Recognizing that specific items of information about current (as well as former) individual students, faculty, and staff must be maintained for educational, research, and other institutional purposes, it is MIT policy that such information be collected, maintained, and used by the Institute only for appropriate, necessary, and clearly defined purposes, and that such information be controlled and safeguarded in order to ensure the protection of personal privacy to the extent permitted by law. The educational records of students are also subject to MIT's policy on the privacy of student records (see Section 11.3).
When a member of the MIT community is asked by an office or individual at the Institute to provide information about himself or herself, that person should be informed of the purposes for which it will be used and the consequences, if any, of not supplying it. Such information should not be used or exchanged within the Institute for purposes other than those stated or legitimate purposes that would be reasonably expected.
Federal and state laws give students and employees, respectively, the right to see certain records maintained about them. In accordance with such laws, and while respecting the privacy of others and the traditional confidentiality of faculty peer review and evaluation, an individual should be provided the means for seeing and obtaining copies of records about him or her maintained by the Institute, as well as for challenging their accuracy and completeness and the propriety of their use.
Personal information, other than directory information about students and standard personnel information, should not be released to anyone outside MIT without the permission of the individual, except in the case of court orders and/or legal process (see Section 11.2.1), in cases where such release would be clearly expected (employment references, award nominations, etc.), or in extraordinary circumstances. Directory information about students includes name, term and permanent addresses, term telephone number, term electronic mail address, department, class, degrees received, dates of attendance, and for an intercollegiate athletic team member, weight and height (see also Section 11.3.2 Disclosure of Information about Students). Standard personnel information comprises dates of MIT employment, job classification or title, the department in which an individual is or was employed, and MIT telephone extension for current employees.
Requests for information about foreign nationals, other than directory information about students and standard personnel information, should be directed to the Provost, who may release such information provided that the query is specific (rather than general, as in a form letter), that it concerns a named individual rather than a class of people, that it is made by a senior government official, and that it is lawful to release the information; it must also be apparent that a response is warranted by serious considerations of national security or law enforcement.
Persons with responsibility for records containing personal information should exercise care to ensure accuracy and completeness. Safeguards should be provided to protect personal information against accidental or intentional misuse or improper disclosure within or outside MIT.
When records containing personal information are no longer actively needed, they should be retired and maintained in accordance with the Institute Archival Policy (Section 13.3), which ensures all rights of privacy stated in this section and in Section 11.3 Privacy of Student Records, with one modification: Under special circumstances, the Archivist may grant scholarly researchers access to records that have been inactive for many years. Students' educational records maintained by the Institute Archivist are subject to all of the rights and restrictions provided by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (see Section 11.3 Privacy of Student Records).
11.2.1 Court Orders and Legal Process
In the case of court orders or subpoenas for information about an individual, that individual should ordinarily be notified of the request as soon as possible, unless a court order prohibits such notification, and the required information should be released only by an authorized officer of the Institute.
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