Legal

If you have questions about this notice, our handling of your personal data, or you would like to request prior versions of this policy, please submit your request in our Support Portal.

This Privacy Notice (“Notice”) explains the data privacy practices of Harvard Business School Online (“HBS Online”, "we”, “us”, or “our”) in connection with your use of online.hbs.edu or any other website that refers to this Notice (“Websites”) and other HBS Online services (the Websites and the services, “Services”).

Our Services include Websites and other applications, programs, and Online or mobile products of HBS Online, including the HBS Online Community. Although HBS Online is a unit of Harvard Business School, this Notice does not apply to the personal data processing practices of Harvard Business School or other Harvard University organizations independently of our Websites and Services.

Your use of our Services is subject to the HBS Online Terms of Use. Additional terms may apply for specific Services. If such terms apply, they will control over any conflicting terms in this Notice to the extent permitted under applicable law.

REGIONAL PRIVACY POLICY DISCLOSURE

If you are located in certain specific regions (such as the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland) which have enacted a personal data protection law, please review our additional privacy disclosures that may apply to you.

INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT AND FROM WHOM

We collect information, including personal data, when you sign up for a user account, download an application, participate in our online programs, or otherwise communicate with HBS Online. Personal data is any information that can be used to identify you. Personal data we collect may include:

• Contact Information such as full name, phone number and email address.
• Account Information such as username and password.
• Educational Information such as student identification number, courses taken and currently registered for, course progress, and course grade.
• Transactional Information such as bank and payment details.
• Feedback Information such as surveys, inquires, and other feedback.
• Online and Electronic Information such as browser ID, browser type, device ID, device type, operating system, network carrier or data providers, and IP address.
• Usage Data such as cookies, content viewed or posted, frequency of visits, other Website browsing information, and preferences.
• Posted Data such as your likes, comments and other interactions with our social media pages, public forums, community pages, blogs, podcasts, and streaming channels.
• Location Information of a non-specific nature.
• Mobile Information such as date, time, and content of text messages you send to us, and any other mobile information you or your wireless carrier provide.
• Other Personal Data such as gender provided in connection with the Services.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

We may receive information directly from you or from third parties such as marketing partners, social media companies, or your employer or educational institution if you are enrolled in our Services through or in connection with an organizational agreement.

HOW WE MAY USE YOUR INFORMATION

We may use your personal data:

• To deliver, develop, analyze, support, secure, and improve our Websites and Services.
• To send you notices, updates, announcements, communications, and marketing and promotional content (whether by email, phone, pop up notifications, SMS text, or other similar methods) about the Services you have ordered or other Services that may be of interest to you.
• To authenticate your identity; to process payments, subscriptions, credits and refunds; and to collect amounts owed, as applicable.
• To perform research (such as academic research).
• To assess admissions criteria and analyze individual and aggregate progress, performance, and completion of the Services.
• To achieve any purpose to which you have consented at the point of collection of information or at another time.
• To establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights, for example in connection with threatened or pending litigation or claims or to enforce our contractual or other rights.
• To aggregate and/or de-identify your personal data so that the information can no longer be linked to you or your device. We may use the aggregated and/or de-identified information for any purpose, including without limitation for research and marketing purposes, and may also share such data with any third parties, including advertisers, promotional partners, and sponsors
• To achieve any purpose described elsewhere in this Notice, to respond to inquiries, and in accordance with our legal obligations (including, without limitation, disclosures permitted under FERPA, to the extent FERPA applies to the information).

INFORMATION SHARING

We share your personal data with your consent or as necessary to provide a Service you have requested. For example, we share some of your information with HBS Online faculty and staff, and other participants in your program can view your profile and username and comments. We also share with a limited number of third-party contractors who perform certain functions on our behalf. For example, we work with a third party who helps us with participant support queries.

Comments or other information posted or contributed by you to any part of a Service designed to be visible to the public or to other HBS Online participants may be viewed and downloaded by others who use or access the Service. Please bear this in mind when you post such comments or other information.

