1. Your Consent
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully; once you consent to this Policy’s terms, it creates legal obligations on you and on Curiouser. We ask you to show your consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy in different ways, depending on your relationship to the Site. The procedures for consenting to this Policy are (i) less formal if you are simply a casual Visitor, and (ii) more formal if you are seeking to become a Member of the Site.
1.1 Consent by Visitors.
By accessing and using our Website as a Visitor, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and agree to be legally bound by it. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please refrain from using our Site.
1.2 Consent by Clients.
If you register as a Client, you will be prompted to click an “I Accept” button linked to the Terms of Use during the registration process. Clicking “I accept” confirms your agreement to be bound by this Privacy Policy, which is included therein.
2. The Types of Information You may Provide
Information you may provide while visiting our Site or using our Facilities falls into two broad categories (i) personally identifiable information, and (ii) aggregate information. We use the term “Personally Identifiable Information” to mean any information that could reasonably be used to identify you including, for example, your name, address, e-mail address, age, photograph, or any combination of this or similar information. “Anonymous Information” is information that does not identify you, and may include statistical information concerning, for example, your use of our Facilities or the pages on our Site that you visit most frequently.
These two categories of information can be further divided into (a) information that we collect from you, and that you provide to us (“Site-Directed Information”), and (b) information you intend to provide or make available to other Clients or Visitors on our Site (“Client-Directed Information”).
Our Privacy Policy governs all Site-Directed Information—whether this information is Personally Identifiable Information or anonymous information—and does not govern Client-Directed Information, as we have no direct control over the collection or use of Client- Directed Information.
3. Site-Directed Personally Identifiable Information; Our Uses of this Information
We will not share Personally Identifiable Information you provide to us via the Website with any third party, other than as expressly disclosed in this Policy. We collect information from Visitors and Clients at different points on our Website and through our Facilities, and use this information as follows:
3.1 Registration Information; Usernames.
In order to participate as a Client and to use our Facilities, we require that you complete the registration process. The registration process asks you to: (i) create a nickname, (ii) create a password, (iii) and provide an email address.The registration process provides you with a login, which allows you to gain access to the Website and Facilities depending on the type of package that you have obtained. Our system relies on self-submitted usernames or “nicknames” as the public “identifier” for the each Client.
3.2 Billing Information.
After completing the registration process and receiving approval of your user profile, you may become a PLUS Client by paying a Clientship fee. PLUS Clients have broader access to, and enjoy more flexible use of, our Site. We provide several different payment methods including electronic payment and more “traditional” payment methods such as mailing a check or money order. Curiouser handles electronic payments by submitting billing information that you provide on our Site to a third party vendor. Any billing information sent by Curiouser to our third party vendor is intended solely to allow said third party to process payment. Any personal information that we collect when processing payments made through “traditional” methods will be treated as Personally Identifiable Information.
3.3 Email Addresses.
You have the option of opting-in or opting-out of receiving e-mail notifications relating to our Site, including for example, notifications that you have received a reply from another Client.
3.4 Communications with Other Clients.
By registering on the Website for any public or semi-private products, Clients indicate an interest in exchanging information with other Clients, subject to any Privacy Controls imposed. We seek to limit the information provided through our system to the minimum information needed to identify a participant in communications and other exchanges. To allow such communications, we provide information to identify individual users, in the form of Clients’ nickname, gender (if desired), and a link to their short bio.
3.5 Other Information Exchanges.
The Website allows Clients (i) to provide and receive information in a range of forms and on a variety of topics, and (ii) to engage in other activities through Website discussions that may include, at the option of the user, an exchange of Personally Identifiable Information. In these instances, we use any information you provide to us strictly for the purposes for which you submit the information.
3.6 Discussions and Forums.
As part of our Facilities, we offer discussions and forums on our Site. We make only your nickname and avatar available to other users of these Facilities. Any comments you contribute to the online dialogue, however, become public immediately, attributed to your username. You should, therefore, use discretion in what you submit to these exchanges. Additional guidelines for the use of our discussions and chat rooms are available on our Site.
4. Your Responsibility for Client-Directed Information
Client-Directed Information is information you intend to provide or make available to other Clients on our Site via our Facilities including, but not limited to, our discussions and forums as well the information that you include on your profile. Although we counsel you to take care if you include Personally Identifiable Information—such as your full name or a photograph of yourself—in your Client-Directed Information, our Privacy Policy does not cover Client-Directed Information. If you choose to disclose any Personally Identifiable Information, any such information can be collected and used by other Clients and Visitors, and you may receive unsolicited communications or contact as a result. We provide a range of Facilities to assist you in making good choices concerning the information you disclose. Please see Section 8 (Additional Tools for Protecting Your Privacy) for a description.
