VISQUS PRIVACY POLICY
We at Visqus are committed to protecting your privacy. Our goal is to provide you with a positive experience on our websites and when using our apps, products and services, while at the same time keeping your Personal Information, as defined below, secure.
Our privacy practices are described below, as well as in separate notices given when a product or service is purchased or downloaded (our “Privacy Policy“). This Privacy Policy covers all Visqus products and websites. By visiting Visqus websites, using Visqus products or providing us with your Personal Information (as defined below), you are accepting and consenting to the practices, terms and conditions described in this Privacy Policy.
You will not need to consent to this Privacy Policy, but do acknowledge you have read and understood its terms.
For ease of reference, we will use the following terms in this Privacy Policy:
- “our“, “us” or “we” means Visqus brand.
- “Visqus products” includes all Visqus, branded apps, products and services; and
- “Visqus websites” include all global Visqus websites.
If you are in the European Economic Area (“EEA“), for the purposes of the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR“), the data controller is Visqus.
Types of Information Covered by This Privacy Policy
Personal Information. This means any information that (either in isolation or in combination with other information) can be used to identify you directly or indirectly. Some examples of Personal Information include your name, address, email address, phone number, any ID number or location data.
Aggregated Information. Information may be aggregated and/or anonymized. When information is aggregated, it is combined with information about other customers and users. Aggregated information that includes Personal Information is considered Personal Information until it has been anonymized.
Anonymized Information. When information is anonymized, Personal Information is removed from collected data and the remaining portion of the data is repurposed for internal or external use, such as, for example, to determine how many users of a particular router include an Internet-enabled television in a home network environment, or how many users viewed a particular website video or advertisement. Such information cannot be used to identify you. Some examples include usage data relating to Visqus websites and Visqus products, language preferences and Visqus website page views.
In general, usage data collected when you visit Visqus websites or use Visqus products is both aggregated and anonymized, so it does not identify you personally and therefore is not Personal Information.
How We Collect Information
We collect and process the following data about you:
Information you give us. If you fill in forms on Visqus websites or correspond with us by phone, email or otherwise, you may be providing us with information about you, which may include Personal Information. This includes information you provide when you register on Visqus websites, register or return a Visqus Product, subscribe to any of our services, search for a product, place an order on Visqus websites, participate in discussion forums or other social media functions on Visqus websites, enter a competition, promotion or survey, participate in a training session or other event, download firmware, software and apps, or when you report a problem with Visqus websites or Visqus products or otherwise request support. Personal Information you give us may include your name, address, email address, phone number and other contact information, financial and credit card information and any other information that can be used to personally identify you.
Information we collect about you. We automatically collect information when you use Visqus websites or Visqus products, including:
- technical information, including the Internet protocol (“IP“) address used to connect your computer or other device to the Internet, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and language preferences. This information is all normally provided by your web browser, and we do not specifically request it;
- information about your visit to Visqus websites, including the full Uniform Resource Locators (“URL“) clickstream to, through and from Visqus websites (including date and time); products you viewed or searched for; page response times; download errors; length of visits to certain pages; videos watched; page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs); and methods used to browse away from the page;
- any phone number or email address used to contact customer support;
- usage data about how and when you use Visqus products, other devices that are connected to Visqus products and what features of Visqus products you use;
- if you consent, certain apps collect information about your location. If you do not want this information collected, do not consent, or consult your device manual for instructions on how to change location settings.
Information we receive from other sources We work closely with third parties who provide services to us (including, for example, business partners, subcontractors in technical, payment and delivery services, advertising networks, analytics providers, search information providers, credit reference agencies) and we may receive information about you from them.
