OpenX Child-Safe Marketplace Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 6, 2024

  1. Introduction
  2. What data do we collect?
  3. Why do we collect, use, disclose, and store this data?
  4. How and to whom do we share this data?
  5. What choices and rights do you have with respect to data processing in the Marketplace, and how can you contact us?
  6. How long do we retain data?
  7. Kids Privacy Assured by PRIVO: COPPA Safe Harbor Certification
  8. What if we update this Privacy Policy?
  9. How can you contact us?

1. Introduction

OpenX (“OpenX“, “we“, “us” or “our“) runs an advertising exchange (the “Ad Exchange”).  This means that we connect companies that offer advertising space on their websites, mobile applications, or connected television (“CTV”) applications (called “Publishers” in this Privacy Policy) with brands, advertising agencies, and demand side platforms (called “Advertising Partners” in this Privacy Policy) looking to purchase that advertising space in order to advertise their products or services to consumers like you.

This Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”) relates to a specific marketplace within our Ad Exchange called the Child-Safe Marketplace (the “Marketplace”). Through the Marketplace, OpenX connects select Publishers of applications and channels for children with select Advertising Partners seeking to display advertisements appropriate for children on those applications and channels. 

In order to do so in a manner that respects and protects the privacy of children, the Marketplace has been designed to restrict the collection, use, sharing, and storing of personal data to that which is strictly necessary to serve contextual advertisements, and to prohibit interest-based advertising (also called “targeted” or “cross-context behavioral” advertising) by default. The Marketplace is also certified under the Safe Harbor program of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). This means that the Marketplace is audited on an ongoing basis by an independent COPPA Safe Harbor program approved by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. You can learn more about the Marketplace’s COPPA Safe Harbor program certification in this section.

We encourage you to read the whole Privacy Policy, because it provides important information about how we may process data within the Marketplace and how you can contact us with any questions you may have about the Marketplace.  In the meantime, here are some key details:

  • Only select Publishers and Advertising Partners who agree to specific contractual conditions may participate in the Marketplace.
  • Personal data sharing is restricted and interest-based advertising is prohibited in the Marketplace. 
  • The Marketplace is regularly audited and COPPA Safe Harbor Certified.

In other words, we built the Marketplace to include privacy protections by default, including protections designed to ensure that personal data is never used to target interest-based advertisements to children, or to build profiles of children’s interests and activities. Instead, advertisements in the Marketplace are selected based purely on the context of the applications or channels on which they will appear, in compliance with the COPPA.

To learn more about our collection, use, disclosure, and storage of data, including personal data, within the Marketplace, please scroll down to read the rest of this Privacy Policy.  If you have any questions, you can always contact us here. As you read through this Privacy Policy, please keep in mind that our Child-Safe Marketplace is currently available only in the United States.

If you would like to learn about our collection, use, disclosure, and storage of data, including personal data, within our broader Ad Exchange services, please review our Ad Exchange Privacy Policy or visit our Privacy Center

If you would like to learn about our collection, use, disclosure, and storage of data, including personal data, when you visit our website or choose to contact us, please review our Website Privacy Policy.

As you read our Privacy Policies, please remember that the Publishers and Advertising Partners you interact with as you engage online and in the real world may have their own privacy policies that govern how they collect and use your data, including when they may share your data with advertising partners like us. These policies and practices may differ from what you read in our Privacy Policies. To fully understand how your data is being collected, used, disclosed, and stored, you should always carefully read the privacy policy of any website you access, any app you use, and any social network page through which you share information.

2. What data do we collect?

We may collect the following categories of data within the Marketplace, subject to certain restrictions:

  • Pseudonymous device identifiers. This may include the user-agent strings, IP addresses, or unique online identifiers associated with the devices of the viewers of the applications or channels within the Marketplace. Typically, device identifiers are hashed, truncated, or de-identified prior to being sent within the Marketplace. 
  • Contextual information about the applications or channels within the Marketplace. This may include information such as the application or channel name or generalized information about its intended audience.
  • Non-precise location information. This may include information such as the country, state, zip code, or region of the viewers of the applications or channels within the Marketplace.
  • Browser, device, and service information. This may include information such as the browsers, screen dimensions, operating systems, and preferred languages of the devices viewers are using to access applications or channels within the Marketplace.
  • Ad reporting and delivery information. This may include information about the advertisements served on the applications or channels within the Marketplace and whether they successfully loaded and played. 

