Privacy Policy

Effective Date: Last Revised, December 23, 2022‎

Introduction

Welcome. You have arrived at http://auditedmedia.com, a website that is owned and operated by the Alliance for Audited Media (“AAM,” “we,” “our” or “us”). This privacy policy governs your use of the site and any online service location (e.g., website or mobile application) that posts a link to this privacy policy (each a “Site”), and also applies to your use of interactive features, databases, widgets, plug-ins, applications, content, downloads and/or other services that posts a link to this privacy policy, regardless of how you access or use them, whether via personal computers, mobile devices or otherwise, but does not apply to data we receive from third parties, unless we combine such data with Personal Information (defined below) that we have ourselves collected under this privacy policy. 

This privacy policy is the sole statement of our privacy practices with respect to the Site, and no summary, modification, restatement or other version thereof, or other privacy statement or policy, in any form, is valid unless we post a new or revised policy to the Site. This privacy policy only covers information collected at or via the Site and does not cover any information collected at any other website or offline by AAM (unless specifically stated) and does not govern the data practices of third parties that may interact with our Site. This privacy policy addresses how AAM collects information at or via the Site, what information it collects, how it may use this information and other related issues.

To the extent we provide you notice on our Site of different or additional privacy policies or practices (e.g., at the point of our collection), those additional terms shall govern such data collection and use.

In addition, please review the Site’s Terms of Use, which governs your use of the Site. By using our Site, you consent to our privacy policy and terms of use and our collection, use and sharing of your information and data, and other activities, as described below.

1. Who is Alliance for Audited Media?

AAM is a membership organization comprised of the world’s leading magazine, business publication and newspaper publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies. Through the Site, you have the opportunity to obtain registration information to become a member.

2. What Information Does AAM Collect?

(a) Information You Provide To Us

On the Site, we may ask you to provide certain categories of information such as: (1) personally identifiable information, which is information that identifies you personally, such as your first and last name, email address, home address, and phone number (“Personal Information”); and (2) demographic information, such as your zip code (“Demographic Information”). Personal Information does not include corporate information, which relates to an organization but not to an individual (such as a corporate name, corporate address or general corporate phone number). We may collect corporate and organizational information on the Site but such information will only be treated as Personal Information if we combine the corporate/organizational information with your Personal Information. We do not require that you become a member or provide Personal Information to obtain access to public parts of the Site, however, some areas of the Site require you to become a member or submit Personal Information or Demographic Information in order for you to benefit from specific features or to participate in a particular activity. For example, we may collect Personal Information and/or Demographic Information when you:

• subscribe to receive updates or other communications, whether by email or other method;
• send questions or comments to us; and
• complete a transaction.

You can always choose not to provide us with your Personal Information but you may not be able to participate with the Site features that are conditioned upon collecting Personal Information. Additionally, we may combine Demographic Information and/or information that you provide in your offline membership application with the Personal Information that we collected from you on the Site and we will treat that information as Personal Information pursuant to this privacy policy.

(b) Information We Collect or Store as You Access and Use the Site

In addition to any Personal Information or other information that you choose to submit to us via our Site, we and our third-party service providers may use a variety of technologies that automatically (or passively) store or collect certain information whenever you visit or interact with the Site (“Usage Information”). This Usage Information may be stored or accessed using a variety of technologies that may be downloaded to your personal computer, laptop, tablet or mobile phone (a “Device”) whenever you visit or interact with our Site. Usage Information may be non‑identifying or may be associated with you. Whenever we associate Usage Information with your Personal Information, we will treat it as Personal Information.

This Usage Information may include:

• your IP address or other unique identifier (“Device Identifier”). A Device Identifier is a number that is automatically assigned to your Device used to access the Site, and our computers identify your Device by its Device Identifier;
• your Device functionality (including browser, operating system, hardware, mobile network information);
• the URL that referred you to our Site;
• the areas within our Site that you visit and your activities there, including remembering you and your preferences;
• your Device location;
• your Device characteristics; and
• certain other Device data, including the time of day, among other information.

We may use various developed methods and technologies to store or collect Usage Information (“Tracking Technologies”). Tracking Technologies may set, change, alter or modify settings or configurations on your Device. A few of the Tracking Technologies include, without limitation, the following (and subsequent technology and methods later developed):

Cookies. A cookie is a data file placed on a Device when it is used to visit the Site. HTML5 cookies can be programmed through HTML5 local storage. HTML5 cookies do not require a plug-in. Regular cookies may generally be disabled or removed by tools that are available as part of most commercial browsers, and in some but not all instances can be blocked in the future by selecting certain settings. Each browser you use will need to be set separately and different browsers offer different functionality and options in this regard. Please be aware that if you disable or remove cookies on your Device, some parts of our Site may not function properly, and that when you revisit our Site your ability to limit cookies is subject to your browser settings and limitations.

