Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy: Company Statement
Company Practices
The following statement describes the overall company practices of Advertising.com, including advertising on our network of websites, as well as across other internal sites, and products and services that are offered by Advertising.com. This policy does not apply to the practices of companies that Advertising.com does not own or control, or to people that Advertising.com does not employ.
Information Collected by Advertising.com
Non-Personally Identifiable Consumer Data
Advertising.com delivers advertisements across multiple channels and media, including to web surfers who visit any of the thousands of websites that are a part of Advertising.com's network. With respect to individuals who visit those sites, we, and/or one or more of our third party advertising technology vendors, may collect what is known as "Click Stream Data." Click Stream Data is anonymous, and includes information such as a web surfer's IP address, web pages which have been viewed by a web surfer, date and time, domain type, and responses by a web surfer to an advertisement delivered by us or a third party advertising technology vendor. We, and/or a third party advertising technology vendor, may use different types of technologies to collect this type of information, including cookies and web beacons (1x1 pixels). (Please refer to the FAQ section for more details). In addition to the Click Stream Data collected across our web network, Advertising.com owns numerous websites and services, and often runs promotions and sweepstakes offers through various Internet channels (collectively referred to as "Advertising.com Properties"), and collects information at those sites. As a part of the registration process at the Advertising.com Properties, we may request and collect additional non-personally identifiable information about the visitor. Examples of the non-personally identifiable data that may be requested include age, gender, and interests. None of the foregoing information (collectively referred to as "non-personally identifiable data"), by itself, or together, can by its nature be tracked to a specific individual. Web surfers may elect not to provide Click Stream Data by following the Cookie Opt-Out procedures set forth below. In addition, web surfers who have provided registration data to Advertising.com may elect to have their data deleted from our files, or kept from being used for purposes other than for the service requested, by following the Data Opt-Out procedures set forth below. Personally identifiable information that is collected at the Advertising.com Properties is discussed immediately below.
Personally Identifiable Consumer Data
At some of the Advertising.com Properties, we ask people to register and provide personally identifiable data. Advertising.com is committed to making sure that clear notice and choice is provided to all consumers before the personally identifiable data is collected, and that they have opted-in to our use of their data. Examples of personally identifiable data that may be requested include name, address, and email address. Web surfers who have provided personally identifiable data may elect to have their data deleted from our files, or kept from being used for purposes other than for the service requested, by following the Data Opt-Out procedures set forth below.
Other Information that is Collected
At some Advertising.com Properties, including this one, Advertising.com collects personal information on individuals and companies who want to enter into business relationships with Advertising.com ("business information"). An example of this would include web publishers who want to become a part of Advertising.com's web network. We maintain business information for purposes of administering the program, such as maintaining account information, sending payments, etc. We may share business information with third parties who provide administrative services (and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of the information), as well as pursuant to a court order or to law enforcement or government officials as we deem necessary or appropriate.
How Collected Information is Used
The non-personally identifiable data that Advertising.com and/or its third party advertising technology vendors collect are used for marketing and sales efforts to better target advertisements to people across the different websites they visit. Advertising.com may also use the non-personally identifiable data to better target content to individuals in an effort to create a personally relevant experience for each person. The data are also used to predict responses to advertisements, and to help determine which ads perform best and which content is most appropriate for different individuals. If a consumer elects to provide Advertising.com with personally identifiable data, we may utilize such data for marketing purposes. In addition, that data may be combined with information collected from other sources to assist with targeting ads to that consumer's preferences and behaviors, and for other Advertising.com sales and marketing efforts.
Sharing With Third Parties
All personally identifiable data provided by individuals is maintained in confidence by Advertising.com. There are instances, however, in which personally identifiable and non-personally identifiable information is shared with third parties, as described below. The non-personally identifiable data may be shared with third-party partners of Advertising.com on an anonymous basis.
With respect to personally identifiable information, Advertising.com may, from time to time, provide information to certain third-party administrative vendors for efficiency purposes in providing administrative services such as billing, delivery and pay-outs, or for other services related to providing an Advertising.com product or service. Any third-party vendor so used will be required to enter into a confidentiality agreement with Advertising.com.
