Privacy Statement

This Privacy Statement was last updated January 1, 2023.

1. Scope of Privacy Statement

This Privacy Statement (“Privacy Statement”) describes how Auction.com, LLC, and its affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, “we,” “us,” “our,” “Auction.com,” and/or the “Company”) handle your (“Your” or “You”) personal information in connection with the following (collectively, the “Services”):

• the Company’s websites (including www.auction.com and any other website where this Privacy Statement is posted);
• the Company’s live auction events; and
• Auction.com tools, documents, emails, and applications (including mobile applications), and other services.

By using our Services, you expressly consent to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Statement.

To review our California Notice at Collection, please click here.

To review our California Personnel Privacy Statement and Notice at Collection, please click here.

2. Commitment to Privacy

The Company has a strong commitment to providing information tailored to your individual needs while providing excellent service to all of our visitors and customers, including respecting concerns about privacy. We understand that you may have questions about whether and how we collect and use information. This Privacy Statement details the steps we take to respect your privacy concerns. If, after reviewing this Privacy Statement, you have any questions or privacy concerns, please contact us as described in the “Contacting Us” section.

3. COLLECTION OF YOUR INFORMATION

Information You Provide. You may provide us with information in a variety of circumstances, e.g., by creating an account through the Services (“Auction.com Account”), updating your Auction.com Account profile, registering for or participating in a marketing or transaction event, completing online forms, or entering into a transaction with us. This information may include, without limitation, identifiable information such as your first and last name, e-mail address, mailing address, telephone number, username, password, billing information, financial information, and other identifiable information exchanged in connection with real estate transactions and related financing transactions (“Personal Information”).

In some cases, this information includes government-issued identification documents or related data (such as a driver license number), financial account numbers, geolocation data, and demographic information, some of which may be further defined as Sensitive Personal Information.

Information from Other Sources.  We also may acquire information from other sources, such as publicly available information like property records, or from third parties (like financial institutions who provide us customer personal information in connection with providing services; and ad tech companies or data brokers who provide us with information such as geolocation data, device identifiers, contact information, or demographic data).

Automatically Collected Information. We may automatically collect information about the computer or devices (including mobile devices) you use to access the Services, or that you use to interact with emails, advertisements, or other electronic content that we deliver to you. For example, we may collect and store information such as your browser type, screen size, IP address, language, operating system, the location of your wireless device (e.g., latitude and longitude), the state or country from which you accessed the Services, unique device identifiers including but not limited to mobile advertising identifiers (e.g., a UDID or an IDFA on Apple devices like the iPhone or iPad, or the Android Ad ID), the pages you view, the links you click, the Services you use and how you interact with them and with the equipment you use to access the Services, the date and time of your visit to particular pages and the amount of time you stay on them, the websites you visited immediately before and after visiting our websites, error logs, and/or other hardware and software information. Although we do not record keystrokes or in-progress typing for direct marketing purposes, we reserve the right to collect any information for anti-fraud and other cybersecurity purposes, and we may provide autocomplete or autosave functionality for your convenience. We and our vendors may use “cookie” technology and similar online tools, such as web beacons and web pixels, to automatically collect this information. “Cookies” are small files that a website stores on a user’s computer or device. The Services use cookies and similar technologies for various purposes, including, for example, to recognize your device, store your preferences, and keep the information you enter on multiple pages together, and as described in our Cookie Preferences tool.

For example, when you use the Services, we or third parties operating analytics or ad technologies may use the information that is collected through cookies and similar technologies to perform analytics concerning your use of the Services (and other websites, apps and services tracked by these third parties) and/or to ensure that appropriate ads are presented to you through the Services and on third-party websites, apps and services. The ad technologies also may help control the number of times you see a given ad, deliver ads that relate to your interests, and measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns.

Some of the technology described above is used by us or our partners to correlate information collected about you over time, across two or more websites or online services. In addition, we may also combine the information collected by us on you with information from third parties that may be identifiable to you. We may use this correlated and/or combined information to enhance or market the Services or for other purposes described in this Statement.