5. Anonymous, Aggregate Information
We use Anonymous Information to analyze the effectiveness of our Site, to improve our Facilities, and for other similar purposes. In addition, from time to time, we may undertake or commission statistical and other summary analyses of the general behavior and characteristics of users using our Facilities and the characteristics of Visitors at our Site, and may share Anonymous Information with third parties. Rest assured, though, that Anonymous Information provided to third parties will not allow anyone to identify you, or determine anything personal about you. We may collect Anonymous Information through features of the software that supports our Facilities, through cookies, and through other means described below.
5.1 IP Addresses; Logs.
Curiouser may automatically receive and record information in our server logs from your browser, including your IP address (the Internet address of your PC), the type and version of your web browser, referrer addresses, and other generally-accepted log information. We may also record page views (hit counts) and other general statistical and tracking information, which will be aggregated with that of other users in order to understand how our Website is being used, and for security and monitoring purposes. None of this data contains Personally Identifiable Information.
5.2 Cookies.
A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, which is sent to your browser from a website’s computers and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies can be used to provide you with a tailored user experience and to make it easier for you to use a website upon a future visit. We may include cookies on our Website and use them to recognize you when you return to our Website. You may set your browser so that it does not accept cookies. Cookies must be enabled on your web browser, however, if you wish to access certain personalized features of our Site.
5.3 Tags.
We may use so-called “pixel tags” — small graphic images (also known as “web beacons” or “single-pixel GIFS”) or trackers — to tell us what parts of our Site have been visited or to measure the effectiveness of searches customers perform on our Site. Pixel tags also enable us to send email messages in a format customers can read, and they inform us whether emails have been opened, to help ensure that our messages are of interest to our customers. If any Personally Identifying Information is collected using such tools, it will be subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
5.4 Click-Throughs.
We may send email messages, which use a “click-through URL” linked to content on our Website. When you click one of these URLs, you pass through our web server before arriving at the destination web page. We track this click-through data to help determine interest in particular topics and measure the effectiveness of our customer communications. If you prefer not to be tracked simply do not click text or graphic links in the email, or notify us in accordance with Section 8 (Additional Tools for Protecting Your Privacy).
5.5 Computer Configuration.
In order to determine whether your computer is supported by our system, we may collect certain Anonymous Information. This information includes, but may not be limited to, your operating system and browser, as well as the presence of any software that our Website may require to operate with your computer, or other third party software on your computer. This information is kept strictly confidential and is not shared with third parties, except as provided for in this Privacy Policy.
6. Any Information Linked with Your Personally Identifiable Information is Protected as “Personally Identifiable Information”
To enable us to better understand the characteristics of our customers and/or to provide Facilities tailored to your needs, we may link (i) the Personally Identifiable Information you have provided, with (ii) Anonymous Information. If we combine or link any Anonymous Information or other information with your Personally Identifiable Information, the resulting combination will be treated and protected as Personally Identifiable Information under this Privacy Policy. Accordingly, no unrelated third parties will have access to this information, and any of our service providers who are granted access to this information will be bound to protect it in accordance with this Policy.
7. We Do Not Disclose Site-Directed, Personally Identifiable Information to Unaffiliated Third Parties; Limited Exceptions
We will not disclose your Personally Identifiable Information to unaffiliated third parties without your express consent, except in the following limited circumstances:
7.1 Curiouser Site Vendors.
We may employ other companies to perform functions on our behalf, such as maintaining the Website, providing services related to the Site, collecting information, responding to and sending electronic mail, or other functions necessary to our business. We may need to share your Personally Identifiable Information with these companies (collectively, “Site Vendors”). We will provide Site Vendors with only that Personally Identifiable Information that is necessary to perform their functions, and we will inform them that they may not use said Personally Identifiable Information for any other purpose.
7.2 Harm or Violations of Terms or Law.
We may reveal your Personally Identifiable Information to attorneys or law enforcement agencies if we believe that (i) you are at risk of harm from another, (ii) you are harming or interfering, will imminently harm or interfere, or have harmed or interfered with others, (iii) you have otherwise violated or will otherwise violate (either intentionally or unintentionally) our Terms, (iv) you have violated or will violate laws or regulations, including but not limited to the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking (“FOSTA”) or the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), or (v) you are otherwise violating legal rights.
7.3 Legal Process.
Curiouser will reveal your Personally Identifiable Information to the extent we reasonably believe we are required to do so by law. If we receive legal process calling for the disclosure of your Personally Identifiable Information we may attempt to notify you via the email address you supplied during registration within a reasonable amount of time before we respond to the request, unless such notification is not permitted.
