SHIFT Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 9, 2016

We recognize that your privacy is very important and take it seriously. This Privacy Policy describes MIT’s policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of your information when you use the Site, as defined below. This Privacy Policy governs the SHIFT website at http://shift.tools and all pages within it owned or operated by MIT that are accessible with or without a username and password, including but not limited to text, content, photographs, video, audio, graphics and services (collectively, this “Site”). Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before you start to use the Site. By using the Site or participating in SHIFT’s programs, you signify your acceptance of this Privacy Policy and the terms of our Terms of Use. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, you should not visit the Site.

We will not use or share your information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information we collect by other means (including offline or in accordance with other agreements that you may enter into with MIT) or from other sources. Capitalized terms that are not defined in this Privacy Policy have the meaning given to them in our Terms of Use.

You should review this Privacy Policy carefully. By using any part of the Site, you accept and agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use, as they are updated from time to time.

Although MIT will use commercially reasonable efforts to safeguard your personal information, transmissions made by means of the Internet cannot be made absolutely secure. MIT will have no liability for disclosure of personal information due to errors in transmission or unauthorized acts of third parties.

User-Provided Information.

  1. We may make the name, website, geographic location, and description of your organization and any other information you provide available to and searchable by the public on the Site, and this information may be downloaded or exported by the public from the Site. We may also periodically provide this information to third party contractors and partners for purposes consistent with our mission.
  2. Additionally, the Site may contain message boards, chat rooms, forums, bulletin boards and other interactive features that allow you to post, submit, publish, display or transmit to other users' content or materials on or through the Website. Such information may be available to and searchable by the public on the Site.
  3. You may be asked to create a username and password, along with providing other registration information (collectively, "Registration Data") as part of the registration process. You are responsible for the accuracy and currency of your Registration Data. You may use an alias to identify yourself, but not to impersonate another individual or entity. You must provide a valid email address. You shall be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Registration Data. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to safeguard such information. You shall notify MIT in a timely manner of any known or suspected unauthorized use of your account, or any known or suspected breach of security, including loss, theft, or unauthorized use or disclosure of your password. You are responsible for all usage or activity on your account, including use of the account by any third party authorized by you to use your username and password. MIT reserves the right to terminate your account at any time, or to modify or discontinue your access to the Site, each in MIT's sole discretion.
  4. You may be asked to provide us with information about yourself if you register for a member account with the Site, or for inclusion in a member profile, such as the name and email address of a primary contact person. If you provide the Site with that information, such information will be available and searchable as part of a member profile. We will compile, process, and use the information on your member profile only for the purposes of creating, maintaining, and making available search functionality to our paid members. Additionally, we may use your email address to send you Site-related notices (including any notices required by law, in lieu of communication by postal mail). We may also use your contact information to send you marketing messages related to SHIFT. If you do not want to receive such messages, you may opt out by following the instructions in the message, or by contacting us at info@shift.tools. If you correspond with us by email, we may retain the content of your email messages, your email address and our responses.
  5. You may be asked to provide us with other information about yourself, such as your address or the address of a contact person, your fax number, and your credit card information. We will use such information only for the purpose of providing you services or content you request from us. We do not store or retain your credit card information; we use a secure third-party service provider to process your credit card information which is not permitted to store, retain, or use billing information except for the purpose of credit card processing on MIT's behalf.
  6. You can review, update, or remove the information you included in your member profile by logging into the Site, visiting your member profile page, and making changes. You may also send us an email at info@shift.tools to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us or to opt out of providing a member profile. Such requests will be honored within 10 business days.

Records of Correspondence

MIT may collect records and copies of your correspondence with us (including email addresses) if you contact us.

Records of Correspondence

Cookies When you visit the Site, we may send one or more “cookies” - small data files - to your computer to uniquely identify your browser and let MIT help you log in faster and enhance your navigation through the Site. A cookie may convey anonymous information about how you browse the Site to us, but it does not collect personal information about you. A persistent cookie remains on your computer after you close your browser so that it can be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Site. Persistent cookies can be removed by following your web browser’s directions. A session cookie is temporary and disappears after you close your browser. You can reset your web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some features of the Site may not function properly if the ability to accept cookies is disabled.

Log files

Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you access a web page. When you use the Site, our servers may automatically record certain information that your web browser sends whenever you visit any website. These server logs may include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, referring/exit pages and URLs, number of clicks, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, and other such information.

Clear GIFs Information

When you use the Site, we may employ clear GIFs (also known as web beacons) which are used to track the online usage patterns of our users anonymously. No personally identifiable information is collected using these clear GIFs. In addition, we may also use clear GIFs in HTML-based emails sent to our users to track which emails are opened by recipients. The information is used to enable more accurate reporting and make the Site better for our users.

Uses of Information

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information, in the following ways:

  1. To present the Site and its contents in a suitable and effective manner for you and for your computer;
  2. To provide you with information, products or services that you request from us (that you may opt out of via instruction in email messages);
  3. To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us; and
  4. To notify you about changes to the Site at our discretion.

Third Party Services

Personally Identifiable Information

  1. We will only disclose personally identifiable information we collect from you to third parties without your permission to the extent necessary to: (A) to comply with the law or in response to a subpoena, court order, government request, or other legal process; (B) to protect the interests, rights, safety, or property of MIT or others; (C) to enforce any terms of service or the Terms of Use on the Site; (D) to provide you with the services or products requested by you and to perform other activities related to such services and products, including billing and collection; or (E) to operate MIT’s or SHIFT’s systems properly.
  2. We may store personal information in locations outside the direct control of MIT (for instance, on servers or databases collocated with hosting providers).
  3. We may share or disclose your information with your consent, such as if you choose to sign on to the Site through a third-party service.
  4. We cannot control third parties’ use of your information.
  5. MIT may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or subpoena or if we believe that it is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation or legal request; to protect the safety of any person; to address fraud, security or technical issues; or to protect MIT’s rights or property.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information

  1. We may share non-personally identifiable information (such as anonymous usage data, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, number of clicks, etc.) with interested third parties to help them understand the usage patterns for certain of MIT’s services.

Protection of Your Information

In order to protect your personal information, MIT has put in place what MIT believes to be reasonable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure your personal data. However, no assurances can be given that these security measures will prevent any unauthorized interception of or access to your personal data and you hereby agree not to hold MIT liable for use of your personal data obtained in any unauthorized manner.

Privacy of Children

MIT does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of thirteen (13) or knowingly allow such persons to register with the Site. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under age of thirteen (13) without verified parental consent, we will delete that information from the Site. Dispute Resolution The parties shall settle any dispute arising out of or relating to this Privacy Policy by arbitration in city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in accordance with the applicable rules of the American Arbitration Association then in effect. The arbitrator’s award shall be final and may be confirmed by the judgment of a state or federal court in the city of Boston, Massachusetts.

Changes to Privacy Policy

  1. MIT reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time at its sole discretion by posting revisions on the Site. Such revisions will be effective immediately upon posting them to the Site. Your use of the Site after such changes have been posted shall constitute your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
  2. If you have any questions or concerns about our practices or this Privacy Policy, please contact info@shift.tools or send mail to:

    SHIFT c/o Sustainability Initiative at MIT Sloan

    100 Main Street, E62-435

    Cambridge, MA 02142

SHIFT Light logo