VCAST.TV Privacy Policy
Last Updated: September 2008
VCAST is committed to respecting the privacy rights and concerns of all users of the VCAST.TV website located at www.vcast.tv and its directly associated domains (the "Site") and has established and implemented this Privacy Policy to help you make informed decisions when using the Site (we refer to the services made available through the Site, collectively, as the "Site Features"). "VCAST" (and "we", "us" and "our") means Vcast (Asia) Ltd.
This policy answers the following questions:
· What information do we collect about you and how do we use it?
· Will we share your personal information with third parties?
· What security measures do we take to safeguard your personal information?
· Who can I contact if I have any questions about this Privacy Policy?
By accessing the Site or using any of the Site Features, you consent to VCAST's collection, use, storage, deletion and disclosure of information relating to you as set forth in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is effective as of the date set forth above and is only applicable to the Site and not to any other website that you may be able to access from the Site which may have its own data collection and use practices and policies.
1. Information We Collect
1.1. Registration and Your Personal Profile
When you register with the Site, you provide us with certain personal information, such as your real name, email address, gender, country/region and date of birth.
When you use the Site or Site Features, you will have the option of setting up a personal profile by providing general information about yourself, the URL of your website, address of your blog and a mood message. Additionally, when using the Site or Site Features, you will have the option to form relationships, send messages to your friends and other users, perform searches and queries, form groups, add applications, and transmit information through various channels.
1.2. Cookies
Like many websites, we employ "cookies" in certain areas of the Site to allow us to provide information which is targeted to your interests and to make your online experience more convenient. Cookies are small bits of electronic information that a website sends to a visitor's browser and are stored on the visitor's hard drive. We use cookies for the following purposes:
· to store a user's log-in identity so that your session won't expire unless you actively log out (please note that unless you actively log out, part of the functionality of the Site may continue to run in the background, but no personal information will be collected, used or shared as part of this process)
· to keep a record of the programming or advertisements you were watching when you last left the Site
· to keep a record of any widgets or other additional applications that you have installed.
You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however, if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of the Site or Site Features.
1.3. Log Information
We also keep track of your interaction with the Site and other users. Specifically, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit the Site. This information includes your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your browser type and version, which Site Features you use and when and how long you use them, what programming and advertising you view and share with friends and how long you view it, your browsing history on the Site (including any links that you may click within the Site), your search history, and any social connections you have (i.e., your friends and the groups you have joined).
1.4. Slurping
You will have the opportunity to connect with friends from your other networks, such as AOL, Gmail, LinkedIn, Hotmail and Yahoo.
The Site software will identify the email addresses of the friends in your other networks, If any of these friends are already Site users, we will offer you the opportunity to connect as friends on the Site, and if you choose to do so, a friend request will be sent by email. If any of your friends are not Site users, we will enable you to invite those friends to join the Site. You will be able to select those friends in your other networks that you wish to invite (if any), and VCAST will send one email on your behalf to each of these friends inviting them to visit the Site and register as a Site user. If any of your friends respond to your invitation, and subsequently register as Site users, you will be offered the opportunity to connect as friends on the Site. If you choose to connect, a friend request will be sent by email.
After this process is complete, and any email invitation(s) have been sent, your friends' email addresses will be deleted from our servers (unless they have registered separately as Site users). We will not retain or use these email addresses for any purpose whatsoever, and will not contact your friends or create any connections unless you ask us to.
If your email address appears in anyone else's network, VCAST may use your email address for the purposes described above.
1.5. Children's Privacy
The Site and Site Features are not intended for children under the age of 6. We do not knowingly collect or maintain any personal information or non-personally-identifiable information from anyone under the age of 6 nor is any part of our website, software or service directed to children under the age of 6. We will close any accounts used exclusively by such children and will remove and/or delete any personal information we believe was submitted by any child under the age of 6.
If you are under 16, you may only use the Site if you have obtained the consent of your parent(s) or other legal guardian. By using the Site and the Site Features, you warrant that you have obtained such consent.
