Terms of Service
Stanford University pursues the science of learning. Learners are important participants in that pursuit. The information we gather from your engagement with our instructional offerings makes it possible for faculty, researchers, designers and engineers to continuously improve their work and, in that process, build learning science.
By registering as a learner, you are also participating in research intended to enhance Stanford’s instructional offerings as well as the quality of learning and related sciences worldwide. In the interest of research, you may be exposed to some variations in the course materials. Stanford does not use learner data for any purpose beyond the University’s stated missions of education and research. For purposes of research, we may share information we collect from online learning activities, including Personally Identifiable Information, with researchers beyond Stanford. However, your Personally Identifiable Information will only be shared as permitted by applicable law, will be limited to what is necessary to perform the research, and will be subject to an agreement to protect the data. We may also share with the public or third parties aggregated information that does not personally identify you. Similarly, any research findings will be reported at the aggregate level and will not expose your personal identity.
Please read our Privacy Policy for more information regarding the processing, transmission and use of data collected through the Stanford Digital Medical Education International Collaborative Site.
TERMS OF SERVICE FOR STANFORD COURSES
These Terms of Service (which include the Privacy Policy, Honor Code and Copyright terms set forth below (“Terms”) govern the Stanford Digital Medical Education International Collaborative (also known as “Stanford Digital MedIC”) website (“Site”), and all associated course content and course delivery platforms including but not limited to Canvas, Yuja, Smart Sparrow, and Stanford’s OpenEdx platform. The Site is owned by Stanford University (“Stanford”) and operated by Stanford or its service providers. You should not access or use this Site until you have carefully read and agreed to the following Terms of Service.
Use of the Site
In order to use the Site and to access the Stanford Digital MEdIC online courses, you must first carefully read and agree to these Terms of Service, Honor Code and Privacy Policy (collectively “Terms”). BY ACCESSING AND INTERACTING WITH THE SITE,YOU HAVE INDICATED THAT YOU HAVE READ THESE TERMS (INCLUDING ALL UPDATES OF THESE TERMS) AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY AND COMPLY WITH THEM, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE ACTUALLY RECEIVED YOUR ACTUAL CONSENT. If you do not agree to be bound by these Terms, please promptly exit the Site.
STANFORD RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY THESE TERMS AT ANY TIME. BY CONTINUING TO ACCESS THE SITE AFTER NOTICE OF SUCH MODIFICATIONS HAS BEEN PUBLISHED, YOU SIGNIFY YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY THEM.
User Age and Eligibility
Access to the Site and Stanford Digital MEdIC Courses is restricted to those individuals who have registered, who are 18 years of age and over, emancipated minors, or those who possess parental or legal guardian consent, and who are fully able and competent to enter into these terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations and warranties herein. By accessing the Site you affirm that you are at least 13 years old and meet the eligibility requirements. This Site is not intended for children under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, do not use the Site. If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact us at support@digitalmedic.org
Certain courses may also have additional eligibility requirements as specified in the specific course description. If you are not eligible for registration and participation or do not agree to the Terms, you may not use the Site.
Access to the Site
While portions of the Site may be available to the general public, other portions of the Site are restricted to registered users who meet eligibility criteria. You agree that you will not access any registration-only portions of the Site if you do not meet the eligibility requirements. Stanford is not responsible for any delay, inability or failure to access the Site due to any cause, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disasters, government orders, labor unrest, malfunction of user hardware or software, interruption in internet service, loss or corruption of data, and unanticipated suspension or cessation of service from any underlying service provider.
User Accounts
Site Registration. In order to fully participate in the Site activities, you must register and create a User Account. You are required to provide information, including but not limited to your name, location or other information required to confirm your identity.
Course Registration. In order to participate in a course, you may be required to register in the course by selecting the course from the list of offered courses. You may be required to provide additional information at the time of registration including, without limitation, evidence of eligibility or of successful completion of prerequisite courses. You may be required to pay a fee to register in some courses.
