Privacy Policy

How we protect your personal information

We encourage you to read this Privacy Policy carefully when using our website or services, responding to our advertisements and offers, or transacting business with us. By using our website, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions about our privacy practices, please refer to the end of this Privacy Policy for information on how to contact us. (This Privacy Policy applies only to the www.VerticalPulse.com website and the services accessed through this website. So, for example, it applies to advertisers and publishers applying for or using our network through this website, but does not apply to other vendors or contractors or to our employees.)

THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU

In General. We may collect personal information that can identify you such as your name and e-mail address, as well as other information that does not identify you such as gender and date of birth. When you provide personal information through our website, the information may be sent to Vertical Pulse servers located in the United States and other countries around the world.

Information You Provide. We may collect your username and password and any personal or company information you enter on our website or provide to us in some other manner. This may include identifying information about you or your employer or company (such as your name, company name, address, e-mail address, telephone numbers, fax number, Social Security Number, Employer or Tax Identification Number, driver's license number, jurisdiction of incorporation, address and/or telephone number), information about your or your company’s references (such as name and telephone number), information you provide when completing a survey, and credit or debit card, PayPal or other payment account information, including valid credit card number, type and expiration date. If you are a Vertical Pulse advertiser or publisher, we also collect information about advertising or lead generation campaigns you conduct or participate in using our website or services, such as web traffic and activity information, campaign results and information you enter into our dashboard or other account interface. We may also track your interaction with email advertisements sent to you by Vertical Pulse or our e-mail service providers on our behalf (for example, when you register, purchase, or browse in response to such emails).

List Information from Vendors. We may obtain information about you after you provide information to a third party and you permit that party (the "Seller") to share the information, which Vertical Pulse subsequently purchases, licenses or otherwise lawfully acquires. Such information may include, but is not limited to, your name, company name, street address, zip code, telephone numbers, birth date, gender, salary range, education, marital status, occupation, industry of employment, personal and/or online interests, and/or other information which you provided to the Seller (together, "Vendor List Information"). When acquiring Vendor List Information, Vertical Pulse requires assurances from the Seller that the Seller has a right to transfer the Vendor List Information to Vertical Pulse and that Vertical Pulse may lawfully use the Vendor List Information to transmit offers to you. You may opt out of receiving these offers by using one of the methods specified in the section below entitled “Your Choices About Collection and Use of Your information”.

Information from Other Sources. We may also periodically obtain both personal and non-personal information about you from business partners, contractors and other third parties, as well as information from public databases. Examples of information that we may receive include information about your home or company and additional demographic information.

Information about Others. We may also collect and store personal information that you provide to us about other people (such as references), including their name, address, phone number.

Use of Cookies and Other Technologies to Automatically Collect Information

We and our authorized service providers, advertising companies, and ad networks may use various activity tracking technologies, such as cookies, pixels and web beacons, to collect information from your computer and about your activities on our website or interaction with our advertisements (see "Information Collected by Third Parties" below). We and these companies may automatically collect information from your browser when you visit our website. This information may include your IP address, your browser type and language, access times, the content of any undeleted cookies that your browser previously accepted from us or them (see "Cookies" below) and the referring website address.

Cookies.

When you visit our website, we may assign your computer one or more cookies, to facilitate access to our website, to personalize your online experience, and to record information about your visit to our website. A cookie is a small amount of data stored on the hard drive of your computer that allows your computer's browser to store your preferences and allows Vertical Pulse, our authorized service providers, advertising companies and ad networks to identify you by a unique identifier and associate this with corresponding information in our or their database. Through the use of a cookie, we and these companies may store your non-personally identifiable registration information and user preferences and may also automatically collect information about your online activity on our website, such as the web pages you visit, the links or advertisements you click, or the other actions you conduct while on our website. In addition, Vertical Pulse may set a cookie on your computer when you view our advertisements delivered on or in connection with a third-party website you are visiting. After a cookie is set, Vertical Pulse may track how you interact with the advertisement (for example, registering, purchasing, browsing, etc.). Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies. If you choose to decline cookies, please note that you may not be able to sign in or use some of the interactive features offered on our website. We do not tie tracking cookies used for behavioral or targeted advertising purposes to any personal information you submit while on our site; however, cookies may be tied to your personal application information solely for purposes of effectuating transactions you have requested and similar purposes related to the operation of our website (such as managing our relationships with websites from which you may have been referred to us). They do NOT, however, collect personal information. Although we may place or allow third parties to place their cookies when you visit our website (as described more fully in the subsection below entitled “Targeted or Behavioral Advertising”), we do not have access or control over third party cookies nor does our privacy policy cover the use of cookies by third parties.

