Last Updated on: December  4, 2024

Social Media Examiner is committed to protecting the privacy of visitors to our website, subscribers to our newsletters, and those providing contact information. In addition, Social Media Examiner is opposed to unauthorized commercial email delivery, otherwise known as spam. Please read the following Privacy and Spam Policy to understand how your personal information is treated. From time to time, Social Media Examiner may offer new information or services that may affect this policy. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy and Spam Policy, please send an email to [email protected]

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT & HOW IS IT USED?
Information You Voluntarily Submit to the Website: We collect Personal Data from you when you voluntarily provide such information, such as when you contact us with inquiries, register for access to the Website, or purchase products or services from the Website. Personal Data may include, but is not limited to, the below:

• Your name and email address
• Your website URL and name
• Company name
• Phone number
• Billing information
• Address

Our legal basis for processing this information is your consent, and by voluntarily providing us with Personal Data, you are consenting to our use of it by this Privacy Policy. If you provide Personal Data to us, you acknowledge and agree that such Personal Data may be transferred and stored from your current location to the offices and servers of Social Media Examiner and the authorized third parties referenced below.

Information We Collect from Others: We may receive information about you from other sources. For example, if you use third-party software through the site, they may transfer information to us for fulfillment. For more information about our use of third-party providers, please see below.

Automatically-Collected Information: We automatically collect certain information about you and the device with which you access Social Media Examiner. For example, when you use Social Media Examiner, we will log your IP address, operating system type, browser type, referring website, pages you viewed, and the dates/times when you accessed the website. We may also collect information about actions you take when using Social Media Examiner, such as links clicked.

Cookies: We may log information using cookies, which are small data files stored on your browser by the Social Media Examiner. We may use both session cookies, which expire when you close your browser, and persistent cookies, which stay on your browser until deleted, to provide you with a more personalized experience on the website. For more information about our use of cookies, please see below.

HOW YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION MAY BE USED
Social Media Examiner, and our subsidiaries and affiliates (the “Related Companies”), may use your personal information in the following ways:

• To operate and maintain the website;
• To create your account, identify you as a user of the website, and customize the website to your account;
• To send you promotional information, such as newsletters. Each email newsletter will provide information on how to opt out of future mailings by unsubscribing;
• To send you administrative communications, such as administrative emails, confirmation emails, technical notices, updates on policies, or security alerts;
• To respond to your comments or inquiries;
• To provide you with user support;
• To track and measure website performance;
• To process payment for purchases you make through Social Media Examiner;
• To protect, investigate, and deter unauthorized or illegal activity;
• To review the effectiveness of our marketing programs and analyze other general demographic trends;
• To notify you of new information or services that may be of interest to you; or,
• To send promotional materials.

LEGAL BASES FOR PROCESSING DATA UNDER THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (“GDPR”)
Below are the types of lawful basis that we will rely on to process your Data:

• Legitimate Interest means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service/product and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your Personal Data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your Data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). 
• Performance of Contract means processing your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract.
• Complying with a legal or regulatory obligation means processing your Personal Data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation to which we are subject.
• Consent means where you have consented to a certain use of your Personal Data.

DOES SOCIAL MEDIA EXAMINER SHARE MY INFORMATION?
Social Media Examiner will not share, rent, or sell your personally identifiable information with third parties. We may, however, share your information with third parties when we are authorized to share such information.

Parent Companies and Affiliates: We may share your information with a parent company, any subsidiaries, joint ventures, or other companies under a common control (collectively, “Affiliates”), provided that we require our Affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy.

Business Transfers: As we develop our business, we might sell or buy businesses or assets. In the event of a corporate sale, merger, reorganization, dissolution, or similar event, Personal Data may be part of the transferred assets.

Related Companies: We may also share your Personal Data with our Related Companies for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Third Parties with Permission: We may share your information with third parties to whom you ask us to send your information.

Agents, Consultants, and Related Third Parties: Social Media Examiners, like many businesses, sometimes hire other companies to perform certain business-related functions. Examples of such functions include mailing information, maintaining databases, and processing payments. When we employ another entity to perform a function of this nature, we only provide them with the information that they need to perform their specific function.

