Privacy & Information Practices Policy

Effective starting 11 July 2018. Last updated 10 February 2022.

We at Rare Book School (RBS) take your privacy and the security of your personal information seriously. This policy describes the information we may collect, the ways in which this information may be used and/or shared, and how you can correct or change this information. We offer a range of educational programs, events, scholarships and fellowships, and online content as part of our mission to strengthen global communities of the book and to advance the study of cultural heritage. We also fundraise to support our nonprofit mission. We refer to all of these RBS programs and associated fundraising activities as “Programs” in this policy.

This policy applies to the primary RBS website (www.rarebookschool.org) and to any secondary websites maintained and controlled by RBS, to our online application system (myRBS), to RBS-controlled accounts on various social media platforms and other third-party websites, and to any and all other websites, apps, and/or digital services under the control of RBS that link to this privacy policy; all of the foregoing is each and collectively hereinafter referred to as the “Site”.

This policy also explains your choices about how we use your information. Your choices include how you can object to certain uses of information and how you can access and update certain information. In order to carry out our Programs, we may collect and use information, some of which may be considered personal data. Please note that you may choose not to provide us with certain information; by doing so, however, you may not be able to fully participate in our Programs. By continuing to engage with our Programs through our Site, you agree to this policy, and certify that you understand the privacy implications of participating in our Programs. Where necessary under applicable law, we may seek your consent by other means, such as by asking you to click on a button or to change a setting. Where we do so, we will also offer you a way to revoke your consent.

Information we collect

Information you provide to us

You provide information directly to us by applying for and/or registering for our Programs, purchasing items through the RBS online store, making a donation to RBS, signing up for the RBS mailing list, or otherwise engaging with our Site. We collect information about you when you register for an account in myRBS, create or modify your profile, set preferences, apply for RBS courses, &c. For example, you provide your contact information, emergency contact information, education/employment/affiliation history, statement of interest and other relevant information when applying for RBS courses through myRBS. Similar types of information may be collected when you apply for RBS scholarships or fellowships, sign up for our Programs using web forms on the Site or using third-party compliant service providers, or otherwise proactively engage with our Programs.

Content you provide through our Site

Our Programs include websites owned or operated by RBS. We may collect content that you submit to our Site, which includes social media accounts operated by us (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, SoundCloud, &c.).

Payment information

We collect payment and billing information when you register for certain Programs. You may also provide payment information, such as payment card details, which we collect via secure payment processing services. We do not store any payment card details on our servers. We use PCI-compliant e-commerce transaction platforms to process payments securely.

Information we collect automatically

We use Google Analytics to keep track of certain information about you when you visit and interact with the Site, using analytics techniques that scrub the information to exclude information that might identify you. This information includes but is not limited to web pages you visit; the links and buttons you click on; search terms entered; and duration of visits.

Device and connection information

We collect anonymous information about your computer, phone, tablet, or other devices you use to access the Site. We also collect information through your device, such as about your operating system, browser type, IP address, URLs of referring/exit pages, device identifiers, and crash data.

Cookies and other tracking technologies

RBS and our third-party compliant service providers, such as our advertising, communications, and analytics partners, may use cookies and other tracking technologies (including web beacons, device identifiers and pixels) to provide functionality and to recognize you across different websites and devices. For more information, please see the section of this document on how to manage cookies and tracking technologies, which includes information on how to control or opt out of these technologies.

Information from other sources

We may receive information about you from third-party partners, such as advertising, philanthropy, and research partners who provide us with information about your potential interest in and engagement with our Programs.

How we use information we collect

Below are the specific purposes for which we use the information we collect about you.

To provide educational programs

We use information about you to carry out our Programs, including to process applications for courses, programs, and scholarships/fellowships; authenticate you when you log into the Site; provide support and online content via the Site; create name tags, labels, and other publications for use during RBS courses and programs; process purchases through our online store, tuition payments, &c.

For development and stewardship

We may send fundraising requests to people who have expressed an interest in RBS programs. As a donor to Rare Book School, your generosity makes our mission possible. We will not share, rent, or sell your personal information. We may use your data to manage your donation or membership and keep a record of your relationship with us. We may use your information and analyze our database to understand and steward our donors, their preferences, and their level of potential donations, to improve our programs, including messages, advertisements, fundraising appeals, events, and meetings we think will interest you. If you do not wish to receive fundraising solicitations, please contact our Development office at rbsdevelopment@virginia.edu.

