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Student Instructor

Privacy Policy


Effective Date: May 25, 2018


Welcome to Model Diplomacy, produced and published by the Council on Foreign Relations (“CFR”) (collectively “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Policy applies to your use of the Model Diplomacy website (http://modeldiplomacy.cfr.org) (the “Site”). It does not govern or apply to information collected or used by CFR through other means, nor does it apply to our other websites that display a different privacy policy. 


This Privacy Policy describes


  • the information that we receive from you when you interact with us,
  • our practices for processing and protecting the information that we receive, and
  • your choices regarding the collection and processing of your personal information. 

Please review this Privacy Policy carefully. By visiting our Site and by submitting information to us, you consent to the collection and processing of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. 


We reserve the right to modify or amend the terms of our Privacy Policy from time to time without notice. The amended Privacy Policy will be posted on this page. Your continued use of our Site following the posting of changes to our Privacy Policy will mean you accept those changes. 


Information We Collect


When you visit our Site, we collect Personal Information that you or your instructor provide to us as well as information we obtain from your use of our Site. 


“Personal Information” is information associated with you or that which can be used to identify or contact you. This includes contact data such as name, address, email address, and institution. 


“Usage Data” is information about your online activity that, by itself, does not identify you, such as


  • technical information, including browser type, service provider, IP addresses, operating system and webpages visited;
  • information about what you have searched for and looked at and clicked on while using the Site;
  • traffic data such as time and date of access, software crash reports, and session identification number; and
  • information collected about the location of a mobile device or computer. 

How We Collect Information


You may browse the Site without submitting your Personal Information to us. However, in order to access some features of the Site, you need to provide us with Personal Information. 


The Personal Information we collect and how we collect it depends upon your role with Model Diplomacy. 


  • Instructors: You provide your name, email address, user account password, school name, class name, institution type, and the location of your institution when you register. 
  • Students: Your instructor provides your email address and you provide your name and password when you register. Note that certain Personal Information provided by a registered instructor, including school name, class name, institution type, and the location of the institution, will automatically be associated with the students registered by that instructor. 
  • Both instructors and students: Personal Information may also be contained in your online submissions (including comments and assessment responses) and user names. The names of the registered students will be visible to one another and to their instructor.

Cookies and Other Tracking Technology


We use cookies (and similar technologies) and analytics tools to collect Usage Data. 


A cookie is a small file which is placed on your hard drive when you visit the Site. These technologies track your use of our Site and online services by 


  • identifying returning users,
  • eliminating the need for returning users to reenter their log-on details,
  • remembering your preferences,
  • tracking your use of our Site to better develop our features, and
  • monitoring the traffic and performance of our Site.

Specifically, we use Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics cookies to understand the performance of our Site and content, including but not limited to 


  • the number of visits to and average time spent on either a single page or the entire Site;
  • the number of pages viewed per session or the sequence of pages visited; and
  • behavior on a single page or the entire Site, including scrolling and clicking on links or buttons.

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you may modify your browser setting to disable or reject cookies. If you set your web browser to decline cookies or if you delete your cookies, some features of the Site may not work or may not work as designed.


How We Use Information


  • To provide our services: The information permits us to provide you with the content and services that you request, such as case materials.
  • To communicate with you: We use the information to communicate with you about your registration and account and to send you invitations or surveys. 
  • To promote our Site: We may send you announcements about our products or features. 
  • To improve our Site: We use the information we collect from you to help improve your experience on our Site, to enhance the features of our Site, and to perform statistical and demographic analyses of users of our Site. 
  • To comply with legal requirements: In some cases, we may use or disclose your Personal Information to a third party if we are required to do so by law, to prevent misuse of the Site, or to protect our personal safety or that of others.

No Sharing of Your Personal Information

We will not disclose or otherwise share your Personal Information with anyone outside CFR, except as described in this Privacy Policy.


Third Party Sites and Services


We have third party agents that perform functions on our behalf, including but not limited to hosting or content management. These entities may have access to Personal Information if needed to perform their functions. If such access is required, the third parties will be obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of that Personal Information. They are restricted from using, distributing, or altering this data in any way other than to provide the requested services to the Site.


Access to Your Personal Information and Your Rights


It is important to us that you are able to access and review the Personal Information we have about you. You may, at any time, update, or delete your account. You may also request to access, verify, correct, delete, and/or transfer your Personal Information. You may also object to the use of your Personal Information or request that its use be limited. To do so, simply send us an email at [email protected] or contact us by mail at the address below. 


If at any time you no longer want to receive our emails, you may opt out of receiving them by following the “unsubscribe” instructions included in each email.


How We Store and Protect Your Information


We retain information as long as it is necessary to perform our services in accordance with legal requirements and accounting rules. After it is no longer necessary to retain information, we dispose of it in a secure manner. 


Your Personal Information is stored on our in-house servers and on cloud-based servers hosted by our vendors. We employ industry-standard security measures designed to protect the security of all information submitted. We take reasonable security measures to protect your information, including the use of physical, technical, and administrative controls. We update and test our security technology on an ongoing basis. When stored, passwords are encrypted and are not recoverable. We use SSL when we transmit Personal Information, and such information is encrypted in transit. While we use our best efforts to safeguard your Personal Information once we receive it, any transmission of data over the internet or any other public network carries certain risk. 


Governing Law and Notice to Non-U.S. Users


The Site is published in the United States and complies with all applicable laws of our jurisdictions. If you are located outside the United States, you should be aware that any Personal Information that you provide will be transferred to and stored in the United States. Regardless of where you are, we apply the same protections as described in this Privacy Policy. By using our Site, you consent to such transmission and use of your Personal Information in the United States in accordance with this Privacy Policy.


Children Under the Age of Thirteen


The Site is not intended for children under the age of thirteen and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under thirteen years of age. If you are under thirteen years of age, do not provide Personal Information to us without providing us with personal consent from your parents. If we become aware that a child under the age of thirteen has provided us with Personal Information and we do not have parental consent, we will immediately delete that child’s information from the Site. If you believe that we have been provided with the Personal Information of a child under the age of thirteen without parental consent, please notify us immediately at [email protected].


Terms of Use


Please visit our Terms of Use to learn about the terms and conditions that apply to your use of Model Diplomacy and other CFR products and services through our Site.


Questions?


If you have questions about our Privacy Policy, you may contact us at 


[email protected]


Council on Foreign Relations

Attn: General Counsel

58 East 68th Street

New York, NY 10065