Some of this data may be considered personal data under applicable privacy laws, to the extent it can be connected to, or associated with, an individual or household. Participating Publishers, OpenX, and downstream Advertising Partners are restricted from processing personal data within the Marketplace except as necessary to facilitate the serving of contextual advertisements and for other limited purposes described below. 

OpenX may also collect personal data from individuals visiting our website or contacting us for any reason, although we will not use this data for advertising via the Marketplace or, more broadly, our Ad Exchange. Please view our Website Privacy Policy to learn more.

3. Why do we collect, use, disclose, and store this data?

Data within the Marketplace is collected, used, disclosed, and stored for the following limited purposes:

  • To facilitate contextual advertising
    • We may help serve a contextual advertisement on applications or channels participating in the Marketplace, based solely on the context of those applications or channels.
  • To control the content and frequency of ads
    • We may use data about the context of applications or channels participating in the Marketplace to help make sure the ad is relevant and appropriate to viewers and delivered in a format that will work on viewers’ devices.
    • We may also use limited data to take steps designed to make sure that ads being shown to viewers do not contain malware, otherwise meet our ad standards, and are not too repetitive.
  • To measure ad performance
    • We may use limited data to help us measure the delivery and performance of ads served within the Marketplace to understand whether they displayed correctly and how long a viewer had the opportunity to see them.
    • We may use this data to provide reporting to our Publishers and Advertising Partners so that they can arrange payment and understand how their ad campaigns are working or can be improved.
  • To build and improve the Marketplace
    • We may use limited data to maintain and improve the Marketplace.
  • For compliance purposes
    • We may use data to help ensure legal or regulatory compliance. 

4. How and to whom do we share this data?

We share data processed within the Marketplace with only with the following third parties, for the following reasons:

  • Advertising Partners 
    • We may share certain data with our Advertising Partners as necessary to facilitate the serving of contextual advertisements within the Marketplace, for example by sharing data as needed to help Advertising Partners determine whether to serve an ad on an application or channel participating in the Marketplace, and so that they can understand how well their advertising campaigns are working. 
    • When we share data with Advertising Partners, we attach industry-accepted flags as needed to indicate that the device is opted out of sales, interest-based advertising, and user profiling.  
  • Service providers
    • We may share certain data related to the Marketplace with contracted vendors so that they can perform functions on our behalf, such as fraud and malware prevention, identification of invalid traffic, and data storage and hosting. A list of our service providers is available here. OpenX may supplement or otherwise update this list from time to time.
  • Affiliates and potential acquirers
    • We may share data related to the Marketplace amongst affiliate companies in the OpenX group for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. A list of our affiliates is available here
    • We may also share such data in connection with an actual or proposed sale or transfer of all or a part of our business or assets, corporate merger, consolidation, or bankruptcy, including with our advisers and any prospective purchaser’s advisers and with the new owners of the business.
  • Regulators, law enforcement entities, and other legal actors
    • We may share data related to the Marketplace for legal compliance, such as with regulatory, governmental, law enforcement, courts with competent jurisdictions, emergency services, or other legal entities or public authorities in response to a valid legal request, or to protect the security or integrity of our Marketplace or users.

5. What choices and rights do you have with respect to data processing in the Marketplace, and how can you contact us?

In some states and under certain circumstances, to the extent we have processed your or your child’s personal data within the Marketplace, you may exercise the following rights regarding the personal data:

  • The right to confirm whether we have processed the personal data.
  • The right to know and access, in a portable format that is accessible to you, the categories and specific pieces of personal data we collected, the categories of sources from which we collected the personal data, our purposes for collecting the personal data, and the categories of third parties to whom we have disclosed the personal data.
  • The right to correct inaccuracies related to the personal data we have collected from or about you.
  • The right to request that we delete the personal data we have collected from or about you.
  • The right not to be discriminated or retaliated against for exercising any of these data rights.