You understand and agree that all information provided by you is accurate, current and complete and that you will maintain and update your information to keep it accurate, current and complete. You acknowledge that if any information provided by you is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, we reserve the right to refuse access to the selected course or to terminate your use of the Site. You agree that you will never divulge or share access or access information to your User Account with any third party for any reason.
Course Modification or Cancellation
The Site, including the course materials, may contain errors and omissions. We reserve the right to correct errors or omissions without prior notice. We also reserve the right to cancel, discontinue, reschedule, delay, change instructors or modify any course or service. You acknowledge that the course content does not reflect the complete curriculum of a course that may be offered to students enrolled at Stanford.
Licenses
Site Technology. Unless otherwise indicated, the Site and all its content, such as text, images, and the HTML used to generate the pages (“Site Technology”) are the property of Stanford or that of our suppliers or licensors and are protected by patent, trademark and/or copyright under US or foreign laws. In consideration for your agreement to the terms and conditions contained here, Stanford grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable license to access and use the Site Technology. Registered users may download Material from the Site only for such user’s own personal, non-commercial use.
Site Materials. All the content available through the Site, including but not limited to all online courses, written materials, images, videos, and other content made available through the Site (the “Materials”) are also the property of Stanford or that of our suppliers or licensors and are protected by patent, trademark and/or copyright under US and foreign laws. The Materials are licensed to you subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License which may be accessed at the following link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “Creative Commons License”).
No user may otherwise copy, reproduce, duplicate, retransmit, distribute, publish, scrape, download in bulk, sell, resell, commercially exploit or otherwise transfer any Material or modify or create derivative works of the Material. The burden of determining that use of any information, software, material or any other content on the Site is permissible rests with User. Some content on the Site is provided by third parties, and the use of that content is subject to rules and restrictions as indicated in these Terms of Service. You agree to be bound by all such rules and restrictions.
Modifications to Site
Stanford reserves the right, for any reason or no reason, in our sole discretion and without notice, to terminate, change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Site, including without limitation, information, data, text, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, courses, Materials, features and/or hours of availability, and we will not be liable to you or to any third party for doing so. We may also impose rules and limits on the use of the Site or restrict your access to part, or the entire, Site without notice or penalty.
Rules for Online Conduct
You agree to use the Site in accordance with all applicable laws. You are responsible for your own communications, including the upload, transmission and posting of any information, statements or other materials, and are responsible for the consequences of their posting on or through the Site. You further agree that you will not email or post malicious or harmful content anywhere on the Site, or on any other Stanford computing resources including without limitation the following:
- Content that defames or threatens others
- Harassing statements or content that violates federal or state law
- Content that discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit them
- Content that is not your own, or infringes another’s intellectual property, including, but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks or trade secrets
- Content related to partisan political activities
- Material that contains obscene (i.e. pornographic) language or images
- Advertising or any form of commercial solicitation or promotion, including links to other sites
- Content that is otherwise unlawful
- Intentionally incomplete, misleading or inaccurate content
- Violations of Honor Code
Copyrighted material, including without limitation software, graphics, text, photographs, sound, video and musical recordings, may not be placed on the Site without the express permission of the owner of the copyright in the material, or other legal entitlement to use the material; you are solely responsible with respect to the use of any such content and the permissions or other legal entitlements that are required for any such use or posting on the Site.
Security Rules
Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. Stanford will investigate occurrences and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting the use or users who are involved in such violations. You agree that you will not violate or attempt to violate the security of the Site, including without limitation:
- attacking, probing, scanning or testing the vulnerability of, breaching security of, disrupting, disabling or harming the Site, or servers or networks connected to the Site
- using the Site via any automated means, such as a screen-scraper or robot. This is not intended to exclude the use of assistive technology for your own use, such as screen-readers
- sending any unsolicited emails to other Site Users or forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email
- displaying the Site within a frame on another website without consent, or place pop-up windows or other disruptive technologies over it
- accessing data not intended for you or logging into a server or account you are not authorized to access
- attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Site, overloading, “flooding”, “Mailbombing” or “Crashing”
- impersonating another person or improperly allowing another to use your registration information to access the Site.
