Scope

This privacy policy describes the principles that ProZ.com follows when processing personal data. It applies to the entire ProZ.com site, the ProZ.com Mobile application, and TM-Town.com.

Some ProZ.com services may contain links to other websites. Other than TM-Town.com, ProZ.com is not responsible for the information practices or the content of such other websites. If you submit personal information to any of those sites, your information is governed by their privacy policies. Users are encouraged to review the privacy policies of other websites to understand their information practices.

Information ProZ.com collects, and how it is used

Information submitted by users

Some ProZ.com services require registration. In order to register with ProZ.com, a user must provide a valid email address, a user name, and a password. Registered users have the option to provide various other personal information, such as contact details, tax ID, and professional qualifications, for display in a profile page and elsewhere on ProZ.com. All of this information is optional and can be modified by the individual at any time. ProZ.com may combine individuals' profile information with information from other ProZ.com services or third parties in order to provide users with a better experience and to improve the quality of ProZ.com services.

Some ProZ.com services, such as job postings, do not require registration, but still require the user to submit contact information. This information can be hidden from public view, but may be used by ProZ.com or its agents to contact the job poster in the event of a dispute or other problem.

ProZ.com provides a number of other services to help individuals and companies connect and collaborate with one another, such as forums, member directory, the KudoZ term help network, article knowledge base, etc. which are publicly accessible. Any personal information a user chooses to post to such a service may be read, collected, or used by others who access these services, and may be used to send them unsolicited messages.

ProZ.com acknowledges that EU and Swiss individuals have the right to access the personal information that we maintain about them. An EU or Swiss individual who seeks access, or who seeks to correct, amend, or delete inaccurate data, should direct their query to [email protected]. If requested to remove data, we will respond within a reasonable timeframe.

In some cases for forums, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why.

Security

When a product or service is purchased from ProZ.com, credit card or other payment account information is requested. ProZ.com encrypts this sensitive information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). ProZ.com may store this information, in which case it will be maintained in encrypted form on secure servers.

ProZ.com takes appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure or destruction of data. These include internal reviews of data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures, as well as physical security measures to guard against unauthorized access to systems where personal data is stored.

Access to personal information is restricted to ProZ.com employees, contractors and agents who need to know that information in order to operate, develop or improve ProZ.com services. These individuals are bound by confidentiality obligations and may be subject to discipline, including termination and criminal prosecution, if they fail to meet these obligations.

No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, its absolute security cannot be guaranteed. If you have any questions about security on our site, you can contact ProZ.com staff at [email protected].

Some ProZ.com services allow users to submit personal information about third parties. For example, the ProZ.com invoicing tool allows users to submit client contact information, such as email and postal address, for the purpose of preparing and sending invoices. The Blue Board allows users to submit client contact information for the purpose of maintaining a directory of language job outsourcers along with individual service providers' willingness to work with them again. The project history feature allows users to submit information about past projects and clients, for the purpose of maintaining a sample portfolio of past work. Third party personal information will only be used for the purpose for which it was collected.

Users' clients may contact us by submitting a support request or by contacting us at [email protected] to request that we remove this information from our database.

Tracking Technologies

ProZ.com and its partners use cookies or similar technologies to analyze trends, administer the website, track users' movements around the website, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level, but if you choose to disable cookies, it may limit your use of certain features or functions on our website or service. To manage Flash cookies, please click here.

We partner with a third party to either display advertising on our Web site or to manage our advertising on other sites. Our third party partner may use technologies such as cookies to gather information about your activities on this site and other sites in order to provide you advertising based upon your browsing activities and interests. If you wish to not have this information used for the purpose of serving you interest-based ads, you may opt-out by clicking here (or if located in the European Union click here). Please note this does not opt you out of being served ads. You will continue to receive generic ads.

Third party platforms

Periodically ProZ.com will use a third party platform and service such as WebEx or Gotowebinar for the delivery of webinars, virtual conferences, and some online training. When using these services it is often required to provide a valid email address for registration. In some instances, such as free webinars, and virtual conferences, the registration email address you provide on this third party platform may be shared with the vendor providing the free webinar, or sponsors and exhibitors of the online conferences. In these instances a clear indication on the registration page will be made informing users that the email they provide on these registration pages may be shared with the vendor in question. If you provide information during registration on a third party site or service used by ProZ.com, you grant ProZ.com permission to share the information you have provided during registration for this event with that service or site partner. Information you provide during registration at ProZ.com will not be shared, only that information which you provide during registration on the third party platforms registration page will be shared. Their use of your information is subject to their privacy policies.

Log information

As is true of most web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data.

This automatically collected data is linked to ProZ.com profiles and to personal information in order to protect users from fraud, abuse, and other misconduct, and to improve the quality of ProZ.com services.

User communications

When users send email or other communications to ProZ.com, those communications may be retained in order to process inquiries, respond to requests and improve ProZ.com services.