Advertising.com may also share personally identifiable information with third parties who enter into business relationships with us. These business partners may include financial service providers (including credit bureaus and insurance agents); non-financial companies (including retailers, online and offline advertisers, membership list vendors, direct marketers and publishers); companies that perform marketing services on our behalf, and others such as non-profit organizations. We may also disclose information to a third party who provides substantially similar services as the original service signed up for, if we decide to stop providing such services ourselves. In such situations, we will provide our subscribers with an opportunity to opt-out of such sharing. Please be aware that Advertising.com is very careful about which companies it does business with.
In addition to the above, there is also the possibility that Advertising.com, or part(s) of the company, may one day be purchased by, or merged with, another company. If that's the case, the acquiring (or merging) company will have access to your information.
Finally, Advertising.com may share information on individuals as it deems necessary to comply with a court order or to cooperate with government and law enforcement officials.
Third-Party Advertising Technology Vendors
Advertising.com also works with various third party advertising technology vendors. These vendors may also use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect Click Stream Data. Please click on the links below to learn more about these vendors:
Security Precautions
Advertising.com makes significant efforts to maintain the security of its network and the data we collect. We use various technologies, including, in certain instances, encryption, to ensure the high security standards. Any data that is stored on Advertising.com's servers is treated as confidential and is not generally available to the public. Advertising.com has an internal security policy with respect to the confidentiality of customer and other data, limiting access only to those employees who we reasonably believe need to know such information for the purpose of performing their jobs. Please keep in mind, however, that the Internet is not a 100% secure medium. Therefore, although we use reasonable efforts to protect information, the possibility of somebody defeating our security measures does exist.
Consumer Choice
Non-Personally Identifiable Consumer Data - Use of Cookies & Opting-Out
Advertising.com uses technology, including technology from its third party advertising technology vendors, which includes cookies and web beacons (1x1 pixels), to deliver better, targeted marketing messages to the web surfer. These tools are used to collect non-personally identifiable data to provide better and more relevant services and messages to that user. We believe that the use of such tools assists in providing a more meaningful web-surfing experience, but you may opt-out of the use of Advertising.com cookies and those of our third party advertising technology vendors if you would like. To do so, you can disable cookies on your browser. Alternatively, you can opt-out of Advertising.com's cookies by going to the opt-out section at this site, and you may opt-out of our third party advertising technology vendors' cookies by going to the "Third Party Advertising Technology Vendors" Section, above, and linking on a specific vendor's name. (For more information on cookies and web beacons, please refer to the FAQ section).
Personally Identifiable Consumer Data - Opt-Out
If a consumer elects to provide Advertising.com with personally identifiable data, he or she has the right to tell us not to make some of the uses of such data described herein or may have such data deleted in its entirety at any time. Simply contact us and provide the name of the service for which you provided information and let us know what level of opt-out you would like to exercise. These include: (1) Do not share information about me with business partners, (2) Do not solicit me with special offers other than those related to the service I signed up for, or (3) Remove my data from your database for such service completely. Once we receive this instruction, we will promptly take corrective action. Please note that we will need you to provide your email address or other previously provided personal identifier in order to identify you in the Data Opt-Out process. Also, please remember that if you choose to delete your information completely you will no longer receive the Advertising.com service in question.
Access to Data
Advertising.com allows consumers who have voluntarily provided personally identifiable data access to their data to ensure that it is correct and to make any changes. Please contact us.
Miscellaneous
Children's Privacy
Advertising.com is very sensitive to the issue of children's privacy. Advertising.com's websites, products, and services are neither developed for, nor directed at, children. If you believe your child has provided Advertising.com with personally identifiable data, or registered at one of Advertising.com's websites, and you would like to have the data removed, please contact us.
A Special Note About the European Union
European Union web surfers understand and consent to the processing of personal information in the United States.
Changes to Our Privacy Policy
The issue of privacy is an evolving one. Advertising.com is committed to the constant monitoring and examination of its privacy practices, and may, from time to time, institute changes to its Privacy Policy. In the event that any material changes are made to the company's privacy practices, we will promptly make changes to this privacy policy that discloses the changes.
