Effective September 30, 2009
Brightkite Privacy Policy
Brightkite, Inc. ("Brightkite") provides this Privacy Policy to inform you of our policies and procedures regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information we receive from users of www.brightkite.com (this "Site") and our Services (defined below). This Privacy Policy applies only to information that you provide to us through the Site and the Services. 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 policy regularly for any changes. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms of Service .
As used in this policy, the terms "using" and "processing" information include using cookies on a computer, subjecting the information to statistical or other analysis and using or handling information in any way, including, but not limited to, collecting, storing, evaluating, modifying, deleting, using, combining, disclosing and transferring information within our organization or among our affiliates within the United States or internationally.
Information Collection and Use
Our primary goals in collecting information are to provide and improve our Site, services, features and content, to administer your Account (as defined below) (together, the "Service") and to enable Visitors (defined below) to enjoy and easily navigate the Site.
Personally Identifiable Information.
- When you register with us or when you choose to add information to your profile we will ask you for personally identifiable information. This refers to information about you that can be used to contact or identify you ("Personal Information"). Personal Information includes, but is not limited to, your name, email address, home address, mobile phone number and certain information, including login credentials, related to your social networks and other third party sites. We use your Personal Information mainly to provide the Service and administer your inquiries.
- We also collect the other information that you provide as part of registration and the administration and personalization of your profile page and Account (e.g., without limitation, zip code (on its own), your postings, location information, photos and individual preferences) ("Non-Identifying Information").
- We use your Personal Information (in some cases, in conjunction with your Non-Identifying Information) mainly to provide the Service and administer your inquiries.
- Certain Non-Identifying Information would be considered a part of your Personal Information if it were combined with other identifiers (for example, combining your zip code with your street address) in a way that enables you to be identified. But the same pieces of information are considered Non-Identifying Information when they are taken alone or combined only with other non-identifying information (for example, your viewing preferences). We may combine your Personal Information with Non-Identifying Information and aggregate it with information collected from others who use Brightkite to attempt to provide you with a better experience, to improve the quality and value of the Service and to analyze and understand how our Site and Service are used. We may also use the combined information without aggregating it to serve you specifically, for instance to deliver a product to you according to your preferences or restrictions.
- While Brightkite offers you the ability to determine how much information you wish to share through the Services though your "Account Settings," any Personal Information or other content that you voluntarily disclose online (for example, on your public profile, in posts, comments, or notes) becomes publicly available and could be collected and used by others. Your account User Name, or your full name if you choose to provide it within your Account Settings, is displayed to other users when you post, send direct messages, or comment. Users may also search the Service and find your public profile which will include your User Name and any post made to everyone or in "public mode" or comments that you submit to the Site may be redistributed through the Internet and other media, and could be viewed and/or used by the general public. In addition, if you chose to connect the Service to your other networks (including, but not limited to Facebook and Twitter), any information you post and your User Name through the Service will be shared with your other networks.
- We also use your Personal Information to contact you (via such means as SMS, email, etc.) with Brightkite marketing or promotional materials, those "Alerts" or "Notifications" you elect to receive and other information that may be of interest to you (such as, when a friend is nearby or your favorite team's final score in a recent game). Receiving these and other notifications is at your discretion and determined by you in your Account Settings. If you decide at any time that you no longer wish to receive such communications from us, please follow the unsubscribe instructions provided in any of the communications or update your "Account Settings" page. (See "Changing or Deleting Information," below.)
Log Data. When you visit the Site or use the Services, whether as a registered Brightkite user (a "User") or a non-registered visitor just browsing (any of these, a "Visitor"), our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website ("Log Data"). This Log Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol ("IP") address, browser type or the webpage you were visiting before you came to our Site or while you are using the Services, pages of our and third party sites that you visit, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on our Site or through the Services, access times and dates, and other statistics. We use this information to monitor and analyze use of the Site and the Service and for the Site and Services' technical administration, to increase the Site and Services' functionality and user-friendliness, and to better tailor it to our Visitors' needs. For example, some of this information is collected so that when you visit the Site again, it will recognize you and the Services will serve information appropriate to your interests. We also use this information to verify that Visitors and Users meet the criteria required to process their requests. We do not treat Log Data as Personal Information but we may use in association with other information and we may aggregate, analyze and evaluate such information for the same purposes as stated above regarding other Non-Identifying Information.
