Version 2, Last Updated August 17, 2022
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Definitions
- What Data We Collect
- How We Use Data We Collect
- How We Share Data We Collect
- Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies
- Information Security
- Retention
- Updating or Removing Your Personal Data
- Individuals Outside the United States
- Children’s Privacy
- Links to Other Websites
- Changes to this Statement
- Document Version History
1 Introduction
This Privacy Statement covers how Personal Data is collected, received, used, stored, transferred, shared, processed, and protected on the National Internet Observatory Website at https://nationalinternetobservatory.org/ (the “Website”), and the installation of associated Tools that are developed and distributed by the National Internet Observatory.
By providing us with your Personal Data or using our Website and Tools,you agree to the data protection practices described in this Privacy Statement. If you do not agree to this Privacy Statement, please do not access or use the Website or Tools.
If you signed an Informed Consent Form to participate in a research Study that uses any of the Tools, additional and/or different policies and practices may apply to Data or Personal Data collected from or about you, as described in your Informed Consent Form. This Privacy Statement does not cover any other personal data processing by Northeastern University, which is covered by other applicable policies and procedures, including Northeastern University’s Privacy Statement.
2 Definitions
The following terms have the following meanings for this Privacy Statement:
- The “Observatory” refers to the National Internet Observatory, which is research infrastructure that is developed, managed, and maintained by the Observatory Team Members.
- “Observatory Team Members,” “Team Members,” or “We” are the people who build, manage, and maintain the Observatory and are conducting the Observatory Study. The Team includes professors and staff at Northeastern University, and subject matter experts from outside Northeastern University who are paid by the Observatory.
- The “Observatory Study” refers to the research study described in award # 2131929 from the National Science Foundation under the title “Mid-scale RI-1 (M1:IP): Observatory for Online Human and Platform Behavior.”
- You are a “Study Participant” or a “Participant” if you provide your consent to participate in the Observatory Study by agreeing to participate after reading and signing an Informed Consent Form.
- You are a “Prospective Study Participant” or a “Prospective Participant” if you begin the Informed Consent Process, whether or not you complete that process, consent to participate in the Observatory Study, or actually participate in the Observatory Study.
- “Data” without other qualifiers refers to information collected through the Website and Tools.
- “External Researchers” are people who are approved for access to Observatory scientific Data for research purposes. External Researchers may include people from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including academics, journalists, and public policy Researchers. Although most External Researchers will not be affiliated with the Observatory, Observatory Team Members may also function as External Researchers—in this case, the Team Members must follow all procedures for gaining access to and protecting Observatory Scientific Data that all other External Researchers must abide by.
- “Observatory Website” or “Website” refers to the website at https://nationalinternetobservatory.org/.
- “Tools” refers to software, applications, and online services (excluding the Website) developed and maintained by the Observatory for the purpose of collecting Data and conducting research. When applicable, we describe the data collection practices of particular Tools throughout this Privacy Statement.
- “Personal Data” means any Data about you that contains identifiers or other information that uniquely identifies you.
3 What Data We Collect
We collect Data and Personal Data that you voluntarily give us when you use the Website and Tools.
3.1 Data Collected from the Website and Tools
When you use the Website and Tools, the following information may be created and automatically logged in our systems:
- Log Data: Information (“log Data”) that your browser automatically sends whenever you visit the Website, or that the Website and Tools automatically send when you use them. Log Data includes your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address (so we understand which country you are connecting from when you visit the Website), browser type and settings, the date and time of your request, and how you interacted with the Website and Tools.
- Device Information: Includes type of device you are using, operating system, settings, unique device identifiers, network information and other device-specific information. Information collected may depend on the type of device you use and its settings.
- Geolocation information.
3.2 Data Collected from the Website
When you visit the Website we will collect Personal Data about your use of the Website using the following methods.
3.2.1 Cookies
The Website uses cookies and other technologies to make it easier for you to use the Website during future visits, monitor traffic on the Website and personalize content. For more information, please see the “Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies” section below for more about how we use cookies and similar technologies, and your choices with respect to them.
