Privacy and data security are an important part of any discussion about what we do online. This page describes the various ways that we collect, store, and utilize the information that you provide to us. We invite you to read below to learn more about our privacy practices.
Collection of Information:
We collect information in two ways: directly from you when you use our services or indirectly in connection with the operation of our website. The information we receive from you may include: your email address; contact information such as phone number, mailing address, and credit card details; location data from your mobile device; photos and other content that you upload through our app; any messages on any chat features of our services (because chat messages are routed through our services); and any other information that you choose to provide us.
Use of Information:
We use the data we receive from you primarily to operate, maintain, and provide to you the features and functionality of our services. For example, we may use your email address in connection with sending newsletters or marketing messages to you. We use your location data when you opt in to our “Find Your Friends” feature or our other location-based features, so that we can provide you with the most relevant experience and alerts while using our services. And we store all of the photos and videos that you upload through our app for your future reference.
We may also use your information to communicate with you about changes to our policies or terms of service or to help us create and publish content most relevant to you.
Sharing Information:
We do not rent, sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal data. However, we may share personally identifiable information as disclosed in this policy (like when responding to legal process or complying with applicable laws), and in a few other circumstances, as described below.
Service Providers: We may share your personal data with our service providers who help us run our business and deliver our services. Our service providers are required to protect your information consistent with this Privacy Policy and are not allowed to use your personal data for their own marketing or advertising purposes.
Business Transfers: As we continue to develop our business, we might sell or buy businesses or assets. In such transactions, user information generally is one of the transferred business assets but remains subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Policy (unless, of course, the user expressly consents otherwise). Also, in the unlikely event that we are acquired, user information will of course be one of the transferred assets.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose your personal data if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with applicable laws (like responding to a court order or a subpoena), to comply with legal process served on us, or to protect our rights, property, and safety.
Voluntary Sharing with Social Media Sites: We may choose to share your information with certain social media sites including Facebook and Twitter. When you use these sharing features, your friends will see things such as pictures you are uploading to Snapchat, or your check-ins on Swarm.
Collection of Non-Personal Information:
Whenever you visit our website, we automatically collect certain non-personal information such as your browser type, language preference, referring URL, operating system and Internet service provider. We also automatically receive and record information on our server logs from your browser including your IP address, cookie information and the page you requested. We may use this information as a means of maintaining website quality, understanding how our users interact with our services, improving our services or enabling third party vendors to perform certain functions on our behalf like sending direct mail, email marketing campaigns or other postal delivery related activities.
Cookies: Facebook/Google and otehr site currently places cookies on your computer to identify you as a repeat visitor. Cookies are small files that reside on your computer and allow us to recognize you as a return user, so we can customize our services for you, greet you by name, and save your preferences. We also use cookies to deliver content specific to your interests, track the pages you’ve visited and determine the effectiveness of our online advertisements. Cookies can tell us, whether you have visited us before or are a new visitor. The use of cookies is an industry standard — you’ll find them at most major web sites (like Google, Yahoo and others). However, if you prefer not to receive cookies, you can alter the configuration of your web browser to refuse them — you can even delete existing cookies from your hard drive.
Web Beacons: We also use web beacons and clear gifs on our website for a variety of purposes, including to compile aggregate statistics about usage of the site and its services, to monitor the success of our marketing campaigns or advertising programs, and to track the actions of our visitors and registered users. We may use web beacons alone or in conjunction with cookies. A clear gif is an often-transparent graphic image, usually no larger than 1 pixel x 1 pixel, that is placed on a Web page or in an email message to monitor user activity.