TAPATALK PRIVACY POLICY
Last Updated: June 27, 2024
Tapatalk is designed to keep you connected to the forums/sites you love. And designed to protect your privacy. We believe privacy is a right, and you have a right to keep it private. Our goal is to be transparent about how we collect and use information about you, to keep such information secure, and to provide you with meaningful choices.
WHAT THIS POLICY COVERS
Our Privacy Policy explains:
● What information we collect and why we collect it.
● How we use that information.
● The choices we offer, including how to access and update information about you.
OVERVIEW
To help you understand what personal information we collect about you, here is a summary of the primary information we collect:
● If you log in, we collect your email address to create a Tapatalk ID.
● We collect information on the advertising identifier to provide you targeted advertising.
● If you use the Tapatalk Groups’ website, we collect information through cookies to provide you targeted advertising, and your IP address to help control email spam and abuse management.
● We collect anonymized data for analytics purposes such as hardware and operating system information, performance statistics, and data about how you use your devices and applications.
● Location data in non-European Economic Area countries.
For details and specifics on how we collect, use and share information about you, please read our entire Privacy Policy below.
BY USING THE SERVICE, YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, OR DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS PRIVACY POLICY, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY STOP USING THE SERVICE.
ABOUT US
Everforo, Inc., doing business as Tapatalk (“Tapatalk”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) is a Delaware corporation located in the United States of America. We are an aggregator of websites and communications platforms (“Service”). Tapatalk operates the Service at https://www.tapatalk.com and on the Tapatalk Groups websites at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/*name of group*(“Website” or “Websites”, as applicable) and on our application available on various mobile operating systems (“Application”). We make third party websites, chat rooms, forums, message boards, blogs, RSS Feeds, and/or news groups (collectively, “Sites”) available to users of the Service.
The Service is hosted in the United States and is available through the Websites and the Application, and is not directed to individuals under the age of 16. Tapatalk does not knowingly collect information from individuals under 16 years of age without prior parental or guardian consent, or consistent with applicable law. If we learn that we have collected personal information from individuals under the age of 16 (or a different age, if applicable law provides for different protections), then unless we obtain parental or guardian consent to use or maintain that information, we will take steps to delete it.
TRANSPARENCY AND CHOICE
People have different privacy concerns. We believe you should have tools to control information about you and manage your experience with us. For example, you can find controls to manage or review your account information, marketing preferences, and collection of location data by going to your Profile Settings on the App or Website. If you opt out of receiving targeted ads, you will continue to see ads, but they may not be as relevant or useful to you. For more information on ads and how to opt out, see the section below headed “Advertisements; Ad Networks; Other Third Parties”.
INFORMATION WE COLLECT
We collect information to better provide the Services to our users - from tailoring your experience with the Application and Websites such as showing you content we think you might be interested in, making recommendations of Sites to follow, to advertising, measuring advertising performance, and related research.
We may collect and combine information when you interact with the Service, including:
Information you give us. We collect the information that you voluntarily give us. For example, when you register for a Tapatalk ID, we ask for your email address, user name, birthdate and password, and may request other registration information required by a Site to register as a member.
● Information from your use of the Service. We collect information about how you use a Website and Application like which Sites or Users you follow, and the content you view. This information includes:
o Device information: such as your IP address and an anonymous device identifier. In addition, the Application collects certain information automatically, such as content viewed, and information that allows us to periodically determine mobile device and usage information, which may include (i) information about the way you use the Application, (ii) information specific to your mobile device (such as make, model, operating system and version, Internet browser, device IP address, cookies, anonymous device and/or advertising identifier and similar information), (iii) information about your use of features, functions, or notifications on the device, and (iv) signal strength relating to WiFi or Bluetooth functionality, temperature, battery level, and similar technical data. We may collect the foregoing information even if you are not logged in to the Application;
o Browser information: such as information automatically provided by browsers like user agent and IP addresses accessing a Website; and
o Location information: for users outside the European Economic Area, such as information that allows us to periodically determine your actual location. We may collect the foregoing information even if you are not logged in to the Application. For iOS users, you should be able to adjust the settings on your iOS device to prevent collection of location information by disabling the location services feature on your device. For Android users, you should be able to adjust your settings on your Android device to prevent collection of location information by disabling Bluetooth and location service features on your device.
● Information from others: If you use Facebook or Google + to log in to the Application or a Website, we collect your email address and profile picture. These services will authenticate your identity and provide you the option to share (or not share) certain information with us to create a Tapatalk ID. Services like Facebook give you the option to post information about your activities using the Service to your Facebook profile page to share with others within your Facebook network.
