Privacy Policy

NEW PRIVACY POLICY
 

Effective Date:  This Privacy Policy was last updated on March 24, 2023.

Welcome!  You have arrived at a website that is provided by Participant Media, LLC (“Company” or “we,” “our” or “us”).  This Privacy Policy governs your use of www.participant.com, and also applies to your use of all features, applications, content, downloads, websites and other online services that post a link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, referred to herein as the “Services”), regardless of how you access or use the Services, whether via personal computers, mobile devices or otherwise.  This Privacy Policy does not apply to our data collection activities offline or otherwise outside of our Services (unless otherwise stated below).

Your California Privacy Rights  

California residents have certain privacy rights detailed in our California Consumer Privacy Notice here. To the extent that there is a conflict between this Privacy Policy and the California Consumer Privacy Notice, the California Consumer Privacy Notice will control.

The privacy of each and every user matters to us, and we strive for transparency in all of our data privacy practices, especially when it comes to identifying the information we collect, use, share, and disclose, as well as the ways we help keep your information safe.  Unless we have obtained your consent or otherwise disclosed it in this Privacy Policy, Company does not  share your personal information with third parties, other than our affiliates, for their direct marketing purposes.  We take our responsibility to protect your information very seriously.  Please remember, we are always here to answer any questions you have, and we look forward to serving you for years to come.  To the extent we provide you notice on our Services of different or additional privacy policies or practices (e.g., at the point of our collection), those additional notices shall govern such data collection and use.

In addition, please review the Service’s Terms of Service, which governs your use of the Services.  By using our Services, you consent to our collection, use and sharing of your data, and other activities, described in this Privacy Policy, and any additional privacy statement that may be posted on an applicable part of the Service, and agree to the Service’s Terms of Service.  If you do not agree and consent, please discontinue use of the Service, and uninstall Service downloads and applications.

Table of Contents

Click on the links to navigate to the sections:

1.         Collection of Information

1. Information About You that You Provide
2. Information Collected Automatically
3. Information Company Collects From Other Sources

