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Connectus Privacy Policy
This page summarizes the key highlights from our privacy policy. For more information, read our full privacy policy.
When you register an account to become a Connectus user ("User"), we collect information such as your name, e-mail, country, location, occupation and a password, information you add to your profile and information about your contacts. We use cookies and other technologies to recognize you, customize your experience and serve advertisements.
We automatically receive from your Internet use such information as your IP address, the URLs of sites from which you arrive or leave the Connectus website, your type of browser and your ISP.
We use the information you provide to:
- Administer your account with us and customize the service we provide to you.
- We do not sell, rent or otherwise provide your personal identifiable information to any third parties for marketing purposes.
- We provide you with the means to control whether or not your contact information is shared with another User.
- In order to deliver our services, we may share information with third parties. For example, to process subscription payments made by you, we share some of your information with the credit card processing company we use.
- Enable you to share your information and communicate with other Users, or provide (usually at your option) your personal details to third parties offering combined services with Connectus.
You can:
- Review, enhance or edit your personal information through your personal profile page.
- Choose what information you make available through your public profile.
- Control the messages you receive from Connectus and other Users and how these messages are sent.
- Change your settings to control visibility and accessibility through our website.
- Tell us to close your Connectus account.
Notice of all changes that materially affect ways in which your personal information may be used or shared will be posted in updates to our Privacy Policy.
Personal information you provide will be secured with industry standards and technology.
If you have any questions or comments please email us at privacy@connectus.net or contact us at:
ADN Media, LLC (dba Connectus)
Attention: Management
420H Chinquapin Round Rd
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Our privacy policy has been updated.
Your privacy is our top concern. We work hard to earn and keep your trust, so we adhere to the following principles to protect your privacy:
- We do not rent or sell your personally identifiable information to third parties for marketing purposes.
- We do not share your contact information with another User without your consent.
- Any personally identifiable information that you provide will be secured with industry standard protocols and technology.
We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our home page. By continuing to use the Connectus service after notice of changes have been sent to you or published on the Connectus website, you are consenting to the changes.
- What personally identifiable information of yours is collected by Connectus.
- How the information is used.
- With whom the information may be shared.
- How you can access and change your Account settings.
- What security procedures are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information collected by Connectus
- How to contact us
The purpose of the Connectus website is to permit Users to voluntarily provide information about themselves for the purposes of developing, maintaining and enhancing a network of professional contacts. You willingly provide us certain personal information, which we collect in order to allow you to benefit from the Connectus website. If you have any hesitation about providing such information to us and/or having such information displayed on the Connectus website or otherwise used in any manner permitted in this Privacy Policy and the User Agreement, you should not become a member of the Connectus community.
Registration
In order to become a User, you must first create an account on our website. To create an account you are required to provide the following contact information, which you recognize and expressly acknowledge is personal information allowing others, including Connectus, to identify you: name, email address, country, ZIP/postal code, and a password chosen by you.
Profile Information
Once you become a User, you may provide additional information in the Profile section describing your skills, professional experiences, and networking objectives. Providing additional information beyond what is required at registration to become a User is entirely optional, but enables you to better identify yourself and find new opportunities in the Connectus system to build and leverage your professional network. Any information you provide at registration or in the Profile section that is not personally identifiable may be used in the same manner and extent to which other information that is not personally identifiable is permitted to be used hereunder, including for the purpose of serving advertisements through the service. If you opt-out you may lose the potential benefit of being a User, including receiving ads that are more targeted to your interests.
Contacts Information
In order to invite others to connect with you directly in Connectus, you may use the Connectus services to invite them if they are a User, or enter their names and email addresses. This information will be used by Connectus to send your invitation including a message that you write. The names and email addresses of people that you invite will be used only to send your invitation and reminders.
You may also choose to manually enter or upload data about your contacts. You may not invite anyone to connect with you whom you do not know. All information entered there will only be viewable by you and will not be searchable by others in the Connectus network without your permission. All information that you enter or upload about your contacts will be covered by the same terms of this privacy policy as cover your own information.
Customer Service
Connectus may collect information through the Connectus website or through the Customer Service website in order to, among other things, accurately categorize and respond to a customer's inquiry.
