Updated: 2020-05-01
This Privacy Policy explains how we (MediaLab.AI) collect, use and share your information when you use our website, mobile application and other online products and services (we call all these the "Services") or when you otherwise interact with us.
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we do, we will let you know by revising the date at the top of the policy or providing you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to our homepage or sending you a notification).
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: [email protected]
Account Information: When you use our mobile application, a username will be randomly assigned to you that you may change or delete at any time. Your username is publicly displayed when you interact with the Services, such as when you post a whisper or send a chat message to another user. Please keep in mind that if your username contains your real name or is the same as how you identify yourself on other online services, people who see it may determine your identity. We may also ask you for, or you may choose to provide, additional information, such as age or gender, that will be associated with your Whisper account. This information may identify, relate to, describe, reference, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer, household, or device (“personal information”). Personal information does not include: (a) Publicly available information from government records; (b) Deidentified or aggregated consumer information; or (c) Information excluded from the California Consumer Protection Act’s scope, like: (i) health or medical information covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) or clinical trial data; (ii) personal information covered by certain sector-specific privacy laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) or California Financial Information Privacy Act (FIPA), and the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994.
User Content: When you interact with the Services, we collect the information and content you create. For example, we review the text and/or image content of your whispers, replies, chat messages, and collect metadata regarding such messages that may collect the identity of the user and any users they communicate with. All whispers and replies are public and are publicly displayed (for information about deletion of whispers, please see “Your Choices” below). They may be viewed, shared and modified by our users, us and others for commercial or personal purposes (consistent with the rights and licenses in our Terms of Use). Please keep in mind that if you include information that could identify you in the text or image of a whisper, people who see it may determine your identity. MediaLab does not post chat messages publicly but, as with any message that you send via any service, the recipient might do so.
Other Information: You may provide other information directly to us. For example, we may collect information when you fill out a form, update your account, interact with the Services, apply for a job at our company, communicate with us via third-party social media sites, request customer support or otherwise communicate with us.
Location Information: Many features of the Services will not work unless you provide us with some information about your location. If you consent to the collection of location information (e.g. if you permit your mobile device to send us your latitude and longitude), we will collect and use this information both while you are directly using the Services and in the “background” (i.e. at times when you are not directly using the Services), so that we can tailor your interactions and experiences with the Services and to provide more relevant advertising to you on our Services and other websites and mobile applications. For example, we or our advertising partners may show you whispers from people around you or places you frequently visit, notifications of things happening around you in real time, or advertisements from businesses near your location. If you do not permit your mobile device to provide us with location information, or location information is not available from your device for technical reasons, we may use your IP address or information about the WiFi SSID from which you access the Services to determine an approximate geographic location for your device. For more details about how you may control the collection of location information, please see "Your Choices" below.
Usage Information: We collect information about your use of the Services, including access times, pages and whispers viewed, user and whisper interactions (e.g. hearts, flags and replies) and other information about your interactions with us, the Services and other users. We use this information to, among other things, personalize your experience, provide and improve the Services, and monitor and analyze use of the Services.
Device Information: We collect information about the device you use to access our Services, which may include the hardware model, operating system and version, browser type and language, IP address, unique device identifiers and mobile network information. Among other things, we use this information to customize the Service for your device, to provide customer service and support, to deliver the products and services you request, to deliver notifications, for user safety, and for analytics and authentication.
Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies: Like most websites and applications, we and our service providers use cookies, web beacons and other technologies to collect information. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us and our service providers to, among other things, improve our Services and your experience by seeing which areas and features of our Services are popular. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, please see "Your Choices" below.
Log Information: We collect information in our log files when you use the Services. This includes, among other things, your browser and device type, language, access times, pages viewed, your IP address, and the URL you visited before navigating to our websites. We use log information to provide, understand, and improve our Services.
