Privacy Policy

The Callosum Software GmbH ("Tellonym", "we", "us", "our") takes the private nature of your information very seriously. We strive to be transparent about how we collect and process your information secure and provide with meaningful choices. This policy describes how we treat the information we collect or receive when you visit tellonym.me ("Website") and / or Tellonym's other domains, products, advertising products, services, and / or content, including our iOS and Android mobile applications (collectively with the Site, the "Services").

These Terms of Use are a translation from the original German version. In case of any discrepancies between the content of this translation and the original German version, the original German version shall prevail. Tellonym excludes all liability for an incorrect translation.

What This Privacy Policy Covers

This Privacy Policy covers our treatment of information gathered when you are using or accessing the Services. This Privacy Policy also covers our treatment of any information about you that our partners share with us or that we share with our partners.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that we do not own, control, or manage, including but not limited to any third party websites, services, applications, or businesses (“ Third Party Services”). While we try to work only with those Third Party Services that share our respect for your privacy, we don't take responsibility for the content or privacy policies of those Third Party Services. We encourage you to carefully review the privacy policies of all Third Party Services you access.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to what our users publish on their profiles and we aren't responsible for the information collection and use practices of individual users. On Tellonym, there is no build in way to allow the automatic gathering of data by users, if they want any data from you, they have to ask for it.

What We Collect and How We Use It

In the course of providing the Services, we collect and receive various types of information. Certain categories of information collected by Tellonym are necessary to use our Services. In order to deliver, personalize, and improve our Services, we combine and use the information we have about you to understand how you use and interact with our Services and the people or things you're connected to and interested in. We describe these types of information and their uses in more detail below.

We mainly rely on three separate bases to lawfully collect and use your information.

First, we need to process your information in certain ways to provide our Services to you, in accordance with our Terms of Service. This processing is necessary to perform the contract between you and us and our Terms of Service make it clear that processing of your information for the purpose of personalized content and ads is a necessary part of the Services which we provide.

Second, where you have given us consent to use your information in certain ways, we will rely on your consent (which you may revoke at any time).

Third, as described in more detail below, in certain cases we may process your information where necessary to further legitimate interests, whether ours or those of visitors, users or partners, where those legitimate interests are not overridden by your rights or interests.

Occasionally, Tellonym may rely on other legal bases to process your information, such as to protect your vital interests or those of others (such as where there is a risk of imminent harm), where necessary in the public interest, or to comply with a legal obligation, a court order, or to exercise and defend legal claims.

Account Information

When you create an account on the Services (an " Account"), we’ll ask you for information such as your username, password, age, email address, and phone number (“ Account Information”) in order to provide you with the Services. We may also use Account Information, alone or together with other information, to enhance and improve the Services, such as by personalisation. We use your age to verify that you can lawfully use the Services and to adjust content to your age. We use your email address to verify your Account and to communicate with you. We allow users to find friends by their contact book. You can, however, opt out of phone lookup through your Account Settings.

Email Communication With Us

As part of the Services, you may occasionally receive email and other communications from us. Administrative communications relating to your Account (e.g. for purposes of Account recovery or password reset) are considered part of the Services and your Account, which you may not be able to opt-out from receiving. We also may send you other kinds of emails, which you can opt-out of from your Account Settings page.

Information about Your Accounts on Third Party Services

You can link your Account to certain Third Party Services. In order to do so, you can choose to provide us with your username or other user ID for a Third Party Service, and you may then be required to log into that Service. After you complete this login process, we will receive a token that allows us to access your account on that service so that we can, for example, post your content to that service when you ask us to. We do not receive or store your passwords for your Third Party Service accounts.

Information Obtained from Third Party Services

In some cases, we partner with Third Party Services that may provides information about you. Such information could include, for example, your gender, if you have disclosed that information to that third party and made it available for Tellonym to access or receive it. To the extent we obtain such information, we may use it to develop new Services or to improve or enhance the Services.

User Content

By default, all sharing through the Services is public, except messages you receive or send ("Tells"). In some cases, especially when the receiver decides to, Tells could get public as well. That's why you always should consider them as public too. If not stated otherwise, you should assume that anything you publish is publicly accessible. Content published and shared publicly is accessible to everyone, including search engines, which may affect the control you have regarding that content. In addition, information shared publicly may be copied and shared throughout the Internet, including through actions or features native to the Services. You should not be afraid of publishing content but you should always have in mind that it's hard to remove content from the internet once it is published.

