1. Information We Automatically Collect
Categories of Information
When you interact with our Services, we and our third-party service providers, including content, advertising, and analytics providers, automatically gather various types of information from your device or web browser. This information, collectively referred to as “Usage Data” in this Privacy Policy, helps us gain insights into how our users engage with our Services and enables us to deliver targeted advertising. Usage Data includes details such as your location, IP address, mobile device identifier, browser type, device type, your internet service provider, clickstream information, access timestamps, referring and exit web pages, the URLs you visit, the web pages you access during your visit, and your interactions with the content and advertisements on our Services. In some cases, we may partner with third parties to collect this data on our behalf for analytical purposes.
Purposes For This Information
We and our third-party service providers use Usage Data for a range of purposes. This includes diagnosing issues with our servers and software, administering the Services, aggregating demographic information, and delivering targeted advertising, both on our Services and across the broader online landscape. Consequently, our third-party advertising networks and ad servers may provide us with aggregated information, such as ad presentation and click reports, which do not identify specific individuals. While the Usage Data we collect is typically non-identifying, if we link it to you as a specific and identifiable person, we treat it as Personal Data.
2. Cookies/Tracking Technologies
We employ various tracking technologies, including cookies, local storage, and pixel tags.
Cookies and Local Storage
Upon your first visit to our Services, a cookie or local storage element will be sent to your device, uniquely identifying your browser. Cookies and local storage are small files that contain character strings sent to your browser and stored on your device when you access a website. Many major web services use cookies to enhance user experiences. Each website can send its own cookies to your browser. Most browsers are initially configured to accept cookies, although you can modify your settings to reject all cookies or receive notifications when a cookie is being sent. Keep in mind that rejecting cookies will limit your ability to sign in to our Services and fully utilize them. Additionally, if you clear your browser’s cookies after configuring it to reject them, you’ll need to reset your preferences to refuse cookies or indicate when they’re being sent.
For more detailed information, please refer to our Cookie Policy.
Pixel Tags
We also incorporate “pixel tags,” small graphic files that enable us and third parties to monitor how our Services are used and collect Usage Data. Pixel tags can gather information like the IP address of the device that loaded the page containing the tag, the URL of the page, viewing duration, the browser type, and the identification number of any cookies previously placed by that server on your device. We use pixel tags, supplied by us or our third-party partners, to track your visit, including the pages you view and the actions you take on our sites and Services. This information is combined with data from our cookies to deliver offers and content that align with your interests. Pixel tags also enable ad networks to provide targeted advertisements when you visit our Services or other websites.
Log Files
Log files record events related to your use of the Services, including your service activity data. We collect log files and other usage information when you access, use, or interact with our Services, even if you haven’t created an account or logged in. This information includes your IP address, sign-up date and time, language preferences, browser and operating system types, internet service provider, referring and exit pages, page requests, user agent, date and time stamps, clickstream data, and details about your search and clicking activities.
Device Fingerprinting
Device fingerprinting involves analyzing and amalgamating information elements from your device’s browser, such as JavaScript objects and installed fonts, to create a “fingerprint” of your device and uniquely identify it along with any apps you have installed.
App Technologies, Customization, and Usage
Our apps may incorporate a range of tracking technologies that collect data on your installation, use, and updates, as well as information about your device, including unique mobile device identifiers (“UDID”) and other technical identifiers. These technologies enable us to collect information about your device and how you use our apps, the pages, videos, content, or ads you interact with during your visit, when and for how long you engage with them, and items you download. Unlike cookies, these tracking technologies are not browser-based and cannot be managed through browser settings. For instance, our apps might include third-party software development kits (SDKs) to track our conversions and communicate with you across devices. This functionality facilitates customized experiences, such as linking our Service with your social media account.
Location-Identifying Technologies
Location data is collected when you activate location-based services on your device, often utilizing GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and similar technologies. This location data can serve multiple purposes, including verifying your device’s location, delivering or restricting relevant content and advertising based on your location.
Moreover, we employ a variety of other technologies for security and fraud detection essential to our Services’ operation.
3. Information You Choose To Submit
You have the option to visit our Services without disclosing personally identifiable information, which we refer to collectively as “Personal Data” in this Privacy Policy. However, when you decide to become a member of our Services, certain Personal Data is required. This information typically includes your name, email address, and the creation of a username and password. We utilize your Personal Data to fulfill your requests for products and services, enhance our Services, periodically contact you regarding us and our offerings, and for other purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy.
In this policy, we collectively refer to all information that is not Personal Data, including Usage Data, demographic data, and de-identified Personal Data, as “Non-Personal Data.” If we merge Non-Personal Data with Personal Data, we treat the combined information as Personal Data according to this Privacy Policy.
You may also choose to enter contests, sweepstakes, participate in surveys, subscribe to newsletters, comment on articles, utilize message boards, chat rooms, reader photo upload areas, reader ratings and reviews, save articles or other content on our Services, submit reader-created content, contact us via customer support areas, or register for SMS text messaging and mobile alerts. These areas, which we refer to as “Interactive Areas,” may require the submission of Personal Data aligned with their activities. It’s important to understand that the Interactive Areas are voluntary, and any Personal Data provided for these activities is collected and used to identify and communicate with you. In certain instances, we may share this Personal Data with sponsors, advertisers, affiliates, or other partners. When you participate in quizzes, surveys, or polls on our Services, we may also record your IP address and other identifiers to provide outcomes for quizzes, analyze survey results, or count votes in polls. This information may be employed for advertising purposes, as further detailed in this Privacy Policy.
