Privacy Policy
Our mission is to help people connect and re-connect with other members of their school, corporate and organization networks through simple digital books. We strive to fulfill this mission by providing our services through BrightCrowd.com (the “Service”). As with every digital social platform, there is personal data involved, so we are committed to being transparent with you about the data we collect and how we use it, and respecting and protecting your privacy.
We’ve intentionally drafted this privacy policy (“Policy”) to avoid being overly legal and instead be clear and understandable. If anything is unclear or if you have any questions about this Policy, please don’t hesitate to email us at privacy@brightcrowd.com . In the meantime, we want to make sure you are aware upfront that by using our Service, you consent to our use of your data under this Policy.
Privacy Overview
We partner with schools, companies and other organizations to support their member networks and help you get the most out of the networks you belong to. These partners identify which of their people are permitted to participate in their books and provide certain information to identify who should have access to their books.
You have the option to add and share any personal information as part of using the Service.
Fundamentally, we believe that your data is yours and you have complete control over it.
- You choose which data you share and what data other users can see.
- We never send messages from you without your approval.
- You can delete your data at any time.
- We will never sell your data - ever!
Because of the nature of the Service and the freedom it provides members in choosing what to share within their member networks, in order for you to participate in the Service, we require your consent, as some of this information that you may provide is subject to privacy laws and regulations. To be safe and ensure compliance with these laws and regulations, we ask all users for the necessary consents. Providing your consents in no way changes how we use or disclose your data according to this Policy; it does, however, allow us to comply with applicable laws such as the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as they may apply to you and us.
Information We Collect
We limit the Personal Information we collect to just the information we believe is necessary to make the Service useful to you and others. "Personal Information” includes information which can be used to identify you as an individual, and may include, but is not limited to, name, email address, physical address, IP address, occupation, education, title, skills, interests, images and social connections.
Information you provide : When you use the Service you provide certain Personal Information either by submitting it directly into the site, uploading the data to the site, connecting a third party account, for example a Linkedin or Facebook account (each a “Connected Account”), and by communicating with us or other users through the Service.
Information others provide : Personal Information related to you can also be contributed by other users of the Service as part of their Personal Information. This can happen when they enter it directly into the site or upload data to the site (for example a photo with you in it).
Information provided by organizations : In order to grant you access to their books, our partner organizations (for example, a university, professional association or company) may provide certain Personal Information as part of their use of the Service. In addition, if you create a page in a book provided by a partner organization, that organization may modify the content in your page. You will be notified of any modifications made to one of your pages.
Information from using the Service : To make the Service easier for you to use (for example seamless sign-in), we collect and store information that is generated automatically as you use it, including your preferences and usage statistics. When you visit the Service, we and our third-party service providers receive and record information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, and from cookies and similar technology. Cookies are small text files placed in visitors’ computer browsers to store their preferences. Most browsers allow you to block and delete cookies. By using the Service, you are authorizing us to gather, parse, and retain data related to the provision of the Service.
How We Use Personal Information
Primarily, we use Personal Information to provide the Service and to communicate with you. We use Personal Information to:
- display your information as part of your page in a book
- help you connect and communicate with other people in your books
- help organizations you are part of communicate with you
- identify topics that are relevant to you
- aggregate contact information across the Service
We also send email to the email address associated with your account for informational and operational purposes, such as product announcements, account management, customer service, marketing or system maintenance.
At any time you can update your communication preferences to limit the communication you receive through the Service. However, please be aware that, as a user of the Service, you cannot opt-out of receiving service messages from us, including legal and security announcements.
We may use non-Personal Information such as demographic data to analyze and develop our marketing strategy and further improve the Site and our products and services.
How We May Share Personal Information
We will not share your Personal Information with third parties except as described in this Privacy Policy.
To provide the service : In providing the Service we rely on a number of third parties who provide services including data storage, messaging, email processing, search functionality, analytics, error handling, etc. We specifically choose third party providers that have a strong reputation and have data protection and encryption in place. In order for the Service to function properly we must provide certain Personal Information to these third parties and we anonymize this data if possible.
To make the Service useful to you and others : As a user of the Service, Personal Information that you’ve entered may be visible to other users, visitors and prospective partner organizations. This information typically includes your name, title, job, school, skills and location, as well as any items you’ve posted publicly to the Service. Additionally, to help facilitate connections with others, the Service will show contact information that you’ve provided.
