Privacy Policy

Last Revised Date – October 25, 2022

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SearchStax Inc. (“SearchStax”, “us,” “we,” or “our,”) is committed to protecting the privacy of your information. This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) governs how SearchStax may collect, use, and disclose personal information that we obtain through or from:

• https://www.searchstax.com/ and all websites within that domain (such as https://status.searchstax.com, https://www.searchstax.com/blog/, https://www.searchstax.com/docs/, (our “Websites”) and mobile applications,

• our customer’s personnel who register to use our Services (including through our Services user interface dashboard registration forms on our Websites), and
• customer data submitted to our hosted search or related services (the “Services”) by our customers or their internet clients or end users, or that we collect through our Services on behalf of our customers. Section 8 of this Privacy Policy separately covers and describes how SearchStax collects, uses and discloses the personal information submitted to our Services by our customers (or their internet clients or end users) or that we collect through our Services (on behalf of our customers), which use by our customers is governed by our subscription agreements with our customers.
• individuals that register to attend our marketing or corporate events or receive our marketing materials (“Marketing Activities”),
• third-party sources such as our partners,

If you are looking for CCPA-specific information, check out our CCPA Privacy Notice as well, which is incorporated into this Privacy Policy.

1. UPDATES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY:

Due to the Internet’s rapidly evolving nature, SearchStax may need to update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If so, SearchStax will post our updated Privacy Policy on our Site located at https://www.searchstax.com/privacy/ and post notice of the change so it is visible when users log-on for the first time after the change is posted so that you are always aware of what personally identifiable information we may collect and how we may use this information. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our home page. SearchStax encourages you to review this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes. Your continued use of Websites or Services and/or continued provision of personally identifiable information to us will be subject to the terms of the then-current Privacy Policy.

2. WHAT TYPES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

As set forth below, we collect personally identifiable information regarding our current, prospective and former clients, customers, visitors and guests via our Service and/or our Websites. The types of personally identifiable information we may collect (directly from you or from third party sources) and our privacy practices depend on the nature of the relationship you have with us and the requirements of applicable law.

• Information that we collect from you may include the following:
• Information that can personally identify you, such as name, photograph, postal address, email address, or telephone number.
• Information about your Internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Websites, and your use of our Websites.
• Information that you provide when you fill in forms on our Websites.
• Information that identifies you in planning and hosting events related to our Marketing Activities (e.g., meetups, user conferences, etc.).
• Records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses and Twitter handles), if you contact us.
• Your responses to surveys that we might ask you to complete for research purposes.
• Details of transactions you carry out through our Websites or related to orders of our Services.

You also may provide information as a contributing user that is published or displayed (hereafter, referred to as “posted”) on public areas of our Websites, on the SearchStax Github account, or transmitted to other users of our Websites or third-parties. Your user contributions are posted and transmitted to others at your own risk.

COOKIES AND GIFS

We use small text files called cookies to improve overall Website experience. A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies generally do not permit us to personally identify you (except as provided below). We may also use clear GIFs (a.k.a. “Web beacons”) in HTML-based emails sent to our users to track which emails are opened by recipients.

Additionally, when using the Website, we and any of our third party service providers may use cookies and other tracking mechanisms to track your user activity on the Website and identify the organization or entity from which you are using the Website. If you register with the Website, we, and our third party service providers, will be able to associate all of your user activity with your personally identifiable registration information. We will use such user activity information to improve the Website, to provide context for our sales and support staff when interacting with you and customers, to initiate automated email marketing campaigns triggered by your activity on the Website and for other internal business analysis.

AGGREGATE INFORMATION

The Website may track information that will be maintained, used and disclosed in aggregate form only and which will not contain your personally identifiable information, for example, without limitation, the total number of visitors to our Website, the number of visitors to each page of our Website, browser type, External Web Sites (defined below) linked to and IP addresses. We may analyze this data for trends and statistics in the aggregate, and we may use such aggregate information to administer the Website, track users’ movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.

3. WHAT DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR?

We may use your personally identifiable information for the following purposes:

• Providing our Service: To provide you with the expected features and functionality of the Service;
• Administrative Purposes: To respond to customer service requests, to measure interest in our Service or our Websites, programs or services, verify your identity, send you communications regarding the Service or the Website, such as SearchStax news, updates or related product or service information, to process payments and to enforce our Terms of Service. By providing SearchStax your email address you consent to our using the email address to send you important Service notices, including any notices required by law, in lieu of communication by postal mail;
• Marketing our Service: To market our products and services by providing you with materials about products and services offered by us, including new features on our Service or Website. We may provide you with these materials by phone or email, as permitted by applicable law. If you do not wish us to use your personally identifiable information you may contact us at any time and opt out of receiving such communications;
• Research and Development: We may use your personally identifiable information to create non-identifiable information that we may use for the testing of our products and services, in order to help us to optimally deliver our existing Service or to develop new products, processes and services;
• Research/Survey Solicitations: From time to time, we may perform research (online and offline) via surveys. We may engage third-party service providers to conduct such surveys on our behalf. All survey responses are voluntary, and the information collected will be used for research and reporting purposes to help us better serve individuals by learning more about their needs and the quality of the products and services we provide. The survey responses may be utilized to determine the effectiveness of our Service and Website, various types of communications, advertising campaigns and/or promotional activities. If an individual participates in a survey, the information given will be used along with that of other study participants. We may share anonymous individual and aggregate data for research and analysis purposes;
• Anonymous and Aggregated Information: We may use your personally identifiable information and other information about you to create anonymized and aggregated information, such as de-identified demographic information, de-identified location information about the computer or device from which you access the Website or Service, or other analyses we create. We use this aggregated and anonymized information for a variety of functions, including the measurement of visitors’ interest in and use of various portions of the Website or Service; and
• Other Uses: We may use your personally identifiable information for which we have a legitimate interest, such as direct marketing, individual or market research, anti-fraud protection, or any other purpose disclosed to you at the time you provide personally identifiable information or with your consent.