2.         Use of Information

3.         Sharing of Information

4.         Third-Party Services, Social Networks and Sharing Features

5.         Analytics Service Providers

6.         Choices: Tracking and Communications Options

1. Tracking Technologies Generally
2. Analytics Tracking Technologies
3. Communications

7.         Our Services are For a General Audience

8.         State Notices

1. Your California Privacy Rights
2. Nevada Residents
3. Texas Residents

9.         International Transfer

10.       Data Security and Monitoring

11.       Changes to this Privacy Policy

12.       Contact Information

1. The Collection of Information

1. The Information about You that You Provide
   • We and/or our agents, vendors, consultants, and other service providers (collectively “Service Providers”) may collect information you provide directly to Company and or our Service Providers via the Service. For example, we collect information when you use the Service, subscribe to notifications, or communicate or transact through the Service. In addition, when you interact with Third-Party Services (defined below), you may be able to provide information to those third parties. Information that Company, our Service Providers, and/or Third-Party Services may collect includes:
     • Personally identifiable information, which is information that identifies you personally, such as your first and last name, email address, home address, telephone numbers, and any other information that may be used to identify you personally as an individual (“Personally Identifiable Information” or “PII”). PII is most commonly collected when you submit information to us through a form on the Services.  We only collect PII from you when you use certain Services.  For example, if you sign up for a newsletter, participate in our brand ambassador program, or submit a customer service form, we may collect your name, address, telephone number, email, or other PII.
     • Demographic information, such as your gender, age, zip code, and interests (“Demographic Information”). 
   • To the extent any non-PII, or PII collected outside of the Service, is combined by or on behalf of Company with PII Company itself collects directly from you on the Service (“Company-Collected PII”), Company will treat the combined data as Company-Collected PII under this Privacy Policy. The definition of “personal information” under certain California laws differs from the definition of PII used in this Privacy Policy. California residents can learn more about their privacy rights here.
2. Information Collected Automatically
   • Company, our Service Providers, and/or Third-Parties may also automatically collect certain information about you when you access or use the Service (“Usage Information”). Usage Information is more generic in nature and tells us about your online habits and preferences, like when you browse our Services.  These collection processes can also be used to help us offer a more entertaining and engaging experience.  Usage Information can tell us things like the pages you’ve viewed, how long you spend on our Services, what links you’ve clicked on, and the time in which you view content.  The type of Usage Information we may collect from you may also include information about what you look at on our Services, when you visit our Services, what advertisements you respond to, the types of devices you use (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.), your IP address, device identifier, browser type, operating system, links you follow from other websites, and content you engage with.  This type of information is sometimes combined to form aggregate data, which helps us summarize and analyze our customers’ experiences.
     • Except to the extent required by applicable law, or to the extent Usage Information is combined by or on behalf of Company with Company-Collected PII, Company does not consider Usage Information (including, without limitation, unique device identifiers) to be PII or Company-Collected PII.
     • When you visit or interact with our Services, we may collect Usage Information using cookies, web beacons (also known as “tracking pixels”) and other tracking technologies (“Tracking Technologies”) to store certain pieces of information about your visit and interactions with our Service.  Your browser may allow you to remove or disable these cookies or web beacons.  However, if you do so, your experience on our Service will be affected, which means you may not be able to take advantage of certain features.  Further, we and some third parties may use cookies, web beacons and other Tracking Technologies in connection with our Service, which may include the collection of information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites and other online services for purposes such as to associate different devices you use and deliver relevant ads and/or other content to you on the Service and certain third-party services.  We may also allow certain third parties, such as Service Providers, to use the aggregate data obtained from cookies and web beacons.  Third-party use of this data is governed by their individual privacy policies. We are giving you notice of the Tracking Technologies and your choices regarding them explained in Section 6 so that your consent to encountering them is meaningfully informed.
3. Information Company Collects from Other Sources
   • Company may also obtain information about you from other sources, including Service Providers and Third-Party Services, and combine that with Company-Collected PII.  Such data will only be treated as Company-Collected PII to the extent it is combined with Company-Collected PII. Company is not responsible or liable for the accuracy of the information provided by third parties or for third party policies or practices.

2. Use of Information

We may use your information, including Company-Collected PII and other PII, for any purposes not inconsistent with Company’s statements under this Privacy Policy, or otherwise made by us in writing at the point of collection, and not prohibited by applicable law, including, without limitation, the following:

• to provide you with information such as to send you electronic newsletters or to provide you with special offers or promotional and marketing materials on behalf of us or third parties, including to let you know about upcoming events;
• to enable you to participate in a variety of the Services’ features such as to enable you to participate in online surveys, entry sweepstakes, contests or other promotions;
• to improve the Services, marketing endeavors or our Services offerings;
• to customize your experience on the Services or to serve you specific content that we believe is relevant to you;
• to provide customer support;
• to contact you with regard to your use of the Services and, in our discretion, changes to the Services and/or Services’ policies;
• to improve the overall experience at the Services;
• for other internal business purposes;
• prevent and address fraud, breach of policies or terms, and threats or harm; and
• for purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information or as otherwise set forth in this Privacy Policy.

3. Sharing of Information

Except as restricted by applicable law, this Privacy Policy, or any other representation Company makes to you, Company may share non-PII, and PII that is not deemed Company-Collected PII hereunder (provided that Company is aware of no restrictions of Company’s use, if any), with third parties or Company affiliates for any purpose. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, we and third parties may convert your PII, including Company-Collected PII, to non-PII, including without limitation through hashing it or substituting a unique identifier for the PII and we and third parties may use and share that data as permitted by applicable law, including to match data attributes to and from other sources. Any such third-party activities are subject to their privacy policies and practices.

Company’s sharing of Company-Collected PII is, however, subject to the following:

• Marketing: Subject to your communications choices explained in Section 6.C, and the rights of California residents explained here, we may use your PII to send you marketing communications. Absent your consent, we will not share your Company-Collected PII with third parties, other than our affiliates, for their own direct marketing purposes, except in connection with Corporate Transactions (defined below).
• Your Disclosure or Consent: Your activities on the Service may, by their nature, result in the sharing of your Company-Collected PII (as well as your other PII and your non-PII) with third parties and by engaging in these activities you consent to that and further sharing and disclosure to third parties. Such third-party data receipt and collection is subject to the privacy and business practices of that third party, not Company.

