Privacy policy previous

Last updated: November 16, 2021

edX and each Member that provides courses through the edX Site care about the confidentiality and security of your information. This Privacy Policy applies to information that edX (a 2U, Inc. company) collects through the edX Site when you interact with edX, with Members, with other users, and generally with the edX Site.

Your information is received and controlled by edX according to this Privacy Policy when you sign up for an edX account or otherwise use the edX Site.

• edX is solely and independently responsible for its own privacy practices. No Member is responsible for edX’s privacy practices.

If you enroll in a course offered by a Member through the edX Site, information about you and your activity in the course is received and controlled also by that Member as described in this Privacy Policy.

• Each Member is solely and independently responsible for its own privacy practices. No Member is responsible for another Member’s privacy practices. Also, edX is not responsible for any Member’s privacy practices.

If you do not accept the terms of this Privacy Policy, then please do not access, browse, or register for the edX Site or enroll in any courses. If you choose not to provide certain information required to provide you with various products and services offered on the edX Site, then you may not be able to establish a user account or obtain those products or services.

Any version of this Privacy Policy in a language other than English is provided for convenience and you understand and agree that the English language version will control if there is any conflict.

This Privacy Policy is organized as follows:

• Information that edX collects from you (including Personal Information)
• Cookies and Tracking Technologies on the edX Site
• How your information is used
• How your information is shared
• How to manage your Personal Information
• Storage & Security
• Privacy Policy updates
• Contact information
• Glossary

Information that edX Collects from You (Including Personal Information)

edX directly collects information when you:

• sign up for an edX user account and create an edX user profile;
• enroll and participate in online courses;
• purchase a product or service (for example, Verified Certificates);
• send email messages to edX (including messages to learner support);
• participate in user surveys; and
• participate in public forums, webinars, and other interactive experiences on the edX Site.

edX also indirectly collects usage information about your visit to the edX Site, as explained in the section below titled Cookies and Tracking Technologies.

edX does not itself collect or store financial account numbers or identification issued by a governmental entity, employer, or other authority. Instead, if you choose to make a purchase on the edX Site, for example a Verified Certificate, you will be directed to edX’s third-party payment processor and edX’s third-party ID verification service provider. If you do not wish to submit the required authentication or payment information, then you will not be able to obtain a certificate via the edX Site.

edX requires your Personal Information limited circumstances when you:

• sign up for an edX user account (name, username, email address);
• purchase a Verified Certificate (so that edX’s third-party vendor can authenticate your identity) or other product or service (so that edX’s third-party vendor can process payment);
• participate in remote proctoring or other course facilitation processes (so that edX’s third-party vendor can monitor and assess the integrity of your course activity); or
• earn a Verified Certificate (the certificate will have your name on it).

To the extent that edX associates the information that edX collects directly or indirectly with an individual (for example, you), the association is based on Personal Information in your account profile.

You may voluntarily choose to share additional Personal Information on the edX Site, for example:

• in your edX account profile (and you may display a limited or full profile to other edX Site users);
• in applying for financial assistance; or
• when participating in a course, forum, webinar, or other interactive experience on the edX Site (noting that in some cases, this information is shared with a third party that provides tools or other assistance for the edX Site or a course).

edX encourages you to use discretion before voluntarily sharing additional Personal Information on the edX Site. (If you later choose to delete your edX account, deletion of your Personal Information will be subject to the process and limits outlined below.)

Members do not receive your Personal Information unless and until you enroll in a course. If you enroll in a course, the Member that offers the course will receive Personal Information from your edX account profile plus the information that edX collects about your activity and performance in the course in which you enrolled.

Cookies And Tracking Technologies on the edX Site

View edX’s Cookie Policy

How Your Information Is Used

edX and Members use information, including Personal Information, to carry out the following purposes:

• Operate and improve the edX Site – This includes creating and improving features that support the edX community and enable edX Site usage at scale. This also includes personalizing the edX Site, so your learning experience is tailored to your interests and needs.
• Create, administer, provide, and teach courses – This includes creating and improving the delivery of massive open online courses and programs on edX. This also includes personalizing courses, so your learning experience is tailored to your interests and needs, and assessing your performance and awarding certificates.
• Offer and improve products and services – This includes enabling you to navigate the edX Site, to enroll and participate in courses and programs on the edX Site, to learn effectively in such courses and programs, and to purchase or obtain products and services on the edX Site such as Verified Certificates.
• Develop and maintain the security and performance of the edX Site – This includes tracking edX Site outages and creating software solutions, detecting violations of the Honor Code and Terms of Service, and monitoring uses, misuses, and potential misuses of the edX Site.
• Communicate with you – This includes answering your course and platform questions, notifying you of course and edX Site maintenance and updates, marketing to you about course offerings, programs, news, and related products and services of edX or edX affiliates, and as permitted under applicable law, sending you communications about products or services of selected business partners that may be of interest to you.
• Support scientific research including, for example, in the areas of cognitive science and education – This includes collaborating to enable and conduct research about how learners access and master course materials online, with the goal of improving course outcomes.
• Track edX Site usage against goals and mission – This includes performing analytics to evaluate access to and performance in courses and course-related products and services and to report aggregate usage information (not Personal Information) to business partners and external audiences.
• Exercise, enforce, and comply with legal rights and obligations – This includes responding to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; and investigating, preventing, or taking action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, security or technical issues, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of edX, Members, or others, and as otherwise required by applicable law.

