Digital Privacy
Updated March 2021
Mount Holyoke College values individuals’ privacy and is committed to protecting and keeping secure user information obtained through the College’s websites. This statement explains how the information is gathered and used.
Information collected and its uses
In an effort to improve the content of the Mount Holyoke College website, certain information may be collected when users browse our website. Some information is collected through the use of cookies—small files of data from a website that are stored in a user’s browser based on a user’s Internet Protocol (IP) address.
Cookies may be disabled by adjusting the setting of your browser, or by installing tools like Google’s Opt-out Browser Add-on, but this may impede the full functionality of the website making the user experience less engaging.
Some Mount Holyoke-owned and -affiliated websites use Google Analytics and other tools to track data such as IP address, language, geo-location, browser type, and operating system, among other things. Google Analytics is a web-analytics tool that also keeps track of website activity and users’ browsing habits such as duration of time spent on the site. See Google Analytics’ terms of use and Google’s privacy policy for more information.
We do not collect any unique information about you (such as your name, e-mail address, etc.) except when you specifically and knowingly provide such information. We do not require you to share information that identifies you personally, such as your name or email address, in order for you to use our website.
All information is collected solely for the College’s internal use. We use it to track and evaluate traffic trends so that we can continually improve the quality our website. We also might use this information to inform you of changes to MHC-owned and -affiliated websites or to provide you with other news and information about the site that we believe may be of interest to you.
User information is neither shared nor sold to unaffiliated third parties for commercial use unless 1) you give us express consent; or 2) we are required to disclose it in compliance with state or federal laws.
Links to external websites
For our users’ convenience, our websites may provide links to other websites owned by third parties. Please note that Mount Holyoke College is not responsible for any of the privacy policies of those websites. We advise that you read their policies for further information.
If you send us email messages, you should be aware that information disclosed in email may not be secure or encrypted and thus may be available to others. We suggest you exercise caution when deciding to disclose any personal or confidential information in email. We will use your email address to respond directly to your questions or comments.
The college reserves the right to continually review and make changes to this privacy statement at any time with or without notice. Use of our website means you completely understand and consent to the policy outlined above.
If you have any questions regarding this privacy statement or the Mount Holyoke College website, please contact the Office of Communications.