CQ Associates LLC (“CQ”) is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. It’s yours, it matters to you and we get that. We are providing this Privacy Policy to let you know what information we use and collect from users of the CQ website located at www.CQAssociate.com (the “Site”) and any of our related services, content or applications (the Site and these services, content and applications together will be described as the “Service(s)”). This Privacy Policy applies to all users who access, visit, or use the Site or the Services on the Site. By accessing the Site, you expressly consent to CQ’s collection, storage, use and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.

PLEASE READ THIS PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY.  BY ENTERING ACCESSING, BROWSING, SUBMITTING INFORMATION TO, OR OTHERWISE USING THIS WEBSITE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS.  IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY, DO NOT ACCESS OR USE THIS WEBSITE.

We will notify you of changes to this Privacy Policy by posting the amended terms on the Site and such changes shall be effective from the date and time the revised Privacy Policy is posted on the Site. If you do not agree to the new terms, you should stop using the Services.

INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH THE SERVICES

CQ collects both personally identifiable information  (sometimes referred to as personal data) and non-personally identifiable information. When we refer simply to the term information in this privacy policy we are referring to how CQ collects, uses, or shares both the personally identifiable, and non-personally identifiable information that it collects.

Personally identifiable information refers to information that is collected in conjunction with your name. CQ does not collect any personally identifiable information about you unless you provide it voluntarily. If you do not want us to collect personally identifiable information about you, you can simply decide not to submit it to us.

TYPES OF DATA COLLECTED

Personal Data

While using our Service, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you (“Personal Data”). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

Email address

First name and last name

Phone number

Address, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code, City

Non-personally identifiable information (sometimes referred to as usage data) refers to information that CQ may collect from you that is not collected in conjunction with your name. 

CQ does not seek any personally identifiable information from children, and our Site is not designed to solicit, information from children under 18. use  this Site, you must be at least 18 years of age.

Cookies and Usage Data

We may use your Personal Data to contact you with newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to you. You may opt out of receiving any, or all, of these communications from us by following the unsubscribe link or instructions provided in any email we send.

Usage Data

We may also collect information how the Service is accessed and used (“Usage Data”). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. Usage Data is data collected automatically either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).

Tracking Cookies Data

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information.

Cookies are files with small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Service.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.

Examples of Cookies we use:

Session Cookies – We use Session Cookies to operate our Service.

Preference Cookies – We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.

Security Cookies – We use Security Cookies for security purposes.

Use of Information Collected

Our primary purpose in collecting information about you is to provide you with services or information that you request or to process your payments. We may also decide to use information about you to track how you use our site or to help us enhance your online experience, for example, we may access your account information to provide technical support and quality assurance. In addition, we may aggregate the personally identifiable information that you provide with the personally identifiable information that other users provide in order to conduct research, analysis, or studies for our own purposes (i.e., not related to providing you with specific services to improve our services.

We may also use the information that you provide to us to communicate with you about our current activities and future events or to notify you about any changes to our services. If you decide that you would no longer like to receive such messages you can opt-out from receiving such emails from CQ. In order to opt-out you can click on an unsubscribe link provided at the bottom of every commercial e-mail that you receive from CQ. If you opt-out, you will continue to receive communications from us relating to any payments you make or other services you request or purchase. If you decide at a later time that you would like to receive commercial emails from us, you may be able to re-add yourself to our communication list.

If you open an account, purchase products or services from us, send us an email, or share personal information with us in any other way, we collect the information you share. To register to use the Services, you must provide your name and email address. You do not have to share this information with us, but without it you may not be able to access certain content or features or use certain Services.

If you post information on public areas of the Services that information may be collected and used by CQ, other users of the Services, and the public generally. We strongly recommend that you do not post any information though the Services that allow strangers to identify or locate you.

By logging in to the Services through a third party social media service, such as Facebook or Twitter, you give us permission to access, store and use any information that you permit the applicable third party social media service to share with us in accordance with the privacy policy of that service and the privacy settings that are applicable to your account. We encourage you to review, and if necessary, adjust, your privacy settings on the applicable social media service before logging in to the Services through a social media service. Information that we receive from third party social media service is stored and used by CQ in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING PERSONAL DATA UNDER GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR)

If you are from the European Economic Area (EEA), CQ’s legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described in this Privacy Policy depends on the Personal Data we collect and the specific context in which we collect it.

HOW WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

Service Providers. We may employ other companies or individuals (“Service Providers”) to provide certain services to us or on our behalf, such as operating and supporting the Services, analyzing data, or performing marketing or consulting services. These Service Providers will only have access to the information needed to perform these limited functions on our behalf. These Service Providers are prohibited from using your information for any purpose other than the purpose for which the applicable Service Provider was engaged by us and/or as stated in this Privacy Policy.

Third Party Marketing Partners. If you opt-in to receive marketing communications from third parties, we may, from time to time, share the information you provide to us with a few carefully selected third party marketing partners that we believe offer products or services that may be of interest to you. If you would like us to stop providing your information to our third party marketing partners, you may opt-out by emailing us at support@CQassociate.com or sending a letter to CQ Associates LLC, 27 Vandam Street, New York, New York  10013.