Surveys and contests

From time-to-time ProZ.com may request information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code, age level). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving ProZ.com services.

Referrals and user testimonials

Individuals may elect to inform friends or colleagues about ProZ.com content using a "tell-a-friend" feature. When using this feature, ProZ.com requests the name and email address of the friend. ProZ.com stores this information for the sole purpose of sending the friend a one-time email inviting him or her to visit the ProZ.com website.

In some cases, users may also recommend a trusted colleague as a candidate for certain ProZ.com programs (such as the Certified Pro Network). When using this referral service, ProZ.com may collect the colleague's name and contact details, as well as information about the colleague's professional qualifications. ProZ.com uses this information to invite the colleague to participate in the specified program. The colleague may contact ProZ.com to request the removal of this information from its database.

The friend or colleague may contact ProZ.com by submitting a support request or by contacting us at [email protected] to request the removal of this information from its database.

From time-to-time ProZ.com may post a list of select users and testimonials on its website that contain information such as names, titles, and company logos. ProZ.com obtains the consent of each user prior to posting any information on such a list or posting testimonials. If you wish to update or delete your testimonial, you can contact us at [email protected].

Social media widgets

Our Web site includes Social Media Features, such as the Facebook Like button and Widgets, such as the Share this button or interactive mini-programs that run on our site. These Features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the Feature to function properly. Social Media Features and Widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Site. Your interactions with these Features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.

Children

Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. ProZ.com never collects or maintains information from those actually known to be under 16, and no part of the ProZ.com website is structured to attract anyone under 16.

Communications from ProZ.com

ProZ.com may use individuals' personal information to contact them. For example, to respond to comments or requests for information, to provide requested services, or in regard to issues relating to users' accounts, via email or telephone.

Registered users can sign up to receive various service email notifications, such as alerts about job postings in a particular specialty, or new forum posts on a given topic. These service notifications are opt-in, and can be completely controlled by the user, following instructions at the bottom of each notification message.

In addition, an email newsletter is periodically sent to registered users, and from time-to-time service announcement updates are sent to those who may be affected. ProZ.com may also send marketing or promotional materials for its own services or on behalf of third parties. These messages will include clear and effective instructions for opting out of future communications of that kind, or you can do so by accessing the email preferences in your account settings page.

Processing personal information and user data

ProZ.com only processes personal information and user data for the purposes described in this privacy policy. In addition to the above, such purposes include:

• Providing services to users;
• Auditing, research and analysis in order to maintain, protect and improve ProZ.com services;
• Ensuring the technical functioning of ProZ.com's network; and
• Developing new services.

ProZ.com processes personal information on its servers in the United States of America and in other countries. In some cases, personal information may be processed on a server outside a user's own country.

Choices about personal information

Individuals have full control over the personal information they provide to ProZ.com and the manner in which it is used.

If ProZ.com proposes to use personal information for any purposes other than those described in this privacy policy, an effective way will be provided to opt out of the use of personal information for those other purposes. ProZ.com will not collect or use sensitive information (confidential medical information, racial or ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs or sexuality, tied to personal information) for purposes other than those described in this privacy policy without first obtaining the individuals' prior consent.

Users can decline to submit personal information to any ProZ.com services, in which case ProZ.com may not be able to provide those services to them.

We will also provide EU or Swiss individuals with opt-out or opt-in choice before we share their data with third parties other than our agents, or before we use it for a purpose other than for which it was originally collected or subsequently authorized.

To limit the use and disclosure of your personal information, please submit a written request to [email protected].

Information sharing with third parties

ProZ.com does not share, sell, rent, or trade personal information with third parties for their promotional purposes.

ProZ.com shares personal information with third parties outside of ProZ.com only in the following limited circumstances:

• Users have given their consent. Opt-in consent is required for the sharing of any sensitive personal information.
• Third-party web analytics software or services may be used which send information about a visitor to the third-party provider, for the purpose of creating anonymous, aggregate statistics about website traffic. Such information may include the visitor's IP address, ISP, and web browser details. Users can choose to opt out of having their information shared with these third-party analytics services on this page.
• A third-party advertising service may be used which includes cookies that send the advertiser information such as the visitor's IP address, as described in the "Cookies" section above. Users can choose to opt out of these cookies, as described above.
• In certain situations, ProZ.com may be required to disclose personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
• Such information is provided to ProZ.com subsidiaries, affiliated companies or other trusted businesses or persons for the purpose of processing personal information on ProZ.com's behalf. For example, ProZ.com uses payment processors such as PayPal to bill you for goods and services, email service providers such as MagnetMail to send out emails on our behalf, and chat service providers such as BoldChat to facilitate live online support chats. ProZ.com shares email address, contact information, and payment details as necessary for the third party to provide that service. These companies do not retain, share, store or use personal information for any other purposes. ProZ.com requires that these parties process such information based on ProZ.com's instructions and in compliance with this privacy policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
• ProZ.com has a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of such information is reasonably necessary to (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request, (b) enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations thereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or (d) protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of ProZ.com, its users or the public as required or permitted by law.