To improve your experience with any organizations you are associated with : We partner with universities, companies and organizations to allow them to provide the Service to their members, employees and affiliates. If you are affiliated with a partner organization (for example, your university), then that organization will be provided with Personal Information so that they can improve your experience with them and the Service. At any time, you can opt out of having any data shared with partner organizations that you are affiliated with.
To comply with the law : There may be a time when we believe in good faith that we are required by law to provide Personal Information. This could be in connection with litigation, to prevent a crime, or to protect personal safety, the public, or the Site.
To effectuate a sale of the Company : We will make available Personal Information in connection with a sale or merger with another entity or if the Company should ever file for bankruptcy or have its assets sold to another entity.
Your Options for Your Personal Information
In order to provide you the Service we retain your Personal Information for as long as you have an account.
At any time you can review, edit or delete any of the Personal Information displayed on the Service. You can also at any time request access to all of the Personal Information the Service has collected about you, by emailing your request to privacy@brightcrowd.com and we will comply with this request within 72 hours.
You can also delete your account entirely on your Account Settings page. If you delete your account, all of the Personal Information associated with your account is deleted from the Service within 14 days, including all Connected Account data. Certain basic data related to the existence of your account is retained after you delete your account in order to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud and abuse, and fulfill any requests to “unsubscribe” from future messages from us.
If a partner organization has added information about you as part of creating or managing a book, then we retain that information as long as that book exists, or until you request that your information be removed. If you subsequently become a user of the Service and create an account, then you take ownership of the Personal Data contributed by the organization and you can edit or delete your account or the Personal Information displayed on the Service.
We retain your data for as long as you consent, that is, until we are properly notified that you withdraw said consent, so that we can provide and maintain the Service. If you choose to delete data from your profile, that data may be retained in backup files on our servers and for security purposes for a reasonable period of time prior to deletion.
Security
We take reasonable precautions to ensure that your Personal Information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Unfortunately, the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure, and we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you provide to us. We do not accept liability for unintentional disclosure. By using the Service or providing Personal Information to us, you agree that we may communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues relating to your use of the Service. If we learn of a security system’s breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically by posting a notice on the Service or sending an e-mail to you. You may have a legal right to receive this notice in writing. To receive free written notice of a security breach (or to withdraw your consent from receiving electronic notice), please notify us at privacy@brightcrowd.com..
Children
The Service is not intended for or directed to persons under the age of 13, and we will not knowingly collect information from such persons. Any person who provides information to us through registration or in any other manner on the Site represents to the Company that they are 13 years of age or older. If we learn that a child under 13 has submitted personal information to us, we will attempt to delete the information as soon as possible.
Third Party Sites
The Service interacts with the Connected Accounts and may contain links to other sites and services (collectively, "Third Party Services"). The Company is not responsible for the privacy practices of such Third Party Services. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of each Third Party Service that you link to your User Account or otherwise interact with in connection with your User Account.
California Users
If your use of our Service is covered by the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) you may have certain rights under that law. This section notifies you of our collection of personal information and your rights under the CCPA.
You may request disclosure of the following specific information:
- the categories of Personal Information as well as the specific pieces of Personal Information that we have collected about you for our business purposes over the prior 12 months:
- the categories of sources from which we have collected that Personal Information,
- our purpose(s) for collecting that Personal Information,
- the categories of third parties with whom we have shared the Personal Information, such as our service providers, and
- whether we have sold the Personal Information to third parties or disclosed the information to third parties for a business purpose, and if so the categories of Personal Information and third parties.
You have the right to request that we delete the Personal Information that we have collected about you. Under the CCPA, this right is subject to certain exceptions: for example, we may need to retain your Personal Information to provide you with the Services or complete a transaction or other action you have requested. If your deletion request is subject to one of these exceptions, we may deny your deletion request.
Should you wish to exercise your rights described above, you must send us a request that (1) provides sufficient information to allow us to verify that you are the person about whom we have collected Personal Information, and (2) describes your request in sufficient detail to allow us to understand, evaluate and respond to it. We may not respond to requests that do not meet these criteria. We will only use Personal Information provided in a request to verify your identity and complete your request. You do not need an account to submit a request. You may submit a request by email to privacy@brightcrowd.com.
