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Users of the Website Generally
“Non-Personally-Identifying Information” is information that, without the aid of additional information, cannot be directly associated with a specific person. “Personally-Identifying Information,” by contrast, is information such as a name or email address that, without more, can be directly associated with a specific person. Like most website operators, Folks gathers from users of the Website Non-Personally-Identifying Information of the sort that Web browsers, depending on their settings, may make available. That information includes the user’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, operating system, browser type and the locations of the websites the user views right before arriving at, while navigating and immediately after leaving the Website. Although such information is not Personally-Identifying Information, it may be possible for Folks to determine from an IP address a user’s Internet service provider and the geographic location of the visitor’s point of connectivity as well as other statistical usage data. Folks analyzes Non-Personally-Identifying Information gathered from users of the Website to help Folks better understand how the Website is being used. By identifying patterns and trends in usage, Folks is able to better design the Website to improve users’ experiences, both in terms of content and ease of use. From time to time, Folks may also release the Non-Personally-Identifying Information gathered from Website users in the aggregate, such as by publishing a report on trends in the usage of the Website.
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Web Cookies
A “Web Cookie” is a string of information which assigns you a unique identification that a website stores on a user’s computer, and that the user’s browser provides to the website each time the user submits a query to the website. We use cookies on the Website to keep track of services you have used, to record registration information regarding your login name and password, to record your user preferences, to keep you logged into the Website and to facilitate purchase procedures. Folks also uses Web Cookies to track the pages that users visit during each Website session, both to help Folks improve users’ experiences and to help Folks understand how the Website is being used. As with other Non-Personally-Identifying Information gathered from users of the Website, Folks analyzes and discloses in aggregated form information gathered using Web Cookies, so as to help Folks, its partners and others better understand how the Website is being used. FOLKS USERS WHO DO NOT WISH TO HAVE WEB COOKIES PLACED ON THEIR COMPUTERS SHOULD SET THEIR BROWSERS TO REFUSE WEB COOKIES BEFORE ACCESSING THE WEBSITE, WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT CERTAIN FEATURES OF THE WEBSITE MAY NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY WITHOUT THE AID OF WEB COOKIES. WEBSITE USERS WHO REFUSE WEB COOKIES ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY RESULTING LOSS OF FUNCTIONALITY.
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Third-Party Advertisers
We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit the Website. These companies may use information (not including any Personally-Identifying Information) about your visits to the Website and other websites that are contained in Web Cookies in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. Using a tool created by the Network Advertising Initiative, you can opt out of several third-party ad servers’ and networks’ Web Cookies simultaneously. Please contact us if you would like to know the identity of the third-party advertising companies we are currently using to serve ads.
We may allow advertisers to choose the characteristics of users who will see their advertisements, and we may use any of the Non-Personally Identifying Information we have collected (including information you may have decided not to show to other users, such as your birth year or other sensitive personal information or preferences) to select the appropriate audience for those advertisements. We do not identify you to the advertiser.
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Web Beacons
A “Web Beacon” is an object that is embedded in a web page or email that is usually invisible to the user and allows website operators to check whether a user has viewed a particular web page or an email. Folks may use Web Beacons on the Website and in emails to count users who have visited particular pages, viewed emails and to deliver co-branded services. Web Beacons are not used to access users’ Personally-Identifying Information. They are a technique Folks may use to compile aggregated statistics about Website usage. Web Beacons collect only a limited set of information, including a Web Cookie number, time and date of a page or email view and a description of the page or email on which the Web Beacon resides. You may not decline Web Beacons. However, they can be rendered ineffective by declining all Web Cookies or modifying your browser setting to notify you each time a Web Cookie is tendered, permitting you to accept or decline Web Cookies on an individual basis.
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Analytics
We may use third-party vendors, including Google, who use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) together to inform, optimize and serve ads based on your past activity on the Website, including Google Analytics for Display Advertising. The information collected may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand online activity. If you do not want any information to be collected and used by Google Analytics, you can install an opt-out in your web browser (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/) and/or opt out from Google Analytics for Display Advertising or the Google Display Network by using Google’s Ads Settings (www.google.com/settings/ads). We may partner with selected third parties to allow tracking technology on the Website, which will enable them to collect data about how you interact with the Website and our services over time. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand online activity.
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Aggregated and Non-Personally-Identifying Information
We may share aggregated and Non-Personally Identifying Information we collect under any of the above circumstances. We may also share it with third parties and our affiliate companies to develop and deliver targeted advertising on the Website and on websites of third parties. We may combine Non-Personally Identifying Information we collect with additional Non-Personally Identifying Information collected from other sources. We also may share aggregated information with third parties, including advisors, advertisers and investors, for the purpose of conducting general business analysis. For example, we may tell our advertisers the number of visitors to the Website and the most popular features or services accessed. This information does not contain any Personally-Identifying Information and may be used to develop website content and services that we hope you and other users will find of interest and to target content and advertising.
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Mobile Device Additional Terms
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Mobile Device
If you use a mobile device to access the Website or download any of our applications, we may collect device information (such as your mobile device ID, model and manufacturer), operating system, version information and IP address.
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Geo-Location Information
Unless we have received your prior consent, we do not access or track any location-based information from your mobile device at any time while downloading or using our mobile application or our services, except that it may be possible for Folks to determine from an IP address the geographic location of your point of connectivity, in which case we may gather and use such general location data.
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Push Notifications
We send you push notifications if you choose to receive them, letting you know when someone has sent you a message or for other service-related matters. If you wish to opt-out from receiving these types of communications, you may turn them off in your device’s settings.
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Mobile Analytics
We use mobile analytics software to allow us to better understand the functionality of our mobile software on your phone. This software may record information, such as how often you use the application, the events that occur within the application, aggregated usage, performance data and where the application was downloaded from. We do not link the information we store within the analytics software to any Personally-Identifying Information you submit within the mobile application.