We may also share any information about you (including, without limitation, Company-Collected PII) for any purposes not inconsistent with this Privacy Policy, or our written statements at the point of collection, and otherwise not prohibited by applicable law, including, without limitation:

• Company’s Service Providers may receive, or be given access to, your information, including, without limitation, PII, Demographic Information, and Usage Information, in connection with their work on Company’s behalf, provided however, Company does not authorize its Service Providers to use Company-Collected PII provided by Company to the Service Providers to send you direct marketing messages other than related to Company and our affiliates absent your consent. Non-PII we collect about your interests and habits may also be shared as aggregate data (summarized information) or used by Service Providers for transactional or fulfillment purposes, such as to continue offering you relevant online services and improving our offerings.
• To comply with the law, law enforcement or other legal process, and, where permitted, in response to a government request.
• If Company believes your actions are inconsistent with Company’s terms of use, user agreements, applicable terms or policies, or to protect the rights, privacy, property, life, health, security and safety of Company, the Service or its users, or any third party.

In addition, Company may share your Company-Collected PII (as well as your other PII and your non-PII), in connection with or during negotiations of any proposed or actual financing of our business, or merger, purchase, sale, joint venture, or any other type of acquisition or business combination of all or any portion of Company assets, or transfer of all or a portion of Company’s business to another company, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding (“Corporate Transactions”).

4. Third-Party Services, Social Networks and Sharing Features

The Service may include or link to third-party websites, apps, locations, platforms, code (e.g., plug-ins, application programming interfaces (“API”), and software development kits (“SDKs”) or other services (“Third-Party Service(s)”). These Third-Party Services may use their own cookies, web beacons, and other Tracking Technologies to independently collect information about you and may solicit PII from you.

Certain functionalities on our Service permit interactions that you initiate between the Service and certain Third-Party Service, such as third-party social sharing features and other integrated tools (“Social Features”). Examples of Social Features include: enabling you to send content such as contacts and photos between the Service and a Third-Party Service; “liking” or “sharing” Company’s content (e.g., using features created by Facebook); logging in to the Service using your Third-Party Service account (e.g., using Facebook Connect to sign-in to the Service); and to otherwise connect the Service to a Third-Party-Service (e.g., to pull or push information to or from the Service). When you use these Social Features or share any PII through the use of these Third-Party Services, information you post or provide access to may be publicly displayed on the Service or by the Third-Party Service that you use. Similarly, if you post information on a Third-Party Service that references the Service (e.g., by using a hashtag associated with Company in a tweet or status update), your post may be used on or in connection with the Service or otherwise by Company. Also, both Company and the third party may have access to certain information about you and your use of the Service and any Third-Party Service.

Company is not responsible for, and makes no representations regarding, the policies or business practices of any third parties, including, without limitation, analytics Service Providers and Third-Party Services associated with the Service, and encourages you to familiarize yourself with and consult their privacy policies and terms of use. You are bound by the privacy policies of these other services. These third parties may retain any information used or provided in any such communications or other activities and these third parties’ practices are not subject to our Privacy Policy. Company may not control or have access to your communications through these third parties. You should review the applicable third-party privacy policies before using such third-party tools on our Services

5. Analytics Service Providers

We may use Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, or other Service Providers for analytics services. These analytics services may collect information about our users’ computers or mobile devices and their online activities using cookies and other Tracking Technologies to help Company analyze Service users and how they use the Service.  Information generated by these analytics services (e.g., your IP address and other Usage Information) may be transmitted to and stored by these Service Providers on servers in the U.S. (or elsewhere) and these Service Providers may use this information for purposes such as evaluating your use of the Service, compiling statistic reports on the Service’s activity, and providing other services relating to Service activity and other Internet usage. We allow this to better deliver and improve our Services. 

