TOPIXIN INC. Privacy Policy
Table of contents
1. Welcome
Your privacy is important to us! Topixin Inc. and/or one its subsidiaries or affiliated companies (collectively, "Topixin" or "we" or "us") respects your privacy rights and our obligations with respect to your privacy and maintenance of your Personal Information (defined below). This privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") govern use of the websites operated by or on behalf of Topixin and on which this Privacy Policy appears, including those at all Topixin URLs ("Websites") and the Topixin services provided on or through the Websites and/or accessible through various desktop and mobile web browsers, locally installed mobile web applications, third party platforms including social networking sites ("Third Party Platforms"), and various API services and other services that we may offer from time to time, including without limitation social, online and/or other applications (including mobile applications), community forums, and blogs (collectively, the "Services").
This privacy policy (the "Privacy Policy") describes the information about you that Topixin collects through the Websites and/or the Services and how this information is used, maintained, and, in some cases, shared. Topixin values your use of the Websites and/or the Services and is committed to protecting your privacy. Topixin has provided this Privacy Policy to assist you in understanding the information that we collect, how we use it, and the ways we maintain it, including the security of your personal information. By visiting or using the Websites, Services, applications, and any other pages, features or content on the Websites or available in the Services, you acknowledge that you accept the practices and policies outlined in this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy is applicable worldwide and applies to all of Topixin's Websites and Services, including without limitation any Services available on or through Third Party Platforms.
This Privacy Policy applies only to information that you provide to Topixin while visiting the Websites, and does not apply to any information that Topixin has received, obtained or may obtain offline or through other traditional means.
2. General Information Collected
In order to enhance the content contained on the Websites and in the Services, Topixin may gather and store certain information about your visit. "General Information" is information about you or your activities through which you cannot be identified. This information may include some or all of the following items:
- A. The Internet Protocol ("IP") address of your Internet Service Provider ("ISP") and/or your computer, if it has its own static IP address. The domain name may also be collected.
- B. The date, time, length of stay, and specific Topixin web pages, topics, images, documents or forms accessed at such Website or through the Services.
- C. Whether a you are viewing any of the Websites or using any of the Services for the first time, or are a return visitor, including whether you are a registered or anonymous or unregistered user.
- D. The Uniform Resource Locator ("URL") of the website, link or advertisement that referred you to any of the Websites and/or the Services,
- E. The search engine that referred you and any search strings or phrases entered into the search engine to find any of the Websites and/or the Services.
- F. Demographic information concerning your country of origin, time zone and language(s) used.
- G. The type and version of the Internet browser used to visit any of the Websites and/or the Services, the operating system on your computer, and information regarding errors when viewing or using any of the Websites or the Services.
Topixin collects this General Information and may use it to generate aggregate statistics about visitors to the Websites and Services. In situations where it is possible to do so, General Information may be linked to Personal Information (defined below).
3. Personal Information Collected
"Personal Information" is information through which you can be identified. Providing your personal information to Topixin is your choice. Topixin maintains one or more databases to store your Personal Information and may keep such information indefinitely. Personal Information that Topixin may collect from you includes, but is not limited to your name, mailing address(es), telephone number(s), facsimile number(s), email address(es), birth date, bio, and any other information that you voluntarily provide. Personal Information you volunteer is used by Topixin for internal verification, to complete requested transactions, ensure appropriate legal use of the Services, provide you notification about updates to the Websites, Services, goods, and data, and to help provide you with technical support for the Services.
Your Personal Information is collected from our Websites and our Services, through email and/or through online applications (i.e., registration for a user account) you complete, our guestbook and forums and message boards, blogs, request for newsletters, entering sweepstakes and prize promotions, taking surveys, reporting problems and through any of your other activities with Topixin or on the Websites or in the Services. Personal Information that Topixin collects depends on the nature of your activities.
For example:
- A. Registration – in order to register an account for any of our Websites and the Services, you will need to provide your full name, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth, nationality and gender. We strongly encourage you not to use any Personal Information in your username or password.
- B. Profile – in order to utilize some features of the Websites and/or the Services, such as creating and maintaining a topic, you may have the option of providing additional information (besides registration information) about yourself to create your user profile. Your user profile will be publicly viewable by other users and visitors to the Websites and/or Services, however, you may control what information, if any, is publicly accessible. Your profile information can include such things as your picture, bio, hobbies, interests, likes/dislikes, friends/contacts, user name on Third Party Platforms, links to your profiles on other websites and anything else that you've chosen to share or include in your profile.
