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Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at Share More Stories, Inc. (“Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”).  This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes the types of information we collect from you (“you” or “User”) or that you may provide to us when you visit or interact with sharemorestories.com.com and seeq.sharemorestories.com (“Websites”), including the applicable web application and mobile app (together, the “Platform”), as well as our practices for collecting, sharing, using, maintaining, protecting and disclosing that information.

The Policy applies to information we collect:

  • Directly from your use of and interaction with the Platform;
  • In email, text or other electronic messages between you and us;
  • When you interact with our advertising and applications on third-party websites and services, if those applications or advertising include links to this policy.

It does not apply to information collected by us offline or through any other means, including on any other website application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from the Platform.

Please read this Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices. By accessing or using the Platform, you agree to this Policy.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy policy frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information. Continued use of the Platform after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.

If you have any questions or concerns about our policy, or our practices with regards to your personal information, please contact us at info@sharemorestories.com.respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy.

2. What information do we collect and how do we collect it?

We may collect several types of information from and about Users of the Platform including information by which you may be personally identified such as name, address, email, telephone number, social media log in and other contact information as permitted under applicable law (“personal information”), as well as other information that does not identify you such as information about your IP connection or the equipment you use to access the Platform (“non-personal information”).

Personal Information. We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when registering to use or access the Platform, including when registering to participate in a SEEQ Research Project (seeq.sharemorestories.com) or submitting or publishing a Personal Story, as those terms are defined in the Terms. We may also collect personal information when you participate in other Platform activities and offerings such as posting messages, sending emails, requesting information about our products and services, or commenting on publicly-published stories, entering competitions, contest or giveaways, or otherwise interacting with us.

The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with the Platform.  Note that personal information may also be collected by us through Customers who are authorized to submit your personal information.

Personal information we collect includes:

  • Contact Information such as first and last name, email address, postal address, phone number, and other similar contact data;
  • Demographic Information including where applicable and allowable by law, age, race/ethnicity, gender, occupation, education level, interests and other descriptive or identifying information. Demographic information is used solely for the purpose of determining appropriate and relevant SEEQ Research Projects in which you may be eligible to participate.
  • Credentials such as passwords, password hints, and similar security information used for authentication and account access.
  • Social Media Login Data may be collected when you use our public story sharing platform, StoryTeller, on sharemorestories.com. If you choose to use this Website, you will have the option to register using your social media account details (e.g.: Facebook, Twitter or other social media account).  Please refer to HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS? for more information about this data collection.

All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.

Non-Personal Information. Information that we automatically collect as you navigate or interact with the Platform,  may include usage details, IP address, browser details, device and usage information, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, as well as other information collected through cookies and other tracking technologies.  We may also get such information from our Customers.

Non personal information does not identify and is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of the Platform and for internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Information collected from other sources.  Although we currently do not do so, in the future, we may, in accordance with applicable law and consent requirements, collect limited data about you from other sources, such as public databases, joint marketing partners, social media platforms (such as Facebook), as well as from other third parties. Examples of the information we might obtain from other sources include: social media profile information (your name, gender, birthday, email, current city, state and country, user identification numbers for your contacts, profile picture URL and any other information that you choose to make public); marketing leads and search results and links, including paid listings (such as sponsored links).

3. How do we use your information?

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information, for purposes based on legitimate business interests. legitimate business interests (“Business Purposes”), in order to enter into or perform a contract with you (“Contractual”), with your consent (“Consent”), and/or for compliance with our legal obligations (“Legal Reasons”). We indicate the specific processing grounds we rely on next to each purpose listed below.  Specifically. we use the information we collect or receive from you:

  • To facilitate / determine your participation in SEEQ Research Projects, through your submission of responses to research questions. In these cases, we may associate your participation and your responses with your personal information in order to verify authorized participation and conduct analysis specifically related to research projects. (Note: SEEQ Research Project analysis does not include individual, personally identifying information, only aggregated and anonymized data). To facilitate the creation of a User Account and password with your Consent. If you choose to link your account with us to a third party account *(such as your Google or Facebook account), we use your personal information to collect from those third parties to facilitate account creation and logon process. See the section below headed “HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS” for further information.
  • To send you marketing and promotional communications with your Consent. We and/or our third party marketing partners may use the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes. You can opt-out of our marketing emails at any time (see the “WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS” below).
  • To send administrative information to you. We may use your personal information to send you product, service and new feature information and/or information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.
  • To protect the Platform for Business Purposes. We may use your information as part of our efforts to keep our Sites safe and secure (for example, for fraud monitoring and prevention).
  • To enforce our terms, conditions and policies.
  • For other Business Purposes. We may use your information for other Business Purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve the Platform, and its products, services, marketing and your experience.

4. Will your information be shared with third-parties?

We only share information for Business Purposes, to perform our Contractual obligations to you, with your Consent and for Legal Reasons including as follows:

  • Compliance with Laws. We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena (including in response to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements).
  • Vital Interests and Legal Rights. We may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.
  • Vendors, Consultants, Contractors and Other Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your data with third party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. Examples include: data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service and marketing efforts. We may allow selected third parties to use tracking technology on the Sites, which will enable them to collect data about how you interact with the Sites over time. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand online activity. Unless described in this Policy, we do not share, sell, rent or trade any of your information with third parties for their promotional and marketing purposes.
  • Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information to a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Platform’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding.
  • With your Consent. We may disclose your personal information for any other purpose with your consent. When you participate in a SEEQ Research Project, you agree to provide us with the relevant and necessary personal information to verify your identity and validate authorized participation; depending on the project, this information may include your name, email address, phone number, and certain demographic information. You (or the sponsor of the research project, our Customer) may elect to opt out of collecting or providing that information; in such cases, participation may be limited, and analyses for our customers may be limited. Information provided for a SEEQ Research Project will be kept private and will not be disclosed to a Customer or a Research Sponsor unless such Research Project requires or is designed for such information to be provided, and only in those instances where Research Sponsor or Customer has received express consent from any participant in the Research Project.  

