EpikChat provides this Privacy Policy to inform you of our policies and procedures regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information we receive from users of www.epikchat.com (this “Site”) or the software or mobile application on which this Privacy Policy is presented (the Site and such applications and software referred to herein, as the “EpikChat Platform”). This Privacy Policy applies only to information that you provide to us through this EpikChat Platform. This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. You are advised to consult this policy regularly for any changes. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in the EpikChat Terms of Use.
As used in this policy, the terms “using” and “processing” information include using cookies on a computer, subjecting the information to statistical or other analysis and using or handling information in any way, including, but not limited to collecting, storing, evaluating, modifying, deleting, using, combining, disclosing and transferring information within our organization or among our affiliates within the United States or internationally.
Information Collection and Use
Our primary goals in collecting information are to provide and improve our EpikChat Platform, services, features and content, to administer your Membership (together, the “Service”) and to enable users to enjoy and easily navigate the EpikChat Platform.
Personally Identifiable Information
• When you register with us through the EpikChat Platform, as a EpikChat Member or when you choose to create your own profile webpage on the EpikChat Platform we will ask you for personally identifiable information. This refers to information about you that can be used to contact or identify you (“Personal Information”). Personal Information includes, but is not limited to, your name, phone number, credit card or other billing information, email address, home and business postal addresses, as well as any personally identifiable information that you provide during your video or chat sessions via the Service (e.g, images and identifications of yourself). We use your Personal Information mainly to provide the Service and administer your inquiries.
• We also collect the other information that you provide as part of registration and the administration and personalization of your profile webpage (e.g., without limitation, zip code (on its own), age, gender, and individual preferences) (“Non-Identifying Information”).
• We use your Personal Information (in some cases, in conjunction with your Non-Identifying Information) mainly to provide the Service, complete your transactions, and administer your inquiries.
• Certain Non-Identifying Information would be considered a part of your Personal Information if it were combined with other identifiers (for example, combining your zip code with your street address) in a way that enables you to be identified. But the same pieces of information are considered Non-Identifying Information when they are taken alone or combined only with other non-identifying information (for example, your viewing preferences). We may combine your Personal Information with Non-Identifying Information and aggregate it with information collected from other EpikChat Users (defined below) to attempt to provide you with a better experience, to improve the quality and value of the Service and to analyze and understand how our EpikChat Platform and Service are used. We may also use the combined information without aggregating it to serve you specifically, for instance to deliver a product to you according to your preferences or restrictions.
• We also use your Personal Information to contact you with EpikChat newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to you. If you decide at any time that you no longer wish to receive such communications from us, please follow the unsubscribe instructions provided in any of the communications or update your “user settings” information. (See “Changing or Deleting Information,” below.)
Log Data
When you visit the Site, whether as a EpikChat Member or a non-registered user just browsing (any of these, a “EpikChat User”), our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website (“Log Data”). This Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type or the webpage you were visiting before you came to our Site, pages or portions of our EpikChat Platform that you visit or click on, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on the EpikChat Platform, access times and dates, and other statistics. We use this information to monitor and analyze use of the EpikChat Platform and the Service and for the EpikChat Platform’s technical administration, to increase the EpikChat Platform’s functionality and user-friendliness, and to better tailor it to our visitors’ needs. For example, some of this information is collected so that when you visit the EpikChat Platform again, it will recognize you and serve information appropriate to your interests. We also use this information to verify that visitors to the EpikChat Platform meet the criteria required to process their requests. We do not treat Log Data as Personal Information or use it in association with other Personal Information, though we may aggregate, analyze and evaluate such information for the same purposes as stated above regarding other Non-Identifying Information.
Cookies
Like many websites, we use “cookies” to collect information. A cookie is a small data file that we transfer to your computer’s hard disk for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies for two purposes. First, we utilize persistent cookies to save your registration ID and login password for future logins to the EpikChat Platform. Second, we utilize session ID cookies to enable certain features of the EpikChat Platform, to better understand how you interact with the EpikChat Platform and to monitor aggregate usage by EpikChat Users and web traffic routing on the EpikChat Platform. Unlike persistent cookies, session cookies are deleted from your computer when you log off from the EpikChat Platform and Service and then close your browser. Third party advertisers on the EpikChat Platform may also place or read cookies on your browser. You can instruct your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. If you do not accept cookies, however, you may not be able to use all portions of the EpikChat Platform or all functionality of the Service.
