Privacy Policy
Affectiva, Inc. (“Affectiva”) envisions a world where effective opt-in measurement and communication of emotion increases understanding and improves lives. Affectiva has developed a simplified policy document tailored to our website visitors which we encourage you to review. If you have an account with Affectiva or are an Affectiva customer, please review the entire document.
If you have questions or concerns about your privacy, please notify us by contacting privacy@affectiva.com
If you ever opted in to receive mail from Affectiva and now want to opt out, send an email including your name and email address to unsubscribe@affectiva.com. If you receive an email using the Affectiva name that you suspect might be spam, please contact us at privacy@affectiva.com.
To contact us via the postal service send a letter to:
Privacy Officer, Affectiva Inc.
411 Waverley Oaks Road, STE 329
Waltham, MA 02452
For web-site visitors:
Revised February 5, 2011
Affectiva is committed to protecting your privacy when visiting our website and when using our products and services (collectively “Products”). The policy outlined in this document is for all information gathered though the use of the Affectiva website only and is applicable worldwide.
Definition of Personal Information:
“Personal Information” is any information that can be used to identify an individual, and may include, but is not limited to, name, email address, postal or other physical address, credit or debit card number, title, and other information required to provide or deliver a Product, or carry out a transaction you have explicitly requested. If you give us Personal Information, we will treat it according to this policy.
This document also covers information acquired through the use of our web-based Products such as video. Affectiva policy is to participate in research where data is only collected from people who have given informed consent. We advocate for an opt-in approach to study participation. From its roots in the academic research community, Affectiva strives to adhere to the highest ethical standards required of the top research institutions internationally.
Participating in opt-in video collection
Affectiva provides people with opportunities to participate in interactive web applications in which data will be collected. Data will never be collected without informed consent. The data may include a subset of the following categories:
- Video from a participant’s web-cam
- Affective data derived from video
- Text data from survey responses
By Its nature, video data of individuals is personal so Affectiva takes the process of recording participant video very seriously. Affectiva will never associate data with an individual without the individual’s consent. By default Affectiva will only use video data to train its computer algorithms around measurement and communication of emotion and will not share video data that has not been anonymized with outside groups. On occasion, Affectiva may provide people with an opportunity to explicitly opt-in to allow for their video data to be used in broader research or experimental purposes.
Anonymous information collection
In some instances, Affectiva may collect non-personal aggregate or demographic data through cookies, web logs, and web beacons. This information may be used to better understand and improve the usability, performance, and effectiveness of the website. Please read the “Cookies” section below for more information.
In addition, by using some of our Products, anonymous network information (not including Personal Information) may be transmitted back to us such as Product usage information. This information is transmitted back to us so we can determine how users are interacting with our Products, to assist us as we consistently improve our Products and to correct any problems that may occur.
Cookies web logs and web beacons
Like many websites, Affectiva uses technologies, such as cookies and web beacons, which allow us to make your visit to our website easier, more efficient and more valuable by providing you with a customized experience and recognizing you when you return.
Our cookies do not read personal data off of your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. The only Personal Information that a cookie can contain is that which you explicitly consent to supplying. Accepting the cookies used on our website may give us access to information about your browsing behavior while on our web pages, which we may use to personalize your experience and track user traffic patterns. We do this in order to determine the usefulness of our website information based on the needs of our users, and to assess how effectively our navigational structure helps users reach needed sources of information. You may browse most of Affectiva’s website without accepting cookies from Affectiva; however, some website functionality may be lost by disabling cookies on your computer. Other Affectiva web pages, particularly those that require a login and password, require cookies and cannot be used when you have disabled cookies in your browser.
Web logs and web beacons are ways of gathering basic statistics and managing cookies, and do not extract any extra information from your computer. Turning off your browser’s cookies will prevent web logs and beacons from tracking your specific activity.