- C. Sweepstakes and other prize promotions – from time to time, Topixin may present sweepstakes, contests, special offers or other promotions, and in order for you to enter and win such promotions, you may need to provide Personal Information. The type and amount of Personal Information required will depend on the promotion.
- D. Information you voluntarily submit on our "Feedback" web page and other surveys and feedback – will require the disclosure of your first name and email address, and may also include your telephone number, and is used by Topixin to enhance our Websites or Services, or to reply to your questions or comments.
- E. Online purchases – when you place an order online, we collect information associated with the transaction which includes your full name, billing and mailing addresses, credit card, banking or other payment information, products or subscriptions ordered, shipping information, and identity verification information (driver's license, social security number). This information is used to enhance the goods that we offer, as well as to ensure that our financial partners can process the payment to us and our third party fulfillment company delivers the products that you ordered to the address that you provided.
- F. Invitations – if you invite someone to use a feature of one of our Websites or the Services, we will disclose your real name as part of the invitation you send, as this information is necessary to ensure that the invited person knows who has sent the invitation. We will store your invitations and may use this information to send further communications to such persons. In addition to any unsubscribe links that may be in such communications, your invitees can contact us at [email protected] to request that their information be removed from our database.
- G. Contacts – we may allow you to import, upload and/or view your address book or contact listing from another application or website or Third Party Platform so that you can share your topics and/or other information hosted or displayed on the Websites and/or through the Services with such contacts. We will not store your contact information without you adding a contact to your contacts within your user account or profile.
- H. Third Party Platform information – when you connect or use our Websites or Services through a Third Party Platform, or wish to link or display your use on our Websites or Services to or with your account or on a Third Party Platform, including using a Third Party Platform account to sign into our Websites or Services, you disclose and allow us to access, collect and/or use information from your Third Party Platform account, as permitted by the terms of the Third Party Platform's terms of use/service and your privacy settings therein. When you use our Services through a Third Party Platform, you authorize us to access, collect, store and use your Personal Information and account information stored or used by such Third Party Platform. You may, on some Third Party Platforms, be able to disable the sharing of such information with us, however, doing so may disable or limit your ability to use our Services on or through such Third Party Platform.
- I. ID Tokens – When you use the Services on or through our Websites or any Third Party Platform, Topixin will assign a unique identifying token ("ID Token") which is used internally by Topixin and is not publicly displayed. Your ID Token is used to connect and/or share your activities on the Websites or through the Services with or on any Third Party Platform.
4. Personal Information Use
Unless legally required to do so, Topixin will not sell, rent or otherwise disclose your Personal information to any outside company or organization, except as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy excludes data that may be stored or transmitted to or from the Internet company hosting the Websites or the Services.
In addition to those uses set forth in Section 3 above, Topixin may use your Personal Information to: (a) provide, administer, facilitate and maintain your use of the Websites and/or the Services; (b) provide it to vendors as set forth in Section 5 below; (c) send you marketing communications about the Websites, the Services and any other Topixin goods and/or services as set forth in Section 6 below; (d) enable user to user communications; (e) resolve disputes between users and/or a user and Topixin as set forth in this Section below; (f) identify sources of errors or issues with any of the Websites and/or the Services; and (g) as otherwise needed, as determined in Topixin's sole discretion, to protect the safety of our users, employees, third parties and members of the public.
Topixin may also hire companies to help provide products or services, like a shipping company that may deliver packages, a financial partner that assists in the completion of transactions you request, or any other third party that is needed to assist in the completion of transactions you request. In those instances, there is a need to share your information with these third parties. Topixin may also work with other companies who help either gather your information or communicate with you. Your opt-out of receiving information from us and/or third parties will not apply to sharing by Topixin of your Personal Information with any of these third parties. Nonetheless, except as separately permitted by other provisions of this Privacy Policy, these third parties are allowed to gather, receive, and use your information only for the purposes described herein or as required by law.
Topixin may make bulletin boards, chat rooms, guest books, job listing areas, message boards, news groups, topics, and other community services available to you on the Websites and through the Services. Please understand that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information. When you disclose such information in a bulletin board, message board, chat room, guestbook, blog, topic or any other public forum, you do so at your own risk. Topixin has no control over its use and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your Personal Information or any other information about yourself. The information presented in these areas reflects the views of the individual users or hosts and does not necessarily reflect the views of Topixin or any of its affiliates. Topixin reserves the right (but shall have no obligation) to monitor the use of bulletin boards, message boards, chat rooms, guest books, blogs, topics or other public forums on the Websites or in the Services, including those available on Third Party Platforms.
