Texties » Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 14, 2018

Welcome to Texties. Acceleron Corp. ( "Texties", "we", "us" and/or "our") provides an online content-creation and reading service that allows users to both create and read unique stories.   At Texties we respect and value your privacy. This Privacy Policy describes the information that we collect from you ( "you," "your," and/or "User") when you visit our services, which include our website(s), products, services and applications, including Texties iOS app(s), Texties Android app(s), Texties Author web application and other applications as well as various online tools and services (collectively, the "Services"), how we use that information, and under what circumstances we disclose it. It will also give you more information about how to manage the personal information that you provide to us. This Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction with the Terms of Use located on the Services. All terms not specifically defined herein shall have the same meaning as set forth in the Terms of Use.

BY USING THE SERVICES, YOU ARE HEREBY CONSENTING TO OUR COLLECTION, USE, DISCLOSURE, TRANSFER AND STORAGE OF INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, you must discontinue using the Services.

What personal information do we collect from our users?

Automatically Collected Information

Some information is automatically received and sometimes collected from you when you visit our Services. This information may include some or all of the following items: the name of the domain and host from which you access the Internet, including the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer you are using and the IP address of your Internet Service Provider; the type and version of Internet browser software you use and your operating system; the type of mobile device you are using, mobile device IDs or other persistent identifiers; the date and time you access our Services, the length of your stay, and the specific pages, stories, images, or video that you access while visiting the Services; the Internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our Services, and if applicable, the search engine that referred you and any search strings or phrases that you entered into the search engine to find the site; and demographic information concerning the country of origin of your computer or other device and the language(s) used by it. We use this information to monitor the usage of our Services, assess its performance, ensure technological compatibility with your computer or mobile device, and understand the relative importance of the information provided on our Services. We may also use this data to conduct statistical analyses on visitors' usage patterns and other aggregated data.

Information Collected via Cookies and Pixel Tags

Like many websites, we use "cookies" to collect information. A cookie is a small data file that we transfer to your computer's hard disk for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies for two purposes. First, we use persistent cookies to save your login information for future logins to the Site. Second, we use session ID cookies to enable certain features of the Services, to better understand how you interact with the Services and to monitor aggregate usage by Texties users and web traffic routing on the Services. Unlike persistent cookies, session cookies are deleted from your computer when you log off from the Services and then close your browser. You can instruct your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. If you do not accept cookies, however, you may not be able to use all portions or functionality of the Services.

We may also use "pixel tags," "web beacons," "clear GIFs" or similar means (individually or collectively "Pixel Tags") in connection with our Services to collect usage, demographic and geographical location data. A Pixel Tag is an electronic image, often a single pixel that is ordinarily not visible to users and may be associated with cookies on a user's hard drive.

Information You Provide

When you register for the Services, we may either require or collect "Personal Information." Personal Information is information that could personally identify you, and includes, but is not limited to, your name, address, phone number, and email address. In order to access additional functionality of the Services, you may be required to create an account directly via the Services ("Account"). You may be required to submit certain Personal Information when creating your Account. We also collect the other information that you provide as part of account registration and your use of the Services (e.g., without limitation, zip code (on its own), birth year, gender, and individual preferences) ("Non-Identifying Information").

You can browse our Services and take as much time as you want to review our services without having to submit such Personal Information or Non-Identifying Information; however, in certain instances, we do need you to actively submit Personal Information and/or Non-Identifying Information (collectively, "Information"). Such instances include: when you contact us via electronic means or website submission, when you create an account or register for the Services, when you submit a story to the Services, when you subscribe to the Services or make individual story purchases, when you join our email lists or social media networks, and when you respond to one of our surveys. E-mail or other forms of electronic communication, including website submissions, are not secure and/or confidential means of communication.

Excluded Information

This policy does not extend to information available in public records. This information includes, but is not limited to, information obtained from law enforcement, licensing agencies, or courts. This policy also does not extend to any information you voluntarily choose to make publicly available via other sources, such as a social media profile.

Communications through the Service

In General

As part of the Services, you may receive notifications, alerts, emails, or other types of messages regarding the Services. When you register for the Services, you consent to receive promotional, marketing, or other similar emails or push notifications (collectively, "Marketing Communications"). You will have the opportunity to "opt-out" by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the email you receive. You may also "opt-out" of future Marketing Communications via the "unsubscribe" link in the App. Unless you "opt-out" through opportunities available to you through our Marketing Communications, we may send you Marketing Communications.