Legal Requirements: Social Media Examiner may disclose your Data if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (i) comply with a legal obligation or to respond to requests from law enforcement or other government officials relating to investigations or alleged illegal activity or in connection with our investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity, in which case we may (and you hereby authorize us to) disclose information without subpoenas or warrants served on us, (ii) protect and defend the rights or property of Social Media Examiner, (iii) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Website or the public, (iv) protect against legal liability including to resolve disputes, investigate problems, or enforce our Customer contracts.

Third-Party Vendors: Additionally, Social Media Examiners may use third-party service providers to service various aspects of the website. Each third-party service provider’s use of your personal information is dictated by their respective privacy policy. Social Media Examiner currently uses the following third-party service providers:

Tracking: Social Media Examiner uses various marketing tools that help us create a better user experience for people visiting our site. These tools allow us to look at aggregated data such as scrolling patterns and clicks, as well as allow us to run tests to determine which pages result in the best actions. However, your personally identifiable information is not used by any of these tools. We use the following third-party service providers for tracking:

Microsoft Clarity: Privacy policy, cookie information

Microsoft Clarity Opt-Out. Microsoft Clarity uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behavior and their devices (in particular device’s IP address (captured and stored only in anonymized form), device screen size, device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), preferred language used to display our website). Microsoft Clarity stores this information in a pseudonymized user profile. Neither Microsoft nor Social Media Examiner will ever use this information to identify individual users or to match it with further data on an individual user. For further details, please see Microsoft’s privacy policy.

You can prevent Microsoft Clarity from gathering data on your page views by utilizing the system built by the Digital Advertising Alliance to enable opt-out experiences for customers. You can opt out of Clarity telemetry by selecting Microsoft here. If you install the Protect My Choices app for your browser, you can ensure your opt-out preference is saved.

Google Analytics: Privacy Policy

Google Analytics Opt-Out. To provide website visitors the ability to prevent their data from being used by Google Analytics, Google has developed the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on for the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js). If you want to opt out, download and install the add-on for your web browser. The Google Analytics opt-out add-on is designed to be compatible with Chrome, Internet Explorer 11, Safari, Firefox, and Opera. To function, the opt-out add-on must be able to load and execute properly on your browser. For Internet Explorer, 3rd-party cookies must be enabled. Learn more about the opt-out and how to properly install the browser add-on here.

Convert.com: Privacy Policy.

Convert.com Opt-Out: Your privacy is very important to Convert Experiences. Through our services, we do not collect personally identifiable information, install software on users’ computers, or track keystrokes. Convert Experiences also does not transfer information from one client to another. To opt out of Convert Experiences, simply follow the instructions below. The link will automatically replace the specified advertising cookie(s) and verify your opt-out status. You can opt-out here.

Remarketing: Social Media Examiner uses remarketing tracking cookies and conversion pixels from vendors such as Google and Facebook to present special offers to you for our products or services over the Google Content Network and via social networks. This means you may see an ad for one of our products or services as a result of visiting our website. In addition, Social Media Examiner uses custom audiences based on emails and phone numbers of subscribers and customers. This allows us to present special offers for our products and services to you via Facebook and Google. However, your personally identifiable information is not used by any remarketing service other than to present you with special offers from us. We use the following third-party service providers for remarketing:

Facebook: Opt-out of Facebook remarketing here

Google: Opt-out of Google remarketing here

Newsletters: Social Media Examiner uses Drip as its email service provider. Through Drip, we collect contact information, distribute our newsletter, and track actions you take that assist us in measuring the performance of the website and newsletters. Upon subscription, we also track the pages you visit on the website through Drip. If you become a customer, information about the products you purchase is passed into Drip.

