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Effective Date: May 8, 2024
We at Metaculus, Inc. (collectively with any subsidiaries, "Metaculus") have created this Privacy Policy to describe our practices regarding information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit our Metaculus.com web site including any content, functionality, and services offered on or through the Metaculus.com (the "Service") as well as any information we collect offline in relation to the Service and combine in our databases. Certain features discussed in this Privacy Policy may not be offered at any particular time.
This policy applies to information we collect:
It does not apply to information collected by:
Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use the Service. By accessing or using the Service, you agree to this Privacy Policy. This policy may change from time to time (see Changes to this Privacy Policy). Your continued use of the Service after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check this Privacy Policy periodically for updates.
Note about Children Under 13:
The Service is not intended for children under 13 years of age. Our services are general audience in nature and are not intended for, marketed to or available to individuals younger than the age of 13. No one under age 13 may provide any information to the Service. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information to us on the Service. If we learn we have collected or received Personal Information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at legal@metaculus.com.
WE FULLY DESCRIBE OUR PRIVACY PRACTICES BELOW IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY. THIS SUMMARY PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING OUR USE AND SHARING OF YOUR INFORMATION. We primarily use the information we collect when you use the Service in connection with your relationship with Metaculus, your use of the Service, and for sending you information from us or on behalf of certain third parties. This includes linking you to other members of the Metaculus community. It also includes providing offers to you based on information you provide or we collect or your use of the Service. Please review the INFORMATION COLLECTION and HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION sections of this Privacy Policy for a full description of the information we collect, including Personal Information, and how we use that information. Remember that if you create a Profile or participate in predictions, community forums and similar features on the Service, your information may be public. Note that we do not share your Personal Information with third parties for their marketing purposes without your consent; however, we may share your Personal Information under certain limited circumstances as explained herein. For more details, please review the section below entitled INFORMATION SHARING.
Metaculus may work with network advertisers, analytics service providers and other vendors to serve third party advertisements on and through the Service, to provide us with information regarding traffic on the Service, including the pages viewed and the actions users take when visiting the Service; and to provide us with information regarding the use of the Service and the effectiveness of our advertisements. For example, if you click on a Metaculus advertisement, our service provider(s) may be able to tell us the advertisement you clicked on and where you were viewing the advertisement. You may also see third party ads on the Service. The advertisements you see may be served by one or more third parties, who may use information about your activities on the Service, and other web sites and services, to provide you targeted advertising based upon your interests. Our ad network providers, the advertisers, ad agencies, analytics service providers and other vendors may set and access their own tracking devices (including cookies and log files and web beacons and other tracking technologies) and they may otherwise collect or have access to information about you and your visits to and activity on the Service, as well as on other web sites or online services. Some of these parties may collect Personal Information when you visit the Service or other websites and services. Please review THIRD PARTY CONTENT, LINKS TO OTHER SITES, AND METACULUS CONTENT FOUND OUTSIDE OF THE SERVICE for additional information. Some of the companies who serve these targeted ads participate in a self-regulatory program that allows you to opt-out of having information about you used for this purpose, and you may access that opt-out by clicking here. Please note this does not opt you out of being served advertising. You will continue to receive generic ads while using the Service and elsewhere online.
Overview of Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It
We collect several types of information from and about users of the Service, including the following categories of information:
We collect this information through one or more of the following methods:
From third parties, such as our business partners, when you navigate through our Service or on sites external to our Metaculus.com web site, including information collected over time or to conduct trend analyses.
The Service may collect information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer, household, or device ("Personal Information"). In particular, the Service may collect Personal Information such as your name and email address, account information (such as a password or other information that helps us confirm that it is you accessing your account) and demographic or other information such as your background, state or country of residence, information about your interests and education, and historical information about questions and predictions, including the accuracy of any predictions. Personal Information does not include publicly available information from government records or deidentified or aggregated consumer information.
Some part of the Service may allow you to use the Service to offer your own products or services for sale. If you use the Service for such purposes or in any other manner that may necessitate payment from Metaculus to you, we may collect additional information from you, such as your Social Security Number or taxpayer identification number, as necessary to facilitate payment and to comply with related legal obligations. Any information combined with Personal Information will be treated as Personal Information.
You may have the opportunity to create a profile, which consists of information about you, which may include Personal Information, photographs, information about your academic and work history, your interests and activities, your use of the Service and other information ("Profile"). Some of the information in your Profile may be visible to third parties or to everyone, depending on the nature of the information and the privacy settings you choose when you sign in and go to your Account on the website where you created your Profile. Metaculus may also make the information contained in your Profile accessible through means other than the Metaculus website (such as through an app or an API). Your Profile may also be indexed by and displayed by internet search providers when someone searches for your name. Metaculus does not control how frequently third-party search engines update their indexes; consequently their information may be outdated and still available for a period of time even if you discontinue use of the service.
