Updated: November 10, 2021
Effective: November 10, 2021*
*Updates include: Information about our third-party advertising service provider, CMI Marketing, Inc., d/b/a CafeMedia

Your use of our Services is governed by our Terms of Use. OUR TERMS OF USE CONTAIN DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY, A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. THESE PROVISIONS AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT HOW TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE WITH MERRIAM-WEBSTER, INCLUDING UNDER THIS PRIVACY POLICY. PLEASE REVIEW. YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND OUR TERMS OF USE.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Your privacy is important to us. We understand that you are aware of and care about your privacy rights, and we take that seriously. This Privacy Policy sets forth your privacy rights and applies to personal data we may collect:

This Privacy Policy covers Merriam-Webster products and services only. While you may encounter links on the Services to other websites and apps, such as those belonging to our third-party sponsors, advertisers, and other partners, please note that these third-party websites and apps are not covered by this Privacy Policy (unless otherwise noted on the linked website or app, which may be the case if, for example, the website or app is also owned and operated by Merriam-Webster). See Links to Third-Party Websites or Apps below.

Your decision to use the Services and provide your personal data is voluntary. We indicate on our online, mobile, and other registration forms what types of personal data are requested. You may choose not to submit requested information online, or may choose to restrict the use of cookies (see our Cookie Policy and Your Rights & Choices below for more information), but that may limit the services Merriam-Webster is able to provide to you.

The Services are a network of general audience sites, and are not targeted to, and do not knowingly collect personal data from, minors under 16 years of age. We request that these individuals do not provide personal data through the Services.Please see COPPA Compliance below for more information.

We recognize that information privacy is an ongoing responsibility, and so we will from time to time update this Privacy Policy as we undertake new personal data practices or adopt new privacy policies.

Cookie Notice & Cookie Policy

Our Services use cookies, which are small data files that are placed on the hard drive of your computer, tablet, smartphone, or other devices when you visit a website and other tracking tools on our website and digital platforms. When we refer to cookies, this includes other similar technologies such as pixel tags, or web beacons. For more information about these tools and your choices, please refer to our Cookie Policy, Use of Our Services - Information Collected Automatically & Other Information and Your Rights & Choices below.

COPPA Compliance

In accordance with the Federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we will never knowingly solicit, nor will we accept, personally identifiable information from users known to be under thirteen (13) years of age without the consent of their educational institution or the child's parent or guardian. We do, however, use COPPA-compliant, third party services that automatically collect or share certain information and usage data with us to support our internal operations as described under How we use your information and Puku third-party service providers below.

If an educational institution with students that are under thirteen (13) years of age uses our Merriam-Webster Unabridged Service, the educational institution also may provide us with personally identifiable information about its students. We use student information to provide this Service to the educational institution and its students, consistent with our Merriam-Webster Unabridged Privacy Notice.

If you believe that we have collected personal information from someone under the age of 13, please contact us at: [email protected].

How We Collect & Use Your Personal Information

Merriam-Webster protects the identity of visitors to the Services by limiting the collection of personally identifiable information. Personal information provided by you to us will not be posted or published by us for viewing by third parties. In most cases, the information you provide is limited to first name, last name, email address, city, state, age, and phone number. We use this information to provide you with goods and services, including subscription services, publications, and the like. We do not sell personal information to anyone and only share it with third parties who are facilitating the delivery of our Services as provided in this Privacy Policy. You can enjoy many of our Services and their unique features without giving us your personal information.