Cookies
Like most websites, Connectus uses cookies and web log files to track site usage. A cookie is a tiny data file which resides on your computer which allows Connectus to recognize you as a User when you return to the Connectus website using the same computer and web browser. If your browser settings do not allow cookies, you will not be able to use the Connectus website. Like the information you enter at registration or in your profile, cookie and log file data is used to customize your experience on our website.
One type of cookie, known as a "persistent" cookie, is set once you've logged in to your Connectus account. The next time you visit the Connectus website, the persistent cookie will allow us to recognize you as an existing User so you will not need to log in before using the service. In order to access or change any of your private information (like a credit card number) or to send a message to another User, however, you must log in securely again with your password even if your computer contains your persistent cookie.
Additionally, if you log out of the Connectus website you will need to re-enter your password the next time you visit in order to log in to your account. Another type of cookie, called a "session" cookie, is used to identify a particular visit to the Connectus website. Session cookies expire after a short time or when you close your web browser.
We use cookies to improve the quality of our service by storing User preferences and tracking User trends. In the course of serving advertisements or optimizing services to our Users, we may allow authorized third parties to place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. Any information provided to third parties through such cookies will not be personally identifiable but may provide general segment information, e.g. your industry or geographic location, your occupation, or information about your professional or educational background, for greater customization of your user experience. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. Unfortunately, if your browser settings do not allow cookies or you opt to refuse all cookies, you may not be able to use the Connectus website or services. Connectus does not store personally identifiable information in the cookies.
Web Beacons
We allow other companies, called ad networks, to serve advertisements to Users. Ad networks include third party ad servers, ad agencies, ad technology vendors and research firms. Connectus may "target" some ads to Users that fit a certain general profile - for example, "public relations professionals in Maryland." Connectus does NOT use personally identifiable information to target ads.
To deliver these ads properly, Connectus may include a file, called a web beacon, from these ad networks within pages served by Connectus so the networks may provide anonymized, aggregated auditing, research and reporting for advertisers as well as to target ads to you while you visit other websites.
Because your web browser must request these advertisements and web beacons from the ad network's servers, these companies can view, edit or set their own cookies, just as if you had requested a web page from their site.
These general targets may also be used by ad networks to display targeted ads on other websites as a substitute for random, irrelevant ads. Connectus does not provide personally identifiable information to any advertiser or any other third party.
You may opt-out of use of web beacons in Connectus pages that you view and of placement of a cookie by ad networks in your browser.
Log files, IP addresses and information about your computer
Due to the communications standards on the Internet, when you visit the Connectus web site we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave Connectus. We also receive the Internet protocol (IP) address of your computer (or the proxy server you use to access the World Wide Web), your computer operating system and type of web browser you are using, email patterns, as well as the name of your ISP. This information is used to analyze overall trends to help us improve the Connectus service. The linkage between your IP address and your personally identifiable information is not shared with third-parties without your permission or except when required by law.
Certain information you provide to Connectus may reveal, or allow others to identify, your nationality, ethnic origin, religion or other aspects of your private life, and more generally about you. Please be aware that in providing information to Connectus for the purposes of opening your user account, you are expressly and voluntarily accepting the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy and Connectus's User Agreement. The supplying of all such information by you to Connectus, including all information deemed "sensitive" by applicable law, is entirely voluntary on your part. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy and the User Agreement, but please note that your withdrawal of consent will not be retroactive.
You have a right to access, modify, correct and eliminate the data about you which has been collected pursuant to your decision to become a User. If you update any of your information, we may keep a copy of the information which you originally provided to us in our archives for uses documented herein.
We take your rights seriously and encourage you to use them if you deem this to be appropriate. You may exercise these rights by emailing us at privacy@connectus.net or by contacting us at:
ADN Media, LLC (dba Connectus)
Attn: Management
420H Chinquapin Round Rd
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
United States of America
Connectus is a web-based non-downloadable online software solution provided as a service dedicated to helping business and individuals more effectively connect with one another. The personally identifiable information you choose to provide on our website is used to help you describe yourself to other Users. Other information, that does not personally identify you as an individual, is collected by Connectus from Users (such as, for example, patterns of utilization) and is exclusively owned by Connectus. This information can be utilized by Connectus in such manner as Connectus, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate.
