A Commitment to Privacy
A commitment to online privacy has long been one of Penn’s guiding principles. The University is committed to sustaining a culture in which individual privacy choices are acknowledged and respected. Because of this, Penn has implemented a program to sustain University-wide practices for managing online privacy, transparency, and obtaining visitor consent across all its websites.
Why This Matters
Penn's websites serve a global community — prospective and current students, faculty, postdoctoral trainees, alumni, patients, staff, and visitors who interact with our properties from every jurisdiction. Many of our visitors arrive carrying expectations and legal protections established by international, federal, and state law.
The right to privacy is the principle which drives our efforts. In practice, that means visitors should know what is being collected on a page, have a meaningful choice about non-essential tracking, and trust that we follow through on those choices.
Program in Brief
The University has invested in a central infrastructure, which consists of a consent management platform (OneTrust) and website discovery and digital governance platform (Leaf by Little Forest), and central support from ISC. Local teams at schools, centers, and administrative centers will leverage these resources to bring existing websites into and remain in compliance.
Policy Matters
The University of Pennsylvania provides access to services and information online in a manner that respects and protects your privacy.
General FAQs
Why does the web privacy of visitors to the websites of the University of Pennsylvania matter?
Penn's websites serve a global community — students, faculty, alumni, patients, and visitors who interact with our properties from every jurisdiction. Many of our visitors arrive carrying expectations and legal protections established by international, federal, and state law. The University is committed to the principle of privacy. In practice, this means visitors should know what is being collected on a page, have a meaningful choice about non-essential tracking, and trust that we follow through on those choices.
What is the University of Pennsylvania’s response to web privacy concerns?
The University has implemented sustainable practices to ensure online privacy, transparency, and visitor consent across all University websites. Penn is committed to web privacy as a shared, continuous responsibility by members of the Penn community involved in the development, creation, publishing, or sharing of digital resources.
Where can I find details about the University’s program?
The University has established Penn Web Compliance, which is both a community of Penn professionals working across schools, centers, and administrative centers, and a program with tools to survey the upenn.edu ecosystem and implement a University-funded cookie consent solution. This website describes both aspects of the program.
What if my school or center already has and pays for a cookie consent solution on my website?
The University requires that its websites use a University-managed privacy management solution to track compliance.
Will my website be forced to removed specific tracking technologies?
Penn Web Compliance is not a privacy policy update, a cookie audit, or a requirement to remove technologies from sites. If a tracking tool is running on a site and serving a legitimate purpose, it can stay if the site owner desires; however, the tool will be properly categorized and governed through the University’s vendor OneTrust.
If any technology is not actively serving a purpose on a website, Penn Web Compliance will encourage owners to uninstall and discontinue its use as part of this process.
As technology and privacy concerns evolve, Penn Web Compliance will communicate via web compliance officers if a tracking technology becomes inconsistent with University policy.
What if my site doesn’t use any tracking?
A cookie consent solution, regardless of current tracking, will benefit visitors and local administrators. Further, websites continually change and the University's privacy management solution will scan for new and updated technologies.
Does this affect all Penn websites or just some?
Yes, the goal is to achieve full compliance with University websites.