Privacy Statement updated 23 May 2018
Privacy Policy
CustomerGauge Privacy Statement updated 10 August 2021
CustomerGauge (or the “Company”), known as CustomerGauge and CustomerGauge USA LLC and Directness BV, is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who visit the Company’s Web Sites and any affiliate sites including social media outlets (collectively, our “Site”) and individuals who register to use the Services as defined below. This Privacy Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit our Sites and CustomerGauge’s practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting and disclosing that information.
This policy applies to information we collect:
· On the Site.
· In email, text and other electronic messages between you and this Site.
· Through mobile and desktop applications you download from the Site, which provide dedicated non-browser-based interaction between you and the Site.
· When you interact with our advertising and applications on third-party websites and services.
· When you use our Services ad defined in the Terms of Services available at https://customergauge.com/terms-of-service
It does not apply to information collected by:
· Us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by the Company or any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries); or
· Any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries), including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the Site; or
· Information collected by you from your customers including any information for use in obtaining credit authorizations, qualifications or financing terms (collectively, “your customer information”) and you accept full responsibility for any privacy related concerns relating to your customer information and what you do with that customer information.
Terms not otherwise defined herein have the meaning set forth in the Company’s Terms of Service found at https://customergauge.com/terms-of-service. Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. By accessing this Site, you agree to this Privacy Policy. This policy may change from time to time. Your continued use of this Site after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.
1. Authorized Users of the Site
The Site is offered and available to Users subject to the Company’s Terms of Service. If you are a visitor to the Site or if you receive Services from us or if you register to receive Services, we will rely on you to provide accurate and complete information in order to provide appropriate Services to you. Any and all information you provide is provided to the Company at your own risk and you acknowledge and agree that the Company may share your information with any of its representatives, agents, service providers or other authorized third-parties.
2. Sites Covered
The Site includes https://customergauge.com, https://*.customergauge.com etc (collectively referred to as “CustomerGauge Sites” or “the Company’s Sites”) and all of the Company’s social media outlets.
CustomerGauge’s Site may contain links to other websites. The information practices or the content of such other websites are governed by the privacy statements of such other websites. You should review the privacy statements of other third-party websites to understand their respective information practices.
3. Information Collected
CustomerGauge may collect “Personal Information” from individuals who visit CustomerGauge Sites (“Site Visitors”), individuals who are invited to complete CustomerGauge Surveys (“Survey Users”) and individuals employees or contractors employed by CustomerGauge Clients (“Clients”) that use the Services (“Client Users” or “Customers”). Any of Site Visitors, Survey Users, Clients, Client Users, Customers are collectively referred to as “Users” or “you” and individually as a “User” or “you”.
CustomerGauge may contact you as a Survey User on behalf of Clients, using the Clients’ branding and Email addresses. CustomerGauge acts in the role of the Data Processor (“Data Processor”) on behalf of Client (“Data Owner”) that has provided information to CustomerGauge and will consume the data collected. In all cases, CustomerGauge has obtained permission from the Clients in order to contact you. CustomerGauge will notify the Data Owner if you request information on Client’s respective Privacy Policy or in the case of “Unsubscribe” or “Do not contact” notifications.
The information CustomerGauge collects from you (“Data”) may include information:
· By which you may be personally identified, such as name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number and any other identifier by which you may be contacted online or offline (collectively “Personal Information”);
· That is about you but individually does not identify you; and/or
· About your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Site and usage details.
We collect this information:
· Directly from you when you provide it to us including through our rendering of the Services.
· Automatically as you navigate through the Site; information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies.
· From third parties, for example, our business partners.
We may also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. “Aggregated Data” could be derived from your Personal Information but is not considered personal data under law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your usage Data to calculate the percentage of Users accessing a specific Site feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
We do not require you to provide any special categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health, and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offenses.
For example, when expressing an interest in obtaining additional information about the Services or registering to use the Services, CustomerGauge requires you to provide the Company with personal contact information, such as name, company name, address, phone number, and email address (“Required Contact Information”). When purchasing the Services, CustomerGauge may require you to provide the Company with financial qualification and billing information, such as billing name and address, credit card number, and the number of employees within the organization that will be using the Services (“Billing Information”). CustomerGauge may also ask you to provide additional information, such as company annual revenues, number of employees, or industry (“Optional Information”). Required Contact Information, Billing Information, and Optional Information about Customers are referred to collectively as “Data About CustomerGauge Customers”. Required Contact Information, Billing Information and Optional Information are all examples of Data.