Content Disclaimer
The text and other Material on the Site may include the opinion of the specific instructor and are not statements of advice, endorsement, opinion, or information of Stanford. If you feel you might be offended by the Materials made available through the Site, you should not continue your use.
The Materials made available through the Site may also include the personal opinions and other expressions by Users who post entries on a wide range of topics. Neither the content of the forums, nor the links to other web sites, are screened, approved, reviewed or endorsed by Stanford or any other related entity. Stanford is not a publisher of any of the content of the forums, or of any content that may be available through links to and from them.
User Content
You may be permitted to submit and distribute materials or information in connection with a course (“User Content”). You represent and warrant that any material or information you submit to the Site, instructors or other Users is accurate and complete and will not violate or infringe the rights of any third party, including without limitation privacy, publicity, intellectual property and any other proprietary rights, such as copyright, trademark and patent rights. You represent and warrant that you have all the necessary rights and licenses to use the material and to permit use of the material by Stanford and other researchers.
You agree that, if a third party claims that any material or information you have contributed to the Site is unlawful, you will bear the burden of establishing that the material or information complies with all applicable laws. Although Stanford does not monitor the content of the Site, Stanford has the right to remove material from the Site, block access, or take other action with respect to the material in its sole discretion.
Grant of license. By your submission of any material or information in connection with this course, you hereby grant Stanford an irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty free, fully transferable, worldwide license to use, disclose, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, publicly perform, publicly display and provide to other researchers any such submission and to sublicense such materials and information subject to the same terms that Stanford licenses the Materials hereunder, including the Creative Commons License. Furthermore, you hereby grant Users in your course a license to use your User Content in conjunction with their participation in the course and subject to the Creative Commons License.
User Status and Statement of Accomplishment
You agree and acknowledge that your access to the Site, participation in a course, access to the Materials and your agreement to these Terms do not confer any right to access or use the resources of Stanford or establish any relationship with Stanford or its instructors beyond the Site, that you are not entitled to be enrolled, admitted or in attendance at Stanford and that you are not entitled to any student or academic grievance procedures. You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between Stanford and you as a result of these Terms or your use of the Site.
Subject to satisfactory performance and course completion, you may receive a Statement of Accomplishment (“Statement”). Stanford reserves the right to determine whether a Statement will be issued for the online course and the nature of the information to be provided in the Statement. You acknowledge that any Statement will not stand in the place of a course taken at Stanford or an accredited institution or confer any academic credit, grade or degree or indicate enrollment at Stanford. You further acknowledge that instructors of any online course are not required to participate in any attempts to get the course recognized by any educational or accredited institution.
International Use and Consent to Processing
Your information, including Personally Identifiable Information, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction. If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the information, including Personal Information, to United States and process it there. We do not represent that materials on the Site are appropriate or available for use in every location. Persons who choose to access the Site do so on their own initiative, and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. You agree to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in connection with your use of the Site. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside. By providing any personal information to the Site, all users, including without limitation users in the European Union, fully understand and unambiguously consent to the collection, transmission processing and storage of such information in the United States and in such other locations where Stanford or its third party service providers may collect, process or store such information, and the use of such information for research by Stanford and other U.S. and international researchers.
Links to Other Sites
The Site may include hyperlinks to sites maintained or controlled by others. Stanford is not responsible for and does not routinely screen, approve, review or endorse the contents of or use of any of the products or services that may be offered at other sites. These links do not imply Stanford’s endorsement of or association with the linked sites. Stanford is not responsible for and shall in no event be liable, directly or indirectly, to anyone for any loss or damage arising from or occasioned by the creation or use of the linked sites or the information or material accessed through those linked sites.
