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ImproveVia

ImproveVia's Privacy Policy

​We protect your personal information using industry-standard safeguards. We may share your information with your consent or as required by law as detailed in this policy, and we will always let you know when we make significant changes to this Privacy Policy. As always we encourage this to be an on going discussion on our site.

by Zachary Adam Zell on July 11th, 2014, 7:18 pm PDT. This Ivia has been viewed 24,324 times. Last improved on August 25th, 2014, 9:25 pm PDT.

We protect your personal information using industry-standard safeguards. We may share your information with your consent or as required by law as detailed in this policy, and we will always let you know when we make significant changes to this Privacy Policy.

Maintaining your trust is our top priority, so we adhere to the following principles to protect your privacy:

• We protect your personal information and will only provide it to third parties: (1) with your consent; (2) where it is necessary to carry out your instructions; (3) as reasonably necessary in order to provide our features and functionality to you; (4) when we reasonably believe it is required by law, subpoena or other legal process; or (5) as necessary to enforce our User Agreement or protect the rights, property, or safety of ImproveVia, its Members and Visitors, and the public.

• We have implemented appropriate security safeguards designed to protect your information in accordance with industry standards.

This Privacy Policy applies to ImproveVia. ImproveVia platform technology (such as “Share on ImproveVia” plugins for publishers) and all other ImproveVia websites, apps, developer platforms and other products and services (collectively “ImproveVia” or the “Services”). We may modify this Privacy Policy from time to time, and if we make material changes to it, we will provide notice through our Service, or by other means so that you may review the changes before you continue to use ImproveVia. If you object to any changes, you may close your account. Continuing to use ImproveVia after we publish or communicate a notice about any changes to this Privacy Policy means that you are consenting to the changes.

What We Collect

1.1. Data Controllers

Our Privacy Policy applies to any Member or Visitor. If you live in the U.S., ImproveVia Corporation controls your information.

If you have any concern about providing information to us or having such information displayed on the ImproveVia services or otherwise used in any manner permitted in this Privacy Policy and the User Agreement (together also referred to as ImproveVia’s Terms of Service), you should not become a Member of ImproveVia, visit our websites, apps or otherwise use our Services.

1.2. Registration

When you create an account with us, you provide us with information (including your name, email address, and password) that we use to offer you a personalized, relevant experience on ImproveVia.

To create an account on ImproveVia, you must provide us with at least your name, email address, and a password. You can choose to provide further information about yourself during the registration process (for example, your gender and location). We will use this information to provide you with more customized services like language-specific profile pages, updates, and content, more relevant ads, and more valuable career opportunities, and it may appear on your ImproveVia profile that is viewable by others. You understand that, by creating an account, ImproveVia and others will be able to identify you by your ImproveVia profile, and you allow ImproveVia to use this information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. We may also ask for your credit card details if you purchase certain ImproveVia services.

1.3. Profile Information

You can add professional details – like your job title, education, and skills – to your profile. A complete profile helps you be found by other people for opportunities, and allow for your contributions to have so validity. It also means we can show you relevant ads and content.

After you create an account, you may choose to provide additional information on your ImproveVia profile, such as descriptions of your skills, professional experience, and educational background. You can list honors, awards, professional affiliations, networking objectives, companies or individuals that you follow, and other information including content. With your approval, your connections may provide recommendations and endorsements of you. Providing additional information enables you to derive more benefit from ImproveVia by helping you express your professional identity; find other professionals, opportunities, and information; and help recruiters and business opportunities find you. It also enables us to serve you ads and other relevant content on and off ImproveVia.

1.4. Cookies

We use cookies to help personalize your ImproveVia experience and show you relevant ads and content.

We use cookies and similar technologies, including mobile application identifiers, to help us recognize you across different Services, improve your ImproveVia experience, increase security, measure use and effectiveness of our Services, and serve advertising. You can control cookies through your browser settings and other tools. For more information, including the types of cookies found on ImproveVia, please read ImproveVia’s Cookie Policy. By visiting ImproveVia, you consent to the placement of cookies and beacons in your browser and HTML-based emails in accordance with this Privacy Policy and ImproveVia’s Cookie Policy.