We do not have any “sensitive” or “special categories of personal data” as defined under European data protection laws.
HOW WE COLLECT USER INFORMATION
We use cookies and other standard web technologies to collect information automatically from your device, including:
● Cookies: are data files that often include a unique identifier, and are placed on a user’s device or computer. We use cookies to deliver content and/or advertising specific to your interests, to enable you to log in to the Service without having to reenter all of your information, and for Service analytics. In addition, we may use third party companies to display ads on the Websites or Application, and these ads may contain cookies. You can learn more about how to delete, decline, or control cookies at www.aboutcookies.org, and can also control cookies by clicking your profile settings for the Website. If you choose to delete or decline cookies, certain features of the Service may not function properly or not at all.
● Web beacon; tags; pixels: are blocks of code that can read and place cookies, recognize certain types of information on your device, such as which websites or apps you use, and your browsing behavior, as well as provide Service analytics; and
● Mobile device identifiers: are standard device identifiers, for example the “IDFA” advertising identifier used on Apple’s iOS devices and the “Google Advertising ID” advertising identifier used on Android devices, to analyze your use of mobile applications.
HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION COLLECTED
We use the information collected to provide the Service and personalize your use of the Service. For example, we use the information collected for tailoring your experience with the Application and Websites such as showing you content we think you might be interested in, and making recommendations of Sites to follow. Such information may be used by itself, aggregated, or combined with other information from third parties. We may also use information collected to deliver you information and/or promotional materials about Tapatalk and/or to carry out other purposes that are disclosed to you, and to which you consent.
We may also use the information collected for the following purposes:
● To send your username and email, and if requested by a Site, birthdate and other responses to questions required to register for the Site(s) you choose to follow so that you become a member of that Site. You agree to comply with the rules, regulations, end-user license agreement, and terms of service of each such Site. If you do not want to allow other users to follow you or your threads, please visit the Profile Settings>Public Profile section in the Application to make certain information private where available.
● To contact you in connection with the Service, which may include sending you periodic updates on trending discussions from the Sites you follow, if you receive a “like” for one of your posts to a Site, and/or if you were quoted in a post on a Site. You may opt-out of receiving promotional mailings from us by following the instructions set forth in the Email Opt-Out section below;
● To log you into the Application with the information we receive from your use of Facebook Login or Google + as described above;
● To provide user support and site administration;
● To improve the Service;
● To enable advertising and standard advertising controls;
● To measure and report on advertising performance, trend analysis, and pattern detection;
● To protect the safety and security of users of the Service or members of the public including acting in urgent circumstances;
● To protect or defend the legal rights or property of Tapatalk, advertisers and other third parties, including business partners such as advertising businesses, as well as our corporate affiliates, in connection with the Service;
● To investigate, deter, and report against fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activity, and/or risk management; and
● To comply with applicable law, rules, regulations, or legal process.
SHARING THE INFORMATION COLLECTED
We share the information collected as follows:
● Advertisers: We share information collected with advertisers and other third parties, including business partners such as advertising businesses who are obligated to comply with applicable laws concerning usage of the information, as well as our corporate affiliates, in connection with the Service (such third parties and affiliates collectively, “Affiliates”). In addition, our Affiliates may share this information with their own third-party business partners who may use the information either for themselves or on behalf of the applicable Affiliate, each only for the purposes set forth in the section above headed “How We Use Information Collected”;
● Service providers: We share information collected with our service providers to facilitate some aspects of the Service or perform functions on our behalf. These service providers may use information about you solely for the purpose of providing these services to us or on our behalf;
● Sites you choose to follow: We share your name, username, and email with the Site(s) you choose to follow so that you become a member of that Site;
● Legal and other purposes: We may share information collected with law enforcement, regulatory authorities, courts with competent jurisdiction, emergency services, or other necessary third parties for legal, protection, security, and safety purposes;
● Business transfers: We may share information collected in connection with the sale or transfer of all or a part of our business or assets to a third party buyer.
INFORMATION OUR VENDORS AND OTHER THIRD PARTIES COLLECT
● Analytics Service Providers
o We may allow certain third party analytics service providers to collect the anonymous data received from cookies, web beacons, tags, pixels, and devices on our behalf, and to retain and use this data themselves. In addition, we may allow these service providers to include web beacons within the pages of the Websites and anonymous identifiers on the Application. We may also share portions of our log file data, including IP addresses, with these service providers for analytics purposes. These service providers aggregate information about what you see and interact with on the Websites and on the Application.
o These service providers offer information about their data collection practices, and in some cases, an opt-out, on their respective websites. To obtain a list of these service providers in order to request their privacy policy information and learn about the controls that may be available to you, please contact us using the details in the “Contact Information” section below.