Choice of Law/Forum Selection
The Site is managed by Stanford, located in Santa Clara County, California. You agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or any Material or content posted to the Site, including copies and republication thereof, whether based in contract, tort, statutory or other law, will be governed by the laws of the State of California, excluding its conflicts of law provisions. You further consent to the personal jurisdiction of and exclusive venue in the federal and state courts located in and serving Santa Clara County, California as the legal forum for any such dispute. Excluding claims for injunctive or other equitable relief, for claims related to the Site where the total amount sought is less than ten thousand U.S. Dollars ($10,000.00 USD), either you or Stanford may elect at any point during the dispute to resolve the claim through binding, non-appearance-based arbitration. The dispute will then be resolved using an established alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) provider, mutually agreed upon by you and Stanford. The parties and the selected ADR provider shall not involve any personal appearance by the parties or witnesses, unless otherwise mutually agreed by the parties; rather, the arbitration shall be conducted, at the option of the party seeking relief, online, by telephone or via written submissions alone. Any judgment rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Any claim or cause of action you may have with respect to Stanford or the Site must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arose.
Disclaimer of Warranties
THIS SITE AND ANY MATERIALS, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES THEREIN ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR USE OF A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT.
STANFORD DOES NOT WARRANT, AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SITE, THE MATERIALS OR INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE SITE, OR LINKS TO OR FROM THE SITE. STANFORD DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL OPERATE IN AN UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE MANNER OR THAT THE SITE IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. USE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM OR THROUGH THE SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.
WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, STANFORD DOES NOT WARRANT THAT (A) THE SITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS OR ACHIEVE THE INTENDED PURPOSES, (B) THE SITE WILL BE FREE OF OUTAGES, INTERRUPTIONS, DELAYS, SECURITY FLAWS, AND ERRORS, (C) THE INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE SITE WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, CURRENT, ERROR-FREE, COMPLETELY SECURE OR RELIABLE, (D) THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TRANSMIT OR RECEIVE INFORMATION FROM OR THROUGH THE SITE OR (E) THAT DEFECTS IN OR ON THE SITE WILL BE CORRECTED.
Medical Disclaimer
The contents of this Site are provided for educational purposes only. Such content is not intended nor implied to be, nor should be, used as a substitute for the advice of an appropriately qualified and licensed physician or other health care provider regarding diagnosis or treatment. It is not intended to recommend the self-management of health problems or wellness. It is not intended to endorse or recommend any particular type of medical treatment. You should not provide unsupervised medical care unless you have completed all of the training, licensing and certification process required in your country. Should you have any health care related question, you should promptly call or consult a physician or healthcare provider. Information in the courses or other Materials made available through the Site is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. You assume full responsibility for how you choose to use this information. Reliance on any information provided by the Site or other users of the Site is solely at your own risk. You should never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this Site. If you have a medical emergency call your healthcare provider, 911 in the United States, or the emergency medicine services in your country immediately.
Limitation of Liability
YOU AGREE THAT STANFORD WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGES, EITHER ACTUAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS, OR TO YOUR (OR ANY THIRD PARTY’S) USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE, OR TO YOUR PLACEMENT OF CONTENT ON THE SITE, OR TO YOUR RELIANCE UPON MATERIALS OR INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM OR THROUGH THE SITE. IN PARTICULAR, STANFORD WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, WHETHER FORESEEABLE OR UNFORESEEABLE, (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, CLAIMS FOR DEFAMATION, ERRORS, LOSS OF DATA, OR INTERRUPTION IN AVAILABILITY OF DATA), ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS, YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE, OR YOUR PLACEMENT OF CONTENT ON THE SITE, OR TO YOUR RELIANCE UPON MATERIALS OR INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM OR THROUGH THE SITE, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTORY OR OTHER LAW, EVEN IF STANFORD OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF STANFORD TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING FROM THE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SITE EXCEED, IN THE AGGREGATE, $100.00.