Cookies
Like many websites, we use "cookies" to collect information. A cookie is a small data file that we transfer to your computer's hard disk for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies for two purposes. First, we utilize persistent cookies to save your registration ID and login password for future logins to the Site. Second, we utilize session ID cookies to enable certain features of the Site, to better understand how you interact with the Site and to monitor aggregate usage by Visitors and web traffic routing on the Site. Unlike persistent cookies, session cookies are deleted from your computer when you log off from the Site and Service and then close your browser. Third party advertisers on the Site may also place or read cookies on your browser. You can instruct your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites 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 Service.
Phishing
Identity theft and the practice currently known as "phishing" are of great concern to Brightkite. Safeguarding information to help protect you from identity theft is a top priority. We do not and will not, at any time, request your credit card information, your Account ID, login password, or national identification numbers in a non-secure or unsolicited e-mail or telephone communication. For more information about phishing, visit the Federal Trade Commission's website.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
Registered Users. When you register through the Site and submit your Personal Information to create a profile page, other Users will see your "User Name." You can choose what other Personal Information you provide as part of your profile, including but not limited to your location and information contained in your posts ("Other User Information"). Providing Other User Information is voluntary and should correlate with the degree of interaction you want to have with other Users. We recommend that you guard your anonymity and sensitive information and that you not use your real name as your "Screen Name," since that would allow others to identify you. We recognize that privacy is important and suggest that you consider what types of Other User Information you choose to share, including information about your location. Should you choose to disclose your information to "everyone" based on the settings in your post or profile, any location information that you choose to share will become public.
Aggregate Information and Non-Identifying Information. We may share aggregated information that includes Personal Information and we may otherwise disclose Non-Identifying Information and Log Data with third parties for industry analysis, demographic profiling and to deliver targeted advertising about other products and services.
Service Providers. We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service, to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Site-related services (e.g., without limitation, maintenance services, database management, web analytics and improvement of the Site's features) or to assist us in analyzing how our Site and Service are used. 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. We may also provide Personal Information to our business partners or other trusted entities for the purpose of providing you with information on goods or services we believe will be of interest to you. You can, at any time, opt out of receiving such communications.
Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement. Brightkite 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 Brightkite or a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop activity we may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, an illegal, unethical or legally actionable activity.
Business Transfers. Brightkite may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of its assets, including your Personal Information, in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets or in the event of bankruptcy.
Changing or Deleting Your Information
All registered Users may review, update, correct or delete the Personal Information in their registration profile by accessing their Account Settings (Profile) page. If you completely delete all such information, then your Account will become deactivated. If you would like us to delete your record in our system, please contact us and we will attempt to accommodate your request if we do not have any legal obligation to retain the record. See below for privacy contact information.
Invitations
Registered Users can invite friends to become registered users by sending invitation emails via our automated invitation system. We do not store the email addresses provided for these purposes. Security
Brightkite is very concerned with safeguarding your information. We employ administrative, physical and electronic measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access.
We will make any legally required disclosures of any breach of the security, confidentiality, or integrity of your unencrypted electronically stored "personal data" (as defined in applicable state statutes on security breach notification) to you via email or conspicuous posting on this Site in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, insofar as consistent with (i) the legitimate needs of law enforcement or (ii) any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system.
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 us, Brightkite transfers Personal Information to the United States and processes it there. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.
Links to Other Sites
Our Site, Service and the Application contain links to, and may allow you to visit, other websites ("Third Party Sites"). If you choose to visit any of these Third Party Sites by "clicking on" another third party link or navigating to a Third Party Site, 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 of our affiliation 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 sites 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.
Our Policy Toward Children
The Site and the Services are not directed to Users under 13. We do 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 . If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with Personal Information, we will delete such information from our files.
Contacting Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at support@brightkite.com