To communicate with you about our Programs

We may use your contact information to send communications via email and/or postal mail. General newsletters and announcements about RBS programs are sent using our mailing list provider, MailChimp. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time using the “unsubscribe” link included in any RBS email sent via MailChimp. Communications relating to specific RBS programs to which you have applied—including but not limited to courses or scholarship/fellowship programs—are part of our Programs, and in most cases you cannot opt out of receiving these communications from individual RBS staff members or via our myRBS system without withdrawing from the Programs.

To provide support

We may use your information to resolve technical issues you encounter, to respond to your requests for assistance, and otherwise to assist you in using the Site.

With your consent

We may use information about you where you have given us consent to do so for a specific purpose not listed above. For example, we may publish testimonials or featured alumni/donor stories to promote RBS, with your permission.

How we share information we collect

Sharing as part of RBS programs

Certain personal information is shared in order to carry out RBS programming. For example, course applications and associated information are shared with course instructors; scholarship/fellowship applications are shared with selection committee members. Information related to registered course attendees may be shared with institutions hosting RBS programs as required by their security policies or requirements. The names and job information of course attendees/program participants are used to generate participant lists, name tags, and associated program materials. Participants may choose to omit their job title and contact information from the RBS Student’s Vade Mecum by changing their preferences in myRBS.

Sharing with third parties

We may share information with third parties that help us develop and implement RBS programs.

Service providers

We work with third-party service providers to provide website development, hosting, maintenance, backup, storage, virtual infrastructure, payment and gift processing, analysis and other services for us, which may require them to access or use your information. We use MailChimp to generate electronic communications to members of our mailing list; MailChimp’s privacy policy can be found on the website of its parent company, Intuit.

Partners

As outlined above, we may provide information about program participants to host institutions as required by their security policies or requirements. We may also provide contact information (name, email, and course title) to local booksellers; participants may opt out of this by changing their preferences in myRBS.

Links to third-party sites

The Site may include links that direct you to other websites or services whose privacy practices may differ from ours. If you submit information to any of those third party sites, your information is governed by their privacy policies.

Compliance with enforcement requests and applicable laws; enforcement of our rights

In exceptional circumstances, we may share information about you with a third party if we believe that sharing is reasonably necessary to (a) comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, including to meet United States national security requirements; (b) enforce our agreements, policies and terms of service; (c) protect the security or integrity of our products and services; (d) protect Rare Book School or the public from harm or illegal activities; or (e) respond to an emergency which we believe in good faith requires us to disclose information to assist in preventing the death or serious bodily injury of any person.

How we store and secure information we collect

Information storage and security

Our Site and associated data are stored on servers located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We also use cloud data hosting service providers in the United States to host certain information we collect and store, and we use technical measures and industry best practices to secure your data.

While we implement safeguards designed to protect your information, no security system is 100% impenetrable. We cannot guarantee that data, during transmission through the Internet or while stored on our systems or otherwise in our care, is absolutely safe from intrusion by others.

How long we keep information

How long we keep information we collect about you depends on the type of information in question.

Account information

We retain your myRBS account information, course and scholarship applications, and payment/donor history on a permanent basis, as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, to support our operations, to document organizational history, and to continue to develop and improve our programs. If your account is deactivated, some of your information will remain visible to RBS staff.

Communications information

If you have elected to receive communications from us via our MailChimp mailing list, we may retain information about your communications preferences through that service.

How to access and manage your information

You have certain choices available to you when it comes to your information.

Your choices

You have the right to request a copy of your information, to object to our use of your information (including for development and communications purposes), or to request the deletion or restriction of certain information. Below, we describe the tools and processes for making these requests. You can exercise some of these choices by logging into your myRBS account and using settings available within your account. For all other requests, you may contact us as outlined below.

Limitations

Your request and choices may be limited in certain cases. If fulfilling your request would reveal information about another person, or if you ask to delete information which we are required by law or have compelling legitimate interests to keep, for example, we may be unable to carry out your request in full. If you have unresolved concerns, you may have the right to complain to a data protection authority in the country where you live, where you work, or where you feel your rights were infringed.

Access and update your information

We give you the ability to access and update certain information about you from within your myRBS account. If you need to make updates beyond those which can be updated from within myRBS, please contact us as outlined below.