1.5. Log Files, IP Addresses, and Information About Your Computer and Mobile Device

We collect information from the devices and networks that you use to access ImproveVia. This information helps us improve and secure our Services.

When you visit or leave ImproveVia sites or apps (whether as a Member or Visitor) by clicking a hyperlink or when you view a plugin on a third-party site, we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came or the one to which you are directed. Also, advertisers receive the URL of the page that you are on when you click an ad on ImproveVia. We also receive the internet protocol (“IP”) address of your computer or the proxy server that you use to access the web, your computer operating system details, your type of web browser, your mobile device (including your mobile device identifier provided by your mobile device operating system), your mobile operating system (if you are accessing ImproveVia using a mobile device), and the name of your ISP or your mobile carrier. We may also receive location data passed to us from third-party services or GPS-enabled devices that you have set up, which we use to show you local information (for example, Pulse articles about your area) on our mobile applications. Most mobile devices allow you to prevent real time location data being sent to ImproveVia, and of course ImproveVia will honor your settings.

In the case of our Android apps, you will be provided notice of the types of data (e.g. location) that will be sent to us. If you choose to use our app after this notice, we process this data to enable registration or preview product features for you (e.g. jobs near you). If you choose not to become a Member, we will delete this information.

1.6. Other

We are constantly innovating to improve our Services, which means we may create new ways to collect information on the Services.

ImproveVia is a dynamic, innovative environment, which means we are always seeking to improve the services we offer you. We often introduce new features, some of which may result in the collection of new information). Furthermore, new partnerships or corporate acquisitions may result in new features, and we may potentially collect new types of information.

How We Use Your Personal Information

At ImproveVia, we strive to use your information to provide you world-class services in a professional and trustworthy manner.

2.1. Consent to ImproveVia Processing Information About You

When you join ImproveVia, you acknowledge that information you provide on your profile can be seen by others and used by us as described in this Privacy Policy and our User Agreement.

The personal information you provide to us may reveal or allow others to identify aspects of your life that are not expressly stated on your profile (for example, your picture or your name may reveal your gender). By providing personal information to us when you create or update your account and profile, you are expressly and voluntarily accepting the terms and conditions of ImproveVia’s User Agreement and freely accepting and agreeing to our processing of your personal information in ways set out by this Privacy Policy. Supplying to us any information deemed “sensitive” by applicable law is entirely voluntary on your part. You have the right to withdraw or modify your consent to ImproveVia’s collection and processing of the information you provide at any time, in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy and the User Agreement, by changing your account settings or your profile on ImproveVia.

2.2. ImproveVia Communications

We communicate with you using ImproveVia messaging, email, and other ways available to us. We may send you messages relating to the availability of the Services, security, or other service-related issues. We also may send promotional messages to your ImproveVia inbox. You can change your email settings at any time.

We communicate with you through email, notices posted on the ImproveVia websites or apps, messages to your ImproveVia inbox, and other means available through the Services, including mobile text messages and push notifications. Examples of these communications include: (1) welcome and engagement communications - informing you about how to best use ImproveVia, new features, updates about other Members you are connected to and their actions, etc.; (2) service communications; these will cover service availability, security, and other issues about the functioning of ImproveVia; (3) promotional communications; these include both email and messages (messages are only delivered to your ImproveVia inbox), and may contain promotional information directly or on behalf of our partners, including job opportunities and information from companies that are hiring. These messages will be sent to you based on your profile information and messaging preferences. You may change your email and contact preferences at any time by signing into your account and changing your email settings here or account settings. You can also opt out of promotional messages by sending a request to ImproveVia Help Center. Please be aware that you cannot opt out of receiving service messages from ImproveVia.

2.3. User Communications

With certain communications you send on ImproveVia, the recipient can see your name, email address, and some network information.

Many communications that you initiate through ImproveVia (for example, an invitation sent to a non-Member) will list your name and primary email address in the header of the message. Messages you initiate may also provide the recipient with aggregate information about your network (for example, how many people are in your network). Other communications that you initiate through the Services, like a request for an introduction, will list your name as the initiator but will not include your personal email address contact information. Once you have connected with an individual, regardless of who sent the invitation, your contact information will be shared with that individual.

2.4. Customized Content

We use the information you provide on your profile to customize your experience on ImproveVia.

