OurComparisons Privacy Notice
Last Updated: December 16, 2019
Your privacy is important to us. We created this Privacy Notice to explain how we
collect, use, and share the information that we collect from and about you.
Data Collected
Data You Provide: We collect data that you provide to us when you interact with the
Site or sites owned by third-parties with whom we have contractual relationships, including sites you visit
prior to coming to this Site ("Media Partners").
In most cases when you come to the Site we will automatically gather or receive technical data about your
prior journey, device and how you interact with our Site ("Technical
Data"). Technical Data may include browser type, referrer URL, date and time of
your visit, IP address, MAC address, device type, screen resolution, and OS version. Technical Data also
includes "Cookie and Similar Data" described below.
We gather additional data if you elect to engage with the Site or certain sites owned
by our Media Partners. This includes contact information you elect to provide (e.g., name, address, email
address, telephone number) about yourself or third parties to us and our Media Partners. (For example, if
you elect to click on one of our advertisements on a Media Partner’s site that Media Partner may pass
your contact information to us). We refer to the information you elect to provide as "Provided Attributes." In addition to contact information, Provided
Attributes include age, gender, occupation, and education level. The Provided Attributes we collect are
based upon the product and services you are inquiring about.
Third Party Data: In some cases, we may augment the Technical Data and any Provided
Attributes with Third Party Data. "Third Party Data" includes information from third parties such as credit reporting agencies. (We will only
obtain credit reporting information with your consent, and will not retain any Social Security number you
provide). Third Party Data may also include information intended to validate the data you provide (e.g.,
phone number, Vehicle Identification Number, outstanding loan amount). Finally, Third Party Data may include
instances where you authorize us to use social media account information to log into or connect to this
Site. We may combine the Technical Data, Provided Attributes and Third Party Data.
Cookie and Similar Data: When you use this Site, we may recognize you or your device
through use of a "cookie" or other tracking technology. These technologies act as unique
identifiers and allow us to tailor this Site to your specified interests and track your activity on this
Site. This information may be added to your user profile and used to deliver offers and advertisements that
we believe are relevant to your interests.
We have contractual relationships with advertisers, advertising agencies and other
intermediaries that have advertisers as clients (collectively, "Advertising
Partners"). Our Media Partners and Advertising Partners (collectively,
"Partners") may also utilize third-party cookies
and other tracking technologies like clear pixel GIFs (i.e., web beacons) to identify you. We and our
Partners may use these technologies to measure responses to emails and page views on this Site and our
Partners’ websites. These technologies are used to enhance this Site, to make this Site more relevant
to you, and to measure the effectiveness of our email and other advertising campaigns and those of our
Partners. You can opt out of some of our and our Partners’ use of cookies and other technologies at:
Google, the
Network Advertising Initiative, Invite
Media, and Clicktale.
Tracking Options and California Do Not Track Disclosures: Certain Sites require
cookies to function efficiently. We may use cookies to deliver advertising we believe is relevant to you and
to link data collected across other devices you use. You can adjust your setting to limit tracking or
decline cookies, but, as a result, you may not be able to use certain features of this Site or take full
advantage of all of our offerings. Please refer to your device or browser settings for more information on
how to delete or decline cookies and control your tracking preferences. This Site does not respond to Do Not
Track signals from most browsers.
Data Use
We use the data we collect from and about you through this Site primarily to connect
you with Advertising Partners who can provide you with information about the products and services you are
seeking. We generally do this using Technical Data and Provided Attributes, but in certain cases (e.g.
lending products) we may also use Third Party Data.
For example, we may have an auto insurance Partner who is only licensed in certain
states. We may use Technical Data or Provided Attributes to determine if you are a resident of one of those
states. We refer to Advertising Partner requirements generally as "segmentation" and the alignment
of consumer data and segments as "matching."
We may also use the data we collect from and about you to (i) respond to your
requests (e.g., receive white papers, email, phone calls or texts); (ii) to keep you informed of our
products and services (and those of our Partners); (iii) to allow you to send message through this Site;
(iv) to improve our Sites and business; (v) to fulfill any purchase you make; and (vi) to use your data in
an aggregated, non-specific format for analytic and demographic purposes. We use Technical Data to monitor
this Site’s performance, analyze traffic patterns and usage, ensure that this Site and any
transactions function properly, and gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We may
use automated decision-making in segmentation and matching.