OTHER TYPES OF DATA
Non-Identifiable Data: When you interact with us through the Website, we receive and store certain personally non-identifiable information. Such information, which is collected passively using various technologies, cannot presently be used to specifically identify you. We may store such information or such information may be included in databases owned and maintained by our affiliates, agents, or service providers. The Website may use such information and pool it with other information to track, for example, the total number of visitors to our Website, the number of visitors to each page of our Website, and the domain names of our visitors’ Internet service providers. It is important to note that no Personal Data is available or used in this process.

Aggregated Personal Data: In an ongoing effort to better understand and serve the users of the Sites, Social Media Examiner may conduct research on its customer demographics, interests, and behavior based on the Personal Data and other information provided to us. This research may be compiled and analyzed on an aggregate basis, and we may share this aggregate data with our affiliates, agents, and business partners. This aggregate information does not identify you personally. Social Media Examiner may also disclose aggregated user statistics to describe our services to current and prospective business partners, and other third parties for other lawful purposes.

PUBLICLY VISIBLE INFORMATION
If you create a user profile on Social Media Examiner or the Social Media Marketing Society or leave a comment on Social Media Examiner, certain information may be publicly visible.

COOKIES
Social Media Examiner uses cookies to: store visitors’ preferences; record user-specific information on what pages users access or visit; ensure that visitors are not repeatedly sent the same banner ads; or customize our content based on visitors’ browser type or other information that the visitor sends. We also share information about your use of our Website with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. This section explains what cookies are, how we use Cookies and similar technologies on our Website, and what you can do to manage how Cookies are used.

WHAT ARE COOKIES?
A cookie is a small text file that is sent to your computer or mobile device (referred to in this policy as a “device”) by the web server so that a website can remember some information about your browsing activity on the Website. The Cookie will collect information relating to your use of the Website, information about your device such as the device’s IP address and browser type, demographic data, and if you arrived at our Website via a link from a third-party site, the URL of the linking page.

In addition to Cookies, the Website may use web beacons. Web beacons allow us to count the number of users who have visited or accessed the Website and to recognize users by accessing our cookies. We may employ web beacons to facilitate Website administration and navigation, track the actions of users of the Website, compile aggregate statistics about Website usage and response rates, and provide an enhanced online experience for visitors to the Website. We may also include web beacons in HTML-formatted email messages that we send to determine which email messages were opened. A web beacon is often invisible because it is only 1 x 1 pixel in size with no color. A web beacon can also be known as a web bug, 1 by 1 GIF, invisible GIF, and tracker GIF.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF COOKIES AND HOW DO WE USE THEM?
Essential: These are Cookies that are essential for the running of our Website. Without these Cookies, parts of our Website would not function. These cookies do not track where you have been on the internet and do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing purposes.

Examples of how we may use essential Cookies include:

• Setting unique identifiers for each unique visitor, so that website numbers can be analyzed.

Functional: These Cookies are used to remember your preferences on our Website and to provide enhanced, more personal features. The information collected by these Cookies is usually anonymized, so we cannot identify you personally. Functional Cookies do not track your internet usage or gather information that could be used for selling advertising.

Examples of how we may use functional Cookies include:

• Gathering data about visits to our Website, including numbers of visitors and visits, length of time spent on the site, pages clicked on, or where visitors have come from.
• Eliminating the need for returning users to re-enter their login details.

Analytical Performance: Analytical performance Cookies are used to monitor the performance of our Sites, for example, to determine the number of page views and the number of unique users our Website has. We use this information to improve the user experience or identify areas of the Website that may require maintenance. The information is anonymous (i.e. it cannot be used to identify you and does not contain personal information such as your name and email address) and it is only used for statistical purposes.

Examples of how we may use analytical Cookies include:

• Measuring users’ behavior
• Analyze which pages are viewed, for how long, and which links are followed to better develop our Website.

Advertising: Behavioral advertising Cookies, which may be placed on your device by us or our trusted third-party service providers, remember that you have visited a website and use that information to provide you with advertising that istailored to your interests. This is often called online behavioral advertising and is done by grouping toured interests based on web browsing history. Your web browsing history can be used to infer things about you (e.g. your age, gender, etc.), and this information may also be used to make advertising on websites more relevant to you. Although behavioral advertising Cookies can track your activity around the internet, these Cookies cannot identify you personally, even if you are signed in to our Website.