Connectus will communicate with you through email and notices posted on the Connectus website or through other means available through the service, including text and other forms of messaging. If we send any communications to you via the carrier service with which you have a mobile communications subscription or otherwise have access, you understand you will pay any service fees associated with any such access (including text messaging charges for messages to your mobile device). These include a series of up to five welcome emails which help inform new Users about various features of the service. Please be aware that you will always receive certain emails from Connectus related to the proper functioning of your account, such as email notices when another User in your network sends you an opportunity. Connectus may send you promotional information unless you have opted out of receiving such information. You can change your e-mail and contact preferences at any time by logging into your 'Account & Settings' and amending your email notification choices. If you wish, you can also opt-out of receiving promotional emails, by sending a request to customer_service@prsafe.com.
Information provided to Connectus (or to third parties with whom it offers combined services) is also used to customize your experience on our website. For example, when you login to your account we will display the screen names of new Users who have recently joined your network.
Connectus takes the privacy of Users very seriously. We do not sell, rent, or otherwise provide your personally identifiable information to third parties for marketing purposes. We will only share your personally identifiable information with third parties to carry out your instructions or to provide specific services or information. For instance, we use a credit card processing company to bill Users for subscription fees. These third parties do not retain, share, or store any personally identifiable information except to provide these services and they are bound by confidentiality agreements which limit their use of such information.
We may provide aggregated anonymous data about the usage of our services to third parties for such purposes as we deem, in our sole discretion, to be appropriate, including to prospective advertisers on Connectus. We may segment our Users by role (i.e. product managers, vice presidents), industry, geographic location, or company. If you would like to be excluded from the aggregated research or products based upon aggregated data about our Users' activities on the site, please email customer_service@prsafe.com.
Connectus may offer our services in connection with other websites (including updates about the Connectus service) or may team with other online services to give you the combined results of both services or additional services and benefits. Platform Applications (as defined in the User Agreement) can be designed by Platform Developers (as defined in the User Agreement) or by a subset of Platform Developers with whom Connectus has more closely aligned ("Partners").
For Platform Applications designed by most Platform Developers, you will be asked to confirm acceptance of the Platform Developers' respective privacy policies and user agreements, which have not necessarily been reviewed or approved by Connectus. In these cases, it will be your choice whether or not to make use of the services and whether to proceed under the Platform Developers' terms.
Platform Developers are required to agree to restrictions on access, storage and usage of your information. However, while we typically enter into contractual agreements and take technical steps to restrict possible misuse of such information by such Platform Developers, we may not screen or approve Platform Developers, and we cannot and do not guarantee that all Platform Developers will abide by such restrictions and agreements. Certain actions you take through the Platform Applications will be displayed to your connections. You understand that your use of any Platform Applications is on an "as is" basis without any warranty as to the Platform Developers' actions.
If you, your connections, members of your network, or other Users of Connectus use any Platform Application, or if you interact with a Platform Application being used by any of them, such Platform Application may access and share certain information about you with others. Because a Platform Application can make calls on behalf of the User interacting with it to access non-public information, the level of detail accessible by the Platform Application is constrained by the same settings that govern visibility of your data to that User on Connectus.
For example, assuming you have not already given a Platform Application permission to access your information, your nonpublic profile information should not be visible to someone using a Platform Application if it is not otherwise accessible to that person on Connectus.
To uninstall a Platform Application at any time, please click here or, if the relevant Platform Application is not listed there, go directly to the Application Details page for the Platform Application you wish to uninstall. Note, however, that even if you uninstall a Platform Application, your connections, other members of your network, or other Users of Connectus may still be using the Platform Application, and so it may still have access to certain information about you, just as those Users do. To report any suspected misuse of information contact: abuse@prsafe.com. Connectus is not responsible for your use of or inability to use any Platform Applications, including the content, accuracy, or reliability of such applications and the privacy practices or other policies of Platform Developers.
As a User, you will receive requests to participate in market research including polls and surveys submitted by other Connectus members. If you participate in surveys and polls offered through our website, the information you provide may be visible to others using the Connectus website. You may opt-out of participating by changing your Account & Settings to stop receiving these inquiries and requests.