Native Actions

The Services allow you to perform actions that are integral to our products, such as liking a post, answering or commenting Tells and to follow other users. The mentioned actions are by default public but you can choose to stay anonymous in some cases, for example if you follow somebody. We use information about native actions to improve the Services, develop new Services and, particularly, to personalize your Tellonym experience. Personalisation using this information may include presenting you with new posts relevant to what you've liked, providing you with better search results, and showing you advertising more relevant to your interests.

Information About User Content

In some cases, we may collect information about content you provide to the Services. For example, when it's included as part of your images, we may collect information describing your camera and camera settings. This information allows us to improve the Services and provide additional features and functionality.

Financial Information

In some cases, we may collect financial information, such as information related to your payment method (valid credit card number, type, expiration date or other financial information). We ask for this information when you decide to purchase a paid Service. However, we do not store that financial information.

Information Related to use of the Services

We collect information about how people use the Services, including those with an Account. This type of information may be collected in our log files each time you interact with (i.e., make a request to) the Services. We use internal tools and third party applications and services (like Google Analytics) to collect and analyze this information. Some of this information may also be associated with the Internet Protocol Address (“IP Address”) used to access the Services; some may be connected to your Account; and some may only be collected and used in aggregate form (as a statistical measure that wouldn’t identify you or your Account). We also collect your IP Address when you make a post, particularly when you submit a Tell. We may use this information about how you and others interact with the Services for a number of things generally related to enhancing, improving, protecting, and developing new Services, including but not limited to: providing users with personalized content; providing users with targeted advertising; improving our search results; identifying popular content; fighting spam, malware, identity theft and generally keeping our users and community safe; and for legal and safety reasons as set forth in “Information Disclosed for Our Protection and the Protection of Others.”

Information Related to Your Web Browser

We automatically receive and record information from your web browser when you interact with the Services, such as your browser type and version, what sort of device you are using, your operating system and version, your language preference, the website or service that referred you to the Services, the date and time of each request you make to the Services, your screen display information, and information from any cookies we have placed on your web browser (as described below). We also sometimes detect whether you are using certain web browser extensions and store that information in a manner associated with your Account. We use web browser-related information to provide, secure, enhance and improve the Services.

Location Information

In some cases we collect and store information about where you are located, such as by converting your IP Address into a rough geolocation. We may also ask you to provide information about your location, for example permission to use your geolocation information from your mobile device to geotag a post. We may use location information to improve and personalize the Services for you, for example by showing you relevant content and / or relevant ads.

Information Related to Your Mobile Device

We may collect and store information related to your mobile device. In some cases, we may receive, generate, or assign your mobile device a unique identifier for the purposes described above in “Information Related to Use of the Services.”

Information Collected Using Cookies and Web Tags

Cookies are text files that may be sent to and saved in your web browser when you access a website; your web browser stores these cookies in a way associated with each website you visit, and you can generally see your cookies through your browser settings, depending on what browser you’re using. A web tag is code or a pixel embedded in a web page, or email, that allows Tellonym or a third party to see that you have looked at that page. We use cookies and web tags to enable our servers to recognize your web browser and tell us how and when you use the Services, as described above in “Information Related to Use of the Services.” Our cookies do not, by themselves, contain information that directly identifies you, and we don't combine the general information collected through cookies with other such information to tell us who you are. However, we do use cookies to identify that you have logged in, and that your web browser has accessed the Services, and we may associate that information with your Account if you have one. We may also store unique or near-unique identifiers that we associate with your Account in our cookies. This information, in turn, is sometimes used as described above in “Information Related to Use of the Services.” Most web browsers have an option for turning off the cookie feature, which will prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, as well as (depending on the sophistication of your web browser) allowing you to decide on acceptance of each new cookie in a variety of ways. If you disable cookies, you won't be able to log into your Account, and so won’t be able to use the vast majority of our Services; as such, we don't recommend disabling your cookies when using the Services. Some services that we use (including Third Party Services), such as Google Analytics, use web tags and may also place their own cookies on your browser. We also run limited-time studies using web tags, sometimes with third parties, to, for example, measure the effectiveness of our advertising or email. Note that, unless otherwise disclosed, this Privacy Policy covers our use of cookies only and does not cover the use of cookies by third parties.