2. Information We Use
As a general matter, we use the information that you provide to us to process your user registration, and to provide, enhance and personalize the Site and Site Features; and we use the information automatically collected by our servers to monitor and analyze how users use the Site and Site Features, and to maintain and improve the Site and Site Features.
2.1. Email address
We may use your email address for the following purposes:
· to send you email newsletters that keep you updated about the programming on the Site;
· to send you other email communications that keep you updated about Site Features and other functionality of the Site, including, information about available upgrades, functionality and/or features,
· to ask you to participate in surveys that help us make the Site and Site Features better,
· to respond to or confirm your requests or activity on the Site,
· to notify you of activity initiated by your friends, or members of groups that you have joined (i.e., to notify you if someone wishes to add you as a friend, or if someone sends you a message, or wishes to share a video with you),
· to notify you of the existence of other Site users who have similar tastes to you,
· to notify you of service issues and unusual account actions (e.g. password resets),
· to notify and warn you of inappropriate conduct, and if necessary, to inform you of the suspension or deletion of your account.
By accessing or using the Site or any Site Features, you consent to receiving these emails from us (and from these third parties), but have the right to unsubscribe from receiving future emails at any time (see below).
2.2. Other Personal Information
We may use personal information that you provide, or that we learn about you, to:
· provide recommendations on programming that we think will be interesting to you based on your previous viewing history,
· ensure that the advertisements you see as part of your use of the Site and the Site Features are those that we think will be interesting to you based on your previous viewing history, location, age and gender,
· personalize the Site to better reflect your particular interests,
· attribute your comments, ratings and other contributions to you,
· maintain your social connections (e.g. your friends and groups),
· suggest new social connections (e.g. by informing you of the existence of other users having similar tastes to yours, and vice versa), and
· otherwise improve your use of the Site and the Site Features
We will also use this information to help us quickly and efficiently respond to inquiries and requests, and otherwise enhance our service offering for our users.
2.3. Messaging
Additionally, we, and other users that control the groups that you join, will be able to send you messages on or through the Site, in particular through the news feed on your Site dashboard. These messages may relate to updates on programming or other special events, or may relate specifically to events within your groups. You will have the ability to manage your receipt of these types of messages through your personal settings on the Site.
2.4. Unsubscribe
If, at any point in time, you are not interested in receiving emails or other announcements from us, you will be able to "opt-out" by clicking on the specified link in any given email communication, by modifying your personal settings on the Site, or by emailing us at enquiry@vcast.net. Please note that you cannot unsubscribe from certain correspondence from us, including messages relating to your account.
3. Sharing of Information
We will not sell or rent your email address or any of your personal information. We will, however, share your information in the following ways.
3.1. With Other Users
Your profile information will be available to other users of the Site. You can elect not to have your profile made public in your profile settings.
We will publish information regarding your activity on the Site and your use of the Site Features in the RSS Feed of the Site on your dashboard, your friends' dashboards and any groups to which you belong, via RSS feeds to which your friends and members of your groups can subscribe, and via a public feed on the home page of the Site. You can elect not to have your activities published in your profile settings.
All information that you post or share through your use of the Site or Site Features, such as your personal profile, comments, messages, favorite programming, or other information, is done at your own risk. Please keep in mind that if you disclose personal information in your profile or when posting comments, messages, favorite programming, or other items, this information may become publicly available.
3.2. As Aggregated Data
We may use your personal information to provide analyses of our users in the aggregate to prospective partners, investors and other third parties. We will also share statistical and demographic information about our users and their use of the Site and Site Features with suppliers of advertisements and programming. We may also disclose and otherwise use de-identified information about users. None of the above would include anything that could be used to identify you in the offline world or to discover individual information about you.
3.3. With Service Providers
We may from time to time use third parties to manage portions of the Site or Site Features, manage the administration and delivery of advertisements, facilitate our business (e.g. by hosting our servers), manage communications with you, conduct advertising or other audits, conduct surveys, or otherwise provide services to us in connection with the Site or Site Features. Where these third parties process information on our or your behalf, we require these third parties to comply with the provisions of this Privacy Policy, to the extent applicable, and require that they maintain high levels of security and do not use your information for any purpose other than to provide their services to us. If these third parties need to collect personally identifiable information or personal data direct from you, we require them to do so under the terms of an effective and publicly available privacy policy. VCAST is not responsible for their compliance with such a policy.