If you provide any testimonials about the Connectus service or place advertisements through the Connectus DirectAds services, we may post those testimonials and examples of advertisements you place in connection with Connectus's promotion of its service to third parties, which testimonials and advertisements may include your name and other personal information that you have provided. For more information about DirectAds please see the DirectAds Terms of Use.
It is possible that we may need to disclose personal information when required by law, such as responses to civil or criminal subpoenas, or other requests by law enforcement personnel. We will disclose such information wherein we have a good-faith belief that it is necessary to comply with a court order, ongoing judicial proceeding, subpoena, or other legal process or request to Connectus brought in any country throughout the world, or to exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
We may also disclose your personal and other information you provide, to another third party as part of a reorganization or a sale of the assets of a ADN Media, LLC (dba Connectus) division or company. Any third party to which we transfer or sell Connectus's assets will have the right to continue to use the personal and other information that you provide to us.
You can review the personal information you provided us and make any desired changes to the information you publish, or to the settings for your Connectus account including your email, and contact preferences, at any time by logging in to your account on the Connectus website. Please be aware that even after your request for a change is processed, Connectus may, for a time, retain residual information about you in its backup and/or archival copies of its database.
You can also close your account through the Connectus website. If you close your Connectus account, we will remove your name and other personally identifiable information from our publicly viewable data. We may retain certain data contributed by you if it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, non-personally-identifiable data, account recovery, or if required by law. All retained data will continue to be subject to the terms of the Connectus Privacy Policy in effect at the time of your request. To request that we close your account and remove your information from the Connectus service, please send your request to customer_service@prsafe.com. Please send your request using an email account that you have registered with Connectus under your name. You will receive a response to requests sent to customer_service@prsafe.com within three business days of our receiving it.
You can also close your account through the Connectus website. If you close your Connectus account, we will remove your name and other personally identifiable information from our publicly viewable database. We may retain certain data contributed by you if we believe it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, non-personally identifiable data, account recovery, or if required by law. To request that we close your account and remove your information from the Connectus website, please send your request to customer_service@prsafe.com. Please send your request using an email account that you have registered with Connectus under your name. You will receive a response to requests sent to customer_service@prsafe.com within five business days of its receipt.
As a User, you have certain obligations toward the other Users with whom you will be communicating. Certain of these obligations are imposed by applicable law and regulations, and others have become commonplace in user-friendly communities of like-minded members, such as Connectus:
- You must, at all times, respect the terms and conditions of the then-current Privacy Policy and the User Agreement. This includes respecting all intellectual property rights which may belong to third parties (such as photographs).
- You must not download or otherwise disseminate any information which may be deemed to be injurious, violent, offensive, racist or xenophobic or which may otherwise violate the purpose and spirit of Connectus and its community of Users.
- You must not provide information to Connectus and /or other Users which you believe might be injurious or detrimental to your person, professional or social status.
Any violation of these guidelines may lead to the restriction, suspension or termination of your account by Connectus, as we take these principles seriously and consider them to be the basis on which our Users adhere to the Connectus website and the services which it offers.
Children are not eligible to use our service and we ask that minors (under the age of 18) do not submit any personal information to us or use the service.
By becoming a User, you have given us your express and informed consent to transfer the data which you provide to us to the United States and to process it in the United States.
Connectus may update this privacy policy at any time, with or without advance notice. In the event there are significant changes in the way we treat your personally identifiable information, we will display a notice on the Connectus website or send you an email, as provided for above. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account.
If you use the Connectus service after notice of changes have been sent to you or published on our site, you hereby provide your consent to the changed practices.
In order to secure your personal information, access to your data on Connectus is password-protected, and sensitive data (such as credit card information) is protected by SSL encryption when it is exchanged between your web browser and the Connectus web site. To protect any data you store on our servers we also regularly audit our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks and we use a tier-one secured-access data center. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your login information. Please note that emails and instant messaging and similar means of communication with other users of Connectus are not encrypted and we strongly request you not to communicate any confidential information through these means.
If you have questions or comments about this privacy policy, please email us at privacy@connectus.net or contact us at:
ADN Media, LLC (dba Connectus)
Attn: Management
420H Chinquapin Round Rd
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
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