Links to Third-Party Websites or Apps

You may find advertising or other content on the Services that link to websites, apps, products, or services belonging to our third-party partners, suppliers, advertisers, sponsors, licensors and other third parties, or offer content, functionality, or apps developed and maintained by third parties not controlled by Merriam-Webster. These third-party linked websites, apps, products, services and advertisements may use automated means to collect information about you and your use of these features. Merriam-Webster provides these links solely as a convenience to you. Merriam-Webster does not control and is not responsible for the practices employed by websites, apps, products, services, or advertisements linked to or from the Services. Therefore, Merriam-Webster disclaims liability for any information, materials, products or services offered at any third-party website linked to or from the Services.  Such third-party websites, apps, products, or services may have terms and conditions (as well as privacy policies) that are different from those set forth here.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to the activities of Merriam-Webster’s third-party sponsors, advertisers, and other partners that may collect your user information while you access or use such third party’s services in connection with your use of the Services (e.g. social media and sharing services). Merriam-Webster is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these third-party linked services once you leave the Services, click an advertisement or sign up for a special offer. We encourage you to read and review the privacy statement of each third-party service that you may choose to use and we urge all users of our Services to follow safe internet practices: Once you leave the Merriam-Webster Services, do not supply personal data to these third-party linked services unless you have verified their security and privacy policies.

Use of Our Services - Information Collected Automatically & Other Information

Like other commercial websites, Merriam-Webster and our authorized partners use cookies (small files transferred from a website to its users' hard drives or browsers for record-keeping purposes), including strictly necessary, performance, functional, and personalization cookies, software logs, and other similar information gathering technologies throughout our Services to collect certain information automatically and store it in log files to monitor the use of the Services, gather non-personal informational about our users, and for a variety of other legitimate business interests and purposes. This information may include (but is not limited to) internet protocol (IP) addresses, mobile device identifiers, the region or general location where your computer or device is accessing the internet, browser type (for example, Firefox or Internet Explorer), operating system (for instance, Windows or Macintosh), your internet provider (for example, Comcast), and other usage information about your use of our Services, including a history of the pages you view.

We may work with DigiTrust to set a cookie (DigiTrust Cookie) in your browser to enable us to collect web-viewing data that includes visits to a Merriam-Webster service and other non-affiliated websites over time.

We also may work with third-party analytics providers, ad networks, and advertisers in order to track your online activities over time and across third party websites, apps and devices, by obtaining information through the automated means (including cookies) mentioned above. The information received by us through these automated methods may include (but is not limited to) information about your activities across unrelated websites and mobile applications, information about the possible relationships between different browsers and devices, information that we receive from our third-party service providers, demographic data, information from social media providers, and information about your interests. We may add this information to the data we have already collected through our Services.

Please refer to our Cookie Policy and Your Rights & Choices below for more information.

Your Rights & Choices

Please read our Cookie Policy, which more fully describes the cookies, pixel tags, web beacons and other similar technologies used on the Merriam-Webster Services and includes a “Cookie Settings” button that explains each cookie category and enables you to opt-out of certain cookies, such as personalization cookies, which are related to interest-based advertising.

How we respond to “Do Not Track” signals

When you visit a website in any browser, you automatically share information with that website, such as your IP address, and other standard PC information. If the website contains content provided by a third-party website (for example a web measurement tools such as a web beacon or scripts), some information about you may be automatically sent to the content provider. This type of arrangement has several benefits, such as allowing you to access third-party content from our Services conveniently. Some internet browsers or other tools include “Do Not Track” (DNT) features that, when turned on, send a signal to websites you visit indicating you do not wish to be tracked across websites over time. However, since no technology standard for DNT signals has been developed or adopted to date, Merriam-Webster does not currently respond to DNT signals.

Children's Privacy

A note to minors: If you are under the age of 16, please get permission from your parent/legal guardian or school before using the Services, including Puku, or sending any email to us. If we discover that we have collected any personally identifiable information from a child under the age of 16 without parental consent, we will suspend the associated account and/or remove that information from our database as soon as possible.

Merriam-Webster does not knowingly collect or solicit personally identifiable information from or about children under 16, except as permitted by law or otherwise provided herein. If we discover we have received any information from a child under 16 in violation of this policy, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe Merriam-Webster has any information from or about anyone under 16, please email us at [email protected].

Puku Privacy Notice

Puku is owned and operated by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. By accessing and using Puku, you confirm that you accept Puku's and our collection, use, and sharing of your data in the manner provided herein. We will not collect, use, or share your information with anyone except as described in this Puku Privacy Notice.

