EarthOps Privacy Policy
EarthOps.com, Inc. ("EarthOps.com," "we," "us," or "our") offers online profiles and bulletin boards and other social networking services at www.EarthOps.com (the "EarthOps.com Site"). Using our social-networking and social-media technologies and services (collectively referred to here as the "EarthOps.com Platform"), we also power, host, and administer certain portions of web sites that are owned by third parties ("Third Party Sites"). The EarthOps.com Site and Third Party Sites make up a community of social-networking web sites that we refer to as the "Network Sites" throughout this privacy policy. The Network Sites, with the help of the EarthOps.com Platform, allow registered users ("Members") to create individual Member profiles that can be personalized and displayed to other Members and visitors of the Network Sites and allows Members to display their own mixed-media content, comment on other Members' content and comments, and share information and establish a network of connections – all within a Network Site, or across multiple Network Sites. To make the Network Sites possible: We collect information (including Personal Information as defined below in the section titled Collection and Use of Personal Information) at the EarthOps.com Site and at those portions of other Network Sites powered by the EarthOps.com Platform; When you sign up to become a Member of a Network Site that is powered by us, you register both with that Network Site and with EarthOps.com, and your e-mail address and password automatically give you access to both. Please note that our use of your information is governed by this privacy policy and the other Network Sites’ use of your information is governed by their own privacy statements or policies. Because EarthOps.com and the Network Site(s) at which you register or join receive your registration information, anytime you update your registration information or provide more information for your Member profile, the updated or additional information is received by EarthOps.com and the Network Site(s) at which you register. Other information relating to your use of the Network Site(s), such as information relating to postings you make or groups you join, also may be shared with the Network Site(s) at which you have chosen to register. Registration allows EarthOps.com and each Network Site with which you join to provide you access to Member features of the Network Sites. Registration joins you to EarthOps.com and the first Network Site where you sign up; but after that, EarthOps.com makes joining other groups easy. When you are logged in, EarthOps.com will recognize you as a Member at any Network Site that you visit and, as a Member, you can automatically join that other Network Site by simply clicking the join button. (But some Network Sites and groups may choose to limit membership by minimum age, geography, or other requirements.) If you are logged in on one Network Site and travel to another Network Site, EarthOps.com can recognize you so you do not need to login again. However, we recommend that you remember to log off of a Network Site if you leave your computer and another person can use or access your computer. If you are already a EarthOps.com Member (either by registering at the EarthOps.com Site or another Network Site), once you agree to join another Network Site, that Network Site will have access to the registration information you previously provided and that Network Site may ask you for additional information. This privacy policy governs only the information collected by us at the EarthOps.com Site or collected by us via those portions of the other Network Sites that are powered by the EarthOps.com Platform, unless otherwise specifically stated.
MEMBER PROFILE/PUBLIC POSTINGS
As part of the social-networking aspect of the Network Sites, some Personal Information of Members and postings may be automatically displayed to the public on Network Sites as part of a Member’s profile page. This Privacy Policy does not apply to any information that you disclose publicly or allow to be part of your Member profile page. A Member’s profile page is, by default, set up to display information such as the Member’s display name within a Network Site, unique user name within a Network Site, thumbnail image, age, gender, location (city/state/country), friends, communities that the Member has joined, recent activity Feed (an EarthOps.com Feed" is a dynamic, personalized, mixed-media playlist), and optional information added by the Member including, for example, the Member’s tagline, relationship status, occupation, skills, interests, favorites (volunteering activities, music, movies, etc.). EarthOps.com may make it possible for Members to see a report on other Members that visited their profile page. Member profiles are public (unless made private) and postings to Network Sites are public, and therefore can be indexed by third-party search engines and appear in search results on third-party web sites. We offer Members the ability to manage their public profile and limit how much of their Personal Information is automatically displayed as follows: Members can choose to completely hide from public view certain of their Member profile page default information by removing the "About Me" or other modules.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Regardless of which profile modules a Member removes from public view, the Member’s thumbnail, display name, general location, and gender may still appear publicly: (i) as a search result if another Member conducts a community search using matching criteria, such as location, gender, age criteria, etc.; and (ii) on Network Sites that display featured thumbnails, for example, pages showing most active Members, recent Members, most popular Members, etc. Members can delete comments posted to a Member’s page. Please note that we reserve the right to remove any comments or other posts (originating from the Member or otherwise) in our sole discretion. Members can designate when a post made by the Member should be displayed publicly or privately (for example, only to a Member’s connections). In light of the ability for other people to view your Personal Information and postings, please exercise caution when disclosing information in your EarthOps.com profile or elsewhere on the Network Sites. You do not know who will access and use your Personal Information or for what purpose. We are in no way responsible for the accuracy, use, or misuse of any information that you disclose or receive through these venues. Please refer to our Terms & Conditions for restrictions with respect to public postings. Please note that we reserve the right (in our sole discretion) to set certain limitations on the availability of some or all of the features on the Network Sites.
COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
When we use the term "Personal Information," we mean information such as your full name, street address, telephone number, blog or other personal website URL, date of birth, e-mail address, and any other information that would allow someone to identify you or contact you. We collect Personal Information about you when you provide your information to us on the EarthOps.com Site or those portions of the other Network Sites that are powered by the EarthOps.com Platform, including when you register or join a Network Site, register to use any services, features, or functions of the Network Sites, participate in promotions such as sweepstakes and contests, or in the course of any other exchanges of information, transactions, and activities. We may also ask you to provide us with demographic information or information regarding your interests, hobbies, preferences, or similar information. If we link this information with your Personal Information, we will treat it as Personal Information. In addition, as part of our current and planned services, we may, at any time, offer additional features that require you to register or otherwise provide Personal Information, including credit card information, or we may require a fee to gain access to any portion of the Network Sites. You can choose not to provide certain information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of or participate in many of the Network Sites. There may be times where EarthOps.com receives your Personal Information from one of the Third Party Sites in order to provide services to you through that Third Party Site. There also may be circumstances when we receive Personal Information about you from other sources and combine that information with information collected through the Network Sites. In each of those cases, EarthOps.com will use your Personal Information in accordance with this privacy policy. We may use the information we obtain from you, including Personal Information, to provide the EarthOps.com Platform and to tailor your experience on the Network Sites, including customizing the content and advertising you see when you visit the Network Sites. We may use your Personal Information for internal purposes or for other purposes disclosed when you provide your Personal Information. We may also contact you regarding any problems or questions we have relating to your use of the Network Sites, or, in our discretion, notify you of changes to our Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, or other policy that may affect your use of one or more of the Network Sites. We may use your Personal Information (including e-mail address) to send you notifications relating to the Network Sites, including for example, to confirm when one Member has requested to add you as a friend, when someone posts a comment to your profile, or when someone tries to contact you via a Network Site. In addition, if you join a Network Site, we may use your Personal Information and other information in your profile (without specifically identifying you) in order to report on Network Site statistics, such as how many Network Site Members are in a certain genre or enjoy a certain product or service, or to personalize advertisements and offers. If you provide us with Personal Information of a friend, such as name or e-mail address (for example, in order to e-mail an article to a friend), or a friend has provided that information about you, we will not use that Personal Information to send other e-mail communications unless otherwise disclosed at the time the information is provided.
NOTE TO PARENTS ABOUT CHILDREN
The EarthOps.com Site and EarthOps.com Platform are not directed to children younger than 13, and we do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children younger than 13. If you are younger than 13, do not send any information about yourself to us.
COLLECTION AND USE OF NON-PERSONAL INFORMATION
When you visit the EarthOps.com Site or those portions of other Network Sites that are powered by the EarthOps.com Platform, our servers automatically collect certain web site usage information. Web site usage information is non-personally identifiable information about how our visitors use and navigate the EarthOps.com Site and those portions of other Network Sites that are powered by the EarthOps.com Platform, including the number and frequency of visitors to each web page, the length of their stays, the type of browser each visitor is using (for example, Internet Explorer, Firefox), the type of operating system each visitor is using, (for example, Windows XP or Mac OS), the domain name of each visitor’s Internet service provider and certain other information (for example, IP address and clickstream data). An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you access the Internet, which our web servers use to identify where to send the information that your computer requests. When you request pages from the EarthOps.com Site or those portions of other Network Sites that are powered by the EarthOps.com Platform, our servers log your IP address. We may use IP addresses for a number of purposes, such as system administration, to report aggregate information to our business partners, or to audit use of the Network Sites. We may associate your IP address, web site usage information, or other non-Personal Information with the Personal Information that you provide to the Network Sites. We reserve the right to disclose non-identifying information about our users, such as web site usage statistics, to third parties.