Effective Date
This Privacy Policy has been in effect since May 26, 2006.
Contacting Us
For more information, or if you have questions or concerns regarding Advertising.com's Privacy Policy, please contact us, or you can send correspondence to the following address:
Privacy
Advertising.com, Inc.
1020 Hull Street
Ivory Building
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Privacy Policy: Opting-out
Data Opt-Out
If a consumer elects to provide Advertising.com with personally identifiable data, he or she has the right to tell us not to make some of the uses of such data described in the Advertising.com Privacy Policy, or may have such data deleted in its entirety. Simply contact us and provide the name of the service for which you provided information and let us know what level of opt-out you would like to exercise. These include: (1) Do not share information about me with business partners, (2) Do not solicit me with special offers other than those related to the service I signed up for, (3) Remove my data from your database for such service completely. Once we receive this instruction, we will promptly take corrective action. Please note that we will need you to provide your email address or other previously provided personal identifier in order to identify you in the Data Opt-Out process. Also, please remember that if you choose to delete your information completely you will no longer receive the Advertising.com service in question.
Cookie Opt-Out
The use of "cookie" files has become an industry standard for many, if not most, of the thousands of companies doing business on the Internet. Like these other companies, Advertising.com and its third party advertising technology vendor also use cookies in an effort to provide a more meaningful web-surfing experience to Internet users. Cookies are text files that are placed by a client server onto the browser of a visitor to a website. These files are harmless to your computer, and can store navigation information as you move throughout the website. The cookie information can only be read by the server that authored the cookie, and provides no personally identifiable information about the individual who is using the computer (only the computer used to access the Web through what is known as the IP address). Cookies perform many important and useful functions: they help website owners determine which sections of their sites are more appealing to their visitors; they help speed the web experience by eliminating the need to enter user names and passwords constantly; they make it possible to provide personalized pages for the visitor; they help advertisers avoid repeatedly serving the same ads to the same visitor; and they help advertisers learn which advertisements are of interest to visitors. Advertising.com and its third party advertising technology vendor use cookie files to collect anonymous web-surfing information, known as Click Stream Data, on web surfers who visit websites in our web network, and who respond to advertisements that we show. None of the Click Stream Data is personally identifiable. Collecting the Click Stream Data assists us in delivering targeted and more relevant advertising messages to web surfers. As you can tell from above, cookies serve many useful purposes for the Internet community. Nevertheless, Advertising.com firmly believes that every individual who uses the Internet should be able to make informed decisions with respect to individual privacy matters, including the use of cookies. One way to prevent the use of cookies is through adjusting the preferences on your Internet browser. Most browsers permit you to remove cookies that have been previously stored, as well as prevent the future use of cookies. You may also opt-out of Advertising.com's use of cookie files with your computer. If you would like to do so, please click below.
Cookie Opt OutThe information that our third party advertising technology vendors log on our behalf is not personally identifiable to our vendors. To opt out of any of our advertising technology vendors' cookie(s), please go to the Third Party Advertising Technology Vendor section of our Privacy Policy, and click on the link for the specific vendor.
Privacy Policy: Opting-out
Opting-Out
The following procedure works for cookies served by Advertising.com servers only. By clicking below you can request an "opt-out cookie," which is an identification tag that will prevent your anonymous data from being matched to any particular machine. Please note that this opt-out process will erase the cookie ID but not the cookie. It's necessary for us to store this "opt-out" cookie on your computer in order to recognize you as an opt-out user. This is the only way Advertising.com can know you've chosen to take this action, and ensure that your decision is recognized by our servers. Please note that if you ever clean out cookies from your internal drive you will need to visit the Advertising.com site again and repeat this quick procedure. Also, please be aware that should you change computers, have different browsers, have different computers, update your Internet browser or delete your cookie, you should repeat this opt-out process.
Are There Any Drawbacks to Opting-Out?
Advertising.com believes that providing targeted and relevant content to Internet users enhances the web-surfing experience. If you decide to opt-out, it will affect our ability to provide you with such advertising content, and will prevent us from controlling the frequency with which you may view particular advertisements.
To Opt-Out Click Here.