END USER
CONTEXTWEB respects the privacy of individuals and is actively committed to maintaining transparency. As we help advertisers reach their target audiences and publishers monetize their site traffic, we also create value for you, the end-user, by delivering personally relevant advertisements. CONTEXTWEB does not collect or use any personally identifiable information (such as name, contact information or address) from end-users in the course of serving advertisements. We only collect personally identifiable information from an end-user when that user visits our website and provides such information. In such a case, CONTEXTWEB would only use the information for the purpose for which it was submitted – for example, to send you your email newsletter or respond to your inquiry. Below, we describe our practices as they relate to the use of non-personally identifiable information collected in the course of ad delivery.
What Non-Personally Identifiable Information We Collect and How We Use It
Ad Delivery & Reporting
CONTEXTWEB does not collect any personally identifiable information about you (such as your name, email address, etc.) except when in your capacity as a publisher or advertiser, you specifically and knowingly provide such information. With each advertising impression served, CONTEXTWEB collects information such as the time of day, URL visited, browser type, browser language, and IP address. That information is used to verify our records and to provide more relevant services to users, such as showing contextually relevant ads based on the URL visited.
Targeting
Many CONTEXTWEB impressions are targeted to content categories only, meaning that an end-user sees a particular advertisement based on the type of content our Real-Time Classifier found on the page that user is visiting. Other times, our technology considers anonymous information such as the time of day or approximate geographic area in order to deliver advertisements that are more relevant to you.
CONTEXTWEB also engages in online behavioral advertising (OBA).This involves using patterns of behavior observed by CONTEXTWEB or its third-party data partners to segment users into interest groups for advertising campaigns. These processes are carried out using cookies and pixels. The information contained in the cookie is recognized by CONTEXTWEB and in essence collected for targeting purposes at the time of the impression. For example, an advertiser might work with CONTEXTWEB to reach people who have recently visited the advertiser’s website. A cookie is dropped on users while on the advertiser’s site, and when that cookie is seen by CONTEXTWEB on the site of one of our publishers, we deliver the advertiser’s message. Similarly, if an advertiser wants to reach individuals who have expressed purchase intent for a category of products, CONTEXTWEB may target end-users with third-party cookies on their browsers indicating such intent. During no stage of this process does CONTEXTWEB know the identity of the end-user.
CONTEXTWEB uses the Evidon assurance platform to comply with the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising of the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA). As part of this service, all CONTEXTWEB advertisements that are targeted using behavioral data are delivered with the Advertising Option Icon, which helps consumers understand how their data are being used and provides choices for consumers who want more control.
Consumer choice
We offer the choice to opt out of CONTEXTWEB behavioral advertising. Opting out does not prevent end-users from seeing CONTEXTWEB ads; it simply means that you will no longer receive ads that are relevant to your historical viewing interests.
If you choose to opt out, an “opt-out cookie” that tells us not to use behavioral targeting will be stored on your browser. Keep in mind that if you clear your browser’s cookies, CONTEXTWEB’s opt-out cookie will disappear and you will need to return to this page to opt out again.
Your browser's current status:
COOKIE TARGETING ALLOWED
SELF-SERVICE ADVERTISERS & PUBLISHERS
CONTEXTWEB self-service advertisers and publishers provide us with their names, addresses, contact information and website URLs during registration.
Information required for billing (for advertisers) and for payment (for publishers) is collected from the users of CONTEXTWEB’s self-service portal. Billing information includes address and may include credit card data for users who elect into auto-payments. Billing information may also include bank data for advertisers who choose to use electronic fund transfers. Payment information includes address and, for publishers who use electronic fund transfers, bank account numbers or PayPal data. Payment information may also include any tax identification data as required by the IRS. We use the personally identifiable information provided to us by our advertisers and publishers to fulfill our contractual obligations to them (such as billing and payment) and to communicate with them regarding our products and services.
To deliver contextually targeted advertisements, CONTEXTWEB may collect page content and URL parameters from web pages of publisher websites within our network.
We may collect information, in aggregate, concerning patterns of advertiser/publisher usage within the CONTEXTWEB self-service portal. These data are collected for the purposes of product improvement.
INFORMATION SHARING, RETENTION & SECURITY
CONTEXTWEB may share non-personally identifiable information described in an aggregate, anonymous form with advertisers, business partners, sponsors and other third parties. For example, we may disclose how frequently the average CONTEXTWEB end-user requests pages about a certain category (such as health or finance), or which advertisements consumers interact with on domains across our exchange.
We will not share any personally identifiable information from end-users or site visitors with any third party without your express consent except as described below. There may be disclosures or transfers of any and all types of information held by CONTEXTWEB – personally identifiable and non-personally identifiable – under the following circumstances: 1) in the event that all or most of CONTEXTWEB’s assets are acquired by another company; 2) in the unlikely event of our bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership or assignment for the benefit of our creditors; 3) if we determine it necessary in connection with an investigation or in order to enforce our legal rights; or 4) to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute or court order. In addition, we may share your personally identifiable information with subcontractors, vendors and other businesses that we employ to perform functions on our behalf. For example, we may employ third parties to analyze data or provide marketing assistance. These entities have access to your information only for the purposes of performing the functions for which we have engaged them. If such entities have access to personally identifiable information, their agreements with us require them to keep such information confidential.
This Privacy Policy applies only to information gathered by CONTEXTWEB. Except to the extent that third-party cookies are used by CONTEXTWEB for targeting purposes, the privacy of end-users with respect to third-party pixels and cookies is described by those third parties’ privacy policies and not ours. CONTEXTWEB is not responsible for the privacy practices of such third parties.
As described in the respective publisher and advertiser agreements, we may use names and logos of self-service advertisers and publishers in presentations, marketing materials, customer lists, financial reports and website listings of customers.
Non-personally identifiable data may be stored by CONTEXTWEB for up to 18 months. Aggregated data concerning usage patterns of advertisers and publishers within the self-service portal will be retained indefinitely. Any personally identifiable information collected through correspondence or through the use of our site’s functions may be retained for as little as three months or for as long as we deem necessary to fulfill the process for which it is collected.
All billing data are encrypted and transmitted in encrypted form to the credit card billing provider or the electronic funds transfer provider. Billing and payment data for self-service advertisers and publishers are obscured to CONTEXTWEB employees.
Encrypted data transmission for registration information is provided by VeriSign. Click here to view CONTEXTWEB’s VeriSign Secured Seal.
CONTEXTWEB makes reasonable efforts, consistent with industry standards, to protect all of your data in its possession. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure and CONTEXTWEB will not be responsible for any damage that results from any security breach of data.
OTHER INFORMATION
Advertising Content
End-users, publishers and advertisers alike should understand that CONTEXTWEB has no control over the content presented in advertisements served on our exchange, the products or services advertised or the pages linked to in those advertisements. This content is provided by third-party advertisers and CONTEXTWEB will not be responsible for any third-party content, advertisements, products, services or websites.
Children
In the interest of the privacy of children, CONTEXTWEB does not offer targeting packages aimed at reaching end-users under the age of 13. Our website and services to advertisers and publishers are neither developed for nor directed at children.
Changes to Our Privacy Policy
This privacy policy is effective as of August 10, 2011. CONTEXTWEB reserves the right to modify this privacy policy at any time. If we do make modifications, we will post them on our website, so please visit our website and review the privacy policy frequently. If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we may also attempt to notify you by email (if you have provided us with your email address) or by means of a notice on our homepage (but we will not be obligated to do so).
Questions and Comments
Have questions about CONTEXTWEB and your privacy? Email privacy@contextweb.com
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