Web Beacons. Small graphic images or other web programming code called web beacons (also known as “1x1 GIFs” or “clear GIFs”) may be included in our Site’s pages and messages. Web beacons may be invisible to you, but any electronic image or other web programming code inserted into a page or email can act as a web beacon. Web beacons or similar technologies may be used for a number of purposes, including, without limitation, to count visitors to the Site, to monitor how users navigate the Site, to count how many emails that were sent were actually opened or to count how many particular articles or links were actually viewed.

Embedded Scripts. An embedded script is programming code that is designed to collect information about your interactions with the Site, such as the links you click on. The code is temporarily downloaded onto your Device from our web server or a third-party service provider, is active only while you are connected to the Site, and is deactivated or deleted thereafter.

ETag, or entity tag. A feature of the cache in browsers. It is an opaque identifier assigned by a web server to a specific version of a resource found at a URL. If the resource content at that URL ever changes, a new and different ETag is assigned. Used in this manner ETags are a form of Device Identifier. ETag tracking may generate unique tracking values even where the consumer blocks cookies.

Hotjar. An analytics provider that offers heat map descriptions of how users interact with our Site. This permits us to better-understand how users are interacting with our Site and improve their functionality. For more information about how Hotjar uses your information, please review their privacy policy here: https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy/.

We may use Tracking Technologies for a variety of purposes, including:

Strictly Necessary. We may use cookies or other Tracking Technologies that we consider are strictly necessary to allow you to use and access our Site, including cookies required to prevent fraudulent activity, improve security or allow you to make use of shopping‑cart functionality.

Performance‑Related. We may use cookies or other Tracking Technologies that are useful in order to assess the performance of the Site, including as part of our analytic practices or otherwise to improve the content, products or services offered through the Site.

Functionality‑Related. We may use cookies or other Tracking Technologies that are required to offer you enhanced functionality when accessing the Site, including identifying you when you sign‑in to our Site or keeping track of our specified preferences, including in terms of the presentation of content on our Site.

Targeting‑Related. We may use Tracking Technologies to deliver content relevant to your interests on our Site and third‑party sites based on how you interact with our content. This includes using Tracking Technologies to understand the usefulness to you of the content that has been delivered to you.

There may be other Tracking Technologies now and later devised and used by us in connection with the Site. Further, third parties may use Tracking Technologies with our Site. We may not control those Tracking Technologies and we are not responsible for them. However, you consent to potentially encountering third-party Tracking Technologies in connection with use of our Site and accept that our statements under this privacy policy do not apply to the Tracking Technologies or practices of such third parties.

(c) Interactions with Third-Party Sites

We may provide third-party sites’ interfaces or links on the Site to facilitate your sending a communication from the Site. For example, we may use third parties to facilitate emails, tweets or Facebook postings. These third parties may retain any information used or provided in any such communications or other activities and these third parties’ practices are not subject to our privacy policy. AAM may not control or have access to your communications through these third parties. You should review the applicable third-party privacy policies before using such third-party tools on our Site, and we are not responsible for these parties’ practices.

(d) Information You Provide About a Third-Party

You may send someone else a communication from the Site, such as sending an invitation to a friend. If so, the information you provide (names, email addresses, mobile number, etc.) is used to facilitate the communication and is not used by us for any other marketing purpose unless we obtain consent from that person or we explicitly say otherwise. Please be aware that when you use any send-to-a-friend functionality on our Site, your email address, mobile number, name or username and message may be included in the communication sent to your addressee(s).

3. How Does AAM Use the Information Collected?

(a) Use of Information by Us.

AAM may retain and use your Personal Information, Demographic Information or Usage Information that is subject to this privacy policy for many purposes, including, without limitation:

• to send email updates and other communications for which you have subscribed or otherwise agreed to receive;
• provide you with the information or services or process transactions that you have requested;
• to process your registration with the Site, including verifying your information is active and valid;
• send you offers or promotional materials on behalf of AAM or third parties;
• communicate with you regarding information, features or offers that we believe will be of interest to you;
• respond to your questions or other requests;
• contact you with regard to your use of the Site, including, without limitation, changes to the Site’s privacy policy, terms of use or other Site policies;
• to improve or customize the Site and its content, features and services;
• allow you to access specific sections of Site for which you have registered;
• for other internal business purposes or for other purposes disclosed at the time you provide your Personal Information;
• send you email communications or otherwise contact you regarding your job search; and
• facilitate your job search and prepare governmental and internal statistics reports.

