Vodpod Privacy Policy

Principles of the Vodpod Privacy Policy

We don't ask you for personal information unless we truly need it.
We don't share your personal information with anyone except to comply with the law, to provide a service you have requested, or to protect our rights.
We don't store personal information on our servers unless required for the on-going operation of one of our services.

What This Privacy Policy Covers

This privacy policy governs the use of the Vodpod web site at http://vodpod.com/
It covers how Vodpod treats personal information -- that is, personally identifiable like your name, address, email address, or phone number.
Children under 13 are not permitted to use the Vodpod service, and so this privacy policy makes no provision for children's use of the site.

General Information

Vodpod collects personal information when you register with Vodpod to use Vodpod services or to post content on Vodpod.
When you register, we ask for your email address.
Vodpod receives and records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, cookie, and the page you request in order to operate the Vodpod service.
Vodpod uses Google Analytics to view aggregate statistics about the usage of the Vodpod service.

IP Addresses

IP Addresses are automatically reported by your browser each time you view a web page.

IP addresses may be used for various purposes, including:

To diagnose or service technology problems reported by our users or engineers that are associated with the IP addresses controlled by a specific web company or ISP.
To tailor advertising based on geographic area or other information derived from your IP address. Aggregate information derived from IP addresses may also be reported to advertisers.
To estimate the total number of users visiting Vodpod from specific geographical regions.
To make sure that people are not voting for themselves or friends during contests or promotions.

Cookies

A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to your browser from a web site's computers and stored on your computer's hard drive.

You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set.
If you reject all cookies, you will not be able to use Vodpod products or services that require you to "sign in," and you may not be able to take full advantage of the Vodpod service.
Vodpod uses its own cookies for a number of purposes, including to:
o Access your information when you "sign in".
o Keep track of preferences you specify while you are using Vodpod's services.
o Store credentials you may use to enable posting to other sites
o Estimate and report our total audience size and traffic.
o Conduct research to improve Vodpod's content and services.
Vodpod may let other companies (such as Google) that show advertisements on some of our pages set and access their cookies on your computer. Other entities' use of their cookies is subject to their own privacy policies, not this one. Advertisers or other entities do not have access to Vodpod's cookies.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

Any personal information or video content that you voluntarily disclose online (on Pods and Pod message boards, in reviews and discusion areas, and within your public profile page, etc.) becomes publicly available and can be collected and used by others. Your account name (not your email address) is displayed to other users when you upload videos or send messages through the Vodpod Sites and other users can contact you through messages and comments. Any videos that you submit to the Vodpod Sites may be redistributed through the internet and other media channels, and may be viewed by the general public.
We do not use your email address or other personally identifiable information to send marketing messages unless you've opted in to receive such messages. We may, however, use your email address without further consent for non-marketing or administrative purposes (such as notifying you of major Vodpod Site changes, alerting you to messages from other vodpod members, or for customer service purposes).
We use both your personally identifiable information and certain non-personally-identifiable information (such as anonymous user usage data, cookies, IP addresses, browser type, clickstream data, etc.) to improve the quality and design of the Vodpod Sites and to create new features, functionality, and services by storing, tracking, and analyzing user preferences and trends.
When you post a comment or message, upload video, start a Pod, or engage in other public activities on the Vodpod service, your Vodpod ID or alias that you are posting under is visible to other users.
If you post personal information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.Vodpod does not rent or sell your personal information.
Vodpod will not share personal information about you with other people or other companies without your consent except to provide products or services you've requested and in the following circumstances:
- Vodpod may be required to disclose personally identifiable information under special circumstances, such as to comply with subpoenas, warrants, court orders or legal process or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims;
It may be necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities, including without limitation, fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of Vodpod's terms of use, or as otherwise permitted or required by law.We will transfer information about you if Vodpod is acquired by or merged with another company. In this event, Vodpod will notify you by email or by putting a prominent notice on the Vodpod web site before information about you is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy. Vodpod may share demographic information with business partners, such as "53% of users who regularly user Vodpod chat are between 18 and 24" or the like. No personally identifiable information will ever be used without your permission (i.e. we will ask you for a quote or testimonial)
We may release personally identifiable information and/or non-personally-identifiable information if required to do so by law, or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with state and federal laws (such as U.S. Copyright Law) or respond to a court order, subpoena, or search warrant.
Vodpod also reserves the right to disclose personally identifiable information and/or non-personally-identifiable information that Vodpod believes, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary to enforce our Member Agreement, take precautions against liability, to investigate and defend itself against any third-party claims or allegations, to assist government enforcement agencies, to protect the security or integrity of our web site, and to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Vodpod, our users or others.

Editing and Deleting Account Information

You can change your Vodpod member name and other account information, at any time.
We may send you certain communications relating to the Vodpod service, such as service announcements and administrative messages, that are considered part of your Vodpod account.
You can delete your Vodpod account at any time from your account page; however, please note that your identification, billing and contact information may remain in Vodpod's records for some period.
We limit access to personal information about you to employees who we believe reasonably need to come into contact with that information to provide products or services to you or in order to do their jobs.
Your Vodpod Account Information is password-protected.
In certain areas, Vodpod uses SSL-encryption to protect data transmissions.

Data Security and Change of Control

Vodpod uses commercially reasonable physical, managerial, and technical safeguards to preserve the integrity and security of your personal information. We cannot, however, ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to Vodpod and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission of information, Vodpod makes commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the security of our systems. However, please note that this is not a guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards.

If Vodpod learns of a security systems breach, then we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. Vodpod may post a notice on the Vodpod Sites if a security breach occurs. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing. To receive a free written notice of a security breach (or to withdraw your consent from receiving electronic notice) you should notify us using by sending e-mail to admin@vodpod.com.

In the event that Vodpod is acquired by or merged with a third party entity, we reserve the right, in any of these circumstances, to transfer or assign the information we have collected from our Users as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control. In the unlikely event of our bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership, or assignment for the benefit of creditors, or the application of laws or equitable principles affecting creditors' rights generally, we may not be able to control how your personal information is treated, transferred, or used.

Changes and updates to this Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice may be revised periodically and this will be reflected by the "effective date" below. Please revisit this page to stay aware of any changes. In general, we only use your personal information in the manner described in the Privacy Notice in effect when we received the personal information you provided. Your continued use of the Vodpod Sites constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Notice and any future revisions.

For revisions to this Privacy Notice that may be materially less restrictive on our use or disclosure of the personal information you have already provided to us, we will attempt to obtain your consent before implementing such revisions with respect to such information.