Note that in order to provide services and opportunities to you, third parties may be able to review certain information in your Profile. Metaculus does not share your contact information (email, full postal address or phone number) with those third parties unless you request or agree to that sharing. However, Metaculus may send you information and offers from third parties and information about the Service.
The Service may provide you the opportunity to participate and post content, including questions and predictions, publicly in forums, through interactive features and through other communication functionality ("Community Forums"). You may choose, through such features or otherwise, to submit or post questions, predictions, reviews, problems, suggestions, ideas, solutions, questions, answers, comments, testimonials, feedback, messages, images, videos, text or other material ("User Content"). Your User Content may also be posted in your Profile. Please think carefully about what you post and before including Personal Information in your User Content. You may edit or remove your Profile information, but you may not be able to remove predictions, comments or postings or other uploaded User Content. To request removal of content you posted publicly on the Service, contact us at legal@metaculus.com. We will honor removal requests received from registered users who are minor residents of California, unless otherwise excepted by law, and where otherwise required by law. Other removal requests received, may, in our sole discretion, be honored or refused. In some cases, we may remove only your Personal Information but maintain the rest of your User Content. Note that removal of public postings does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information posted.
Note that anything you post on Metaculus may be public. If you choose to voluntarily disclose Personal Information in your Profile or a Community Forum, or participate in the Service, that information will be considered public information and the protections of this Privacy Policy will not apply.
In addition, the Service may allow members to communicate and collaborate with each other, including some Service offerings that allow members to engage in one-on-one communication. If you create an account, participate in a Community Forum or choose to communicate with others through the Service, certain information about you may be disclosed in connection with your or others' use of the Service, including certain information about you and your network (such as your name and profile photo, the number of your connections, and the names and pictures of your connections). Our servers may record and we may retain records of the content of any such user-to-user communications.
Third parties may provide us with information about you. For example, if you are on a third party web site, and you opt-in to receive information from us, that third party will forward information about you to us so that we may contact you as requested. Or if you interact with our advertisement on a third-party website, for example, then that third party may provide us information about that interaction. Information that you provide to us, or that is automatically collected and transmitted when you use the Service, may be shared with and used by third parties.
Some content or applications, including advertisements, on the Service are served by third parties including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers, and application providers. These third parties may use analytics, methods or systems (cookies, web beacons, pixels, postback URLs, SDKs, APIs) or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use the Service, including storing and accessing cookies. Third parties may collect, transmit, receive, or use information collected from the Service alone, or in combination with other metrics collected by that third party on its own (such as information the third party has collected about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services). This information may include Personal Information, data that has been aggregated and anonymized, or non-personal data that may be associated with your Personal Information, including:
Third parties use such information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content or for other advertising purposes. To enable Metaculus to improve and optimize the Service, third parties may also use this information to provide Metaculus with metrics or insights about our business and marketing practices, marketing trend analyses, behavioral analyses, analyze performance of the service (including the performance of individual pages of the web site), trigger automation workflows, and to assess marketing touchpoints and how they work to drive revenue. For example, they may use the information to provide key metrics about sessions, for conversion tracking, or to provide us with other measurement services to measure or assist in measuring conversions or actions users take on our Service (including our website).
The Service may permit interactions between the Service and a third party web site or service, such as enabling you to "like" a product within our Service or "share" content to other web sites. If you choose to "like" or "share" content or to otherwise post information from or via the Service to a third party web site, feature or application, that information may be publicly displayed, and the third party web site may have access to information about you and your use of our Service. Similarly, if you post information on a third party platform that references Metaculus your post may be published on our Service in accordance with terms of that third party.
These features may collect your IP address or other Device Identifier, which page you are visiting on our web site, and may set a cookie, pixel, or other tracking technology to enable the third party feature to function properly. Third party features and applications are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Service. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.
You may also choose to participate in a third party application or feature through our Service (such as logging in through Facebook Connect or otherwise linking the Service with another web site or interactive service) or on a third party web site or service (such as one of our Facebook applications or a similar application or feature on a third party web site or service) through which you allow us to collect (or the third party to share) information about you, including personal information. Information about you, including your name and profile photo, may be shown to other users of the Service if you are logged in through the Service or through a third party web site or service. The third party may allow you to remove the application or feature, in which case we will no longer collect information about you through the application or feature, but we may retain the information previously collected.
When you choose to participate, you may be opting to link your activity on our Service with that third party web site or service, which may then collect information about your visits to our Service and may publish that activity as you request to your profile or similar feature with that third party (such as if you choose to share a prediction you made on Metaculus.com with your connections on the third party website). In some instances, we may require that you participate in the Service through a third party application or feature and, if you choose not to authorize or use the required third party application or feature, you will not be able to use the applicable Service.
