Last Updated: April 29, 2009
Sprout Privacy Policy
Chipin, Inc., dba “Sprout”
(“Sprout”) provides this Privacy Policy to inform
you of our policies and procedures regarding the collection, use and
disclosure of personal information we receive when you visit and use
the www.sproutinc.com site (the “Site”) and when
you use our services (including widgets generated via our services)
and software via our Site or on the websites of our partners or other
third parties (collectively, the “Services”).
This Privacy Policy applies
only to information that you provide to us through our Services (including
that which we may collect on your behalf). The term “End User”
as used in this Privacy Policy means a visitor to or user of a widget
that was created with or includes the Services. If you are an
End User please note that the information you provide to us may be shared
with the Sprout user running our Services. We recommend that you
see the privacy policies of such Sprout user (including that of the
website where you are interacting with a Sprout generated widget) for
information regarding their privacy practices.
This Privacy Policy may
be updated from time to time. We will notify you of any material
changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on the Site. You are
advised to consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes.
Information We Collect
Personal Information.
In the course of using the Services, we will ask you to provide us with
certain personally identifiable information that
can be used to contact or identify you and administer your account (“Personal
Information”). Personal Information may include, but
is not limited to, your name, phone number, credit card or other billing
information, email address and home and business postal addresses.
Log Data.
When you use the Services, our servers automatically record information
that your browser sends whenever you visit a website or online service
(“Log Data”). This Log Data may include, but
is not limited to, your computer’s Internet Protocol address, browser
type, the web page you were visiting before you came
to the Site and information you search for on the Site.
Cookies.
Like many websites, we use “cookies” to collect information. A cookie
is a small data file that is delivered through your web browser to your
computer’s hard disk for record keeping purposes. We use cookies (i)
to enable certain features of the Services like saving your username
and login password for future logins to the Site, (ii) to monitor aggregate
usage of the Services and web traffic on the Site to improve our Services
and (iii) to track your preferences and usage patterns on the Site,
via the Services and on other websites. “Usage Data”
means the information collected through our use of cookies which may
be linked to a numbered cookie on a user’s computer. You can
instruct your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies
or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites or services
you visit. If you do not accept cookies, however, you may not
be able to use all portions of the Site or all functionality of the
Services.
Third party advertisers on the Site or that you interact with through the Services (including any widgets) may also place or read cookies on your computer’s browser, which permit them to collect information about users who view or interact with their advertisements and content. The collection and use of such information is subject to such third party’s privacy policy. Usage Data may also be updated through our Services’ recognition of cookies placed on your computer by third party sites or services.
Pixel Tags. We may also use “pixel tags,” “web beacons,” “clear GIFs” or similar means (individually or collectively “Pixel Tags”) in connection with a Sprout generated widget to, among other things, compile aggregate statistics about use of the Services and to collect gender and geographical location data. A Pixel Tag is an electronic image, often a single pixel, that is ordinarily not visible to website users and may be associated with cookies on a user’s hard drive. Pixel Tags allow us to count users who have visited certain pages of the Site, to deliver branded services and to help determine the effectiveness of promotional or advertising campaigns.
Our Policy Toward Children
Sprout does not knowingly
collect personally identifiable information from children under 13.
If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided
us with Personal Information without their consent, he or she should
contact us at legal@sproutinc.com. If we become aware that a child
under 13 has provided us with Personal Information, we will delete such
information from our files.
How We Use Personal Information
- Personal Information is used for the following purposes: (i) to provide and improve the Services, features and content, (ii) to administer your use of the Services and Sprout account, (iii) to enable users to enjoy and easily navigate the Site, (iv) to better understand your needs and interests, (v) to fulfill requests you may make, (vi) to personalize your experience, (vii) to provide service announcements, and (viii) to provide you with further information and offers from us or third parties that we believe you may find useful or interesting, including newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information on Sprout related services. If you decide at any time that you no longer wish to receive such communications, please follow the unsubscribe instructions provided in the communication.
- We use information we obtain by technical means (such as the automatic recording performed by our servers or through the use of cookies) for the above purposes and in order to monitor and analyze use of the Services and for the technical administration of the Site, to increase the functionality and user-friendliness of the Services, to better tailor both to your needs, to generate and derive useful data and information concerning the interests, characteristics and website use behavior of our users, and to verify that visitors and users to and of the Services meet the criteria required to process their requests.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
Registered Sprout
Users. In addition to your
username, any comments or submissions that you post to the Site or Services
will be publicly available. For example, if you are using the social
community networking features of our Services hosted by us or a Sprout
user running our Services on their website, the information you publish
will be viewable by other users. Any information you choose to
provide in a comment or a submission should reflect how much you want
other users to know about you. We recommend that you guard your
anonymity and sensitive information and we encourage Sprout users to
think carefully about what information about themselves they disclose
in their comments or submissions.
End User Information.
We may share End User information (including Usage Data) with the Sprout
user for whom we collected such information.
Aggregate Information
and Non-Identifying Information. We may share aggregated
information that includes Usage Data and Log Data with third parties
for industry analysis, demographic profiling, and to deliver targeted
advertising about other products and services. Any aggregated
information shared in these contexts will not contain your Personal
Information.
Service Providers.
We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate the
Services, to provide the Services on our behalf, to perform services
related to administration of the Services (including, without limitation,
bill and credit card payment processing, maintenance, hosting and database
management services, web analytics and administration). These
third parties have access to your Personal Information only to perform
these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it
for any other purpose.
Compliance with
Laws and Law Enforcement. Sprout cooperates with government
and law enforcement officials and private parties to enforce and comply
with the law. We will disclose any information about you to government
or law enforcement officials or private parties as we, in our sole discretion,
believe necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal process
(including but not limited to subpoenas), to protect the property and
rights of Sprout or a third party, to protect the safety of the public
or any person, or to prevent or stop any activity we may consider to
be, or to pose a risk of being, illegal, unethical, inappropriate or
legally actionable.
Business Transfers.
In connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of
assets or in the event of bankruptcy, Sprout may sell, transfer or otherwise
share some or all of its assets, including your Personal Information.
Changing or Deleting Your Information
All registered Sprout
users may review, update, correct or delete the Personal Information
in their registration profile by logging into their account and changing
the “user preferences” associated with their account. If you
completely delete all such information, your account may be deactivated.
We may retain an archived copy of your records as required by law or
for legitimate business purposes.
Security
Sprout is concerned with safeguarding your information. We employ
a variety of industry-standard measures designed to protect your information
from unauthorized access.
International Transfer
Your information may
be transferred to – and maintained on – computers located outside
of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction
where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction.
If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information
to Sprout, please be advised that we transfer Personal Information to
the United States and process it there. Your consent to this Privacy
Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your
agreement to that transfer.
Links to Other Site
The Services contain links to other websites. If you choose
to visit an advertiser by “clicking on” a banner ad or other type
of advertisement, or click on another third party link, you will be
directed to that third party’s website. The fact that we link
to a website or present a banner ad or other type of advertisement is
not an endorsement, authorization or representation that we are affiliated
with that third party, nor is it an endorsement of their privacy or
information security policies or practices. We do not exercise
control over third party websites. These other websites may place
their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit
personal information from you. Other websites and services follow
different rules regarding the use or disclosure of the personal information
you submit to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies
or statements of the other websites you visit.
Contacting Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at legal@sproutinc.com.
