Collecting only the information needed
Pulsenomics LLC (“Pulsenomics”, "we" or "us"), a consulting and market research company, is committed to protecting your privacy and the integrity of the information that we collect. This Online Privacy Policy (“Policy”) explains in general terms how we collect, store, use, and disclose your Personal Information (as defined below) and certain other information that we receive from you in connection with the pulsenomics.com web site (the "Site"). This Policy concerns only the Site, and does not concern any other website operated by Pulsenomics or any other website to which the Site may link. Please review the entire Policy and feel free to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions. Also, for other matters concerning our services and Site access, please see our Terms of Use.
You acknowledge your consent to this Policy if you access the Site, if you become a service user or survey panel member, or if you otherwise participate in market research activities offered, provided, hosted, or administered by us (collectively, "Services").
The Types of Personally Identifiable Information We Collect About You
When you visit and browse the Site, we collect personally identifiable information that you may choose to provide to us. We may also collect personally identifiable information in the normal course of business through technology.
We collect information that you may choose to provide to us.
We collect information that you may elect to provide to us from time to time via Site registration forms, panelist profile forms, research activities, projects and more. Any such information is provided to us by you voluntarily. Personally identifiable information is any information that is identifiable with you as an individual (e.g., your name, date of birth, gender, mailing address, phone number, email address). Our collection of any personally identifiable information from you will be done by fair and lawful means. For instance, our Site visitors and Service users frequently volunteer to provide such information to us to register on the Site, to request information, to participate in one of our surveys or other research activities.
We may also obtain e-mail addresses, telephone numbers or other information pertaining to individual panelist candidates or potential research activity participants from third-party providers of address lists (provided that these third parties assure us that such lists are comprised of information associated with individuals who have consented to have their information listed and then sold to firms like ours for surveys or other legitimate purpose).
We may receive your email address or other contact information from a third party if you indicate to the third party that you would like to use one or more of our Services, such as becoming a survey panelist. We may maintain your personally identifiable information in order to meet your needs or requirements and/or our own business requirements. For instance, we may retain the email address of persons who opted out (requested to be removed) from one of our survey panels or research activities in order to comply with the request and to meet customer expectations.
We do not share personally identifiable information with, or sell or rent it to third parties, except with your consent or as described in this Policy.
We may also use technologies that automatically collect a variety of machine readable information about you:
Log Files. Like those of most websites, our servers collect certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, operating system, Internet service provider (ISP), and other non-personally identifiable information. This data is commonly used for general Site management, administration and security purposes (e.g., gathering demographic information about Site visitors, monitoring Site use compliance, troubleshooting technical problems, and investigating possible security breaches). By itself, your IP address is not personally identifiable. At times, we may also use IP addresses to collect information regarding the frequency with which visitors browse various parts of our site. We may combine this information with personally identifiable information that you voluntarily provide to us.
Cookies. Browser cookies are pieces of information that a website sends to your computer while you are browsing a website. Cookies are customarily used by online service companies, websites and other institutions for a variety of legitimate and helpful purposes. For instance, when you return to the Site after logging in, internet cookies provide information to the Site so that the Site will remember who you are. We can use browser cookies to tell us, for example, whether you are a brand new Site visitor, whether you have previously visited the Site, or to help us identify features on the Site that you may be most interested in. Browser cookies may enhance your online experience by remembering (i.e., saving) your preferences while you are visiting the Site. You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies via your web browser settings.
Digital Fingerprinting. We may use digital fingerprinting technology ("machine identification") as a quality control process that helps to maintain the integrity of our research and related Services. This process entails collecting log file information and other data about your computer configuration, and then enabling a reputable third-party to convert it into a unique serial number associated with your computer. It can then be determined if your computer’s “digital fingerprint” matches any previous digital fingerprint(s). This technology can be used to detect and/or prevent unwanted or harmful activity (e.g., multiple poll votes from single panelists) and unauthorized or fraudulent use of our Services. Any use by us of this technology will not disrupt or interfere with your use or control of your computer, or alter, modify, or change its settings or functionality. To ensure the integrity of our research, we may associate a unique identifier to you and/or your personally identifiable information, share your unique identifier with our clients and with other sample or panel providers, and receive or obtain a unique identifier linked to you from a third party, including without limitation, a sample or panel provider or one of our clients. Any unique identifier(s) received or obtained by us and associated with your personally identifiable information will be protected in accordance with this Policy. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that any such technology we use is safe, secure, and does not cause undue privacy or data security risks, and is conducted in a professional and ethical manner and in accordance with applicable industry standards and laws. If we discover that this technology is not being used in accordance with the foregoing, we will take prompt corrective action.
