HeyNielsen.com Privacy Policy
Last Revised: April 17, 2008
HeyNielsen.com is an online destination designed for entertainment enthusiasts to express their opinions about television, movies, music, the Internet, celebrities and other topics as part of a social community. These opinions and other relevant content posted by Hey! Nielsen members can be accessed and read by other members and users of the site. Hey! Nielsen members can also create unique personal online profiles that they may share with other members.
By visiting the Hey! Nielsen site and signing up for any of the services offered on the Hey! Nielsen site, you permit the collection and use of your information, including personally identifiable information that we may collect from you, as outlined below.
Information We Collect and How We Use It
In order to be able to post opinions and other content on the Hey! Nielsen site as well as to participate in some of the services we offer, we ask that you register with us. In connection with the registration process, we ask that you provide us with certain information about yourself, such as your email address, date of birth, gender and zip code. Your email address may be used so that we can send you updates, newsletters or other communications regarding the Hey! Nielsen site, as well as to offer you the chance to participate in surveys, focus groups and other unique research opportunities. You may unsubscribe from any of these communications at anytime. (See Email Opt-out below).
Hey! Nielsen members can also create their own unique personal online profiles that they may share with other members. We will not include any of the personally identifiable information you provide us (such as your email address or first and last name) in your member profile, although any personal information you choose to include in your own profile will be made available to the other Hey! Nielsen members you choose to share your profile with. If you choose to post any content or other information or materials on the site, and you include personal information as part of that, we will collect that personal information as well. Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information in public areas of the Hey! Nielsen site, such as in our forums, your information can be viewed and possibly used by others. We encourage you to be careful when disclosing personally identifiable information about yourself, such as full name, home address, or phone number, on the Hey! Nielsen site, or in any other online public forum.
We also automatically collect certain non-personally identifiable information including IP address, browser type, requested and referral URLs, time spent on certain portions of the site and other forms of site usage data from members and visitors to the site. This data is primarily used to enhance our relationship with you, including improving the content and functionality of the site and services we offer. In addition, we may use this information along with the other information we collect for general market research purposes, including preparing reports and analysis on the opinions, behavior and characteristics of the members and users of the Hey! Nielsen site (see Market Research and Analysis below).
Finally, from time to time, we (on behalf of ourselves or a third party, such as a partner or client of ours), may sponsor or commission a promotion, sweepstakes, research study or other activity on HeyNielsen.com. In connection with these activities, you may be asked to provide personally identifiable information such as your name, email address or home address, and to answer certain questions, in order to participate. Your participation is always voluntary, and you therefore have a choice whether to provide any of the information requested in connection with these activities. We may transfer this information to certain partners or other third parties that you have explicitly agreed can be provided with your information.
Market Research and Analysis
As a leading provider of information and services for the media and entertainment industries, one of the goals of The Nielsen Company is to help others understand consumer behavior and opinions across all media and entertainment platforms, including the Internet. One way we do this is by conducting market research and analysis on the opinions, interests, demographics and behavior of the users and members of the Hey! Nielsen site. We use this information, along with information we may obtain from other sources (such as other market research firms), to prepare various market research reports and analyses for our clients and prospective clients relating to the various content and other information made available in connection with the site. Please be assured that in connection with this research and analysis, we do not provide our clients with any of the personally identifiable information you provide us, nor do we share your information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes.
Cookies and Web Beacons
Like many sites, we use "cookies" on the Hey! Nielsen site. Cookies are small text files that reside on a user's computer and identify you as a unique user. Cookies allow us, among other things, to measure traffic activity on the site and to improve your overall experience on the site, for example by remembering your passwords and viewing preferences, allowing you to visit different "member only" portions of the site without explicitly typing in your user name and password every time, and tracking your status or progress on certain activities, such as research surveys and other opportunities made available on or through the site. You can set your browser to reject cookies or you can manually delete individual or all of the cookies on your computer by following your browser's help file directions. However, if your browser is set to reject cookies or you manually delete cookies, you may have some trouble accessing or being able to use some of the pages and features on this site.
In addition to using cookies, we may collect other non-personally identifying data by embedding a small piece of code (sometimes referred to as a "pixel tag," "web beacon" or "clear GIF") in the site's content. This piece of code is an electronic image, often a single pixel (1x1), which is ordinarily not visible on the site and may be associated with cookies on your hard drive. Similar to cookies, we use this information to measure site usage activity and help us improve the content and features offered on the Hey! Nielsen site.