The following table lists the Categories of Data as set forth in the CCPA which you consent to our use in order to provide the Service. By using the Service and choosing to provide the data, you grant us the consent to continue to maintain your profile including the data you enter in it. If you withdraw your consent, we will delete your profile and associated data. You may also simply delete the data you previously entered in your profile (however, backups of your profile may exist in our system for security and technical purposes).
| Category of Data | How we collect it | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Identifiers such as a real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, or other similar identifiers. | You chose to provide it in order to establish an account with us, and/or you chose to provide it in your profile. | If provided, to provide the Service. |
| Information that identifies, relates to, describes, or is capable of being associated with, a particular individual, including physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, education, employment, employment history, medical information, or health insurance information. | You chose to provide it in your profile. | If provided, to provide the Service. |
| Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law | You chose to provide it in your profile. | If provided, to provide the Service. |
| Commercial information, including records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies | Not collected. | N/A |
| Biometric information | Not collected. | N/A |
| Internet or other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with an internet website application, or advertisement | Not collected. | N/A |
| Geolocation data | Not collected. | N/A |
| Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information | Not collected. | N/A |
| Professional or employment-related information | You chose to provide it in your profile. | If provided, to provide the Service. |
| Education information, defined as information that is not publicly available personally identifiable information as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act | You chose to provide it in your profile. | If provided, to provide the Service. |
| Inferences drawn from any of the information identified in this subdivision to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes | N/A | N/A |
| Social security, driver’s license, state identification card, or passport number | Not collected. | N/A |
| Account log-in, financial account, debit card, or credit card number in combination with any required security or access code, password, or credentials allowing access to an account | Not collected. | N/A |
| Precise geolocation | Not collected. | N/A |
| The contents of a consumer’s mail, email, and text messages unless the business is the intended recipient of the communication | Not collected. | N/A |
| Racial or ethnic origin, citizenship or immigration status, religious or philosophical beliefs, or union membership. | You chose to provide it in your profile. | If provided, to provide the Service. |
| Personal information collected and analyzed concerning a consumer’s health | While you may choose to disclose this information in your profile, we do not analyze it. | If provided, to provide the Service. |
| Personal information collected and analyzed concerning a consumer’s sex life or sexual orientation | While you may choose to disclose this information in your profile, we do not analyze it. | If provided, to provide the Service. |
Personal information does not include information that is lawfully made available from federal, state, or local government records, or information that is lawfully made available to the general public by you or from widely distributed media; or information made available by a person to whom you have disclosed the information if you have not restricted the information to a specific audience.
Personal information also does not include information that is deidentified or aggregate consumer information.
FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, WE DO NOT – AND WE HAVE NO INTENT TO – SELL OR SHARE THE DATA YOU PROVIDE IN YOUR PROFILE AS THOSE TERMS ARE DEFINED BY THE CCPA.
We retain the data you provide for so long as you continue to keep it in your profile, and for a reasonable time thereafter in various backups and caches, for technical and security purposes.
International Users
By using the Service, you will transfer data to the United States, including personal information. By choosing to visit the Service, use the Service, or otherwise provide information to us, you agree that any dispute over privacy or the terms contained in this Privacy Policy will be governed by the law of the State of Texas and the adjudication of any disputes arising in connection with the Company or the Service will be in accordance with the Terms of Service. If you are visiting from the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use, please note that you are agreeing to the transfer of your information to the United States and processing globally. By providing your information you consent to any transfer and processing in accordance with this Policy.
GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (REGULATION (EU) 2016/679) (“GDPR”)
If you are a Data Subject as defined by the GDPR, you have the following rights:
1. The right to Information
2. The right of Access
3. The right to Rectification
4. The right to Erasure
5. The right to Data Portability
6. The right to Restrict Processing
Please review Section X, above, for disclosures as to how we obtain, use, and retain your data.
We use your data to provide the Services to you if you are a member, and to fulfil our contractual obligations to you and other members. We do not use your data for any other purposes.
Your Consent to this Privacy Policy
By using the Service, you agree to this Privacy Policy. We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy. The date of the most recent update of this document will always be displayed at the beginning of this page. If we change our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes on brightcrowd.com. If we decide to use Personal Information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify users via email (if an email address has been provided) or display a notice on brightcrowd.com. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed about how we are protecting the Personal Information we collect. Your continued use of this Service constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Policy and any updates. As used throughout, the terms “BrightCrowd,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the Company and the terms “you,” “your,” and “yours” refer to the user/customer using the Service.
Questions?
We are happy to answer any questions you may have. Please email us at privacy@brightcrowd, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.