If ProZ.com becomes involved in a merger, acquisition, or any form of sale of some or all of its assets, notice will be provided before personal information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Some of our pages utilize framing techniques to serve content to / from our partners while preserving the look and feel of our site. Please be aware that you are providing your personal information to these third parties and not to http://proz.com.

ProZ.com may share with third parties certain pieces of aggregated, non-personal information, such as the number of jobs passed in a particular language pair, for example, or how many visitors have accessed a user's profile page. Such information does not identify anyone individually.

The profile you create on our site will be publicly accessible unless otherwise indicated. You may change the privacy settings of your profile through your account portal.

If an account/profile was created without your knowledge/authorization, please contact us at [email protected] to request removal of the profile.

When you visit the profile page of a ProZ.com member, a log of your visit may be disclosed to that member. This visitor log includes your IP address, along with your ProZ.com account type (if you are logged in), and the search terms that led you to the profile if you arrived there via a search engine.

In addition, ProZ.com users may create custom profile pages with dynamic content ("dynamic profile content"), including javascript, iframes, or CSS. When you access a profile page that ProZ.com has identified as containing dynamic content, you will be prompted whether to allow the dynamic content to run in your web browser. If you choose to allow the dynamic content to run, and if the dynamic content has been configured to do so, the profile holder may have access to certain personal information provided by your web browser, such as your IP address or cookies. Please note that ProZ.com does not screen or approve dynamic profile content and cannot control how such profile holders use any personal information that they may obtain in connection with dynamic profile content. You can report any suspected misuse of information to ProZ.com and the claim will be investigated and appropriate action taken against the profile holder, up to and including terminating their participation at ProZ.com and/or other formal legal action.

Data integrity

ProZ.com processes personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected or subsequently authorized by the individual, and in accordance with this privacy policy. ProZ.com reviews its data collection, storage and processing practices to ensure that it only collects, stores and processes the personal information needed to provide or improve ProZ.com services. Reasonable steps are taken to ensure that the personal information ProZ.com processes is accurate, complete, and current, but it depends on ProZ.com users to update or correct their personal information whenever necessary.

Accessing and updating personal information

ProZ.com makes good faith efforts to provide users of its services with access to their personal information and either to correct this data if it is inaccurate or to delete such data at their request if it is not otherwise required to be retained by law or for legitimate business purposes. ProZ.com asks individual users to identify themselves and the information requested to be accessed, corrected or removed before processing such requests, and may decline to process requests that are unreasonably repetitive or systematic, require disproportionate technical effort, jeopardize the privacy of others, or would be extremely impractical (for instance, requests concerning information residing on backup tapes), where the rights of persons other than the individual would be violated, or for which access is not otherwise required. In any case where ProZ.com provides information access and correction, this service is performed free of charge, except if doing so would require a disproportionate effort.

Upon request ProZ.com will provide you with information about whether we hold any of your personal information. To request this information you may request assistance from ProZ.com staff by submitting a support request, sending an email to [email protected], or contacting the ProZ.com office by telephone or postal mail at the contact information listed below. You will receive a response to this request within 30 days.

If your personal information changes or if you no longer wish to use any ProZ.com services, you may update your information from your profile updater page or deactivate your account from the unsubscribe page. Alternately, you can request assistance from ProZ.com staff by submitting a support request, sending an email to privacy@proz.com, or contacting the ProZ.com office by telephone or postal mail at the contact information listed below. You will receive a response to your request to access within 30 days.

We may retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

Enforcement

ProZ.com regularly reviews its compliance with this privacy policy. Please direct any questions or concerns regarding this privacy policy or ProZ.com's treatment of personal information to the ProZ.com IT/Security Manager by submitting a support request through the support center on this website, or by writing to:

ProZ.com
2509 James Street
Syracuse, NY 13206-9277 USA

ProZ.com will investigate and attempt to resolve complaints and disputes regarding use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with the principles contained in this privacy policy.

Please note that if your complaint is not resolved through these channels, under limited circumstances, a binding arbitration option may be available before a Privacy Shield Panel.

Changes to this privacy policy

Please note that this privacy policy may change from time to time. Individuals' rights under this privacy policy will not be reduced without their explicit consent, and most such changes are expected to be minor. Regardless, any privacy policy changes will be posted on this page and, if the changes are significant, a more prominent notice will be provided (for example, on the ProZ.com home page, or by email notification) prior to the change becoming effective. Each version of this privacy policy will be identified at the top of the page by its effective date, and prior versions of this privacy policy will be kept in an archive for review.