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you may be able to set your browser to block certain cookies (consult the instructions for your particular browser on how to do this). Please note that if you decide to block all cookies, this will interfere with your ability to perform certain transactions, use certain functionality, and access certain content on the Services.

Please review Section 6 (“Your Data Privacy Choices”) for additional information about how you can manage certain cookie-related collection of information.

Auction.com Account. Certain information specified in the preceding paragraph (such as what content you access, view, click on or search for on the Services, the devices from which you access such content and the length of time for which you view such content) may be associated with your Auction.com Account.  Auction.com may use the account details from your Auction.com Account across all the Services that Auction.com offers.

User-Initiated Communication. From time to time, portions of the Services may enable you to send emails and other types of messages to us, or to third parties, and to participate in bulletin boards and discussion groups. We have the right to use reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, copy, and display all such emails, messages, communications, and/or postings to these bulletin boards and discussion groups throughout the world in any form, pursuant to the Website Terms of Use. Among other things, this right allows us to review your messages with other users to enforce our Terms of Use. Whenever you choose to initiate these kinds of communication with us, or anyone else, you may be contacted in return. Such communications you send, when viewed by others, may be identified by your actual name and/or your username. Also, remember that our bulletin boards and discussion groups are open to the public, and, therefore, your postings can be seen by anyone, may be indexable by search engines, and are not protected by us or any other entity. Please use your discretion when deciding whether and what to post and whom to contact and message. We are not liable for third party content, including communications made by you, on these public forums, nor should such content be considered to be made on behalf of the Company, unless we expressly say so.  We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to monitor, edit or delete postings from our bulletin boards and discussion groups. This reservation of rights shall not under any circumstances obligate us to conduct such edits or deletions, nor shall it cause us to be liable for any such edits or deletions.

The Services may also contain plugins for other websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+. We recommend reviewing the privacy policies with respect to the social plugins for each of these websites, prior to clicking on such plugins.

Telephone, Chat and Video Conferencing Conversations. We may record the conversations our agents or employees have with you, including without limitation telephone, chat, and video conversations. By engaging in any telephone, chat, or video conversation with our agents or employees, you consent to our recording and storing such conversation. We do this from time to time to monitor the quality of service and accuracy of information our agents and employees give to you, to ensure that your instructions are followed, and to ensure compliance with the Terms of Use and applicable law. No agent or employee of the Company is authorized to waive this or any other provisions of our Company policies and procedures.

4. Use of Your Information

We will use your information for the purpose for which you provided it or for which we collected it, and for other appropriate purposes. For example, we may use your information to:

• Create and maintain your Auction.com Account and account profile, registration information and communication preferences;
• Enhance the user experience;
• Perform research and analytics;
• Customize, personalize, and deliver the content and advertising that you see on the Services and elsewhere;
• Make inferences and deductions about connections between and among different internet-connected devices used by you or members of your household;
• Respond to and fulfill your requests for Services (including qualification to make bids or offers) or other inquiries;
• Determine your eligibility for certain marketing or transaction events, services, gifts, prizes, and special features of the Services;
• To call, email, or otherwise contact you (subject to any legally required consent):
  • to facilitate marketing or transaction events for which you are registered;
  • regarding new opportunities relating to marketing or transaction events or our other Services;
  • to send you information about topics that may be of interest to you;
  • to communicate in relation to your Auction.com Account;
  • to alert you to the latest developments and features of the Services; and
  • for other marketing, transactional, informational or research purposes.
• Administer, register or enroll you in, or facilitate your participation in recreational, educational or entertainment activities; surveys or questionnaires; promotions or sweepstakes, or any other services, events or activities sponsored by us or third parties, or offered in connection with our Services;
• Send you prizes and gifts;
• Enforce our Terms of Use and other contractual rights;
• Protect our rights and property and the rights and property of others; and
• Comply with law.

5. DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We may disclose your information in the following ways:

We may make information collected through the Services available to subsidiaries and affiliated companies that are under common ownership or control within the Company family.