We may disclose aggregated information about you and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.

5. How do we use User Generated Content?

When you submit personal information or a Personal Story (“User Generated Content”) in order to participate in a SEEQ Research Project on seeq.sharemorestories.com including but not limited to answers to survey questions, you acknowledge that your information will be used for research and analysis purposes defined by the parameters of the specific SEEQ Research Project in which you have volunteered to participate. You acknowledge that such information will not be made publicly available in any way without the explicit, written consent of the Research Project Sponsor or Customer, and you as the individual providing it.

Alternatively, when you submit User Generated Content to our public story sharing website and blog platform, StoryTeller (sharemorestories.com), you provide explicit consent for us to share your story publicly on the Platform and you acknowledge and agree that we also have the right to share it publicly on other sites owned by our affiliates, or on third-party social media platforms (e.g.:Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). You hereby grant us (and our affiliates, and licensees) permission to distribute, publish or re-publish such User Generated Content on such platforms or properties as we see fit. We only publish and share those Personal Stories submitted publicly on StoryTeller and not submitted privately or through any other feature of our Platform or the Websites.

6. Do we use Cookies and other tracking technologies?

We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. We do not allow 3rd parties access to cookies from the Platform.

Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of the Platform.

7. How do I opt out of receiving emails and marketing from Share More Stories?

Opting out of email marketing: You can unsubscribe from our marketing email list at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send or by contacting us at info@sharemorestories.com. You will then be removed from the marketing email list – however, we will still need to send you service-related emails that are necessary for the administration and use of your account.

Promotional Offers. If you do not wish to have your personal information used by us to promote our own or third parties’ products or services, you can opt-out by: noting your preferences when you register an account with the Platform, access your account settings and update preferences or contact us at info@sharemorestories.com.

This opt out does not apply to information provided to us as a result of a transaction, such as when a Customer or User purchases a subscription to the Platform.

Residents of certain states, such as California, Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah may have additional personal information rights and choices. Please see Your State Privacy Rights for more information.

8. Do we use Google Maps?

Yes, we use the Google Address Validation service within the Google Maps platform, for the purpose of validating zip codes and address formats. This Platform uses Google Maps APIs to access this feature. You may find the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service here. To better understand Google’s Privacy Policy, please refer to this link.

By using Google Maps API Implementation, you agree to be bound by Google’s Terms of Service. You may revoke your consent at any time.

9. How do we handle your social media logins?

The Platform and access to the Websites may offer you the option to register and login using your social media account log in details (like your Facebook or Twitter logins). If you choose to register or log in to the Platform using a social media account, we may have access to certain profile information about you from your social media provider. The profile information we receive may vary depending on the social media provider concerned, but will often include your name, e-mail address, profile picture or other information you choose or have chosen to make public.

We will use the information we receive only for the purposes that are described in this Policy. Please note that we do not control, and are not responsible for, other uses of your personal information by any social media provider. We recommend that you review their privacy policy to understand how they collect, use and share your personal information, and how you can set your privacy preferences on their sites and apps.

10. How long do we keep your information?

We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by applicable law (such as tax, accounting, research record retention or other legal requirements).

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize it, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

11. How do we keep your information safe?

We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, please also remember that we cannot guarantee that the internet itself is 100% secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Sites is at your own risk. You should only access the services within a secure environment. Our Sites and their corresponding databases are hosted in one of two secure environments: IBM Cloud and Google Cloud.

12. Do we collect information from children under the age of 13?

We take children’s privacy very seriously. Our website and services are not targeted at children under the age of 13, and we will not collect personal information from any users whom we know to be under the age of 13 unless we first obtain verifiable parental consent as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). If you believe that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 13 without obtaining parental consent, you may report this to us by an email addressed to info@sharemorestories.com.

13. What are your privacy rights?

You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time. If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can log into your account settings and update your user account.  If you would like to delete or terminate your account, upon your request, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, some information may be retained in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our Terms of Use and/or comply with legal requirements.

14. What are your State-specific privacy rights?

State consumer privacy laws may provide their residents with additional rights regarding our use of their personal information. Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah each provide their state residents with rights to:

  • Confirm whether we process their personal information.
  • Access and delete certain personal information.
  • Data portability.
  • Opt-out of personal data processing for targeted advertising and sales.
  • Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia also provide their state residents with rights to:
  • Correct inaccuracies in their personal information, taking into account the information’s nature processing purpose.
  • Opt-out of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

To exercise any of these rights please contact us at info@sharemorestories.com. To appeal a decision regarding a consumer rights request, please send us an email addressed to info@sharemorestories.com.

15. Do California Residents have specific privacy rights?

If you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.  California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes. We do not share or give your information to 3rd parties.

Further, if you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a user account with the Platform, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Platform but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from our systems.

Note that if you are resident in the European Economic Area and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: https://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm.

16.  How can you contact us about this policy?

If you have questions or comments about this policy, you may email us at info@sharemorestories.com or by post to:

Share More Stories, Inc.
7 East 2nd St, Suite A
Richmond, VA 23224
United States
(804) 267-9098

Last updated on February 19, 2023