PRIVACY POLICY

(September 2020)

This Privacy Policy governs the processing of your personal data by Trustratings.com, including, but not limited to www.trustratings.com, (The "Website"). You accept the terms contained in this Privacy Policy when you create a profile on or use The Website.

1. Data collected by The Website

1.1 User Profile data

For the purpose of uniquely identifying you as a user, we collect minimal details when you create a profile on the Website.

1.2 Reviews

When you make a review of a company, we collect the information you state in the review, including which company you review, which purchase(s) the review concerns, and how you evaluate the company.

When you post a review of a company, the following information will be collected:

• Company that you review
• Purchases(s) regarding which review is posted
• Your evaluation of the company

1.3 Cookies

This Website uses cookies. Cookies are small text files stored on your computer. Cookies are used to identify the user’s computer, and does not store information about the individual user.

1.4 Browser settings and IP addresses

The following information is registered by the Website when a user visits.

• IP Address

  The numerical address used by the computer when visiting The Website is the IP address

  IP address is used to derive the approximate location (city level)

• Browser Settings

  The following include Browser Settings

  • Browser type (examples: chrome, firefox, edge)
  • Browser Language (examples: English, French)
  • Timezone (example CST, EST, UTC)

The Website registers the browser settings and IP address, so Trustratings can trace the computer used for visiting, in the event of any misuse of, or illegal or unlawful actions of or on The Website.

1.5 Newsletter

The Website registers information like name, email address supplied by the user when they sign up for the newsletters. The user can unsubscribe anytime from the newsletter by logging into the profile and updating the preferences, if they do not want to receive the newsletters anymore.

1.6 Data from other sources, in addition to Social Network(s)

Services provided by The Website include the ability to connect the user profile on The Website with their social media profile. Social media include networks like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter (collectively called "Social Network(s)").

When a user connects his / her profile on The Website with their Social Media profile, a few data about the user is collected automatically by The Website.

The data collected as such depends on the privacy settings set by the user on the social media profile relating to sharing of such data, and also on the information made available by the user on the social network.

The Website may collect the following data about the user from their connected social media profiles, depending on the settings there.

• Name and/or username
• E-mail address
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Profile photo
• Location

The Website will notify the user on what data will be collected from their social media account, when they connect their Trustratings profile with their social media profile.

The Website collects the data from the social media profile for the following reasons.

• Connect members common to both Trustrating and one or more Social media networks
• This will increase confidence in the reviews posted by users
• Create a better user experience on The Website.

Other personally identifiable data is not collected by TrustRatings from its users, unless explicitly provided by the user.

2. Disclosure of personal data

2.1 Data disclosure on The Website

Acceptance of these guidelines implies that the user profile on The Website may not be anonymous.

Master data

The username will be available to other users, when a user creates a profile on The Website.

Other data

Other data that the user provides on The Website, which include photos and reviews, will automatically be available to other Trustratings users. In some cases, the companies being reviewed will also get data about the reviews posted by users.

Geo-location
When a user posts a review, their approximate city location will be available to other Trustratings users. This location data is based the IP address of the user’s computer, or data provided by any device or mobile phone. (See section 1.4)

Social Networks
The following data will be collected when a user connects to a Social Network. This data is used to identify the user on The Website.

• Profile photo
• Name
• Year of birth
• Approximate location

Reviews posted by a user on The Website can be identified by all users of The Website, based on data made available by the Social Network

Users registered with The Website may be able to see the connections between their contacts and the contacts of their contacts (collectively referred to as “Connections”) on a connected social network.

2.2 Disclosure on services connected to a user profile on The website

The Website will share and display the reviews posted by a registered user on the connected social media profile of the user, along with other data collected about their usage of our services, when the user opts to connect their Trustratings profile with their Social network profile (cf. 1.2)

2.3 Disclosure to other 3rd party services
Increasing the exposure and availability of the reviews posted by users on The Website is one of the main goals of Trustratings. Hence, The Website allows other services to display reviews posted by users. This enables the consumers of the other services know about the user reviews, thus increasing exposure.