If you make a bid or offer on a particular asset, the seller and its affiliates and representatives, and potentially other parties related to the transaction, may be given access to some of your personal information.  For example, we may share auction-related records with a foreclosing lender and their service providers (such as trustees and law firms).

We may exchange personal information with:

• Processors, data processors, customer/support services, technical service providers, and other businesses that provide services to us;
• Joint marketing partners;
• Financial service institutions, such as companies engaged in banking, mortgage lending, consumer finance, securities, and insurance; and
• Other participants and potential participants in auctions and related transactions.

Some of our service providers and their partners, such as the providers of advertising and analytics services described in the “Collection of Your Information” section above, collect information directly from your device.

In addition to the other disclosures described in this section, we may, as allowed by law, provide a copy of information about you to other companies who we believe may have products and services of interest to you so that they may market to you. Such information sharing is not a current practice as of the publication date of this Privacy Statement, but we reserve the right to do this in the future, and at such time, we will comply with any applicable legal requirement to (i) provide you with an opportunity to opt-out on the “Preference Center” page located in your Auction.com Account profile on www.auction.com, or by contacting us as described in the “Contacting Us” section.   or (ii) take additional or alternative steps to provide you with an appropriate opportunity to control whether your data is involved.

We may share your information with any person or entity where we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary or otherwise appropriate to: (a) comply with the law or in response to a subpoena, court order, government request, or other legal process; (b) produce relevant documents or information in connection with litigation, arbitration, mediation, adjudication, government or internal investigations, or other legal or administrative proceedings; (c) protect the interests, rights, safety, or property of the Company or others; (d) enforce the Terms of Use on the Services or other contractual obligations; (e) provide users of the Services with the services they request; (f) provide you with special offers or promotions from us; (g) allow another company that acquires the Company or some or all of its assets to continue to serve you; or (h) operate the Company’s systems properly.

We may disclose your information with any person or entity when we have your consent.

We may use and disclose non-personal information about you or use of the Services, including any de-identified or aggregated data, or statistical data without limitation.

 

6. YOUR DATA PRIVACY CHOICES

Controls Related to Cookies and Other Automated Data Collection. For any browser you use on a particular device, you can manage our use of cookies on Auction.com and our other participating websites by using the browser on that device to click this link. This will launch a consent tool where you can adjust your preferences about how certain cookies and certain similar technologies are used on that site. Any choice will likely apply only to that browser on that device. Accordingly, you should repeat this process with each browser and device you use to access our participating websites. This is the best way to control cookies on the sites that offer this option, regardless of your location.

You can also change the settings on your mobile device to manage how your device collects and shares your mobile advertising identifier for advertising and analytics purposes, including our use of it for those purposes.

In addition, you may also review and use the privacy options from these vendors:

• Google allows you to install a Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on for each web browser you use to limit their browser-based activities.
• You can learn more about how Adobe may handle information collected through our use of its services, and your options for controlling this activity, by visiting Adobe’s website.
• Mobile device users can use the AppsFlyer opt-out to control AppsFlyer’s data collection and/or use.
• Your browser may also offer a Global Privacy Control signal (“GPC”). Auction.com treats a GPC-enabled browser as having opted out of what the California Consumer Privacy Act calls a “sale” of any California personal information that is collected on that site from that browser using cookies and similar technology. You can override that treatment for a GPC-enabled browser by using the cookie controls available from our website footer.

If you are interested in more information about tailored ads and your choices to prevent certain third parties from delivering certain kinds of tailored ads, you may visit the following third party websites: the Network Advertising Initiative Consumer Opt-Out Page or the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Consumer Opt-Out Page.

Controls Related to Communications from Us. When creating an Auction.com Account or registering for or participating in any marketing or transaction event on one of our Company websites, you may agree to receive direct mail, email newsletters and other promotional or marketing email, telephone, and/or text communications. For example, from time to time we may send you email notices or news updates alerting you to new features, products, promotions, or services pertaining to offerings from us, new opportunities, surveys or our other Services. Additionally, if you have created an Auction.com Account or registered for marketing or a transaction on one of our Company websites, we may send you direct mail or call you with respect to such matters.

