Last updated: January 16, 2016
Welcome to the HootBoard community! About to post your first Hoot? Take some time to read this Privacy Policy that is intended to help you understand what information we collect, how we use it, what choices you have regarding your information, and how we protect your information.
What personal information do we collect?
HootBoard was created so individuals can connect, share, and learn with other members of their community. Our mission is to facilitate a world of connected and engaged communities. That being said, we may collect personal identification information from you for purposes of enabling our website to work as efficiently as possible and to make regular improvements. When you sign up to use HootBoard, we will collect information that you provide such as your email address and/or Facebook login information (which includes your account email address and name), profile photo (if you choose to upload one), and a zip code for location preferences.
We love when our users help us help them! Hence, we are consistently working to give you the best experience possible. Therefore, any feedback or support request you submit may be stored in our email archive. We will never share this feedback or support with anyone outside of our internal database.
When is information collected?
We collect information when you register to use our site and when you voluntarily give us certain information. This can include your name, photo, email address, location or country.
We also collect information at various times when you choose to share content with HootBoard, as a “Hoot” (posters, flyers, photos, documents & other similar content), for example.
The information we collect may be “personally identifiable” (meaning it can be used to specifically identify you as a unique person) or “non-personally identifiable” (meaning it can’t be used to specifically identify you). We use both types of information, and combinations of both types, as described above.
Why collect personal information?
We like to keep our users happy and connected; therefore we collect your email address for purposes of sending periodic emails, updating you as to the latest content on a Board that you may choose to follow. We collect your location data for purposes of user navigation and to suggest content relevant to your location.
What non-personal information do we collect?
We may also collect information unrelated to your identity. We may collect information that identifies which type of device or system you are using to access HootBoard, such as your IP (internet protocol) address, your web browser type, the operating system of your device, MAC (media access control) address, and your internet service provider. We may also receive the URLs (website links) of sites from which you arrive before coming to HootBoard and of sites you go to after leaving HootBoard website.
What do we do with information we collect? Is it given to third parties?
We use the information that we collect and that you voluntarily share to make our services more relevant to you. With the personal information collected, we may offer customized content including local Boards and events according to your location data.
We may share information with external service providers who support us with foundational services that, in turn, enable us to provide our services. We make sure we partner with service providers who care about your privacy as much as we do. These third- party partners will only receive your information to the extent necessary to provide the services HootBoard needs to operate. They will not share that information outside of their relationship with us.
We will not sell your information to third parties as a part of our normal business operations. If we sell our company or merge with another company, we may transfer your personal information in connection with that merger or sale/transfer of our business to another company. If such a sale or merger occurs, your personal information will remain subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
Further, we may provide your personal information to law enforcement agencies in certain circumstances as required by law, including but not limited to when we are required by subpoena or similar legal process, to protect your safety or the safety of others, to investigate fraud, or to respond to a government request.
Enough about what we collect. What about the things you provide?
We rely heavily on content you provide to the HootBoard community. As a result, you have a large amount of control over how much information we collect about you.
HootBoard is primarily designed to help you share information with the world. Most of the information you provide us is information you are asking us to make public. This includes not only your Hoots and the metadata provided with Hoots, such as when you Hooted, but also the comments you make on Hoots and other related information. We may use this information to customize the content we show you, based on the information you provide. Our default is to always make the content you provide private, available only to those who subscribe to the Board to which you post the content, unless the administrator of the Board makes that Board public. We broadly and instantly disseminate your public information to a wide range of users, customers, and services. When you share information or content through Hoots, you should think carefully about what you are making public.
What about information shared with other platforms?
Currently, you may only register using a valid email address or through your Facebook account. When you choose to register using Facebook, you agree and accept that we will receive basic Facebook profile information and information you display as public. We will never post on your behalf, and we are not responsible for any information posted on any other platforms.
You also currently have the option to share your content with the following social media websites: Facebook, Twitter, CraigsList, Google Plus, and Pinterest.
Similarly, any user that belongs to your Board will be able to re-share your content through other platforms including: Facebook, Twitter, CraigsList, Google Plus, and Pinterest. Any user belonging to the Board where your content is posted may also email your content and/or embed (copy the code) your content to share on any website. Sharing content using email is available through Gmail, Yahoo, OutLook.com( Hotmail, Windows Live, MSN), Plaxo, and AOL. HootBoard is not responsible for any content shared on other platforms.
Please refer to the privacy policies of those platforms for more information:
Facebook, Twitter, CraigsList, Google, Pinterest, OutLook.com, MSN, Plaxo, and AOL.