The information we collect is subject to this Privacy Policy. The information collected and stored by the third party remains subject to the third party's privacy practices, including whether the third party continues to share information with us, the types of information shared, and your choices with regard to what is visible to others on that third party web site and service. The third party may allow you to remove the application or feature, in which case we will no longer collect information about you through the application or feature, but we may retain the information previously collected. 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. For information about how you can opt out of receiving targeted advertising from many providers, see CHOICES ABOUT HOW WE USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION.
We also may supplement the information we collect with outside records from third parties in order to provide you with information, services or goods you have requested, to enhance our ability to serve you, to tailor our content to you and to offer you opportunities to purchase products or services that we believe may be of interest to you. We may combine the information we receive from those other sources with information we collect through the Service. In those cases, we will apply this Privacy Policy to the combined information.
Like other websites and online services, we may automatically collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns ("Usage Information") whenever you access and use the Service, including:
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"). Click here for information on how you can opt out of Behavioral Tracking on the Service and how we respond to web browser signals and other mechanisms that enable consumers to exercise choice about Behavioral Tracking.
We may use Usage Information for a variety of purposes, including to tell you about people or events nearby, to provide special offers, to serve advertisements, to select appropriate content to display to you, and to enhance or otherwise improve the Service and our products.
Usage Information is generally non-identifying (such as statistical data that does not include Personal Information) that we collect automatically, but if we maintain it or associate it with Personal Information that we collect in other ways or receive from third parties, then we treat it as Personal Information.
Usage Information is automatically collected via tracking technologies, which may include:
One type of cookie we use, known as a "persistent" cookie, is set once you've logged in to your account on the Service. If you do not log out of your account, then the next time you visit, the persistent cookie will allow us to recognize you as an existing user so you will not need to log in before using the Service. Of course, if you are using a public computer or sharing your private computer with others, you should log out of your account after each visit. If you log out of a Service, you will need to re-enter your password the next time you visit in order to log in to your account. You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browser's "help" file. We also use a cookie which functions as a "session" cookie, meaning that it is used to identify a particular visit. Session cookies expire after a short time or when you close your web browser.
Web Beacons or Tracking Pixels: We, as well as affiliate program partners, service providers, and other third parties, may employ a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. web beacons, tracking pixels, and web bugs) on the Service and our emails, that help us better manage content on our Service by informing us of what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of web users for our affiliate program. The information collected through clear gifs include information about individual surfing behavior and reading activities, downloads of publications, counts users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for similar materials and other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity). In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user's computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on web pages and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. This information is used to help improve the overall quality and experience of our Service. We tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers' personal information so that we can optimize the Service according to your interests, to perform marketing and to improve personalized ads based on your personal interests.
An Embedded Script is programming code that is designed to collect information about your interactions with the Service, such as the links you click on. The code is temporarily downloaded onto your computer or other device from our server or a third-party service provider and is deactivated or deleted when you disconnect from the Service.
In addition, we may use a variety of other technologies that collect similar information for security and fraud-detection purposes.
Please note that your browser settings may allow you to automatically transmit a "Do Not Track" signal to websites and online service you visit. There is no consensus among industry participants as to what "Do Not Track" means in this context. Like many websites and online services, Metaculus does not alter its practices when it receives a "Do Not Track" signal from a visitor's browser. To find out more about "Do Not Track", please visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.
We use information about you, including Personal Information that you provide through such means as your Profile, User Content, and Usage Information to:
We may tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers' personal information.
Please note that information submitted on the Service via a "Contact Us" or other similar function may not receive a response. We will not use the information provided via these functions to contact you for marketing purposes unrelated to your request unless you agree otherwise.
Metaculus does not share your Personal Information with third parties for their marketing purposes without your consent. Metaculus may share aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction. We also may share your Personal Information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy to our subsidiaries and affiliates and with third parties [with your consent], as disclosed at the time you provide us with information, to fulfill the purpose for which you provide it and as described below or otherwise in this Privacy Policy:
We strive to provide you with choices regarding the Personal Information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:
We do not control third parties' collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. These third parties may however provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. You can opt out of receiving targeted ads from members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI") on the NAI's website.
If you use the Service through a mobile device or one of our mobile applications, your mobile Device Identifier, your mobile carrier, and your physical (GPS) location may be transmitted to Metaculus. You agree that Metaculus may store and use that information for security purposes (for example, for user verification and to ensure that Metaculus's APIs are being used appropriately). You may be able to opt-in to receiving text messages from Metaculus. You may always opt-out by replying "STOP" to one of the text messages received. You also acknowledge and agree that use of the Service through a mobile device may cause data to be displayed on and through your mobile device which may be viewed by your mobile carrier or other access provider.
