Consumer Physics’ Privacy Policy
Effective date: Jan 1, 2015
Use of the Consumer Physics’ website (www.consumerpysics.com) and /or any of Consumer Physics’ online or mobile applications or products (SCiO Lab, SCiO web app SCiO widget(s)), Consumer Physics’ hardware, software or services, (including but not limited to when they are accessed via a computer or mobile device), confirms that you agree to the Consumer Physics’ privacy policy (this policy). You also agree and acknowledge that we (Consumer Physics) may transfer and store your information or personal details within our data centers and/or at or within our offices around the world.
If you do not agree to our Privacy Policy, DO NOT use the services, products or applications of Consumer Physics. Consumer Physics will post any and all modifications to our privacy policy on our website and reserves the right to make modifications to our Privacy Policy at any time. We encourage you to review the Privacy Policy and any updates made to it. If and when we make material changes to the Privacy Policy, we will notify all users and subscribers via email or by means of notice as is our policy, prior to the changes taking effect. Your continued use of our Products, Services and Applications after the notice date passes signifies your acknowledgement and acceptance of the modified Privacy Policy.
International Compliance:
Consumer Physics complies with the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework and US-SWISS Safe Harbor Framework as set forth by the US Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of personal information from and/all European Union member countries and Switzerland.
Your Information:
Consumer Physics collects both personal and non-personal information that you provide to us, including but not limited to information that may be contained in any data collection, scan, comment, video or question you upload or post to our Services. Consumer Physics defines “personal information” as information that can identify you and can be used alone to contact you in an offline or online format. Consumer Physics may collect Personal Information from you in the following and additional formats.
- Consumer Physics User Account
- Contest Registrations
- Support, Help Desk, Developer Portal and Technical Assistance
- Consumer Physics Online store
- Product registration
- Newsletter signups and questionnaire responses
- Social media access and sharing of services and digital content
- Services provided online and/or via SCiO Lab (mobile application) and SCiO widget(s) access
- Any use or purchase of other Consumer Physics services where personal and non-personal information is required or provided.
The specific types of Personal Information collected will depend and vary based on the activity and/or need and may include your name, email address, physical shipping or home address, phone numbers, credit card information. Access of our mobile Services may require collection of your photos, Wi-Fi network name and product serial number as well as log-in and password information. Should you win a prize in a Consumer Physics contest, you may be required to provide your social security or national ID number for tax and collection purposes as well as proof of residency or citizenship if required. Consumer Physics may ask for non-personal information –information that cannot be used to identify or contact you such as gender, date of birth, zip code, hobbies. Non-personal information may be requested along with personal information or separately.
Information Collected Automatically:
Use of Consumer Physics’ Services that connect to the internet, including access of Services via PC and/or mobile application and widgets may include automatic collection of certain information as described in the following sections for such purposes as improvement of our products and software, troubleshooting, provision of services, management of our Services, usage tracking, load balancing, and improvement of Service performance and integrity. Information gathered may include but is not limited to, IP address, profile information, aggregate user data, preferences, technical session information, browser type, information about your computer, hardware, software, smartphone, and may include a device identifier, demographic information including gender, zip code and age, income bracket, and navigational data including log files, server logs, clickstream data, and other data such as your location, where enabled, and language preferences. User IP addresses may be recorded for security and monitoring purposes.
In the case where you have arrived at www.consumerphysics.com via a link from another webpage, we may be provided with an aggregate or otherwise anonymous statistical information about your visit to our site. Consumer Physics takes an active approach to monitoring our customer traffic patterns, SCiO cloud bandwidth and uploads and overall site usage which enables us to continually improve our website, database and Service offerings. Consumer Physics retains the right to collate and aggregate automatically collected data with other non-Personal and Personal information. In such a case, any data collection which contains personal information is treated as personal information according to the standards defined in this Privacy Policy.
Cookies
Consumer Physics may use cookies to retain Services or website visitors’ preferences and capture session information, such as pages visited, interactions with our website features, time spent on the site, shopping cart items, intended shipping regions, and/or purchase behavior.
Consumer Physics does not link information retained in cookies to any Personal information submitted or gathered.