How do we protect your information
We care about the safety and privacy of your information. Therefore, we adopt appropriate data collection, storage, and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of your personal information, username, password, transaction information, and data stored on our site. We encrypt all passwords. No user or HootBoard personnel will ever be able to see your protected passwords or other encrypted information. We also use industry standard firewalls to protect against viruses and hackers.
What’s a cookie? Can you eat it?
We may or may not choose to use “cookies” to enhance your experience. This non-edible cookie is a small text file stored by a webserver on your computer each time you visit our website (unique to your HootBoard account or your browser). If we choose to use cookies, it may be for reasons such as storing your preference data or your other HootBoard settings. When we use cookies, we may use “session cookies,” which last until you close your browser, or “persistent cookies,” that last until you delete them from your browser. We will only use cookies to enhance your experience with us and to improve the HootBoard service itself.
Third party analytics
We use various third party services that help us understand the usage of our website better. These include: Google Analytics, Segment.io, Optimizely, CrazyEgg and Mixpanel. You can learn how to opt out of Google Analytics by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policies.
How can you control your information?
Looking good today? Change your profile photo whenever you’d like! You also have unlimited access to other account information, such as your email address or zip code, to update at any time. You can also delete your account at any time as well. For more on this, check out the “Retention of Your Information” section below.
If you’d like to share content with a smaller audience, we allow you to create private Boards. These private Boards are only visible to you and other participants you add to the Board. You may also be invited to a private Board by another user.
Correspondence you’ll receive from us
If you want other HootBoard users to see your Hoots, it only makes sense that they would want you to view their Hoots too, right? Because of this, you will receive an email from us periodically, called a “Daily Digest,” that features information about new Hoots posted to the Boards to which you subscribe. Subscribing to a Board is your consent to our sending of these emails. If you wish to unsubscribe from these emails, you must unsubscribe from that particular Board.
We promise you that these emails will only be related to our services and Hoots in your networks, not from third-party spammers.
Links to other sites
Occasionally, HootBoard users may include links to outside websites in their Hoots, comments, or profiles. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore claim no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites. We recommend you check out the third parties’ privacy policies before using them.
Retention of your information
At any time, you may choose to delete any information you have shared with HootBoard. However, this does not necessarily mean that your Hoots were not captured by another user who had access prior to the Hoot’s deletion. Because of this, we can never guarantee absolute deletion of any of your information that was at one time public.
When you deactivate your HootBoard account, Hoots you have posted to Boards, comments you have made on Hoots, and other related information will remain on any private Board. You profile, however, would no longer be accessible to other users.
Your payment information
All purchases and payments that you must make on HootBoard are outsourced to Stripe, a reputable vendor who is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. Therefore, we will never be in possession of any payment-related information, such as your credit card information or billing address. We claim no responsibility for the safeguarding of such information. Please refer to Stripe’s Privacy Policy for information on their privacy practices.
What’s our policy towards children?
We do not knowingly collect or solicit any information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register for our services. HootBoard and its content are not directed to children under the age of 13. In the event that we learn we have collected information from a child under the age of 13 without parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under the age of 13, please contact us immediately at support@hootboard.uservoice.com.
CalOPPA notice
The California Online Privacy Protection Act, or CalOPPA, is the first state law in the United States to require commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy. The law’s reach stretches well beyond California to require any person or company in the country (and conceivably the world) that operates a website collecting personally identifiable information from California residents to post a conspicuous privacy policy on its website stating exactly the information being collected and those individuals with whom it is being shared, and to comply with this policy. See more at https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/cybersecurity/making_your_privacy_ practices_public.pdf.
In accordance with the CalOPPA, we agree to the following:
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- You can visit our site anonymously, though this may limit the Boards you may see as some are accessible only to certain users. We will provide a link to this privacy policy at all times on the first significant page upon entering our site. This link will appear in a prominent location and include the word “Privacy” so that it may be easily found.
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- We will notify you of any changes we make to this Privacy Policy. To do so, we will place an obvious notice for 30 days that the Privacy Policy has been changed. We will also reach out to you via the email you provide us notifying you of the changes. By continuing to access or use HootBoard once those changes become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Privacy Policy.
Your use confirms your acceptance
By using HootBoard, you agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use . Please discontinue your use of HootBoard if you do not consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Use.
Contact us
If you have any questions or comments regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us via email at support@hootboard.uservoice.com.