If you prefer not to receive cookies while browsing our website or via HTML-formatted emails, you can set your browser to prompt you before it accepts cookies or refuse the cookie when your browser alerts you to its presence. You can also refuse all cookies by turning them off in your browser. For additional information about cookies and other tracking technologies, including instructions for blocking their use, see http://privacy.getnetwise.org/browsing/tools.
Linked websites and third party services
Our websites and services may provide links to third-party websites and services that are outside our control and not covered by this policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies posted on these (and all) sites you visit or services you use.
Children’s privacy
Affectiva’s website does not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13, without parental consent. If we learn that we have collected Personal Information on a child under the age of 13, without parental consent, we will erase that data from our systems. Affectiva encourages parents and guardians to monitor the online activity of children in their care. Here are a few tips to help make a child’s online experience safer:
- Teach children never to give Personal Information (such as name, address, phone number, school, etc.) unless supervised by a parent or responsible adult
- Know the sites your children are visiting and which sites are appropriate
- Review website privacy policies and be aware of how your child’s information is treated
We encourage you to visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website for information regarding initiatives designed to protect children’s privacy online.
Consent to the transfer, processing and storage of Personal Information:
We reserve the right to transfer your Personal Information gathered from our website to any Affectiva affiliate worldwide, as well as to third parties acting on our behalf, for the purposes of processing or storage of data. By providing any of your Personal Information, you fully understand and consent to such transfer, processing and storage of such information.
Updates to the Privacy Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. If you choose to opt in to email notifications by emailing get-privacy@affectiva.com, you will be informed when changes take place. Whether or not you chose to receive notifications via email, our website will indicate when the policy has been altered. You may access the current version at any time by clicking on the “Privacy Policy” link at the footer on our website. Your continued use of the Affectiva website or Products thereafter, serves as binding confirmation that you agree with such changes.
If you have entered information on our website and/or are an account holder and/or customer:
The above policy holds. We are likely to have additional information from you other than cookies, web logs and web beacons. We have additional policy information that may pertain to you outlined below.
Accessing and updating your Personal Information
You are in control of whether or not you give us Personal Information, and you are free at any time to ask us to delete any personal information you have provided. Please contact us at account-updates@affectiva.com to make these changes as needed. Affectiva may need to retain some Personal Information for the period of time necessary for legal proceedings, legal requirements or for settling your account.
Unsubscribing
Affectiva does not give out your Personal Information without your prior consent. By signing up for email notifications you are consenting to being contacted by the Affectiva sales and marketing team or their representatives.
Each promotional email from Affectiva or from parties to whom Affectiva has given your email address with your prior consent includes instructions on how you can unsubscribe from that category of mailing or from receiving email from that third party.
You may also unsubscribe from Affectiva’s promotional emails by sending an email, including your name and email address to unsubscribe@affectiva.com, or a letter to:
Privacy Officer, Affectiva, Inc. 411 Waverley Oaks Road, STE 329 Waltham, MA 02452
Affectiva will work diligently to update these settings in a timely manner: please allow 2-4 weeks for account updates to take effect. If you have additional questions regarding your information disclosure choices or Affectiva’s policies regarding receipt of promotional email, you may contact Affectiva by sending an email with your name and email address to privacy@affectiva.com.
Collection and use of your Personal Information
Described below are situations in which Affectiva collects Personal Information and the purposes for which it is collected. We will use your Personal Information only in accordance with our Privacy Policy. If you do not wish us to continue using your Personal Information, you may request that your account be deactivated. The reasons we collect and use your Personal Information are outlined below.
If you sign up under “Get more information”, Affectiva will try to send you the requested information. You may receive periodic calls or emails from our team in order to facilitate your request. Affectiva may provide enrollees with the latest product announcements, software updates, software and system enhancements, special offers, and other information. Enrollees may also be contacted by Affectiva or its trusted partners with offers to participate in surveys aimed at improving our Products.