Web Beacons. Web beacons (e.g., internet tags, pixel tags, and clear GIFs) are invisible graphics with a unique identifier that are embedded on a web page, are functionally similar to cookies, but are not stored on a user’s hard drive. We and any third party advertising partners we may contract with may employ web beacon technology to help us better manage content on our Site.
Our website may also use other technical methods to track visitor usage. We may also use these technical methods to analyze the traffic patterns on our website, such as the frequency with which our users visit various parts of our website. These technical methods may involve the transmission of information either directly to us or to another party authorized by us to collect information on our behalf. We may also use these technical methods in HTML e-mails that we send visitors to our website to determine whether such visitors have opened those e-mails and/or clicked on links in those e-mails. We may collect the information from use of these technical methods in a form that is personally identifiable. We also may use cookies and web beacons for advertising research purposes. The use of cookies, web beacons or other technologies by third parties on our Site is not covered by this Policy, as we do not have access or control over their use. We recommend that you carefully read the privacy policies of each website that you visit for information on their privacy, security, data collection, and distribution policies.
How Personally Identifiable Information We Collect About You is Used
We may use personally identifiable information we collect from you and about you when you visit and browse our website in a variety of ways, including the following examples.
In Connection with User Interaction
We may use personally identifiable information we collect about you when you visit and browse our website to send you administrative communications either about your interactions with us or about features of the Site, including but not limited to those pertaining to your participation in a poll, survey, or research activity (“Services”). For example, if you volunteer to participate in one of our surveys or in a research project, we may collect certain demographic information about you (e.g., your home location, income level, gender, household size, etc.). We collect such information so that we can (i) invite you to participate in surveys, polls and research activities that correspond to your indicated interests or background and (ii) ensure that you meet any demographic requirements of any survey, poll, or research activity that you may be interested in. Otheradministrative communications about your interactions with us for which we may use personally identifiable information we collect from you include: (i)validating information or responses that you provide us in connection with our Services, (ii) notifying you about new features on our Site, or other products or services that we think you may be interested in, (iii) updating our records of your information, (iv) providing customer support services to you, (v)future changes to the Terms and Conditions associated with access to and use of the Site or this Policy, and (vi)matters permitted by law or as otherwise authorized by you.
In Connection with Promotional Materials
We may use personally identifiable information we collect about you when you visit and browse our Site to send you promotional materials about products and services offered by us. You will always reserve the right to opt-out of receiving any such promotional offers (see “Updating Your Contact Information and Opting-Out”, below). We will not sell, share, rent or disclose to third parties any individually identifying information which you voluntarily provide to us, except if you grant us permission to do so, or to the extent necessary to (a) provide any service(s) you have requested; (b) comply with applicable laws or valid legal processes, or (c) protect our rights and intellectual property. Information submitted to us is only available to employees managing this information for purposes of contacting you or sending you emails based on your request for information, and to contracted third party service providers for purposes of fulfilling Services relating to our communications with you.
Aggregating and de-personalizing collected information
We may take any personally identifiable information that you volunteer to provide to us when you visit and browse the Site and make it non-personally identifiable, either by combining it with information about other individuals (aggregating your information with information about other individuals), or by removing characteristics (such as your name) that make the information personally identifiable to you (de-personalizing your information). Given the nature of this information, there are no restrictions under the guidelines set forth in this Policy upon our right to aggregate or de-personalize any personal information that you may volunteer to furnish, and we reserve the right to use and/or share with third parties the resulting non-personally identifiable information in any way.