We use information that you provide to us to customize your experience and the experiences of others on ImproveVia. For example, when you sign in to your account, we may display the names of new Members who have recently joined your network or recent updates from your connections and companies you follow. We also use aggregated information from your network and other users to show you content, such as news and presentations relevant to you, your industry, or your profession.

2.6. Sharing Information with Third Parties

Any information you put on your profile and any content you post on ImproveVia may be seen by others. We don’t provide any of your non-public information (like your email address) to third parties without your consent, unless required by law. Other people may find your ImproveVia profile information through search engines (you can choose which parts of your public profile are accessible to public search engines in your settings), or use services like Twitter in conjunction with your ImproveVia account.

ImproveVia offers a “public profile” feature that allows Members to publish portions of their ImproveVia profile to the public Internet. This public profile will be indexed and displayed through public search engines when someone searches for your name. You may choose the parts of your profile that search engines index or completely opt out of this feature in your ImproveVia account settings. However, third-party search engines may not automatically update their caches, which may contain old public profile information. Unless you delete them, your profiles on ImproveVia.com

We do not rent or sell personal information that you have not posted on ImproveVia, except as described in this Privacy Policy. We will not disclose personal information that is not published to your profile or generated through engagement with other ImproveVia services, such as Groups and Company Pages, without your consent or to carry out your instructions (for example, to process payment information) unless ImproveVia has a good faith belief that disclosure is permitted by law or is reasonably necessary to: (1) comply with a legal requirement or process, including, but not limited to, civil and criminal subpoenas, court orders or other compulsory disclosures; (2) enforce this Privacy Policy or our User Agreement; (3) respond to claims of a violation of the rights of third parties; (4) respond to Member service inquiries; or (5) protect the rights, property, or safety of ImproveVia, our Members, Visitors, or the public.

2.7. Search

ImproveVia helps you search for other professionals, companies, groups, content, and jobs.

You can search for users, content, employment opportunities, information about companies, and community content from ImproveVia Groups on ImproveVia. For example, you can find Members with particular expertise or experience, or users that you may know from your industry or profession. You can also find employment opportunities and information about companies. You can also find content from ImproveVia user. We use personal information from ImproveVia, including user profiles, Groups content, and Company Pages, to inform and refine our search service.

2.8. Compliance with Legal Process and Other Disclosures

We may disclose your personal information if compelled by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or if necessary to enforce our User Agreement.

It is possible that we may need to disclose personal information, profile information, or information about your activities as a user or Visitor when required by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or if ImproveVia has a good faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to (1) investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities or to assist government enforcement agencies; (2) enforce the User Agreement, investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations, or protect the security or integrity of our Service; or (3) exercise or protect the rights, property, or safety of ImproveVia, our user, personnel, or others. We attempt to notify Members about legal demands for their data when appropriate in our judgment, unless prohibited by law or court order or when the request is an emergency. In light of our principles, we may dispute such demands when we believe, in our discretion, that the requests are overbroad, vague or lack proper authority, but do not commit to challenge every demand. To find out more about how ImproveVia engages with government requests for data see our Law Enforcement Data Request Guidelines.

2.9. Disclosures to Others as the Result of a Change in Control or Sale of ImproveVia Corporation

If there is a change in control or sale of all or part of ImproveVia, we may share your information with a third party, who will have the right to use that information in line with this Privacy Policy.

We may also disclose your personal information to a third party as part of a sale of the assets of ImproveVia Corporation, a subsidiary, or division, or as the result of a change in control of the company or one of its affiliates, or in preparation for any of these events. Any third party to which ImproveVia transfers or sells ImproveVia’s assets will have the right to continue to use the personal and other information that you provide to us in the manner set out in this Privacy Policy.

2.10. Service Providers

We may employ third parties to help us with the Services.

We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Services (e.g. maintenance, analysis, audit, marketing and development). These third parties have limited access to your information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated to ImproveVia not to disclose or use it for other purposes.

Your Choices & Obligations

3.1. Rights to Access, Correct, or Delete Your Information, and Closing Your Account

You can change your ImproveVia information at any time by editing your profile, deleting content that you have posted, or by closing your account. You can also ask us for additional information we may have about your account.

