Locally Informed Limited, Privacy Policy
Effective: Sept 7, 2010
Locally Informed Limited ("Locally Informed", "we" or "us") is an online service provider that provides a set of services and technology applications that enable users to create their own News Websites utilizing our technology platform (the "Locally Informed Platform"). Locally Informed is not involved in the management of News Websites on the Locally Informed Platform and is not involved in the decisions relating to the focus of News Websites or the Content uploaded or published to News Websites using the Locally Informed Platform. These are your News Websites and, as a News Website Creator, you are responsible for managing them in all respects (including the actions, conduct, and Content of Your Members) in compliance with the Locally Informed Terms of Service.
We value your privacy, and we want to help make your experience on the Locally Informed Platform as satisfying and safe as possible. We have established this Privacy Policy to explain how Personal Information (as defined below) is collected on the Locally Informed Platform, and how that Personal Information is used and disclosed. "Personal Information" is information that allows a person to directly identify an individual, such as name or email address, and information that we combine directly with such identifying information. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and is subject to the Locally Informed Terms of Service. Any capitalized terms not defined herein have the meaning set forth in the Locally Informed Terms of Service. By using the Locally Informed Platform, you expressly consent to the information handling practices described in this Privacy Policy.
1. How the Locally Informed Platform Operates
The Locally Informed Platform enables Users to create, join or browse local News Websites. The Locally Informed Platform also allows Third Party Application Developers to develop Third Party Applications for use on the Locally Informed Platform. This Privacy Policy refers to local News Websites created on the Locally Informed Platform as "News Websites" and refers to Users who create News Websites as "News Website Creators". Users who join a News Website are "Members" of that News Website. News Website Creators are also considered Members of the News Websites they create.
2. Collection of Personal Information
In order to create a News Website using the Locally Informed Platform, News Website Creators must register for account credentials. When you register for account credentials, Locally Informed collects certain Personal Information, including your name, email address, and a password that you select. In addition, News Website Creators must provide their credit card or other payment information and telephone number (for customer support purposes). Locally Informed or its third party payment providers use this Personal Information billing information solely to administer your services on the Locally Informed Platform and to process your transactions including your purchase of Locally Informed Product Plans, Support Services, and upgrades.
News Website Creators and Third Party Application Developers might use the Locally Informed Platform to collect, use, and retain all information, including Personal Information and News Website Data, that is disclosed and uploaded by Members in connection with their use of News Websites. “News Website Data” means as all data collected from a News Website or Member and includes registration information, profile data, answers to News Website profile questions, all Content and other information contributed by Members, and statistical information and analytics relating to usage and interactions within the News Website. When a User signs up to become a member of a News Website, he or she is providing Personal Information to that News Website's News Website Creator and such News Website Creator and its designated administrators will have access to all Personal Information and News Website Data associated with any such News Website.
News Website Creators and Third Party Application Developers might also collect additional types of Personal Information. For each News Website you use, you should check with the News Website Creator regarding its policies governing its collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information. Additionally, for each Third Party Application that you add to your News Website or your profile, you should check with the Third Party Application Developer regarding its policies governing its collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information.
3. Passive Data Collection
Like most web-based services, Locally Informed automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser when you use the Locally Informed Platform. We may use a variety of methods, including clear GIFs (also known as "web beacons"), and "cookies" to collect this information. The information that we collect with these automated methods may include, for example, your IP address, Locally Informed cookie information, a unique device or user ID, browser type, system type, the content and pages that you access on the Locally Informed Platform, and the "referring URL" (i.e., the page from which you navigated to the Locally Informed Platform).
We also use cookies on the Locally Informed Platform to recognize your account credentials, and to store references to your account credentials and session validators on your hard drive. We also include clear GIFs in some of our email messages in order to learn whether the messages are delivered and opened.
We use passively-collected information to administer, operate, and improve the Locally Informed Platform and our other services and systems, and to provide services and information that are tailored to you. If any information gathered through passive means by Locally Informed is combined with Personal Information, we treat the combined information as Personal Information under this Privacy Policy. Otherwise, Locally Informed uses information collected by passive means in aggregated or other non-personally identifiable forms.