Information About Your Contacts

Certain features of the Services allow you to provide us with your contact lists, so that we can connect you with people in our Services that are also on those contact lists. For example, you can send us your mobile phone contact information through our mobile applications, which then allows us to provide you with a list of those contacts that use the Services so that you can “follow” their accounts. We will give you a choice as to whether or not you provide us such information, and we will disclose fully, within the appropriate feature, how we use that information. If you decide to share your contact book, you confirm, that you are authorized to share this data with us.

With Whom Your Information Is Shared

We never share information we receive from you unless:

• we have your permission to share that information, such as to provide the Services that you have requested (including when you connect with Third Party Services)
• we have given you prior notice that the information will be shared, and with whom (such as in this Privacy Policy)
• that information is aggregate information or other information that does not identify you.

You confirm that you have all appropriate consents and authorizations to upload and share third parties’ personal information and where relevant to contact (and for Tellonym to contact on your behalf) such third parties. A list of all Third Parties we work together with is available here: Third Parties.

Information Shared with the Public Through the Services

As noted in “User Content” and “Native Actions,” above, by default, content published through the Services and many actions you take on the Services are shared with the public. Because this kind of information can be seen by anyone and may be indexed by search engines (like Google Search), you should be careful about what you choose to disclose publicly and make sure it’s information you want to share with everyone.

Information Shared Between the Services

We may, if possible, aggregate information about your use of multiple Services and use that consolidated information to enhance and improve the Services, and to develop new Services.

Information You Share with Third Party Services

You may access Third Party Services through the Services, for example by clicking on externally-pointing links. You may also choose to share information that you provide to us with those Third Party Services (for example, by sharing posts to Twitter or Facebook). This Privacy Policy only governs information we collect and you are responsible for reading and understanding those Third Party Services' privacy policies.

Information Shared with Our Agents in Order to Operate and Improve the Services

In some cases, we share information that we store (such as IP Addresses) with third parties, such as service providers, consultants, and other agents ("Agents"), for the purposes of operating, enhancing, and improving the Services, and developing new products and services. For example, we may share information with service providers in order to fight spam, and third-party consultants may have access to information in the process of improving our processes and technology. Agents with whom we share such information for these reasons are generally bound by confidentiality obligations and, unless we tell you differently, our Agents do not have any right to use information we share with them beyond the scope and duration of what is necessary to assist us.

Information Disclosed Pursuant to Business Transfers

In some cases, we may choose to buy or sell business assets. In these transactions, user information is typically one of the transferred business assets. Moreover, if we, or substantially all of our assets, were acquired, or if we go out of business or enter bankruptcy, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party. Such transfers may occur and may be in the legitimate interests of the parties involved. After such transfers, the acquirer of us or our assets may continue to use your Information as set forth in this policy.

Information Disclosed for Our Protection and the Protection of Others

We believe in freedom of expression, and, to the extent reasonable, we try to protect our community from baseless legal demands. That said, we also reserve the right to access, preserve, and disclose any information as we reasonably believe is necessary, in our sole discretion, to (i) satisfy any law, regulation, legal process, governmental request, or governmental order, (ii) enforce this Privacy Policy, our Terms of Service , and any other agreements we have with you , including investigation of potential violations hereof, (iii) detect, prevent, investigate or otherwise address fraud, security, trust and safety, or technical issues (including exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of improving security and preventing fraud, spam, and malware), (iv) respond to user support requests, or (v) protect the rights, property, health or safety of us, our users, any third parties or the public in general, including but not limited to situations involving possible violence, suicide, or self-harm.

We don't want to observe you, but we have to protect Tellonyms users from harming us, each other, or themselves.

Information We Share with Your Consent or at Your Request

Without prejudice to your rights mentioned below where you are an EU user, if you ask us to release information that we have about your Account, we will do so if reasonable and not unduly burdensome.

Information Shared with Other Third Parties

We may share or disclose public, aggregate or depersonalized information with people and entities that we do business with.

Security and Retention of Your Information

Protecting our systems and our users' information is paramount to ensuring Tellonym users enjoy a secure user experience and maintaining our users' trust.

Your Account Information is protected by a password for your privacy and security. We may enable additional security features in the future, like multi-factor authentication. You need to prevent unauthorized access to your Account and information by creating a unique, secure, and protected password and limiting access to your computer and browser by signing off after you have finished accessing your Account on the Services.

Tellonym will retain your information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, for as long as your Tellonym account is active or as needed to provide you with the Services. If you no longer want Tellonym to use your information to provide you with the Services, you may close your account and Tellonym will delete the information it holds about you after a reactivation period of 30 days unless we need to retain and use your information to comply with our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, to enforce our agreements or as otherwise permitted by law.