edX or a Member may also seek your consent for additional uses of information, including Personal Information, and will use it only for the purpose described to you. All use of Personal Information is subject to applicable law.

How Your Information Is Shared

edX and Members share information, including Personal Information, with third parties for the following purposes:

• With service providers, contractors, and other third parties that help carry out the uses described above – edX requires third parties to: (1) abide by this Privacy Policy and applicable law; (2) handle Personal Information in a confidential manner and maintain adequate security; and (3) use Personal Information only as needed to fulfill the relevant purpose(s). In some cases, the edX Site and individual courses are integrated with third-party services or contain links to websites published by third parties, including other content providers as well as service providers. These third parties are responsible for their own privacy practices, so you should pay attention anytime you are redirected to a third-party website and be sure to review its privacy policy.
• With other learners in courses that you take and with other visitors to the edX Site, to create an interactive learning environment, support class participation, and share course information – This includes sharing comments, coursework, or other information or content that you submit to a portion of the edX Site designed for viewing by other class members or for public communication. This also includes providing opportunities for you to communicate with other users who may have similar interests or educational goals, for instance, recommending specific study partners or connecting potential student mentees and mentors. In such cases, edX and each Member that offers a course in which you enrolled may use all information collected about you to determine who might be interested in communicating with you, but will only provide others your username (for clarity, no disclosure of your real name or email address).
• With employers, government programs, institutions, or other enterprises that sponsor your enrollment in a course for training or other educational purposes – If an entity pays for or otherwise sponsors your Verified Certificate or course participation, edX will share information with the entity as needed to confirm your enrollment, participation, progress, and completion status in that course.
• With affiliates of edX or a Member, or with successors in the event of a merger, acquisition, or reorganization, for their use consistent with this Privacy Policy.

edX or a Member may also seek your consent for additional disclosures of information, including Personal Information, and will share it only as described to you. In addition, edX or a Member may share with the public and with third parties, including but not limited to researchers and business partners, information and Personal Information that is de-identified or aggregated in a manner that does not personally identify you.

How to Manage Your Personal Information

You can manage your Personal Information through learner features on the edX Site and requests to the edX learner support team. If your request involves information controlled by a Member, edX learner support will notify and coordinate with the appropriate Member to address your request. edX will provide support to the extent required by applicable law (for example, learners in the European Union) and more broadly when possible, as a courtesy in our sole discretion. edX will notify you in the event that edX is unable to meet a request that is not legally required. Similarly, Members will only be obligated to comply with requests to the extent legally required, but may choose to comply with other requests in their sole discretion.

Access and correct your Personal Information

Much of your Personal Information is available in your edX account. Your name, email address, and other identifiable profile information is editable through the profile settings in your edX account except as noted below. Your account dashboard lists all current and archived courses in which you have enrolled and includes links to any Verified Certificates you may have earned. The dashboard also contains copies of your answers and other participation and performance in courses. Please contact edX learner support to access and update this or other information. If your request involves information controlled by a Member, edX learner support will notify the appropriate Member of your request.

Restrict or object to the processing of Personal Information

If you want to manage emails and other communications to you, you may update your preferences in your edX account dashboard, follow the steps described in links at the bottom of email messages, or contact edX learner support. You may object to, or request that edX or a Member stop, its use of your Personal Information for other purposes by contacting the edX learner support team. If your request involves information controlled by a Member, edX learner support will notify the appropriate Member of your request. Please note that if you choose to restrict edX’s or a Member’s ability to process Personal Information, and the processing is otherwise required to provide you with various services and products offered on the edX Site, you may not be able to establish an edX user account or enroll for a course, and edX or a Member may not be able to provide you with those services or products.

Delete account and Personal Information

To request deletion of your edX account and Personal Information, you should click the button labeled “Delete my account” in your edX account settings. Because deletion on the edX system is a permanent action and cannot be reversed, edX may ask you to complete a process that aims to confirm your authority to manage the edX account affected by your request.

With respect to your edX account, edX will permanently:

• deactivate your edX account,
• remove the active profile,
• retire your username, and
• remove you from edX email lists.

With respect to your Personal Information, edX will permanently delete your edX account profile Personal Information from the edX Site.