Also, please be aware that other third parties, including advertising servers, advertising News Websites, Third Party Application Developers may set cookies or use other means of passively collecting information about your use of their services on the Locally Informed Platform. We do not have access to, or control over, these cookies or other means of passive data collection. You should consult the respective privacy policies of these Third Party Application Developers, advertising servers or advertising News Websites. We cannot control the activities of such third parties.
4. Third Party Advertisers
We allow other companies, called third-party ad servers or ad networks, such as Google AdSense, to serve advertisements within News Websites on the Locally Informed Platform. These third-party ad servers or ad News Websites may use technology to send, directly to your browser, the advertisements that appear within a News Website on the Locally Informed Platform and they automatically receive your IP Address and other log file information when this happens. Such third-party companies may also use other technologies (such as cookies, javascript, or web beacons) to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and to personalize their advertising content. Certain third-party companies, such as Google, may also use these cookies to serve ads to you based on your visit to these News Websites and other sites on the Internet.
We do not provide your Personal Information to these third-party ad servers or ad News Websites without your consent. However, please note that if an advertiser asks us to show an advertisement to a certain audience or audience segment and you respond to that advertisement, the advertiser or ad server may conclude that you fit the description of the audience that they were trying to reach.
You may click here to visit the News Website Advertising Initiative's opt-out page, where you can learn more about its member companies' practices and to opt out from the collection and use of information by its member companies.
Additionally, if any Google AdSense advertisements are used by Locally Informed or News Website Creators, you may opt out of Google's use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content News Website privacy policy located here.
We reserve the right to add or remove third-party ad News Websites and ad servers in our discretion. We may not at all times list such updated ad News Website or ad server partners in this Privacy Policy.
5. Information Received From Third-Party Sources
We may also obtain information, including Personal Information, from third-party sources. This includes certain Personal Information that may be provided to us through the installation and use of Locally Informed Applications on third party web sites. If we directly combine information from other third parties with Personal Information that we collect on the Locally Informed Platform, we will treat the combined information as "Personal Information" and handle it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
6. How Locally Informed Uses Personal Information
We may use Personal Information to operate, provide, improve, and maintain the Locally Informed Platform, and our other services and systems, and to develop new products and services; to prevent abusive and fraudulent use of the Locally Informed Platform and our other services and systems; to personalize and display advertisements (via our own advertising engine or server) and other content on the Locally Informed Platform; to send you administrative messages, and information about News Websites, content, and Locally Informed services in which we believe you may be interested; and for other administrative and internal business purposes.
7. When Locally Informed Discloses Personal Information
We do not sell or rent email addresses and other Personal Information. We do not share Personal Information with third parties except in the limited circumstances described in this Privacy Policy. Please be aware, however, that any information that you voluntarily choose to display on any publicly available portion of the Locally Informed Platform, or on any News Website, becomes publicly available and may be collected and used by us or others without restriction.
-
Locally Informed Service Providers
We may provide Personal Information to third parties for their use in performing internal business functions (e.g., payment processing, maintenance, security, data analysis, email transmission, or data hosting) on our behalf.
-
News Website Creators
The News Website Creator and the designated administrators of that News Website have access to all News Website Data that is collected on a particular News Website and are required to comply with applicable laws (e.g., CAN-SPAM) and not to use or disclose Personal Information in a manner that violates this Privacy Policy.
-
Locally Informed Affiliates
Although we currently do not have a parent company or any subsidiaries, joint venture partners, or other companies that we control or that is under common control with us (collectively, "affiliates"), we may in the future. We may share some or all of your Personal Information with our affiliates, in which case we will seek to require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy.
-
Legal Requirements
We may disclose Personal Information if we have a good-faith belief that doing so is required by a subpoena or other judicial or administrative order or otherwise required by law. Additionally, we may disclose Personal Information where we, in good faith, deem it appropriate or necessary to prevent violation of the Locally Informed Terms of Service, or our other agreements; take precautions against liability; protect the rights, property, or safety of Locally Informed, any individual, or the general public; maintain and protect the security and integrity of our services or infrastructure; protect ourselves and our services from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses; investigate and defend ourselves against third-party claims or allegations; or assist government enforcement agencies.
8. Change of Ownership
In the event of a change in ownership, or a merger with, acquisition by, or sale of assets to, another entity, we reserve the right to transfer all of your Personal Information, including email addresses, to that entity. We will use reasonable efforts to notify registered users of such a transfer (by a posting on our home page, or by email to a Member's email address that was provided to us, as chosen by us in our discretion).