Text message sign-ups:  When you provide your telephone number or text JOIN to a number we give you, you are choosing to subscribe to receive Auction.com Asset Update Alerts and/or Auction.com Event Notifications by text message from us to the phone number you provide, and you are authorizing our use of your phone number (which you confirm that you own) to send you text messages with marketing messages, alerts and updates about properties you are interested in. (You may incur fees from these messages depending on your mobile or data plan.)  And if you have opted-in to receiving text-message and/or telephone call marketing, you also consent to our use of an automatic telephone dialing system for telephone calls and texts.

With respect to Auction.com Communications: You may alter your preferences with respect to promotional communications at any time on the “Preference Center” page located in your Auction.com Account profile on www.auction.com, or by contacting us at [email protected].

• If you no longer wish to receive direct mail or email Auction.com Communications, you may opt out by contacting us as described in the “Contacting Us” section.
• If you no longer wish to receive promotional calls, you may opt-out of receiving these communications by telling the representative who calls you with such Auction.com Communication that you no longer wish to receive those calls, or by contacting us as described in the “Contacting Us” section.
• If you no longer wish to receive text message Auction.com Communications, you may opt-out by replying with the word “STOP” to a text message you received from us or by calling us at 800-793-6107. You may request help by replying with the word “HELP” to a text message from us or by calling 800-793-6107.

We will gladly comply with such requests to opt out of or unsubscribe from promotional communications, but we reserve the maximum amount of time allowed by law to process such requests. You cannot opt out of certain transactional emails or telephone calls.

Data Privacy Requests.

If you no longer wish to use the Services, contact us as described in the “Contacting Us” section.

If information you provided changes or is inaccurate, you agree to update your information by updating the account information located in your Auction.com account profile.

Individuals in some countries outside the United States have certain legal rights to access certain information we hold about them, and to obtain its correction, amendment, or deletion (in addition to the self-serve option described in the previous sentence), as well as to object to the processing of their personal information or withdraw previously provided consent to such processing. (Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of data processing based on consent before its withdrawal, and in some cases we may continue to process personal data on legal grounds other than consent, such as compliance with law.) To exercise those rights, they may contact us as described below.

State-Based Privacy Rights

Auction.com is subject to various California privacy-related statutes (detailed further below).  Residents of California should refer to the “Notice for California Residents” section below for a fuller description of their rights under those laws and how they may exercise them.  Other states, including Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, and Utah, have passed similar types of privacy statutes that begin to take effect in 2023, but to-date, Auction.com does not meet the conditions that would trigger their applicability when they take effect.

7. Notice for California Residents

The following paragraphs in this section provide details under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”; as used further herein, CCPA shall refer to the CCPA as amended by the CPRA) and apply solely to personal information about California residents that is subject to the CCPA. Information about people who live outside California is not handled in the manner described in this section.  This section also does not apply to personal information that we handle solely in our capacity as a “service provider” to other businesses, and for questions or requests regarding that information, you must contact those businesses directly.  The CCPA has certain exemptions for information that is subject to other laws, such as the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”).  Accordingly, non-public personal information (as that term is defined in the GLBA) that we may obtain about you from financial institution(s) in the course of providing services for them may not be subject to the CCPA or to this section of the Privacy Policy.

In this section, the terms “personal information” and “sensitive personal information” have the meaning set forth in the CCPA.  “Consumer” means the Californian to whom the personal information or sensitive personal information relates.

Collection and Disclosure of Personal Information and Sensitive Personal Information. During the 12 months leading up to the effective date of this Privacy Statement, we have collected all of the types of personal information and sensitive personal information described in the “Collection of Your Information” section of this Privacy Statement above.  Below is a helpful table listing the categories of personal information and sensitive personal information we have collected about California residents, categories of third parties to whom this information was disclosed, and our current plan for typical retention periods for this information:

 

Retention and Deletion.  Any personal information we acquire is retained, and then deleted, consistent with our business practices, our contractual requirements from client financial institutions, and applicable law. For most categories of information, this may be up to seven years.

