A. We Collect The Information You Provide.
To become a member of one of our Sites or to access certain areas of the Sites, such as contests or sweepstakes, or to participate in other online activities, special events or Interactive Areas, you may be required to provide us with certain information. “Interactive Areas” include, when offered, comment sections on articles, message boards, chat rooms, reader photo upload areas, reader ratings and reviews, features allowing saving articles or other content on our Sites, reader-created content upload areas, contact us and customer support areas, and areas that allow you to register for SMS text messaging and mobile alerts. Some examples of the information we collect include the following:
• Contact Data. We collect your first and last name, e-mail address, postal address, phone number, and other similar contact data.
• Credentials. We collect passwords, password hints, and other information for authentication and account access.
• Demographic Data. We collect demographic information including your age, gender, and country.
• Payment Data. We collect data necessary to process your payment if you make a purchase, including your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security code associated with your payment instrument.
• Profile Data. We collect your username, interests, favorites, and other profile data.
• Contacts. We collect data about your contacts in order to fulfill a request by you, such as fulfilling a gift subscription. Such functionality is only intended for United States (“U.S.”) residents. By using this functionality, you acknowledge and agree that both you and your contacts are based in the U.S. and that you have your contacts’ consent for us to use their contact information to fulfill your request.
• Content. We collect the content of messages you send to us, such as feedback and product reviews you write, or questions and information you provide to customer support. We also collect the content of your communications as necessary to provide you with the services you use.
• Resume Data. We collect data to consider you for a job opening if you submit an application to us, including your employment history, writing samples, and references.
• Survey Data. We may also survey visitors about various topics, including events and experiences, media consumption preferences and how we can improve our Sites and services. Response to our surveys is entirely voluntary.
• Public Postings. We collect information when you submit it for posting on our Sites. Any communication you submit or that may be posted to a publicly viewable area of our Sites, such as a comment on an article or a review, is a public communication and may be viewed by the general public. Therefore, you acknowledge and understand that you have no expectation of privacy or confidentiality in the content you submit to such areas via our Sites, whether or not your submission includes personal information. These submissions would include newsletter sign ups and any area of our site that requires a login or registration prior to use. If at any time you display your personal information in any communication submitted to such areas, other individuals may collect and use your personal information. We are not responsible for, nor can we guarantee the protection of, any personal information you disclose in a communication submitted to such areas for posting or contained in an email or other communication submitted to us for such posting, and thus, you acknowledge that if you disclose personal information in any such material, you do so at your own risk.
You may choose to voluntarily submit other information to us through the Service that we do not request, and, in such instances, you are solely responsible for such information.
B. We Collect Technical Information Automatically
To gauge the effectiveness of our Sites, we collect technical information about our members and visitors, such as Internet server and browser identification, the Internet service provider used, clickstream information, the web page from which you enter our site, webpages visited, duration of visit and domain type. We gather this information by using cookies and similar current – and later – developed devices (“Tracking Technologies”) as discussed below. We may contract with third parties to collect this information on our behalf for analytics purposes. These include companies such as Chartbeat, Comscore and Google. For more information about these companies and their privacy policies, please click the company names above and follow the links to their websites.
The Tracking Technologies we use to collect technical information include the following:
• Cookies. A cookie is a small data file that contains a unique identification number that a website places on your device when you visit the website. The cookie is able to store a variety of information used to improve and customize your browsing experience. Session-based cookies last while your browser is open. Persistent cookies last for various periods across browser restarts, remembering your preferences, and supporting security features. Persistent cookies may remain on your device for extended periods of time.
• Pixels. A pixel (also known as a web beacon) is code embedded in a website, video, e-mail, or advertisements that sends information about your use to a server. There are various types of pixels, including image pixels (which are small graphic images) and JavaScript pixels (which contains JavaScript code). When you access a website, video, e-mail, or advertisement that contains a pixel, the pixel may permit us or a third party to drop or read cookies on your browser. Pixels are used in combination with cookies to track activity by a particular browser on a particular device. We may incorporate pixels from third parties that allow us track our conversions, bring you advertising both on and off the Sites, and provide you with additional functionality, such as the ability to connect our Sites with your social media account.
• Log Files. A log file is a file that records events that occur in connection with your use of the Service, such as your service use data.
• Device Fingerprinting. Device fingerprinting is the process of analyzing and combining sets of information elements from your device’s browser, such as JavaScript objects and installed fonts, in order to create a “fingerprint” of your device and uniquely identify your device and apps.