Topixin may also disclose and/or transfer your Personal Information: (1) in response to judicial or governmental subpoenas, warrants, or orders served on or delivered to Topixin; (2) if needed, as determined in Topixin's sole discretion, to protect Topixin's rights or property, to enforce the provisions of this Privacy Policy and/or Topixin's Terms of Use, and/or to prevent harm to yourself or others; and (3) if Topixin or its business is sold or offered for sale to another entity or individual(s), a petition for relief is filed under U.S. Bankruptcy laws for or against Topixin, or if Topixin becomes subject to an order of appointment of a trustee or receiver.
Topixin reserves the right to release and/or use all information contained within our databases, access logs or other records concerning you if you violate this Privacy Policy, our Terms of Use or other rules, policies, notices, agreements or guidelines, or intentionally or unintentionally partake (or are reasonably suspected of partaking) in any illegal activity, including, but not limited to, hacking, even without a subpoena, warrant or other court order, and to release such information in response to court and governmental orders, civil subpoenas, discovery requests and as otherwise required by law, and/or to initiate our own legal proceedings. Topixin cooperates with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who may be using the Websites (or any part thereof) or Services for illegal activities. Topixin also reserves the right to report any suspected illegal activity to law enforcement individuals or entities for investigation or prosecution.
Topixin may purchase a business or sell one or more of our businesses and your Personal Information may be transferred as a part of the purchase or sale. In the event that we purchase a business, the Personal Information received with that business would be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy, if it is practicable and permissible to do so. In the event that we sell a business, we will attempt to include provisions in the selling contract requiring the purchaser to treat your Personal Information in the same manner required by this Privacy Policy. Thus, any of your opt out requests will not affect our right to transfer your information to a purchaser in these circumstances. Topixin also reserves the right to transfer your Personal Information to a third party in the event of a transfer of all or substantially all of Topixin's assets to a third party, provided that the third party agrees to adhere to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
Topixin may take your Personal Information and make it non-personally identifiable, either by combining it with information about other individuals (aggregating your information with information about other individuals), or by removing characteristics (such as your name) that make the information personally identifiable to you (de-personalizing your information). Given the nature of this information, there are no restrictions under this Privacy Policy upon the right of Topixin to aggregate or de-personalize your personal information, and Topixin may use and/or share with third parties the resulting non-personally identifiable information in any manner in Topixin's sole discretion.
5. Opt Out from Topixin Vendor Communications
In addition to its own use, Topixin may pass your Personal Information to third party fulfillment companies, shipping companies and credit card processors and/or any of their authorized agents who provides the goods or services requested to meet your needs. Topixin may provide your email address to vendors that it deems provide goods or services which you may need. You may opt out of receiving such vendor emails by contacting us at [email protected]
6. Opt Out from Topixin Marketing Communications
Topixin may also use your Personal Information, or a portion thereof, to send you marketing materials, channel and/or show information, vendors with information that you may need, and/or Topixin newsletters or advertisements, unless you notify Topixin that you do not wish to receive such materials. Topixin may also use the services of bonded mailing houses that are authorized to use your Personal Information only for the benefit of Topixin. Please contact Topixin at [email protected] to request that you not be sent any or all of such information.
7. Cookies
The use of "Cookies" is a standard practice among websites. A Cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer to uniquely distinguish your visit to a website. Cookies are most often used to track specific information regarding your activity on a particular website.
When you visit our Websites and/or Services, we place a Cookie in a directory of your computer's hard drive. The information that Cookies collect includes the date and time of your visit and your registration information. Cookies offer you many conveniences for our Websites and Services. For example, they allow Topixin to recognize certain information, such as your browser type, so we know if you can view certain plug-ins like Macromedia Flash files. They also allow us to streamline your visit to the Websites and/or Services based on your previous visits.
Cookies may be either permanent or temporary. Topixin uses both temporary and permanent cookies. A temporary or "session" Cookie is placed on your computer during your visit to or use of any of our Websites and/or Services and is deleted when you exit your Internet browser and/or turn off your computer. A permanent or "persistent" Cookie means that the Cookie stays on your hard drive until you delete it. You can delete our permanent Cookie at any time by following the instructions contained in your browser's help file, or by contacting the company providing your browser's technical support. Topixin does not use cookies to store information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, or any other highly sensitive Personal Information.
You may configure your browser to accept or deny Cookies from our Websites and our Services. However, disabling or denying Cookies from our Websites and/or our Services may render parts of them inaccessible or may cause certain web pages not to properly load. There are also several services and websites which allow you to visit websites, including our Websites, anonymously. Again, if you use these anonymizing services or websites, you may not be able to access or use all of the web pages for the Websites and/or the Services.