Termination Rights
You agree that: Stanford, in its sole discretion, may terminate your use of the Site, your use of the Materials or your participation in a course activity, for any reason or no reason and at any time; Stanford shall not have any liability to you for the termination; and that you are not entitled to any course credit or to any student or academic grievance procedures in connection with such a termination.
Consumer Notice
If you have any questions regarding services provided through the Site, you may contact Stanford Digital MEdIC Support at support@digitalmedic.org or 408 Panama Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. The Public Inquiry Unit of the Office of the California Attorney General may be contacted at P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, CA 94244-2550.
Proprietary Rights
The logos, names and graphics on the Site or the Materials of Stanford or any of its affiliates, may be trademarks of Stanford or its affiliates. Use, reproduction, copying or redistribution of Stanford trademarks, without the prior written permission of Stanford or its affiliates, is prohibited. All other trademarks or servicemarks appearing on the Site are the marks of their respective owners. Information about Stanford trademarks may be found at https://adminguide.stanford.edu/chapter-1/subchapter-5/policy-1-5-4.
Except as otherwise provided herein, use of the Site does not grant you a license to any content, features or Material you may access on the Site, and you may not modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works of such content, features or Material, in whole or in part. Any commercial use of the Site is strictly prohibited except as allowed herein or otherwise approved by us in writing and/or a separate written agreement between the parties. You may not download or save a copy of any of the content or screens for any purpose except as otherwise provided by Stanford. If you make use of the Site, other than as provided herein, in doing so you may violate copyright and other laws of the United States, other countries, as well as applicable state laws and may be subject to liability for such unauthorized use. We do not grant any license or other authorization to any user of our trademarks, registered trademarks, service marks, other copyrightable material or any other intellectual property by including them on the Site.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold Stanford and its instructors, trustees, officers, agents, employees, and assignees, harmless from any claims, actions, demands, losses or damages, including legal fees, arising out of, resulting from or in any way related to your participation in a course, use of the Site and/or Materials, placement of any content onto the Site or violation of these Terms. You further agree to fully cooperate in Stanford’s defense against any such claims.
COPYRIGHT COMPLAINTS
Stanford respects the intellectual property rights of others. In accordance with Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), an agent has been designated to receive notification of a claimed copyright infringement for the Stanford University Network domains: Stanford.EDU, Stanford.ORG and Stanford.COM. If you believe that your copyrighted work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please contact Stanford’s DMCA Designated Agent at DMCA-Claim@Stanford.EDU with a copy to support@digitalmedic.org and provide the following written information: (i) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; (ii) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed upon; (iii) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Site; (iv) your address, telephone number, and email address; (v) a statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and (vi) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.
Notices
Notices to you may be made via either email or regular mail. Notices to Stanford should be directed to the email listed below. The Site may also provide notices of changes to these Terms or other matters by displaying notices or links to notices to you on the Site.
General Information
Stanford’s failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms remain in full force and effect.
You may not assign the Terms or any of your rights or obligations under the Terms without Stanford’s express prior written consent.
The Terms inure to the benefit of Stanford’s successors, assigns and licensees. The section titles in the Terms are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.
HONOR CODE
By registering in a course, you agree to: rely solely on your own work in connection with all assessments, problems, homework and assignments (unless collaboration is expressly permitted); acknowledge any and all external sources used in your work; refrain from any activity that would dishonestly or fraudulently improve your results or disadvantage others in the course; maintain only one user account and not let anyone else use your username and/or password; and not access or attempt to access any other user’s account, or misrepresent or attempt to misrepresent your identity while using the Site. This Honor Code is not intended to prohibit discussion of course material. While users must submit work that is their own, you should feel free to discuss lectures or other course material with others either in-person or online.
Stanford employees using this Site are expected to abide by the University Code of Conduct, Administrative Guide Memo 1.
PRIVACY POLICY
Stanford respects your privacy, will use reasonable efforts to keep your Personally Identifiable Information (i.e., information that can be used to identify you) private, and will not share it with third parties, except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy, or unless Stanford has a good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary in special cases, such as a physical threat to you or others.
