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Privacy Policy

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Please review this Privacy Policy before using our Services. It details how Internet Equity, the owner and operator of HousingInfo.org, and its partners (collectively, the 'Company', 'we', or 'our') collect, share, use, and protect personal information obtained through our business operations and online platforms, including email and telephone communications (collectively, the 'Services'). 'You' and 'your' refer to any person accessing or using the Services. By using the Services, you consent to our collection, use, disclosure, and sharing of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy, and agree to comply with our Terms of Use and this Online Privacy Policy (collectively, the 'Terms'). If you do not agree with these Terms, please refrain from using the Services.


We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. When changes occur, we will inform you through appropriate means, such as posting the revised Privacy Policy on this page with a new 'effective date.' Changes will be effective upon posting unless otherwise stated.

By using the Services, you confirm that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with the Company and meet all eligibility requirements in these Terms. The Services are intended for individuals at least 18 years old, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16 without parental consent.

1. Categories of Information We Collect
We collect various types of information from you when you use our Services, as necessary for our business purposes:

1.1 Customer Website Activity

  • Personal Information: Contact details (name, email, mailing address, telephone number) and demographic information provided voluntarily, such as in surveys.
  • Communications: Information provided through the Services (feedback, inquiries) and communications with us (calls, chats, emails, messages). Customer service calls may be recorded for quality assurance.
  • Automatically Collected Information: Internet details (IP addresses, browser type, ISP, referring/exit pages, OS, date/time stamps, clickstream data) collected through web technologies like cookies and web beacons.
  • Service Providers and Contractors: Personal information received from service providers and contractors, such as ISPs.
  • Third Parties: Personal information received from third parties, like affiliates and advertising partners.
  • Mobile Activity: Device information and location data (e.g., GPS) collected when using a mobile device to access our Services.

 

1.2 Online User Activity

  • We use third-party analytics tools to measure traffic, usage, and trends.
  • Information collected via cookies and web technologies includes:
    • Usage Details: Interactions with our Services (visit dates, times, lengths, pages accessed, visit frequency, referring websites).
    • Device Information: IP address, device type, unique device identifier, OS, browser type, mobile network information.
    • Location Information: Device location information, if access is granted.

 

1.3 Site Usage and Session Information

  • Information about your interaction with our Services (resources accessed, pages viewed, time spent, navigation details, mouse movements, clicks, text entered).

 

2. How We Use Your Information

2.1 Essential Purposes

  • Legal Compliance: Complying with and enforcing legal requirements, industry standards, contracts, and Company policies.
  • Fraud Prevention: Detecting, preventing, or investigating fraud and illegal activities.
  • Terms Enforcement: Enforcing our Terms of Use and other legal terms.
  • Business Transactions: Evaluating, negotiating, or conducting business transactions, where your personal information may be among the transferred assets.
  • Business Relationships: Managing relationships and fulfilling obligations arising from contracts.
  • Protection: Protecting rights, privacy, safety, property, operations, and security.
  • Remedies: Pursuing available remedies or limiting damages.

2.2 Customer Experience Purposes

  • Providing products/services and fulfilling requests.
  • Personalizing content and information, including offers of products/services.
  • Notifying you about changes to products or Services.
  • Providing customer service support.
  • Operating and improving website functionality and business operations.
  • Conducting testing, research, analysis, and product development.
  • Monitoring metrics (visitors, traffic, ad placement, demographics).
  • Improving Services' effectiveness and diagnosing technical issues.

2.3 Online User Purposes

  • Information collected via cookies is used to understand customer base, advertise Services, monitor performance, improve user experience, and enhance security.

3. How We Disclose Your Information

3.1 Disclosure Purposes

  • Legal Affiliates: Entities under our control or common control.
  • Service Providers and Contractors: Entities providing technology, business, professional, research, or legal services.
  • Advertising Partners: Marketing partners providing research and marketing services.
  • Data Analytics Providers: Entities analyzing and monitoring website traffic.
  • External Parties: Entities complying with legal requirements, preventing/addressing fraud, security issues, emergencies, and protecting rights and property.
  • Business Transactions: Entities involved in business transactions.

4. How We Store Your Information
By using our Services, you consent to the transfer and use of your personal information where our Services or service providers operate. We retain personal information as long as necessary for business purposes, legal requirements, and our retention policy. Although we implement reasonable security measures, we cannot guarantee full protection against unauthorized access or use.

5. Your Choices About Your Information

5.1 Privacy Rights: Residents of certain states may have various rights concerning their personal information under applicable state laws. Where such laws apply to you, we will strive to fulfill your requests within the timeframe specified by the relevant state law. There may be legal reasons why we cannot fully comply with your request or why we may fulfill it differently than expected. If this is the case, we will explain our reasons in our response.