8. Web Beacons
Topixin may use "web beacons," sometimes referred to as "clear gifs" or "web bugs," which is another way (instead of Cookies) to help personalize your experience on the Websites and/or the Services. Web beacons are typically invisible to you, and are generally embedded in very small clear graphics files. We may use web beacons to monitor certain non-personally identifiable information about you, including the URL of the page from which the web beacon originated, the type of browser used, the IP address of your computer, and the time you viewed the web beacon. We may also use web beacons to assist our third party advertising and/or content companies in providing the contact they believe you want to see. Web beacons are also used to allow such third parties to determine how many people view the advertisements and/or clicked through, and to assist in serving and managing advertisements and content. While web beacons do not collect Personal Information, the information collected by them may be used in conjunction with Cookies to identify aggregate information about users of our Websites and Services.
9. DMCA Information
Personal Information that you provide to us in association with a DMCA notification or counter-notification will be disclosed to third parties. All information contained in or associated with a DMCA notification will be disclosed to the alleged infringer. All information contained in or associated with a DMCA counter-notification will be disclosed to the initial claimant. See our DMCA Policy for more information on notifications and counter-notifications.
10. Contact by Topixin
You do not have to participate in Topixin's mailing lists (newsletters) in order to use the Websites. However, if you elect not to receive such newsletters, you may miss valuable information on Topixin and/or its goods or services. Topixin will not contact you nor send you marketing materials, unless you have accepted to receive such contact or information (i.e., you have not opted out).
11. Maintenance of Personal Information
You can access your Personal Information contained in Topixin's database by contacting us at privacy@Topixin. If you believe that any of your information is incorrect or needs updating, please let us know either at the email address listed in this section, or by U.S. Postal Mail to our address listed below (Attn: Accounts). Topixin will use reasonable efforts to correct your information and our records upon verification of the requested change. If you no longer wish to receive email or postal notifications about our Websites, goods, services, or special promotions, please let us know by sending an email to privacy@Topixin or by sending us a letter via U.S. Postal Mail at our address listed below (Attn: Opt Out of Mailing) and specifying in the text of your email or letter which notifications you no longer wish to receive. In addition, within the text of your email or letter, you should provide your exact name and address, so that we can do our best to ensure that you stop receiving the notifications that you no longer wish to receive. After such a request is received, Topixin will use reasonable efforts to refrain from including you when sending such notifications by noting your opt out election in our database.
You decide what Personal Information you make available to other users of our Websites and/or Services, including in or on our bulletin boards, message boards, chats, blogs, topics, posts and other disclosures. All users of our Websites and/or Services should be aware that information made you make available via these disclosures is public and not private. Topixin is not responsible for and cannot control the actions of others who will have access to this information, therefore, we do not and cannot guarantee that the information you disclose in this manner will not be viewed by unauthorized persons.
Topixin may provide security measures that are designed to restrict access to certain portions of the Websites, such as private chat rooms, restricted forums or topics, or instant messaging, but Topixin cannot and is not responsible for circumvention of these security measures or for further distribution or use of any information you disclose in public areas by others. We may also provide you tools to edit and remove the information or materials you make available on our Websites, but even after removal, copies of any information you post may remain viewable in cached, archived or otherwise saved media that is outside the control of Topixin. You are solely responsible for any information and materials that you choose to make available on public areas of our Websites and/or our Services, including those available on or through the use of Third Party Platforms.
Topixin may, but is not responsible for or obligated to, back up your information, including any Personal Information. We encourage you to back up your own information, such as photographs, on a routine basis.
12. Termination
Both you and Topixin can terminate your account as set forth in our Terms of Use in Section 20. If your account is terminated, Topixin will use commercially reasonable efforts to deactivate and/or delete your registration, profile and ID Token information, including Personal Information, within thirty (30) days of your request. If your account is terminated by Topixin, then your registration, profile and ID Token information may be deactivated and/or deleted by Topixin in any time frame, including never. Further, even after termination, your information, although no longer accessible by you for login, may be maintained and accessible for use by Topixin, including for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy.
Even if your account is terminated, Topixin may still maintain and store for as long as it wants or needs, in its sole discretion, your non-Personal Information, including without limitation your IP addresses, browser and topic information, and any anonymous information, including any IDs attached to anonymous users.
Please be aware that even if your account is terminated, some or all of your information, including your Personal Information, could still be available to others, including information that has been (a) posted or incorporated into other's topics, pages, comments (by you or others); (b) posted, shared or submitted to public areas of the Websites and/or the Services; (c) copied, displayed, stored or distributed by other users; or (d) posted, shared or submitted to or available on a Third Party Platform, Linked Site, or any other third party websites or services.