What Information this Privacy Policy Covers
In order to access certain features and benefits on our Site, you may need to submit “Personally Identifiable Information”. Personally Identifiable Information can include but is not limited to information such as your name and email address, among other things. You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the Personally Identifiable Information you submit to Stanford. Inaccurate information may affect your ability to use the Site, the information you receive when using the Site, and our ability to contact you. For example, your email address should be kept current because that is one of the primary means by which we communicate with you.
Please note that this Privacy Policy only applies to information that we collect through the Site and does not apply to information that we may collect from you through other means such as by mail or over the phone.
What You Consent to by Using Our Site
Please understand that by submitting any Personally Identifiable Information to us, you consent and agree that Stanford may collect, use and disclose such Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use, and as permitted or required by law. If you do not agree with these terms, then please do not provide any Personally Identifiable Information to us. If you refuse or withdraw your consent, or if you choose not to provide us with any required Personally Identifiable Information, Stanford may not be able to provide you with the services and courses that can be offered through the Site.
The Information We Collect
We gather the following types of information about users through the Site:
Non-Personal Information. When users use or access the Site, Stanford may track, collect and aggregate Non-Personal Information indicating, among other things, which pages of our Site were visited, the order in which they were visited, when they were visited, and which hyperlinks were “clicked.” We also collect information from the URLs from which you linked to our Site. Collecting such information may involve logging the IP address, operating system and browser software used by each user of the Site. Although such information is not Personally Identifiable Information, we may be able to determine from an IP address a user’s Internet Service Provider and the geographic location of his or her point of connectivity.
Cookies. Stanford also uses or may use cookies and/or web beacons to help us determine and identify repeat visitors, the type of content and sites to which a user of the Site links, the length of time each user spends at any particular area of the Site, and the specific functionalities that users choose to use. Essentially, cookies are a user’s identification card for the Stanford servers. Web beacons are small graphic files linked to our servers that allow us to track your use of the Site and related functionalities. Cookies and web beacons allow Stanford to serve you better and more efficiently, and to personalize your experience with respect to the Site. Cookies and web beacons are not used to retain Personally Identifiable Information. From time to time Stanford may also use additional methods of collecting data. Stanford does not provide any data collected through cookies to third parties.
You should be able to control how and whether cookies will be accepted by your web browser. Most browsers offer instructions, in the “Help” section of the toolbar, on how to reset the browser to reject cookies. If you reject our cookies, many functions and conveniences of this Site may not work properly.
Personally Identifiable Information. This Privacy Policy serves as notice that Stanford collects Personally Identifiable Information in the manner described herein. Such information may include but is not limited to: username, email address, home address, IP address, postal code, gender and year of birth. Stanford collects Personally Identifiable Information that you provide to us when you sign-up for email updates, create a user account with respect to the Site, participate in online courses or services through the Site, participate in our public forums, send us email messages, and/or or otherwise contact us. In order to subscribe to services, you may be required to provide us with Personally Identifiable Information such as your user name, name, postal address, and email address. You may also be asked to provide demographic information such as date of birth, gender and educational and vocational information. Stanford may also receive Personally Identifiable Information when you access or log-in to a third party site, e.g., Facebook, from the Site. This may include the text and/or images of your Personally Identifiable Information available from the third party site. Personally Identifiable Information shall not include any information posted or sent by or to you via any public forum.
Collection of Information by Third Parties
We may permit a limited number of authorized third parties, such as analytics partners, to place cookies through the Site to provide us with better insights into the use of the Site or user demographics. These third parties may collect information, including non-personal information, about a consumer’s online activities over time and across different websites when he or she uses our website.
Do Not Track
We do not use technology that recognizes a “do-not-track” signal from your web browser.
How We Use and Share the Information
Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the different ways Stanford uses and may disclose the information that we gather. We do not share your Personally Identifiable Information with third parties for their direct marketing use.