Data Sharing
In addition to the primary Data Use described above (i.e., sharing your data with
Advertising Partners and third parties for the purpose of providing you with information about the products
and services you are seeking), we may share your data as follows: (i) with other OurComparisons businesses;
(ii) with service providers who assist us in compliance and verification activities (e.g., credit agencies),
or provide services such as payment processing, IT, and data analysis; (iii) if you choose to send a message
through, or contribute to public areas of, this Site (e.g., message boards, blogs); and (iv) with a third
party in the event of a sale or transfer of all or part of our business.
We may also disclose the data we collect from and about you to (i) comply with legal
processes; (ii) to respond to lawful requests from authorities (including public and government authorities
outside your country of residence, and including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements);
(iii) to enforce our Terms of Service and this Privacy Notice; (iv) to protect our business, rights,
privacy, safety, or property or that of others; and (v) as necessary under applicable law (including laws
outside your country of residence).
Other Websites
This Site may contain links to websites that are not owned and operated by us. We are
not responsible for the content or practices of such websites, including their practices with respect to
your data. We have no responsibility or liability for such practices, and such practices govern your use of
those websites. If this Site includes any mapping features, those mapping features are powered by Google,
Inc. and governed by Google’s privacy
policy, as amended from time to time.
Security
We have taken certain physical, technical, and administrative steps to protect the
data we collect form and about Site users. We use commercially reasonable efforts to encrypt sensitive data
such as credit card number and personal health data. We use certain reasonable security measures to help
protect your personal information. However, no electronic data transmission or storage of information can be
guaranteed to be 100% secure. Please note that we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information
you transmit to us. You use the Site and provide us with your data at your own risk. If we share data as
detailed in this Privacy Notice with a third party we will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that they
keep the information secure and only use the information consistent with the terms of this Privacy
Notice.
Children
We do not knowingly collect, use, or share the personal data of children under the
age of 13 and this Site is not directed to individuals under 13. If we are made aware that we have collected
personal data from an individual under age 13 we will delete this information as soon as possible.
Choice and Access
Residents of certain countries, including European Union member states (and the
United Kingdom), may have additional rights listed under "Information for
European Consumers" below.
Marketing Emails: To stop receiving marketing emails from us, please click
here and follow the instructions to unsubscribe. Even if you unsubscribe, we may still send
administrative (i.e., non-marketing) messages. To unsubscribe from a third party’s communications,
contact that third party directly or follow the instructions to unsubscribe in the applicable marketing
email.
Phone Calls and Texts: To opt out of receiving telephone calls or texts from us,
please click here and follow the instructions to be placed on our Do Not Call list.
Please note that we will not be able to remove your data from third parties'
databases, and you will need to contact them directly and/or use any available opt-out mechanisms.
Retention Period
In general, we will retain your data for as long as is needed to connect you with
Advertising Partners who can provide you with information about the products and services you are seeking,
which is typically 30-180 days. We will typically retain an archived copy of your data for six years as
required or permitted by law for legal and compliance purposes.
Information for California Consumers
The California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") affords certain rights and protections to California residents. This section is intended
to further describe (i) the categories and sources of data that OurComparisons collects, sells or shares;
(ii) the purpose for collection; (iii) the types of third parties to whom OurComparisons discloses that
information; and (iv) details about how California residents can exercise their rights under the
CCPA.
Categories of Data OurComparisons Collects. OurComparisons
collects the following CCPA categories of data: (i) identifiers, such as a name, email address, telephone
number, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, IP address, account name, Social
Security number, driver’s license number; (ii) personal identifiers under Cal. Civ. Code §
1798.80(e), such as insurance policy number, education, employment status, bank account information, credit
card or debit card number, financial information, medical information, health insurance information; (iii)
protected classification characteristics under California law, such as age, marital status, medical
condition, gender, veteran or military status; (iv) commercial information, such as products or services
obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies; (v) internet activity,
such as browsing history and search history information; (vi) geolocation data; (vii) professional or
employment information, such as consumer-reported current or past job history; (viii) inferences drawn from
some of the information above (e.g., email open rates and time).
OurComparisons generally collects the above data as Technical Data or Provided
Attributes. For example, OurComparisons does not create user profiles to determine the gender, marital
status or employment status of consumers. OurComparisons receives each of those categories of data only as
self-reported data from the consumer.
Data Sources.
OurComparisons: OurComparisons collects Technical Data and
Provided Attributes from consumers who land on or engage with our Sites, our call centers or other
OurComparisons owned-properties (e.g., in response to emails from or on behalf of OurComparisons).