Deactivate your account

If you no longer wish to use myRBS, we can deactivate your account. Please contact us as outlined below to request deactivation of your account.

Delete your information

The ability to delete your information may depend on the RBS program(s) with which you have engaged. In some cases we may not be able to completely delete your information due to legitimate use. In those cases, we will make the best attempt to hide or anonymize your information. Please note, however, that we may need to retain certain information for record-keeping purposes, to complete transactions, or to comply with our legal obligations.

Request that we stop using your information

In some cases, you may ask us to stop accessing, storing, using and otherwise processing your information where you believe we do not have the appropriate right to do so. Where you have given us consent to use your information for a limited purpose, you can contact us to withdraw that consent, but this will not affect any processing that has already taken place. You can also opt out of our use of your information for development purposes, by contacting us as provided below. When you make such requests, we may need time to investigate and facilitate your request. If there is delay or dispute as to whether we have the right to continue using your information, we will restrict any further use of your information until the request is honored or the dispute is resolved.

Opt out of communications

You may opt out of receiving newsletters and announcement emails from us by using the “unsubscribe” link within each email sent via MailChimp, updating your email preferences within your myRBS account, or by contacting us as provided below to be  removed from our mailing list. Even after you opt out of receiving mass communications from us, you will continue to receive emails regarding any RBS programs to which you have applied.

Turn off cookie controls

Relevant browser-based cookie controls are described below.

Data portability

Should you request it, we will provide you with an electronic file of your basic myRBS account.

How to manage cookies and other tracking technologies

Rare Book School and our third-party partners, such as our analytics, communications, and application-platform partners, may use various technologies to collect information, including cookies and web beacons.

These cookies and other technologies are essential in order to enable the Site to provide certain features, such as remembering you have logged in. Certain features of the Site may not function at full capacity if you choose to stop accepting cookies.

There are several ways to manage cookies. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. The “Help” feature on most browsers provides information on how to accept cookies, disable cookies, or or notify you when receiving a new cookie. Please note, however, that many of the cookies we use are “strictly necessary” cookies. By blocking or deleting them, you will not be able to access certain features of the Site. For more information about cookies and how to block them, please visit the All About Cookies site.

Some third parties, which may collect information from or about you on the Site in order to provide more relevant advertising to you on websites you visit, may provide you with options for opting out of their services. For example, you can opt out of the Google Analytics Advertising Features we use by using the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on. Note that Google’s opt-out mechanism is specific to Google activities and does not affect the activities of other advertising networks or analytics providers that we may use.

Some third-party advertisers participate in the Digital Advertising Alliance Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising. This program offers a centralized location where users can make choices about the use of their information for online behavioral advertising. To learn more and to make choices about the use of your information for online behavioral advertising on websites, please visit the Digital Advertising Alliance’s YourAdChoices site. Please note that if you opt out of online behavioral advertising using this method, this opt-out will only apply to the specific browser or device from which you opt out.

In addition, some of third-party advertisers, advertising technology companies, and service providers that perform advertising-related services for our business partners and us may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”), a cooperative of online marketing companies that offers a centralized tool for opting out of interest-based advertising delivered by each of its member companies. If you would like to obtain more information about interest-based advertising and the NAI and make choices about their members’ use of information from or about you on websites, please visit the NAI’s opt-out site. Please note that if you opt out of interest-based advertising using this method, this opt-out will only apply to the specific browser or device from which you opt out.

Regarding the use of non-essential cookies used to provide advertising on social media, please visit the sites below to learn how you can block or limit this activity:

Other important privacy information

Our policy toward children

RBS programs are not directed to individuals under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will take steps to delete such information. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

Changes to our privacy policy

We will post any privacy policy changes on this page and update the effective date at the top of the page. If the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice by adding a notice at the top of the page outlining the changes. We encourage you to review our privacy policy periodically.

If you disagree with any changes to this privacy policy, you may unsubscribe from RBS mailing lists and/or deactivate your myRBS account by emailing administrator@rarebookschool.org.

Contact us

Your information is managed by Rare Book School. If you have questions or concerns about how your information is handled, please direct your inquiry to administrator@rarebookschool.org and it will be routed to the appropriate staff member.

You may also write to us by postal mail at:

Rare Book School
PO Box 400103
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4103