• App Technologies, Customization, and Usage. There are a variety of tracking technologies that may be included in our apps that allow us to collect information about your installation, use, and updating of our apps as well as information about your device, including your unique device identifier (“UDID”) and other technical identifiers. More specifically, these tracking technologies allow us to collect data about your device and your use of our apps, the pages, videos, other content, or ads you see or click on during your visit and when and for how long you do so, and items you download. These tracking technologies are not browser-based like cookies and cannot be controlled by browser settings. For example, our apps may include third party SDKs, which is code that sends information about your use to a server, and is in effect the app version of a pixel. These SDKs allow us to track our conversions and communicate with you across devices, bring you advertising both on and off the Sites, customize the app to your interests and preferences and link such across platforms and devices, and provide you with additional functionality, such as the ability to connect our Site with your social media account.
• Location-Identifying Technologies. GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and other location-aware technologies may be used to collect precise location data when you enable location-based services through your device. Location data may be used for purposes such as verifying your device’s location and delivering or restricting relevant content and advertising based on that location.
Some information about your use of the Sites and certain Third Party Services (defined below) may be collected using Tracking Technologies across time and services and used by us and third parties for purposes such as to associate different devices you use, and deliver relevant ads and/or other content to you on the Sites and certain Third Party Services.
For further information on Tracking Technologies and your rights and choices regarding them, see the sections entitled “Third Parties” and “This Is How Our Advertisers, Ad Networks And Other Third-Parties Collect And Use Information” below.
C. We Collect Information From Other Sources
We also obtain information about you from other third party sources. To the extent we combine such third party sourced information with information we have collected about you through the Sites, we will treat the combined information in accordance with the practices described in this Privacy Notice, plus any additional restrictions imposed by the source of the data. These third party sources vary over time, but have included:
• Data brokers from which we purchase demographic data or geographic information to supplement the data we collect.
• Social networks when you reference our Sites or grant permission to us to access your data on one or more of these services (for example by logging in to the Sites through the Facebook Login feature).
• Partners with which we offer co-branded services, sell or distribute our products, or engage in joint marketing activities.
For further information on Third Party Services, see the section entitled “This Is How Our Advertisers, Ad Networks And Other Third-Parties Collect And Use Information” below.
This is How We Use Tracking Technologies
• Our Use of Cookies
We use cookies on our Sites, as well as third-party cookies, like Google Analytics. Some cookies are used for authentication or registration. Cookies also enable us to understand how often visitors are visiting our Sites, where they are coming from, the specific pages visited, and user preferences. We use this information to improve the Sites’ speed, functionality, and the content we provide. Other cookies are used for estimating audience size for sponsors and advertisers, for marketing purposes to display advertising and offerings that are relevant to your interests and to control how often you see some advertising messages. They also help provide us with aggregated auditing, research, and reporting, and know when content has been shown to you.
• Third-Party Cookies
You can find a list of the third-party cookies that our Sites use along with other relevant information in our cookie list. While we do our best to keep this table updated, please note that the number and names of cookies, pixels, and other technologies may change from time to time.
• Managing Your Cookies
You can refuse to use cookies by turning them off in your browser. You can contact your browser software manufacturer for questions on how to disable your cookies. You do not need to have cookies turned on to use most of the content on our Sites. However, if the cookies are disabled you may find that some areas on the Sites will be slower, or may not function at all and you may not be able to participate in certain activities such as saving customized settings for activities like login and/or commenting.
• Cookies On Sites We Link To
Throughout our Sites, we link out to other websites, such as publications, affiliates, advertisers, and partners. You should review other website operators’ privacy and cookie policies to determine the type and extent of tracking devices used by these other websites.
• Other Tracking Technologies
Some information about your use of the Sites and certain Third Party Services (defined below) may be collected using Tracking Technologies across time and services and used by us and third parties for purposes such as to associate different devices you use, and deliver relevant ads and/or other content to you on the Sites and certain Third Party Services.
For further information on Tracking Technologies and your rights and choices regarding them, see the sections below entitled “Third Parties” and “This Is How Our Advertisers, Ad Networks And Other Third-Parties Collect And Use Information.”
These Are The Things We Do With the Information We Collect
We collect personal information for our legitimate interests, including to:
• Manage our Sites, including to operate our membership and subscriber base, registration and accounts;
• Protect the security of our visitors and the Sites, prevent and address fraud, breach of policies or terms, and threats or harm;
• Improve our service and Sites, marketing efforts, products, events and other services;
• Perform services requested by our users, such as to distribute our newsletters, respond to comments, questions, and requests, and provide customer service;
• Send you technical notices, updates, security alerts, information regarding changes to our policies, and support and administrative messages;
• Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities;
• Conduct research, including surveys; and
• Develop and send you direct marketing, advertising and/or promotions.