As you navigate the Company’s Site, CustomerGauge may also collect information through the use of commonly-used information-gathering tools, such as Cookies and Web Beacons (“Site Navigational Information”). Site Navigational Information includes standard information from your Web browser (such as browser type and browser language), your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, and the actions you take on the Company’s Site (such as the Web pages viewed and the links clicked).
4. Use of Information Collected
4.1 The Data we collect on or through the Site may include:
· Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Site. This includes information provided at any time during any registration to use our Site and information provided at the time of subscribing to our Services or otherwise using our Services, posting material, or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information when you enter a contest or promotion sponsored by us, and when you report a problem with our Site.
· Records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us.
· Your responses to surveys that we might ask you to complete including for research purposes.
· Details of transactions you carry out through our Site.
· Your search queries on the Site.
· Information that you provide to us.
4.2 Survey Users and Data: The Company uses the Survey Data from Survey Users to help Clients better understand customer issues and to ultimately create better customer experiences. THIS DATA IS NOT USED BY CUSTOMERGAUGE FOR MARKETING PURPOSES. CustomerGauge compiles reports statistics and generates other electronic contacts to assist Clients which may use this information to contact you in order to improve your experience or to learn more from you.
4.3 Clients or Prospective Clients of CustomerGauge: When expressing an interest in CustomerGauge services, the Company uses your Data as provided by a CustomerGauge Client or Prospective to perform the services requested. For example, if you fill out a “Contact Me” Web form, the Company will use the information provided to contact you about your interest in the Services.
4.4 CustomerGauge uses Billing Information solely to check the financial qualifications and collect payment for the CustomerGauge Services.
5. Site Navigational Information
CustomerGauge uses commonly-used information-gathering tools, such as Cookies and Web Beacons, to collect information as you navigate through and interact with the Company’s Site (“Site Navigational Information”) including automatic data collection technologies which collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns including details of your visits to our Site (including traffic data, location data, logs and other communication data and resources that you access and use on the Site) and information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system and browser type. We also may use these technologies to collect information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or other online services (behavioral tracking). The information we collect automatically is statistical data and may include personal information, or we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways or receive from third parties. It helps us to improve our Site and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:
· Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.
· Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Site according to your individual interests.
· Speed up your searches.
· Recognize you when you return to our Site.
This section describes the types of Site Navigational Information used on the Company’s Site and how this information may be used.
Cookies: CustomerGauge uses Cookies to make interactions with the Company’s Site easy and meaningful. When you visit one of the Company’s Sites, CustomerGauge servers send a cookie to your computer. Standing alone, cookies do not personally identify you; they merely recognize your Web browser. Unless you choose to identify yourself to CustomerGauge, either by responding to a promotional offer, opening an account, or filling out a Web form (such as a “Contact Me”), you remain anonymous to the Company. CustomerGauge uses cookies that are session-based and persistent-based. Session cookies exist only during one session, i.e., only while you are reading or navigating the Company’s Site. They disappear from your computer when you close your browser software or turn off your computer. Persistent cookies remain on your computer after you close your browser or turn off your computer. Please note that if you disable your Web browser’s ability to accept cookies, you will be able to navigate the Company’s Sites, but you may not be able to successfully use the Services.
Cookies that are used as part of the Services (in the proxy) may include cookies of a third party website that is being co-browsed, for example, in order to deliver the website as intended by the third party website operator. The cookie practices of such websites are governed by their own respective privacy statements. The Company encourages you to review the privacy statements of other websites to understand their information practices.
Web Beacons: CustomerGauge, or third parties with whom we contract, may use Web beacons alone or in conjunction with cookies to compile information about Users’ usage of the Company’s Site and interaction with emails from the Company. Web beacons are clear electronic images that can recognize certain types of information on your computer, such as cookies, when you viewed a particular website tied to the Web beacon, and a description of a website tied to the Web beacon. For example, CustomerGauge may place Web beacons in marketing emails that notify the Company when you click on a link in the email that directs you to one of the Company’s Sites. CustomerGauge uses Web beacons to operate and improve the Company’s Site and email communications.
IP Addresses and URLs: Due to Internet communications standards, when you visit or use CustomerGauge Sites, we automatically receive the URL of the website from which you came and the website to which you go when you leave a CustomerGauge Site. We also receive your computer’s Internet Protocol (IP) address (or the proxy server you use to access the World Wide Web), your computer operating system, the type of Web browser you are using, and your Internet Service Provider (ISP). This information is used to analyze overall trends to help us improve the CustomerGauge Service and to track and aggregate non-personal information. For example, CustomerGauge uses IP addresses to monitor the regions from which Users navigate the Company’s Sites.