4. HOW DO WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

SearchStax may directly collect personal information you provide us in the following ways:

• When you complete forms on our Websites, such as registering an account, subscribing to a Service, or posting a comment.
• When you create an account to use our Services or create a new user for that account.
• When you complete transactions through our Websites, such as fulfilling an order for our Services.
• When you perform search queries on our Websites.
• When you post messages on our Websites, either in public areas or directly to other users or third-parties.
• When you use our publicly accessible blogs.
• When you contact us outside of our Websites, such via email or Twitter.
• When you request assistance from our Support or Business Administration team.
• When you respond to surveys we ask you to complete for research purposes.
• When you provide information that will be posted on public areas of our Websites.
• When you transmit information to other users of our Websites or third-parties as a user contribution.
• When you register for or attend our Marketing Activities.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

We use third-party payment processors to process payments made to us. In connection with the processing of such payments, we do not retain any personally identifiable information or any financial information such as credit card numbers. Rather, all such information is provided directly to our third-party processors. Our third-party processors currently include Braintree (part of Paypal), and Braintree’s privacy policy can be viewed at https://www.braintreepayments.com/legal/braintree-privacy-policy

5. WHEN WOULD WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH OTHERS?

SearchStax does not sell, trade, rent or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating or analyzing our Website or Service, conducting our business, or servicing you (e.g. to process your credit card transactions, to provide IT and related services or provide customer support services). These companies are authorized to use your personally identifiable information only as necessary to provide these services to us or to comply with applicable legal requirements.

We may also share your anonymous and aggregated information as described above with our third-party service providers for research, product improvement, analytics and any other legally permissible purposes.

We may store personally identifiable information in locations outside the direct control of SearchStax (e.g. on servers at hosting providers).

We may also disclose your personally identifiable information:

• as required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process
• when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others or the public in general, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request, or to stop any activity that we consider illegal or legally actionable
• if SearchStax, Inc. is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets
• to any other third party but only with your prior consent to do so
• if you invite another User to share your Application (e.g. by adding an additional account user), we will share the Application and associated Content with that User

6. WHAT CHOICES AND RIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE TO ME REGARDING THE USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your Personal Data.

You have the right to:

• Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
• Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
• Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply in full with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
• Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.
• Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios: (a) if you want us to establish the data’s accuracy; (b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
• Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
• Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.

Pursuant to Article 27 of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), SearchStax, Inc.,has appointed European Data Protection Office (EDPO) as its GDPR representative in the EU. You can contact EDPO regarding matters pertaining to the GDPR by sending an email to privacy@edpo.brussels, using EDPO’s online request form, or writing to EDPO at Avenue Huart Hamoir 71, 1030 Brussels, Belgium.

If you wish to exercise any of the above rights please contact us at the email address provided in the Contact Us section of this policy. You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances. We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response. We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

DATA RETENTION

We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with the Service. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, back-up and audit purposes, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

7. CUSTOMER DATA SUBMITTED TO OUR SERVICES OR COLLECTED THROUGH OUR SERVICES (ON BEHALF OF OUR CUSTOMERS)

SearchStax Customers electronically submit (or cause to be submitted) data to the Services for hosting, indexing and related processing. SearchStax processes data only as provided in our subscription agreements with our customers, such as our Terms of Service available at https://www.searchstax.com/terms.

As customers (or in some cases their internet clients or end users) control the data to be processed, SearchStax’s network, platform, and Services may be used as a conduit for information.

The use of personal information collected through our Services at the direction of our customers shall be limited to the purpose of providing the Services for which the customer has engaged SearchStax.

Although SearchStax collects personal information related to customer personnel as they configure a customer’s use of our Services, SearchStax has no direct relationship with individuals whose personal information is hosted or transmitted through the Services by customers or their permitted internet clients or end users. Customers are responsible for complying with any regulations or laws that require providing notice, disclosure, and/or obtaining consent prior to transferring the data to SearchStax for processing purposes.

