TAPATALK PRIVACY POLICY
Last Updated: June 15, 2020
Tapatalk is designed to keep you connected to the forums/sites you love. And designed to protect your privacy. We believe privacy is a right, and you have a right to keep it private. Our goal is to be transparent about how we collect and use information about you, to keep such information secure, and to provide you with meaningful choices.
Our Privacy Policy explains:
To help you understand what personal information we collect about you, here is a summary of the primary information we collect:
For details and specifics on how we collect, use and share information about you, please read our entire Privacy Policy below.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
HOW WE COLLECT USER INFORMATION
HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION COLLECTED
SHARING THE INFORMATION COLLECTED
INFORMATION OUR VENDORS AND OTHER THIRD PARTIES COLLECT
YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS
LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION (EEA users only)
CLOSING YOUR ACCOUNT; DELETING INFORMATION
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
BY USING THE SERVICE, YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, OR DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS PRIVACY POLICY, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY STOP USING THE SERVICE.
Tapatalk, Inc. (“Tapatalk”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) is a Delaware corporation located in the United States of America. We are an aggregator of websites and communications platforms (“Service”). Tapatalk operates the Service at https://www.tapatalk.com and on the Tapatalk Groups websites at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/*name of group*(“Website” or “Websites”, as applicable) and on our application available on various mobile operating systems (“Application”). We make third party websites, chat rooms, forums, message boards, blogs, RSS Feeds, and/or news groups (collectively, “Sites”) available to users of the Service.
The Service is hosted in the United States and is available through the Websites and the Application, and is not directed to individuals under the age of 16. Tapatalk does not knowingly collect information from individuals under 16 years of age without prior parental or guardian consent, or consistent with applicable law. If we learn that we have collected personal information from individuals under the age of 16 (or a different age, if applicable law provides for different protections), then unless we obtain parental or guardian consent to use or maintain that information, we will take steps to delete it.
People have different privacy concerns. We believe you should have tools to control information about you and manage your experience with us. For example, you can find controls to manage or review your account information, marketing preferences, and collection of location data by going to your Profile Settings on the App or Website. If you opt out of receiving targeted ads, you will continue to see ads, but they may not be as relevant or useful to you. For more information on ads and how to opt out, see the section below headed “Advertisements; Ad Networks; Other Third Parties”.
We collect information to better provide the Services to our users - from tailoring your experience with the Application and Websites such as showing you content we think you might be interested in, making recommendations of Sites to follow, to advertising, measuring advertising performance, and related research.
We may collect and combine information when you interact with the Service, including:
Information you give us. We collect the information that you voluntarily give us. For example, when you register for a Tapatalk ID, we ask for your email address, user name, birthdate and password, and may request other registration information required by a Site to register as a member.
We do not any “sensitive” or “special categories of personal data” as defined under European data protection laws.
We use cookies and other standard web technologies to collect information automatically from your device, including:
We use the information collected to provide the Service and personalize your use of the Service. For example, we use the information collected for tailoring your experience with the Application and Websites such as showing you content we think you might be interested in, and making recommendations of Sites to follow. Such information may be used by itself, aggregated, or combined with other information from third parties. We may also use information collected to deliver you information and/or promotional materials about Tapatalk and/or to carry out other purposes that are disclosed to you, and to which you consent.
We may also use the information collected for the following purposes:
We share the information collected as follows:
The Service may contain links to websites or applications not operated by Tapatalk. The Service may also carry advertisements from third party companies not associated with us. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of websites or applications or other services operated by third parties that are linked to or integrated with the Service, or for the privacy practices of third party advertising companies. Once you leave the Service via a link, access a website, a third party application, or click on an advertisement, you should check the applicable privacy policy of the website or application to determine, for example, how they will handle the information they collect about you.
We may include a widget from a third party on the Websites or Application that allows interaction or content sharing by users. “Widgets” are mini-programs (such as a Facebook “Share” or “Like” button) that provide specific services or content from a third party. The third party providing the Widget may offer controls for you to manage the Widget’s appearance and functionality. Your interaction with a Widget typically allows the third party to collect some information about you through the third party’s cookies or its registration information. In some cases, the third party may recognize you through its Widgets and cookies even when you do not interact with the Widget. To obtain a list of these third parties in order to request their privacy policy information and learn about the controls that may be available to you, please contact us using the details in the “Contact Information” section below.
YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS
If you are a resident of California, you have certain rights and protections under California law, including the California Consumer Privacy Act, regarding the collection, processing, and use of information about you. The information that we collect about you when you use the Service as set forth in the Information We Collect section above may include information that is considered “personal information” under California law. We do not knowingly sell the personal information of individuals under the age of 16 without their (or, if under 13, their parent’s or guardian’s) affirmative authorization.
We share the information that we collect about you when you use the Service as set forth in the Information We Collect section above to the third parties listed in the Sharing The Information Collected section above, and there may be instances where such disclosure constitutes “sale” of “personal information” as those terms are defined under California consumer privacy law. You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information, and in order to exercise that right, please contact us at [email protected] or Tapatalk, Inc., Attn: Privacy Officer, 406 Broadway, #158, Santa Monica, CA 90401.
Under California law, you have a legal right to make, and we have a legal obligation to respond to, your request (a) for a copy of the specific pieces of personal information that we have collected about you in the past 12 months, including the categories of information, sources, and purposes of collection, as well as categories of third parties we have shared it with, and/or (b) deletion of personal information that we have collected about you. In order to submit such request, please contact us at [email protected] or Tapatalk, Inc., Attn: Privacy Officer, 406 Broadway, #158, Santa Monica, CA 90401. We may ask you for additional information in order to verify your identify before responding to such request, but we will use such additional information only for purposes of such verification.
We will consider and respond to your information and/or deletion request promptly, and otherwise in accordance with applicable laws. Although we will use good faith efforts to respond to your request, we may not be able to provide and/or delete your personal information in all situations. For example, we may not be able to provide the personal information requested if it imposes an undue burden or expense, requires us to release confidential commercial information, requires the disclosure of personal information relating to another person, or requires authentication of the request that is not feasible.
Under California law, you have a right not to receive discriminatory treatment by a business for the exercise of your consumer privacy rights conferred by California law. We will not discriminate against you, including by denying or providing a different level or quality of the Service, if you exercise your rights under California law.
If you a user located in the European Economic Area, our legal basis for collecting and using the information described above depends on the type of information concerned and the specific context in which we collect it.
We may rely on our legitimate interest to collect information from you, except where such interests are overridden by your data protection interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. Where we rely on our legitimate interests to collect and process information about you, they include the interests described in the section above headed “How We Use the Information Collected”.
However, in some cases, we may rely on your consent or have a legal obligation to collect the information about you, or may otherwise need the information to protect your and/or our vital interests or those of another person or entity. If we rely on your consent to collect and/or process information about you, we will obtain such consent in compliance with applicable laws.
If you have questions about or want further information concerning the legal basis on which we collect and use information about you, please contact us using the details in the “Contact Information” section below.
The Service is available worldwide. As such, we collect personal information globally, and primarily store that information in the United States of America. We transfer, process and store personal information outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”), to wherever we, our Affiliates, or those third parties with whom we may share information about you as described in this Privacy Policy, operate in connection with the Service. Whenever we transfer personal information about you outside of the EEA, we take steps to protect it.
Tapatalk complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union and the United Kingdom to the United States. Tapatalk has certified to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles. A violation of Tapatalk’s commitment to Privacy Shield may be investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. If there is any conflict between the terms of this Privacy Policy and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles will govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/.
If you are a resident of a country in the EEA, you have certain rights and protections under European law regarding the collection, processing, and use of information about you. As set forth above, the information that we collect about you when you use the Service may include certain digital identifiers that are considered “personal data” under European law. We process this data either because it is necessary to further our legitimate interest and/or pursuant to your consent.
As a resident of a country in the EEA, you have the right to:
In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of such information.
Exercising EEA Rights. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected] or Tapatalk, Inc., Attn: Data Protection Officer, 408 Broadway, #158, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Please note that because most of the information we collect and maintain about you can only identify a particular browser or device, and cannot identify you individually, you may need to provide us with additional information to enable us to identify the information we have about you and ensure that we accurately fulfill your request. We will consider and respond to your request promptly, and otherwise in accordance with applicable laws. Although we will use good faith efforts to respond to your request, we may not be able to provide and/or correct the requested information in all situations. For example, we may not be able to provide the information requested if it imposes an undue burden or expense, requires us to release confidential commercial information, or requires the disclosure of information relating to another person.