In particular, we have collected the following categories of personal information from its users within the last twelve (12) months:
| Category | Examples | Collected |
|---|---|---|
| A. Identifiers. | A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers. | YES |
| B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)). | A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver’s license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information. Some personal information included in this category may overlap with other categories. | NO |
| C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law. | Age (40 years or older), race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or childbirth and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, veteran or military status, genetic information (including familial genetic information). | YES |
| D. Commercial information. | Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. | NO |
| E. Biometric information. | Genetic, physiological, behavioral, and biological characteristics, or activity patterns used to extract a template or other identifier or identifying information, such as, fingerprints, faceprints, and voiceprints, iris or retina scans, keystroke, gait, or other physical patterns, and sleep, health, or exercise data. | NO |
| F. Internet or other similar network activity. | Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application, or advertisement. | YES |
| G. Geolocation data. | Physical location or movements. | YES |
| H. Sensory data. | Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information. | NO |
| I. Professional or employment-related information. | Current or past job history or performance evaluations. | NO |
| J. Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)). | Education records directly related to a student maintained by an educational institution or party acting on its behalf, such as grades, transcripts, class lists, student schedules, student identification codes, student financial information, or student disciplinary records. | NO |
| K. Inferences drawn from other personal information. | Profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes. | NO |
The following special categories of personal data are may be considered sensitive under the laws of your jurisdiction and may receive special protection:
Racial or ethnic origin.
Political opinions.
Religious or philosophical beliefs.
Trade union membership.
Genetic data.
Biometric data.
Data concerning health.
Data concerning sex life or sexual orientation.
Data relating to criminal convictions or offences.
When you use the Services, certain information may be shared with other users and the public. For example:
Any whisper posted to the Services is public and, as a result, others may be able to see your username at the time the whisper was posted, the text and image contents of your whisper and the geographic location in which you posted your whisper.
When you use Whisper's chat messaging function to directly contact another user, the recipient of your chat message will see your username and the contents of your message. The recipient may also choose to disclose your chat messages to others.
If you post any User Content to the Services, other Whisper users may be able to see certain information related to your location. For example, other users may be able to see whether you are or were within a certain proximity of their current location or if you frequent similar locations.
If you invite others to try Whisper via SMS, email or otherwise, those individuals may see your name, phone number, email address or other contact information.
We may also share information as follows or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:
With vendors, consultants and other service providers who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf;
If we believe your actions are inconsistent with our user agreements or policies, or to protect the rights, property and safety of Whisper or others;
In connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company;
Between and among Whisper, and its current and future parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and other companies under common control and ownership;
If we have a good faith belief that disclosing the information is necessary to comply with a law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; and
With your consent or at your direction.
We may also share aggregated or de-identified information, which cannot reasonably be used to identify you.
The Services may offer social sharing features and other integrated tools, which let you share whispers with other media. Your use of such features enables the sharing of information with your friends or the public, depending on the settings you establish with the entity that provides the social sharing feature. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, please visit the privacy policies of the entities that provide these features.
To perform analytics and deliver relevant content and advertising, we may allow others to collect information about how you use our Services. For example, these entities may use cookies, device identifiers and similar technologies to collect information about your computer or device, the content that interests you, the places you visit, and the time you spend using different parts of our Services.
For more information about online advertising, or to opt out of having your web browsing information used by participating companies for behavioral advertising purposes, please visit the Digital Advertising Alliance Consumer Choice Page, the Trust Arc Preference Manager, the Google Ad Settings Page and the Facebook Ad Choices Page. Your mobile device also may include a feature (“Limit Ad Tracking” on iOS or “Opt out of Interest-Based Ads” on Android) that allows you to opt out of having certain information collected through our mobile application used for behavioral advertising purposes.
Our partners and third parties that we contract with may collect and use information from your use of Whisper and for more information on how our partners or third parties may collect and use information from Whisper, please refer to their privacy pages below:
Your whispers remain public, if they were posted publicly, so long as you or we do not delete them from the Services. You may choose to delete your individual whispers at any time and we will then remove them from the Services. However, it is important to note that your deleted whispers may remain in storage in our systems for a limited period of time for legal, business, safety, or system backup reasons, and they may remain accessible in cached and archived pages of the Services or elsewhere if others have chosen to copy or save them. Search engines and other sites may also index and cache content on our Services. You may have to contact these third-party sites or search engines directly to delete your cached information, subject to their policies and procedures.
If you wish to delete your account, please contact us by using the “Email Support” link in settings from inside the application, but note that we may retain certain information as required by law, for legitimate business purposes or for the safety of Whisper (including its users) and others. We may also retain cached or archived copies of information about you for a certain period of time.
When you first download or open any of our mobile applications or access certain features of the Services, you will be asked to consent to the collection of location information from your mobile device or platform. If you consent to the collection of this information but later wish to withdraw your consent, you may do so at any time by either changing the settings on your mobile device or deleting our mobile application. For more information about disabling location information on your mobile device, please refer to our FAQs.
Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that if you choose to remove or reject cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of our Services.
