IGERT Resource Center (IGERT.org) Privacy Policy
The Privacy Policy is included in and referenced by the Terms of Service Agreement.
Information Collection & Use
Registration
In order to use the member-based functionalities of this Web site, you must first complete the registration form and create a membership account. During registration you are required to provide your email address, which (in conjunction with your password) is used to log-in to this membership account.
The Resource Center is the sole owner of the contact and usage information collected on IGERT.org. and it will not be shared, sold or distributed. The Resource Center collects personally identifiable information from our members at several different points on our Web site.
Usage Data Logging
As is true of most Web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it for later analysis. This information includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data.
We use this information to administer the site, analyze trends, monitor traffic to improve our services, enforce terms of use and IP policies, contact you, and conduct research.
In conducting research on the site only TERC staff will have access to automatically generated data. Research reports will only refer to aggregate group data, as opposed to that of individual members, so there is minimal risk to you. For example, we might report on differences of use between graduate students and faculty, or between the use of active projects vs. projects that are post funded. We may also look at sections of the site (e.g. library vs. showcase) that are receiving more or less traffic. We use these analyses to understand and improve the site, and to report on its impact to the National Science Foundation, other researchers/ developers/ educators, and to the IGERT community. Your participation in this research is voluntary in that you can choose not to log-in to IGERT.org.
Even though we analyze aggregate data, your account is associated with any and all contributions you make to the site and you are responsible for adhering to all presently published IP policies.
Cookies
A cookie is a small piece of text stored by the user's Web browser that enables site-specific functionality (such as shopping carts, logging into a member account, etc.). We use cookies to identify users as they navigate through the site (including logging into member accounts) via transient cookies (which are deleted when the browser closes) as well as persistent cookies (which are kept around by the user's Web browser, and enable the site to recognize the user in between browser sessions).
You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Web browser's "help" system; you can also reject new cookies generally, or on a site-specific basis. If you reject cookies, you may still use our site, but you will not be able to log-in to your membership account, and your ability to use other areas of our site may be limited. This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by IGERT.org only.
Profile
We store information that we collect through registration and the contributions you make to the community to create a "profile" of your preferences and activities, to serve the community and to enforce IP and use policies. All contributions you make on the site (that you have made viewable to the public) are also linked to your member profile and login name. Any guest to the site (logged in or not) can view your profile and the information stored there including your name, university/institution, your academic interests, and an "about me" paragraph. Your email address is required, though by default will only display to other logged in site members. You may however change this setting so that your email displays only to logged in members of your IGERT project (or conversely, it may be changed and made viewable to all - guests and members). Other contact information may be provided (address, phone, URL to your website, department, title, and primary discipline), but is not required and will be viewable to guests visiting the site.
If your personally identifiable information changes you may correct or update your Profile from the Dashboard. If you no longer desire to be a member or have further questions, you may send an email to contact@igert.org.
We do not share your profile with other third parties.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
Links to Other Sites
This Web site may contain links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by IGERT.org. Please be aware that we, IGERT.org, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites.
We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies only to information collected by this Web site.
Groups
IGERT.org is a web site dedicated to supporting learning communities. IGERT.org provides many online many tools for users to contribute and participate in the community from comments and discussion boards to the ability to contribute and share content and work collaboratively on content development projects. If you use the groups on this site, or use any of the other contributory and participatory functions, you should be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other members of these groups, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. While discussions may be analyzed for research synthesis or discourse analysis by other members of the group, such studies must protect users' anonymity. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these groups, share in your profile, and share in the resources you contribute or otherwise disclose on the site.
Security
We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
If you have any questions about security on our Web site, you can send an email to: contact@igert.org
Changes in this Privacy Statement
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here or by means of a notice on our home page.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us: contact@igert.org
IGERT Resource Center (IGERT.org)
TERC
2067 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02140
phone: 617-873-9600