13. Children
Topixin does not knowingly solicit or collect information from children (defined as minors younger than thirteen (13) years of age) and children under the age of 13 should not use or attempt to use the Websites and/or the Services. If you are the parent or guardian of a child aged 13 or over, but under the age of eighteen (18) or the legal age of contract majority, and have authorized your child to use your computer, we urge you to instruct your child never to give out his or her real name, address, phone number, email address or other personally identifying information while on our Websites. There are no computer applications on our Websites or in our Services which allow for the determination of your age. If Topixin discovers or is notified that Personal Information of a child under age 13 has been collected, Topixin will take reasonable steps to delete this information. All information volunteered to Topixin will be treated the same as information given by an adult. Topixin recommends that the Internet browsing behavior of any child should be carefully supervised by a responsible adult at all times. If you are a parent or legal guardian and believe that Topixin has any information from or about your child under age 13, you may contact us at [email protected] to request that such information be deleted.
14. Links to Other Websites
Our Websites and/or Services may contain links to other websites (referred to in our Terms of Use as "Linked Sites"). Please refer to Section 9 of our Terms of Use for Scoop. it's disclaimers and other information regarding such Linked Site. When you leave the Websites and/or visit a Linked Site and/or Third Party Platform, this Privacy Policy is no longer applicable. Additionally, if you use our Services via a Third Party Platform, you will be subject to the privacy policies and terms of use/service of any such Third Party Platform. We do not control, are not responsible for and have no liability for the practices, including the collection of personal information, of Linked Sites and/or Third Party Platforms, or the privacy policies and/or terms of use/service of any Linked Sites or Third Party Platforms and you should review the policies and agreements of such Linked Sites and/or Third Party Platforms carefully. You should contact those Linked Sites or Third Party Platforms directly to ask questions about their privacy policies.
When using Topixin for discovering and publishing YouTube content, you expressively agree with the Google Privacy Policy.
15. Security
The security and confidentiality of your information is extremely important to us. We have implemented technical, administrative, and physical security measures to protect your information from unauthorized access and improper use. Topixin makes access to your Personal Information subject to certain security measures, including technological controls such as "firewalls," in accordance with industry standards. When the use of a Topixin web page involves the transmission of Personal Information or confidential information, Topixin uses Secure Socket Layer ("SSL") technology to establish a secure connection between your computer and Topixin. SSL allows the transmission of encrypted information from your computer to Topixin and back again, and is currently the industry standard for Internet platform security. From time to time, we review our security procedures in order to consider appropriate new technology and methods.
Please be aware though that no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so while Topixin strives to protect your Personal Information, Topixin cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information that you voluntarily give to Topixin.
Topixin reserves the right to monitor all network traffic to our Websites and/or our Services to identify and/or block unauthorized attempts or intrusions, upload or change information, or cause damage to any of our Websites, Services or any of our computer or network equipment or software in any manner. Anyone using any of our Websites or Services expressly consents to such monitoring.
16. California Privacy Rights
FOR RESIDENTS OF CALIFORNIA ONLY. Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code requires select businesses to disclose policies relating to the sharing of certain categories of your Personal Information with third parties. If you reside in California and have provided your Personal Information to Topixin, you may request information about our disclosures of certain categories of Personal Information to third parties for direct marketing purposes. Such requests must be submitted to us at one of the following addresses: [email protected]
Within thirty (30) days of receiving such a request, we will provide a list of the categories of Personal Information disclosed to third parties for third-party direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year, along with the names and addresses of those third parties. This request may be made no more than once per calendar year. We reserve our right not to respond to requests submitted other than to the address specified in this Section.
17. Changes
Topixin has included the effective date of this Privacy Policy on the first and last page of this document. Topixin reserves the right to make changes to any terms of this Privacy Policy at any time, however, Topixin shall provide notification to you in advance of any changes becoming effective, such as by posting a notification on the Websites or via email. If you continue to access and/or use any of the Websites or Services after the effective date of such changes, then such access and/or use will be deemed an acceptance of and an agreement to follow and be bound by the terms as changed. The revised Privacy Policy shall supersede all previous notices or statements regarding the Websites and Services. For this reason, we encourage you to review this Privacy Policy any time you access or use the Websites and/or the Services, and recommend that you print out a copy for your records.
18. How to Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, you may contact us through any of the following means, however, please be sure to specify the reason for your communication. Please be aware that any opt out or other requests with specific email address will not be addressed through communication to these general means.
Email: [email protected] (subject line "Privacy Policy Contact")
© 2020 Topixin Inc. -- All Rights Reserved. Updated: January 31, 2020