● Advertisements; Ad Networks; Other Third Parties
o We may allow certain third party companies to serve advertisements to you and collect anonymous information regarding your use of the Service. Typically, these companies are third party ad servers, ad agencies, technology vendors, providers of sponsored content, and research firms, and they may include cookies and web beacons within the Websites, or other tracking methodologies such as anonymous device identifiers on the Websites, directly in emails/communications, and/or within the Application to collect anonymous information in order to provide customized content and/or ads of interest, auditing, research and reporting for us, our partners, and advertisers when you visit certain pages of the Websites or Application, and other websites or applications. For example, because your web browser requests these advertisements and/or web beacons from the third-party’s web servers, these companies can view, edit or set their own cookies, just as if you had requested a webpage from their website directly. When you view or interact with an advertisement, the possibility exists that these companies will make the assumption that you are interested in the subject matter of the advertisements.
o In addition, we or our data partner(s) may collect and store a unique identifier matched to your mobile device, in order to deliver customized ads or content while you use the Service or other websites or applications, or to seek to identify you in a unique manner across other devices or browsers. In order to customize these ads or content, we or our data partner(s) may connect de-identified demographic or other data about you (received from third parties) either to data you voluntarily submitted to us (such as your email address), or to data automatically collected from you (such as your device identifier or IP address). However, we will only share your email address with our data partners in hashed, non-human readable form.
o The above third party companies offer information about their data collection practices, and in some cases, an opt-out of interest-based advertising (ads targeted to your interests), on their respective websites. To obtain a list of these third parties in order to request their privacy policy information and learn about the controls that may be available to you, please contact us using the details in the “Contact Information” section below. You can also learn more about ad serving companies and opt-out capabilities at the Network Advertising Initiative Website, Digital Advertising Alliance Website, Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada, or European Interactive Advertising Digital Alliance. Please note that these opt-outs operate by placing a cookie on your device that is unique to the browser and device you used to opt-out. They may not function properly if you configured your browser to reject certain cookies. If you change browsers or computers, or delete the cookies on your computer, you will need to opt-out again. You also may be able to set your browser to notify you when a cookie is being set and to block most cookies. Your mobile device may give you the ability to opt-out of interest-based advertising (“Limit Ad Tracking” on iOS devices or “Opt out of Interest-Based Ads” or “Opt out of Ads Personalization” on Android devices).
LINKS
The Service may contain links to websites or applications not operated by Tapatalk. The Service may also carry advertisements from third party companies not associated with us. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of websites or applications or other services operated by third parties that are linked to or integrated with the Service, or for the privacy practices of third party advertising companies. Once you leave the Service via a link, access a website, a third party application, or click on an advertisement, you should check the applicable privacy policy of the website or application to determine, for example, how they will handle the information they collect about you.
WIDGETS
We may include a widget from a third party on the Websites or Application that allows interaction or content sharing by users. “Widgets” are mini-programs (such as a Facebook “Share” or “Like” button) that provide specific services or content from a third party. The third party providing the Widget may offer controls for you to manage the Widget’s appearance and functionality. Your interaction with a Widget typically allows the third party to collect some information about you through the third party’s cookies or its registration information. In some cases, the third party may recognize you through its Widgets and cookies even when you do not interact with the Widget. To obtain a list of these third parties in order to request their privacy policy information and learn about the controls that may be available to you, please contact us using the details in the “Contact Information” section below.
Opt Out of Targeted Advertising and “Sales” of Personal Information:
Residents of Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia have the right to opt out of targeted advertising and "sales" (as defined under applicable law) of their personal information. In order to exercise your right to opt out of targeted advertising or "sales" of your personal information, please click on the “Your Privacy Choices” link at the bottom of the webpage where your information is being collected.
YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS
If you are a resident of California, you have certain rights and protections under California law, including the California Consumer Privacy Act, regarding the collection, processing, and use of information about you. The information that we collect about you when you use the Service as set forth in the Information We Collect section above may include information that is considered “personal information” under California law. We do not knowingly sell the personal information of individuals under the age of 16 without their (or, if under 13, their parent’s or guardian’s) affirmative authorization.