How We Use Information
We use the information we collect for a number of purposes. These purposes will be consistent with the reason you provided the information to us or for a directly related purpose. The uses we make of such information are to:
- set up an account for you on Visqus websites or Visqus product
- facilitate your purchase and/or download of Visqus products;
- authenticate use of your account or purchases and/or use of a Visqus Product;
- register your Visqus Product in our product database;
- carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us and to provide you with the information, products and services that you request from us;
- assist you with customer support;
- communicate about and administer participation in customer promotions and surveys;
- provide the Visqus products you request;
- provide you with information about the Visqus products you use, such as new features, bug fixes, service downtimes or upgrades;
- help us develop new Visqus products and improve current Visqus products;
- provide you, or permit selected third parties to provide you, with information about goods or services we feel may interest you. We (or selected third parties) will contact you by electronic means only if you have opted-in to receive marketing information. “Opt-in” means that you have taken an affirmative action to receive information, such as by checking a box or clicking a button;
- notify you about changes to Visqus websites and Visqus products and changes to our terms, conditions and policies;
- administer Visqus websites and Visqus products for internal operational purposes, including troubleshooting, data and statistical analysis, testing, research and survey purposes;
- improve Visqus websites and Visqus products and to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer or device;
- ensure the security of Visqus websites and Visqus products;
- monitor and regulate interactive features of Visqus websites and Visqus products that you choose to participate in, including online forums and chat rooms relating to Visqus products;
- help you navigate Visqus websites;
- help you access and use certain features of Visqus products remotely and to help you monitor and safeguard your home and home network;
- provide you with information and recommendations about Internet and utility usage in your home;
- measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you and others who visit Visqus websites and to deliver relevant personalized advertising to you and others; and
- determine which aspects of Visqus websites and Visqus products are most useful to you and other users of Visqus websites and Visqus products.
Why We Use Information
Where we process your Personal Information to provide a product or service, we do so because it is necessary to perform contractual obligations that we owe to you and for our legitimate interests to provide products and services, to maintain our relationship with you and to protect our business. If you choose not to provide us with the Personal Information, we need to provide you with a product or service, we will not be able to provide it. When you purchase and/or download new Visqus products, we will only use your Personal Information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, and any notification provided to you at the time of purchase or download.
We also use your Personal Information to protect our business (for example, against fraud), or to comply with legal requirements to which we are subject (for example, tax or financial reporting requirements).
We will always seek your consent before we send you any direct marketing communications.
Sharing Information
Under no circumstances do we rent or sell your Personal Information to third parties for marketing purposes. We only share your Personal Information with third parties for marketing purposes if you have granted us permission to do so. We share Personal Information in the following ways:
- within Visqus for purposes of data processing or storage;
- with business partners, service vendors, authorized third-party agents or contractors to provide a requested service or transaction, including processing orders, hosting websites, storing your information, providing email communications on our behalf and providing customer support. For example, when making purchases on the Visqus website stores, Visqus uses a payment processor to verify your payment card information. Your payment card information is passed through to the payment processor and is not collected or stored by Visqus. The payment processor is authorized to use this information only to authenticate your purchase and for no other purpose. We only provide these third parties with the minimum amount of Personal Information necessary to complete or provide the requested service or transaction, and we do not allow third parties to use your Personal Information for a different purpose than what was disclosed to you;
- with service providers, advisors or other third parties to the extent reasonably necessary to proceed with the negotiation or completion of a merger, acquisition or sale of all or a portion of our assets. If Visqus merges with or acquires or is acquired by another entity, Personal Information would be transferred as a whole to the successor entity;
- to comply with the law or legal process (such as responding to subpoenas or court orders), to comply with government reporting obligations and to exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims; and
- to protect our legal rights or those of others, such as protecting the Visqus brand or investigating violations of Visqus terms of use, violations of law, intellectual property infringement, misuse of Visqus websites, fraud or potential threats to personal safety.
In addition, we share aggregated anonymized information, including usage data about Visqus products, with third parties for a variety of purposes, including to analyse trends about home networking and utility use, to show third parties how their products could work with Visqus products and to generally improve home networking. We’ve taken steps to ensure that this information cannot be linked back to you and we require third parties to keep all shared information in its anonymized form.
Any third parties with whom we share your Personal Information are required to maintain the confidentiality of the information and are prohibited from using it for any other purpose. We will take all reasonable steps to make sure these third parties comply with the same privacy principles that govern our collection of your Personal Information.
We will ask for your consent, such as by email response, opt-in box or click through agreement acceptance, before we use or share your Personal Information for any other purpose
Marketing
You have the right to ask us not to process your Personal Information for marketing purposes. We will inform you (before collecting your Personal Information) if we intend to use your Personal Information for marketing purposes, or if we intend to disclose your Personal Information to any third party for marketing purposes.
We will always give you choices about your Personal Information. Some choices are presented up front in the form of opt-in notices or acceptance boxes for marketing to you or sharing your Personal Information with third parties. You always have the choice to opt-out if you later change your mind. One form of opt-out is clicking the Unsubscribe link in a marketing email. This will take you off our marketing email list. Please note that these opt-in/opt-out choices do not apply to the receipt of mandatory website, service or software communications, such as update or downtime information, or receipt of order or shipping confirmations on Visqus website stores, which you may receive periodically as part of Visqus performing its contract with you, unless you cancel your service or order or terminate use of software in accordance with the applicable terms of use or license agreement.