Phishing
Identity theft and the practice currently known as “phishing” are of great concern to EpikChat. Safeguarding information to help protect you from identity theft is a top priority. We do not and will not, at any time, request your credit card information, your account ID, login password, or national identification numbers in a non-secure or unsolicited e-mail or telephone communication. For more information about phishing, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
When you register through the EpikChat Platform and submit your Personal Information to create a profile webpage, EpikChat Users and users of certain third-party websites will see your “User Name” (“Required Member Identifiers”). You can choose what other Personal Information or other information to provide as part of your profile or through your video or chat sessions (“Other Member Information”) and in some cases you can choose whether to share your profile information publicly on the EpikChat Platform by making selections via the “my account” section of your profile webpage. Providing Other Member Information is voluntary and should correlate with the degree of interaction you want to have with EpikChat Users. We recommend that you guard your anonymity and sensitive information and that you not use your real name as your “User Name,” since that would allow others to identify you. You can review and revise your profile information at any time.
Aggregate Information and Non-Identifying Information. We may share aggregated information that includes your Personal Information, Non-Identifying Information and Log Data with third parties for industry analysis and demographic profiling and to deliver targeted advertising about other products and services. You will have the opportunity to opt out of the sharing of your information described in this paragraph. If you would like us to opt out of sharing your information for such purposes, please contact us at privacy@epikchat.com with a request that we not share your information with third parties.
Service Providers
We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service, to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform EpikChat Platform-related services (e.g., without limitation, maintenance services, database management, web analytics and improvement of the EpikChat Platform’s features) or to assist us in analyzing how our EpikChat Platform and Service are used. These third parties have access to your Personal Information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose. We may also provide Personal Information to our business partners or other trusted entities for the purpose of providing you with information on goods or services we believe will be of interest to you. You can, at any time, opt out of receiving such communications.
Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement
EpikChat cooperates with government and law enforcement officials and private parties to enforce and comply with the law. We will disclose any information about you to government or law enforcement officials or private parties as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal process (including but not limited to subpoenas), to protect the property and rights of EpikChat or a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop activity we may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, any illegal, unethical, offensive or legally actionable activity.
Video Broadcasts
Video and chat sessions may be broadcast live, or recorded and re-broadcast, through third party websites. We recommend that you exercise caution in disclosing any information, personal or otherwise, during a video or chat session. Such information will be broadcast along with the relevant video or chat session to other users and third parties viewing such videos or chat sessions through the EpikChat Platform and third party websites.
Business Transfers
EpikChat may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of its assets, including your Personal Information, in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets or in the event of bankruptcy. [You will have the opportunity to opt out of any such transfer if the new EpikChat's planned processing of your information differs materially from that set forth in this Privacy Policy.]
Changing or Deleting Your Information
All EpikChat Members may review, update, correct or delete the Personal Information in their registration profile by visiting the account settings and profile settings features on the EpikChat Platform. If you completely delete all such information, then your account may become deactivated. If you would like us to delete your record in our system, please contact us at privacy@epikchat.com with a request that we delete your Personal Information from our database. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to honor your request. We may retain an archived copy of your records as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.
Security
EpikChat is very concerned with safeguarding your information. The security of your personal information is important to us. But remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. When you enter sensitive information (such as credit card number or social security number) on our registration or order forms, we encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). In some cases, we also encrypt sensitive information where it is stored on our systems.
We will make any legally required disclosures of any breach of the security, confidentiality, or integrity of your unencrypted electronically stored “personal data” (as defined in applicable state statutes on security breach notification) to you via email or conspicuous posting on this EpikChat Platform in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, insofar as consistent with (i) the legitimate needs of law enforcement or (ii) any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system.
International Transfer
Your information may be transferred to - and maintained on - computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, EpikChat transfers Personal Information to the United States and processes it there. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.
Links to Other Sites
The EpikChat Platform contains links to other websites. If you choose to visit an advertiser by “clicking on” a banner ad or other type of advertisement, or click on another third party link, you may be directed to that third party’s website. The fact that we link to a website or present a banner ad or other type of advertisement is not an endorsement, authorization or representation of our affiliation with that third party, nor is it an endorsement of their privacy or information security policies or practices. We do not exercise control over third party websites. These other websites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit personal information from you. Other sites follow different rules regarding the use or disclosure of the personal information you submit to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of the other websites you visit.
