This privacy policy (“Policy”) explains how personal information is collected, used, and disclosed by Media Matters for America (collectively "Media Matters," “we” or “us”) with respect to your use of the Web sites located at mediamatters.org and action.mediamatters.org and any other Web sites, mobile sites and mobile applications that link to this Policy (collective the “Sites”) so you can make an informed decision about using the Sites.
We reserve the right to change the provisions of this Policy at any time. We will alert you that changes have been made by indicating on the Policy the date it was last updated. We encourage you to review this Policy from time to time to make sure that you understand how any personal information you provide will be used.
Last revised: May 14, 2015
What Is Personal Information?
As used herein, the term “personal information” means information that specifically identifies an individual (such as a name, address, telephone number, mobile number, e-mail address, or credit card number) and information about that individual or his or her activities that is directly linked to personally identifiable information. Personal information does not include “aggregate” information, which is data we collect about the use of the Sites or about a group or category of services or users, from which individual identities or other personal information has been removed. This Policy in no way restricts or limits our collection and use of aggregate information.
What Personal Information Do We Collect?
Active Collection:
Personal information may be collected in a number of ways when you visit our Sites. We collect certain information you directly provide to us, such as when you create an account or a profile, make a donation, send us an email, sign up to receive email or text message updates, fill out a form, sign a petition, register for an event, connect through a social feed, sign up to be a volunteer, or request information. Such information may include personal information, such as your name, mailing address, email address, phone number, and credit card information. Personal and demographic information may also be collected if you provide such information in connection with creating a profile or group, leaving comments, posting blog comments or other content, sending an email or message to another user, or participating in any interactive forums or features on the Sites. In addition, from time to time we may collect demographic, contact or other personal information you provide in connection with your participation in surveys, contests, games, promotions, and other activities on the Sites.
Passive Collection:
When you use the Sites, some information is also automatically collected, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your operating system, the browser type, the address of a referring web site, and your activity on our Sites. We treat this information as personal information if we combine it with or link it to any of the identifying information mentioned above. Otherwise, it is used in the aggregate only.
We may also automatically collect certain information through the use of “cookies” or web beacons. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive at the request of a website. Among other things, cookies help us improve our Sites and your experience. Information obtained from cookies and linked to personally identifying information is treated as personal information. If you wish to block, erase, or be warned of cookies, please refer to your browser manufacturer to learn about these functions. When you view a video on our Sites, a third party may also set a “flash cookie” on your computer. Removing and rejecting browser cookies does not necessarily affect third party flash cookies used in connection with our Sites. To delete or disable flash cookies, please visit http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/security for more information. However, if you choose to remove or reject browser or flash cookies, this could affect certain features on our Sites. Web beacons are small, invisible graphic images that may be used on the Sites or in emails relating to the Sites to collect certain information about usage and campaign effectiveness and monitor user activity on the Sites.
Collection By Third Parties
Third party vendors, including but not limited to Google, may use cookies or other technologies to provide analytics services to help us analyze use of the Sites and to serve ads on other websites based on your visits to this site and other sites on the Internet. Google Analytics features based on Display Advertising, including Google Analytics Demographics and Interests Reporting, may use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) to provide an overview of the age and gender of users, along with the interests they express in their online activities. In addition, NationBuilder, the platform that hosts and operates our Take Action Portal (the “Portal”), may place cookies when you visit the Portal to improve your experience, such as to help you log in faster and enhance your navigation through the Portal. These third parties may automatically collect information about your visits to this and other websites, your IP address, your ISP, and the browser you use to visit our Site. Information collected may be used, among other things, to analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content on other websites targeted to your interests and to better understand the usage and visitation of our Sites and the other sites tracked by these third parties. This Policy does not apply to, and we are not responsible for, cookies or other technologies used by third parties. If you would like to opt out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising, use the Google Ad Settings tool: https://www.google.com/settings/ads. If you would like to opt out of cookies relating to advertising networks or obtain more information related to third party advertising networks, click here: http://www.networkadvertising.org.
How Do We Use the Personal Information We Collect?
We use personal information collected through our Sites for the purposes described in this Policy or elsewhere on the Sites. For example, we may use personal information we collect:
to provide the information, alerts, products and services you request, and to process and complete such requests and any related transactions;
to send you confirmations, updates, alerts, and support and administrative messages and otherwise facilitate your use of, and our administration and operation of, the Sites;
to notify you about important changes to the Sites;
to send you newsletters and otherwise provide you with information or services you request or that we think will be of interest to you, such as sending you information to keep you informed about various campaigns, candidates, issues, events, resources, promotions, contests, products and services;
to solicit volunteers, donations and support for Media Matters and for issues, candidates and organizations that we support;
to request feedback and to otherwise contact you about your use of the Sites;
to respond to your emails, submissions, questions, comments, and requests and to provide customer service;
to monitor and analyze site usage and trends, and to personalize and improve the Site and our users' experiences on the Site, such as providing content, or features that match your profiles or interests, and to increase the Site's functionality and user friendliness;
to serve ads, on this or other Web sites or media, based on the information you provide and the actions you take;
to notify and contact contest and sweepstakes entrants; and
for any other purpose for which the information was collected.