During the 12 months leading up to the effective date of this Privacy Statement, we “sold” and “shared” (as those terms are defined under the CCPA), what the CCPA calls “identifiers” (like IP addresses) and “internet or other electronic network activity information” (like information regarding an individual’s browsing interactions on a website) to third parties that assist us, such as marketing providers and analytics providers.  This practice continues today.

To our knowledge, we do not “sell” the personal information of individuals under 16 years of age.

The Right to Opt Out of “Sales” and “Sharing”: Californians have a right to direct us not to “sell” or “share” certain personal information as those terms are defined under the CPRA.  You can exercise that right by following the steps on our “Your Privacy Choices” page. You also can contact us at (800) 793-6107 to perform the portion of the opt-out process in which you provide us with email address, state, and (optionally) name, telephone number, and address. Auction.com also follows the Global Privacy Control opt-out signal feature in particular browsers to the extent described in the “Your Data Privacy Choices” section above.  Opting out of “sales” and “sharing” limits only some types of disclosures of personal information.

We reserve the right to take reasonable steps to verify the validity of your request.

Use of California Personal Information. We and our service providers may use the categories of personal information we collect from and about you for the following business purposes:

• To create and maintain your Auction.com Account and account profile, registration information and communication preferences;
• To enhance the user experience;
• To perform research and analytics;
• To customize, personalize and deliver the content and advertising that you see on the Services and elsewhere;
• To respond to and fulfill your requests for Services (including qualification to make bids or offers) or other inquiries;
• To determine your eligibility for certain marketing or transaction events, services, gifts, prizes, and special features of the Services;
• To call, email or otherwise contact you:
  • to facilitate marketing or transaction events for which you are registered;
  • regarding new opportunities relating to marketing or transaction events or our other Services;
  • to send you information about topics that may be of interest to you;
  • to communicate in relation to your Auction.com Account;
  • to alert you to the latest developments and features of the Services; and
  • for other marketing, transactional, informational or research purposes.
• Administer, register or enroll you in, or facilitate your participation in recreational, educational or entertainment activities; surveys or questionnaires; promotions or sweepstakes, or any other services, events or activities sponsored by us or third parties, or offered in connection with our Services;
• Send you prizes and gifts;
• Enforce our Terms of Use and other contractual rights;
• Protect our rights and property and the rights and property of others; and
• Comply with law.

For additional information, please review the “Use of Your Information” section above.

Additional California Data Privacy Rights

Under the CCPA, California residents have the following additional data privacy rights, subject to exceptions:

• The Right to Know: You have the right to request that we provide you the categories of personal information we have collected or disclosed about you in the last 12 months; the categories of sources of such information; the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling your personal information; and the categories of third parties with whom we shared personal information.
• The Right to Access: You have the right to request we provide access to and/or a copy of certain information we hold about you during the last 12 months.
• The Right to Correct: You have the right to request we correct inaccurate personal information about you.
• The Right to Delete: You have the right to request we delete personal information you provided to us.
• The Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal information: Auction.com may collect and use your Sensitive Personal Information for permitted purposes, including to perform the services reasonably expected by you and when required by law. If Auction.com uses or discloses your Sensitive Personal Information for a purpose other than what is provided under the CCPA, you have the right to receive notice of such use or disclosure and the right to request we limit our use and disclosure of your Sensitive Personal Information to just what is provided under the CCPA.  To learn more about how to exercise a right to limit the use and disclosure of your “sensitive personal information” under the CCPA, click on link.
• The Right of Nondiscrimination: You have the right to not be discriminated against because you exercise these data privacy rights.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, certain information and business practices may be exempt from such requests under applicable law. For example, we need certain types of information so that we can provide the Services to you and for compliance with applicable law. If you ask us to delete certain information, we may refuse the request for such reasons, or grant it only on the condition that you may no longer be able to access or use the Services.