7.4 Advertisers.
We may allow advertising companies or other third parties to display advertisements on our site. These companies may use tracking technologies to collect information about those who view, “click on” or otherwise access or interact with their advertisements in order to help them target and gauge the effectiveness of their advertisements. We will not intentionally provide any Personally Identifiable Information to such third party advertisers. Further, once you access an advertisement on our Site, you may be taken to another website that is not governed by this Privacy Policy and is in no way under our control.
7.5 Transfer of Site.
Curiouser shall be entitled to transfer to a third party information it collects, including any Personally Identifiable Information, in connection with a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the business entity responsible for the information under this Policy, provided the acquiring third party has agreed to safeguard your Personally Identifiable Information with protections that in all material respects are the same as or more protective than those set out in this Privacy Policy.
8. Additional Tools for Protecting Your Privacy
We recognize that users may provide more personal information than they intend, or should, over the public areas in social networking sites. We provide a range of features to assist our Clients seeking to preserve an appropriate level of privacy, including the following:
8.1 Privacy Controls.
We provide you with privacy controls, on request that include the option to go through a program on your own, without others involved or able to see your information or interact with you. In an effort to ensure Client compliance with our guidelines, Curiouser has created procedures for reviewing and filtering content. Please see our Terms for more information with respect to the categories of content and how they are reviewed and filtered.
Curiouser may audit your use of the Site to monitor your compliance with the Terms, our Community Guidelines, or any laws or regulations. At any time and in Curiouser’s sole discretion, Curiouser may also conduct investigations, which may include monitoring your use of the Site, your Profile, any communications made on the Site, and other Content transmitted through the Site
Please either employ the Privacy Controls, or choose carefully the information you post on your profile, and that you provide to other Clients. You should take care if you choose to include information that personally identifies you, such as your telephone number, street address, last name, email address, and any photographs that could easily identify you or where you are located.
8.2 Reporting of Problems.
If you feel that you or one of your friends have been harassed or bullied on our Site, or that users have (i) infringed upon your privacy, (ii) violated our Community Guidelines, (iii) or infringed upon intellectual property rights of others, please report your concerns as set out in our Terms.
9. Changing or Removing Information
9.1 Discretionary Account Information.
To allow appropriate control over Personally Identifiable Information, you can access your account (after supplying your username and password) to change or update discretionary information that you have previously submitted.
9.2 Deleting Information.
Finally, if you request, we will remove your name and all other Personally Identifiable Information from our databases. Please understand, however, that it may be impossible to remove this information completely, due to backups and records of deletions. In addition, please understand that, if you request deletion of your information, you will be unable to utilize associated features of the Website and any associated Facilities. You may not remove de-identified, anonymous, or aggregate data from our databases. In addition, we may retain personal information in order to comply with applicable laws, keep accurate records, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, enforce our Terms or other agreements, or for any other legally permissible purpose.
10. Security
We have put in place security systems designed to prevent unauthorized access to, or disclosure of, personally identifiable Site-Directed Information that you provide to us, and we take all reasonable steps to secure and safeguard this Information. Moreover, we store all Site-Directed Personally Identifiable Information in a secure fashion. Curiouser employees and Moderators (and employees of our affiliates and Site Vendors) are required to acknowledge that they understand and will abide by our policies with respect to the confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information. Moreover, we provide access to our databases containing Personally Identifiable Information on a need-to-know basis only.
Our security systems are therefore structured to deter and prevent hackers and others from accessing information you provide to us. We also use software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Please understand, though, that this information should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided by or submitted to Curiouser. Due to the nature of Internet communications and evolving technologies, we cannot provide, and disclaim, assurance that the information you provide us will remain free from loss, misuse, or alteration by third parties who, despite our efforts, obtain unauthorized access.
11. Modification of Policy
We reserve the right to modify, in our sole discretion, this Policy. If we modify this Policy, any such modifications will take effect proactively, upon your subsequent access to the Website. If we modify this Policy then we may, in our sole discretion, inform you of any changes by posting a notice on our Site.
12. Relationship to Terms and Other Contracts
This Privacy Policy must be read in conjunction with our Terms, and the provisions of our Terms are incorporated herein. To the extent the Terms conflict with the terms of this Privacy Policy, the terms of this Privacy Policy will control.
13. Participation by Children and Teens; Advisory.
WE DO NOT ALLOW INDIVIDUALS WHO WE KNOW ARE UNDER AGE 18 TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR SITE OR SERVICES WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION. YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD TO USE OUR SITE AND SERVICES WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION. FURTHER, WE DO NOT ALLOW PARTICIPATION BY, OR COLLECTION OF INFORMATION RELATED TO, CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13.
14. No Third Party Beneficiaries.
Except as specifically provided herein, nothing in this Privacy Policy, whether express or implied, is intended to confer any rights or remedies to any third parties, nor is anything in this Agreement intended require us to disclose any information about any Client or other visitor or user of this Site.