When you submit a job application and accompanying materials, specific Personal Data is required. You can also opt to provide additional information about yourself, such as demographic data (e.g., gender, birth date, or zip code) and information concerning your preferences and interests. Failing to supply the necessary Personal Data may prevent us from providing the Services you’ve requested or otherwise impede our capacity to serve you.
Here are examples of User Information we may collect:
– Contact Data: This includes your first and last name, email address, postal address, phone number, and other similar contact information.
– Credentials: This category covers passwords, password hints, and other authentication and account access details.
– Demographic Data: This encompasses information such as your age, gender, and location.
– Payment Data: When processing purchases, we may collect data necessary to complete transactions, including your payment instrument number (e.g., credit card number) and associated security codes. However, please note that we will not store or process Payment Data directly; it will be collected by third-party payment processors.
– Profile Data: This includes your username, interests, favorites, and other profile-related information.
– Contacts: Any contact information you specifically provide to us for fulfilling a request. For instance, you may provide contact information for another person when requesting a gift subscription. Using this functionality requires acknowledgment and agreement from both you and your contacts, confirming that you are both based in the United States and have your contacts’ consent to utilize their information for fulfilling your request.
– Content: This category involves the content of messages you send to us, such as feedback, product reviews, questions, and other information submitted to our customer support. Additionally, we may collect the content of your communications to deliver the services you use.
– Resume Data: When submitting a job application, you will be required to provide data about your employment history, writing samples, and references. Additionally, you may choose to submit or we may collect supplementary information, such as demographic information (e.g., gender, birth date, or zip code) and details about your preferences and interests.
4. Information We Receive From Other Sources
We may enrich the information we collect through external records to gain deeper insights into our users, refine the content and offers presented, and for various other purposes. This information may be obtained from public sources or third-party entities, including consumer data resellers, social networks, and advertisers. We may combine data from these sources with the information we collect through our Services, and our Privacy Policy governs the use of this combined information. Information from public sources or third parties can encompass the following:
– Advertising and Analytics Data: We may receive various types of Personal Data and Usage Data from our third-party partners and vendors. This information could include analytics data related to your visits to our Services, reports on ad campaigns, details about your browsing behavior, interests, preferences, and contact information (such as email addresses). For instance, third parties engaged in providing advertising and related services, such as analytics providers and ad networks, may supply us with data that we can compare to Personal Data in our possession to identify specific individuals, a process known as “cookie-matching.”
– Purchases: When you make purchases through our Services or third-party affiliates after clicking on an affiliate link in our content, we may receive Personal Data related to the transaction, including contact details (e.g., name and email address) and transaction specifics (e.g., purchased items and their prices). Payment Data, with the exception of partial data like the last four digits of your credit card, will be collected directly by our third-party payment processors, and we will not collect, store, or process this information.
– Referrals: Users of our Services may provide your Personal Data if they refer you to our Services, such as when your email address is added to our Services by a friend.
– Third-Party Connections: If you use third-party connections or log-in methods (e.g., Facebook Connect or Google) to access our Services, we may receive your name, email address, profile photo, or other available information about you, as specified in the authorization procedures established by these third-party services.
– Other Sources: We may also supplement the Personal Data we collect from you with information from third parties, including third-party vendors, affiliate network operators, referral sources, social networking sites or services (e.g., Facebook), and publicly available sources.
5. Information Use
We employ the information we collect, including Personal Data and Usage Data, for various purposes, which include but are not limited to:
- Enabling you to use our Services and processing information you provide through them, including verifying the validity and activity of your email address, and managing your transactions.
- Establishing accounts or profiles and sharing specific information with other users through your account or profile.
- Connecting you across multiple devices or platforms as you access our content.
- Providing customer support, addressing your queries, complaints, or feedback, sending surveys, and processing survey responses.
- Sending you notices, updates, security alerts, and other support and administrative communications, such as SMS text message mobile alerts for specific purposes.
- Processing transactions and transmitting related information.
- Furnishing you with information, products, or services you’ve requested.
- Offering a feature that allows visitors to send links to articles or features on our Services to others for informational purposes.
- Sending you offers and content that match your interests, whether from us or our third-party partners.
- Personalizing our Services, content, recommendations, and advertisements for you, both on our Services and elsewhere on the internet.
- Conducting internal business activities, like enhancing our Services and content.
- Monitoring and analyzing how our Services are used.
- Administering contests, sweepstakes, promotions, events, and corresponding communications, and utilizing information collected through these activities for marketing additional products, services, and events by us, our advertisers, sponsors, and marketing partners.
- Detecting, investigating, and preventing fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activities; safeguarding the security of our Services, including age verification purposes; enforcing the terms and conditions of our Services; and protecting the rights, property, and safety of you, us, or others.
- Communicating changes to our Privacy Policy, terms and conditions, or other policies.
- Complying with regulatory and legal obligations.
6. Social Network and Platform Integration
Our Services feature integration with social networks and other platforms that facilitate the exchange of information between us and these platforms. For example, when you create or log into your account using a third-party social media site, we may access specific information from that platform, such as your name, email address, account information, photo, and friend lists, as per the authorization procedures defined by the social media site. If you prefer not to share information in this manner, please review the privacy policies, settings, and instructions of the relevant social network before using our Services.