The data is disclosed to third parties belonging to the following categories:

• Search engines, e.g. Google and Bing,
• Business and consumer portal operators, shopping guides, price comparison websites etc.
• Companies or services having relationship with The Website or those that feature in user reviews on The Website
• Websites or service operators where consumers can search for relevant reviews, per TrustRatings's assessment

The following information is disclosed along with user reviews on The Website:
User reviews, see cf. section 1.2.

• Username
• Profile Photo, if available,
• Other user demographics such as age and gender.
• User’s approximate city location

2.4 Other disclosures
TrustRatings may need to comply with orders from a competent court of law, or public authority, disclose information, in conformity with existing laws.

3. Data controller

3.1 TrustRatings is the data controller for the following data

TrustRatings shall be data controller of the following master data supplied by users during profile creation or newsletter subscription.

• Name
• Password
• Email Address
• IP address

Also The Website will be the data controller for data disclosed to other services, cf. Section 2.3. Collection of data by The Website is governed by Danish data protection laws.

3.2 The data for which user is the data controller
The user will be the data controller for data that they opt to disclose on The Website and also for the data disclosed on the Social Media profile of the user as a result of connecting the user profile on The Website with the user profile on the Social network.

3.3 Links to websites on The Website

The Website includes links to other websites. The Website is not the data controller for data collected by other websites where the user gets transferred upon clicking on the links of the other websites, present in The Website. The process employed by the other websites to collect and process personal data of the user may differ from our methods. Hence it is highly recommended that the user review the personal data policy of such websites and make themselves aware and informed.

4. Data processor

The Website employs an external agency who maintain the technical aspects of operation of The Website. This external agency is the data processor of the personal data for which The Website is the data controller.

When a user accepts this personal data policy, they also accept that The Website permits the data processor to process data for which user is the data controller.

The data processor shall act exclusively upon the instructions from TrustRatings. User acceptance of these these terms and conditions authorizes TrustRatings to pass instructions to the data processor, necessary for data processing according to this personal data policy, in addition to requirement by TrustRatings for use on The Website.

Necessary technical and organization safety and preventive measures are being followed by the data processor against the following:

• Destruction, loss, deterioration of data accidentally or by illegal means
• Unauthorized access to data
• Misuse or process of personal data in violation of the personal data policy

The data processor undertakes to provide on user request adequate information to demonstrate that the technical and organizational safety and preventive measures are being undertaken. The user agrees to compensate the data processor for this task at the hourly rate that exists at such time the request is made.

TrustRatings may process and/or store personal data in the U.S. in the present or in the future. By accessing or using The website from a location outside the U.S., the user consents to store, transfer and process the personal data in the U.S.

5. Security measures

The Website employs necessary and commercially viable steps to ensure that all data under its control, which includes personal data that is recorded, stored, is handled by applying suitable security measures.

Regular system audits are conducted by The Website to against possible vulnerabilities and attacks. But due to the fact that the internet is not a 100% secure environment, security of data transferred by user to The Website cannot be ensured or warranted by The Website. Users are advised by The website to not send confidential data by emails via The Website, because such communication is not encrypted.

6. Cookies

The Website uses cookies and related technologies. More information about cookies and its uses are described below.
User consents to our use of cookies in the following ways, when they use The Website.

6.1 Cookies and related technologies

• What are cookies?
  Small text files placed on your computer’s hard disk, tablet or smartphone by The Website are called cookies. Information stored in the cookies by The Website help make the communication between you and your web browser more efficient. Users are not individually identified by cookies, but they are used to identify the user’s computer.
• Types of cookies:
  Persistent cookies and session cookies are the two types of cookies. Session cookies are temporary and are deleted when the user exits the web browser. On the other hand persistent cookies are more permanent remain on your the user computer until deleted. Persistent cookies have a set expiry date and get deleted upon expiry, but will be renewed whenever a user visits The Website. Both persistent and session cookies are used by The Website.
• Similar technologies
  Similar technologies like HTML5 cookies, flash and other methods are used to store and retrieve data from the browser or device by using local units and local storage. These technologies have the ability to operate across all browsers that the user uses. In some instances, special tools are required to control such technologies, because they cannot be controlled by the browser. Such technologies are used by The Website to ensure quality of the reviews and to spot
  We use these technologies to store information to ensure the quality of reviews and to figure out irregularities in the use of the Website.