CHOICE

Our Services collect personal information for our subscribers. As a data processor of this personal information on our customer’s behalf, SearchStax has limited ability to access personal information our customers submit to our Services. If you are a data subject for whom a customer has submitted personal information to the Services and would like your information not to be disclosed to a third-party or to be used for a purpose that is materially different from the purpose(s) for which the personal information was originally collected, then you should contact the customer directly. Concerns with personal information hosted or transmitted at the direction of our customers may be reported according to our acceptable use policy available at https://www.searchstax.com/legal/aup/. We will refer your requests to the appropriate subscriber.

SUB-PROCESSOR ACCOUNTABILITY

SearchStax is responsible for the processing of personal information it receives, and subsequently transfers to a third-party acting as an agent on its behalf in accordance with our subscription agreements. SearchStax may use from time to time third-party service providers, contractors, and sub-processors to assist in providing the Services on our behalf. SearchStax maintains contracts with these third-parties restricting their access, use, and disclosure of personal information.

SECURITY MEASURES

SearchStax maintains administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect data submitted to the Services, including personal information. These security measures are set forth in our security and compliance documentation.

CUSTOMER DATA INTEGRITY AND PURPOSE LIMITATION

As a data processor, SearchStax hosts, transmits, discloses, and processes data, which may include personal information about EU personnel of our customers administering, using or supporting the Services. SearchStax may process data to provide the Services, to prevent or address technical or service problems, to follow the instructions of our customers and their personnel who submitted the personal information, or in response to contractual or legal requirements. SearchStax does not control or own the data submitted by its customers, or their internet clients or end users, to the Services. SearchStax may share personal information with its subsidiaries, contractors, or third-parties if SearchStax undergoes a business transaction, such as a merger, acquisition by another company or sale of all or substantially all of its assets.

DATA SUBJECT RIGHTS TO CUSTOMER DATA

SearchStax acknowledges that you have the right to access your personal information. SearchStax has no direct relationship with the individuals whose personal information our Services process on behalf of our customers. An individual who seeks access, or who seeks to correct, amend, or delete inaccurate personal information should direct his or her query to the appropriate customer (i.e., the data controller). Customers have the ability to fulfill these requests, and SearchStax will provide assistance for requests that subscribers are not able to complete. If the subscriber requests that SearchStax remove the personal information, we will refer your request to the applicable subscriber and we will respond to the request within 30 days.

CUSTOMER DATA RETENTION

SearchStax retains the personal information we process on behalf of our customers for as long as needed to provide the Services to our subscribers and in accordance with our subscription agreements. To the extent not deleted by our customers, SearchStax may also retain and use certain personal information for a reasonable period of time thereafter as necessary to pursue our legitimate business interests, conduct audits, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

8. TRANSFERS OF PERSONAL DATA OUTSIDE THE EEA.

Your personal information may be transferred and stored in countries outside the EU, that are subject to different standards of data protection. SearchStax will take appropriate steps to ensure that transfers of personal information are in accordance with applicable law and carefully managed to protect your privacy rights and interests, including through the use of standard contractual clauses. Additionally, SearchStax uses a limited number of third-party service providers to assist us in providing our services to customers. These third parties may access, process, or store Personal Data in the course of providing their services. SearchStax obtains contractual commitments from them to protect your Personal Data.

9. CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

SearchStax recognizes the privacy interests of children and we encourage parents and guardians to take an active role in their children’s online activities and interests. Our Websites are not intended for children under the age of 13. SearchStax does not target its services or Websites to children under 13. SearchStax does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13.

10. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

SearchStax will respond to any inquiries or complaints within forty-five (45) days. In the event that SearchStax fails to respond or its response is insufficient or does not address the concern, SearchStax has registered with JAMS to provide independent third party dispute resolution at no cost to the complaining party. To contact JAMS and/or learn more about the company’s dispute resolution services, including instructions for submitting a complaint, please visit: https://www.jamsadr.com/eu-us-privacy-shield

SearchStax will cooperate with the United States Federal Trade Commissions and any data protection authorities of the EU Member States (“DPAs”) in the investigation and resolution of complaints that cannot be resolved between SearchStax and the complainant that are brought to a relevant DPA.

11. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SITE

Special Offers and Updates

We will occasionally send you information on products, services, special deals, promotions. Out of respect for your privacy, we present the option not to receive these types of communications.

Newsletters

If you wish to subscribe to our newsletter(s), we will use your name and email address to send the newsletter to you. Out of respect for your privacy, we provide you a way to unsubscribe. Service-related Announcements

We will send you strictly service-related announcements on rare occasions when it is necessary to do so. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send you an email.

Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive them, you have the option to deactivate your account.

12. CONTACT US

Depending upon the context of the personal information you provide, SearchStax may be the data controller (“controller”) or data processor (“processor”) of your personal information under this policy. SearchStax is a processor of personal information submitted to the Services or collected through the Services on behalf of or at the direction of Customers. If you have any questions or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy please contact us by mail:

SearchStax Inc.
101 Continental Blvd, Suite 210
El Segundo, CA 90245
USA
Attention: General Counsel

Or e-mail to compliance@searchstax.com

Last Updated: October 25, 2022