MediaLab is based in the United States and the information we collect is governed by U.S. law. By accessing or using the Services or otherwise providing information to us, you consent to the processing and transfer of information in and to the U.S. and other countries.
This Privacy Notice supplements the information contained in this privacy notice and applies solely to all visitors, users, and others who reside in the State of California or reside in an area that is subject to E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) (“consumers” or “you”). We adopt this notice to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this Notice.
This Notice does not apply to employment-related personal information collected from California-based employees, job applicants, contractors, or similar individuals. Where noted in this Notice, the CCPA temporarily exempts personal information reflecting a written or verbal business-to-business communication (“B2B personal information”) from some of its requirements.
The CCPA and GDPR provide certain consumers with specific rights regarding their personal information. This section describes your rights and explains how to exercise those rights.
You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request (see Exercising Access, Data Portability, and Deletion Rights), we will disclose to you:
The categories of personal information we collected about you.
The categories of sources for the personal information we collected about you.
Our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling that personal information.
The categories of third parties with whom we share that personal information.
The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you (also called a data portability request).
If we sold or disclosed your personal information for a business purpose, two separate lists disclosing:
sales, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient purchased; and
disclosures for a business purpose, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient obtained.
You have the right to request that we delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request (see Exercising Access, Data Portability, and Deletion Rights), we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your personal information from our records, unless an exception applies.
We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to:
Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, or otherwise perform our contract with you.
Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et. seq.).
Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent.
Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us.
Comply with a legal obligation.
Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.
To exercise the access, data portability, and deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us by Emailing us at: [email protected]
Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your personal information. You may also make a verifiable consumer request on behalf of your minor child.
You may only make a verifiable consumer request for access or data portability twice within a 12-month period. The verifiable consumer request must:
Provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected personal information or an authorized representative.
Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.
We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you.
Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us.
We will only use personal information provided in a verifiable consumer request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.
For instructions on exercising sale opt-out rights, see Personal Information Sales Opt-Out and Opt-In Rights.
We endeavor to respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.
If you have an account with us, we will deliver our written response to that account. If you do not have an account with us, we will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option.
Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding the verifiable consumer request’s receipt. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable. For data portability requests, we will select a format to provide your personal information that is readily usable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance.
We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.
If you are 16 years of age or older, you have the right to direct us to not sell your personal information at any time (the “right to opt-out”). We do not sell the personal information of consumers we actually know are less than 16 years of age, unless we receive affirmative authorization (the “right to opt-in”) from either the consumer who is at least 13 but not yet 16 years of age, or the parent or guardian of a consumer less than 13 years of age. Consumers who opt-in to personal information sales may opt-out of future sales at any time.
To exercise the right to opt-out, you (or your authorized representative) may submit a request to us by visiting the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” Section of our website.
Once you make an opt-out request, we will wait at least twelve (12) months before asking you to reauthorize personal information sales. However, you may change your mind and opt back in to personal information sales at any time by:
Accessing ‘Personal Data Consent' in ‘Settings’ on the Whisper app.
You do not need to create an account with us to exercise your opt-out rights. We will only use personal information provided in an opt-out request to review and comply with the request.
We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:
Deny you goods or services.
Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services.
Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.
However, we may offer you certain financial incentives permitted by the CCPA that can result in different prices, rates, or quality levels. Any CCPA-permitted financial incentive we offer will reasonably relate to your personal information’s value and contain written terms that describe the program’s material aspects. Participation in a financial incentive program requires your prior opt in consent, which you may revoke at any time.
California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits users of our Website that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please contact us at:
Email: [email protected]
Postal Address:
MediaLab.AI
Attn: Whisper - Privacy Department
1237 7th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Where permitted by applicable law, we may transfer the personal data we collect about you to other jurisdictions other than where you reside that may not be deemed to provide the same level of data protection as your home country for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice. If you are located in the EU, we have implemented sufficient GDPR compliant procedures to secure the transfer of your personal data to the United States and other jurisdictions.
We reserve the right to amend this privacy notice at our discretion and at any time. When we make changes to this privacy notice, we will post the updated notice on the Website and update the notice’s effective date. Your continued use of our Website following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.
If you have any questions or comments about this notice, the ways in which we collect and use your information described here, your choices and rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your rights, please do not hesitate to contact us at:
Email: [email protected]
Postal Address:
MediaLab.AI
Attn: Whisper - Privacy Department
1237 7th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401