Consumer Physics may allow third parties to collect non-Personal information by way of cookies, web beacons, and as described below from the Consumer Physics website. Consumer Physics does not enable third parties to collect any Personal information directly from the Services for their own promotional purposes. This Privacy Policy covers the use of cookies by Consumer Physics and relevant ad serving, website feature, and analytics partners, and does not cover the use of cookies by 3rd party advertisers. You may be able to configure your browser to accept or reject all or some cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set — each browser is different. Check the “Help” menu of your computer and smartphone browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.
To properly use the Consumer Physics website, cookies must be enabled. Consumer Physics may also use flash cookies, also known as “local shared objects,” on our site, at our discretion. Flash cookies operate differently than browser cookies and cannot be removed or blocked via web browser settings. To learn more about how to manage Flash cookies, you can visit the Adobe website (at http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager06.html) and make changes at the Global Privacy Settings Panel (at http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html).
Web Beacons
Web Beacons are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of our Web users. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user’s computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on Web pages and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. We do not tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers’ Personal information. One or more of our third party advertising partners employ a software technology called web beacons, that help us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is effective.
Ad Servers, Third Party Advertising, and Website Analytics
Consumer Physics.com does not display third party advertisements. Consumer Physics does however work with website analytics and advertising partners, including Google, Doubleclick, AdRoll, Commission Junction, Facebook and others to deliver our advertisements on third party publisher websites. Our advertising partners may set cookies on your computer’s web browser. These cookies allow Consumer Physics partners to recognize you so that an ad server can show you Consumer Physics advertisements elsewhere on the Internet. It also enables us to analyze and measure your engagement and interactions while using Consumer Physics.com. If you want more information or details about how advertising services work and/or how to opt out, see the “Advertising Options” section below.
SCiO Sensor Diagnostic Information
When you connect your Consumer Physics SCiO Sensor to your smartphone and then to the SCiO cloud, we may automatically receive certain information about your SCiO sensor and your use of the SCiO sensor, including log files, SCiO sensor modes, settings, durations, error rates, and other usage information. We collect and use this information solely in anonymous and aggregate form, unless you have provided your consent to associate this information with your SCiO sensor serial number. This information helps us to improve our products and services, troubleshoot bugs, and analyze SCiO sensor errors.
Mobile Software Applications
When you use a Consumer Physics mobile application we may automatically receive certain information about your mobile device and use of the application, including a device identifier, operating system, version, and other information about your mobile device as well as time spent in different portions of the Consumer Physics mobile application. We monitor customer software usage to help us develop the design and layout of the mobile application and to improve the content to better match the interests of our users. We may also collect different types of information about your location, including general information (e.g., IP address, zip code) and more specific information (e.g., GPS-based functionality on mobile devices used to access the Services), and may use that information to customize the Services. If you access the Services through a mobile device and you do not want your device to provide us with location-tracking information, you can disable the GPS or other location-tracking functions on your device, provided your device allows you to do this. See your device manufacturer’s instructions for further details.
Consumer Physics Web Applications
Our web applications, including but not limited to Consumer Physics SCiO Lab, may automatically send data and personal and non-personal information to the SCiO cloud as you work. We also reserve the right to collect and analyze other types of information for the purpose of facilitating product support, product development and improvement of our applications as well as other services we offer to you and other Consumer Physics users.
Information from Other Sources
Consumer Physics may receive information about you from third parties, such as commerce partners, marketers, social network services, and other parties that we may use to supplement the information that we collect directly from you. If you connect to a third party network, platform, or service through the Services, you are authorizing us to collect, store, and use in accordance with this Privacy Policy any and all information that you agreed the social network or other third party platform could provide to Consumer Physics based on your settings on the third party social network or platform. Your agreement takes place when you connect with the third party network, platform, or service via our Services, and/or when you connect with one of our applications through one of these services.
Use of Information
Consumer Physics may use non-Personal information to improve performance of our Services, to understand how anonymous users interact with our website after seeing Consumer Physics advertisements, to identify and retarget advertisements to past website visitors, and to optimize the performance of our advertising campaigns. Consumer Physics may use both non-Personal information and Personal information to enable the purchase and fulfillment of Consumer Physics products and services, and to improve the overall Consumer Physics customer and product experience.