COOKIES
To enhance your experience with the Network Sites, we may use "cookies." Cookies are small data files that we place in your computer's browser when you visit the Network Sites. We may use cookies for a number of purposes, such as tracking usage patterns, measuring the effectiveness of advertising, to help serve advertisements, limiting multiple responses and registrations, facilitating your ability to navigate the Network Sites, and as part of a verification or screening process. Cookies automatically identify your web browser whenever you visit the Network Sites. Also, by recording how and when you use the Network Sites, cookies help us determine which areas are popular and which are not. Additionally, accepting cookies may allow you, among other things, to personalize your experience on the Network Sites. If you do not wish to allow for use of cookies, you can generally opt-out of providing this information by setting your browser to reject cookies. However, please be aware that some areas of the Network Sites may not provide you with an acceptable user experience if you have disabled the use of cookies.
WEB BEACONS AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES
The Network Sites and our e-mail messages may contain a small graphic image called a web beacon, which is sometimes also called a "web bug" or "clear gif," and which allows the party that set the web beacon to monitor and collect certain limited information about the viewer of the web page or e-mail message (such as the type of browser downloading the web beacon, the IP address of the computer that the web beacon is sent to, and the time the web beacon was viewed, as well as the URL of the page the web beacon comes from). Web beacons typically are very small (generally 1-by-1 pixel) and invisible to the user, but, in general, any electronic image viewed as part of a web page or e-mail message, including an advertisement or HTML content, can act as a web beacon. We may use web beacons or similar technologies for a number of purposes, such as and without limitation, to count visitors to our web pages or to monitor how our users navigate the Network Sites, and we may include web beacons or similar technologies in e-mails in order to count how many e-mails (or particular articles, links, etc.) that we sent were actually opened.
THIRD PARTY ADVERTISERS, CONTENT PROVIDERS, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS
When you are on the Network Sites, certain content, including advertisements, may be served by a third party. These third parties may also set their own cookies and/or use web beacons, which may be used to identify some of your preferences, to recognize you if you have previously had contact with those third parties, and to determine on which web site the third party's advertisement was displayed and whether or not the advertisement was clicked. Third-party content or service providers may also use cookies to ascertain how many times you have seen their content or used their service. We do not have access to the cookies or web beacons placed by third parties. This information helps our advertising partners deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be most relevant to you. Our third-party advertisers' use of cookies is subject to their own privacy policies, which may differ from this one. We do not control the use of such technology by third parties, the information they collect, or how they use such information. We do not have access to cookies set by third parties.
Certain third party advertisers may offer you the ability to opt-out of receiving their cookies when they serve ads to you. For more information, please visit:
OUR DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES
We do not share your Personal Information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes unless you first affirmatively agree to the disclosure. If you do agree to receive communications from a third party, your information will be subject to the third party’s privacy policy. Therefore, if you later decide that you do not want that third party to use your information, you will need to contact the third party directly. Please note that once you are a EarthOps.com member (either by registering at the EarthOps.com Site or another Network Site), if you agree to join a community at an additional Network Site, you are requesting that we provide your EarthOps.com registration information with that additional Network Site so that you can register with that Network Site.
Some of the non-Personal Information and aggregate user data that we collect may be shared with Third Party Sites, advertisers, and other third party content or service partners.
In addition, we may share your Personal Information with third parties under the following limited circumstances:
Operational Service Providers. We may employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf for the purpose of administering and maintaining portions of the Network Sites’ services, features, functions, and operations and performing other services on our behalf. Examples include, without limitation, sending communications on our behalf, analyzing data, providing marketing assistance, and providing customer service. These third parties may have access to Network Site users' Personal Information in order to provide these services.