Where We Store Your Information
The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, various locations globally, including the United States. It may also be processed by Visqus staff or contractors operating outside your country of residence (including, if you are in Europe, outside of the EEA, or, if you are in Australia or New Zealand (“ANZ”), outside of ANZ) who work for us or for one of our suppliers. Such staff may be engaged in, among other things, the fulfilment of your order, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support services. We also use cloud-based applications and services to store and process your Personal Information, which may result in your Personal Information being stored outside your country of residence (or the EEA or ANZ).
We will take such steps as are reasonable to make sure we and our service providers do not breach the privacy principles that govern our collection of your Personal Information and that your Personal Information is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy as well as applicable data protection laws. By providing your Personal Information to us, you fully understand that Visqus will transfer, processing and storage of Personal Information outside of your country of residence where data protection standards may be different and disclose your Personal Information to overseas service providers who may not fully comply with the particular laws of your country.
Our Privacy Policy and our practices are designed to provide a globally consistent level of protection for Personal Information all over the world. This means that even in countries whose laws provide for less protection for your information, Visqus will still handle your information in the manner described in this Privacy Policy and in conformity with all applicable laws. This includes, where relevant, entering into EU standard contractual clauses (or equivalent measures) with the party outside the EEA (available here ).
Retention of Personal Information
We will only retain your Personal Information to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, as required for legitimate business purposes as described in this Privacy Policy, or otherwise permitted by law. When we no longer need to use Personal Information, we will remove it from our systems and records and/or take steps to anonymize it so that you can no longer be identified from it.
To determine the appropriate retention period for Personal Information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the Personal Information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your Personal Information, the purposes for which we process your Personal Information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
Cookies, Web Beacons and Other Web Tools
To learn more about how we use cookies, web beacons and other web tools, and how to control which cookies, web beacons and other web tools are used, please see our Cookie Policy.
Security
We strive to maintain appropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect the information collected by Visqus websites and Visqus products. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not 100% secure.
It is important to note that if you use a computer or device that can be accessed by others, other people may be able to access unencrypted Personal Information. If you do not want your information to be available to others, exercise caution when using public computers or devices or when using any computer or device to which users unauthorized by you may have access.
We recommend that you take every precaution in protecting your Personal Information when you are on the Internet. For example, change your passwords often, use a combination of letters and numbers when creating passwords, and make sure you use a secure browser. You should also be aware that names that you give your Wi-Fi-enabled devices, home networks and services (also known as “friendly names“) may be detectable by others outside your home, so you should not use Personal Information as part of your friendly names.
Updates and Upgrades
Visqus products may be updated or upgraded from time to time to provide additional features, address technical issues, and generally make your user experience better. Some Visqus products include an auto-update feature, which gives us the ability to make updates automatically. You can change auto-update options by changing your settings within the Visqus Product account information. In very limited cases, updates may still be automatically applied, regardless of the auto-update setting. For example, we may provide an automatic update that prevents or fixes a security vulnerability or breach to your network.
Third Party and Social Media Linked Sites
Visqus websites and online services may contain links to websites or online services operated by third parties. Visqus products may also use or offer products and services from third parties, such as a third-party app that works with a Visqus Product. Once you leave Visqus websites and Visqus products, your activities are governed by the terms of use and privacy policies of the third-party websites and online services. Visqus is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of these websites and online services, and we encourage you to carefully read the terms of use and privacy policies of any website and online service you visit.
Visqus websites and Visqus products may contain social media features, such as Facebook “Like” buttons. These features may collect information about your device’s IP address, set cookies to facilitate interaction with social media features or link you to a social media website where you may post Personal Information. All interactions with social media features are governed by the privacy policy of the social media company providing the feature.
Forums/Chat Rooms
If you participate in or post information to a discussion forum or chat room on any Visqus website or Visqus Product, you should be aware that the information you provide there will be made broadly available to others, and can be read, collected, forwarded or used by other users of these forums, potentially inside or outside Visqus, who have access to that forum. This information could also be used to send you unsolicited messages. Please recognize that individual forums may have additional rules and conditions. Each participant’s opinion on a forum or chat room is his or her own and should not be considered as reflecting the opinion of Visqus. We are not responsible for Personal Information or any other information you may choose to submit in these forums, or the consequences of any submission.
Updates to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, so please review it frequently. If we change our Privacy Policy, we will post the revised version here, with an updated revision date. If we make material changes to our Privacy Policy, we will notify you by email or prominently post a notice on this website.
Updated March 01, 2024