This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) explains the information collection, use, and sharing practices of Metavus.Net and the Internet Scout Research Group (“we,” “us,” and “our”).  Collectively, our websites, and the services, publications, and tools available through them are referred to as the “Services”

1:  Principles

This policy is designed to be consistent with the following principles:

  • Privacy policies should be human readable and easy to find.
  • Data collection, storage, and processing should be simplified as much as possible to enhance security, ensure consistency, and make the practices easy for users to understand.
  • Data practices should meet the reasonable expectations of users.

2:  Information We Collect

We collect information in multiple ways, including when you provide information directly to us; when we passively collect information from you, such as from your browser or device; and from third parties.

Information You Provide Directly to Us

We will collect any information you provide to us. We may collect information from you in a variety of ways, such as when you: (a) create an online account, (b) register for an event, (c) subscribe to one of our publications, or (d) contact us or provide feedback. This information may include but is not limited to your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, payment information, photo, geographic location, and your social media handles.  We may also collect additional demographic and other information about you in connection with conferences and events (e.g., dietary and other preferences), and the provision of this information to us by you is optional.

Information that Is Automatically Collected

Device/Usage Information

We may automatically collect certain information about the computer or devices (including mobile devices or tablets) you use to access the Services. As described further below, we may collect and analyze (a) device information such as IP addresses, location information (by country and city), unique device identifiers, IMEI and TCP/IP address, browser types, browser language, operating system, mobile device carrier information, and (b) information related to the ways in which you interact with the Services, such as referring and exit web pages and URLs, platform type, the number of clicks, domain names, landing pages, pages and content viewed and the order of those pages, statistical information about the use of the Services, the amount of time spent on particular pages, the date and time you used the Services, the frequency of your use of the Services, error logs, and other similar information. As described further below, we may use third-party analytics providers and technologies, including cookies and similar tools, to assist in collecting this information.

Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

We also collect data about your use of the Services through the use of Internet server logs and online tracking technologies, like cookies and/or tracking pixels. A web server log is a file where website activity is stored. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer when you visit a website, that enables us to: (a) recognize your computer; (b) store your preferences and settings; (c) understand the web pages of the Services you have visited and the referral sites that have led you to our Services; (d) enhance your user experience by delivering content  specific to your inferred interests; (e) perform searches and analytics; and (f) assist with security administrative functions. Tracking pixels (sometimes referred to as web beacons or clear GIFs) are tiny electronic tags with a unique identifier embedded in websites, online ads and/or email, and that are designed to provide usage information like ad impressions or clicks, measure popularity of the Services and associated advertising, and to access user cookies. We may also use tracking technologies in our license buttons and/or icons that you can embed on other sites/services to track the website addresses where they are embedded, gauge user interaction with them, and determine the number of unique viewers of them. If you receive email from us (such as the CC newsletter, campaign updates, or other ongoing email communications from CC), we may use certain analytics tools, such as clear GIFs, to capture data such as whether you open our message, click on any links or banners our email contains, or otherwise interact with what we send. This data allows us to gauge the effectiveness of our communications and marketing campaigns.  As we adopt additional technologies, we may also gather additional information through other methods.

Please note that you can change your settings to notify you when a cookie is being set or updated, or to block cookies altogether. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information (e.g., Internet Explorer; Google Chrome; Mozilla Firefox; or Apple Safari). Please note that by blocking any or all cookies, you may not have access to certain features or offerings of the Services.

Information from Third Parties

We may also collect information about you or others through third parties. To the extent permitted by law, we may also collect information from third parties, including public sources, social media platforms, and marketing and market research firms. Depending on the source, this information collected from third parties could include name, contact information, demographic information, information about an individual’s employer, information to verify identity or trustworthiness, and information for other fraud or safety protection purposes.

3:  How We Use Your Information

We may use the information we collect from and about you to:

  •       Fulfill the purposes for which you provided it;
  •       Provide and improve the Services, including to develop new features or services, promote community collaboration, take steps to secure the Services, and for technical and end user support;
  •       Send you information about your relationship or transactions with us, account alerts, or other communications, such as newsletters to which you have subscribed;
  •       Process and respond to your inquiries or to request your feedback;
  •       Conduct analytics, research, and reporting, including to synthesize and derive insights from your use of our Services; and
  •       Comply with the law and protect the safety, rights, property, or security of our organization, the Services, our users, and the general public.

Please note that we may combine information that we collect from you and about you (including automatically collected information) with information we obtain about you from our affiliates and/or non-affiliated third parties, and use such combined information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We may aggregate and/or de-identify information collected through the Services. We may use de-identified and/or aggregated data for any purpose, including without limitation for research and marketing purposes.

4:  When We Disclose Your Information

We may disclose and/or share your information under the following circumstances:

Service Providers

We may disclose your information with third parties who perform services on our behalf, including without limitation, event management, candidate selection, marketing, customer support, data storage, data analysis and processing, and legal services.  For example, when you register for an event, we may share your information with vendors, third party contractors, partner organizations, and volunteers for the purpose of organizing and running the event and related activities.

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or on a good faith belief that such disclosure is permitted by this Privacy Policy or reasonably necessary or appropriate for any of the following reasons: (a) to comply with legal process; (b) to enforce or apply this Privacy Policy, or other contracts with you, including investigation of potential violations thereof; (c) to respond to your requests for customer service; and/or (d) to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of our organization and staff, our agents and affiliates, our users, and the public. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection, and spam/malware prevention, and similar purposes.

Affiliated Organizations

We may disclose your information with current or future affiliated organizations.

We may disclose your information to any third parties based on your consent to do so.

Aggregate/De-identified Information

We may disclose de-identified and/or aggregated data for any purpose to third parties, including sponsors, promotional partners, and others.

5:  Online Analytics

We may use third-party web analytics services (such as Google Analytics) on our Services to collect and analyze the information discussed above, and to engage in auditing, research, or reporting. The information (including your IP address) collected by various analytics technologies described in the “Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies” section above will be disclosed to or collected directly by these service providers, who use the information to evaluate your use of the Services, including by noting the third-party website from which you arrive to our Site, analyzing usage trends, assisting with fraud prevention, and providing certain features to you. To prevent Google Analytics from using your information for analytics, you may install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on by clicking here.

6:  Security Measures

We have implemented technical, physical, and organizational security measures to protect against the loss, misuse, and/or alteration of your information. These safeguards vary based on the sensitivity of the information that we collect and store. However, we cannot and do not guarantee that these measures will prevent every unauthorized attempt to access, use, or disclose your information since despite our efforts, no Internet and/or other electronic transmissions can be completely secure.

7:  Data Retention

We retain the information we collect for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy or as long as we are legally required or permitted to do so. Information may persist in copies made for backup and business continuity purposes for additional time.

The Services may contain links to third-party websites (e.g., social media sites like Facebook and Twitter), third-party plug-ins (e.g., the Facebook “like” button and Twitter “follow” button), and other services. If you choose to use these sites or features, you may disclose your information not just to those third-parties, but also to their users and the public more generally depending on how their services function. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such third party websites or services. The collection, use and disclosure of your information will be subject to the privacy policies of the third party websites or services, and not this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of each and every site you visit.

9:  Changes to this Privacy Policy

We will continue to evaluate this Privacy Policy as we update and expand our Services, and we may make changes to the Privacy Policy accordingly. We will post any changes here and revise the date last updated above. We encourage you to check this page periodically for updates to stay informed on how we collect, use and share your information.

10:  Questions About this Privacy Policy

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please submit your inquiry via our Contact form.