FAQ Images

Capture

Where do I go to have my picture taken?

Incoming Students:
Image capture sessions are included as part of your registration process. Follow the instructions provided by your registrar.
Employees:
There are several image capture stations located throughout the faculties. You may go to the station that is most convenient for you. The locations, hours of operation and contact information are located below.

Please note: Image capture ordinarily involves the use of a flash. If you have epilepsy or any other medical condition that would prevent the use of a flash, please come to our main office for service, where we will best be able to accommodate your needs.

	IDENTIFICATION & DATA SERVICES - Central Office 953 Holyoke Center 1350 Massachusetts Ave. Phone: 495-3322 Fax: 495-1858 id_services@harvard.edu Hours: M, W-F 9am-5:00pm, Tues 10:30 – 5:00

	WIDENER LIBRARY Privileges Desk, Widener 130 Phone: 495-4166 Hours: M-F 9am-4:45pm

	FAS - DIVISION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION 51 Brattle St. Lobby Phone: Degree and certificate students: 495-4024 Extension Faculty: 495-4867 Hours: M-F 9:15am-4:45pm

	GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Department of Operations Shad Basement Phone: 495-6814 Hours: M-F 8am-5pm

	GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN Building Services Gund L39 Phone: 495-2514 Hours: *- by appointment -*

	GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Registration Office Longfellow 13 Phone: 495-3418 Hours: M-Th 9:00am-5pm, F 9:00am-2:00pm

	LAW SCHOOL Currently Unavailable

	JOHN F. KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT Currently Unavailable

	MEDICAL SCHOOL DENTAL SCHOOL SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH SPH3-103A 677 Huntington Ave. Phone: 432-0389 Hours: M-F 8:00am–4:00pm

	SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY Currently unavailable

What do I do if I can't come in to have my picture taken?

Having your image captured for your Harvard ID card is a condition of employment for all employees, and a condition of enrollment for all students. There are several image capture stations around campus, with sufficiently varied hours to accommodate nearly all Harvard affiliates. With rare exceptions, if you are in eastern Massachusetts, you are expected to have your picture taken at one of these stations.
However, we realize that there are some people for whom coming to an image capture station poses an undue hardship (e.g. employees stationed far away from the Harvard campus, traveling scholars, people with a physical disability etc.)
In these cases, you may submit a standard U.S. passport photo (a color photo with a white background, approx. 2" square) for scanning. Black and white photos, family snapshots, or portraits with non-white backgrounds cannot be accepted. Due to the time required for scanning and adjusting the photo to make it suitable for printing, it will take a minimum of two to three weeks to process the card in these cases depending upon the workload of our office.
Alternatively, if you have access to a digital camera, you may take a digitized picture and send it to us. The image specifications are the same as for photographs--it must be a color picture with a white background, cropped from just above the top of the head down to the collarbone. Images in the HUID database are 280 x 296 pixels in size. To prevent loss of image quality, the image you submit should be at least that large, and the width and height should be approximately equal. Digitized images may be submitted on diskette or as email attachments.

Send your passport photo or digitized image to:: Harvard University ID Services
953 Holyoke Center
1350 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138-3846
email: ID Services

I don't like my old picture. May I have a new one?

Of course. Simply come to any of our image capture stations and we will take a new picture for you. The next time a card is made for you, it will have the new picture. Please note that for security reasons, a new card is not automatically produced when a new image is captured. If you have a currently valid card and want a new one with the new image, you must return the old card before a new one is generated.

There is no charge for simply having a new image captured.
There is no additional charge for a new image when replacing an old card due to loss, theft, damage, expiration, change of name or change of appearance, or when the image quality makes it difficult for others to identify you.
There is a $5.00 charge for replacing a valid, properly functioning card with an image of technically satisfactory quality.

If you simply wish to have a new image captured for your next card reissue, we ask that you do so at least two months before your current card expires; our lead time for bulk production ranges from two to four weeks, and chances are that if you wait until right before your card expires, your new one will already have been produced. We also ask that you have your image captured outside of our busiest periods (early June thru mid-July, mid-August thru late September, early October thru mid-November).

Use

What is the University's policy on how images may be used?

The goal of our office in regard to privacy concerns is to strike a healthy balance that enables departments and faculties to use images of their affiliates for internal Harvard purposes while at the same time respecting the privacy concerns of the individual.
We believe bly in preventing inappropriate or questionable uses of our images and data. We have developed our system and policies to prevent database sweeps by criteria such as race, religious affiliations, physical attributes or other such characteristics, and to reject requests for images that run counter to expectations of individual privacy.
At the same time, we recognize the importance of traditional internal publications such as facebooks, departmental directories, organizational charts and newsletters. Such publications serve to foster a ber sense of community, promote greater interaction between affiliates, and provide well-earned recognition of achievements.
Advances in technology have provided the University with new challenges and opportunities. Computers have reduced the cost of producing publications, thus allowing departments to do things they could never have afforded to do earlier. Networking allows for the creation of World Wide Web pages and online directories that use images and personal data. This technology carries risks--if a person has access to an online system, he or she can nearly always copy the images and data available to them with a few mouse clicks. Yet it can also allow for greater protection of privacy than printed publications through tighter access controls. We strive to be at the forefront of privacy issues and to remain as flexible as possible in accommodating the wishes of Harvard's affiliates, ensuring that long-standing principles are preserved as new applications are developed.
The official policy is documented in the General Guidelines for Distribution of Photo ID Cards and Digitized Images. The original version was drafted in the summer of 1993 prior to the implementation of the current ID system and was approved by the Office of the General Counsel. It has since been amended to enable greater flexibility in addressing the privacy concerns relating to electronic directories and the World Wide Web.
If you have any further questions about privacy issues, feel free to contact us directly.

May I have a copy of my image?

Of course. You may obtain your image in one of several ways:

Online access
If you have a Harvard University PIN number, you may use our online Image Request Form for Individuals to obtain a copy of your image. The image is delivered straight to your web browser in standard JPEG format, but depending on your settings, your browser may convert it to another format (e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer may convert it to a Windows bitmap file).
Other distribution methods
We have the ability to provide you with a color image file in JPEG format:
You may provide us with a high-density diskette or an or a CD-R or CD-RW disk. All disks must be either PC-formatted or unformatted. Alternatively, we can FTP the image file to a computer account, or email it to you as a MIME attachment.
We also have the ability to provide you with a printout of the image. The image is printed on a 300 dpi black & white laser printer; therefore the quality will probably be unsuitable for most purposes.
We do not have the ability to produce high quality photographs suitable for use as passport photos and the like. For such needs, it is necessary for you to contact a professional photographer.
To obtain a copy of your image, print and fill out an Individual Image Request Form and either fax or bring it to our office. We will release it to you in the format you specify. We regret that due to authentication issues, we require a signature on the form and are therefore unable to accept electronic versions of it.
Harvard University Identification and Data Services is committed to ensuring the privacy and security of your personal information. However, once you have requested a copy of your image, we cannot be responsible for how that instance of your image is used.