3.2.2 Social Network or Third-Party Plug-ins or Widgets
The Website may include social network or third-party plug-ins or widgets that may provide Data to their social networks or third parties about your interactions with the Website, even if you do not click on or otherwise interact with the plug-in or widget. The information is transmitted from your browser and may include an identifier assigned by the social network or third party, information about your browser type, operating system, device type, IP address, and the URL of the Web page where the widget appears. Please read the privacy policies of these sites before you visit them or use their Tools to learn what information they collect, use, and share. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or Data practices of social network or third party sites or third party plug-ins or widgets.
3.3 Data Collected Through the Informed Consent Process
We will collect Personal Data about you if you engage with the Informed Consent Process, as follows:
- Email address that you provide to enroll in the Observatory Study.
- Personal Data about how you engage with the Informed Consent Process. For example, we may collect the time you spend on the total Informed Consent Process and on each consent screen, the questions you answered correctly and incorrectly, whether you clicked on optional screens, and whether or not you provided your consent to enroll in the Observatory Study. We may also collect Data about whether and how you were recruited to the Observatory Study, whether you have completed any surveys (and if so, which ones), and which Tools you have installed. We may collect this Personal Data whether or not you complete the Informed Consent process, consent to participate in the Observatory Study, or actually participate in the Observatory Study.
Note: If you sign an Informed Consent form, different or additional types of Personal Data may be collected by the respective Study and will be described in and governed by the Informed Consent form that you signed to participate in that Study.
3.4 Data Collected from Third Parties
We may use third party, professional companies to help us recruit participants and administer surveys to participants. These survey companies may provide Personal Data directly to us. This Personal Data may include, but is not limited to, survey responses, individual demographics, and individual unique identifiers. Some of this Personal Data may be retained by these third parties. Participants interested in how these data will be stored and used should contact the relevant third-party companies and review their privacy policies.
We currently rely on services provided by the following third parties, and include links to their privacy policies:
3.5 Survey Responses
Participants will be asked to complete a variety of surveys over time. We will collect your responses to those surveys and associate them with you through a pseudonymous identifier.
We may use web-based platforms developed by Observatory or by third parties (for example, Qualtrics) to implement surveys. In cases where surveys are hosted by third parties, these third parties may have access to survey responses.
3.6 Data from Observatory Tools
The Observatory develops and maintains software, applications, and online services (excluding the Website) for the purpose of collecting Data and conducting research. The categories of Data collected by each such Tool are generally described below. For full information about the Data or Personal Data collected from or about you from the Tools, please refer to the Informed Consent Form that you signed to participate in the Study.
3.6.1 Browser Extension
The National Internet Observatory Browser Extension (the “Extension”) is a piece of software that you may install in your web browser. It collects the following types of Data:
- Email address that you provide to log in to the Extension.
- Data about your Internet browsing. After you install our Extension, log in using your email address, and complete the Informed Consent Process, the Extension may collect three types of Data from your browser:
- Your “Activity Data” from ANY website you visit using a desktop browser with our study software installed. Activity Data includes a record of the websites visited by Participants, which browser tab was active, playback of media elements like video and audio, and presence detection to determine if the web browser is in active use by a human.
- Full content “Website Snapshots” of SOME websites you visit on your desktop computer. Webpage Snapshots include copies of the HTML displayed to Participants in their web browser from a selection of websites.
- “Embedded Content” from ANY website you visit using a desktop browser with our study software installed. Embedded Content includes copies of specific content from websites visited by participants. For example, embedded content might include banner advertisements, social media posts and widgets, or text containing particular keywords.
3.6.2 Mobile Data
The Observatory mobile app is software that you may install on your mobile device. It collects the following types of data:
- Email address that you provide to log in to the Observatory.
- Data about your Internet communications. This Data is collected from the Internet communications that occur between participants’ mobile devices and the servers they contact. After you install our app, log in using your email address, and complete the Informed Consent Process the app will collect the following types of data:
- Data about the Internet services that you use. For example, we could determine that you use particular apps or visit particular websites.
- Data about how much and when you communicate with Internet services. For example, based on this Data, we could distinguish between downloading a news article, an image, or a video stream based on the amount of data being sent by your mobile device.
