Privacy Policy

Last updated on June 26, 2015

The Chronicle of Higher Education (“The Chronicle”) values your privacy.

The following policies apply to all Chronicle websites, including chronicle.com, community.chronicle.com, aldaily.com, adjunctproject.com, collegerealitycheck.com, and philanthropy.com (collectively, the “Site”). Certain portions of the Site may have additional terms posted that apply specifically to them in addition to this Privacy Policy or, if expressly so stated, instead of this Privacy Policy.

In this Privacy Policy (“Policy”), we describe how we collect, use, and disclose information that we obtain about visitors and registered users (collectively “users”) and the services available through our Site (collectively, the “Services”). On our Site, we collect information from individuals in their capacity as individuals, and, in certain scenarios, as representatives of an educational institution. Unless we note otherwise, this Policy applies to the information that we collect from all users to our Site, including individuals submitting information on behalf of an educational institution. References to “you” mean the users of this Site, either individually or as a representatives of any organization on whose behalf they may be accessing the Site.

By visiting the Site, or using any of our Services, you agree that your personal information will be handled as described in this Policy. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, you may choose not to use the Site. Your use of our Site or Services, and any dispute over privacy, is subject to this Policy and our User Agreement incorporated by reference into this Policy.

Table of Contents

The Information We Collect About You

Information We Collect Directly From You

Information We Collect From You About Third Parties

Information We Collect Automatically

Third-Party Analytics

What Do We Do With the Information We Gather About You?

How We Share Your Information

Privacy Settings

Our Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Mechanisms

Disabling Cookies. Local Storage Objects

Clear GIFs, Pixel Tags and Other Technologies

Advertising/Third-Party Ad Networks

User-Generated Content

Third-Party Links

Security of Personal Information

Access to Personal Information

Deleting Your Account

What Choices Do I Have Regarding Use of My Personal Information?

Types of Communications

Frequency of Communications

Notice to Non-U.S. Users

Special Notice to California Consumers

Contact Us

Changes in This Policy

 

The Information We Collect About You.

Information We Collect Directly From You. We collect information directly from you, automatically as you use our Site and our Services, and, in certain situations, from third parties. The type of information that we collect varies based on the particular Site that you visit and your interaction with our Site and Services.

• Account Creation.  We require you to create an account to access certain areas and features of our Site and Services. The information that we collect from you depends on the particular Site, but includes, at a minimum: your name, email address, country, postal code, role, and title. If you register for an account on Vitae, we also will collect demographic information related to your profession, institution, or organization.  
• Subscriptions and Paid Products and Services. If you subscribe to our online or printed publications, or otherwise purchase any paid products and services from us, we will collect your name, postal address, email address, and credit-card number or other billing information to process your subscription request as well as to manage your online account.  
• Contests and Special Offers.  On occasion, The Chronicle collects personal information from users in connection with optional contests or special offers.  
• User Surveys and Market Research. The Chronicle may collect personal information from users in connection with voluntary surveys. Data may be collected on our Site, on a survey company’s website, on the phone, or through the mail. Your responses may be shared, but only in the aggregate, with advertisers and partners unless we notify you otherwise at the time of collection. You have the right to decline to participate in any survey. 

Additional Information We Collect from Vitae Users

• Vitae User Profile. For optimal use of our Services, we encourage you to create a User Profile in Vitae, which provides you with an opportunity to include your educational, scholarly, and professional accomplishments in one place. You decide what information to include in your User Profile: you may choose to include your name, education, experience, awards, a photograph, current location, research, presentations, and any other. Be aware that your User Profile will be available to other Vitae users. Please see Privacy Settings to learn how you can control who may view your User Profile. 
• Address Book, Connections. You may use our contacts importer to upload individual contacts or your address book from certain applications, including, without limitation, Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. We may use this information to help you identify contacts within our network. From time to time, we may add functionalities that will facilitate your ability to add contacts and to synchronize your account with third-party services.

Information We Collect From You About Third Parties. Certain portions of our Site allow users to provide information about other persons. For example, you may upload your contacts on our Site. If you do so, we may collect the email addresses of those contacts.

Information We Collect Automatically. The Chronicle uses “cookies,” web beacons, and other technologies to collect automatically the following information and similar information about your use of our Site or Services: your domain name; your browser type and operating system; web pages you view; links you click; your IP address; the length of time you visit our Site and/or use our Services; and the referring URL, or the web page that led you to our Site. We do not respond to web-browser “do not track” signals or other mechanisms that might enable consumers to opt out of tracking on our Site. As discussed below, you may opt out of tracking by third-party network advertisers. Please see the sections “Our Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Mechanisms” and “Advertising/Third-Party Ad Networks and Online Tracking” for additional information.  