Our Policy Toward Children
The EpikChat Platform is not directed to children under 15. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with Personal Information without their consent, he or she should contact us at privacy@epikchat.com. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with Personal Information, we will delete such information from our files.
Contacting Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@epikchat.com.
As used in this policy, the terms “using” and “processing” information include using cookies on a computer, subjecting the information to statistical or other analysis and using or handling information in any way, including, but not limited to collecting, storing, evaluating, modifying, deleting, using, combining, disclosing and transferring information within our organization or among our affiliates within the United States or internationally.
Information Collection and Use
Our primary goals in collecting information are to provide and improve our EpikChat Platform, services, features and content, to administer your Membership (together, the “Service”) and to enable users to enjoy and easily navigate the EpikChat Platform.
Personally Identifiable Information
• When you register with us through the EpikChat Platform, as a EpikChat Member or when you choose to create your own profile webpage on the EpikChat Platform we will ask you for personally identifiable information. This refers to information about you that can be used to contact or identify you (“Personal Information”). Personal Information includes, but is not limited to, your name, phone number, credit card or other billing information, email address, home and business postal addresses, as well as any personally identifiable information that you provide during your video or chat sessions via the Service (e.g, images and identifications of yourself). We use your Personal Information mainly to provide the Service and administer your inquiries.
• We also collect the other information that you provide as part of registration and the administration and personalization of your profile webpage (e.g., without limitation, zip code (on its own), age, gender, and individual preferences) (“Non-Identifying Information”).
• We use your Personal Information (in some cases, in conjunction with your Non-Identifying Information) mainly to provide the Service, complete your transactions, and administer your inquiries.
• Certain Non-Identifying Information would be considered a part of your Personal Information if it were combined with other identifiers (for example, combining your zip code with your street address) in a way that enables you to be identified. But the same pieces of information are considered Non-Identifying Information when they are taken alone or combined only with other non-identifying information (for example, your viewing preferences). We may combine your Personal Information with Non-Identifying Information and aggregate it with information collected from other EpikChat Users (defined below) to attempt to provide you with a better experience, to improve the quality and value of the Service and to analyze and understand how our EpikChat Platform and Service are used. We may also use the combined information without aggregating it to serve you specifically, for instance to deliver a product to you according to your preferences or restrictions.
• We also use your Personal Information to contact you with EpikChat newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to you. If you decide at any time that you no longer wish to receive such communications from us, please follow the unsubscribe instructions provided in any of the communications or update your “user settings” information. (See “Changing or Deleting Information,” below.)
Log Data
When you visit the Site, whether as a EpikChat Member or a non-registered user just browsing (any of these, a “EpikChat User”), our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website (“Log Data”). This Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type or the webpage you were visiting before you came to our Site, pages or portions of our EpikChat Platform that you visit or click on, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on the EpikChat Platform, access times and dates, and other statistics. We use this information to monitor and analyze use of the EpikChat Platform and the Service and for the EpikChat Platform’s technical administration, to increase the EpikChat Platform’s functionality and user-friendliness, and to better tailor it to our visitors’ needs. For example, some of this information is collected so that when you visit the EpikChat Platform again, it will recognize you and serve information appropriate to your interests. We also use this information to verify that visitors to the EpikChat Platform meet the criteria required to process their requests. We do not treat Log Data as Personal Information or use it in association with other Personal Information, though we may aggregate, analyze and evaluate such information for the same purposes as stated above regarding other Non-Identifying Information.
Cookies
Like many websites, we use “cookies” to collect information. A cookie is a small data file that we transfer to your computer’s hard disk for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies for two purposes. First, we utilize persistent cookies to save your registration ID and login password for future logins to the EpikChat Platform. Second, we utilize session ID cookies to enable certain features of the EpikChat Platform, to better understand how you interact with the EpikChat Platform and to monitor aggregate usage by EpikChat Users and web traffic routing on the EpikChat Platform. Unlike persistent cookies, session cookies are deleted from your computer when you log off from the EpikChat Platform and Service and then close your browser. Third party advertisers on the EpikChat Platform may also place or read cookies on your browser. You can instruct your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. If you do not accept cookies, however, you may not be able to use all portions of the EpikChat Platform or all functionality of the Service.
