DOT COMPLICATED Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy was last modified on February 1, 2013, and was first published and made effective on February 8, 2013.

Zuckerberg Media, LLC (“Dot Complicated”, “DC”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) provides this Privacy Policy to explain our practices regarding the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of information that apply to our Service, as well as your choices regarding the collection and use of information. Your access to and use of the Service is also subject to the Terms of Use Agreement [http://dotcomplicated.co/content/terms]. Capitalized terms that are not defined in this Privacy Policy have the meaning given them in our Terms of Use Agreement.

NOTICE OF ARBITRATION PROVISIONS: Your use of the Service is subject to mandatory binding arbitration of any disputes which may arise, as provided in Paragraph 13.B of the Terms of Use Agreement. Please read the provisions carefully and do not access or use our Service if you are unwilling to arbitrate any disputes (including without limitation any disputes relating to this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices) as provided in the Terms of Use Agreement.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information we collect by means (including offline) or from other sources other than through the Service.

DC may transfer information that we collect about you, including personal information, to affiliated entities, or to other third parties across borders and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world.  If you are located in the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, please note that we may transfer information, including personal information, to a country and jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction, and you consent to the transfer of information to the U.S. and the use and disclosure of information about you, including Personally Identifiable Information, as described in this Privacy Policy.

Policy Outline:

  1. How We Collect and Use Information
  2. Sharing of Your Information
  3. How We Protect Your Information
  4. Your Choices About Your Information
  5. Children’s Privacy
  6. Links to Other Websites and Services
  7. Notification Procedures
  8. Changes to Our Privacy Policy
  9. How to Contact Us

1.         How We Collect and Use Information

Personally Identifiable Information:  We collect information that can be used to identify you as an individual (“Personally Identifiable Information”) only when you provide such information directly to us in connection with the Service.

We ask for Personally Identifiable Information such as your e-mail address when you register for a subscription with the Service, or if you correspond with us (in which case we will also retain our responses).  We may also collect demographic information, such as your age, gender, preferences, and interests.  If you purchase products or services or sign up for a paid subscription, then we may also ask for additional information, such as your credit card number and billing address.  We may also retain any messages you send through the Service, and may collect information you provide in User Submissions you post or submit to the Service or to DC via other means.

We use Personally Identifiable Information to communicate directly with you.  We may send you emails containing newsletters, promotions and special offers.  If you do not want to receive these communications, you may unsubscribe from those communications by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” link contained within such communications. We may also use your Personally Identifiable Information to send you Service-related emails (e.g., account verification, changes/updates to features of the Service, technical and security notices).  You may not opt out of Service-related e-mails.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information:  We also collect and use information about your interactions with the Service in a manner and format that does not identify you as an individual (“Non-Personally Identifiable Information”).  Generally, we do not combine or associate Non-Personally Identifiable Information with your Personally Identifiable Information.  If we do combine Non-Personally Identifiable Information with Personally Identifiable Information, we treat the combined information as Personally Identifiable Information.  We may collect, use, and disclose Non-Personally Identifiable Information as set forth below.

Analytics Information.  We use third-party analytics tools to help us measure traffic and usage trends for the Service.  These tools collect information sent by your browser as part of a web page request, including the web pages you visit, your browser add-ons, your browser’s width and height, and other information that assists us in improving the Service.  We collect and use this analytics information in aggregate form such that it cannot reasonably be manipulated to identify any particular individual user.

Cookies Information:  When you visit the Service, we may send one or more cookies – a small text file containing a string of alphanumeric characters – to your computer that uniquely identifies your browser and lets DC help you enhance your navigation through the site.  A cookie may also convey information to us about how you use the Service (e.g., the pages you view, the links you click and other actions you take on the Service), and allow us or our business partners to track your usage of the Service over time.

A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive after you close your browser. Persistent cookies may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the site. Persistent cookies can be removed by following your web browser’s directions. A session cookie is temporary and disappears after you close your browser.  You can reset your web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.  However, some features of the Service may not function properly if the ability to accept cookies is disabled.

Log File Information:  Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you access a web page.  When you use our Service, our servers may record certain log file information.  These server logs may include anonymous information such as your web request, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, referring / exit pages and URLs, number of clicks and how you interact with links on the Service, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, and other such information.

Clear Gifs/Web Beacons Information:  When you use the Service, we may employ clear gifs (also known as web beacons) which are used to anonymously track the online usage patterns of our users anonymously.  In addition, we may also use clear gifs in HTML-based emails sent to our users to track which emails are opened and which links are clicked by recipients.  The information is allows for more accurate reporting and improvement of the Service.

We use or may use cookies, log file, and clear gifs information to: (a) provide custom, personalized content and information; (b) monitor the effectiveness of our Service; (c) monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors, traffic, and demographic patterns; (d) diagnose or fix technology problems reported by our Users or engineers that are associated with certain IP addresses; and (e) other purposes as permitted by FTC guidelines and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations.

Other Methods: Where authorized and as permitted by FTC guidelines and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations, DC may also use or allow other  monitoring technologies or the use of trusted vendors and other third party companies who may gather data for appropriate business purposes such as managing advertising and/or generating reports on traffic and statistics for the Service.