Third-Party Analytics. We use third-party service providers, including Inspectlet, Google, Analytics, and other companies, to evaluate and analyze the activities of visitors to our Site, including the use of our Services. We use analytics to help us improve our Site and our Services, performance, and user experiences. These third-party service providers will use cookies and other tracking technologies to conduct the analytics. One of our analytics providers, Inspectlet, will have access to personal information that you submit through this Site. Inspectlet’s access to and use of your personal information is governed by its privacy policy, at www.inspectlet.com/legal#privacy. 

What Do We Do With the Information We Gather About You? We may use the information that you provide and that we gather about you for the following purposes:

• To Provide Our Services to You. We use your information to fulfill your orders for our publications, to enable you to view the content on our Site, and to otherwise interact with all of the features and Services available on our Site. In addition, on Vitae, we use your information to send and process connection requests. Through Vitae, you can manage your network and career, keep track of the connections in your network, and maintain your own up-to-date educational dossier. You have the opportunity to publish your research, comment on articles, and participate in groups; we use your information to facilitate your ability to do so as well as to use all of the features and functionalities of Vitae.
• To Communicate With You About Your Use of Our Services, to Respond to Your Inquiries, and for Other Customer-Service Purposes. When we communicate with you, we may do so through the email address that you provide to us, notices to your inbox, and other means available through our Site and Services. The types of communications may include reminders to create/update your profile on Vitae, invitations to connect (and reminders about those invitations), confirmation of and updates about connections, status updates regarding employment applications (e.g., that your application has been submitted), and messages from other Vitae users or employers using Vitae, among other communications.
• To Personalize Your Services. We may use your information to tailor the content and information that we may send or display to you, to offer personalized help and instructions, and to otherwise personalize your experiences while using the Site or our Services.
• To Keep You Informed on the Basis of Your Preferences. We may use your information to notify you about employment opportunities, news, and other events from institutions that may be of interest to you. 
• For Marketing and Promotional Purposes. For example, we may use your information, such as your email address, to send you news and newsletters, to provide special offers about products and services, or to otherwise contact you about products or information we think may interest you. We also may use the information that we learn about you to assist us in advertising our Services on third-party website and to determine appropriate advertisements for our own Site.
• To Improve Our Site and Services. To better understand how users access and use our Site and Services, on both aggregated and individualized bases, in order to improve our Site and Services and respond to user desires and preferences.

How We Share Your Information. We may share the information that we collect about you, including your personal information (collectively, “information”), as follows:

• Other Users of the Site. Your user name and any information that you post to our Site, including, without limitation, reviews, comments, and text, will be available to, and searchable by, all users of the Site and Services. Certain of our websites, such as Vitae, enable you to limit your privacy settings.  The public availability of information will be based on the privacy settings that you establish. 
• Affiliates. We may disclose the information we collect from you to our affiliates or subsidiaries; however, if we do so, their use and disclosure of your personal information will be subject to this Policy.
• Non-Affiliated Third Parties. If you are a registered user of Vitae, we do not sell or rent any information about you to nonaffiliated third parties.  For non-Vitae users, we may disclose your name, email address, position, and mailing address to nonaffiliated third parties for the purpose of marketing products and services that they believe would be of interest to you.  You may opt out of any such marketing by contacting us at: help@chronicle.com. If you are a California resident, please see the Special Notice to California Consumers below.
• Service Providers. We may disclose the information we collect from you to third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents who perform functions on our behalf.
• Business Transfers. If we are acquired by or merged with another company, if substantially all of our assets pertaining to services provided on a Chronicle website, including your posted submissions, are transferred to another company, or become part of a bankruptcy proceeding, we may transfer the information we have collected from you to the other company.
• In Response to Legal Process. We also may disclose the information we collect from you in order to comply with the law, a judicial proceeding, court order, or other legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena.
• To Protect Us and Others. We also may disclose the information we collect from you when we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, violations of our User Agreement or this Policy, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.
• Aggregate and De-Identified Information. We may share aggregate or de-identified information about users with third parties for marketing, advertising, research, or similar purposes.

In addition to the disclosures described above, for our Vitae users, we also may share your Vitae information in the following situations:

• Other Vitae Users. Unless you choose otherwise, your User Profile in its entirety will be available to all other members of Vitae.  Your user name and any information that you post to Vitae, including, without limitation, reviews, comments, and text, will be available to, and searchable by, all Vitae users, to the extent that you have chosen to make your information public. Your user name may be provided to members whose profiles you view.
• Academic Institutions and Recruiters. If you “follow” an institution, express an interest in learning about career opportunities or research opportunities, or about other things we view as reasonably consistent with your expressed interests, we may share your information, including your User Profile, with academic institutions and recruiters (as applicable), even if you have chosen to make your User Profile private. If you have not chosen to make your User Profile private, academic institutions and recruiters (along with other visitors to Vitae, as noted above) will have access to your information, and may contact you to build out their networks, find new talent, search your profile, or otherwise interact with you.
• Employment Applications. If you apply for an open position posted on Vitae, we will provide the employment materials that you select to the recruiter, educational institution, or other entity that is involved in the hiring process, as is applicable based on the particular posting. Additionally, some educational institutions (and/or the companies that the institution may use to manage applications through a hosted applicant or other tracking system) may offer you the option to upload certain application information (such as contact information, education, experience, and other sections from your Vitae profile, which may vary by institution), by using Vitae. If you apply for an open position posted on such a third-party website using the Vitae feature on that website, then you will be granting such third-party providers access to your information, and your information will be governed by their terms and privacy policies. See Third-Party Links below. 
• Letters of Recommendation. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (Ferpa) affords eligible students certain rights with respect to their education records, including the right to provide written consent before the educational institution discloses personal information from the student’s education records. In addition, the student has a right to read a letter of recommendation containing such personal information provided by a representative of an educational institution. If you are a student or otherwise qualify under Ferpa, you understand and acknowledge in requesting a letter of recommendation or otherwise using the services to secure employment, that your information may be transferred to the prospective employer. You understand and agree that The Chronicle cannot control or be responsible for subsequent distribution of this information by the recruiter, educational institution, or other entity other than to provide the information for the stated purpose. You are consenting to the disclosure of any information contained in your education record, and to waive the right to read the letter of recommendation.

Privacy Settings. If you are a Vitae user, you have choices about who may view the information that you post to our Site and through our Services, including your User Profile and your activity feed. The default setting allows all persons who visit our Site to view your User Profile and your activity feed. You may restrict, however, who may view your User Profile and what information persons may see in your User Profile. To do so, log into your account and select the appropriate privacy setting.

Our Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Mechanisms. We use cookies and other tracking mechanisms to track information about your use of our Site or Services. Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser for record-keeping purposes.

We use these technologies to recognize you and to provide personalization, as well as to help us understand which parts of our Site are the most popular, where our visitors are going, and how much time they spend there. We also use cookies to ensure that your browser does not see the same advertisement repeatedly, to present ads in a series or sequence, and to measure the number of unique visitors who have viewed a particular ad. We use cookies to store user preferences, record past activity on a site in order to better service you when you return, and to customize web page content based on users’ browser type or other information that you have provided.

We may combine this information with other personal information we collect from you. There are two types of cookies: session and persistent cookies. We also permit third-party cookies on our Site.

• Session Cookies. Session cookies exist only during an online session. They disappear from your computer when you close your browser or turn off your computer. We use session cookies to allow our systems to uniquely identify you during a session or while you are logged into the Site. This allows us to process your online transactions and requests and verify your identity, after you have logged in, as you move through our Site.
• Persistent Cookies. Persistent cookies remain on your computer after you have closed your browser or turned off your computer. We use persistent cookies to track aggregate and statistical information about user activity, and to display advertising both on our Site and on third-party sites.

Disabling Cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but if you prefer, you can edit your browser options to block them in the future. The Help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your computer from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, and how to disable cookies altogether. Visitors to our Site who disable cookies will be able to browse certain areas of the Site but will not have access to most areas of our Site.

Local Storage Objects. We may use Flash Local Storage Objects (“Flash LSOs”) to store your Site preferences and to personalize your visit. Flash LSOs are different from browser cookies because of the amount and type of data stored. Typically you cannot control, delete, or disable the acceptance of Flash LSOs through your web browser. For more information on Flash LSOs, or to learn how to manage your settings for Flash LSOs, go to the Adobe Flash Player Help Page, choose “Global Storage Settings Panel,” and follow the instructions. To see the Flash LSOs currently on your computer, choose “website Storage Settings Panel” and follow the instructions to review and, if you choose, to delete any specific Flash LSO.

Clear GIFs, Pixel Tags, and Other Technologies. Clear GIFs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on your computer’s hard drive, clear GIFs are embedded invisibly on web pages. We may use clear GIFs (a.k.a. web beacons, web bugs, or pixel tags), in connection with our Site to, among other things, track the activities of Site visitors, help us manage content, and compile statistics about Site usage. We and our third-party service providers also use clear GIFs in HTML emails to our customers, to help us track email response rates, identify when our emails are viewed, and track whether our emails are forwarded.

Advertising/Third-Party Ad Networks and Online Tracking. We, advertisers, sponsors, and our third-party service providers may use third parties such as network advertisers to display advertisements on our Site. Network advertisers are third parties that display advertisements based on your visits to our Site as well as other websites. We, advertisers, our third-party service providers, and the ad networks may track your behavior on this Site. Specifically, third-party ad-network providers, advertisers, sponsors, and/or traffic-measurement services may use cookies, JavaScript, web beacons (including clear GIFs), Flash LSOs, and other technologies to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize advertising content to you. This enables us and these third parties to target advertisements by displaying ads for products and services in which you might be interested. These third-party cookies and other technologies are governed by each third party’s specific privacy policy, not this one. We may provide these third-party advertisers with information about your usage of our Site and our Services, as well as aggregate or nonpersonally identifiable information about visitors to our Site and users of our Service.