If you are an Affectiva customer, you provide us your name, address, payment information, email and or telephone number. Affectiva may need to use this information to verify credit card information, process payments and ship products though our trusted shipping partners. Affectiva may make use of a trusted third party to process your payment and in these cases we will share your billing information with that party. If you are an Affectiva customer you may also receive product updates or other information from our team.
Affectiva customers may be granted access to protected areas of the website. In order to do so, they may need to activate an Affectiva Web account that requires the use and storage of some Personal Information.
Affectiva provides its customers with both technical and non-technical support options. When you contact customer support (support@affectiva.com) or technical support (techSupport@affectiva.com), your inquiry and relevant Personal Information will be added to a support database to enable an appropriate response. Affectiva may also store relevant Personal Information to manage customer feedback.
Affectiva provides individuals the opportunity to contact us with job inquires by contacting jobs@affectiva.com. If you send Affectiva a resume or other documents containing Personal Information it may be entered into a recruitment database. You may receive inquires from Affectiva or our affiliates in response to your inquiry.
Affectiva offers Professional Services as well as hardware and software products. If you or your company has entered an Affectiva Professional Services agreement please be aware that the terms of that agreement may include additional use cases that require the collection of Personal Information. These terms may take precedence over this Policy. We encourage all of our clients to meet or exceed our standards for the protection of Personal Information. We will work with you to follow the highest integrity ethical standards, especially in the treatment of people as participants in data-collection studies.
Sharing your Personal Information
We do not sell or rent your Personal Information to others unless you have granted us permission to do so in advance. We may share your Personal Information within Affectiva and its affiliated companies and with third party service providers only for purposes of data processing or storage that are in accord with your informed consent.[by using the products, customers are consenting to the terms of this privacy policy]
If necessary to provide you with a Product or transaction you request, then we may also share your Personal Information with business partners, service vendors, authorized third-party agents or contractors.
We provide the third parties with the minimum amount of Personal Information necessary to fulfill the terms of the predetermined service or transaction, and no third parties are permitted to use your Personal Information except for the purpose of providing a specific service on behalf of Affectiva.
Under certain circumstances, Affectiva may be legally obligated to disclose your Personal Information (e.g. subpoenas, court orders, etc.). At our discretion, we also may elect to exercise our legal rights to defend against legal claims.
We may collect and possibly share Personal Information and any other additional information available to us in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of Affectiva’s Terms of Service, or as otherwise required by law.
While navigating Affectiva’s web site or computer-based Products, you may be directed to content or functionality that is hosted by a third-party supplier. When Personal Information is collected on behalf of Affectiva exclusively, Affectiva’s Privacy Policy will be referenced and will dictate how your Personal Information will be used. For other, non-Affectiva sites or services, the site or service provider’s privacy policy should be consulted.
We will ask for your consent before we use or share your Personal Information for any purpose other than the reason you provided it or as otherwise provided by this policy. In order to let us know your preferences, we will require an action on your part, such as checking the appropriate option, to indicate your consent.
Security of your Personal Information
Affectiva is committed to protecting the Personal Information you share with us. We utilize a combination of industry-standard security technologies, procedures, and organizational measures to help protect your Personal Information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure.
When we transfer credit card information over the Internet, we protect it using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology. While we strive to protect your Personal Information, we cannot ensure the security of the information that you transmit to Affectiva, please make sure that you protect yourself by never sending Personal Data over an unsecure connection.
We strongly encourage you to take every possible precaution to protecting your Personal Information when you are on the Internet. Good methods of protecting private information include: change your passwords often, use a combination of letters and numbers when creating passwords, make sure you use a secure browser and protect emails though encryption.
Consent to the transfer, processing and storage of Personal Information:
We reserve the right to transfer your Personal Information gathered from our website to any Affectiva affiliate worldwide, as well as to third parties acting on our behalf, for the purposes of processing or storage By providing any of your Personal Information, you fully understand and consent to such transfer, processing and storage of such information.
Last update: February 5, 2011