3.4. As Otherwise Required
We will share personal information we collect from you if we believe it is reasonably necessary to make available the Site and Site Features, legally required, or otherwise permitted by you. For example:
· Protection of rights. We will share personal information if we have a good faith belief that (i) access, use, preservation or disclosure of such information is reasonably necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process anywhere in the world, such as a court order or subpoena, or a request by law enforcement or governmental authorities, (ii) such action is appropriate to enforce the Terms of Service for the Site, including any investigation of potential violations thereof, (iii) such action is necessary to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues associated with the Site Features, or (iv) such action is appropriate to protect the rights, property or safety of Site, its employees, users of the Site Features or others.
· Asset transfers. If we become involved in a merger, acquisition or other transaction involving the sale of some or all of our or our affiliates' assets or voting securities, user information, including personal information collected from you through your use of the Site and Site Features, may be included in the transferred assets or securities. If this occurs, your personal information would remain subject to this Privacy Policy.
4. Third Parties Who Collect and Receive Your Information
4.1. Third Party Applications
We, and third parties, may from time to time make small software applications – that we sometimes call "widgets" – available for your use on or through the Site. These applications may separately access, and allow a third party to view, your identifiable information, such as your name, your email address, your computer's IP Address or other information such as what you are watching during any given session, and any cookies that you may previously have installed or that were installed for you by a third party software application or website. Additionally, these applications may ask you to provide additional information directly to third parties. Third party products or services provided through these applications are not owned or controlled by VCAST. You are encouraged to read the terms of use and other policies published by such third parties on their websites or otherwise before you use such applications.
By using the Site and Site Features, you consent to the processing of data about you by us or other third parties in the manner set out above.
This Privacy Policy does not cover the information practices of third party websites linked to the Site. Although we encourage such third parties to adopt and follow their own privacy policies, we are not responsible for their collection and use of your personal information. You should refer to the privacy policies and statements of other websites or contact the respective webmasters of those websites to obtain information regarding their information collection, use and disclosure policies.
5. Control of Your Information
You post content on the Site at your own risk. Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your profile, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other users with whom you may choose to share your profile and information. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that content you post on the Site will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Site. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal, copies of content may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other users have copied or stored your content.
You can access and update most of your personal information through the use of the Site. If you wish to review and/or correct any personal information not yet available through the use of the Site, please send a request to enquiry@vcast.net and we will attempt to fulfill your request. We may choose not to fulfill any request that we determine is unreasonable, unduly burdensome or impractical or that constitutes a threat to the privacy or rights of others.
6. Security
We take many precautions to keep your personal information secure from unauthorized access, such as internal corporate policies to limit access to systems that store your personal information. We continue to store your personal information for so long as it is necessary to provide you our service and periodically destroy old personal information in accordance with our company policies, including when it is no longer necessary in order to offer you the same high quality service. In most cases, we will keep one archival copy of your information to allow us to comply with laws or respond to legal processes.
7. Using Your Personal Information in Other Countries
Your country's privacy laws may require your consent before your personal information can be exported to countries with weaker privacy laws. This Privacy Policy requires your consent to this practice so that we can enhance our service quality by operating in multiple countries. No matter where your information is processed, this Privacy Policy will remain in effect.
By accessing or using the Site or any Site Features, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in Hong Kong and at VCAST discretion, any other country of the world.
8. Terms of Service / Notification of Changes
Your use of the Site and Site Features, and any dispute that may arise from such use, is subject to this Privacy Policy as well as our Terms of Service and End User License Agreement, and all of their respective dispute resolution provisions, including limitation on damages and choice of law.
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time, and we will post all significant changes on this page.
9. Questions? Contact Us
It is extremely important to us that your privacy is treated with the utmost respect. If you have any concerns, questions, or ideas on how we can do a better job at this while offering our service, please let us know by emailing enquiry@vcast.net.