We and third-party vendors, including Google, use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) and third-party cookies (such as a DoubleClick cookie) together to report how your ad impressions, other uses of ad services, and interactions with these ad impressions and ad services are related to visits to our Services. See Section 6 for more information on your choices regarding these services.

6. Choices: Tracking & Communications Options

1. Tracking Technologies Generally
   • REGULAR COOKIES MAY GENERALLY BE DISABLED OR REMOVED BY TOOLS AVAILABLE AS PART OF MOST COMMERCIAL BROWSERS, AND IN SOME INSTANCES BLOCKED IN THE FUTURE BY SELECTING CERTAIN SETTINGS. BROWSERS OFFER DIFFERENT FUNCTIONALITIES AND OPTIONS, SO YOU MAY NEED TO SET THEM SEPARATELY. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT IF YOU DISABLE OR REMOVE THESE TECHNOLOGIES, SOME PARTS OF THE SERVICE MAY NOT WORK AND THAT WHEN YOU REVISIT THE SERVICE YOUR ABILITY TO LIMIT BROWSER-BASED TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES IS SUBJECT TO YOUR BROWSER SETTINGS AND LIMITATIONS.
   • Your browser settings may allow you to automatically transmit a “Do Not Track” signal to online services you visit. Note, however, there is no consensus among industry participants as to what “Do Not Track” means in this context. Like many online services, Company currently does not alter Company’s practices when Company receives a “Do Not Track” signal from a visitor’s browser. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” you can visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com, but Company is not responsible for the completeness or accuracy of this third party information. Some third parties, however, may offer you choices regarding their Tracking Technologies. One way to potentially identify cookies on our web site is to add the free Ghostery plug-in to your browser (www.ghostery.com), which according to Ghostery will display for you traditional, browser-based cookies associated with the web sites (but not mobile apps) you visit and privacy and opt-out policies and options of the parties operating those cookies. Company is not responsible for the completeness or accuracy of this tool or third-party choice notices or mechanisms. For specific information on some of the choice options offered by third party analytics providers, see the next section. We may, from time-to-time, and in certain jurisdictions, offer or point you to tools that allow you to exercise certain preferences regarding cookies and other Tracking Technologies associated with the Services, but such tools rely on third parties and third party information so we do not guaranty that the tools will provide complete and accurate information or be completely effective. For instance, here is where you can find cookie controls for popular browsers:
     • Google Chrome
     • Firefox
     • Internet Explorer
     • Edge
     • Safari
   • We do not represent that these third-party tools, programs or statements are complete or accurate. You will need to do this on each browser that you use to access our Services, and clearing cookies on your browser(s) may disable your preference settings.  Also, our Services may not function properly or as intended if you block all or even certain cookies.  Accordingly, you may want to consider the more limited opt-out choices noted in the next section.
2. Analytics Tracking Technologies
   • You may exercise choices regarding the use of cookies from Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, and Doubleclick. To learn more about how to opt out of Google’s use of the Google Analytics cookie, visit the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout or download the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.  You may exercise choices regarding the use of cookies from Adobe Analytics by going to http://www.adobe.com/privacy/opt-out.html under the section labeled “Tell our customers not to measure your use of their web sites or tailor their online ads for you.” To learn more about how to opt out of DoubleClick’s use of cookies, visit the DoubleClick opt-out page at https://support.google.com/ads/answer/2662922?hl=e. 
   • Company is not responsible for effectiveness of, or compliance with, any third-parties’ opt-out options or programs or the accuracy of their statements regarding their programs.
3. Communications
   • YOU CAN OPT OUT OF RECEIVING CERTAIN PROMOTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS (EMAILS OR TEXT MESSAGING) FROM COMPANY AT ANY TIME BY (I) FOR PROMOTIONAL E-MAILS, FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED IN EMAILS TO CLICK ON THE UNSUBSCRIBE LINK, OR IF AVAILABLE BY CHANGING YOUR COMMUNICATION PREFERENCES BY LOGGING ONTO YOUR ACCOUNT; AND (II) FOR TEXT MESSAGES, FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED IN TEXT MESSAGES FROM COMPANY TO TEXT THE WORD, “STOP.”  PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR OPT-OUT IS LIMITED TO THE E-MAIL ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER USED AND WILL NOT AFFECT SUBSEQUENT SUBSCRIPTIONS.  IF YOU OPT-OUT OF ONLY CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS, OTHER SUBSCRIPTION COMMUNICATIONS MAY CONTINUE.  EVEN IF YOU OPT OUT OF RECEIVING PROMOTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS, COMPANY MAY, SUBJECT TO APPLICABLE LAW, CONTINUE TO SEND YOU NON-PROMOTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS, SUCH AS THOSE ABOUT YOUR ACCOUNT, TRANSACTIONS, SERVICING, OR COMPANY’S ONGOING BUSINESS RELATIONS.