You may have the right to receive information about financial incentives that we offer to you (if any).

For the fastest response to requests to exercise any of these rights, please visit the “Your Privacy Choices” link on our homepage, or the “Privacy Request Form.” Alternatively, you may contact us via our toll free number at (800) 793-6107.

You may be required to verify your identity before we fulfill your request, which may include verifying your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number. You can also designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. To do so, we must receive a legally sufficient power of attorney signed by you pursuant to California Probate Code sections 4121 to 4130, or other written authorization acceptable to us, for the agent to act on your behalf. You may still need to verify your identity and confirm the agent’s authority directly with us if we are not convinced of the validity of the agent’s request. To submit a request using your authorized agent, visit the “Your Privacy Choices for Authorized Agents” or “Privacy Request Form for Authorized Agents” form.

                   

8. Notice for Nevada Residents

Under Nevada law, certain Nevada consumers may opt out of the “sale” of “personally identifiable information” for monetary consideration (as such terms are defined under Nevada law) to a person for that person to license or sell such information to additional persons. We do not engage in such activity as of the effective date of this Privacy Policy; however, if you are a Nevada resident and you have purchased products or services from us, you may submit a request to opt out of any potential future “sales” under Nevada law by emailing a request to [email protected] with “Nevada Sale Opt-Out” in the subject line with your request.. Please note we may take reasonable steps to verify your identity and the authenticity of the request. Once verified, we will maintain your request in the event our practices change.

9. Security and Account Information

We have implemented physical, administrative, technical, and electronic security measures in an effort to reduce the risk of inappropriate loss, misuse, and alteration of your personal information. Despite our efforts, however, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and we do not promise that your information will remain secure. We appreciate your help in safeguarding the integrity of your own and others’ privacy. We encourage you to let us know immediately if you suspect that any personal information you shared with us is being used contrary to this Privacy Statement.

10. Children’s Information

The Services are not directed toward persons under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly market to or collect any personal information from children under the age of 18. If you are under 18, you are not permitted to submit any personal information to us or the Services. If you provide information to us through the Services, you represent that you are 18 years of age or older. If a parent or guardian believes that we have in our database the personal information of a child under the age of 13, please contact us immediately described in the “Contacting Us” section below to request that we remove such information from our records.

11. Third Party Links and Services

The Services may contain links to third-party websites, including identity verification and social networking websites. Your use of these features may result in the collection or sharing of information about you, depending on the feature. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other websites or services, including those to which we link. We do not endorse or make any representations about third-party websites or services. The personal information you choose to provide to or that is collected by these third parties is not covered by our Privacy Statement. We strongly encourage you to read such third parties’ privacy statements.

12. AMENDMENTS TO PRIVACY STATEMENT

We may amend this Privacy Statement at any time by posting the amended terms on the Services. Unless a different effective date is specified in the update, any changes to this Privacy Statement will become effective immediately upon posting. Your continued use of the Services following the effective date of this Privacy Statement, including any changes thereto, means that you accept such revisions. If we make any material changes to this Privacy Statement, we will post the updated version here and notify you in the manner and to the extent required by law using (if applicable) the main email address registered on your Auction.com account.

13. International Transfers of Information

Some of the uses and disclosures mentioned in this Privacy Statement may involve the transfer of your personal information to various countries around the world that may have different levels of privacy protection than your country. By submitting your personal information, you consent to such transfers. By using the Services, or by submitting your personal information to us, you expressly consent to the storage and processing of your personal information in the United States and in other jurisdictions.

14. Contacting Us

Rights requests under California and Nevada law must be submitted only as described in Sections 7 and 8, respectively.  Should you have any other questions about this Privacy Statement, contact us by sending an email to [email protected]. Please provide your name, mailing address, telephone number and email address so we can service you more quickly. You can also call us at (800) 793-6107 or write to us at Privacy – Legal Department, 1 Mauchly, Irvine, CA 92618.