Other Technologies.

We may use other standard Internet activity tracking technologies, such as web beacons and similar technologies, to track your use on our website or your interaction with our advertisements. A web beacon is a programming code used to display an image on a web page and can also transfer an individual's user identification to a database and associate the individual with previously acquired information about the individual. Such information may be used in targeted or behavioral advertising, as well as for the other uses described in this paragraph. We may include web beacons in promotional e-mail messages or newsletters or online advertisements to determine whether messages have been opened or acted upon. We may use the information we obtain in this manner to customize the services and offers we provide our website visitors, to deliver targeted advertisements, and to measure the overall effectiveness of our online advertising, content, programming or other activities. We do not tie web beacons to any personal information you submit while on our website.

Information Collected by Third Parties.

Targeted or Behavioral Advertising

Targeted advertising (also known as behavioral advertising) uses information collected on an individual's web browsing behavior such as the pages they have visited or the searches they have made. This information is then used to select which Vertical Pulse advertisement should be displayed to a particular individual on websites other than this website. For example, if you have shown a preference for a certain product while visiting this website site, you may be served an advertisement from or about this site for the same or a similar product when you visit a site other than the Vertical Pulse site. The information collected is only linked to an anonymous cookie ID (alphanumeric number); it does not include any information that could be linked back to a particular person, such as their name, address or credit card number. The information used for targeted advertising either comes from this website or through third party website publishers.

In addition, we may place (or allow third parties to place) cookies and pixels on our website which enable our authorized service providers, advertising companies and advertising networks to collect information about our users who view or interact with their or our advertisements on our website or complete certain actions on our site, such as submitting an application or registration form. However, we do not tie these cookies and pixels to personal information that you submit on our website. The information collected by the cookies and pixels allows us and the companies mentioned above to deliver, and gauge the effectiveness of, targeted advertisements, both on our site and when you are browsing other websites. Some of these third-party advertising companies may be advertising networks that are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (www.networkadvertising.org), which offers a single location to opt out of ad targeting from member companies.

Storage of Information We Collect

We may store the personal information described above as necessary to accomplish the business purposes for which it was collected, as well as to comply with our legal and audit obligations, resolve reported and potential disputes, and enforce our agreements. For example, we may store information as long as your account is active; since users’ payment accounts may be charged for recurring fees, we may store your account information so that you do not have to re-enter this information. However, we do NOT store highly sensitive information such as Social Security numbers for extended periods of time or any longer than necessary for authentication and similar requirements and other legitimate business purposes. We also maintain an information security program that limits storage of personal information to what is needed to fulfill our reasonable business, legal and audit requirements.

HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

In general. We may use information that we collect about you to:

You expressly agree that we may call you, including the use of automatic dialer systems to your land line or mobile telephones, send SMS or MMS messages to you, or contact you by any means described above. You may opt-out from these types of communications at any time by following the unsubscribe link located at the bottom of the SMS and MMS messages or by emailing us at privacy@verticalpulse.com.

WITH WHOM WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

We do not share, sell, rent or trade your personal information with third parties other than as disclosed within this Privacy Policy.

We want you to understand when and with whom we may share personal or other information we have collected about you or your activities on our website, while using our services or in your other interactions (such as responding to e-mails) with us.

Personal Information. We do not share your personal information with others except as indicated below. Except for sensitive personal information (such as payment account information, which we only disclose in limited situations, such as to process a transaction, and which we do not share for marketing purposes without your affirmative prior consent), we may share all personal information with:

Authorized Service Providers. We may share your personal information with our authorized service providers that perform certain services on our behalf. For example, we may engage other companies to handle the processing of payments, to provide data storage, to assist in marketing Vertical Pulse products or services, to conduct audits, to provide web analytics, and to provide hosting, design, development and other operations which make our website work. Other third-party service providers may help us communicate with you through e-mail, direct mail, SMS or telephone communication. Our policy is to permit these third-party service providers to obtain only the personal information they need to provide the services, and to require them to protect personal information to the same extent as Vertical Pulse, including not using it for any improper purpose.

Business Partners. When you express interest in products, services or promotions offered through our website or our services, we may share your expression of interest with the businesses with which we partner to offer you those products, services and promotions, and, as applicable, their affiliates and third-party finder or marketing companies. When you elect to engage in a particular offer or program, you authorize us to provide your e-mail address and other information to those businesses.

Marketers. From time to time, where permitted by applicable law, we may share your personal information and automatically collected or aggregated information about you with reputable direct marketers so that they may offer products and services which we hope will be of interest to you. Please see the section below entitled “Your Choices About Collection and Use of Your Information” for detailed information on your choices regarding your personal information.