Email Communications

When you send an email to us, or provide your email address to us, you are communicating with us electronically and consent to receive communication from us electronically. We may use your email address, usage data, or other Information to provide you with technical support and send you notices about the Services (such as promotional offers you have elected to receive or stories you might be interested in). We may retain the content of your emails, your email address, and our responses in order to service your needs.

How do we use the information we collect?

We may use your Information to better assist you when you visit and to provide and enhance your Services experience, including to do the following:

a. To provide you with services and information you specifically request, and to send you special content that may be of interest to you.

b. To analyze Services usage and enhance the user experience on our Services.

c. To send you information that you agreed to receive.

d. To alert you to the latest developments and features on our Services.

e. To provide tips or guidance on how to use our Services, inform you of new features on our Services or provide other information that may be of interest to users.

f. To process and track your usage history and to send you information about our and our affiliates' and business partners' products and services, and other information that may be of interest to you.

g. To investigate, detect and protect Texties and other third parties against error, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, theft and other illegal activities.

h. We may combine your Personal Information with Non-Identifying Information and aggregate it with information collected from other Texties users to attempt to provide you with a better experience, to improve the quality and value of the Services and to analyze and understand how our Services are used.

i. We may also aggregate or otherwise strip Information of all personally identifying characteristics and share that aggregated, anonymized data with third parties for research and analysis purposes.

j. We may use your Information for any other purpose to which you expressly consent.

How We Share Information

We do not rent or sell your Personal Information. However, there are certain scenarios where we may need to share your Information with others to enhance your experience and the Services. Except where we otherwise obtain your express permission, we share your Personal Information with third parties or other users only under the circumstances stated below:

a. Information that you voluntarily include in a publicly accessible area of the Services will be available to anyone who has access to that content, including other Services users. This may include certain profile information, including your name, which may be displayed to other users who read your stories or comments.

b. Information is subject to disclosure in response to judicial or other governmental subpoenas, warrants and court orders served on us in accordance with their terms, as otherwise required by applicable law, or in response to requests by law enforcement.

c. Information is subject to disclosure to protect our rights or property, protect its legitimate business interests, to enforce the provisions of our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and/or to prevent harm to you or others.

d. Aggregated Information that does not include Personal Information may be shared, and we may otherwise disclose Non-Identifying Information and automatically collected information with third parties for industry analysis, demographic profiling, and to deliver targeted advertising about other products and services. Any aggregated information shared in these contexts will not contain your Personal Information.

e. Information, including but not limited to your phone number and/or email address, may be disclosed to carefully selected third-party service providers and social media platforms in order to help operate, improve, and market our Service to you, as well as to provide services to you, such as to provide customer service; provide maintenance or support; send or email Marketing Communications; maintain our customer loyalty program and database and other programs; monitor the activity of our Services; conduct surveys; and administer contests or sweepstakes. We will share your Information with our carefully selected third-party services providers on a confidential basis. These service providers are prohibited from using your Information for any purpose other than providing our services.


f. In the event that all or substantially all of Acceleron Corp. assets are acquired by a third party through sale, merger, or otherwise, Information will be transferred to that third party, subject to the same terms and conditions of the then-existing Privacy Policy for the Services. This section remains subject to any restrictions placed by third party vendors.

We retain Information as long as is necessary and relevant for our operations, and in accordance with applicable laws.

Any third parties to whom we may disclose Information may have their own privacy policies which describe how they use and disclose personal information. Those 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. You may contact us directly for more information.

Advertising and Tracking

Behavioral Advertising and Google Analytics

We may partner with third parties, including Google, to both display advertising on our own Services and to manage our advertising on other sites. Our third party ad network partners use cookies or similar tracking technologies (such as web beacons) to collect non-personally identifiable information about your activities on the Services and other websites in order to provide you targeted advertising based upon your age, gender, or interests, and to provide you relevant advertising through retargeting when you leave our Services.

You may opt out of certain automated collection of information by third-party ad networks for these purposes by installing Google Analytics' opt-out browser add-on available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/. Please note that this does not opt you out of being served advertising — you will continue to see general ads that are not targeted to your interests. Please also note that these opt-outs are specific to the individual browser used to visit it, and because those pages are not controlled by Texties, we are unable to perform the opt-outs on your behalf.

Do Not Track Disclosure

Do Not Track ( "DNT") is a privacy preference that users can set in their web browsers. DNT is a way for users to inform websites and services that they do not want certain information about their webpage visits collected over time and across websites or online services. We are committed to providing you with meaningful choices about the information we collect and that is why we provide the opt-out links above. However, we currently do not recognize or respond to any DNT signals, as proper DNT compliance and approaches continues to evolve in the Internet industry.