Under many state privacy laws, you also have the right to opt out of the processing and sharing of personal data for purposes of interest-based advertising, also called “cross-context behavioral advertising” or “targeted advertising,” as well as the right to opt out of any sales of your personal data. However, OpenX does not sell personal data from the Marketplace or share such data for interest-based advertising. To the extent that OpenX sends personal data from the Marketplace to Advertising Partners for contextual advertising purposes, we attach industry-accepted flags indicating that the device is opted out of sales and interest-based advertising.  If you would like to learn more about your opt out rights within our broader Ad Exchange, including detailed instructions on how to opt out of certain personal data processing, please review our Ad Exchange Privacy Policy.

Some state privacy laws require consent to process “sensitive” personal data. While certain limited personal data related to children processed within the Marketplace may be considered “sensitive” in certain states, OpenX processes data within the Marketplace only in ways that do not require consent, and only in compliance with the COPPA. 

To exercise any of the above rights, or if you are a parent and would like additional information about our Marketplace and data collection practices, please reach us here or call us at (855) 231-3834. If you are seeking to exercise your privacy rights, you may be asked to submit verifying information in certain circumstances, as described below. Depending on your state, if you have submitted a request that we have not fulfilled, you may appeal our decision by contacting us here

Verification Process and Required Information: Because the personal data we process within the Marketplace represents only pseudonymous online identifiers and associated data, and cannot independently identify individuals’ names or contact information, we may need to request additional information from you to verify your identity or understand the scope of your request. Such additional information may include your online identifier (e.g., your cookie or mobile advertising ID or IP address), your state of residence, and some proof that the devices that have the online identifier you provide are yours, such as a screenshot of the applicable cookie or of a screen that displays the mobile advertising ID or other documentation that can verify you.

Authorized Agent: You may designate an authorized agent to make a data subject request on your behalf by verifying your identity and providing written permission to your agent to make the request for you. If you are a parent, you may make a data subject request on behalf of your child.

Minors’ Personal Data: As described above and throughout this Privacy Policy, we do not sell the personal data of consumers that we know to be under 16 years of age or share such data for purposes of interest-based advertising (also known as “targeted” or “cross-context behavioral” advertising).  

More Information: If you would like to understand your rights and choices with respect to personal data that may be processed outside of this Marketplace but within our other Ad Exchange services, including your right to opt out of certain forms of personal data processing, please review our Ad Exchange Privacy Policy or visit our Privacy Center.

6. How long do we retain data?

Data within the Marketplace generally is retained for a maximum of 14 days. A small sample of data within the Marketplace may be kept for a maximum of 30 days in order to troubleshoot technical incidents or lend technical support. 

7. Kids Privacy Assured by PRIVO: COPPA Safe Harbor Certification

OpenX Technologies, Inc. is a member of the PRIVO Kids Privacy Assured COPPA safe harbor certification Program (the “Program”). The Program certification applies to the digital properties listed on the certification page that is viewable by clicking on the PRIVO Seal. PRIVO is an independent, third-party organization committed to supporting online services to safeguard children’s personal information collected online. The PRIVO COPPA safe harbor certification Seal posted on this page indicates OpenX Technologies, Inc. has established COPPA compliant privacy practices and has agreed to submit to PRIVO’s oversight and consumer dispute resolution process. If you have questions or concerns about our privacy practices, please contact us at (855) 231-3834 or privacy@openx.com. If you have further concerns after you have contacted us, you can contact PRIVO directly at privacy@privo.com.

8. What if we update this Privacy Policy?

We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time.  If we do so, we will post the updated policy here and update the effective date. If we make a material change to this Privacy Policy, we will post a notice at the top of this Privacy Policy describing the change prior to the change going into effect or take other steps to notify you where required by law.

9. How can you contact us?

The business, data controller, or equivalent entity that controls how your data may be processed is OpenX Technologies, Inc. 

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to contact us for any reason in relation to our personal data processing, you can contact us here. You can also reach us at:

OpenX Technologies Inc.
Attention: Legal Department
177 E. Colorado Blvd., #3039
Pasadena, CA 91105
United States

You may also contact our data protection officer at privacy@openx.com, or by calling us at (855) 231-3834.