Youz Privacy Policy


EFFECTIVE DATE: February 18, 2019

On February 18, 2018, we published a revised version of our Privacy Policy. Your continued use of Youz means you agree to this revised document, so please take a few minutes to read and understand it.

The Youz mobile application and services, as well as Youz websites and services (the “Sites”) and any content therein (collectively, the “Services”) offer users a forum to interact with other Youz users in the same area. In this Privacy Policy (“Policy”), we describe how we collect, use, and disclose information that we obtain about users of our Services, which are available via mobile applications (the “App”) and/or the Sites.

What Information We Collect

Account Information . When you first launch the App and/or the Sites, we assign you a user id but we do not require you to provide your name or email address.

We may also collect the following information:

Device Phonebook . We may, with your consent, collect information from your device’s phonebook and upload your contacts in server, We do this, for example, so that you can share youz with your phonebook contacts. You can always revoke this consent by changing the settings on your device.

Geolocation Data . We ask you to share your location information from your mobile device and/or computer. We may determine location based on the location services of the applicable operating system or browser and information on nearby Wi-Fi- access points and cell towers. If you choose not to share your location information, the Services will not function. Location information is used to place you in your local Youz group, to place you in your home Youz group, to enable you to find and connect with local Youz and to enable them to find and connect you, and as explained below. You can revoke your consent by changing the settings or preferences on your device and/or computer or by deleting Youz from your device. If you want to opt-out of Local Youz, which is the widget that enables you and other local Youz to find each other and connect, go to the Me tab > Settings > Explore Local YOUZ and turn off the toggle. If you do not want Youz to use location information from your computer, you should also clear your browser history (where location information is stored).

Your Content and Usage . We collect any content you submit to the Services, information about the content, such as when you submitted it, and any metadata that is provided with the content.

Telephone Number. We will ask you to provide and verify your telephone number when you first launch the App. Additionally, this process may be triggered if you want to post content, share a yak or if we suspect improper activity on your account. It may also be triggered if you log in to a Site so that we can connect your Site usage with your App usage.

Other Information you Provide to Us. When you interact with our Services or otherwise communicate with Youz in any way, we will collect the information you choose to share with us.

Information We Collect Automatically . We may automatically collect information about your use of the Services such as: access time, device ID, application ID or other unique identifier; domain name, IP address, screen views; geo-location data (with your permission); language information; device name and model; operating system information; your activities within the Services; and the length of time that you are logged in. We may combine this information with other information that we have collected about you.

Social Media Sites . You can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and promote us on other social media sites. We collect information about who has liked us or followed us. You may also share youz through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media accounts. And, you may add select links to your profile.

How We Use Information We Collect

In general, we use the information we collect from and about you to provide and operate the Services, respond to your requests, and to provide customer service and technical support. We may also use information:

To place you in your local Youz group so that you can post and review content based on your current location.

To enable you to find and connect with users in your proximity i.e., local Youz and for them to find and connect with you.

To tag your posts with city-level location information.

To enable you to search for local Youz by status.

To place you in your home Youz group so that you can post and review content in your community even when you are away.

To tailor the information that we may send or display to you, offer location customization, and send you push notifications and alerts.

To personalize and customize your experiences while using our Services, for example, by giving you more content from your favorite sources, showing you less content from sources you have down voted or adjusting the ranking of yaks based on your preferences.

To send you notices.

To display advertising, including advertising that is targeted to you based on your location, as well as your Youz activities.

To verify your identity and prevent impersonation, spam or other unauthorized or illegal activity.

To better understand how users access and use our Services, both on an aggregated and individualized basis, in order to improve our Services and respond to user desires and preferences, and for other research and analytical purposes.



Where Information is Processed

Youz is based in the United States. No matter where you are located, you consent to the processing and transferring of your information in and to the U.S. and other countries. The laws of the U.S. and other countries governing data collection and use may not be as comprehensive or protective as the laws of the country where you live. And, your information may be made available to government or law enforcement requests.

How We Share Information

You cannot control who views any content you post on a Youz feed, as it is publicly available. So, if you don’t want to share something publicly, don’t post it. Your profile is associated with your handle and is publicly available when you post content with your handle.

