Welcome to Mekanism’s website. Protecting your personal privacy is important to Mekanism. The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to help you understand how Mekanism collects, uses and safeguards the information you provide to us. This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information we collect offline or online, including via our website located at https://mekanism.com (the “Site”) [or by phone, email, interactions on social media or with marketing communications or other methods].

By using or accessing the Site, you signify your agreement to be bound by this Privacy Policy.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR OTHERWISE USE THE SITE.

This  Policy is subject to our Terms of Use located at: https://mekanism.com/privacy.  We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, as specified in the “Changes to This Privacy Policy” section below.

California state law confers certain rights relating to personal information to its citizens. If you are a California resident please also see our California Consumer Privacy Section in this Policy located at: https://mekanism.com/privacy.

Personal Information That We Collect

Mekanism collects personal information from you , when you voluntarily submit information directly to us; 2) using automated technology, including when you visit our Site, social media platforms, or interact with our electronic communications; and 3) using third party sources, including our clients, service providers, analytics providers, or through social media and other websites or services we interact with. Personal information may include your name, email address, physical address and other information that identifies you, and may also include information about your Internet/Network Activity such as your IP address, your device information, location, domain name, browsers you used to access our website and services, web pages viewed, time spent on webpages, links clicks, site-navigation patterns.  For most devices and computers, you can withdraw permission for us to collect such information using device or browser settings.  If you have any questions about how to prevent sharing of location information from your mobile device or computer, we recommend you contact the manufacturer or device service provider.

Information Use

We will only use your personal information as described below, unless you have specifically consented to another type of use, either at the time the personal information is collected from you or through some other form of consent from you or notification to you:

• We may use your personal information to respond to your inquiries or requests.

• We may use your personal information to send emails from time to time, but we will not provide your personally identifiable information to third parties for them to contact you directly unless otherwise permitted by this Privacy Policy or if you provide your consent.

• We may permit our vendors and subcontractors to access your personal information, solely in connection with performing services for us.  Our vendors and subcontractors are not authorized by us to use the information for their own benefit.

• We may disclose personal information as required by law or legal process.

• We may disclose personally identifiable information to investigate suspected fraud, harassment or other violations of any law, rule or regulation, or the terms or policies for our services or our clients.

• We may transfer your personal information in connection with the sale or merger or change of control of the Site, Mekanism or the division responsible for the services with which your personally identifiable information is associated.

• Non-personal or aggregate information may be shared with any number of parties, provided that such information shall not specifically identify you.

Cookies and other Automated Technology

A “cookie” is a small text file that is placed onto an Internet user’s web browser or device and is used to remember and/or obtain information about the user. A “web beacon” is a small object or image that is embedded into a web page, application, or email and is used to track activity. They are also sometimes referred to as pixels and tags.  As you use our Website, some information can be “passively” collected using various technologies (including mobile devices), such as cookies, web beacons and navigational and location data collection (clickstream, log files, server logs).  Your Internet browser automatically transmits some of this information, such as the URL of the website you just visited, the Internet Protocol (IP) address and browser version currently being used by your computer, or users interaction with our Site (such as date, time, frequency and length of visits, and pages accessed). If you do not wish to have cookies placed on your computer, you should set your browser to refuse cookies before using our Site, with the drawback that certain features may not function properly without the aid of cookies.

You do have control over cookies, and can refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. Note, however, that by not accepting or deleting the use of cookies, you may affect your website experience and you may not be able to take full advantage of all features on this Site. Most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to be notified when you receive a new cookie, and how to disable existing cookies. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information.

To find more information about cookies and for instructions on how to disable them please visit www.allaboutcookies.org or visit the help section of your browser.  Most browsers are initially set to allow cookies, but also offer the option to restrict cookies or warn you of their use.

Client Data

We provide services for our clients, and may collect and process information about individuals at the direction of our clients (“Client Data”). Our processing of Client Data is governed by the terms of our service agreements with our clients and their privacy policies, and not this Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for how our clients treat the information we collect on their behalf, and we recommend you review their own privacy policies. Mekanism acknowledges that you may have rights in connection with Client Data. If your information has been processed by Mekanism on behalf of a client and you wish to exercise any rights you have with such information, please inquire with our client directly. If you wish to make your request directly to Mekanism, please provide the name of the Mekanism client on whose behalf Mekanism processed your information. We will refer your request to that client and will support them to the extent required by applicable law in responding to your request.

Security

We take appropriate commercially reasonable physical, electronic, and other security measures to help safeguard personal information from unauthorized loss, misuse, unauthorized access, alteration, or disclosure. Even though we follow reasonable procedures to try to protect the information in our possession from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction, no security system is perfect, and we cannot promise, and you should not expect, that your information will be secure in all circumstances.  If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure (for example, if you feel that the security of your account has been compromised), please immediately notify us.

Transfer of Personally Identifiable Information into the USA

Our Site is maintained in the United States of America. By using the Site, you freely and specifically give us your consent to export your personally identifiable information (if you have provided such information to us through the Site) to the USA and to store and use it in the USA as specified in this Privacy Policy. 

