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Privacy policy

The University of Houston-Clear Lake Archives and Special Collections Digital History Portal provides access to selected original and some copied historic information found within our various archival collections and holdings. The UHCL Archives hosts these digital collections to provide accurate and complete representations of historic information in order to advance the private study and research of UHCL students, UHCL faculty and staff, and the general public.

Users of our digital collections may: 1) find unattributed or misattributed materials for which a correct attribution does exist; 2) find materials for which they are the rights holder and have not granted permission or are not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws; or 3) find materials that include personal information they object to sharing online.

Due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify third party rights of privacy, publicity, copyright or trademark. We are open to hearing from any rights owners, so that we may obtain accurate information about our holdings. Living individuals whose private information is exposed (or who are acting on behalf of a minor child or an incapacitated parent, spouse, domestic partner or adult child) are welcome to submit a takedown request to the UHCL Archives and Special Collections.

In users encounter any of these potential rights cases with our digital collection items, users of these collections should send an email to archives@uhcl.edu with the following information:

  • Rights-holder contact information (full name, address, email, telephone number)
  • Identification of the questionable materials with information sufficient to locate them, such as a screen grab, a link, or an identifying number or title as listed in the digital collections
  • A statement containing the following information: 1) The nature of the issue with the shared materials (such as non-attribution, misattribution, copyright infringement, or privacy concern); and 2) How the problem should be addressed, such as adding or fixing the attribution, updating the copyright information, or taking down the infringing materials.

Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, the receipt of the request will be acknowledged. Allegedly infringing materials will be temporarily removed from public view while we address a rights issue enumerated in the notice.

Given our commitment to preserving the authenticity and integrity of the scholarly and historical record, it is unlikely that we will correct errors or inaccuracies present in original items; redact digital content or indices; or otherwise remove access to materials except in cases where there are legal concerns. We will remove content required by state and federal laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protected information), significant risks to privacy related to Personal Identifiable Information (for example, exposed Social Security numbers), or documented evidence of a clear and imminent threat to personal safety and well-being.

Much of this policy’s language and text were adapted with slight edits or taken directly without edits from the following policies at other archival institutions or library organizations, for whom we thank for the use of this language:

Pratt Institute Archives, “Notice and Takedown Policy for Digital Materials,” accessed online https://libguides.pratt.edu/archives/takedown.

Tufts University Tufts Archival Research Center, “Takedown Protocol for Sensitive Information in Tufts Archival Research Center,” accessed online https://tarc.tufts.edu/research/policies-fees/takedown-protocol-for-sensitive-information-in-tufts-archival-research-center

OCLC “Well-intentioned practice for putting digitized collections of unpublished materials online” https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/activities/rights/practice.pdf (Policy endorsed by the Society of American Archivists and many research libraries.)