Onward transfer. As discussed above, we may share information with Affiliates, as well as third parties in connection with the Service. Under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Principles, we are responsible for the processing of personal data we receive from the EEA, and subsequent onward transfers to a third party acting as an agent on our behalf. We comply with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Principles for such onward transfers. If the third party agents we engage to process such information on our behalf act in a manner contrary to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Principles, we are liable for those actions, unless we prove that we are not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.
EEA inquiries and complaints. In compliance with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Principles, we are committed to resolve complaints about our collection or use of personal information. EEA residents with inquiries or complaints regarding our collection or use of personal information should first contact us at [email protected] or Tapatalk, Inc., Attn: Data Protection Officer, 406 Broadway, #158, Santa Monica, CA 90401. We will respond to you within 45 days of receipt of your inquiry or complaint. We have further committed to refer unresolved privacy or data use complaints under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield to the panel established by the EU Data Protection Authorities (“DPAs”). If you have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that we have not addressed satisfactorily, please contact your relevant local Data Protection Authority for more information and to file a complaint by using the information located at: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/article-29/structure/data-protection-authorities/index_en.htm. The services of the panel established by the DPAs are provided to you at no cost (free of charge). We have committed to cooperate and comply with the advice given by the panel established by the DPAs with regard to unresolved complaints. If neither we nor the panel established by the DPAs resolves your Privacy Shield complaint, you may have the possibility to engage in binding arbitration through the Privacy Shield Panel, as described on the Privacy Shield website located at https://www.privacyshield.gov/article?id=ANNEX-I-introduction.
Our goal is delete the Tapatalk account you requested within 30 days of receiving your written request. For the Website, we will delete you email, IP address, username and your profile information. We will also delete your posting and images tied to your username. Because we do not control all other Sites, please contact the Site owner to delete your account information.
If you remove the Application or close your Tapatalk account, we will use reasonable efforts to ensure that information about you is no longer accessible or used by the Service. However, as permitted by applicable law, we retain and may use information about you as necessary to comply with our legal and/or financial obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and other legitimate purposes (including, for document retention and security purposes). Please contact us using the details in the “Contact Information” section below to close your Tapatalk account or request changes or modification of the information you previously provided to us.
Tapatalk uses industry-standard physical, electronic, and procedural measures designed to safeguard the information in our possession against loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure, or modification. However, please note no transmission of information via the Internet or electronic storage solution can be guaranteed to be completely secure, although we take reasonable precautions to protect against security incidents.
We do not store information longer than we need it. The cookies we set expire no later than 30 days after they were last accessed. We typically store the information collected, such as IP address and other information described above until the next login. When we no longer need the information collected, it is deleted from either the cookies or our servers (as applicable).
In some cases, we may keep some information for longer periods of time where required under certain laws or to comply with law enforcement or regulatory requests, which for example may include, those relating to corporate governance, taxation, money laundering and financial reporting legislation.
You may opt-out of receiving promotional emails from us, by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link in the emails you receive from us. You can also manage your email settings for the Website by going to your Profile Settings>Board Preferences>Edit Notification Settings. You can manage email preferences in the Application by going to Profile Settings>General>Email Notifications.
From time-to-time, Tapatalk may modify this Privacy Policy to reflect industry initiatives, regulatory reasons, changes in the law, our information collection and use practices, or changes in the features of the Service or technology. Therefore, it is important that you review this Privacy Policy regularly to ensure you are updated as to any changes.
If Tapatalk significantly changes our practices regarding collection or use of personal information about you, such information will continue to be governed by the Privacy Policy under which it was collected unless you have been provided notice of, and the opportunity to choose not to have information about you used as described in the revised Privacy Policy before such changes take effect, which may require that you stop using the Service and deactivate your Tapatalk account, as outlined above
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected] or at:
Residents outside of the European Economic Area:
Tapatalk, Inc.
Attn: Privacy Officer
406 Broadway, #158
Santa Monica, CA 90401
European Economic Area residents:
Tapatalk, Inc.
Attn: Data Protection Officer
406 Broadway, #158
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Important note: The data controller of information about European Economic area residents is Tapatalk, Inc. at the above address.