Privacy Policy

Introduction

MIT Learn is committed to protecting the privacy of its global community of learners. This Privacy Policy explains how MIT Learn (the "Site") collects, uses, and processes personal information about our learners. Please read this Privacy Policy prior to registering or using any portion of the Site, including accessing any module / course material or other electronic services.

What personal information we may collect

We collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal information about you depending upon your interaction with the Site. We have grouped the type of personal information we collect as follows:

• Biographic information – full name, gender, date of birth, username, country of residence, state (if country is US), education level, employer, title/position, household income, CV, company size, job function, industry, university name, enrollment status, anticipated degree, anticipated date of graduation, pre-retirement career, year of retirement, and other demographic info
• Demographics and Interests - Affinity categories, Product Purchase Interests, and Other Categories of interest
• Contact information – home and business addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, and social media information
• IP addresses
• Module / Course progress and performance
• Information that you provide such as submissions / prompts to AI tools

How we collect personal information about you

We collect information, including Personal Information, when you create and maintain a profile and user account, participate in MIT Learn offerings, engage with MIT Learn's artificial intelligence tutors and guides, review application for financial assistance (if available), register/pay for a paid certificate, send us email messages, or complete an entrance or exit survey, and/or participate in our public forums and social media.

We also collect certain usage information about learner performance and patterns of learning. In addition, we track 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 and other user interface controls were used.

We also collect information when you fill out and submit contact forms, as well as from marketing data including how many emails you have received, opened, clicked, and unsubscribed from.

We may log the IP address, operating system, page visit behavior, and browser software used by each user of the Site, and 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. Various web analytics tools, including Google Analytics, Google Analytics: Demographics and Interests, PostHog, and HubSpot, may be used to collect this information. Some of the information is collected through cookies (small text files placed on your computer that store information about you, which can be accessed by the Site). You should be able to control how and whether cookies will be accepted by your web browser. Most browsers offer instructions on how to reset the browser to reject cookies in the "Help" section of the toolbar. If you reject our cookies, many functions and conveniences of this Site may not work properly.

We do not collect financial information from you. When you register and pay for a course, you will be directed to our third-party payment processor, CyberSource, and the submission of your payment information will be subject to the terms of that third party processor's privacy statement, https://usa.visa.com/legal/privacy-policy.html.

How we may use your personal information

We collect, use and process your personal information (1) to process transactions requested by you and meet our contractual obligations; (2) to facilitate MIT Learn legitimate interests, and/or (3) with your explicit consent, where applicable. Examples of the ways in which we use your personal information are as follows:

• To enable us to provide, administer, and improve our modules / courses.
• To help us improve MIT Learn offerings, both individually and in aggregate, and to individualize the experience and to evaluate the access and use of the Site and the impact of MIT Learn on the worldwide educational community.
• For purposes of scientific research, particularly, for example, in the areas of cognitive science and education.
• For the purpose for which you specifically provided the information, for example, to respond to a specific inquiry or provide you with access to the specific module / course content and/or services you select.
• To track both individual and aggregate attendance, progress, and completion of an online module / course, and to analyze aggregate statistics on student performance and how students learn.
• To monitor and detect violations of the Honor Code and the Terms of Service, as well as other misuses and potential misuses of the Site.
• To publish information, but not Personal Information, gathered about MIT Learn access, use, impact, and learner performance.
• To send you updates about online modules / courses offered by MIT Learn or other MIT Open Learning events, to send you communications about products or services of MIT Learn, affiliates, or selected business partners that may be of interest to you, or to send you email messages about Site maintenance or updates.
• To archive this information and/or use it for future module / course recommendations or communications with you.
• To maintain and improve the functioning and security of the Site and our software, systems, and network.
• For purposes described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy (including, e.g., sharing with third parties).
• As otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent.
• To authenticate your identity when you register for a module / course.
• To process refunds, as applicable.

If you have concerns about any of these purposes, or how we communicate with you, please contact us at mitlearn-support@mit.edu. We will always respect a request by you to stop processing your personal information (subject to our legal obligations).

