Publication and Use of Personal Information Policy

Harvard policy governs the publication and the use of identifiable information about students, staff, and faculty, and is defined at the following location:

    http://security.harvard.edu/enterprise-security-policy/

With regard to publication, Harvard policy, consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) states the following:

    "Harvard maintains a lot of information about its faculty, staff and students. Much of this information is considered to be confidential either by Harvard policy or by government regulations. A subset of the information is considered to be directory information and is subject to public disclosure. This information includes name, email address, office location, phone number and some other information.

In some cases people have requested that they not be included in directories or that particular types of information about them not be included in online directories. FERPA gives students and former students the right to request that none of their information can be displayed. In addition, Harvard faculty and staff can, subject to school and department policies, request that they not be included in directories or that particular information about them not be included.

It is IQSS policy not to publish to the public or general Harvard community, either in print or online, information about identified faculty, staff, or students unless (1) such information is available publicly through the current Harvard online directory and the IQSS publication is updated regularly to maintain consistency with the Harvard online directory; or (2) permission is obtained from the individual to publish the information. When identifiable information is published, this information must be reviewed regularly to ensure that only information currently in the Harvard online directory is retained.

IQSS provides some services that are limited to Harvard staff, faculty, and students. To protect student and staff confidential information IQSS staff will:

    not request that clients reveal their Harvard University personal identification number (PIN)
    not transmit Harvard University ID (HUID) numbers unencrypted, except in the case where individuals supply their own HUID numbers only
    will identify individuals only on the following basis, in order of preference:
        client's use of the Harvard PIN service; or
        client's presentation of a valid Harvard ID card; or
        client's response to a message sent to their e-mail address as listed in the Harvard directory or other authorized source