Non-Personal Information. Stanford uses Non-Personal Information in aggregate form to build higher quality, more useful services by performing statistical analyses of the collective characteristics and behavior of our users, and by measuring demographics and interests regarding specific areas of our Site. Such aggregate information may include but is not limited to video player interactions, views of posts, views and actions on pages, assessment results and completion rates and assignments. We may share Non-Personal Information with service providers and others to assist us in operating and enhancing our programs and Site.
Personally Identifiable Information. Among other things, Stanford and Digital MEdIC collaborating institutions may use the Personally Identifiable Information that you provide to respond to your questions, provide you the specific course and/or services you select, send you updates about online courses offered by Stanford or other Stanford events, and send you email messages about Site maintenance or updates. Except as set forth in this Privacy Policy or as specifically agreed to by you, Stanford will not disclose any Personally Identifiable Information we gather from you on the Site. In addition to the other uses set forth in this Privacy Policy, Stanford may disclose and otherwise use Personally Identifiable Information as described below.
Updates. We use Personally Identifiable Information collected when you sign-up for our various email or update services to send you the messages in connection with the Site or an online course. Stanford may also archive this information and/or use it for future communications with you.
Forums. Stanford uses Personally Identifiable Information collected during your use of forums to facilitate your use of the forums. In addition Stanford may display this information either on the Site and/or in other publications. Stanford may also archive this information and/or use it for future communications with you and/or your designee(s). Since the forum is open to those registered in the course, you may wish to select a username which does not disclose your identity when you post on the forum.
Participation in Online Courses. We use the Personally Identifiable Information, including but not limited to username and email address, that we collect from you when you participate in an online course through the Site for processing purposes, including but not limited to tracking attendance, progress and completion of an online course. Also, Stanford may archive this information and/or use it for future communications with you. This information may be shared with the content providers or contractors.
Communications with Stanford. When you send us an email message or otherwise contact us, we may use the information provided by you to respond to your communication and/or as described in this Privacy Policy. We may also archive this information and/or use it for future communications with you.
Research. We will study course participation to learn how to enhance both our course offerings and the online learning experience. Records of your participation may be used by Stanford for these research studies. Such records may include but will not be limited to: username, email address, home address, IP address, postal code, gender, year of birth and your interactions with the platform such as video player usage, forum posts, actions on class pages, assignments, and assessment results. For purposes of research, we may share information we collect from online learning activities, including Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”), with researchers beyond Stanford. However, your PII will only be shared as permitted by applicable law, will be limited to what is necessary to perform the research and will be subject to an agreement to protect the data. We may also share with the public or third parties aggregated information that does not personally identify you. Similarly, any research findings will be reported at the aggregate level and will not expose your personal identity.
If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this research, its procedures, risks and benefits, contact Charles Prober (cprober@stanford.edu).
Independent Contact: If you are not satisfied with how this study is being conducted, or if you have any concerns, complaints, or general questions about the research or your rights as a participant, please contact the Stanford Institutional Review Board (IRB) to speak to someone independent of the research team at (650)-723-2480 or toll free at 1-866-680-2906, or email at IRB2-Manager@lists.stanford.edu. You can also write to the Stanford IRB, Stanford University, 3000 El Camino Real, Five Palo Alto Square, 4th Floor, Palo Alto, CA 94306.
Third Party Sites. We use the Personally Identifiable Information collected from third party sites for research and teaching purposes. To the extent such Personally Identifiable Information contains images of you; you grant Stanford a limited, non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of or publicly display such images and/or your likeness for educational purposes.
Disclosure to Complete Transactions. We may disclose your Personally Identifiable Information in order to help complete a transaction that you have requested. This may include, for example, disclosure of credit card information to a payment processor.