We may, for example, share information under the following circumstances:

• To provide or conduct the Services by sharing submissions, such as posted data referenced above, with other participants in an HBS Online program or other Services in which you are participating.
• To disclose or provide Directory Information to third parties or the public unless you have opted out of such disclosure by contacting us as set forth in this Notice. Review a description of the information we define as Directory Information and additional information in our FERPA policy.
• To share information with a collaborating college or university with which you are associated, including, for example, those listed at Collaborating Colleges and Universities, regarding your HBS Online application and participation in the Services.
• To share information provided by you or collected about you via the Services within Harvard University to provide the Services.
• To report to your employer on your progress and participation in a Service if your participation in the Service is sponsored by your employer, and if you have so consented or we are otherwise permitted to do so.
• To enable HBS Online, either directly or through third parties, to conduct marketing and advertising activities (such as interest-based advertising).
• To share aggregated, anonymized, or de-identified information with the public and with third parties, including but not limited to researchers and business partners.
• To enable service providers or contractors to perform certain functions on our behalf, including, without limitation, analytics and information processing; processing transactions; providing, operating, securing, or administering the Websites or a Service or part of them; providing or updating content for the Websites or any of the Services; or in connection with other aspects of our Services.
• In accordance with your consent.
• To share your personal data with third parties or with the public, in ways not otherwise set forth under this Notice, if (1) we have de-identified the information or (2) we otherwise are permitted to disclose your personal data under FERPA to the extent FERPA applies.
• To satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request; investigate compliance with or enforce our Terms of Use and this Notice; detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; or protect, defend or enforce the operations, property, rights and safety of users, Harvard University, Harvard affiliates, or others.

TEXT MESSAGE TERMS

Please see our SMS Terms for details on SMS text messaging, including for how to opt out of receiving certain text messages.

COOKIES

Some personal information may be collected through cookies, pixel tags, scripts, log files, web beacons and other similar technologies. Please see our Cookie Policy for more detail. We may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Collect information about participant experience.
• Track information indicating, among other things, which portions or pages of a Website or Service were visited, the order in which they were visited, when they were visited, and which hyperlinks and other user interface controls were used.
• Determine your (or your device or ISP’s) non-specific geographic location.
• Collect information regarding your IP address, unique IDs of cookies, unique IDs sent from mobile devices, and other device and electronic information.
• Serve content or advertisements that match your preferred interests.

YOUR CHOICES

Choosing not to share your personal data. You may choose not to volunteer certain personal data. If you choose not to volunteer certain personal data (or ask us to delete it), we may not be able to provide you with our Services or certain functionality of the Website. We will tell you what information you must provide to receive the Service or Website functionality by designating it as required at the time of collection or through other appropriate means.

Marketing Communications and Sharing. You may instruct us not to use your contact information to contact you regarding Services, promotions, surveys and special events that might appeal to your interests using the applicable communication method, or by emailing us as set forth below. Please note that, regardless of your request, we may still use and share certain information as permitted by applicable law. For example, you may not opt out of certain operational or transactional emails, such as those reflecting our relationship or transactions with you, or important notifications regarding the Services we are providing to you. Most browsers and mobile devices offer instructions on how to disable cookies (typically in “Preferences” or “Settings”). If you disable our cookies, some functions and conveniences of a service may not work properly or at all.

THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS AND WEBSITES

Our Services may contain links to third party websites or applications, including other content providers as well as certain service providers, such as those who process payments on our behalf. These other websites and applications are not under our control, and you acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the collection and use of your information by such websites and applications. This Notice does not apply to third-party websites and applications. We encourage you to be aware when you are redirected to a third-party website or application and to review the privacy policies and terms of use of each website and application you visit and use.

SECURITY

HBS Online has a program designed to protect personal data in its possession or control. This includes a variety of privacy and security policies, processes and procedures, including administrative, physical and technical measures. Nonetheless, no method of collection, storage or transmission is entirely secure, and we cannot guarantee that our security measures will be effective. The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Website or Services, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. Do not share your password with anyone.

RETENTION OF YOUR INFORMATION

The length of time for which we retain information depends on the purposes for which we collected and used it, requirements of applicable laws, the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the information, the resolution of any pending or threatened disputes, and enforcement of our agreements.

COLLECTION OF DATA FROM CHILDREN

Our Services are generally not intended for users under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 13 years of age and our Website and Services are not intended for individuals under 13. From time to time, we may offer certain Services to users under 18 years of age (but 13 years of age or older). In those cases, we may have additional requirements for registration or access to our Services, including, for example, approval of a parent or other authorized person. If we become aware that we have processed personal data of a person under 13 years, we will delete any personal data of such person from our records.

CHANGING OUR PRIVACY NOTICE

We may make changes to this Notice at any time. By registering for, accessing or using the Website or any of the Services after any changes have been made, you signify your agreement to the modified Notice and all of the changes, which will be effective immediately unless we notify you of a later effective date. If the changes are not acceptable to you, you should discontinue use of the Website and/or Services.

CONTACT US

Please submit any questions about this Notice or about our handling of your personal data through our Support Portal.

Last Updated: March 31, 2023