Our servers automatically collect the following information regarding devices that access our site or app: username from stored cookies if present, dates and times of each login, page and image viewing statistics, and incoming and outgoing links. We also log the metadata associated with any uploaded images. We use this automatically collected anonymous data to analyze how our site and app are used so as to keep them optimized, to determine the popularity and usefulness of various features. We also use such data to enable us to comply with copyright law, with 18 USC §2258A (illegal content), and to respond to lawful requests by public authorities, including national security, courts, and law enforcement.
None of this information is “personal data” – that is, data we could use to identify a specific person. Some of this information could, however, become personal data because we provide automatically collected anonymous data to third party advertisers to supplement the tracking information described below, and those third parties might be able to combine our anonymous data with other data they have to enable them to identify people.
When you sign in with a username, we handle it in the same way as an automatically collected username except that if you don’t allow cookies, you have to enter your username each time you log in. A username is, by nature, publicly posted information. On occasion we may run a contest or other type of promotion, and to enable us to award prizes to the winners as well as to comply with the applicable laws, we collect real names and contact information – so if you win a contest, we’ll ask for that information and we’ll use it only for those two specific purposes.
We collect whatever personal data about you that you choose to give us, such as a contact email address (which we do not make public) and profile information. We do not require you to use an account to upload images. If you open an account you do not have to provide any personal information except your cell phone number, which we don't retain; we use it once to send you a code. (See below.) If you are located in the EEA and wish to open an account, do not use your real name – choose a username and email address that reveal nothing about your identity. If you give us an email address, we’ll probably send you promotional messages once in a while; we’ll try to make them fun and interesting but of course you’ll be able to opt out at any time.
Polar Signals does not “collect” the stuff you post: profiles, etc., and – with respect to persons in the EEA – does not “process” or determine any purposes for processing of any information that you manifestly make public. In particular, every profile uploaded to Polar Signals is public – whether uploaded directly without going through a user account, or uploaded via a user account – and has its own URL. No matter what your privacy settings are, every profile can always be accessed and viewed by anyone who types in that exact URL. No profile uploaded to Polar Signals is ever completely hidden from public view. This is mainly to ensure that Polar Signals, which allows anonymous postings, will not be used as a platform for illegality.
Uploading a New Profile creates an “upload” that can be shared to the community. Nothing you upload to Polar Signals is completely hidden from public view or entirely private. Access to the URL is all that is needed to view a profile. Do not treat uploads to Polar Signals as confidential, it is within the possibility, although unlikely, that an uploaded profile’s URL can be guessed.
Because we don’t collect information about the identity of our users and don’t receive any information from third parties enabling us to identify our users, we have no means of knowing, or providing you with information about, whatever anonymous data about you we might have on our servers – unless you have a username. If you have a username, you may log in and access your data, correct whatever information you deem to be incorrect, or delete your account. For legal reasons we may retain backup and/or archival copies of information prior to your corrections, amendments, or deletions.
We take every reasonable precaution to protect the data on our servers from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction, taking into account the risk level and the nature of the data. You are responsible for taking every reasonable precaution on your end to protect any unauthorized person from accessing your Polar Signals account.
These terms are governed by California law, excluding its conflicts of law principles, and if there is a lawsuit between a user outside the EEA and Polar Signals, jurisdiction and venue will lie exclusively in the State where the defendant is located, if within the United States, or in Santa Clara County, California otherwise.
We may revise our privacy policy from time to time by posting the changes here. You can determine the date of the most recent changes by looking at the “effective date” at the top.