We collect no information about you, other than information automatically collected and stored (see below), when you visit our web site unless you choose to provide that information to us.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored

We collect and temporarily store certain technical information about your visit for use in site management and security purposes. This information includes:

1. The Internet domain from which you access our Web site (for example, “xcompany.com” if you use a private Internet access account, or “yourschool.edu” if you connect from an educational domain);
2. The IP address (a unique number for each computer connected to the Internet) from which you access our Web site;
3. The type of browser (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer) used to access our site;
4. The operating system (Windows, Unix) used to access our site;
5. The date and time you access our site;
6. The URLs of the pages you visit;
7. Your username, if it was used to log in to the Web site; and
8. If you visited this Web site from another Web site, the URL of the forwarding site.

This information is only used to help us make our site more useful for you. With this data we learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use.

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are retained temporarily as required for security and site management purposes only.

Information Collected for Tracking and Customization (Cookies)

A cookie is a small file that a Web site transfers to your computer to allow it to remember specific information about your session while you are connected. Your computer will only share the information in the cookie with the Web site that provided it, and no other Web site can request it. There are two types of cookies, session and persistent. Session cookies last only as long as your Web browser is open. Once you close your browser, the cookie disappears. Persistent cookies store information on your computer for longer periods of time.

This Web site may use session cookies for technical purposes such as to enable better navigation through the site, or to allow you to customize your preferences for interacting with the site. This Web site may also make use of persistent cookies to remember you between visits so, for example, you can save your customized preference settings for future visits. 

At no time is your private information, whether stored in persistent cookies or elsewhere, shared with third parties who have no right to that information. If you do not wish to have session or persistent cookies stored on your machine, you can turn them off in your browser. However, this may affect the functioning of this Web site.

Personally Provided Information

You do not have to give us personal information to visit our web sites.

If you choose to provide us with additional information about yourself through an e-mail message, form, survey, etc., we will only maintain the information as long as needed to respond to your question or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication.

Disclosure

The MIT Museum does not disclose, give, sell or transfer any personal information about our visitors, unless required for law enforcement or statute.

Linking Policy and Disclaimer of Endorsement

This site may link to many Web sites created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. We provide links to these sites as a service to our users. The presence of a link is not an endorsement of the site by the MIT Museum.

When users follow a link to an outside Web site, they are leaving the MIT Museum site and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside Web site(s). The MIT Museum is not responsible for the information collection practices of non-MIT Museum sites.