2.         Sharing of Your Information

Personally Identifiable Information:  We will not rent or sell your Personally Identifiable Information to third parties outside Zuckerberg Media, LLC and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates without your consent, except as noted below:

We may share your Personally Identifiable Information with third-party business partners for the purpose of providing the Service to you.  Those business partners will be given limited access to the Personally Identifiable Information that is reasonably necessary to deliver the Service, and we will require that such third parties comply with this Privacy Policy.

Any Personally Identifiable Information or content that you voluntarily disclose for posting or submitting to the Service, such as User Submissions, may become available to the public. If you remove information that you posted or submitted to the Service, copies may remain viewable in cached and archived pages of the Service, or if other Users have copied or saved that information.

We may at any time buy or sell/divest Zuckerberg Media, LLC, or any combination of its products, services, assets and/or businesses.  Personally Identifiable Information such as email addresses and other user information related to the Service will likely be one of the items transferred in these types of transactions. We may also transfer or assign such information in the course of corporate divestitures, mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, dissolutions or similar transactions or proceedings.

DC will disclose Personally Identifiable Information where required to do so by law or subpoena or if we reasonably believe that such action is necessary to (a) conform to the law, comply with legal process served on us or our affiliates, or investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities; (b) to enforce our Terms of Use Agreement [link], take precautions against liability, to investigate and defend ourselves against any claims or allegations, to assist government enforcement agencies, or to protect the security or integrity of our site; and/or (c) to exercise or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Zuckerberg Media, LLC, our Users or others.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information:  We may share Non-Personally Identifiable Information, including information obtained through tools such as cookies and log files (such as anonymous usage data, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, number of clicks, etc.) with our third-party business partners for the purposes described in the section above on “How We Collect and Use Information.”  We may also aggregate or otherwise strip data of all personally identifying characteristics and may share that aggregated, anonymized data with our third party business partners.

3.         How We Protect Your Information

Storage and Processing:  Personally Identifiable information collected through the Service may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Zuckerberg Media, LLC, or its subsidiaries, affiliates or service providers maintain facilities.

Safeguarding Measures:  DC uses commercially reasonable physical, managerial, and technical safeguards to preserve the integrity and security of all information collected from and through the Service. Notwithstanding the foregoing measures, you are responsible for controlling access to your email communications from DC, at all times, and DC cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to DC or guarantee that information on the Service may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed.  Your privacy settings may also be affected by changes to the functionality of DC’s distributors, such as social networks.  DC is not responsible for the functionality or security measures of any third party.

Compromise of Information:  In the event that any information under our control is compromised as a result of a breach of security, DC will take reasonable steps to investigate the situation and where appropriate, notify those individuals whose information may have been compromised and take other steps, in accordance with any applicable laws and regulations.

4.         Your Choices About Your Information

Opting Out of Collection of Personally Identifiable Information:  You may, of course, decline to submit any Personally Identifiable Information through the Service, in which case DC may not be able to provide certain services to you.

Modifying Your Communication Preferences:  You may update your email-communication preferences at any time by clicking the appropriate link contained in DC e-mail communications and/or elsewhere in the Service. We make every effort to promptly process all unsubscribe requests.    As noted above, you may not opt out of Service-related communications (e.g., account verification, changes/updates to features of the Service, technical and security notices).  If you have any questions about reviewing or modifying your account information, you can contact us directly at hello@dotcomplicated.co.

Opting Out of Collection of Non-Personally Identifiable Information:  The only way to completely “opt out” of the collection of any information through cookies or other technology is to actively manage the settings on your browser.  Please refer to your browser’s technical information for instructions on how to delete and disable cookies, and other tracking/recording tools.  (To learn more about cookies, clear gifs/web beacons and related technologies, you may wish to visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s online resources, at http://www.networkadvertising.org.)

Note that disabling cookies on your browser may prevent DC or its business partners from tracking your browser’s activities in relation to the Service, and for use in targeted online advertising.  However, doing so may disable many of the features available through the Service.

User Submissions:  Following termination or deactivation of your membership to the Service, DC may retain and continue to use indefinitely all information (including User Submissions) contained in your communications to DC or to other Users or posted to public or semi-public areas of the Service after termination or deactivation of your membership to the Service.

5.         Children’s Privacy

DC does not knowingly collect or solicit Personally Identifiable Information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register for the Service.  The Service and its content are not directed at children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not send any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, or email address.  In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at hello@dotcomplicated.co.

6.         Links to Other Web Sites and Services

We are not responsible for the practices employed by websites or services linked to or from the Service, nor the information or content contained therein.  Please remember that when you use a link to go from the Service to another website, our Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites or services.  Your browsing and interaction on any third-party website or service, including those that have a link on our website, are subject to that third party’s own rules and policies. Please read over those rules and policies before proceeding.

7.         Notification Procedures

It is our policy to provide notifications, whether such notifications are required by law or are for marketing or other business related purposes, to you via email notice, written or hard copy notice, or through posting of such notice on the Service, as determined by DC in its sole discretion or as required under any applicable laws or regulations..

8.         Changes to Our Privacy Policy

DC may in its sole discretion modify or update its Privacy Policy from time to time, and so you should review this Policy periodically.  When we change the policy in a material way, we will update the ‘last modified’ date at the top of this Privacy Policy.  Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page, so please check back often for updates.

9.         How to Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the Service, please contact us at hello@dotcomplicated.co or send mail to:

Dot Complicated
Attn: Privacy Policy
960 O’Brien Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025