5.1.1 Right to Access: You may have the right to access the personal information we have collected about you, including the sources of that information, the purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties and service providers with whom we share it.

5.1.2 Right to Correct: You may have the right to correct inaccurate personal information about you, considering the nature of the personal information and the purposes of its processing.

5.1.3 Right to Delete: You may have the right to delete personal information that we have collected from you.

5.1.4 Exercising Your Rights: If you reside in a state that provides these protections, you can submit a request by completing the Privacy Rights Request form, or emailing us at [email protected]. To protect your personal information, you must verify your identity before we can act on your request. This involves providing personal identifiers that match the information we have previously collected from you and confirming your request using the contact information provided in the request. If additional information is needed, we will inform you.

5.1.5 Right to Appeal: There may be situations where we cannot process your privacy right request. In such cases, we will explain our reasons for declining your request. If you reside in a state that offers these protections, you can submit an appeal by completing the Privacy Rights Request form, or by emailing us at [email protected].

5.1.6 Right to Non-Discrimination: You have the right to be free from discrimination if you exercise your privacy rights under state law. 

5.2 Right to Opt-Out: We may share your personal information with third parties. Online User Activity may also be shared with or collected by third parties, such as data analytics providers, about your visit to or use of our Services, and could potentially be used by those parties for their purposes. Some of these parties may be able to associate such information with you based on other information they have independently collected. You can opt out of the 'sharing' of your personal information with certain third parties by submitting a 'Do Not Share My Personal Information' request via the Privacy Rights Request form.

5.3 Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information: We may share information that is considered 'sensitive' under state law to third parties if such disclosures are necessary to provide the goods or services you have requested. You can request that we limit our use and disclosure of your sensitive personal information by submitting an opt-out request as described above.

Sensitive information includes:
1. Information about an individual’s past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition, the provision of health care to the individual, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of healthcare to the individual;
2. Consumer’s financial institution account number, credit or debit card information, or any other information by which a consumer’s financial account can be accessed, or by which a consumer might be charged for goods or services;
3. Social Security number;
4. Precise geolocation information; or
5. Information about an individual if any information that individual provided indicates he or she is a minor.

5.4 Cookies: We use cookies, such as Google Analytics, to analyze traffic across our websites and participate in interest-based advertising, also known as online behavioral advertising. We also use cookies to enhance your browsing experience. You can take the following steps to limit data shared with third parties via tracking cookies.

5.4.1 Rejecting Cookies: Most web browsers allow you to reject cookies, but doing so may diminish your experience with our Services.

5.4.2 Opting-Out of Tracking Cookies: We provide all customers and website visitors with the option to turn off tracking cookies by clicking on the 'Cookie Choices' link found at the bottom of our websites. Please note that if you clear cookies from your browser cache or access our Services via a new device, your 'Cookie Choices' preferences may be erased, and you may need to reset them.

5.4.3 Global Privacy Control: We respond to Global Privacy Control signals.

5.4.4 Do Not Track: We do not respond to Do Not Track signals.

5.5 Emails: You can opt-out of receiving promotional emails from us by clicking the 'unsubscribe' or similar link within any email. Please note, if you have shared multiple email addresses with us, you will need to make an opt-out request for each email address.

5.6 Phone Calls: You can opt-out of receiving marketing calls from us by emailing us at [email protected]. If you have shared multiple phone numbers with us, you will need to make an opt-out request for each phone number. As of this date, we do not do outbound marketing calls. In the event we do, these policies become relevant.

5.7 Text Messages: You can opt-out of receiving text messages from us by replying 'STOP' to any text message received. If you have opted in to receive text messages from us using multiple phone numbers, you will need to make an opt-out request for each phone number. As of this date, we do not do outbound text messages. In the event we do, these policies become relevant.

5.8 Mobile Devices: As with cookies, mobile devices may allow you to block certain information requests (e.g., location information), but doing so may diminish your experience with our Services. Mobile device or mobile operating system providers typically provide instructions on how to adjust such privacy features.

5.9 Shine the Light – Your California Privacy Rights
California residents have the right to request information from us regarding whether we have disclosed certain categories of information to other companies for their direct marketing purposes. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, you may do so by submitting a Right to Access request for your personal information as outlined above. Additionally, if you would like us to not disclose your personal information to other companies for their direct marketing purposes you may opt-out of such disclosures by submitting a “Do Not Share My Personal Information” request via the Privacy Rights Request Form.

6. Linking to Third-Party Websites and Services
Our Services may link to third-party websites and services, which are not governed by our Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. Your interaction with these websites is subject to their policies.

7. How to Contact Us
For questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our Services, contact us at [email protected].

8. Effective Date
This Privacy Policy is effective as of June 30th, 2024.