We also use information about you with your consent, including to:
• Verify eligibility, notify the winners and deliver prizes of our contests and sweepstakes, and allow participation in Interactive Areas.
• Served tailored marketing, advertising and/or promotions. We or our operational providers may associate the information we collect with other data collected from other sources, such as demographic data including age and gender, to make our marketing activities more relevant.
• Offer SMS text message mobile alerts for specific purposes.
• Offer an “Email This” feature that allows visitors to email a link to another person to inform them about an article or feature on the Sites. We do not retain telephone numbers or email addresses collected for these purposes after sending the SMS text message or email.
• Conduct contests, sweepstakes and special events (collectively, “Events”). Information collected through our Sites in conjunction with such Events is also used for marketing additional products, services and events by us and/or by our advertisers, sponsors, and marketing partners. Please see the rules of each individual Event and any applicable privacy policies for those Events for additional information on the choices you may exercise with respect to the use of your personal information collected in connection with that Event. To the extent there is a conflict between this privacy policy and the rules or policies applicable to a special Event, the rules and policies associated with the special Event shall govern.
This Is How And Why We May Share Your Information With Third Parties
• Affiliates. Information collected via the Sites is shared among our affiliates. For example, we may share your information with our related entities including our parent and sister companies for customer support, marketing, and technical operations.
• Operational Providers. For your convenience, we may provide the opportunity to purchase certain goods, merchandise and services through the Sites (including, without limitation, retail purchases, print and digital magazine subscriptions and special event tickets). Companies other than New York Media, its parents, partners, affiliates or subsidiaries may process these transactions. We call these companies that conduct our e-commerce operations, order and contest fulfillment and/or contract services “operational providers.” They are third parties that perform services on our behalf. If you choose to use these optional services, our operational providers will request your personal information to fulfill your order or request. The voluntary submission of your personal information to these operational providers, including your order or request, will be governed by the specific provider’s terms of use and privacy policies. To facilitate an order or request from you, we may share your personal information with the provider. The operational provider may also share your personal information and information about your purchases with us. We may store this information in our membership database. In most instances, we request that our operational providers adhere to the provisions in our Privacy Notice and that such providers only share visitors’ personal information with us, unless necessary to complete a visitor’s request or order. Our Data Protection Amendments with our providers instructs these providers that the only use for any personal information is for the purpose of conducting the sale or fulfilling your requested service or order. However, you must read an operational provider’s privacy policy to determine the extent of use and disclosure of your personal information collected online. We are not responsible for the collection, use and disclosure practices of operational providers, nor are we responsible or liable for their services.
• Third Parties. We share your information with third parties for the purposes of facilitating your requests (such as when you choose to share information with a social network about your activities on the Sites) and in connection with tailoring advertisements, measuring and improving our Sites and advertising effectiveness, and other enabling enhancements. For example, we share aggregate information about our visitors with our advertisers, sponsors, and promotional partners, such as how many persons visited a particular page or activity, the average age of our visitors on the Site(s) or page(s), or the likes and dislikes of our visitors, but this information is not specific to any individual visitor. We obtain geographic information such as zip code clustering from other sources, but this aggregate information will not reveal the precise location of a specific visitor. We also obtain other demographic information from third parties to improve our products and services, for marketing purposes or to display more relevant advertising. One such third-party provider is Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting. Google combines demographic data collected via DoubleClick Display Advertising with site-specific behavior tracked in Google Analytics to provide New York Media with information about the demographics and content interests of users. We do not combine this data with any personal information. If you would like to opt-out of Google Analytics tracking, please click this link: Google Analytics opt-out.
• Events. Our Events and promotions may be jointly sponsored or offered by third parties. If you voluntarily choose to enter or attend an Event, we may share your information with third parties as set forth in the official rules that govern the Event as well as for administrative purposes and as required by law (e.g., on a winners list). By entering a contest or sweepstakes Event, you agree to the official rules that govern that Event, and may, except where prohibited by applicable law, allow the sponsor and/or other parties to use your name, voice and/or likeness in advertising or marketing materials.
• Business Partners. We may share your information with our business partners in connection with offering you co-branded services, selling or distributing our products, or engaging in joint marketing activities.
• Merger or Acquisition. We may share your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any proposed or actual merger, purchase, sale or any other type of acquisition or business combination of all or any portion of our assets, or transfer of all or a portion of our business to another business.
• Consent. We may share your information for any other purpose disclosed to you and with your consent.
Without limiting the foregoing, in our sole discretion, we may share aggregated information which does not identify you or de-identified information about you with third parties or affiliates for any purpose except as prohibited by applicable law. For information on your rights and choices regarding how we share your information, please see the section entitled “These Are the Choices You Have About How Your Personal Information Is Used” below.