9. Security
We use industry standard security measures to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of Personal Information under our control. Although we make good faith efforts to maintain the security of such Personal Information, we cannot guarantee that it will remain free from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, or alteration. Further, while we work hard to ensure the integrity and security of our News Website and systems, we cannot guarantee that our security measures will prevent "hackers" or other unauthorized persons from illegally accessing or obtaining this information. We do not assume any liability to third parties whose information you include in your Address Book, or which you post or transmit in any Content on a News Website. To help maintain the security of your account credentials, please keep your password secure.
If we learn of a security breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. By using the Locally Informed Platform or providing Personal Information to us, you agree that we can communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues relating to your use of the Locally Informed Platform. If a security systems breach occurs, we may post a notice on our homepage (locallyinformed.com), or elsewhere on the Locally Informed Platform and may send email to you at the email address you have provided to us.
10. Children
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") protects the online privacy of children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect or maintain personal information from anyone under the age of 13, unless or except as permitted by law. Any person who provides Personal Information through the Locally Informed Platform represents to us that he or she is 13 years of age or older. If we learn that Personal Information has been collected from a user under 13 years of age on or through the Locally Informed Platform, then we will take the appropriate steps to cause this information to be deleted.
If you are the parent or legal guardian of a child under 13 who has become a Member, please contact Locally Informed at privacy@locallyinformed.com to have that child's account terminated and information deleted.
The following are some resources that may help parents and legal guardians in monitoring and limiting your children's access to certain types of material on the Internet. While we do not endorse these products, we provide information about them as a public service to our community.
11. Your Choices
You may, at any time, update, correct, or delete certain categories of Personal Information that you have provided to us by signing in to your News Website or the Locally Informed Platform and updating the Personal Information.
Members may also, at any time, elect to deactivate their membership within any News Website on the Locally Informed Platform by visiting the My Settings page while signed in to a News Website. If a Member leaves a News Website that is governed by a separate privacy policy, the News Website Creator may still maintain and use Personal Information that has been provided to that News Website Creator in accordance with the News Website Creator's privacy policies. Additionally, any User may terminate its account and end its use of the Locally Informed Platform at any time and for no reason by contacting us at support@locallyinformed.com or at the address set forth below in the "Contacting Locally Informed" Section.
Additionally, even if you update or remove Personal Information that you have provided to us, your Personal Information may be retained in our backup files and archives for a reasonable period of time for legal purposes.
12. Email Communications and Unsolicited Commercial Email
We may send you administrative messages, and updates regarding your account, the Locally Informed Platform, and our services, by email. News Website Creators may also send administrative or promotional messages to the extent permitted by applicable law and the Locally Informed Terms of Service. You can choose to opt-out of receiving messages from Locally Informed or a News Website by following the directions on the bottom of the email message you receive.
The Locally Informed Terms of Service prohibit Users from engaging in any activity involving the sending of email in violation of applicable law, including CAN-SPAM and other laws regulating unsolicited commercial email. Violations of these policies may result in immediate termination of service and legal action against any senders or initiators of such messages.
13. Third-Party Services
The Locally Informed Platform, and News Websites, may contain links to websites and services provided by third parties. Any Personal Information you provide on third-party sites or services is provided directly to that third party and is subject to that third party's policies governing privacy and security. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of third-party sites or services. We encourage you to learn about third parties' privacy and security policies before providing them with Personal Information.
14. International Users
The Locally Informed Platform is hosted in the United States. If you use the Locally Informed Platform from the European Union, or any other region with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from New Zealand law, please note that you are transferring your personal data to the United States. New Zealand does not have the same data protection laws as the European Union and other regions. By providing Personal Information under this Privacy Policy, you consent to the use of Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the transfer of your Personal Information to the United States.
15. Changes and Updates to This Privacy Policy
We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy. If we do, we will update the "effective date" at the top of the Privacy Policy. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed about our collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information on the Locally Informed Platform. Your continued use of the Locally Informed Platform constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Policy and any updates.
16. Contacting Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, you may contact us at privacy@locallyinformed.com.
You may also write to us at:
Locally Informed Limited
PO Box 5138
Napier
4145
New Zealand
Attn: Privacy Matters
|