Puku can be downloaded and the free content can be used without requiring a user to subscribe or provide any personal data beyond the usage and analytics data that is necessary to support our internal operations.

We may send alerts or notifications to your device as part of the usage and features of Puku. These may include prompts or reminders that notify you on your device of details about your child's use of Puku. Also, your child may use Puku to share word lists created by them with others, including friends and teachers, but this information is not collected or used by us. Puku requests that your child create a unique username and provide their age, however, this information is stored locally in Puku on your device and is not used, collected, accessed, or stored by us.

Security of Your Information

Any personally identifiable information collected through this site is stored on limited-access servers. We maintain safeguards to protect these servers and the information they store. Also, to help protect the privacy of data and personally identifiable information you transmit through the use of our Services, we maintain physical, technical and administrative safeguards. We update and test our security technology on an ongoing basis. We strive to restrict access to your personal data to those employees who need to know that information to provide benefits or services to you. In addition, we strive to educate all of our employees about the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the privacy and security of your information.

Data Storage and Retention

We store your personal data on our servers located in the United States. We retain your information for the duration of your business relationship with us and as long as necessary to permit us to use it for the legitimate business purposes that we have communicated to you and comply with applicable law or regulations. For more information on where and how long your personal data is stored, and for more information on your rights of erasure and portability, please contact the Merriam-Webster's data protection officer at [email protected].

Consent to Processing and Transfer of Information about You

Merriam-Webster's headquarters are in the United States. Information we collect from you will be processed in the United States and may be stored, transferred to, and processed in any country where we have facilities or in which we engage service providers. These countries may be outside your country of residence, including the United States, and may have different data protection laws than your country.

EU Data Subject Rights

The EU GDPR and other countries' privacy laws provide certain rights for data subjects. A good explanation of them (in English) is available on the website of the United Kingdom's Information Commissioner's Office.

If you wish to confirm that Merriam-Webster is processing your personal data, or have access to the personal data Merriam-Webster may have about you, please contact us at [email protected] and request a copy of our Merriam-Webster Subject Access Request Form. Before processing any such requests, we must first verify that it is a valid and lawful request and that you are in fact the data subject for such request. Please allow at least thirty (30) days for a response.

EU Representative and Data Protection Officer

Merriam-Webster is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts USA. Merriam-Webster has appointed an EU representative and data protection officer for you to contact if you have any questions or concerns about Merriam-Webster's personal data policies or practices.

Our EU representative's contact information is:

Merriam-Webster EU Representative
Unity Wharf, 13 Mill Street
London SE1 2BH UNITED KINGDOM
[email protected]

Our data protection officer's name and contact information are:

M.G. Kim
Merriam-Webster Data Protection Officer
325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200
Chicago, IL USA 60654
[email protected]

Copyright

All of the content on the Services is copyrighted by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 47 Federal Street, P.O. Box 281, Springfield, MA 01102, or its licensors, and it cannot be redistributed or used for commercial purposes. More detailed information about Merriam-Webster's copyrights and trademarks is available on our Copyright Notice page.

Business Transfers

As we continue to develop our business, we might sell or buy subsidiaries, or business units. In such transactions, customer information generally is one of the transferred business assets but remains subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Policy (unless, of course, the customer consents otherwise). Also, in the unlikely event that Merriam-Webster or substantially all of its assets are acquired, customer information will be one of the transferred assets and will remain subject to our Privacy Policy.

Acceptance of Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions

By using the Services, you signify your agreement to the terms and conditions of this Merriam-Webster Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use this site. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this policy at any time. Please take a look at the Effective Date at the top of this page to see when this Privacy Policy was last revised. Amended terms that materially impact or modify your privacy rights take effect 30 days after they are initially posted on the site. Your continued use of any of the Services following the posting of any changes to these terms shall mean that you have accepted those changes.

Questions, Comments or Complaints

If you have questions about Merriam-Webster or its products, visit our Contact Us page to find email addresses and other contact information for the appropriate department. To correct, update, or remove personally identifiable information, please email us at [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns, please send an email to [email protected] or at [email protected]