You may opt out of many third-party ad networks, including those operated by members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) and the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”). For more information regarding this practice by NAI members and DAA members, and your choices regarding the use of this information used by these companies, including how to opt out of third-party ad networks operated by NAI and DAA members, please visit their respective websites: www.networkadvertising.org/optout_nonppii.asp (NAI) and www.aboutads.info/choices (DAA).

Opting out of one or more NAI member or DAA member networks (many of which will be the same) means only that those members no longer will deliver targeted content or ads to you. It does not mean that you will no longer receive any targeted content or ads on our Site or other websites. You may continue to receive advertisements based, for example, on the particular website that you are viewing. Also, if your browsers are configured to reject cookies when you visit the opt-out page, or if you subsequently erase your cookies, use a different computer, or change web browsers, your NAI or DAA opt-out may no longer be effective. Additional information is available on NAI’s and DAA’s websites, accessible by the links above.

User-Generated Content. We invite you to post content to our Site, whether in your User Profile or through contributing to our blogs, columns, video logs, or posting webinars.

Any content that you post to our Site and through our Services, including any User Profile (subject to your User Profile privacy settings) will be available to all other visitors to our Site. If you post content on our Site or Services, your posting may become public, and we cannot prevent such information from being used in a manner that may violate this Policy, the law, or your personal privacy. 

Third-Party Links. Our Site and Services may contain links to third-party websites. Any access to and use of such linked websites is not governed by this Policy, but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third-party websites. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites.

Security of Personal Information. We have taken commercially reasonable precautions to protect the information we collect from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Please be aware that despite our best reasonable efforts, no data security measures can guarantee 100% security.

You should take steps to protect against unauthorized access to your password, phone, and computer by, among other things, signing off after using a shared computer, choosing a robust password that nobody else knows or can easily guess, and keeping your log-in and password private. We are not responsible for any lost, stolen, or compromised passwords or for any activity on your account via unauthorized password activity.

Access to Personal Information. You may modify personal information that you have submitted by logging into your account and updating your User Profile. Please note that copies of information that you have updated, modified, or deleted may remain viewable in cached and archived pages of the Site for a period of time.

Deleting Your Account. You may contact us to delete your account.

What Choices Do I Have Regarding Use of My Personal Information?

Types of Communications. You have choices about the types of communications that you receive from us and from third parties (such as education institutions and recruiters). When you establish your account, you can select whether you are interested in communications regarding various opportunities, including, without limitation, the following:

• Being contacted by recruiters
• Being or finding a mentor
• Answering professional questions
• Being contacted by media members looking for an expert
• Being an expert witness
• Research collaboration

Frequency of Communications. From time to time, we may send you promotional emails about products and services/features that we believe would be of interest to you.  You will be provided with means to submit options regarding the frequency of emails. With regard to email communications received from us, please note that it may take as much as 10 days to process your request. If you opt out of receiving promotional emails from us, we will still communicate with you through email about your account or any of the Services that you have requested or received from us (for example, we may continue to send you contact requests). 

Notice to Non-U.S. Users. The Chronicle is based in the United States. Use of your information by The Chronicle is intended for use only within the United States and its territories.  If you use our Site and our Services, your information will be stored in the United States. We may, however, use third-party service providers that are located outside of the United States. Content and use of that content is intended to conform to United States law and practices. Use outside the United States is at your risk, and you agree to comply with all applicable laws and use or nonuse of content. 

Special Notice to California Consumers. California residents may request, free of charge, a list of what personal information (if any) we provided to third parties in the preceding year for that third party’s direct marketing purposes. You may make one request per the calendar year. In your request, please attest that you are a California resident and provide a current California address for your response. You may request this information in writing by contacting us as set forth in the User Agreement. Please allow up to thirty (30) days for a response. 

Contact Us. If you have questions about the privacy aspects of our Services or would like to make a complaint, please write to us at 1255 23^rd Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20037 or see our complete information on contacting The Chronicle.

Changes in This Policy. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THESE TERMS FROM TIME TO TIME. ALL CHANGES ARE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY WHEN WE POST THEM, AND APPLY TO ALL ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE WEBSITE THEREAFTER.  YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE SITE FOLLOWING ANY CHANGE WILL BE CONCLUSIVELY DEEMED ACCEPTANCE OF ANY CHANGE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.  YOU ARE EXPECTED TO CHECK THIS PAGE FROM TIME TO TIME SO THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF ANY CHANGES, AS THEY ARE BINDING ON YOU.