Privacy

Last Updated: August 25, 2008

Blue Kai’s mission is to build the world’s most comprehensive online preference directory with utmost attention and diligence to ensuring your anonymity and privacy. Our business is based upon the collection and use of anonymous customer preferences in order to allow advertisers, publishers, and other content providers to deliver content that is relevant and meaningful to their users. Because we want to put you, the consumer, in the driver’s seat, you can enhance your preferences in our directory by selecting or de-selecting topics of interest. Your preferences may be used anonymously to influence which types of marketing messages and other content displayed to you across partner sites that we work with. We also allow you to choose not to participate in our directory at all. We are a member of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI") and work with industry-leading companies to address important privacy and consumer protection issues in online advertising. Click here to learn more about the NAI.

This privacy policy is intended to inform you about our collection, use, and disclosure of information that we process for our BlueKai online preference registry and for our related targeting services.

Overview of Our Services

We collect non-personally identifiable information regarding the behavior and usage patterns of users of Web sites and other online properties operated by participating companies. In this policy, we refer to this non-personally identifiable information, together with other non-personally identifiable information that we obtain from third parties, as “Preference Data.” We use Preference Data to prepare groups of users, referred to as “segments,” based upon their behavior and preferences. We give our customers a limited right to use a user’s membership in a segment as a basis for displaying advertisements and other content that are intended to reflect the user’s preferences.

Collection of Preference Data

We use non-personally identifiable means, including “cookies” and “pixel tags,” to collect Preference Data.

Cookies are small text files that contain a string of characters and uniquely identify a browser. They are sent to a computer by Web site operators or third parties. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You may, however, be able to change your browser settings to cause your browser to refuse third-party cookies or to indicate when a third-party cookie is being sent. Check your browser’s “Help” files to learn more about handling cookies on your browser.

Pixel tags are small strings of code that provide a method for delivering a graphic image on a web page or in on a Web page or other document. Pixel tags allow the operator of the Web page or other document, or a third party who serves the pixel tag, to set, read, and modify cookies on, and to transfer other data to, the browser used to view the Web page or other document. Pixel tags may also be used to obtain information about the computer being used to view that Web page or other document. The entity that sends the tag can view the IP address of the computer that the tag is sent to, the time it was sent, the user’s operating system and browser type, and similar information.

We use information collected at various times and by pixel tags and cookies placed on several Web sites in order to collect Preference Data. We may also obtain Preference Data from third-party sources, and may combine it with other Preference Data that we have collected.

The Preference Data that we collect from users includes, for example, a user’s browser type and version (e.g., Internet Explorer 7.0, Firefox 3.0, or Safari 3.1.1), and operating system (e.g., Windows Vista or Macintosh OS X). In addition, we may collect information about a user’s browsing behavior, such as the date and time they visit the Web pages on which we are collecting Preference Data, the content areas or pages of the Web sites that a user visits (e.g., “sports section” or “technology section”), and other click-stream data, none of which includes personal information about the user.

Use of Preference Data

We analyze Preference Data collected from various sources and at different times to define segments and to attribute membership within those segments to users.

We are aware of the sensitivity of certain types of Preference Data. We do not create or share any segments that reflect Preference Data that we consider sensitive. While the types of Preference Data that may be considered sensitive may vary among users, we presently treat Preference Data as sensitive if it includes data reflecting a user having any medical or health condition; certain aspects of a user’s personal life or financial situation; or use of, or interest in, gambling, alcoholic beverages, or “adult” products or services. We may update from time to time the types of Preference Data that we consider sensitive.

Disclosure of Information

We disclose Preference Data, and information derived from Preference Data, to our customers in the ordinary course of our business. We indicate to our customers a user’s membership within a segment at various times. For example, we may tag an anonymous user as a member of a segment when the user views certain Web pages that are operated or controlled by a customer. Our customers may use a user’s membership within a segment to display advertisements and other content that are targeted to the user. Our customers may also use third-party service providers, acting on behalf of those customers, to display advertising or other content that reflects a user’s membership in a segment. We do not authorize our customers to resell or sublicense Preference Data to third parties.

We may share Preference Data with third-party service providers (e.g., data storage and processing facilities) in order for those service providers to perform business functions for us or on our behalf.

We may also disclose Preference Data if we believe that we have a legal obligation to do so.

In addition, information in our possession or control, including Preference Data, may be disclosed in connection with any merger, acquisition, debt financing, sale of company assets, or other business transaction in which data could be transferred to third parties as one of our business assets.

Opting Out from the Services

We provide multiple ways for you to opt out from our services.

We make available a Blue Kai “opt-out” cookie that you may download to your browser. This cookie, when installed on your browser, will prevent us from collecting Preference Data on that browser. You can learn more about our opt-out cookie here.

You may also opt out from our collection of Preference Data using the NAI's opt-out tool. The NAI's opt-out tool allows you to opt out of our collection of Preference Data, as well as the data collection and preference-based ad programs of other NAI members. You may access the NAI opt-out tool here.

Our opt-out tool, and the NAI opt-out tool, are cookie-based. Both opt-out tools only prevent us from collecting Preference Data pertaining to you on the browser on which they are installed, and will only function if your browser is set to accept third-party cookies. If you delete an opt-out cookie from a browser's cookie files, we will collect Preference Data from that browser until an opt-out cookie is reset on that browser.

Additionally, you may prevent us from collecting Preference Data on a browser by blocking third party cookies in that browser. If you block third party cookies from being set on your browser, you may not be able to enjoy some features or functionality of, and you may see the same content and advertisements repeatedly on, some Web sites.

Reporting

We may provide reports to our customers who access Preference Data. Our customers may use these reports to determine information about available segments (e.g., the number of users in segments). These reports may also be used for billing, auditing, and other operational purposes. These reports are prepared using aggregated reports on users’ activity on Web sites on which Preference Data is collected and used. To prepare our reports, we maintain log files for no longer than 2 years. Our reports and log files do not include any personally identifiable information about users.

Children

We do not intentionally collect Preference Data from, and do not tailor any segments to, children under 13 years of age.

Data Security

We use security measures that are reasonably designed to protect Preference Data in our control from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Please be aware, however, that no data security measures can be guaranteed to be completely effective. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any Preference Data or other information. In particular, we cannot guarantee that Preference Data or other information will not be disclosed, altered, or accessed in accidental circumstances or by unauthorized acts of others.

Data Retention

We retain Preference Data and other information for so long as we have a business-related need to retain it. Generally, we retain Preference Data for no longer than 2 years.

Updates to this Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will also revise the “last updated” date at the beginning of the policy. If we make a change to this policy that would result in a materially more permissive use of Preference Data that we collected before the effective date of the update, we will obtain prior affirmative consent from affected users before implementing the change.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we collect, use, and disclose Preference Data.

Contacting Us

We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this policy. You may contact us by email at privacy@bluekai.com or by postal mail at:

Blue Kai, Inc.
170 120TH Avenue NE, Suite E200
Bellevue, WA 98005
Attention: Data Privacy