Examples of how we may use advertising Cookies include:

• Manage online advertising. Our approved advertising partners use Cookies together with web beacons to provide advertising to you and to enable us to manage our relationship with those advertisers by, for example, tracking how many unique users have seen a particular advertisement or followed a link in an advertisement.
• To market to specific users across our Website and third-party sites, so that we and third parties can target advertising to users that will be more relevant to users’ interests.

Third-Party Cookies: You may notice on some pages of our Website that Cookies have been set that are not related to us. When you visit a page with content embedded from, for example, YouTube or Facebook, these third-party service providers may set their Cookies on your device. We do not control the use of these third-party Cookies and cannot access them due to the way that Cookies work, as Cookies can only be accessed by the party who originally set them. Please check the third-party websites for more information about these Cookies.

HOW CAN YOU MANAGE OR OPT OUT OF COOKIES?
Cookies, including those which have already been set, can be deleted from your hard drive. You can also change the preferences/settings in your web browser to control Cookies. In some cases, you can choose to accept Cookies from the primary site, but block them from third parties. In others, you can block Cookies from specific advertisers, or clear out all Cookies. Deleting or blocking Cookies may reduce the functionality of the Website. To learn more about how to reject Cookies, visit www.brandytix.com or go to the help menu within your internet browser. If you experience any problems having deleted Cookies, you should contact the supplier of your web browser.

RIGHTS RELATED TO YOUR DATA
Under laws in certain countries in which we operate, customers and other visitors to our Website from those countries have a right to access Personal Data about themselves, and to amend, correct, or delete Personal Data that is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated. We will, upon request, provide you with confirmation regarding whether we are processing Personal Data about you, consistent with applicable law. In addition, upon your request, we will take reasonable steps to correct, amend, or delete your Data that is found to be inaccurate, incomplete, or processed in a manner non-compliant with this Privacy Policy or applicable law, except where the burden or expense of providing access would be disproportionate to the risks to your privacy, where the rights of persons other than you would be violated or where doing so is otherwise consistent with applicable law. Unless prohibited by applicable law, we reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee to cover costs for providing copies of Personal Information that you request.

Please note that while any amendments, corrections, or deletions will be reflected in active user databases (as updated within a reasonable period of time), we may retain all Personal Data for backups, archiving, prevention of fraud and abuse, analytics, and satisfaction of other legal obligations we reasonably believe applicable.

You authorize us to use and disclose any new or modified information that you provide by this Privacy Policy, and you agree that we are under no obligation to delete or modify information that you have previously chosen to provide us as to which you have not instructed us to take such action. Please remember, however, that if we have already disclosed some of your Personal Data to third parties, we cannot access that Personal Data any longer and cannot force the deletion or modification of any such information by the parties to whom we have made those disclosures.

We may retain your Data to comply with laws, prevent fraud, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our contracts, and take other actions otherwise permitted by law.

OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Your access to and use of the Website may also be subject to any separate agreements or terms and conditions you have signed or agreed to with the Social Media Examiner. Please refer to those agreements as needed.

Regardless of any other provision in this Privacy Policy, we reserve the right to disclose any personally identifiable or non-personally identifiable information about you to: (a) fulfill a government request; (b) conform with the requirements of the law or legal process; (c) protect or defend our legal rights or property, our Website, or other users; or (d) protect, in an emergency, the health and safety of our customers or the general public. This includes exchanging information with third parties and organizations in connection with credit risk reduction and fraud protection.

CHANGES TO SOCIAL MEDIA EXAMINER’S PRIVACY POLICY
The Website may change from time to time. As a result, at times it may be necessary for us to make changes to this Privacy Policy. At a minimum, we will update this Privacy Policy once per year. We reserve the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time and from time to time without prior notice. Please review this policy periodically, especially before you provide any Personal Data. Your continued use of the Website after any changes or revisions to this Privacy Policy shall indicate your agreement with the terms of such revised Privacy Policy.