7. Our Services are for a General Audience

Our Services are intended for a general audience, are not directed towards individuals under the age of 13, and are not meant to be used or accessed by individuals under the age of 13.  We do not knowingly collect personal information as defined by the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), including phone numbers, addresses, and names, from users under the age of 13 (“Children’s Personal Information”), in a manner that is not permitted by COPPA.  If we obtain knowledge that we have collected Children’s Personal Information in a manner not permitted by COPPA, we will readily remove such information to the extent required by COPPA.  If you believe we might have any information from or about an individual under the age of 13, please contact us via our Contact Us page.

8. State Notices

1. Your California Privacy Rights: California residents have certain additional right as more fully detailed in our California Privacy Notice. In the event of a conflict between that notice and this policy, that notice will govern California resident’s privacy rights.
2. Nevada Residents:  Nevada law allows customers to “opt out” of the sale of certain personal information, called “covered information.”  We do not sell covered information as defined in the law and we have no plans to change that practice. If you want to be notified if we do change that practice, you may contact us here and provide your name, Nevada resident address, and email address. We’ll contact you if there are any changes and you can complete your opt out at that time.  If your contact information changes at any point, contact us in the same manner to update your contact information. For more information about our data collection and sharing practices, please review this Privacy Policy. We may share your data as explained in this Privacy Policy for different purposes, such as to make your experience and our services better, and those activities are separate from the opt out request.

9. International Transfer

The Service is operated exclusively in the United States and the data we and our Service Providers collect is governed by U.S. law and all of the data is stored in the United States. If you are accessing the Service from outside of the U.S., please be aware that information collected through the Service may be transferred to, processed, store, and used in the U.S. Data protection laws in the U.S. may be different from those of your country of residence. Your use of the Service or provision of any information therefore constitutes your consent to the transfer to and from, processing, usage, sharing, and storage of your information, including your PII, in the U.S. as set forth in this Privacy Policy.

10. Data Security and Monitoring

We implement commercially reasonable physical and electronic security measures to protect against the loss, theft, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, destruction, and alteration of your Company-Collected PII.  Nevertheless, transmission via the Internet and online digital storage are not completely secure and we cannot and do not guarantee the security of your information collected through the Service.

To help protect you and others, Company and our Service Providers may (but make no commitment to) monitor use of the Service, and may collect and use related information including Company-Collected PII and other PII for all purposes not prohibited by applicable law or inconsistent with this Privacy Policy, including, without limitation, to identify fraudulent activities and transactions; prevent abuse of, and investigate and/or seek prosecution for, any potential threats to or misuse of the Service; ensure compliance with the Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy; investigate violations of or enforce these documents; improve the Services and your Services experiences, and to protect the rights and property of Company, our affiliates, third parties, and other users.  Monitoring may result in the collection, recording, and analysis of online activity or communications through our Service.  If you do not consent to these conditions, you must discontinue your use of the Service.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to, from time-to-time, modify this Privacy Policy prospectively upon the posting of the revised Privacy Policy.  It is important that you review this Privacy Policy regularly to ensure you are updated about any changes.

12. Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us via our Contact Us page, emailing privacy@participant.com or at:

Participant Media, LLC
ATTN: Privacy
3520 Wesley Street
Culver City, CA 90232