Privacy Policy & Data Ethics Charter
1. Institutional Commitment
The Harvard Center for Astrophysics operates strictly in service of scientific research and public education. We do not sell, rent, monetize, or broker personal user data to third-party commercial entities.
2. Information We Collect
When querying our open REST endpoints, downloading FITS images, or utilizing our interactive spectral simulators, anonymous operational logs (IP address, user agent, request timestamps, and query parameters) are recorded strictly for traffic load balancing, DDoS mitigation, and server capacity planning.
3. Scientific Newsletter & Email Communications
If you subscribe to the Harvard Astrophysics Research Dispatch, your email address is stored securely and used solely to transmit periodic scientific syntheses, launch alerts, and APOD highlights. You may unsubscribe at any time via the one-click header link.
4. Open Data & Third-Party Telemetry
Our telemetry stream incorporates public orbital and ephemeris data provided by NASA, ESA, STScI, and Caltech IPAC. When interacting with external federated queries (e.g., direct TAP endpoints), requests are subject to the respective host agency's open data policies.