Last modified 7/18/16
The DS multisite consists of the ds.lclark.edu root site and a number of Lewis & Clark digital scholarship websites accessed via ds.lclark.edu. The DS multisite is overseen by a steering committee of students, staff, and faculty at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and maintained by DS multisite staff and individual site administrators. It is our policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect while operating the multisite. Below are details of our privacy policy, adapted from the privacy policy for Automattic.com, the parent company of WordPress.com. If you have questions, feel free to contact us via [email protected].
Website visitors
Like most websites, the DS multisite collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. The DS multisite’s purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how multisite visitors use one or more of its websites. From time to time, DS multisite staff or site administrators may release non-personally-identifying information in the aggregate, e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its website.
The DS multisite also collects potentially personally-identifying information for website visitors leaving comments on ds.lclark.edu sites. DS multisite staff and site administrators only disclose commenter information under the same circumstances that it uses and discloses personally-identifying information as described below, except that commenter information is visible and disclosed to the administrators of the site where the comment was left.
Gathering and disclosure of personally-identifying information
Certain visitors to the DS multisite (in almost all cases, members of the Lewis & Clark community of students, staff, and faculty) will be requested or invited to interact with the DS multisite as logged-in users, which requires the DS multisite to request personally-identifying information. To become a logged-in user, visitors must create or use a WordPress.com account including a username, email address, and password; the DS multisite also requests that each user enter their first and last name and brief bio on their ds.lclark.edu profile, and create a WordPress.com avatar. In each case, the DS multisite requests such information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of the logged-in user’s interaction with the DS multisite. The DS multisite does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described further below.
Certain of the DS multisite’s logged-in users will be requested or invited to create and administer a digital scholarship site on the ds.lclark.edu multisite. As site administrators, they will choose whether or not to make their site public, and will choose which of their private information (e.g., from their user profile or social media feeds) to disclose on their site. As a major intent of the DS multisite is to help users become effective public digital scholars, we will make every effort to train and support site administrators so that they make informed decisions as to which personally-identifying information to add and share via their digital scholarship sites. Ultimately, however, the decision to disclose their private information rests with site administrators.
Protection of certain personally-identifying information
The DS multisite cannot access user WordPress.com accounts, and hence cannot disclose user information stored via WordPress.com (see above). The DS multisite discloses user profile information stored on its own database (see also above) of a potentially personally-identifying nature only to DS multisite staff and site administrators who need to know that information in order to process it on the DS multisite’s behalf or to provide services available at one or more DS multisite websites. The DS multisite will not rent or sell potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information to anyone. Other than to DS multisite staff and site administrators as described above, the DS multisite discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only in response to a subpoena, court order or other governmental request, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of Lewis & Clark College, third parties or the public at large. If you send us a request (for example via [email protected], one of our feedback forms, or our support ticket system), we reserve the right to publish it in order to help us clarify or respond to your request or to help us support other users. The DS multisite takes all measures reasonably necessary to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information.
Cookies
A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Like other websites, the DS multisite uses cookies to help it identify and track visitors, their usage of the DS multisite, and their website access preferences. DS multisite visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using the DS multisite, with the drawback that certain features may not function properly without the aid of cookies.
Ads
There are no ads appearing on any of our DS multisite websites.
Other applications
Via plugins and WordPress core code, site admins on the DS multisite may feature content from, or interactivity with, social media and other online applications. The privacy policies of certain key applications are below.
- Flickr
- Google (e.g., Analytics, Docs, Maps)
- Vimeo
- YouTube
- WordPress.com
- Zotero
DS multisite privacy policy changes
Although most changes are likely to be minor, the DS multisite may change its privacy policy from time to time, and in the DS multisite’s sole discretion. The DS multisite encourages visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to its privacy policy, including the modification date at top. If you have a ds.lclark.edu account, you might also receive an alert informing you of these changes. Your continued use of this site after any change in this DS multisite privacy policy will constitute your acceptance of such changes.