Other Non-Affiliated Third Parties. We may make your Personal Information available to non-affiliated third parties in the following limited circumstances:
We may disclose information about Members or other users, including Personal Information, when legally required to do so, at the request of governmental authorities, or to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing the Network Sites and applicable laws, rules, and regulations;
We may use IP addresses to identify Members or other users in cooperation with Internet service providers or law enforcement agencies, and may also disclose Member or other user information whenever we believe disclosure is necessary to limit our legal liability or to protect or enforce the rights, interests, or safety of the Network Sites, our Members, users, or other persons;
If, in our sole discretion, we believe such disclosure to be necessary or appropriate to investigate or resolve possible problems or inquiries, to protect our business and assets, and/or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend our interests; or
In the event of a bankruptcy, merger, consolidation, acquisition, restructuring, transfer of control, joint venture, fundamental corporate change, or other business combination involving us or our affiliates.
Sweepstakes, Contests, or Other Promotions. If you participate in a sweepstakes, contest, or other promotion, your Personal Information may be disclosed as required by law, for example, on a winners' list. Also, by entering a sweepstakes, contest, or other promotion, we may require you to consent to the use of your Personal Information or other information in advertising materials. In addition, we may offer you sweepstakes, contests, or other promotions that are sponsored or co-sponsored by a third party. If disclosed to you on the promotion registration page, those third parties may obtain the Personal Information that you submit for that promotion. We have no control over such a third party's use of this information, and any such third party is not subject to this privacy policy.
LINKS
The EarthOps.com Site and portions of other Network Sites that are powered by the EarthOps.com Platform may contain links to other web sites, whose information practices may be different from ours. You could be directed to other web pages or online content through links that are beyond our control. These other web pages may set their own cookies, collect data, and/or have their own privacy policies. This Privacy Policy only covers information collected by us at the EarthOps.com Site and those portions of other Network Sites that are powered by the EarthOps.com Platform, and we encourage you to review the privacy policy of any other web site you visit.
SECURITY
We make reasonable efforts to maintain security and confidentiality of your Personal Information. However, no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure and for most Internet sites, it is possible that third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications over an unsecured transmission. As a result, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information we receive and we are not responsible for the theft, destruction, or inadvertent disclosure of Personal Information.
REVIEW OR UPDATE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Generally, you may review or update your Personal Information collected by EarthOps.com. You may also correct factual inaccuracies. However, Personal Information that is necessary to check eligibility, such as date of birth or age, cannot be deleted and a change to this information may not permitted. To review, update, or delete your Personal Information collected by EarthOps.com, please click EDIT PROFILE menu when signed in to your account. You also can deactivate your EarthOps.com account through the ACCOUNT page. If you deactivate or if EarthOps.com terminates your EarthOps.com account, your public profile will be removed from all Network Sites and EarthOps.com reserves the right to retain or delete your personal information in our database, subject to our Privacy Policy.
PHISHING
Phishing attacks attempt to steal consumers' personal identity data and financial account credentials. "Phishers" use 'spoofed' e-mails to lead consumers to counterfeit websites designed to trick recipients into divulging Personal Information such as credit card numbers, account usernames, passwords, and social security numbers. WE DO NOT SEND E-MAILS ASKING YOU TO PROVIDE OR CONFIRM SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION OR YOUR USERNAME OR PASSWORD! If you receive such a fraudulent e-mail communication, please do not reply or respond to it. You may contact us at support@earthops.com.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
We reserve the right to revise this privacy policy at any time. However, we will use your Personal Information in a manner consistent with the privacy policy in effect at the time we received the information, unless you consent to the new or revised policy. We encourage you to check this privacy policy often for updates. We may also e-mail you, at our discretion, about these changes.
QUESTIONS
If you have questions about our Privacy Policy or if you do not understand any information about how we collect, maintain, use, or share your personally identifiable information, you may contact us at support@earthops.com.
CONSENT TO TRANSFER
EarthOps.com operates in the United States and its operation of the EarthOps.com Site and portions of other Network Sites that are powered by the EarthOps.com Platform is governed by the laws of the U.S. Please be aware that any Personal Information you provide to us or we obtain as a result of your use of the Network Sites will be transferred to the U.S. and subject to U.S. law. By using and participating in any Network Sites and/or providing us with your Personal Information, you consent to this collection, transfer, storage, and processing of Personal Information to and in the U.S. Consequently, you hereby waive any claims that may arise under the laws and regulations that apply to you in or of any other country or jurisdiction. All users of the Network Sites are required to provide true, current, complete, and accurate Personal Information when prompted.
This Privacy Policy was last modified on August 7, 2015 and is effective immediately.