You may be able to review and change your Personal Information by logging in to your account for that Service and editing or deleting the information on your account preferences page on the applicable Service or by using the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the Metaculus email. However, we reserve the right to send you information on our behalf and on behalf of third parties in connection with providing the Service.
If you wish to close your account with us, please send your request to closemyaccount@metaculus.com and we will remove your Personal Information, Profile and Comments, if applicable, from the active database. You typically will receive a response to such a request sent to us within five business days of our receiving it. Requests to change your email preferences or unsubscribe from all emails may not be made through this email address, but rather must be submitted through one of the channels set out in the previous section.
Even if your account is closed, information may remain in backup records and we may retain certain data if it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, non-personally-identifiable data, account recovery or if required by law. All retained data will continue to be subject to the applicable privacy policy for the Service. Also, if you have posted content on or through the Service, such as in Community Forums, we may not be able to delete it.
Certain content or applications, including advertisements, provided through the Service may be hosted and 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 the Service. 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 different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content. These third parties may also use widgets, such as those that allow you to "like" or "share" content with third-party web sites and online services.
In addition, the Service may link to third-party web sites or content over which Metaculus has no control and which are governed by the privacy policies and business practices of those third parties. In addition, third-party partners of Metaculus from whom you order through the Service may have different privacy policies which apply to such partner's use of your information.
Please also note that Metaculus content and widgets may be included on web pages and web sites that are not associated with us and over which we have no control. These third parties may independently collect data. We do not control these third parties' tracking technologies or how they may be used. Metaculus is not responsible for the privacy practices or business practices of any third party. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly. For information about how you can opt out of receiving targeted advertising from many providers, see CHOICES ABOUT HOW WE USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION.
We display personal testimonials of satisfied customers on our Service in addition to other endorsements. With your consent we may post your testimonial along with your name. If you wish to update or delete your testimonial, you can contact us at legal@metaculus.com.
Metaculus takes commercially reasonable security measures to protect your personal information both during transmission and once we receive it. We have implemented measures designed to secure your Personal Information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers behind firewalls. Any payment transactions will be encrypted using secure socket layer (SSL) technology. For example, when you enter sensitive information such as a credit card number and CCV2 number on our checkout forms, that information is encrypted using SSL technology, to help protect the communications between you and our payment partners.
The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of the Service, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. We urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of the Service like message boards. The information you share in public areas may be viewed by any user of the Service.
However, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, as in any real-life scenario, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website. If you have any questions about security on our Service, you can email us at legal@metaculus.com.
The Service is operated in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that information we collect will be transferred to and processed in the United States. By using the Service, or providing us with any information, you fully understand and unambiguously consent to this transfer, processing and storage of your information in the United States, a jurisdiction in which the privacy laws may not be as comprehensive as those in the country where you reside and/or are a citizen.
Metaculus may modify or update this Privacy Policy at any time and any changes will be effective upon posting on this page. In the event that there are material changes to the way we treat your Personal Information, we will display a notice through the Service prior to the change becoming effective. We may also notify you by email. The date this Privacy Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically checking this Privacy Policy for any changes. Your continued use of the Service following the posting of changes will mean that you accept and agree to the revised Privacy Policy.
If you have questions or comments about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, or need to access it in an alternative format due to having a disability, please email us at legal@metaculus.com or contact us at:
Metaculus, Inc.
Attn: Privacy Policy Issues
1112 Montana Avenue ste 464
Santa Monica, CA, US
90403
Pursuant to California Civil Code Section 1798.83, residents of the State of California have the right to request from companies conducting business in California a list of all third parties to which the company has disclosed certain categories of personal information during the preceding year for the third parties' direct marketing purposes and the categories of personal information the company shares. Alternatively, the law provides that a company that has a privacy policy that provides consumers choice (opt-out or opt-in) regarding sharing personal information with third parties for those third parties' direct marketing purposes may instead provide information on how to exercise that choice. Metaculus qualifies for the alternative option; it has a comprehensive privacy policy that sets forth that Metaculus provides you choice prior to sharing your personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. If you do not opt-in or if you choose to opt-out at the time Metaculus offers that choice, Metaculus does not share your information with that identified third party for its direct marketing purposes.
If you are a California resident and you have questions about our practices with respect to sharing information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes and your ability to exercise choice, please send your request to the following email address: legal@metaculus.com or write to us at the following mailing address: Metaculus, Inc., 1112 Montana Avenue ste 464 Santa Monica, CA, US 90403. You must put the statement "Your California Privacy Rights" in the subject field of your e-mail or include it in your writing if you choose to write to us at the designated mailing address. You must include your name, street address, city, state, and zip code. We are not responsible for notices that are not labeled or sent properly, or do not have complete information.