnegie Mellon Univeristy Draft Privacy Policy

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is committed to preserving your online privacy. This privacy policy has been created to help you understand how your information is collected and used when visiting our site.

Please note the policy may be amended due to change in business practices or in observance of applicable federal or state laws. Such changes occur only after extensive review by select committees within the university. You can register to be notified by e-mail when our privacy policy changes. Additionally, all changes will be posted in the change log.

Scope of the policy

This policy applies to pages within the www.cmu.edu web site. For example, pages within www.cmu.edu/hub are covered whereas www.heinz.cmu.edu are outside the scope of this policy. Some departments within this scope may have separate privacy due to to their unique business practices. For example, pages within CMU web site that require a user id and password such as www.cmu.edu/blackboard are not covered by this policy. You are encouraged to view the privacy policies when visiting those sites.

Your Choices

While there is no legal requirement for you to provide any information during your visit, our website may not work without certain information such as your IP address. If your browser fails to provide such information you will not be prevented from using our site, but may find that certain features don't work. If you receive unwanted contacts and wish to be excluded from such future contacts, please inform us and provide a description of the unwanted materials. We will notify the appropriate office accordingly.

Information We Collect

CMU collects information from faculty, current and prospective students and other visitors to our site. Although there is no legal obligation for you to disclose any personal information while visiting our web site, such information may be requested in order to complete a service. When accessing the site, users can expect the following types of information to be collected:

Web server log which includes your IP address, the referring web site, search queries, pages visited within our site and information. Additionally, we capture the type of operating system and web browser you use. This information is used to help us maintain the quality of our website and deliver valuable content.

Users may also be asked to provide contact information to complete services on the site. Contact information may include name, email and postal address, phone number and credit card information. Additionally demographic, financial and health information may be required when completing the following services: admission application, alumni relations services and health insurance enrollment.

The site doesn't use cookie functions. However, some department websites and other websites linked to the Carnegie Mellon web site may use cookies. We’re not responsible for the practices of those outside the domain of www.cmu.edu as they are outside the scope of this privacy policy.

Data Sharing

The information that we collect is primarily for use by Carnegie Mellon University. Information will not be shared with other parties unless required by law or when needed to complete a transaction. For example, in the event we must mail information to you, your contact information may be shared with a mail service such as FedEx.

Data Retention

Information collected about you while visiting our website will be stored indefinitely. However, we ordinarily delete transaction information from our web server within 60 days after the web page is transmitted and do not try to obtain any information to link it to the individuals who browse our website. Additionally, information will not be used for any purposes other than those stated in the policy effective at the time of your visit.

Our Commitment to Data Security

We are committed to protecting your information and make a conscientious effort to protect information about you -- especially sensitive information such as Social Security or credit card number. When such information is submitted via the website, we use mechanisms to protect that information in both inline and offline environments. In addition to using SSL encryption to protect online submission of sensitive information, we also take precautions to protect user information offline by shredding documents before disposal or restricting access on a need-to-know basis.

Data transmitted across the university network or stored on university systems may be vulnerable to security breaches. While we cannot guarantee 100% security, users who wish to increase security protections are encouraged to view Online Privacy Resources provided by the Federal Trade Commission.

Changes to this policy

Updates regarding changes to this policy can be viewed in our change log.

Links to External Websites

While our website includes links to external sites, Carnegie Mellon is not responsible for the privacy or security practices of these sites.

It is important to note that Google is used to support the search functionality on our site. Any search term you enter is sent directly to Google and is not collected or stored by us. Users should read the individual policy statements of these external sites when redirected from the CMU website.

Other Carnegie Mellon websites

While this policy does not apply to other CMU sites such as www.heinz.cmu.edu or CMU affiliates such as CERT/CC, these departments are obligated to post privacy policies that represent their privacy and security practices. These policies should adhere to the following guidelines:

Full compliance with Carnegie Mellon's stated privacy policy

State explicitly the pages that fall within the scope of their privacy policy

Inform the site vistors about what type of information is collected, how it is used and the duration it is kept on file

Provide point of contact for users to direct questions, correct user information and report breach of policy.

Contact

Users are encouraged to submit questions and comments regarding the privacy statement or CMU's privacy practices to the Privacy Office. Additionally, you have the option to contact this Office to correct, update or delete your information.

Mailing Address

Carnegie Mellon University

5000 Forbes Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Phone: 412-268-0000

Email: privacyoffice@cmu.edu

Back to CMU Homepage