We share the information that we collect about you when you use the Service as set forth in the Information We Collect section above to the third parties listed in the Sharing The Information Collected section above, and there may be instances where such disclosure constitutes “sale” of “personal information” as those terms are defined under California consumer privacy law. You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information, and in order to exercise that right, please contact us at privacy@tapatalk.com or Tapatalk, Attn: Privacy Officer, 406 Broadway #158 Floor, Santa Monica, CA 90401.
Under California law, you have a legal right to make, and we have a legal obligation to respond to, your request (a) for a copy of the specific pieces of personal information that we have collected about you in the past 12 months, including the categories of information, sources, and purposes of collection, as well as categories of third parties we have shared it with, and/or (b) deletion of personal information that we have collected about you. In order to submit such request, please contact us at privacy@tapatalk.com or Tapatalk, Attn: Privacy Officer, 406 Broadway #158 Floor, Santa Monica, CA 90401. We may ask you for additional information in order to verify your identity before responding to such a request, but we will use such additional information only for purposes of such verification.
We will consider and respond to your information and/or deletion request promptly, and otherwise in accordance with applicable laws. Although we will use good faith efforts to respond to your request, we may not be able to provide and/or delete your personal information in all situations. For example, we may not be able to provide the personal information requested if it imposes an undue burden or expense, requires us to release confidential commercial information, requires the disclosure of personal information relating to another person, or requires authentication of the request that is not feasible.
Under California law, you have a right not to receive discriminatory treatment by a business for the exercise of your consumer privacy rights conferred by California law. We will not discriminate against you, including by denying or providing a different level or quality of the Service, if you exercise your rights under California law.
LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION (EEA users only)
If you are a user located in the European Economic Area, our legal basis for collecting and using the information described above depends on the type of information concerned and the specific context in which we collect it.
We may rely on our legitimate interest to collect information from you, except where such interests are overridden by your data protection interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. Where we rely on our legitimate interests to collect and process information about you, they include the interests described in the section above headed “How We Use the Information Collected”.
However, in some cases, we may rely on your consent or have a legal obligation to collect the information about you, or may otherwise need the information to protect your and/or our vital interests or those of another person or entity. If we rely on your consent to collect and/or process information about you, we will obtain such consent in compliance with applicable laws.
If you have questions about or want further information concerning the legal basis on which we collect and use information about you, please contact us using the details in the “Contact Information” section below.
EUROPEAN DATA SUBJECT RIGHTS
The Service is available worldwide. As such, we collect personal information globally, and primarily store that information in the United States of America. We transfer, process and store personal information outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”), to wherever we, our Affiliates, or those third parties with whom we may share information about you as described in this Privacy Policy, operate in connection with the Service. Whenever we transfer personal information about you outside of the EEA, we take steps to protect it.
Tapatalk complies with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF) and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Tapatalk has certified to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it adheres to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles (EU-U.S. DPF Principles) with regard to the processing of personal data received from the European Union and the United Kingdom in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF. If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy and the EU-U.S. DPF Principles, the Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Data Privacy Framework (DPF) Program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/ and https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/framework-article/ANNEX-I-introduction.
If you are a resident of a country in the EEA, you have certain rights and protections under European law regarding the collection, processing, and use of information about you. As set forth above, the information that we collect about you when you use the Service may include certain digital identifiers that are considered “personal data” under European law. We process this data either because it is necessary to further our legitimate interest and/or pursuant to your consent.
As a resident of a country in the EEA, you have the right to:
● request access and obtain a copy of the information we collect about you;
● request rectification or erasure of such information;
● restrict the processing of such information;
● if applicable, data portability.
In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of such information.
Exercising EEA Rights. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@tapatalk.com or Tapatalk, Attn: Data Protection Officer, 406 Broadway #158 Floor, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Please note that because most of the information we collect and maintain about you can only identify a particular browser or device, and cannot identify you individually, you may need to provide us with additional information to enable us to identify the information we have about you and ensure that we accurately fulfill your request. We will consider and respond to your request promptly, and otherwise in accordance with applicable laws. Although we will use good faith efforts to respond to your request, we may not be able to provide and/or correct the requested information in all situations. For example, we may not be able to provide the information requested if it imposes an undue burden or expense, requires us to release confidential commercial information, or requires the disclosure of information relating to another person.
Onward transfer. As discussed above, we may share information with Affiliates, as well as third parties in connection with the Service. Under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF) and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and to the rights of EU and UK individuals, we are responsible for the processing of personal data we receive from the EEA, and subsequent onward transfers to a third party acting as an agent on our behalf. We comply with theEU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF) and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and to the rights of EU and UK individuals for such onward transfers. If the third party agents we engage to process such information on our behalf act in a manner contrary to theEU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF) and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and to the rights of EU and UK individuals, we are liable for those actions, unless we prove that we are not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.