CustomerGauge may collect Aggregated Data regarding use of the CustomerGauge Services, including, without limitation, number of visitors to the Site, frequency and patterns of use, tag usage, feedback request trends, etc. (“Aggregated Data”). CustomerGauge uses Aggregated Data as a statistical measure and not in a manner that would identify you personally. Aggregated Data enables us to determine how often certain parts of CustomerGauge’s Site or the CustomerGauge Services are used so that we can improve them. CustomerGauge may make use of, or make such Aggregated Data available to, third parties, in any manner in our sole discretion.
Social Media Features: The CustomerGauge Site may use Social Media Features, such as the Facebook Like button. These features may collect your IP address and which page you are visiting on our Site and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. You may be given the option by such Social Media Features to post information about your activities on this Site to a profile page of yours that is provided by a third party Social Media network in order to share with others within your network. Social Media Features 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 the relevant Social Media Features
Survey Features: Cookies are not stored for CustomerGauge Survey Users. The survey system may collect IP address, time, and other information shared by your browser in addition to any answers you may give.
We do not collect Personal Information automatically, but we may tie this information to Personal Information about you that we collect from other sources or you provide to us.
6. Public Forums, Refer a Friend, Reviews and Customer Testimonials, Third-Party Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies
You also may provide information to be published or displayed (hereinafter, "posted") on public areas of the Site or transmitted to other Users of the Site or third parties (collectively, "User Contributions"). Your User Contributions are posted on and transmitted to others at your own risk. Please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. Additionally, we cannot control the actions of other Users of the Site with whom you may choose to share your User Contributions. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that your User Contributions will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. Your User Contributions may be accessible by the general public and are being disclosed at your own risk.
CustomerGauge may provide bulletin boards, blogs, or chat rooms on the Company’s Site. Any Personal Information you choose to submit as part of any User contribution in such a forum may be read, collected, or used by others who visit these forums, and may be used to send you unsolicited messages. CustomerGauge is not responsible for the Personal Information you choose to submit in these forums.
CustomerGauge posts a list of Customers and testimonials on the Company’s Sites that contain information such as Customer names and titles.
CustomerGauge provides Review sites for Clients and contingent on additional consent by Survey Users may publish comments and other information.
Some content or applications, including advertisements, on the Site are served by third-parties, including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers, and application providers. These third parties may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our Site. The information they collect may be associated with your Personal Information or they may collect information, including Personal Information, about your online activities over time and across the Site, different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content.
We do not control these third parties' tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly.
7. Sharing of Information Collected
We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:
· To present our Site and its contents to you.
· To render Services to you.
· To provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us.
· To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it.
· To provide you with notices about your account if applicable, including expiration and renewal notices.
· To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection.
· To notify you about changes to our Site or any products or services we offer or provide though it.
· To allow you to participate in interactive features on our Site.
· In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
· For any other purpose with your consent.
We may also use your information to contact you about our own goods and services that may be of interest to you. If you do not want us to use your information in this way, please adjust your user preferences in your account profile if applicable.
Even though we do not disclose your personal information for marketing purposes without your consent, if you click on or otherwise interact with an advertisement, the advertiser may assume that you meet its target criteria.
Subsidiaries/Affiliates Service Providers CustomerGauge may share Data About CustomerGauge Customers with our subsidiaries and affiliates as well as with the Company’s contracted service providers and other third parties we use to support our business, such a payment processors, so that these service providers can provide services on our behalf. CustomerGauge may also share Data About CustomerGauge Customers with the Company’s service providers to ensure the quality of information provided. Unless described in this Privacy Statement, CustomerGauge does not share, sell, rent, or trade any information with third parties for their promotional purposes.
CustomerGauge Affiliates The Company may share Data About CustomerGauge Customers with other companies in order to work with them, including affiliates of the CustomerGauge corporate group. For example, the Company may need to share Data About CustomerGauge Customers for customer relationship management purposes.
Business Partners From time to time, CustomerGauge may partner with other companies to jointly offer products or services. If you purchase or specifically express interest in a jointly-offered product or service from CustomerGauge, the Company may share Data About CustomerGauge Customers collected in connection with your purchase or expression of interest with our joint promotion partner(s). CustomerGauge does not control our business partners’ use of the Data About CustomerGauge Customers we collect, and their use of the information will be in accordance with their own privacy policies. If you do not wish for your information to be shared in this manner, you may opt not to purchase or specifically express interest in a jointly offered product or service.
Buyer or Other Successor. CustomerGauge may share and transfer Data to a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all of the Company’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Information held by the Company about our Site Users is among the assets transferred.
Billing CustomerGauge may use a third-party service provider to manage credit card processing. This service provider is not permitted to store, retain, or use Billing Information except for the sole purpose of credit card processing on the Company’s behalf.