Please note that information submitted to the Site via a “contact us” or other similar function may not receive a response; we will not use that information so provided to contact you for marketing purposes unrelated to your inquiry unless you agree otherwise.

As part of our routine record keeping practices, we may delete certain records that contain Personal Information you have submitted through the Site. We have no obligation to store such Personal Information and disclaim any liability arising out of, or related to, the destruction of such Personal Information. You should also be aware that it is not always possible to completely remove or delete all of your information from our databases without some residual data because of backups and other reasons.

(b) Use of Information for Recruitment Purposes.

You may be able to provide us with Personal Information in connection with an online application for employment or internship. If such functionality exists on the Site, we may use that information in order to allow us to make an informed decision about whether to proceed with your application. We may further, as part of this recruitment process, collect information about your education, employment history and similar matters. Where this Personal Information or Demographic Information is considered to be sensitive, you expressly consent to our processing of this information for recruitment purposes by submitting it to us.

4. How and When Do We Share Information with Third Parties?

We may share non-Personal Information, such as aggregated user statistics and Usage Information, with third parties. We may share your Device Identifiers with third parties along with data related to you and your activities. We do not share your Personal Information with third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes unless you opt-in to or opt-out of such sharing at the time you provide your Personal Information (for example, you may be provided with an opt-out choice on a Promotion registration form). In addition, we may share the information we have collected about you, including Personal Information, as disclosed at the time you provide your information and as described below or otherwise in this privacy policy. AAM may disclose your information as follows:

(a) When You Request Information From or Provide Information to Third Parties.

You may be presented with an option on our Site to receive certain information and/or marketing offers directly from third parties or to have us send certain information to third parties or give them access to it. If you choose to do so, your Personal Information and other information may be disclosed to such third parties and all information you disclose will be subject to the third-party privacy policies and practices of such third parties. In addition, third parties may store, collect or otherwise have access to your information when you interact with their Tracking Technologies, content, tools apps or ads on our Site or link to them from our Site. This may include using third-party tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or other third-party posting or content sharing tools. We are not responsible for the privacy policies and practices of such third parties and, therefore, you should review such third-party privacy policies and practices of such third parties prior to requesting information from or otherwise interacting with them.

(b) Third Parties Providing Services on our Behalf.

We may use third-party vendors to perform certain services on behalf of us or the Site, such as hosting the Site, designing and/or operating the Site’s features, tracking the Site’s activities and analytics, and enabling us to send you special offers or perform other administrative services. We may provide these vendors with access to user information, including Device Identifiers and Personal Information, to carry out the services they are performing for you or for us. Third-party analytics and other service providers may set and access their own Tracking Technologies on your Device and they may otherwise collect or have access to information about you, potentially including Personal Information, about you. We are not responsible for those third-party technologies or activities arising out of them. However, some may offer you certain choices regarding their practices, and information we have been informed of regarding such choices is available here. We are not responsible for the effectiveness of or compliance with any third parties’ opt-out options.

(c) To Protect the Rights of AAM and our Users.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we may also disclose your information if we believe in good faith that doing so is necessary or appropriate to: (i) protect or defend the rights, safety or property of AAM or third parties (including through the enforcement of this privacy policy, our Terms of Use, and other applicable agreements and policies); or (ii) comply with legal and regulatory obligations (e.g., pursuant to law enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or court orders). To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we have complete discretion in electing to make or not make such disclosures, and to contest or not contest requests for such disclosures, all without notice to you.

(d) Affiliates and Business Transfer.

We may share your information, including your Device Identifiers and Personal Information, Demographic Information and Usage Information with our affiliates (“Affiliates”). We also reserve the right to disclose and transfer all such information: (i) to a subsequent owner, co-owner or operator of the Site or applicable database; or (ii) in connection with a merger, consolidation, restructuring, the sale of substantially all of our interests and/or assets or other corporate change, including, during the course of any due diligence process.

(e) Sweepstakes, Contests and Promotions.

We may offer sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions (any, a “Promotion”) through the Site that may require registration. By participating in a Promotion, you are agreeing to official rules that govern that Promotion, which may contain specific requirements of you, including, allowing the sponsor of the Promotion to use your name, voice and/or likeness in advertising or marketing associated with the Promotion. If you choose to enter a Promotion, Personal Information may be disclosed to third parties or the public in connection with the administration of such Promotion, including in connection with winner selection, prize fulfillment, and as required by law or permitted by the Promotion’s official rules, such as on a winners list.

(f) EEOC/Affirmative Action Reporting.