- Your “Activity Data” from ANY mobile app you use on a mobile device with our study software installed. Activity Data includes a record of the apps opened by Participants and the duration they were open.
- “Embedded Content” from ANY app you open on a mobile device with our study software installed. Embedded Content includes copies of specific content from apps opened by participants. For example, embedded content might include banner advertisements, social media posts and widgets, or text containing particular keywords.
4 How We Use Data We Collect
In general, we may use your Data and Personal Data for the purposes described below:
- To study how people and companies behave on the Internet
- To manage and administer the Website and Tools
- To better understand how visitors interact with the Website (including through the use of cookies and similar technologies) and ensure that the Website is presented in the most effective manner for you
- To respond to your requests for help or assistance
- To facilitate communication with you, send you reminders about surveys, communicate changes to this Privacy Statement, and to authenticate your identity
- To Study, modify, or improve the study Recruitment and Informed Consent Processes
- To recruit Prospective Study Participants
- To prevent fraud or criminal activity, misuses of the Website and Tools, and to ensure the security of our IT systems, architecture, and networks
To (a) comply with legal obligations and legal process, (b) respond to requests from public and government authorities including public and government authorities outside your country of residence; (c) enforce our terms and conditions; (d) protect our operations; (e) protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of you or others; and (f) allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.
If you provided your consent through an Informed Consent Process, your Personal Data will be used in many research studies and other projects, as described in the Informed Consent that you signed. Data, including Personal Data collected from your use of Observatory Tools, will be shared with External Researchers for scientific research purposes. Aggregated, de-identified Data, including survey responses and Data collected through the Observatory Tools, may be shared publicly.
We will not ask for any additional consent from you each time your Data is used for a new study or shared with an External Researcher.
7 Information Security
We take reasonable administrative and technical steps to protect the Personal Data from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction and, where feasible, systems that solicit or display personally identifiable information are protected by authentication and authorization controls and Web-based experiences involving personal information are generally secured by TLS (Transport Layer Security). However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
8 Retention
Your Data, including Personal Data, may be retained indefinitely by the Observatory, even if you withdraw from or never enroll in the study, unless we are required by law to delete Data. We retain Data so that we can identify and distinguish Data from Participants who are opted-in and opted-out of the Study.
In some circumstances we may de-identify your Personal Data so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case it is no longer Personal Data.
9 Updating or Removing Your Personal Data
If you need to change or correct your Personal Data, or wish to have it deleted from our systems, you may contact us via email at optout@nationalinternetobservatory.org. We will address your request as required by applicable law.
If you withdraw from the Observatory Study, we will stop collecting data from you. Note that any Data that has already been de-identified or aggregated and subsequently shared with External Researchers or the public cannot be associated with you and therefore cannot be deleted. Even if we can identify Data that we have already collected from you as yours, we might keep and continue to use it.
10 Individuals Outside the United States
It is not anticipated that individuals outside of the United States will visit or use the Website or Tools or participate in the Observatory Study, and we do not knowingly collect Personal Data from individuals located or that reside outside of the United States. Please see the Privacy Statement of Northeastern University regarding the protection of data of individuals from the European Union or the European Economic Area countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
11 Children’s Privacy
We do not knowingly solicit or collect Personal Data from users under the age of 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information about a child under 18 through Website or Tools, please, please contact us and we will endeavor to delete the information.
12 Links to Other Websites
The Website and Tools may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by us (“Third Party Sites”). We are not responsible for the privacy policies or data practices of such sites. By providing these links we do not imply that We endorse or have reviewed these sites. Please read the privacy policies of these sites before you visit them to understand their privacy practices and policies.
13 Changes to this Statement
The Privacy Statement is subject to change at any time, and the revision date will be noted here. We encourage users to regularly review the Privacy Statement for any changes. We will notify you if we make any material changes, pursuant to the applicable law.
14 Document Version History
- Version 3, May 19, 2023: Added section 3.6.2 -- Mobile Data
- Version 2, August 17 2022: Restructured around data practices rather than individual Websites and Tools
- Version 1, July 13, 2022: Initial release.