Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 2022-02-02

1. The Caltech Library is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your data in compliance with federal and state laws, Institute policy, professional standards, and appropriate foreign or international regulations (e.g., the EU’s GDPR).
2. Our practice is to minimize the collection of personal data, to secure and protect all personal information collected, and to discard or de-identify it as soon as is practical as determined by operational needs and retention schedules of the Institute. Although we cannot guarantee similar protection by our vendors and partners, we request that protection in your use of their services and content. (Please refer to specific vendor and publisher privacy and security policies for more information.)
3. The Library collects personal data in order to provide you with services, comply with licensing and other legal agreements, and manage our collections. This data may include but is not limited to:
   • addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses that we use to communicate with you
   • identifiers and roles that determine your Library privileges
   • records of checkouts and DocuServe requests to meet patron needs and facilitate services
   • IP addresses, timestamps, and other information relating to electronic transactions that are needed to comply with licensing and other legal requirements
   • use of Archives and Special Collections materials, in order to fulfill requests to access collections and ensure the integrity and safety of those collections
   • registration and attendance records at Library events and classes, so we can follow up with additional related services
4. We derive statistics from personal data in order to monitor and improve services and aggregate/delete any personal information that is not needed. Examples of statistical data derived from personal information include:
   • collection usage and DocuServe statistics to assist in future collection development
   • class attendance statistics to inform impact of our instructional program
   • room reservation statistics to inform our space planning
5. Requests for information about the Library’s data collection and retention should be directed via email to library@caltech.edu.