Personal Information About Children

Our Services is targeted primarily for use by adults. We do not currently market to or create special areas for use by children. Accordingly, we do not knowingly collect age identifying information, nor do we knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13 years. However, we hereby advise all visitors to our site under the age of 13 not to disclose or provide any personally identifiable information on our Services. In the event that we discover that a child under the age of 13 has provided personally identifiable information to us, in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (please see the Federal Trade Commission's website at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec08.shtm for more information about this Act), we will delete the child's personally identifiable information from our files to the extent technologically possible.

How is your information protected?

We strive to maintain internal controls and procedures to ensure that the Information you share with us is handled in a safe, secure and responsible manner. We have security measures to help protect against loss, unauthorized access and alteration of the information in our control. You also must take steps to prevent unauthorized access to the device through which you access the Services by limiting access to your device. We will only disclose such Information to employees and authorized service providers who require such information for the purposes described in this Policy. Our databases are protected by physical, technical, and procedural measures that restrict access to authorized persons in accordance with this Policy. Although no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed 100% secure, and we cannot ensure against any loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or destruction of data, we take reasonable precautions to prevent such unfortunate occurrences. Nevertheless, we cannot and do not guarantee that information you post on or transmit to the Services will not be viewed by unauthorized persons.

Linking to Third-Party Service

When you click on links on our Services that take you to third-party websites, you will be subject to the third parties' privacy policies. The fact that we link to a website or present a banner ad or other type of advertisement is not an endorsement, authorization or representation of our affiliation with that third party, nor is it an endorsement of their privacy or information security policies or practices. While we support the protection of privacy on the Internet, we cannot be responsible for the actions of any third-party websites. We encourage you to read the posted privacy policies of any and every website you visit, whether you are linking from our Services or browsing on your own.

Access to and Managing Your Information

All Members may opt-out of receiving certain Marketing Communications and review, update, correct or delete some or all of the Personal Information in their registration profile by contacting us or by making edits via the "My Account" section of the Services. The information you can view, update, and delete may change as the Services change. If you completely delete all such information, then your account may become deactivated. If you would like us to delete your account in our system, please contact us at info@texties.lol with "Privacy" as the subject line of the email with a request that we delete your Personal Information from our database. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to honor your request. We may retain an archived copy of your records as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.

Cancel Your Account

If you wish to close your account, you can do so by contacting us at info@texties.lol. We will respond to you and close your account – or instruct how to close your account – as promptly as possible.

Even if you close your account, we retain Information as long as it is necessary and relevant for our operations and in accordance with applicable laws. We may also retain and use any aggregated data derived from or incorporating your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally.

What You Can Do to Protect Your Information

You have several options when deciding how you can best protect your Information. One option is simply not to volunteer it. As stated above, this approach would allow you to still visit our Services, although it will prevent you, for example, from listing a project or helping another user with their project, or providing us with your comments or questions relating to our services. The Federal Trade Commission's website, www.ftc.gov, also offers useful information about how to protect personally identifiable information provided to a website.

International Transfer

Acceleron Corp. makes best efforts to comply with internationally recognized privacy principles, including notice, choice, transfer, security, data integrity, access, and enforcement. However, Texties hereby disclaims any representations and/or warranties it makes in this Privacy Policy that such policy satisfies the requirements of users accessing and using the Services from outside the United States of America. If it is determined that your country of residence's privacy and data rules apply to the Information you provide the Services, Texties will make all reasonable efforts to comply with those requirements upon receipt of notice. Irrespective of which country you live in or access the Services in, you authorize Texties to use your information in, and as a result to transfer it to and store it in, the United States, where you may not have the same rights as you do under local law. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

General

What to Do About Suspected Violations of This Policy

If at any time you believe we have not adhered to the policies and principles set forth in this Privacy Policy, please notify us using the contact information provided below. We will make all commercially reasonable efforts to promptly respond to your concerns.

Changes to Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy is subject to change from time to time, so we suggest that you review the current Privacy Policy at the start of each visit our Services. Unless we clearly express otherwise, we will use Information in accordance with the Privacy Policy then in effect. YOU ARE HEREBY ADVISED THAT YOUR CONTINUED USE OF OUR SERVICES CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF ANY AMENDMENTS TO AND THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT AND THE SERVICE'S TERMS OF USE.

California Privacy Rights

Beginning on January 1, 2005, California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits our customers who are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an e-mail to info@texties.lol.

Questions or Comments

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at info@texties.lol with "Privacy" as the subject line of the email.