Privacy Policy

Introduction

Solve is committed to supporting the privacy of its community of supporters, donors, innovators, and friends. This Privacy Statement explains how we handle and use the personal information we collect about you.

Personal information you provide to us

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us. Please ensure all personal information you provide to us is true and complete. Additionally, we ask that you notify us of any changes to such personal information.

  • For Solve supporters, applicants/innovators, and all others who maintain a Solve online account, we collect basic biographic and contact information about you and your representative organization, which may include photos, name, title, business addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, birth year, country of birth, country of residence, and social media contact information.

  • For donors and supporters, we may collect or process information regarding any donation which is made, including wealth assessment information and indicators of your interest in giving.

  • For recipients of our newsletter, we collect your name and email address.

Information we automatically collect

We may automatically collect certain information when you interact with our website.

  • We automatically collect certain information related to website visitor activity, including but not limited to the date and time you used our site, movement and activity within our site, web pages visited before and after using our site, browser and device characteristics, language preferences, and imprecise geolocation.

  • Our servers and security software may automatically collect certain information when you interact with our website to maintain the security and operation of our services. This information may include, but is not limited to, IP address, browser, device, and operating system characteristics.

How we collect personal information about you

We collect information about you from a variety of sources.

A significant portion of the information we maintain is that which you have provided to us, either by creating or updating your profile online, registering for an event, communicating with us, or making a donation.

We may also collect and process data through various Third-Party technologies for different purposes based on how you interact with our website and services.

Google Analytics

One of the Third Parties we may share your information with is Google Analytics, which helps us track and analyze the use of our website. The Google Analytics Advertising Features we may use include:

  • Remarketing with Google Analytics

  • Google Display Network Impressions Reporting

  • Google Analytics Demographics and Interests Reporting

For more information on Google’s privacy practices, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms page.

Opting Out Of Third-Party Technologies

You can opt out of Third-Party technologies that are not strictly necessary for the security and core functionality of our website by utilizing our CookieYes consent banner.

For alternate means to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics, visit Google Analytics Opt-out. You can also opt out of Google Analytics Advertising Features through Ads Settings and Ad Settings for mobile apps. Other opt-out options include Network Advertising Initiative Opt-out and NAI Mobile Opt-out.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information for a number of legitimate purposes, including to provide you with services you have requested, all in support of Solve and its mission. How we may use your personal information includes, but is not limited to:

  • Maintaining the functionality of our services

  • Protecting our services from fraud or other malicious actions

  • Complying with applicable laws, regulations, and lawful requests

  • Keeping you updated with information about Solve and upcoming challenges and events

  • Fundraising for particular Solve concerns, initiatives, or programs

  • Sending you information about Solve events in your area or other non-Solve events or initiatives that might be of interest to you

  • Conducting philanthropic preference research in order to understand Solve’s supporters, to inform our fundraising strategy, and target our communications

  • Administering custom challenges to which you have applied

  • Performing administrative tasks and for internal record keeping purposes

  • Creating and analyzing information about the Solve community for statistical research purposes in support of our educational mission

  • Identifying usage trends to understand how our website is functioning and being utilized

  • Determining the effectiveness of our marketing activities

  • Supporting any other purpose we disclose to you at the time we collect your information

When we share your personal information

Solve uses administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect your personal information. Only authenticated users with specific permissions may access the data using a virtual private network or encrypted communication channel. We use firewalls and regular monitoring to evaluate any attempts at accessing the systems without permission.

How long we keep your personal information

To perform the functions listed above, it may be necessary to share your personal information with other individuals. All individuals performing functions for us are informed regarding appropriate handling of your personal information.

We do not sell your information. We may share your information with Third Parties for various reasons. This may include:

  • Service Providers: We may share your information with Third Parties who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. These Third Parties are only authorized to use your information as necessary to fulfill the scope of their agreement with us.

  • Legal Obligations: We may share your information when it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, such as to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, exercise or defend our legal rights, or disclose your information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

  • Consent: We may share your information with your consent for a specified purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time.

How your information is stored and secured

Solve uses administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect your personal information. Only authenticated users with specific permissions may access the data. We use regular monitoring to evaluate any attempts at accessing the systems without permission.

While we have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect the information we process, no electronic transmission or data storage system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that unauthorized parties will not be able to breach our security to access, steal, or modify your information.

The transmission of information to and from our services is at your own risk. We recommend accessing the services only within a secure environment.

How long we keep your personal information

We consider our relationship with our community of Solver teams to be lifelong. This means that we will maintain a record for you until such time as you tell us that you no longer wish us to keep in touch. For supporters and Solver teams, we will retain your information as long as necessary to provide you with access to Solve and its services. After such time, we will retain a core set of information about your support and/or application for our historical and archival purposes.

Rights for Individuals in Certain Jurisdictions

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

You may have the right in certain circumstances to (1) Request access and obtain a copy of your personal data; (2) Request rectification or erasure of your personal data; (3) Restrict the processing of your personal data; and (4) Object to the processing of your personal data for communications or direct marketing. You may also have the right to lodge complaints with your national or regional data protection authority.

We will respect your request to cease processing your personal information, except where continued processing is required by law or is strictly necessary to maintain the functionality and security of our services.

You can opt out of Solve’s communications at any time by clicking the “Unsubscribe” button at the bottom of any email we send. If you have concerns regarding how we use your personal information, or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at:

To protect the personal information we hold, we may request further information to verify your identity when exercising these rights. We will only use the information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. 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.

If you are in the EEA or UK and wish to assert any of your applicable GDPR rights, please contact dataprotection@mit.edu. You may also contact MIT’s representatives listed below:

MIT Representative in the European Economic Area

J-PAL Europe

Email: jpaleurope@povertyactionlab.org

Address: 48 Boulevard Jourdan, 75014 Paris, France

MIT Representative in the United Kingdom

MIT Press UK

Address: 71 Queen Victoria Street, London, United Kingdom, EC4V 4BE

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.

To manage or delete your data, please contact help@solve.mit.edu.

The controller for your personal information is MIT.

This policy was last updated in September 2025.