What Personal Information Do We Share With Third Parties?
It is our policy not to share the personal information we collect from you through our Sites with third parties, except as described in this Policy or as otherwise disclosed on the Sites. For example, we may share personal information as follows:
with vendors, consultants, and other service providers or volunteers who are engaged by or working with us and who need access to such information to carry out their work for us, including without limitation NationBuilder, who operates the software system that we rely on to operate our Take Action Portal;
in support of our efforts to monitor, analyze and correct conservative misinformation in the media, provided that we will not provide your personal information to any individual or organization for the purpose of contacting for any commercial purpose;
when you give us your consent to do so, including if we notify you on the Sites, that the information you provide will be shared in a particular manner and you provide such information;
when we believe in good faith that we are lawfully authorized or required to do so or that doing so is reasonably necessary or appropriate to comply with the law or legal processes or respond to lawful requests, claims or legal authorities, including responding to lawful subpoenas, warrants, or court orders;
when we believe in good faith that doing so is reasonably necessary or appropriate to respond to claims or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Media Matters, our users, our employees, our volunteers, copyright owners, third parties or the public, including without limitation to protect such parties from fraudulent, abusive, inappropriate, or unlawful activity or use of our Site;
to enforce or apply this Policy, our Terms of Use, or our other policies or agreements; and
in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, reorganization, asset sale or transfer, financing or lending transaction or in any other situation where personal information may be disclosed or transferred as one of the assets of Media Matters.
We are not responsible for the actions of any service providers or other third parties, nor are we responsible for any additional information you provide directly to any third parties, and we encourage you to become familiar with their privacy practices before disclosing information directly to any such parties. Nothing herein restricts the sharing of aggregated or anonymized information, which may be shared with third parties without your consent.
Online petitions:
If you sign an online petition, you understand that such petition is public information and that we may make the petition, and your name, city, state, and any comments provided in connection therewith to the target of the petition and in some cases publicly available. Generally, we only include your first name and last initial and state when we send petitions, plus any comments you make, but we may in some cases provide full names and cities as well. In addition, we may provide such petitions or compilations thereof, including your comments, name, city, and state to national, state or local leaders, or to the press.
Interactive Features:
You understand that when you use the Sites, information you post in your profile, blogs, forums and other interactive areas of the Sites, as well as any information you share with individuals through the Sites or share through social network sites, will be available to other users and, in some cases, may be publicly available. We recommend you be cautious about giving out personal information to others or sharing personal information in public or private online forums.
Social Plugins:
The Sites may use social plugins (“Plugins”), which lets friends share actions they take across web sites (e.g. the Facebook “Like” button). Plugins are generally identifiable by the logo for the applicable social network or other notice indicating the use of a Plugin. When you visit a page of our website that contains a Plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection to the servers of the social network providing the Plugin, which enables that social network to receive certain information, such as information about your having accessed the respective page of our Site. If you are logged into the applicable social network, your visit can be assigned to the account of such social network. If you interact with the Plugins, for example by clicking “Like,” or entering a comment, the corresponding information is transmitted from your browser directly to the social network providing the Plugin and is stored by it. Even if you are not logged into that social network, there is possibility that the Plugins transmit certain information, such as your IP-address, to the applicable social networks. For information on the purpose and scope of data collection and processing by such social networks, as well as your rights in this respect and settings options for protecting your privacy please visit the privacy policy page for the social network providing the Plugin. If you do not want the social networks providing the Plugins to connect the data concerning your visit to our website with your member data already stored by such social networks, you must log off all such social networks before entering our website. Simply closing the social network page does not suffice.
Links to Other Web Sites
Our Sites may contain links to other Web sites. Any personal information you provide on the linked pages is provided directly to that third party and is subject to that third party's privacy policy. This Policy does not apply to such linked sites, and we are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of these websites or any other sites that are linked to from our Sites. We encourage you to learn about their privacy and security practices and policies before providing them with personal information.
What Steps Do We Take To Protect Your Information Online?
We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information in an effort to prevent loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Please be aware, however, that despite our efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable and no method of data transmission that can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse. To protect the confidentiality of personal information, you must keep your password confidential and not disclose it to any other person. You are responsible for all uses of our web sites by any person using your password. Please advise us immediately if you believe your password has been misused.
What Choices Do You Have Regarding the Use of Your Information?
You may “opt out” of receiving email updates and newsletters by following the instructions in those emails or by emailing us at action@mediamatters.org with the word “remove” in the subject line. Please note that we may still send you other types of emails, such as emails about your use of our Sites, or use information as otherwise described in this Policy, even if you opt out of receiving email updates and newsletters. You can review or modify information stored in your user account by emailing us at action@mediamatters.org. Changes to information in your account does not affect information provided to others as set forth in this policy, including in connection with petitions or donations or that has been previously shared.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this Policy, please contact us at action@mediamatters.org.