Affiliates

We may share information we collect, including personal information, with other companies affiliated with Vertical Pulse. Sharing information with such companies enables us to provide you with information about a variety of products and services that might interest you. These companies will comply with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy and security laws and, at a minimum, in any commercial e-mail they send to you, will give you the opportunity to choose not to receive such e-mail messages from that company in the future by providing an unsubscribe link at the bottom of each communication.

Special Notice to Vermont Residents. Vertical Pulse will not share any personal information about you with other affiliated companies to the extent prohibited by applicable Vermont law or to the extent your prior consent to share is required by applicable Vermont law.

Other Situations

We also may disclose your information: In response to a subpoena or similar investigative demand, a court order or a request for cooperation from a law enforcement or other government agency; to establish or exercise our legal rights; to defend against legal claims; or as otherwise required by law.

When we believe disclosure is appropriate in connection with efforts to investigate, or to prevent or take other action regarding, illegal activity, suspected fraud or other wrongdoing; to protect and defend the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, our employees or others; or to enforce our website' terms and conditions or other agreements or policies.

In the event Vertical Pulse goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, or in the unlikely event of a bankruptcy, your personally identifiable information will likely be among the assets transferred. You will be notified via email or prominent notice on our website for 30 days of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information. Please note that information may also be collected by third parties such as advertising companies and advertising networks via third-party cookies and pixels on our site (please see the subsection above entitled “Targeted or Behavioral Advertising” for details).

Any third parties to whom we may disclose or who may collect personal information may have their own privacy policies that describe how they use and disclose personal information. Except for companies affiliated with Vertical Pulse and authorized service providers, who agree to comply with this Privacy Policy with respect to personal information we share with them, the third parties' privacy policies will govern use, handling and disclosure of your personal information once we have shared it with those third parties as described in this Privacy Policy. If you want to learn more about their privacy practices, we encourage you to visit the websites of those third parties. These entities or their servers may be located either inside or outside the United States.

Aggregated and Non-Personal Information. We may share aggregated information (i.e., information about you and other customers collectively, but not specifically identifiable to you) and other non-personal information we collect under any of the above circumstances. We may also share it with third parties and affiliated companies to develop and deliver targeted advertising on our website and on websites of third parties. We may combine non-personal information we collect with additional non-personal information collected from other sources. We also may share aggregated information with third parties, including advisors, advertisers and investors, for the purpose of conducting general business analysis. For example, we may tell our advertisers the number of visitors to our website and the most popular features or services accessed. This information does not contain any personal information and may be used to develop website content and services that we hope you and other users will find of interest and to target content and advertising.

Third-Party Websites. There are a number of places on our website where you may click on a link to access other websites that do not operate under this Privacy Policy. For example, if you click on an advertisement or a search result on our website, you may be taken to a website that we do not control. These third-party websites may independently solicit and collect information, including personal information, from you and, in some instances, provide us with information about your activities on those websites. We recommend that you consult the privacy statements of all third-party websites you visit by clicking on the "privacy" link typically located at the bottom of the webpage you are visiting.

HOW YOU CAN ACCESS YOUR INFORMATION

General users of the website can update, correct or delete inaccuracies in your personal information by contacting privacy@verticalpulse.com for assistance. More information about how to contact us is provided below. We will process your request, where possible and subject to the terms contained in this Privacy Policy, within a reasonable period of time after receipt. To protect your privacy and security, we will take reasonable steps to help verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. We will respond to your request to access within 30 days. If you are a Vertical Pulse publisher or advertiser, you may also be able to update, correct or delete inaccuracies in your personal information on file with us yourself through the dashboards and other account interfaces we provide.

We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. We may also retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal and audit obligations, resolve reported and potential disputes, process chargebacks, make or collect payments that are owed with respect to your activities or campaigns, and enforce our agreements. If you wish to cancel your account or request that we no longer use your information to provide you services contact us at privacy@verticalpulse.com. We ask individual users to identify themselves and the information requested to be accessed, corrected or removed before processing all such requests, and we may decline to process requests that are unreasonably repetitive or systematic, require disproportionate technical effort, jeopardize the privacy of others, or would be extremely impractical (for instance, requests concerning information residing on backups), or for which access is not otherwise required. All requests are also subject to the next section below (“Your Choices About Collection and Use of Your Information”).

We also maintain an information security program that limits storage of personal information to what is needed to fulfill our reasonable business, legal and audit requirements.