Disclosure to Stanford Contractors. Our contractors may have limited access to your Personally Identifiable Information in the course of providing products or services to us. These contractors may include vendors and suppliers that provide us with technology, services, marketing assistance, and/or content related to the operation and maintenance of the Site or the course. Access to your Personally Identifiable Information by these contractors is limited to the information reasonably necessary for the contractor to perform its limited function for us.
Government Authorities, Legal Rights and Actions. Stanford may share your Personally Identifiable Information with various government authorities in response to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; to establish or exercise our legal rights or to protect our property, rights or safety or the property, rights or safety of others; to prosecute or to defend against legal claims; or as otherwise required by law or applicable regulations. In such cases Stanford reserves the right to raise or waive any legal objection or right available to us. We also may share your Personally Identifiable Information when Stanford believes it is appropriate to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal or suspected illegal activities; to protect and defend the rights, property, or safety of Stanford, the Site, our users or others; and in connection with our Terms of Use and other agreements.
Security
Stanford takes reasonable measures to protect your Personally Identifiable Information from disclosure to or access by third parties. However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. Please note that Stanford does not guarantee the security of Personally Identifiable Information, and there is some risk that an unauthorized third party may find a way to circumvent our security systems or that transmission of your information over the Internet will be intercepted. Any information that you post on our Site or send to us in an email is not secure.
You also play a role in protecting your information. Please safeguard your log-in information and do not share them with others. If we receive instructions using your log-in information we will consider that you have authorized the instructions. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. We reserve the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, or remove or edit content in our sole discretion.
External Links
For your convenience we may provide links to sites operated by organizations other than Stanford (“Third Party Sites”) that we believe may be of interest to you. Stanford does not disclose your Personally Identifiable Information to these Third Party Sites without obtaining your consent. Stanford does not endorse and is not responsible for the privacy practices of these Third Party Sites. If you choose to click on a link to one of these Third Party Sites, you should review the terms of service and privacy policy posted on the other site to understand how that Third Party Site collects and uses your Personally Identifiable Information.
Updating or Deleting Your Personally Identifiable Information
You may update or delete your Personally Identifiable Information by logging into the Site and visiting your user account page. Keep in mind, however, that there will be residual information that will remain within our databases, access logs and other records, which may or may not contain your Personally Identifiable Information. You may also submit a request to update your Personally Identifiable Information to digitalmedic@stanford.edu. We try to answer every email promptly, but may not always be able to do so.
Opt-Out Rights
If you do not wish to receive information or other notices from us in the future, you can “opt out” by contacting us at the address indicated at the end of this policy or by following the “unsubscribe” instructions in any communication you receive from us. Please be aware that you are not able to opt out of receiving communications about your account or your transactions with us.
Changing Our Privacy Policy
Please note that we review our privacy practices from time to time, and that these practices are subject to change. Any change, update, or modification will be effective immediately upon posting on our Site. We will notify you of any material change to this Privacy Policy by posting a notice on our Site’s homescreen for a reasonable period of time following such update, and by changing the effective date (located at the bottom of this Policy). Be sure to return to this page periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version of this Privacy Policy. If you have any privacy-related questions, you may contact Stanford Digital MEdIC at digitalmedic@stanford.edu.
Protecting Children’s Privacy
Stanford does not knowingly collect or maintain Personally Identifiable Information on our Site from persons under 13 years of age, and no part of our Site is directed to persons under 13 years of age. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use or access this Site at any time or in any manner. Stanford will take appropriate steps to delete any Personally Identifiable Information of persons less than 13 years of age that has been collected on our Site without verified parental consent upon learning of the existence of such Personally Identifiable Information. If you have any concerns with respect to data collected on the Site, please contact us at digitalmedic@stanford.edu.
Entire Agreement
These Terms of Service, including the Honor Code and Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Stanford and its affiliates with respect to the subject matter herein and supersedes any and all prior or contemporaneous oral or written agreements.
Contacting Stanford
If you have any questions or concerns relating to these Terms of Service, including the Honor Code and Privacy Policy questions, email us at digitalmedic@stanford.edu.
Effective date: 6/1/2018