The information we collect, including personally identifiable information, may be shared as follows:

Youz Users . Any information that you (i) post e.g., youz, your profile, your status (ii) link to e.g., your Facebook account or (iii) send e.g., chats may be shared with other users and potentially the public at large, depending on the type of feature that you are using. For example, any posts on a Youz feed are available to all other users and may be publicly distributed and any status you post can be used to search for users with that “type” of status e.g., studyingForExams, watchingFootball. Any content that you send directly to another user will be shared with that user. Users can freely save or re-share any Youz content on and off our Services. Please don’t post content or send messages you wouldn’t want others to save or share. In addition, your last proximate location along with your profile image and status may be shared through Local Yakkers. When you use this feature, other users may know that you, along with others, are in a particular area e.g., on campus, near a restaurant, at a stadium. If you want to opt-out of Local Yakkers, Go to the Me tab > Settings > Explore Local Yakkers and turn off the toggle.

Service Providers . We may disclose the information we collect to third party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform functions on our behalf.

Business Transfers . We may transfer the information we have collected to another company in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business.

Third Parties and Partners . We may share the information with our third party partners, including advertisers and researchers. For example, if you post content that mentions one of our advertisers, we may share that content with them. Or, we may work with a researcher to analyze the content on a particular feed.

In Response to Legal Process . We also may disclose the information in order to comply with the law, a judicial proceeding, court order, subpoena, or other legal process. For example, we may share your IP address or other identifier, your location information, or any other information we have collected about you and your device.

To Protect Us and Others . We also may disclose information if we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, violations of our Terms of Service or this Policy, or as evidence in litigation in which Youz is involved.

Aggregate and De-Identified Information . We may also share aggregate or de-identified information about users with third parties for marketing, advertising, research or similar purposes.



Invite Contacts

You can choose to “Share Youz ” by inviting contacts via email, text or other means. You choose what contacts to invite and when to invite them. If you invite a contact, we will generate a message with the Youz download URL included, which you can choose to send via your mobile device.

Your Content

You can delete content you have posted on a Youz feed (including replies). Content you delete from a Youz feed will be hidden from other users. However, Youz may maintain a copy of your content in our records.

Push Notifications/Alerts

We may send push notifications or alerts to your device. You can deactivate these messages at any time by changing the notification settings on your device or by changing your Youz settings.

Cookies

“Cookies” are small data file identifiers that are transferred to your computer that allow us to recognize your browser and transfer information about you and your use of our Services. For example, cookies that we use tell us how many times you have visited one of our Sites. We use “persistent” cookies to save your login information for future logins to the Services. We also use “session ID” cookies to enable certain features of the Services, to better understand how you interact with the Services and to monitor aggregate usage by users and web traffic routing on the Services. Unlike persistent cookies, session ID cookies are deleted from your computer when you log off from a Service and close your browser. You can instruct your browser, by changing its settings, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from our Sites. If you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use all portions of the Services or all functionality of the Services.

Third Party Analytics

We may use automated devices and applications, included those offered by third parties to evaluate usage of our Services. We also may use other analytic means to evaluate our Services. We use these tools to help us improve our Services, performance and user experiences. The information collected may include unique device identifiers, device manufacturer and operating system, IP address, browser type, session start/stop time, and user activity.

From within the App, you may opt out of the collection of this information by third party analytics companies for the App (but not for the Sites) by setting the toggle at the end of the Policy to the right. The opt-out is not available on the Sites. Please note that if you choose to opt out of any data collection, that opt-out will not result in the deletion of data that has already been collected from the App.

To learn how Google Analytics uses your data from the Sites and how to opt out of collection of your information by Google Analytics via the Sites please visithttp://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.htmland https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout . To learn how Optimizely uses your data from the Sites and how to opt out, please visithttps://www.optimizely.com/privacy/ and https://www.optimizely.com/opt_out/.





Third Party Ads

We may display ads to you (including in-app ads), and we may target those ads based on your location, your Youz activities, and other criteria (e.g., the time of day). We do not currently respond to do-not-track signals that may be sent from your device. For more information about interest-based ads, including how to opt out of having your web browsing information used for behavioral advertising purposes, please visit www.aboutads.info/choices.

Third-Party Links

Our Services may contain third party links, including third party integrations. Any access to and use of such links or third party integrations is not governed by this Policy, but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third parties.

Minors

You must be at least 18 to use our Services. If you are not at least 18, please do not use our Services or provide any information to us. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we take steps to remove such information from our systems.

Contact Us

If you have questions about the privacy aspects of our Services or would like to make a complaint, please contact us at http://Youz.com/support .

Changes to this Policy


This Policy is current as of the Effective Date set forth above. We may change this Policy from time to time, so please be sure to check back periodically. We will post any changes to this Policy at http://youz.me/privacy . If we make any changes to this Policy that materially affect our practices with regard to the personal information we have previously collected from you, we will endeavor to provide you with notice in advance of such change by highlighting the change on our Site, or providing notice in our mobile app.