Privacy Policy

Last updated September 06, 2023

Introduction

This privacy notice for The Excitant Group LLC (“we,” “us,” or “our“), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share (“process“) your information when you use our services (“Services“), such as when you:

Visit our website at http://www.autostraddle.com, or any website of ours that links to this privacy notice
In email, text and other electronic messages between you and this website

The Excitant Group LLC respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your privacy rights through our compliance with this privacy policy.

The Excitant Group LLC does not and will not sell your data to any third parties.

Questions or concerns? Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us at [email protected].

Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It

Personal information you disclose to us

In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you comment on our website, register for an account on our website, sign up for our newsletter, or sign up for our A+ membership program. We may also ask you for information when you enter a sweepstakes, contest, or promotion by us, when you submit a question through our A+ inbox, or when you report a problem with our website. This information may include the following:

provided name
email addresses
usernames

If you sign up for our A+ membership program at a level that entails receiving perks, we collect information that may include the following:

Name
Email address
Phone number
Mailing address

When you send a financial contribution to our website or join A+, we are able to track the size of financial contributions and membership history linked to a specific email address provided by you.

When you email us, we retain records and copies of your correspondence.

When you fill out surveys through our website conducted through surveymonkey, we collect the answers you provide to us, but do not automatically collect any data on your email, device, IP address, or other identifying information. We use this information to create content and to provide information to potential brand partners and customers about the demographics and interests of our users.

When you buy merchandise from our store on Hello Merch, we receive monthly reports that list the item ordered, the size ordered, your name, your email address and your date of order.

We do not have access to your credit card or other payment information, as that is encrypted through third party payment processors and we don’t have any ability to access that information.

Sensitive Information. We do not process sensitive information.

Information automatically collected

In Short: Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our website by wordpress or third-party analytics programs.

When you comment on our website, we automatically collect your IP address.

As you navigate and interact with our website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing habits and patterns, which may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, log and usage data, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country and location. We view this data in an aggregated context.

This information is primarily needed to:

Maintain the security and operation of our Services
Provide information on errors and technical deficiencies
Estimate our audience size and usage patterns
Gauge the success of our content
Recognize you when you return to our website
Show advertisements on our website

The technologies we use, and which third party advertisers may use, for this automatic data collection may include cookies (or browser cookies), a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser.

We also use third-party analytics software like Google Analytics, which transmits website traffic data to Google servers in the United States. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage and we report information about aggregate usage (eg. how many visitors come to a certain section of the site) to current and potential advertisers. By using our website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner described in Google’s Privacy Policy for the purposes set out above. You can opt out of Google Analytics Advertising Features if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable Javascript, or use Google’s Opt-Out service.

We also use parse.ly, and you can read parse.ly’s privacy policy here.

Our advertising partner, Q Digital, tracks our website traffic through Comscore.

When you shop through affiliate marketing links on our website, we receive aggregated data about click-through rates and purchases. This data is not tied to any identifying information.

How We Use and Process Your Information

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:

To present our website and its content to you
To show you relevant ads, which includes but is not limited to, sending you targeted ads
To provide you with requested information, products or services
To allow you to participate in interactive features on our website
To contact you directly by email to provide you with information about our website
To facilitate account creation and authentication and otherwise manage user accounts
To identify usage trends
To determine the effectiveness of our marketing and promotional campaigns.
To create content (using information you consent to deliver to us through surveys, email, on-site forms or other consensual and elective submission processes of words or imagery) and marketing materials. For example:
- We may quote your comment on a piece of sponsored content in a wrap-up report to an advertiser or in a media kit
- We may use a photograph you voluntarily submitted for a gallery in the published gallery on our website

Disclosure of your Information

We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and any information that does not identify any individual, without restriction. For example, we may use information about how many visitors have viewed our website or the geographic location of our users in the aggregate, to potential advertising partners.

In the event of a business transfer after a merger, acquisition or sale of company assets, to an acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company, your data will be transferred to the new entity under the condition that the new entity will not sell or disclose your data to any third party not already accounted for in this policy without your permission.

Third Party Websites

The website may link to third-party websites, online services, or mobile applications and/or contain advertisements from third parties that are not affiliated with us and which may link to other websites, services, or applications. Accordingly, we do not make any guarantee regarding any such third parties, and we will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by the use of such third-party websites, services, or applications. The inclusion of a link towards a third-party website, service, or application does not imply an endorsement by us. We cannot guarantee the safety and privacy of data you provide to any third parties. Any data collected by third parties is not covered by this privacy notice. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of any third parties, including other websites, services, or applications that may be linked to or from the Services. You should review the policies of such third parties and contact them directly to respond to your questions.

Data Security

We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Services is at your own risk. You should only access the Services within a secure environment.

Your Privacy Rights

In Short: In some regions, such as California, the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland, and Canada, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.

In some regions (like the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and Canada), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; (vi) if applicable, to data portability; and (vii) not to be subject to automated decision-making. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details below. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

If you are located in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your Member State data protection authority or UK data protection authority.

If you are located in Switzerland, you may contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.

If you are located in The EU or in California, please visit this page for more information.

Withdrawing your consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, which may be express and/or implied consent depending on the applicable law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the Account Information section below.

However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal nor, when applicable law allows, will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.

Account Information

If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can:

If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at [email protected].