Disclosure for Law Enforcement and Legal Requirements. We may report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we reasonably believe to be unlawful, or that we reasonably believe may aid a law enforcement investigation into unlawful activity. In addition, we reserve the right to release your information to law enforcement agencies if we determine, in our sole judgment, that either you have violated our policies or the release of your information may protect the rights, property or safety of CQ, you, or another person.

Business Transition. If CQ becomes involved in a merger, acquisition, or any form of sale or transfer of some or all of its assets, your information will be transferred to the acquiring entity. In such a situation, you will be provided with notice that a transfer of your information is imminent, and you will be given an opportunity to opt-out of the transfer of your information.

Aggregate Information. We may share information relating to visitors and users of the Services with affiliated or unaffiliated third parties on an anonymous, aggregate basis. We note that, while this information will not identify you personally, in some instances these third parties may be able to combine this aggregate information with other data they have about you, or that they receive from third parties, in a manner that allows them to identify you personally.

Under certain circumstances, CQ may be required to disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

CQ may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

To comply with a legal obligation

To protect and defend the rights or property of CQ

To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service

To protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public

To protect against legal liability

Transfer of Data

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to and maintained on computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction.

If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to United States and process it there.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

CQ will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

ELIGIBILITY

The Services are not intended  for anyone under age 18 or the applicable age of majority without involvement of a parent or guardian. The Services may include unmonitored content posted by users or sourced from other third parties and such content may be unsuitable for children. We do not knowingly collect or distribute information from or about children under age 18.  We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

SECURITY

Any information collected by CQ is stored on servers that CQ manages, using security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of the information. Please be aware that no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. As a result, CQ cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit on or through the Site or Services and you do so at your own risk.

USE OF INFORMATION OUTSIDE OF YOUR COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE

If you are located outside of the United States and you choose to use the Services or provide your information to us, your information may be transferred to, processed and maintained on servers or databases located in the United States. Your agreement to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of information through the Services represents your consent and agreement to these practices. If you do not want your information transferred to or processed or maintained in the United States, you should not use the Services.

CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS

Under California Civil Code sections 1798.83-1798.84, also known as the “Shine the Light Law,” any of our users who are California residents are entitled to request and receive once a year, free of charge, a notice from us describing what categories of personal customer information (if any) we shared with third parties or corporate affiliates for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year. If applicable, the notice will identify the categories of information shared, the names and addresses of the third parties and affiliates with which information was shared. If you are a California resident and would like to request a copy of this notice, please submit a written request to the following address: CQ Associates LLC, 27 Vandam Street, New York, New York  10013. In your request, please specify that you want a “California Privacy Rights Notice.” Please allow at least thirty days for a response.

European Union Users

Data protection law in Europe requires a “lawful basis” for collecting and retaining personal information from citizens or residents of the European Economic Area. Our lawful bases include:

•   Performing the contract we have with you: In certain circumstances, we need your personal data to comply with our contractual obligation to deliver the Services, enable creators to establish and display their projects, and enable backers to find and make pledges to them.
•   Legal compliance: Sometimes the law says we need to collect and use your data. For example, tax laws require us to retain records of pledges and payments made through our Services.
•   Legitimate interests: This is a technical term in data protection law which essentially means we have a good and fair reason to use your data and we do so in ways which do not hurt your interests and rights. We sometimes require your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way that might reasonably be expected as part of running our business and that does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests. 

For example, we use identity, device, and location information to prevent fraud and abuse and to keep the Services secure. We may also send you promotional communications about our Services, subject to your right to control whether we do so. 

We analyze how users interact with our Site so we can understand better what elements of the design are working well and which are not working so well. This allows us to improve and develop the quality of the online experience we offer all our users. 

YOUR DATA PROTECTION RIGHTS UNDER GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR)

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. CQ aims to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Data.

If you wish to be informed what Personal Data we hold about you and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us.

In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:

The right to access, update or to delete the information we have on you. Whenever made possible, you can access, update or request deletion of your Personal Data directly within your account settings section. If you are unable to perform these actions yourself, please contact us to assist you.

The right of rectification. You have the right to have your information rectified if that information is inaccurate or incomplete.

The right to object. You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Data.

The right of restriction. You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information.

The right to data portability. You have the right to be provided with a copy of the information we have on you in a structured, machine-readable and commonly used format.

The right to withdraw consent. You also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where CQ relied on your consent to process your personal information.

Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests.

You have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority in the European Economic Area (EEA).

RETENTION OF YOUR INFORMATION

Following termination or deactivation of your user account, unless you request by contacting us as set forth below that your information be deleted by contacting us in accordance with Section 11 below, we may retain your information for back-up, archival, legal and audit purposes, and to reactivate your account upon your request. In addition, we may retain and continue to use indefinitely all information contained in your communications to other users of the Services posted to public or semi-public areas of the Services after termination or deactivation of your user account.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or CQ’s privacy practices, please email us at support@CQassociate.com or you can contact us by mail at CQ Associates LLC, 27 Vandam Street, New York, New York  10013.   In addition, if you wish to exclude your personal information from our direct marketing activities, or if you would like to update or delete your email address, mailing address or other personal information, or otherwise manage communications you receive from CQ, please contact us at support@CQassociate.com.