Legitimate Interests

Tellonym may use your information to provide, improve and customize our Services and the ads and content which we serve to you. This may include the sharing of your information for such purposes and we do so as it is necessary to pursue our legitimate interests and your legitimate interests in receiving personalized content and services. Using and sharing your information for such purposes is also necessary to enable us to pursue our legitimate interests of understanding how our Services are being used and of developing ways to change our Services so they are more exciting and interesting for you and other users. Using your information for the reasons described in this Privacy Policy is also necessary to allow us to pursue our legitimate interests of improving our Services, obtaining insights into usage patterns of our Services, efficiency and interest of our Services for users.

We may also use your information for safety and security purposes, including the sharing of your information for such purposes and we do so as it is necessary to pursue our and your legitimate interests of ensuring the security of our Services, including enhancing users’ protection against harassment, IP infringement, spam and crime and security risks of all types.

You have the right to object to any of this processing and if you want to object please contact Tellonym help.

What Information You Can Access

If you are a registered user, you can access most information associated with your Account by logging into the Services and checking your Account Settings page. Registered and unregistered users can access and delete cookies through their web browser settings and are able to delete them.

Closure of your account and its consequences

If you want to delete your Account, you can do so from your Account Settings page or by emailing us and providing proof of authority over the Account. What constitutes "proof of authority" will vary depending on the circumstances, but generally will require sufficient identifying information so that we can be confident you are the Account owner. In addition, given the nature of sharing on the Services, some of the public activity on your Account prior to deletion may remain stored on our servers and accessible to the public. Your data will be deleted after a reactivation period of 30 days. During that time, you are able to stop the deletion by logging in to your account again. If you wish to skip the reactivation period, please contact our support.

EU Controls and Privacy Rights

If you are usually resident in the EU, Tellonym is the data controller of your information. In accordance with EU law, you have a number of rights and choices regarding the use of your information.

Access and Porting

As described in the section "What Information You Can Access", you can access much of your information by logging into your Tellonym account. If you require additional access or if you do not have a Tellonym account, contact us to request a copy of your information. Where legally required, we can provide your information to third parties.

Rectify, Restrict, Limit, Delete

You can also rectify, restrict, limit or delete much of your information by logging into your Tellonym account. If you cannot do this, or you do not have a Tellonym account, please contact us. For more information on deleting your account or leaving Tellonym. please refer to the section "How to Delete Your Account".

Object

In certain circumstances, such as those described in the "Legitimate Interests" section above, you also have the right to object to the processing of your information by us. In such cases, we will cease processing your information unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue processing or where it is needed for legal reasons. Where we use your data for direct marketing purposes, you can always object using the unsubscribe link in such communication, changing your account settings, or by contacting us.

Revoke consent

You have the right to withdraw your consent to our processing of your information and your use of our Services at any time. Similar to the way in which you can give consent by interacting with our Services, you can also withdraw your consent through our Services. You can choose to delete your Tellonym account as described above.

If you withdraw your consent to the use or sharing of your information for purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, you may not have access to all (or any) of our Services and we might not be able to provide you all (or any) of the Services under this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service. In certain cases, we may continue to process your information after you have withdrawn consent if we have a legal basis to do so or if your withdrawal of consent was limited to certain processing activities. For example, we may keep information data if we need to do so to comply with a legal obligation.

Complain

Without prejudice to any other rights you may have, you also have the right to file a complaint against us with your local supervisory authority. Click here to find your local supervisory authority.

Transfer

Tellonym is a German company, your information will be collected and processed in the European area. However, in order to serve legitimate interests, a transfer to other countries may be necessary. You are free to decide whether to use our services or not. However, if you use our services, you must read our Terms which determine the terms of the contract between us and you. To that extent, where your data is transferred outside the European area, Tellonym relies on the fact, that such a transfer is necessary in order to provide you with our services in accordance with the contract.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time, so you should check it occasionally. If we make changes that are material we will notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes before they take effect or by directly sending you a notification. Please refer to the ‘last modified’ date to see when the Privacy Policy was last updated.

Questions & Concerns

Protecting your data is of utmost importance. If you have further questions or concerns, we kindly ask you to get in touch with our data protection officer Annika Unger: [email protected].

If you prefer communication by mail, please address it to:

Callosum Software GmbH
C/O Annika Unger
Romy-Schneider-Str.
13585 Berlin
Deutschland