Compelled Disclosure CustomerGauge reserves the right to use or disclose information provided if required by law or if the Company reasonably believes that use or disclosure is necessary to protect the Company’s rights (of the rights, property or safety of our Customers or others) and/or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process including any government or regulatory request (this includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud prevention or protection and credit risk reduction).
Miscellaneous CustomerGauge may disclose and/or share Data: to enforce or apply our Terms of Service; for any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the Data; with your consent; to
Do not submit your information if you do not want it collected, used and disclosed. We may disclose aggregated information about our Users and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.
8. International Transfer of Information Collected
To facilitate CustomerGauge’s global operations, the Company may transfer and access Data About CustomerGauge Customers from around the world, including the United States. This Privacy Statement shall apply even if CustomerGauge transfers Data About CustomerGauge Customers to other countries.
For European visitors to the CustomerGauge Site and users of the CustomerGauge Services, please note that in order to provide the information or services requested, your Personal Information may be transferred outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”). By visiting the CustomerGauge Site or using the CustomerGauge Services, you agree to CustomerGauge transferring your Personal Information outside the EEA. Certain clients have agreements with CustomerGauge that their own client data is not transferred outside the EEA and information on this can be obtained in writing from CustomerGauge.
9. Communications Preferences
CustomerGauge offers Users who provide contact information a means to choose how the Company uses the information provided. You may manage your receipt of marketing and non-transactional communications by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link located on the bottom of the Company’s emails. Additionally, you may send a request specifying your communications preferences to support@customergauge.com . Customers cannot opt out of receiving transactional emails related to their account with CustomerGauge or the Services.
10. Correcting and Updating Your Information
Site Users are entitled to understand how CustomerGauge uses their data, and can make information or deletion requests to mailto:legal@customergauge.com. CustomerGauge is fully compliant with GDPR Legislation. We may refer you to the Data Controller for further action (see section 11).
Customers may update or change their registration information by editing their user or organization record. To update a user profile, please login to CustomerGauge with your CustomerGauge username and password and edit your user settings.
To update Billing Information or have your registration information deleted, please email support@customergauge.com. To discontinue your account, please email support@customergauge.com.
Requests to access, change, or delete your information will be handled within 30 days.
11. Data Retention
CustomerGauge retains the information we receive as described in this Privacy Statement, as well as the Customer Data we process on behalf of our Customers (as defined below), for reasonable duration, for example, as the case may be, for as long as needed to provide our Services, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, establish legal defenses, to conduct audits, pursue legitimate business purposes, and enforce our agreements.
12. Customer Data
As part of using our Services, Customers (“Data Controllers”) may submit electronic data or information to the Services (“Customer Data”) that constitutes Personal Information of other individuals (Survey Users) to us. Such data may include an individual’s name, email address, or phone number. CustomerGauge acts as “Data Processor” for our Customers, and generally has no direct relationship with the individuals to whom Customer Data may pertain. Any uses of Customer Data by the Company are done so pursuant to CustomerGauge’s Terms of Service or a subscription agreement in place between CustomerGauge and the relevant Customer (or his/her organization), and may include a GDPR-Compliant Data Processing Agreement which exclusively govern CustomerGauge’s treatment of Customer Data and supersede this Privacy Statement in case of conflict, or as required by law. If Personal Information pertaining to you as an individual has been submitted to us by a Customer as Customer Data and you wish to exercise any rights you may have to access, correct, amend, or delete such data, please inquire with the Customer (or his/her organization) directly. If an authorized Customer requests that we update or remove the data in question and he or she has no ability to do so via use of the Services, we will acknowledge their request within 30 days.
13. Security
CustomerGauge takes precautions, including administrative, technical, and physical measures – to help safeguard Data against loss, theft, and misuse as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. While we follow generally accepted standards to protect information submitted to us, including the use of secure socket layer (SSL) technology, no method of storage or transmission is 100% secure.
Users are solely responsible for protecting their passwords, limiting access to their computers, and signing out of the CustomerGauge Services after their sessions.
14. Changes to this Privacy Statement
CustomerGauge reserves the right to change this Privacy Statement. CustomerGauge will provide notification of the material changes to this Privacy Statement through the Company’s Sites at least thirty (30) business days prior to the change taking effect.
15. Contacting Us
Questions regarding this Privacy Statement or the information practices of the Company’s Site should be directed to CustomerGauge Privacy at legal@customergauge.com or by mailing CustomerGauge Privacy (c/o CustomerGauge/Directness BV), van Diemenstraat 182b, Amsterdam 1013CP, The Netherlands.