Privacy Notice
sniff is owned and operated by Useful Networks, Inc, (“Useful”). Useful values the privacy of our customers, users, and others who use the sniff application (collectively or individually “Users”). This privacy notice governs the sniff application (the “sniff Services”). The great majority of our Users will use the sniff Services appropriately for fun and social purposes. However, please note that by its very nature, your real-time location information is subject to abuse, misuse, and over-monitoring by others including, perhaps, by your friends, family, or acquaintances. You can manage your own mobile and profile privacy preferences on the sniff Services on an ongoing basis to minimize the chance of harmful use.
Please be aware that any personally identifiable information or location information that you voluntarily disclose online becomes publicly available and can be read, collected, and used by others and could be used to send unsolicited messages.
General Information:
This Privacy Notice details important information regarding the use and disclosure of User information collected through the sniff Services from both the mobile and web interfaces. Your use of the sniff Services and any personal information you provide on the sniff Services remains subject to the terms of this Privacy Notice.
Location Information Disclosures and Consents:
Disclosures. sniff allows your “sniff friends” to see where you are located using real-time location information. sniff collects, maintains, uses, and displays your personal data and the real-time geographic location of your mobile device (“location data”). Please note that this real-time location tracking may occur even when the sniff application is not actively open and running on your mobile device. By law, we are required to protect the confidentiality of your location data and to get your express consent to collect, maintain, use, and display your location data as part of providing the application sniff. You have the right at any time to deny or withdraw your consent to the disclosure of your location data. Your denial of consent will not affect your regular mobile phone service, but will prevent you from using sniff. In order to withdraw your consent, which will prevent your wireless carrier from disclosing your location information and will prevent you from using the sniff application, access your account from your phone's internet browser at www.sniffu.com, go to the “account” link, and click “Cancel my account”, or text "STOP" to 76433. When you cancel your account, your personally-identifiable information, except for your mobile telephone number, is deleted from our database. We must retain your mobile telephone number for your carrier’s purposes and sniff’s customer service needs. We delete your mobile telephone number after a reasonable time.
Your Location Information. In registering for the sniff Services, you have agreed and consented: (a) to sniff collection, use, maintenance, and display of your location data to provide all of the services, features, and functionality found within sniff; (b) to the disclosure and display of your location data to your sniff friends, your carrier and sniff third-party partners, contractors, and successors, and in accordance with this Privacy Notice; (c) to receive SMS text messages; and (d) that sniff may terminate your subscription without notice and for any reason. You have the right at any time to disapprove these uses and to deny or withdraw access to your Location Data. Denial of Consent will not affect your regular phone service but will prevent you from getting the location functions of the sniff Service. In addition, you have expressly agreed to receive SMS text messages from sniff and you acknowledge that normal carrier charges and taxes may apply to SMS text messages to and from sniff. Please see the Your Choices section below with information regarding how to withdraw your consent to sniff use of Location Information and promotional SMSs.
Inviting Friends. If you choose to use “invite friends”, then sniff will ask you for your friend’s mobile phone number. If you provide a friend’s mobile phone number, then sniff will automatically send to that friend a one-time text message inviting your friend to join the sniff Service and to add you as their friend. If your friend’s phone number is on a wireless provider that is not supported by sniff, then your friend will not receive this text message. The message will be pending until it is either accepted or rejected by the friend. If you provide a friend’s email address, then sniff will automatically send that friend a one-time email inviting your friend to register on the sniff website. If your friend rejects the invitation, your friend’s contact information is removed from sniff.
The Information sniff Collects:
- User Provided Registration Information:
Subscription information includes certain “personally identifiable” information (such as mobile phone number, wireless carrier / operator, your name, email address, phone number, etc.) - Location Information:
sniff receives Location Information from your mobile carrier, mobile device, and certain third-party service providers. - Cookies, Persistent File Information:
When you visit the sniff Services, we may send one or more cookies (small text files containing a string of alphanumeric characters) to your computer. sniff uses both session cookies and persistent cookies. A session cookie disappears after you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains after you close your browser and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the sniff Services. Persistent cookies can be removed. Please review your web browser “Help” file to learn the proper way to modify your cookie settings. - Log File Information:
When you use the sniff Services, our servers automatically record certain information, such as a mobile device identification number and device identifier, your web request, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, browser language, referring / exit pages and URLs, platform type, number of clicks, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, the order of those pages, the amount of time spent on particular pages, the date and time of your request, and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser.
The Way sniff Uses Information:
- sniff uses your personally identifiable information and your Location Information to operate, maintain, and provide to you and our other Users the features and functionality of the sniff Services.
- sniff uses your personally identifiable information, your Location Information, and certain non-personally-identifiable information (such as anonymous User usage data, cookies data, browser type, clickstream data, etc.) to improve the quality and design of the sniff Services and to create new features, promotions, functionality, and services by storing, tracking, and analyzing User preferences and trends.
- sniff uses cookies, and log file information to: (a) remember information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the sniff Services; (b) provide custom and personalized content, advertisements, and information; (c) monitor the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns; and (d) monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors, pages viewed, etc. sniff does not combine cookie, clear-gif, or log file-based information with personally identifiable information.