Sharing and Disclosure of Information
As a leading market research company, we believe the protection of your personally identifiable information is essential to our success and credibility. We will not share the personally identifiable information we collect from you on this site with others except as described in this Privacy Policy.
Like many businesses, sometimes we employ or contract with other people or companies to perform certain functions or services on our behalf, such as hosting and maintaining the site, maintaining databases of the information collected on the site, and administering surveys, sweepstakes or promotions. These persons and companies may be provided with access to your information needed to perform their functions or services, but are contractually obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of the personally identifiable information we collect and are restricted from using such information in anyway not expressly authorized by us.
In addition, we fully cooperate with reasonable requests for information from law enforcement agencies. As a result, we reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we reasonably believe to be unlawful, or that we reasonably believe may aid a law enforcement investigation into unlawful activity. Furthermore, we reserve the right to release your information to law enforcement agencies if we determine, in our sole judgment, that either you have violated our policies, or the release of your information may protect the rights, property or safety of The Nielsen Company, you, or someone else. We may also share your information with others as required by, or permitted by, law. This may include sharing your information with governmental entities, or third parties, in response to subpoenas, search warrants, court orders, other legal process, or as we believe is necessary to exercise or preserve our legal rights or defend against legal claims against us.
Lastly, if all or part of our company is sold, merged or otherwise transferred to an unrelated entity, your information, whether personally identifiable or otherwise, may be transferred as part of that transaction.
Security
HeyNielsen.com member accounts are secured by member-created passwords. We encourage you to keep your passwords confidential and unique. We take certain precautions to protect member information that is stored within our databases, and we restrict access to member information to those employees and service providers who need access to perform their job functions, such as customer service personnel and technical staff. Notwithstanding these security measures, please be aware that when you submit personal information on the HeyNielsen.com site, it, like any other transmission of data over the Internet, is not guaranteed to be completely secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure the security of any personal information you transmit to us. Any such transmission is done at your own risk.
Links
This site may contain links to other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy policies and/or practices of these sites. When linking to another site you should read the privacy policy stated on that site. Our Privacy Policy only governs information collected on HeyNielsen.com.
Changing; Updating or Accessing Information; Email Opt-out
As a registered member of the Hey! Nielsen site, you can review and modify your personal profile at any time by accessing the "My Profile" section of the site. Members who no longer wish to receive updates or newsletters regarding the Hey! Nielsen site or offers to participate in market research studies or other opportunities may choose not to by emailing us at hey@nielsen.com or by following the opt-out instructions contained in any of the emails or other communications sent to you by HeyNielsen.com. All requests will be processed in line within 10 business days or less in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act. Regardless of whether you elect to opt-out of receiving certain communications from us, we reserve the right to email you about certain legitimate business matters related to the site, such as to inform you of any specific changes that may impact your membership, where required by law or legal process, or if you violate our Terms of Service. In addition, you may contact us if at any time you would like to see the personally identifiable information we hold about you, or to ask us to correct or update this information, or to ask us to delete it.
Collection of Information from Children
Our site is not directed at, or intended for use by, children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly allow anyone under 13 to provide any personally identifiable information on our site. Children should always get permission from a parent or guardian before sending personal information over the Internet. You can find more information about protecting children's privacy by contacting the FTC or viewing its website at http://www.ftc.gov.
Changes in Our Privacy Policy
From time to time, we may make changes to this Privacy Policy. If we make revisions to the way we collect or use your personally identifiable information, we may provide notice of those changes by either: (1) announcing the change on the HeyNielsen.com home page and/or at the top of this Privacy Policy, or (2) taking such other action as we deem appropriate under the circumstances, including without limitation, posting the revised draft of this Privacy Policy on the site prior to changing our practices with respect to your personally identifiable information. You can determine when this Privacy Policy was last revised by referring to the date at the top of this page. Any changes to this policy will become effective upon posting of the revised Privacy Policy on this site. By continuing to use the site following such changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to such changes with respect to all information we have collected. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy frequently to ensure that you stay apprised of any changes. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, as it may be amended from time to time, in whole or in part, please do not continue using this site.
Questions or Comments
If you have any questions concerning this Privacy Policy, please contact us at hey@nielsen.com or The Nielsen Company (US), Inc., 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, Attn: Hey! Nielsen Privacy.
This Privacy Policy hereby incorporates by reference the Terms of Service.