You have a right to (1) access, modify, correct, or delete your personal information controlled by ImproveVia regarding your profile, (2) change or remove your content, and (3) close your account. You can also contact us for any account information which is not on your profile or readily accessible to you. If you close your account(s), your information will generally be removed from the Service within 24 hours. We generally delete closed account information and will de-personalize any logs or other backup information within 30 days of account closure, except as noted below.

3.2. Data Retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed. For example, we may keep certain information even after you close your account if it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, meet regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, prevent fraud and abuse, or enforce this agreement.

We retain the personal information you provide while your account is in existence or as needed to provide you services. ImproveVia may retain your personal information even after you have closed your account if retention is reasonably necessary to comply with our legal obligations, meet regulatory requirements, resolve disputes between Members, prevent fraud and abuse, or enforce this Privacy Policy and our User Agreement. We may retain personal information, for a limited period of time, if requested by law enforcement. ImproveVia's Customer Service may retain information for as long as is necessary to provide support-related reporting and trend analysis only, but we generally delete or de-personalize closed account data consistent

3.3. Your Obligations

Please respect the terms of our User Agreement, our Policies, and your fellow Members.

As a Member, you have certain obligations to other Members. Some of these obligations are imposed by applicable law and regulations and others have become commonplace in communities of like-minded Members such as ImproveVia:

  • You must, at all times, abide by the terms and conditions of the current Privacy Policy, User Agreement, and other policies of ImproveVia. This includes respecting all intellectual property rights that may belong to third parties, such as trademarks or copyrights.
  • You must not upload or otherwise disseminate any information that may infringe on the rights of others or which may be deemed to be injurious, violent, offensive, racist, or xenophobic, or which may otherwise violate the purpose and spirit of ImproveVia and its community of Members.
  • You must keep your username and password confidential and not share it with others.

Any violation of these guidelines or those detailed in our User Agreement or elsewhere may lead to the restriction, suspension, or termination of your account at the sole discretion of ImproveVia.

Important Information

4.1. Minimum Age

You have to meet ImproveVia’s minimum age requirements to create an account.

Visit our Safety Center for tips on using ImproveVia smartly and securely.

As described in Section 2.3 of the User Agreement, persons must be of Minimum Age to use ImproveVia. Please visit ImproveVia’s Safety Center for additional information about safely using ImproveVia.

4.2. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We will notify you when we change this Privacy Policy.

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes in the way we treat your personal information, or to the Privacy Policy, we will provide notice to you on the Services or by some other means, such as email. Please review the changes carefully. If you agree to the changes, simply continue to use our Services. If you object to any of the changes to our terms and you no longer wish to use ImproveVia, you may close your account(s). Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all information that ImproveVia has about you and your account. Using ImproveVia after a notice of changes has been communicated to you or published on our Services shall constitute consent to the changed terms or practices.

4.4. California's Shine the Light Law

We don’t share any of your personal information with third parties for direct marketing.

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our customers who are California residents to request and obtain from us a list of what personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year and the names and addresses of those third parties. Requests may be made only once a year and are free of charge. Under Section 1798.83, ImproveVia currently does not share any personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

4.5. Security

We take privacy and security seriously and have enabled HTTPS access to our site (turn on HTTPS), in addition to existing SSL access over mobile devices. Also, please know that the Internet is not a secure environment, so be careful and select strong passwords.

We have implemented security safeguards designed to protect the personal information that you provide in accordance with industry standards. Access to your data on ImproveVia is password-protected, and sensitive data (such as credit card information) is protected by SSL encryption when it is exchanged between your web browser and the ImproveVia Services. We also offer secure https access to the ImproveVia.com website. To protect any data you store on our servers, we also regularly monitor our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks, and we use a tier-one secured-access data center. However, since the Internet is not a 100% secure environment, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information that you transmit to ImproveVia. There is no guarantee that information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your login information. Please note that emails, instant messaging, and similar means of communication with other Members are not encrypted, and we strongly advise you not to communicate any confidential information through these means. Please help keep your account safe by using a strong password.

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About the Author

Zachary Adam Zell
Petaluma, California, United States
Founder and CEO at ImproveVia
Sonoma State University

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