Disclosures to Third Parties
We may disclose your personally identifiable information to third parties in accordance with market research industry guidelines, such as to a party who commissions or sponsors a particular poll, survey, project or other research activity that you may elect to participate in. However, in such circumstances, any such third party will be contractually bound to keep any personally identifiable information confidential, and strictly limit its use to research and/or statistical purposes. In connection with our Services,we may disclose personally identifiable informationto our authorized and approved agents, contractors, or partners who may facilitate such Services, including but limited to web and email service hosting partners, online survey, poll, and form providers, and list-matching vendors. However, such parties are not permitted to use your personally identifiable information for any purpose other than to provide services to Pulsenomics LLC, and they are not permitted to share your personally identifiable information with any other third parties for any purpose. By using our Site or Service(s), by participating in a Pulsenomics poll, survey, or research activity, you freely consent to the transfer, storage, use, and disclosure of your personally identifiable information to any affiliated company and our non-affiliated service providers, provided that any such entities are contractually bound to respect the confidentiality of your personally identifiable information.
Additional circumstances that could entail disclosure of personally identifiable information include:
A Sale of All or Part of Our Business.At any time, we may sell all or part of our businesses and your personally identifiable information may be transferred as a part of any such sale. In the event that we do sell all or part of our business, we will include provisions in the selling contract requiring the purchaser to treat your personally identifiable information in the same manner required by this Policy (including any amendments to this Policy).
As Required By Law, to Enforce Our Terms of Use, or to Protect Your, Our, or a Third Party’s Safety, or Security.We will disclose personal information when we believe in good faith that such disclosures (a) are required by law, including, for example, to comply with a court order or subpoena, or (b) will help to: enforce our terms and conditions of use, including allegations of intellectual property rights infringement; enforce contest, sweepstakes, promotions, and/or game rules; protect your safety or security, including the safety and security of property that belongs to you; and/or, protect the safety and security of our Site, databases, and/or third parties, including the safety and security of tangible and/or intangible property that belongs to us or to third parties.
Security Measures We Take to Protect Personally Identifiable Information.
The security and confidentiality of your information is extremely important to us. We implement technical, administrative, and physical security measures to protect personally identifiable information we collect in order to protect it from unauthorized access and improper use. From time to time, we review security measures and evaluate new technology and methods. Please be aware that, despite our best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.
Updating Your Contact Information and Opting-Out
You can update the contact information you have provided to us or opt-out of receiving communications from us by contacting us at [email protected]. Please include information in the e-mail that will help us identify you so we can assist you with your request. We may also provide you an opportunity to update your contact information and/or modify your opt-out choices by sending you an e-mail or other communication that invites your response. Finally, you may unsubscribe from certain e-mail communications by contacting us at [email protected] or by clicking on an “unsubscribe” link that may be made available in certain correspondence.
Please note that it may take up to ninety (90) days for an opt-out or unsubscribe choices to become effective. Our systems require time to update, and promotional mailings using personal information shared before your opt-out election may already be in process. Thus, you might continue to receive promotional materials from us or a third party based upon the personal information you have provided under this Policy for up to ninety (90) days.
Amendments to this Policy
These guidelines were adopted with the realization that the Internet continues to evolve. Accordingly, this Policy is subject to change. In the event that we materially change the guidelines set forth in this Policy, we will notify you by sending you an e-mail at the last e-mail address that you provided us, and/or by posting notice of the changes on the Site. Any such changes will be effective upon the earlier of our sending an e-mail notice to you or our posting of notice of the changes on this Site. Please note that, at all times, you are responsible for updating your personal information to provide us your current e-mail address. In the event that the last e-mail address that you have provided us is not valid, or for any other reason is not capable of delivering to you the notice described above, our sending the e-mail containing such notice will nonetheless constitute effective notice of the changes described in the notice. In any event, changes to this Policy may affect our use of personal information that you provided us prior to our notification to you of the changes. If you do not wish to permit changes in our use of your information, you must notify us prior to the effective date of the changes that you wish to deactivate your account with us.