As noted above, to the extent that edX associates the information that edX collects directly or indirectly with an individual (for example, you), the association is based on Personal Information in your edX account profile. By erasing the Personal Information in your edX account profile, the remaining information about your activity on the edX Site will no longer be associated with you, except as noted below.

These changes will be applied to data stores that are used for operation of the edX Site including course administration by Members. If you enrolled in any courses on the edX Site, the edX learner support team will share your request with the Members that offered those courses.

Data retention

edX will retain your Personal Information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with services; to maintain a record of your transactions for financial reporting, audit, and compliance purposes; and to comply with edX’s legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce its agreements, and as otherwise permitted by applicable law. If you enroll in a Member’s course, such Member will also retain your Personal Information for as long as needed to provide you with services; to maintain a record of your transactions for financial reporting, audit, and compliance purposes; and to comply with its legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce its agreements, and as otherwise permitted by applicable law. Upon your request that edX deactivate your account and delete your information, edX will follow the process described above, including without limitation archiving your course data (in a manner and to the extent permitted under applicable law) to serve its mission to enable scientific research on cognitive science and education. These archives will be used to produce encrypted research data packages for Members, and each such Member may also keep and use course data for scientific research.

Storage & Security

edX stores information, including Personal Information, on its own servers and also on servers of companies that edX hires to provide services. Each Member also stores information, including Personal Information, on its own servers and/or on servers of companies that the Member hires to provide services. In each case, information may be stored in the United States and in other countries where edX or a Member operates, and in countries where edX and each Member’s respective service providers operate. If you are in the European Union, Switzerland, or other regions with laws governing data collection and use, you acknowledge that edX and each Member may transfer, process and store your personal information in the United States and other countries, the privacy laws of which may be considered less strict than those of your region.

edX controls its own copy of information collected through the edX Site and has an information security program designed to protect information in its possession or control. This is done through a variety of privacy and security policies, processes, and procedures. edX uses administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that reasonably and appropriately protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the information that it collects, receives, stores, or transmits. Nonetheless, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure; and therefore, edX cannot guarantee its absolute security. While edX works hard to ensure the integrity and security of its network and systems, edX cannot guarantee that its security measures will prevent "hackers" or other unauthorized persons from illegally accessing or obtaining information.

If edX learns of a security breach involving its copy of your Personal Information, edX may attempt to notify you electronically so that you may take appropriate protective steps. By using the edX Site or providing Personal Information to edX, you agree that edX can communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues relating to your use of the edX Site. If a security systems breach occurs, edX may post a notice on the edX homepage (www.edx.org) or elsewhere on the edX Site and may send an email to you at the email address associated with your edX account. Depending on where you are located, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach, involving your Personal Information, in writing.

If a Member learns of a security breach involving that Member’s copy of your Personal Information, the Member may attempt to notify you electronically so that you may take appropriate protective steps. By enrolling in a Member’s course on the edX Site or providing Personal Information to the Member, you agree that the Member can communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues relating to your course enrollment and participation. If a security systems breach occurs, the affected Member may post a notice on the edX site and/or send an email to you at the email address associated with your enrollment in the Member’s course on the edX Site. Depending on where you are located, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach, involving your Personal Information, in writing.

Privacy Policy Updates

This Privacy Policy will be reviewed and updated from time to time. When changes are made, the Privacy Policy will be labeled as "Revised (date)," indicating that you should review the new terms, which will be effective immediately upon posting on this page, with an updated effective date. By accessing the edX Site after any changes have been made, you accept the modified Privacy Policy and any changes contained therein. In case you miss the notification referenced above, be sure to return to this page periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version of this Privacy Policy.

Contact Information

If you have privacy concerns, have disclosed data you would prefer to keep private, or would like to access the Personal Information that edX maintains about you, please contact us at privacy@edx.org. You may also write to us at: ATTN: PRIVACY, edX LLC, 141 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA. If your request involves a Member, edX will notify the appropriate Member of your request.

Glossary

Cookies are unique identifiers usually in the form of small data files placed on your device that send certain information about your activity on the edX Site or in an email communication back to edX or the authorized third party that served the cookie. edX or third parties may also use Flash cookies.

edX Site consists of all content and pages located within the edX.org web domain and all edX mobile applications.

Member is each educational institution or other leading global institution or entity that provides courses through the edX Site.

Personal Information is information that specifically identifies you or that, when combined with other information, could be used to identify you.

Tracking Technologies are web beacons, clear gifs, pixels, and similar technologies that are also unique identifiers used to track your online activity but are not stored on your device.

Verified Certificate is a virtual certificate that shows that you have successfully completed your edX course or program and verified your identity using your webcam and your acceptable form of photo ID.

Last updated: November 16, 2021