Phishing
Identity theft and the practice currently known as “phishing” are of great concern to EpikChat. Safeguarding information to help protect you from identity theft is a top priority. We do not and will not, at any time, request your credit card information, your account ID, login password, or national identification numbers in a non-secure or unsolicited e-mail or telephone communication. For more information about phishing, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
When you register through the EpikChat Platform and submit your Personal Information to create a profile webpage, EpikChat Users and users of certain third-party websites will see your “User Name” (“Required Member Identifiers”). You can choose what other Personal Information or other information to provide as part of your profile or through your video or chat sessions (“Other Member Information”) and in some cases you can choose whether to share your profile information publicly on the EpikChat Platform by making selections via the “my account” section of your profile webpage. Providing Other Member Information is voluntary and should correlate with the degree of interaction you want to have with EpikChat Users. We recommend that you guard your anonymity and sensitive information and that you not use your real name as your “User Name,” since that would allow others to identify you. You can review and revise your profile information at any time.
Aggregate Information and Non-Identifying Information. We may share aggregated information that includes your Personal Information, Non-Identifying Information and Log Data with third parties for industry analysis and demographic profiling and to deliver targeted advertising about other products and services. You will have the opportunity to opt out of the sharing of your information described in this paragraph. If you would like us to opt out of sharing your information for such purposes, please contact us at privacy@epikchat.com with a request that we not share your information with third parties.
Service Providers
We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service, to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform EpikChat Platform-related services (e.g., without limitation, maintenance services, database management, web analytics and improvement of the EpikChat Platform’s features) or to assist us in analyzing how our EpikChat Platform and Service are used. These third parties have access to your Personal Information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose. We may also provide Personal Information to our business partners or other trusted entities for the purpose of providing you with information on goods or services we believe will be of interest to you. You can, at any time, opt out of receiving such communications.
Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement
EpikChat cooperates with government and law enforcement officials and private parties to enforce and comply with the law. We will disclose any information about you to government or law enforcement officials or private parties as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal process (including but not limited to subpoenas), to protect the property and rights of EpikChat or a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop activity we may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, any illegal, unethical, offensive or legally actionable activity.
Video Broadcasts
Video and chat sessions may be broadcast live, or recorded and re-broadcast, through third party websites. We recommend that you exercise caution in disclosing any information, personal or otherwise, during a video or chat session. Such information will be broadcast along with the relevant video or chat session to other users and third parties viewing such videos or chat sessions through the EpikChat Platform and third party websites.
Business Transfers
EpikChat may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of its assets, including your Personal Information, in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets or in the event of bankruptcy. [You will have the opportunity to opt out of any such transfer if the new EpikChat's planned processing of your information differs materially from that set forth in this Privacy Policy.]
Changing or Deleting Your Information
All EpikChat Members may review, update, correct or delete the Personal Information in their registration profile by visiting the account settings and profile settings features on the EpikChat Platform. If you completely delete all such information, then your account may become deactivated. If you would like us to delete your record in our system, please contact us at privacy@epikchat.com with a request that we delete your Personal Information from our database. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to honor your request. We may retain an archived copy of your records as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.
Security
EpikChat is very concerned with safeguarding your information. The security of your personal information is important to us. But remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. When you enter sensitive information (such as credit card number or social security number) on our registration or order forms, we encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). In some cases, we also encrypt sensitive information where it is stored on our systems.
We will make any legally required disclosures of any breach of the security, confidentiality, or integrity of your unencrypted electronically stored “personal data” (as defined in applicable state statutes on security breach notification) to you via email or conspicuous posting on this EpikChat Platform in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, insofar as consistent with (i) the legitimate needs of law enforcement or (ii) any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system.
International Transfer
Your information may be transferred to - and maintained on - computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, EpikChat transfers Personal Information to the United States and processes it there. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.
Links to Other Sites
The EpikChat Platform contains links to other websites. If you choose to visit an advertiser by “clicking on” a banner ad or other type of advertisement, or click on another third party link, you may be directed to that third party’s website. The fact that we link to a website or present a banner ad or other type of advertisement is not an endorsement, authorization or representation of our affiliation with that third party, nor is it an endorsement of their privacy or information security policies or practices. We do not exercise control over third party websites. These other websites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit personal information from you. Other sites follow different rules regarding the use or disclosure of the personal information you submit to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of the other websites you visit.
Our Policy Toward Children
The EpikChat Platform is not directed to children under 15. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with Personal Information without their consent, he or she should contact us at privacy@epikchat.com. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with Personal Information, we will delete such information from our files.
Contacting Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@epikchat.com.