Partners and Third Parties: Consumers who visit websites owned by our Media Partners
may be redirected to our Sites. In some cases, we may gather data directly from Media Partner websites, or
Media Partners or other third parties may post data to our Sites or otherwise transfer data to us. This may
occur via display ads, click listings, inquiry forms or telephonic transfers from Media Partner call
centers. Our Advertising Partners may also provide us with data.
Service Providers: OurComparisons engages service providers to perform a variety of
functions (e.g., verifying consumer consent, validating email addresses or phone numbers).
Authorization: We require all parties from whom we receive data, whether they are
Partners, Service Providers or other third parties, to represent and warrant to us that they have
appropriately obtained the data provided to us and have the authority to share the data with us.
Purpose for Data Collection. As described above in
"Data
Use," OurComparisons primarily uses the data it collects to connect
consumers with Advertising Partners who can provide information about the products and services those
consumers are seeking.
Categories of Third Parties with Whom OurComparisons Discloses Personal
Data. In addition to the sharing for the primary use described in
"Data
Sharing," we may share your data with other OurComparisons businesses,
service providers, and third party websites.
Categories of Data Sold. As described above in
"Data
Use" and "Data
Sharing," OurComparisons may transfer Technical Data, Provided
Attributes and Third Party Data to Advertising Partners who can provide the consumer with information about
the products and services they are seeking. We may receive a fee for the transfer of that data or when the
consumer purchases a product or service.
CCPA Rights. The CCPA affords certain rights and
protections to California residents including: (i) the right to request that we delete any "personal
information" that we have collected from you ("Right to Delete"); (ii) the right to request that we disclose the categories and/or specific pieces of
personal information collected and sold ("Right to Know"); and (iii) the right to direct us not to sell their "personal information"
("Right to Opt-Out"). "Personal information" is defined under the CCPA as "information
that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably
be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household."
California residents who would like to submit a Request to Know, Delete, or Opt-Out
should follow the links below. You may also submit a Request to Know by calling our toll-free number
(844)-872-7854. Upon submission, you will be asked to verify your email address. If we are able to verify
your Request to Know or Delete, (e.g., that you are a California resident and that we have or have sold, as
the case may be, your "personal information"), we will respond within 45 days of your submission
(or such additional time period as the law allows us).
Information for European Consumers
Our Site and business are operated in the United States. If you are located outside
of the United States any data you provide will be transferred to and processed in the United States. For
residents of the European Union (and the United Kingdom), OurComparisons, Inc., is the data controller for
your data collected under this Privacy Notice. We process your data pursuant to your consent, where legally
required to do so, or where we have a legitimate interest, such as using your data for fraud prevention,
analytics or to improve our Sites and business, and for our marketing purposes.
In addition, you have the following rights with respect to the data collected from
and about you on this Site: (i) the right to request access to such data; (ii) the right to request the
correction, erasure, and restriction of processing of such data; (iii) in some instances, the right to
object to the processing of such data; (iv) in some instances, the right to request that OurComparisons
export, in a structured, commonly used, and machine readable format, and transmit to another controller,
such personal data; (v) the right to withdraw, at any time, any consent to the processing of such personal
data.
To exercise these rights please use the "Contact Us" mechanism provided
below.
Changes to this Privacy Notice
We may amend this Privacy Notice from time to time. When we do, we will post an
updated version of the Privacy Notice and revise the "LAST UPDATED" date at the top. We will provide appropriate notice to you if we change the Privacy Notice
in any material way. Using this Site after any changes are made means you accept those changes and the
revised Privacy Notice.
OurComparisons Businesses
For purposes of this Privacy Notice, "you" or "your" means the person(s)
using this Site or the products or services offered through this Site. "OurComparisons," "us," or "we" includes (but is not
limited to) OurComparisons, Inc., OurComparisons Media, Inc., OurComparisons Insurance Agency, Inc.,
OurComparisons Properties, Inc. and OurComparisons PL, Inc. OurComparisons, Inc. is the party responsible
for this Privacy Notice and compliance with it.
Dispute Resolution
You have the right to submit feedback about this Privacy Notice, or the practices
described in it, to the applicable supervisory authority in your jurisdiction of residence. For U.S.
residents this includes the Federal Trade Commission and your state Attorney General. For Non-U.S. residents
this includes the Data Protection Authority in your country of residence.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice please submit an inquiry at the
Contact Us page, here, and select "Other Consumer Issues" or by mail at:
Privacy Notice Questions
c/o OurComparisons, Inc. [Legal Department]
2 Toronto St. suite 263,
Toronto, ON M5C 2B5 Canada