6.2 Cookie types and purposes?
The Website uses cookies for the following purposes:

• Statistics:
  • Number of visits on the websites
  • Domains that referred the traffic
  • Pages on The Website visited
  • Overall geographical location of the visitors
• Betterment of the website functionalities:
  The Website recalls the login credentials of the user automatically by storing the data in the cookies, so the user does not need to login every time they visit The Website, thus providing a better experience with the Website
• Connect with Social Media:
  Cookies make it possible for the user to connect with their social media account, like Facebook.
• Quality assurance
  Cookies help ensure quality of reviews posted on The Website. Also they help prevent misuse or irregularities in posting reviews and using The Website.
• Targeted advertisement:
  Cookies help in determining and serving the most relevant advertisements to users when they visit The Website.

6.3 Third party cookies
The following third party cookies are used by The Website

• Google Analytics: Google analytics cookies are used for statistical purposes. A user can deny Google Analytics cookies by visiting the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
• Mixpanel: Mix panel cookies are also used for statistical purposes. User can deny Mixpanel cookies by visiting https://mixpanel.com/optout
• Facebook: The Website uses cookies set by Facebook when user interacts with the facebook plugin or if the user is logged into Facebook from other sources which enable connecting and interacting with Facebook.
• Twitter: The Website uses cookies set by Twitter when user interacts with the twitter plugin or if the user is logged into Twitter from other sources which enable connecting and interacting with Twitter.
• Google+: The Website uses cookies set by Google+ when user interacts with the Google+ plugin or if the user is logged into Google from other sources which enable connecting and interacting with Google+.
• Google ads: The Website uses cookies set by Google Ads and are used for serving relevant advertisements.
• Intercom: Analytics services of Intercom help in understand usage of our services by users and also to communicate with users via interest-based email and in-app messages. Users can deny cookies from Intercom by following instructions on http://docs.intercom.io/pricing-and-terms/updating-your-privacy-policy

6.4 How to delete cookie set by The Website
Users using Internet Explorer, Edge, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox can delete cookies set by The Website by following these steps:

Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete simultaneously on the keyboard.

Ensure to close and restart the browser after clearing the cache and cookies.

If the above keyboard shortcut does not work with the browser, you can view the help menu of the browser having such issues.

The Website, however recommends that you keep the cookies so you can experience the best usage of The website.

7. Access, correction and deletion

7.1 Access
The Website will provide the following information about our cookies upon written request.

• Purpose of setting the cookies
• Who receives the data
• Origin of the data

Please ensure interval of more than 6 months between subsequent requests., unless the user can provide sufficient reason on why why they are interested in getting the information earlier than 6 months after the previous request.

7.2 Correction and deletion
If the user detects incorrect or misleading information in the personal data processed by The Website as the data controller, they can request us, based on which the necessary corrections will be applied. However we recommend that the user correct the wrong data themselves to ensure accuracy.

The user can update or remove any data or content for which they are the data controller (cf. Section 3.2) from The Website.

Users can update or delete their personal data from The Website should they feel the data is outdated, or if they do not want to continue on The Website. This can be done by logging into the user’s account and accessing the profile data.

When users delete their profiles, all data, including master data and reviews are are deleted from The Website.

When a user deletes a review, it is deleted permanently.

TrustRatings reserves the right to block the access to a user profile and/or delete their profile, if in our assessment, we find that the profile or its contents on The Website are discriminating, racist, sexually oriented, unethical, threatening, offensive, harassing or in any way violating the policies and TOS, third party rights or the purpose of The Website.
Such decision to block and / or delete a user profile, and the reason behind it will be communicated to the user by email to the email address provide by the user in their profile.

8. Changes in the privacy policy

TrustRatings may make changes to its privacy policy at any time and without notice with future effect. Efforts will be made to provide reasonable advance notice of such changes to the user.
Users will be notified of such changes when the login to their account with The Website.

The user agrees that their usage of The Website after any changes to the Privacy Policy is posted constitutes your acceptance of the modified Privacy Policy.

9. Inquiries regarding the Website or the privacy policy

Users can contact TrustRatings by email to support@trustratings.com, if they have inquiries regarding our Privacy Policy, how we process personal data, modification of data, or for any other general inquiry they may have, or by postal mail to the following address:

TrustRatings, Inc.