Skip to Main Content

University Archives and Special Collections

Welcome to the ASC home page!

Privacy and Confidentiality in Collections

Privacy and Confidentiality Notice

Archival collections containing 20th- and 21st-century materials, whether analog or digital, may contain sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state privacy laws. The most typical are certain educational, medical, financial, criminal, attorney-client, and personnel records (e.g., Social Security numbers, bank account and credit card numbers, medical records, or employment files).

Personnel at Oakland University's Archives and Special Collections do their best to identify such materials when processing collections so that they can be removed from collections made available to the public. However, if researchers discover sensitive or confidential personal information when accessing a collection, they should notify archives staff immediately. They should not copy or take notes about this information and should not share or otherwise disclose any such information for any purpose. When accessing materials from the library’s collections, researchers assume all responsibility for infringement of individuals’ privacy rights or rights of publicity.