Consumer Physics may also use personal information in providing the Services, including but not limited to:
● Orders
If you place an order, we will use your name and email address to send you an order confirmation email, a shipping confirmation email, and customer satisfaction emails. If you do not wish to participate in customer satisfaction emails, you may opt-out of such emails upon receipt by clicking “Unsubscribe” link contained in the email.
● Customer Service
Based upon the Personal information you provide us at the time of account registration or purchase, we will send you a confirmation email to verify your username and password. We will also communicate with you in response to your inquiries, to provide the services you request, and to manage your account. We will communicate with you by email or telephone, in accordance with your preferences.
User-Generated Content
Consumer Physics aims to create the world’s first database of matter. To achieve this goal, data from public data collections will be collated, archived, stored, collected and shared with others to increase the value, size and relevancy of our database. All content, records, data, and related personal, non-personal information associated with such content may be accessible, shared and made public. By using the public sharing elements of SCiO Lab, SCiO Web and SCiO widgets, you acknowledge granting Consumer Physics permission and rights to share this content.
You may be able to disclose information about yourself in the course of contributing user generated content on publicly available areas of SCiO Services, such as in public data collections. Such information is unencrypted, public and may be accessed or archived by us, and there is no expectation of privacy or confidentiality in such information. Any personal information you submit in the course of such activities can be read, collected, or used by other SCiO users. If you submit your scans, images, or other data collection data to Consumer Physics as public, we may publish it on the Consumer Physics website or within our applications, widgets and sites along with certain personal information identifying you, e.g., your first and last name or your SCiO username, when we have your consent.
Newsletters, Special Offers and Updates
Consumer Physics retains the right to occasionally and at our discretion send you information on products, services, special promotions, contests, events, and opportunities to interact with Consumer Physics and our wider developer and user community. You can sign up to receive these emails from us on our newsletter sign up page and/or during checkout while purchasing a product. Because we respect your privacy, we present the option NOT to receive these types of communications. See the “Advertising Options” section below for details on how to unsubscribe or opt-out of future communications from Consumer Physics.
Service-Related Announcements
Service-related announcements will be emailed to you when it is necessary to do so. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we reserve the right to send you an email notifying you of such a scenario. Service related announcement are not opt-out possible, as they are not promotional in nature. Should you not wish to receive service related announcements, you do retain the option of deactivating your Consumer Physics/SCiO account.
Sharing and Disclosure of Information
Consumer Physics will NOT share, sell, rent or trade personal information with third parties for their own promotional purposes. Consumer Physics will only share personal Information as detailed below or with your express prior consent.
Co-Branded Websites
At times Consumer Physics will partner with third party websites in a co-branded relationship, where a co-branded web page(s) is used to promote Consumer Physics products, services, photos or videos. These web pages may be designed to look and feel just like Consumer Physics.com, but are actually hosted on a different domain. When we enter into co-branded partnerships we may at times share your name and email address in order for Consumer Physics to communicate with you about Consumer Physics related promotions, news, and updates via tools provided by our third party co-branded partner website. Information collected on third party co-branded webpages may not be covered under our Privacy Policy. All information collected on third party co-branded websites is owned and controlled by that website’s privacy policy. Please be sure to read the privacy policy of any website that asks you to submit personal information.
Customer Testimonials
At times, we may post testimonials on our website or via social media which may contain personal information. We will obtain your consent via email and/or opt-in methods prior to posting your name, city, or stated activity/interest along with any testimonial.
Third Party Service Providers
Consumer Physics reserves the right to use third party service providers to offer or facilitate services on our behalf, such as a shipping company to fulfill orders, a credit card processing company to bill you for goods and services, and an email service provider to send out emails on our behalf. When you order products from Consumer Physics, we will share your Personal information as necessary for such third party services providers to provide the applicable service to us or on our behalf. These third parties are prohibited from using your personal information for promotional purposes.
Business Transactions
Information that we collect, including your Personal information and non-Personal information, is considered a business asset. As a result, if we go out of business, enter bankruptcy, or if we are acquired as a result of a transaction such as a merger, acquisition or sale of some or all of our assets, your information may be disclosed or transferred to a third party acquirer in connection with the transaction.