YOUR CHOICES ABOUT COLLECTION AND USE OF YOUR INFORMATION

You can choose not to provide us with certain information, but that may result in you being unable to use certain features of our website because such information may be required in order for you to apply for or obtain products or services.

If you would like to delete the personal information that we have collected from you, please send your request via e-mail to privacy@verticalpulse.com. We will process your request, where possible and subject to the terms and conditions contained in this Privacy Policy, within a reasonable period of time after receipt. However, federal and state regulations and/or the need to administer our relationships with our ad networks and other third parties may require that we store certain information for various periods of time. In order to comply with these requirements, we may be unable to delete your information from our database until the expiration of the applicable period. However, we will use reasonable commercial efforts to delete your personal information no later than three (3) months after receiving your request, unless a longer retention period is required by law. Please also be aware that if you request us to delete your personal information, your request will apply only to information held by us and not to information we have already shared with third parties; the treatment of such information held by third parties is governed by those parties’ privacy policies, not by this Privacy Policy. When you initially sign up or submit information on our website, you will receive e-mail messages or newsletters from us. You will be given the opportunity, in any commercial e-mail that we send to you, to opt out of receiving such messages in the future. You may also opt out of receiving commercial e-mails by using the "unsubscribe" link on our website. It may take up to 10 business days for us to fully process an opt-out request. We may send you other types of transactional and relationship e-mail communications, such as requests for additional information, confirmations, service updates or announcements, administrative notices and surveys, without offering you the opportunity to opt out of receiving them. Please note that opting out of receipt of commercial e-mail communications will only affect future activities or communications from us. If we have already provided your information to a third party before you have changed your preferences or updated your information, you may have to change your preferences directly with that third party.

If you are receiving SMS messages from us, you may opt out from further SMS messages and remove your SMS information from our database by responding "STOP" to the SMS text message you have received.

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We take appropriate security measures (including physical, electronic and procedural measures) to help safeguard your personal and sensitive information from unauthorized access and disclosure. For example, with regard to Vertical Pulse’ internal operations, only authorized employees and authorized third-party service providers are permitted to access personal information, and they may do so only for permitted business functions. We use a reputable security service provider to manage our servers on which your personal information is stored. In addition, personal information you submit to Vertical Pulse through our website is transmitted through an encrypted SSL (secure socket layer technology) connection, and Vertical Pulse’ computers and networks have security measures, such as firewalls, to protect against the loss, misuse and/or alteration of the information under Vertical Pulse’ control.

We want you to feel confident using our website to transact business. However, no system can be completely secure. Therefore, although we take steps to secure your information, we do not promise, and you should not expect, that your personal information, searches or other communications will always remain secure. Users should also take care how they handle and disclose their personal information. Please refer to the Federal Trade Commission's website (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp) for information about how to protect yourself against identity theft.

YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

California Residents. If you are a resident of California, in addition to the rights set forth in this Privacy Policy, you have the right to request information from us regarding the manner in which we share certain categories of personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. California law gives you the right to send us a request at a designated address to receive the following information: the categories of information we disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year;

The names and addresses of the third parties that received that information; and if the nature of the third party's business cannot be determined from their name, examples of the products or services marketed.

We may provide this information in a standardized format that is not specific to you. The designated e-mail address for these requests is privacy@verticalpulse.com. Please note that we are only required to respond to one request per customer each year, and we are not required to respond to requests made by means other than through this e-mail address or mailing address. Please also be aware that not all information sharing is covered by the California requirements and only information on covered sharing will be included in our response.

Children's Privacy

Our website are for adults, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18.

VISITING OUR WEBSITE FROM OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

This Privacy Policy is intended to cover collection of information on our website from residents of the United States. If you are visiting our website from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored and processed in the United States where our servers are located and our central database is operated. The data protection and other laws of the United States and other countries might not be as comprehensive as those in your country. Please be assured that we seek to take reasonable steps to ensure that your privacy is protected. By using our services, you understand that your information may be transferred to our facilities and those third parties with whom we share it as described in this privacy policy. By using our website and the services available on the site, which are provided exclusively from the United States, you hereby consent to the transfer of your information to the United States and its collection, storage, sharing and use as described in this Privacy Policy. You further agree that all transactions relating to the site and our services shall be deemed to have occurred in the United States.

NO RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES

This Privacy Policy does not create rights enforceable by third parties or require disclosure of any personal information relating to users of our website.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We will occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices and services. When we post changes to this Privacy Policy, we will revise the “last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy. Accordingly, you should periodically check the “last updated” date at the top of our Privacy Policy so that you can familiarize yourself with any changes.

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our information-handling practices, or if you would like to request information about our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes, please contact us at privacy@verticalpulse.com