When we share your personal information

We will share information we collect (including Personal Information) with third parties as follows:

• With service providers or contractors that perform certain functions on our behalf, including processing information that you provide to us on the Site, processing purchases via third party providers, and other transactions through the Site, operating the Site or portions of it, providing or administering modules / courses, or in connection with other aspects MIT Learn.
• With other visitors to the Site, to the extent that you submit comments, module / course work, or other information or content (collectively, "Postings") to a portion of the Site designed for public communications; and with other members of an MIT Learn class of which you are a member, to the extent you submit Postings to a portion of the Site designed for viewing by those class members. We may provide your Postings to learners who later enroll in the same classes as you, within the context of the forums, the courseware, or otherwise. If we do re-post your Postings originally made to non-public portions of the Site, we will post them without your real name and email (except with your express permission), but we may use your username without your consent.
• For purposes of scientific research, particularly, for example, in the areas of cognitive science and education. However, we will only share Personal Information about you for this purpose to the extent doing so complies with applicable law and is limited to the Personal Information required to fulfill the purposes stated at the time of collection.
• To provide opportunities for you to communicate with other users who may have similar interests or educational goals. For instance, we may recommend specific study partners or connect potential student mentees and mentors. In such cases, we may use all information collected about you to determine who might be interested in communicating with you, but we will only provide other users your username, and not disclose your real name or email address, except with your express permission.
• To respond to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, or security or technical issues, or to enforce our Terms of Service, our Honor Code, or this Privacy Policy; as otherwise may be required by applicable law; or to protect our rights, property, or safety or those of others.
• As otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent.
• To support integration with third party services. For example, videos and other content may be hosted on YouTube and other websites not controlled by us.

In cases where we share or disclose your Personal Information: (1) the third-party recipients are required to handle the Personal Information in a confidential manner and to maintain adequate security to protect the information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, alteration, and destruction; and (2) we will only disclose and share the Personal Information that is required by the third party to fulfill the purpose stated at the time of collection. In addition, we may share aggregated information that does not personally identify you with the public and with third parties, including but not limited to researchers and business partners.

How your information is stored and secured

MIT Learn is designed to protect Personal Information in its possession or control. This is done through a variety of privacy and security policies, processes, and procedures, including administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that reasonably and appropriately protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the Personal Information that it receives, maintains, or transmits. Nonetheless, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure, and therefore we do not guarantee its absolute security.

How long we keep your personal information

We consider your relationship with the MIT Learn community to be lifelong. This means that we will maintain a record for you until such time as you tell us that you no longer wish us to keep in touch. Requests to delete your account or personal information can be sent to olprivacy@mit.edu. After such time, we will retain a core set of information for MIT Learn legitimate purposes, such as archival, scientific and historical research and for the defense of potential legal claims.

Data Protection and Access Rights

Depending upon your geographic location, you may have the right in certain circumstances to (1) access your personal information; (2) to correct or erase information; (3) restrict processing; and (4) object to communications, direct marketing, or profiling. To the extent applicable, the European Economic Area's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides further information about your rights. You also have the right to lodge complaints with your national or regional data protection authority.

If you are inclined to exercise these rights, we request an opportunity to discuss with you any concerns you may have. To protect the personal information we hold, we may also request further information to verify your identity when exercising these rights. Upon a request to erase information, we will maintain a core set of personal data to ensure we do not contact you inadvertently in the future, as well as any information necessary for MIT archival purposes. We may also need to retain some financial information for legal purposes, including US IRS compliance. In the event of an actual or threatened legal claim, we may retain your information for purposes of establishing, defending against or exercising our rights with respect to such claim.

By providing information directly to MIT, you consent to the transfer of your personal information outside of your location to the United States. You understand that the current laws and regulations of the United States may not provide the same level of protection as the data and privacy laws and regulations of other jurisdictions.

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide any personal data to us. The controller for your personal information is MIT.

If you are in the EEA or UK and wish to assert any of your applicable GDPR rights, please contact dataprotection@mit.edu. You may also contact MIT's representatives listed below:

J-PAL Europe
Email: jpaleurope@povertyactionlab.org
Address: 48 Boulevard Jourdan, 75014 Paris, France

MIT Press UK
Address: 71 Queen Victoria Street, London, United Kingdom, EC4V 4BE

Additional Information

We may change this Privacy Statement from time to time. If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information we will make this clear on our MIT websites or by contacting you directly.

This policy was last updated on June 13, 2025.