Privacy Policy

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is committed to supporting the privacy of our website users. This Privacy Statement explains how we handle and use the personal information we collect about our users.

Use of browser cookies and other technologies

J-PAL uses Google Analytics to gather statistics for povertyactionlab.org. The information gathered will be used to improve web services for visitors. Google Analytics uses a browser cookie for statistical analysis related to your browsing behavior on these websites. If you choose, you can opt out by turning off cookies in the preferences settings in your browser, or download and install Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. For more information on Google Analytics, please visit their website.

J-PAL also uses cookies to enhance the usability of povertyactionlab.org. For instance, our evaluations database uses cookies to remember which filters you have selected for the duration of your browsing period. Our website also tracks activity for J-PAL staff with accounts to edit the website. You may opt out by turning off cookies in the preferences settings in your browser.

We also use Hotjar, a technology service that helps us better understand our users experience (e.g. how much time they spend on which pages, which links they choose to click, what users do and don’t like, etc.) and this enables us to build and maintain our service with user feedback. Hotjar uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behavior and their devices (in particular device's IP address (captured and stored only in anonymized form), device screen size, device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), preferred language used to display our website). Hotjar stores this information in a pseudonymized user profile. Neither Hotjar nor we will ever use this information to identify individual users or to match it with further data on an individual user. For further details, please see Hotjar’s privacy policy by clicking on this link.

You can opt-out to the creation of a user profile, Hotjar’s storing of data about your usage of our site and Hotjar’s use of tracking cookies on other websites by following this opt-out link

What personal information we collect

While specific information may vary for particular individuals, we may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal information about you, which we have grouped together as follows:

  • Basic biographic/contact information – name, home and/or business addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, social media identifiers, and employer name
  • Communication preferences – what newsletters and topics you are interested in
  • Analytical information – aggregated information related to web visitor activity and email marketing actions
How we collect personal information about you

We collect personal information directly from you when you subscribe for our newsletters or register for events.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information for a number of legitimate purposes all in support of J-PAL and its mission. Specifically, we use your personal information to:

  • Send email newsletters which you have subscribed to
  • Send email communications related to events you have registered for and/or topics you are interested in

If you have concerns about any of these purposes, or how we communicate with you, please contact us at [email protected]. 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

To perform the functions listed above, it may be necessary to share your personal information with third party software: Salesforce, our customer relationship management system; Marketing Cloud, our email marketing platform; and FormAssembly, our web form application.

How your information is stored and secured

J-PAL uses risk-assessed administrative, technical and physical security measures to protect your personal information. We store personal information in Salesforce, our customer relationship management system and FormAssembly, our web form application.

How long we keep your personal information

We will maintain a record for you until such time as you tell us that you no longer wish us to keep in touch.

Rights for Individuals in the European Economic Area

You 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 EU’s General Data Protection Regulation 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 identify 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 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.

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide any personal data to us.

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 website or by contacting you directly.

The controller for your personal information is MIT. If you are in the EU and wish to assert any of your applicable GDPR rights, please contact [email protected].

This policy was last updated June 4, 2018.