- sniff does not use your personally identifiable information or Location Information to send commercial or marketing messages without your express consent or unless you have opted-in to be part of a specific program or feature in accordance with the consent procedures described in this Privacy Notice.
- We may use your email address or mobile number at any time and without further consent for non-marketing or administrative purposes such as notifying you of major sniff Services changes, for customer service purposes, and to send privacy or security related notices.
When sniff Discloses Information:
- sniff does not share your personally identifiable information or Location Information with other, third-party companies for their commercial or marketing use without your express consent or unless you have opted-in to be part of a specific program or feature in accordance with the consent procedures described in this Privacy Notice.
- sniff provides personally identifiable information, Location Information, and non-personally-identifiable information to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies, or other businesses or persons for the purpose of providing certain sniff Services features and for processing such information on our behalf. For example, we may share information with our wireless carrier partners for the purpose of revenue recognition, or we may share information to offer mapping or directions features. We require that these parties agree to process such information in compliance with our privacy policy, we use reasonable efforts to limit their use of such information, and we require these parties to use any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
- sniff may release personally identifiable information, Location Information, or non-personally-identifiable information if required to do so by law, or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with state and federal laws or respond to a court order, subpoena, or search warrant.
- sniff also reserves the right to disclose personally identifiable information, Location Information, or non-personally-identifiable information that sniff believes, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary to: enforce the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy; take precautions against liability; protect Users from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses; to investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations; to assist government enforcement agencies; to protect the security or integrity of our web site; and to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of sniff, our Users, or others.
Your Choices:
You may update, correct, or delete your mobile privacy preferences, and personal profile information at any time by going to the mobile web version of sniff, at www.sniffu.com, from your phone. or the “Settings” menu item on the mobile application.
To protect your privacy and security, we take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you profile access or making corrections. You are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your unique password and account information at all times. We do not maintain Location Information history.
Our Commitment to Data Security:
sniff uses commercially reasonable physical, managerial, and technical safeguards. We cannot, however, ensure or warrant the security of any information that sniff receives on your behalf to operate the services or that you transmit to sniff and you do so at your own risk. We also cannot guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards.
If sniff learns of a security systems breach, then we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. sniff may post a notice on the sniff Services if a security breach occurs. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing.
Our Commitment to Children’s Privacy:
Protecting the privacy of young children is especially important. For that reason, sniff does not knowingly collect or maintain personally identifiable information on the sniff Services from persons under 18 years-of-age, and no part of sniff Services is directed to persons under 18. IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE, THEN PLEASE DO NOT USE OR ACCESS sniff SERVICES AT ANY TIME OR IN ANY MANNER. If sniff learns that personally-identifiable information of persons less than 18-years-of-age has been collected on the sniff Services, then sniff will take the appropriate steps to delete this information. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child under the age of 18 has obtained a sniff Services account, then you may alert sniff at support@useful-networks.com and request that sniff delete that child’s personal information from its systems.
International Visitors:
The sniff Services are hosted in the United States. If you are using the sniff Services from the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, please note that you are transferring your personal data to the United States and by providing your personal data you consent to that transfer.
In order to comply with the European Union’s Safe Harbor principles, Useful Networks commits to the resolution of complaints about your privacy and our collection of your personal information. We have committed to resolve any complaints by European Union citizens relating to this policy, which cannot be resolved directly with our company, through the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.’s Safe Harbor Privacy Dispute Resolution Procedure.
If you have any questions regarding this policy, please contact privacy@useful-networks.com.
If you do not receive acknowledgment of your complaint or your complaint is not satisfactorily addressed by Useful Networks, you should then contact:
Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.4200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203
U.S.A.
Phone: +1 703-276-0100
Website: www.bbb.org
Email: eusafeharbor@council.bbb.org
In the Event of Merger, Sale, or Bankruptcy:
In the event that sniff is acquired by or merged with a third party entity, we reserve the right, in any of these circumstances, to transfer or assign the information we have collected from our Users as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control. In the unlikely event of our bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership, or assignment for the benefit of creditors, or the application of laws or equitable principles affecting creditors’ rights generally, we may not be able to control how your personal information is treated, transferred, or used. You will be notified via notice through the sniff Services of any such change in ownership or control of your personally identifiable information.
Changes and Updates to this Privacy Notice:
This Privacy Notice may be revised periodically without further notice to you and this will be reflected by the “last modified” notice below. Please revisit this page to stay aware of any changes. In general, we only use your personal information in the manner described in the Privacy Notice in effect when we received that personal information. Your continued use of the sniff Services constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Notice and any future revisions. If we decide to change our privacy policies, then we will post those changes to this Privacy Notice, and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
For revisions to this Privacy Notice that may be materially less restrictive on our use or disclosure of personal information you have provided to us, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you and obtain your consent before implementing such revisions with respect to such information. If we make such material changes to this policy, then we will notify you here in this Privacy Notice, by email, or by means of a notice on the sniff Services home page.
Effective Date, Date Last Modified:
sniff Privacy Notice effective as of 28 April 2008
Contact Information:
If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact our Privacy Manager at privacy@useful-networks.com. To opt-out of sniff text ‘stop’ to 76433.