Intended Audience of Websites; COPPA Compliance

We are in compliance with the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”).  We do not knowingly collect information from minors in the United States or elsewhere with or without the consent of their parents or guardians.  If you are not 16 or older, you should not visit or use our Site or social media accounts.  If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information without appropriate consent, then please contact us using the details below so that we can take the appropriate steps in accordance with our legal obligations and this Policy.

Third Party Advertising And Analytics Disclaimer

We and/or third parties including service providers on our behalf, may use cookies, web beacons and other similar technology, to collect information from you such as your activities on the Site for the purposes described in this Policy including analytics, monitoring performance, and improvement of our Site (traffic, errors, page load time, popular pages, etc.)

Examples of our third-party service providers to help deliver our services or to connect to our services include:

Google Analytics and Google Ads: We use Google Analytics to understand how our website and services perform and how you use them. We have entered into a service provider addendum with Google.  However, if you would like to take additional precautions to opt out of Google Analytics and Ads, you can opt out of Google Analytics by installing Google's Opt Out browser add on: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout and opt out of interest-based Google ads using https://adssettings.google.com/u/0/authenticated. To learn more about how Google processes your data, please visit https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

This Policy does not apply to, and we are not responsible for, third-party cookies, web beacons, or other tracking technologies on third party websites or which are covered by such third parties’ privacy policies. For more information, we encourage you to check the privacy policies of these third parties to learn about their privacy practices.

Third-Party Links

The Site may link to websites operated by third parties that we do not control. We do not monitor, control, or endorse the information collection or privacy practices of any third parties. We strongly encourage you to become familiar with the privacy practices of every website you visit and to contact them if you have any questions about their respective privacy policies and practices.

Do Not Track Notice: Because there are not yet common, industry accepted “do not track” standards and systems, our website does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions from this Privacy Policy at any time. However, if at any time in the future we plan to use personally identifiable information in a way that materially differs from this Privacy Policy, including sharing such information with more third parties, we will post such changes here and provide you the opportunity to opt-out of such differing uses. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of any changes to this Privacy Policy means you accept such changes.

Site Terms of Use

Use of the Site is governed by and subject to the Terms of Use posted on the Site. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into such Terms of Use.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the privacy practices of this Site, please contact Mekanism by email at privacy@mekanism.com or by mail at: Mekanism, 250 Hudson Street, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10013

You may also request access to your personally identifiable information (if you have provided such information to us through the Site) and information about our collection, use and disclosure of that information by using the contact information provided above. You will be given reasonable access to your personally identifiable information and may seek to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information, and have it amended as is appropriate. You can help us maintain the accuracy of your information by notifying us of any changes to your personally identifiable information.

Effective Date

This Privacy Policy was last updated on May 5, 2021.

CALIFORNIA CONSUMERS ONLY: 

Your California Privacy Rights

The purpose of this section is to inform California residents from whom we may collect personal information about certain rights California affords to its residents with respect to personal information.

RIGHT TO KNOW ABOUT PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED, DISCLOSED OR SOLD

You have the right to request that we disclose to you the following information about personal information we collect from you:

• categories of personal information collected;

• categories of sources of personal information collected;

• the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling personal information;

• the categories of third parties with whom we share personal information; and

• the specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you over the past 12 months.

You also have a right to know if we have sold or disclosed your personal information for a business purpose over the past 12 months and, if so, the categories of personal information sold or disclosed and the categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold or disclosed, along with the business or commercial purpose for which the personal information was sold or disclosed.

Requests to Know

To make a request for any of the information set forth above (a “Request to Know”), please submit a verifiable consumer request pursuant to the instructions below. You may only make a Request to Know twice within a 12-month period.  We will acknowledge your Request to Know within 10 business days and will attempt to respond substantively within 45-90 days.

The Request to Know must provide sufficient information to allow us to verify that you are the person about whom the personal information was collected, sold or disclosed and must contain sufficient detail to allow us to properly understand, evaluate and respond to your request.  If we cannot verify your identity, we will not be able to respond to your request.

You can make a Request to Know the personal information we have about you in the following ways:

• You may make a request here:  privacy@mekanism.com

• You may also make a request by phone by contacting us at 415-908-4000

Once we receive your Request to Know, we will begin the process to verify that you are the person that is the subject of the request (the “Verification Process”).  The Verification Process consists of matching identifying information provided by you with the information we have about you in our records. You will be asked to provide us with two or three pieces of information that will help us to verify your identification.

Information Collected

Within the past 12 months, we have collected the categories of personal information about California consumers as described in this Policy in the section labelled "Information Collection and Use of Information." To review these categories click here: [ADD LINK  to Annex 1].

Information Sold or Disclosed

We have disclosed the following categories of personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding 12 months:

• Personal Identifiers

• Commercial Information

• Internet/Network Activity

For information regarding the categories of third parties with whom we have disclosed these categories of personal information, please review Annex 1 here [ADD LINK to Annex 1].

We do not knowingly sell the personal information of minors under 16 years of age.

RIGHT TO REQUEST DELETION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

You have the right to request the deletion of your personal information collected or maintained by us (“Request to Delete”), subject to certain exceptions permitted by law.