Legal Compliance
We reserve the right to access and disclose your Personal information when we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to: (a) enforce legal rights and comply with the law; (b) comply with an order from a government entity or other competent authority, (c) prevent or address potential or actual injury or interference with our rights, property, operations, users or others who may be harmed or may suffer loss or damage; (d) protect our rights, prevent fraud and/or comply with judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on Consumer Physics.
Other Disclosures of Non-Personal Information
Consumer Physics may aggregate and/or anonymize information collected by the Services or via other means so that the information does not identify you. Our use and disclosure of aggregated, anonymized, and other non-Personal Information is not subject to any restrictions under this Privacy Policy, and we may disclose it to others without limitation for any purpose.
Advertising Options
Consumer Physics is dedicated to your privacy. As is such, you always have the right and ability to “opt-out” of having your Personal Information used for certain purposes, when we ask for this information. For example, if you purchase a product but do not wish to receive any additional marketing material from us, you can indicate your preference on our order form by leaving the “Opt-In” checkbox blank. If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each newsletter or communication or by emailing us at support@consumerphysics.com. You will be notified when your Personal Information is collected or shared by any third party that is not our service provider, so you can make an informed choice as to whether to share your information with that party. If you do not wish to have your Personal Information shared and want to opt-out from receiving further communications from any third party that is not our agent or service provider, please contact that third party directly. Consumer Physics strives to provide the public with relevant, value-added content in the form of online advertisements. However we respect the wishes of anyone who does not want to be tracked by third party advertising companies online. Users may opt-out of cookie-based online advertising and analytics programs by following the opt-out instructions provided by our advertising and analytics partners here.
Editing Information
SCiO account holders may modify or remove any or all of their own Personal Information collected by Consumer Physics at any time by logging into their Consumer Physics user account and accessing the Account Edit feature. Consumer Physics’ customers can also email us to correct or change any information by filling out our standard contact form.
Third Party Website Links and Features
Consumer Physics’ Services may contain links to or features from other websites. This Privacy Policy covers the privacy practices by Consumer Physics, and does not cover the privacy practices of third party websites or features. Consumer Physics is not responsible for the privacy policies and/or practices of third parties. When linking to another site or using a third party service, you should read the privacy policy on that site or service. To the extent certain third party website features are available on the Consumer Physics services, the following terms apply:
We use a Twitter widget to enable users to easily share content found on Consumer Physics.com or while using SCiO Lab, by sending a Tweet via their Twitter Account. Refer to the Twitter Privacy Policy for more on the type of information tracked by Twitter via this feature – in particular, the section titled “Widget Data”.
We use Facebook’s Like and Share buttons to enable our website users to easily “Like” content found on Consumer Physics.com and collections or records found via SCiO Lab, and thereby share this content with their Facebook Friends. Refer to the Facebook Data Use Policy for more on the type of data tracked by Facebook via this feature.
We enable the Google + button to enable SCiO users easy and efficient means to “+” content found on Consumer Physics.com and/or SCiO record related content from SCiO Lab, SCiO widgets and the SCiO Web App and thereby share this content within their Google+ network. Refer to the Google Privacy Policy for additional information on how Google collects and manages user data.
Privacy of Child Users (users under the age of13)
Consumer Physics’ Products and Services are intended for general audiences and not intended for use by children under the age of 13. Consumer Physics does not knowingly collect Personal information from children under the age of 13. Should we become aware of such collection, we will take any and all reasonable steps to delete the information as fast as possible and practical.
International Users
Consumer Physics operates worldwide and as a result, the information we collect may be stored in the United States, Europe or EMEA. Your Personal information may be transferred to, used, processed, or held by Consumer Physics in the United States and in other countries, including countries outside of your country of residence and used expressly for the purposes detailed in this Privacy Policy.
Changes to Our Privacy Policy
From time to time, our information practices may change. If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes to this Privacy Policy or other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our home page.
Protection of Your Personal Information
The security of your personal information is critical to us. Consumer Physics has built a robust administrative, technical, and physically secure environment to protect against unauthorized access, destruction or alteration of your information and data. However, despite our best efforts, no security measures are completely impenetrable. We are committed to the security of your data and to continually improving our practices to retain that protection and security.