EEA inquiries and complaints. In compliance with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF) and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and to the rights of EU and UK individuals, we are committed to resolve complaints about our collection or use of personal information. EEA residents with inquiries or complaints regarding our collection or use of personal information should first contact us at privacy@tapatalk.com or Tapatalk, Attn: Data Protection Officer, 406 Broadway #158 Floor, Santa Monica, CA 90401. We will respond to you within 45 days of receipt of your inquiry or complaint. The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction over Tapatalk’s compliance with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF) and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF.
In compliance with the EU-U.S. DPF and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, Tapatalk commits to refer unresolved complaints concerning our handling of personal data received in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF to American Arbitration Association, an alternative dispute resolution provider based in the United States. If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your DPF Principles-related complaint from us, or if we have not addressed your DPF Principles-related complaint to your satisfaction, please visit https://go.adr.org/dpf_irm.html for more information or to file a complaint. The services of the American Arbitration Association are provided at no cost to you. Tapatalk is obligated to arbitrate claims and follow the terms as set forth in Annex I of the DPF Principles, provided that an individual has invoked binding arbitration by delivering notice to Tapatalk and following the procedures and subject to conditions set forth in Annex I of Principles.
CLOSING YOUR ACCOUNT; DELETING INFORMATION
If you wish to delete your Tapatalk account, you must first contact the owner of each forum where you have an account to request the removal of your posts and forum-specific account information. Once your posts and individual forum accounts have been removed by the respective forum owners, you may then contact us to close your Tapatalk account. Upon receiving confirmation that your forum posts and accounts have been deleted, we will proceed to delete your Tapatalk account, including your email, IP address, username, and profile information, within 30 days of your written request.
If you remove the Application or close your Tapatalk account, we will use reasonable efforts to ensure that information about you is no longer accessible or used by the Service. However, as permitted by applicable law, we retain and may use information about you as necessary to comply with our legal and/or financial obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and other legitimate purposes (including, for document retention and security purposes). Please contact us using the details in the “Contact Information” section below to close your Tapatalk account or request changes or modification of the information you previously provided to us.
SECURITY
Tapatalk uses industry-standard physical, electronic, and procedural measures designed to safeguard the information in our possession against loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure, or modification. However, please note no transmission of information via the Internet or electronic storage solution can be guaranteed to be completely secure, although we take reasonable precautions to protect against security incidents.
RETENTION OF INFORMATION
We do not store information longer than we need it. The cookies we set expire no later than 30 days after they were last accessed. We typically store the information collected, such as IP address and other information described above until the next login. When we no longer need the information collected, it is deleted from either the cookies or our servers (as applicable).
In some cases, we may keep some information for longer periods of time where required under certain laws or to comply with law enforcement or regulatory requests, which for example may include, those relating to corporate governance, taxation, money laundering and financial reporting legislation.
EMAIL OPT OUT
You may opt-out of receiving promotional emails from us, by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link in the emails you receive from us. You can also manage your email settings for the Website by going to your Profile Settings>Board Preferences>Edit Notification Settings. You can manage email preferences in the Application by going to Profile Settings>General>Email Notifications.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
From time-to-time, Tapatalk may modify this Privacy Policy to reflect industry initiatives, regulatory reasons, changes in the law, our information collection and use practices, or changes in the features of the Service or technology. Therefore, it is important that you review this Privacy Policy regularly to ensure you are updated as to any changes.
If Tapatalk significantly changes our practices regarding collection or use of personal information about you, such information will continue to be governed by the Privacy Policy under which it was collected unless you have been provided notice of, and the opportunity to choose not to have information about you used as described in the revised Privacy Policy before such changes take effect, which may require that you stop using the Service and deactivate your Tapatalk account, as outlined above
CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@tapatalk.com or at:
Residents outside of the European Economic Area:
Tapatalk
Attn: Privacy Officer
406 Broadway #158
Santa Monica, CA 90401
European Economic Area residents:
In compliance with the EU-U.S. DPF and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, Tapatalk commits to resolve DPF Principles-related complaints about our collection and use of your personal information. EU and UK individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding our handling of personal data received in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, should first contact Tapatalk at:
Tapatalk
Attn: Data Protection Officer
406 Broadway #158
Santa Monica, CA 90401
privacy@tapatalk.com
Important note: The data controller of information about European Economic area residents is Tapatalk, Inc. at the above address.