To make a Request to Delete, please submit a verifiable consumer request pursuant to the instructions below. We will acknowledge your Request to Delete within 10 business days and will attempt to respond substantively within 45-90 days.

A Request to Delete requires two steps: 1) making the Request to Delete and 2) confirming that you want your information to be deleted.

You can make a Request to Delete in the following ways:

• You may make a request here:  privacy@mekanism.com

• You may also make a request by phone by contacting us at 415-908-4000

Once we receive your request to delete, we will need to verify that you are the person that is the subject of the request (the “Verification Process”). The Verification Process consists of matching identifying information provided by you with the information we have about you in our records. If we cannot verify your identity, we will not be able to respond to your request.  If the information requested to be deleted is necessary for us to maintain, we will not be able to comply with your request and will notify you this is the case.      
 
We will retain correspondence, documents and information related to any Request to Know, Request to Delete, or Request to Opt-Out for 24 months  as required by law.

RIGHT TO OPT-OUT OF SALE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information.  We do not and will not sell your personal information.  If this changes in the future, we will provide you with required notice and the right opt out.

RIGHT TO NON-DISCRIMINATION FOR EXERCISING CONSUMER PRIVACY RIGHTS

You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising your privacy rights conferred by the California Consumer Privacy Act, including by exercising the rights specified herein.

AUTHORIZED AGENT INFORMATION

You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf under the California Consumer Privacy Act.

Authorized agents can make requests under the California Consumer Privacy Act by emailing us at email address: privacy@mekanism.com.  We will require authorized agents to provide proof of the consumer’s identity and proof of designation as an the authorized agent. We may also require that a consumer verify his or her own identity directly with us before we respond to an authorized agent’s request.

We reserve the right to deny requests in certain circumstances, such as where we have a reasonable belief that the request is fraudulent.

CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION

For information and questions about the use of your personal information or this California Consumer Privacy Section or your rights under California law, you may contact us at privacy@mekanism.com.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

This  Policy may be revised from time to time for any reason.  If this  Policy changes, the revised policy will include a new effective date, and we will notify you of such changes by posting the revised policy on this page.  Be sure to check the Policy whenever you submit personal information to us.

Annex 1

NOTICE OF COLLECTION, USE AND DISCLOSURE

Sources of Information

• You, when you visit our Site (including your online activities on our Site).We may also collect information from third-party sources, such as our business partners, social media companies like Google , third-party service providers, opt-in lists, publicly available data, consumer reporting agencies, other companies and referral

• Your computer or mobile device, through your online activities and interactions with us, including, without limitation, your online activity on our Site.

• We may also collect information from third-party sources, such as our business partners, social media companies like Google , third-party service providers, publicly available data, consumer reporting agencies, other companies and referrals.

Category and Types of Information we collect

• Identifiers - name, email address, company name, telephone number, contact preference

• Internet/Network Activity – IP address, your device information, domain name, browser type and operating system, webpages viewed before and after visiting our Site, time spent on webpages, links clicks, pages viewed within Site

How we use it

• To provide you with our Site; To respond to your requests; Provide our newsletter; To improve our Website; To follow up with you after you have communicated with us or submitted information to us; To address your interests and concerns; To prevent, detect, mitigate, and investigate fraud, security breaches, potentially prohibited or illegal activities; and As otherwise specified in this Privacy Policy and/or at the point of Personal Information collection.

• To provide, maintain administer and expand our Site and services; Analyze and track usage of our Site, communications, and social media accounts; Determine the popularity of our Site, services, To better understand how you use our Site, services, and products; To enhance, modify, or improve our business, Site, and services; For records, other marketing, research, legal, and other business purposes; To comply with our policies, procedures, and legal obligations, including complying with law enforcement or governmental authority requests, investigating fraudulent activity, resolving disputes, and enforcing our legal agreements and policies.

Third parties with whom we may share this information

• Service providers, and contractors that we use to support our business and operations (e.g. vendors hosting or operating our Site, data-storage vendors, delivery vendors, entities that deliver communications on our behalf, and fraud detection service providers);

• Third party companies that provide us with data analytics, data research, analyzing website metrics, targeted advertising, marketing, and behavioral remarketing including social media companies such as Google

• Third parties (including, without limitation, governmental agencies) if required to do so by law, regulation or court order; to respond to governmental and/or law enforcement requests;

• An acquirer or successor-in-interest in the event of a reorganization, merger, sale, change of control, consolidation, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any part of Mekanism or its affiliates including any negotiation thereof.

• Service providers, and contractors that we use to support our business and operations (e.g. vendors hosting or operating our Site, data-storage vendors, customer service centers, entities that deliver communications on our behalf, and fraud detection service providers);

• Third party companies that provide us with data analytics, data research, analyzing website metrics, including social media companies such as Google

• Third parties (including, without limitation, governmental agencies) if required to do so by law, regulation or court order; to respond to governmental and/or law enforcement requests; and

• An acquirer or successor-in-interest in the event of a reorganization, merger, sale, change of control, consolidation, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any part of Mekanism or its affiliates including any negotiation thereof.