When applying for employment on a Site, we may ask you to provide us with self-identifying information (such as veteran status, gender and ethnicity) in conjunction with laws and regulations enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) and similar state and local regulatory agencies. Providing such self-identifying information is voluntary, but if you do provide us with such information, we may submit that information, to the EEOC, the OFCCP and similar state and local regulatory agencies for business-related purposes, including, but not limited to, responding to information requests, fulfilling regulatory reporting requirements and defending against employment related complaints.

5. Do Third-Party Content and Links to Third-Party Sites Appear on the Site?

The Site may contain content that is supplied by a third-party, and those third parties may collect Usage Information and your Device Identifier when pages from the Site are served to you. In addition, when you are on the Site you may be directed to other sites that are operated and controlled by third parties that we do not control. We are not responsible for the data collection and privacy practices employed by any of these third parties or their site and they may be tracking you across multiple sites and may be sharing the results of that tracking with us and/or others. For example, if you “click” on a link, the “click” may take you off the Site onto a different site. These other sites may associate their Tracking Technologies with you, independently collect data about you, including Personal Information, and may or may not have their own published privacy policies. We encourage you to note when you leave our Site and to review the third-party privacy policies of all third-party locations and exercise caution in connection with them.

6. Data Security.

While we have taken steps to protect the Personal Information we collect from you on the Site, you should keep in mind that no Internet, wireless or mobile phone transmission is ever completely secure. In particular, unencrypted email and web traffic are subject to potential interception by unauthorized third parties. Likewise, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you disclose to us, or that which we process or store. Accordingly, you disclose your information at your own risk. Please consider this when you choose the information, if any, you wish to transmit to the Site.

7. Updating Your Information and Subscriptions.

You are responsible for maintaining the accuracy of the information you submit to us, such as your contact information provided as part of member registration. The Site may allow you to review, correct or update Personal Information you have provided to us through a Site registration form or otherwise and you may provide registration updates and changes by contacting us at service@auditedmedia.com. We will make good faith efforts to make requested changes in our then active databases as soon as reasonably practicable. When you edit your Personal Information or change your preferences on the Site, information that you remove may persist internally for AAM’s administrative purposes.

You may cancel or modify your subscriptions to email marketing communications you receive from us by following the instructions contained within our promotional emails you receive from the Site. This will not affect subsequent subscriptions and if your opt-out is limited to certain types of emails the opt-out will be so limited. However, even if you opt-out from receiving our newsletters or other marketing/promotional communications, we reserve the right to send you certain communications relating to our Site, such as service announcements or notices of changes to this privacy policy or our Terms of Use, without offering you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving such information.

8. What About Transfer of Information to the United States?

The Site is operated in the United States and intended for residents of the United States and Canada. If you are located outside of the United States or Canada, be aware that information we collect, including Personal Information, will be transferred to, and processed, stored and used in the United States. The data protection laws in the United States may differ from those of the country in which you are located, and your Personal Information may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement in the United States according to laws of the United States. By using the Site or providing us with any information, you consent to the transfer to, and processing, usage, sharing and storage of your information, including Personal Information, in the United States as set forth in this privacy policy. Without limiting the above, for the avoidance of doubt we do not have an establishment or target people in the EEA or UK.

9. Changes to this Privacy Policy.

We generally keep this privacy policy posted on the Site and you should review it frequently, as it may change from time-to-time. We reserve the right to update or otherwise change this privacy policy at any time without notice to you. Any changes will become effective immediately upon being posted unless we inform you otherwise. However, we will not use your previously collected Personal Information in a manner materially different than represented at the time it was collected without your consent. To the extent any provision of this privacy policy is found by a competent tribunal to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be severed to the extent necessary for the remainder to be valid and enforceable.

10. Note to Parents.

The Site is a general audience website. We do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children younger than thirteen (13) years of age (“Child”) on the Site. If you are a Child younger than thirteen (13) years of age, please do not send any information about yourself to us. If we become aware that a Child has submitted Personal Information to the Site, we will delete that Child’s Personal Information. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe that your child under the age of 13 has provided us with information without your consent, please contact us at corpcomm@auditedmedia.com, and we will take reasonable steps to ensure that such information is deleted from our files.

11. Contact Us.

If you have any questions, comments, requests, or concerns about this privacy policy, please contact us in the following ways: Postal Mail: Alliance for Audited Media, 1600 McConnor Parkway, Suite 200-217, Schaumburg, IL 60173

(Attn: Business and Legal Affairs); By email: corpcomm@auditedmedia.com.

The following third parties that collect information from you on our Site have given us notice that you may obtain information on their policies and practices, and in some instances opt-out of certain of their activities, as follows:

NOTE: We are not responsible for third-party policies or practices. We try to keep this information current, but it is provided as a courtesy and may not be current or accurate. Please contact the applicable third parties regarding their privacy and data security policies and practices.