This is the privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") of the SymmetryCat.org website and describes how SymmetryCat.org ("SymmetryCat," "We," "Us" or "Our") handles Personal Information (as defined below) that users ("You," "Your” or "User") provide to Us, or that We collect from You through the use of Our Website, which is located at SymmetryCat.org (the "Website" or the "Platform").
Each country has different laws and rights relating to Personal Information of their residents. If You are a resident located outside the United States, in addition to this Privacy Policy, please also see Your country specific disclosures including those for: Argentina; Australia; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; Finland; Greece; Guatemala; Israel; Mexico; New Zealand; Panama; Portugal; South Africa; Spain; Sweden; Taiwan; Uruguay; and the United Kingdom.
This Privacy Policy is subject to Our Terms of Use at https://www.symmetrycat.org/terms. We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, as specified in the “Privacy Policy Changes” section below.
You should read this entire Privacy Policy before submitting information to Us or using Our Platform. Whenever You submit personal and non-personal information via Our Platform or otherwise to Us, whether online or offline, You consent to the collection, use disclosure, transfer, and storage of that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
"Personal Information" means information such as Your first/middle initial or name, last name, e-mail address, street address, mailing address if different, town or city, state, zip code, telephone number, profile photograph, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, credit card information and any other information that could allow someone to identify You or contact You, including information collected through cookies and other technology.
SymmetryCat collects Personal Information of the sort that web browsers, hardware, software and servers typically make available, such as the IP address, device ID, browser type, language preference, referring site, pages viewed, one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser, and the date and time of each visitor request. SymmetryCat's purpose in collecting this information is to better understand how SymmetryCat's visitors use its Platform. From time to time, SymmetryCat may release such information in the aggregate, e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its Platform.
SymmetryCat may collect Personal Information when You choose to interact with SymmetryCat in ways that require SymmetryCat to gather such information, such as if You browse on SymmetryCat, register as a SymmetryCat User, update or add information to Your SymmetryCat profile, provide content to SymmetryCat through Your computer or phone, make a donation to SymmetryCat through the Platform, (collectively, the SymmetryCat "Services"), or otherwise communicate or engage with Us about the SymmetryCat Services. When You record an observation of a pattern with symmetry at a particular time and location and post it on SymmetryCat (an “Observation”), We may collect Your User ID, latitude and longitude of the site of the Observation, the place name of the site of the Observation, the date and time of the Observation, the metadata associated with image or sound files, the app You used to contribute data, and the time zone of the site of the Observation. The amount and type of information that SymmetryCat gathers depends on the nature of the interaction. In each case, SymmetryCat collects such information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of Your interaction with SymmetryCat. SymmetryCat does not disclose Personal Information other than as described herein. You can refuse to supply Personal Information, with the caveat that doing so may prevent You from engaging in certain Website and App-related activities, such as registering as a SymmetryCat User, maintaining a SymmetryCat profile, posting content to SymmetryCat, making a donation, or purchasing an item from the SymmetryCat Store. Without providing personal information (other than the automatic provision of Your IP address), You will still be able to access and use SymmetryCat on a read-only basis.
We may use the Personal Information that You provide in order to deliver the SymmetryCat Services and to administer and maintain the SymmetryCat Websites, respond to Your inquiries, improve our services, business, and Platform, manage our business including spam detection and fraud prevention purposes, for marketing, legal and research purposes, and to understand how You use Our Platform and Services. If You register as a SymmetryCat User, You must give Us current, complete and accurate information and keep the information You provide to Us up to date. We cannot and shall not be responsible for any problems or liability that may arise if You do not give Us current, accurate, truthful, or complete information or if You fail to update the information You give Us.
Personal Information You provide related to the Observations You post (user name, date, time, location) is published in venues on SymmetryCat where it is visible to anyone ("Published") as matter of normal usage and therefore is publicly shared with other SymmetryCat Users, whether or not they are signed in. SymmetryCat discloses Personal Information to contractors, service providers, consultants and affiliated organizations that (i) need to know that information in order to process it on SymmetryCat's behalf or to provide Services available at SymmetryCat's Platform, and (ii) that have agreed not to disclose it to others. Some of SymmetryCat’s contractors, service providers and affiliated organizations may be located outside of Your home country; by using SymmetryCat's Platform, You consent to the transfer of such information to them. SymmetryCat will not rent or sell Personal Information to anyone. We share your Personal information with entities that support Our Websites and data, communicating with You, fraud and spam detection, data analytics, and other legitimate business purposes. We use Amazon Web Services. If You choose to participate in some optional services, We will share Personal Information with entities that make those services possible. You can withdraw from participation in these services by contacting Us at admin@symmetrycat.org. Other than as described above, SymmetryCat discloses Personal Information only when required to do so by law, or when SymmetryCat believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of SymmetryCat, third parties, or the public at large. Unless authorized by You through Your opt-in, or as provided above, We will make Your Personal Information available to non-affiliated third parties only in the following circumstances:
If You are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), or otherwise subject to the GDPR, SymmetryCat's legal basis for collecting and using the Personal Information described in this Privacy Policy depends on the Personal Information We collect and the specific context in which We collect it. In addition, We process Personal Information with the principle of data minimization in mind. This means that We limit ourselves to the minimum amount of personal information which is needed to achieve the particular purpose for which We process the Personal Information. Below are some examples of the purposes for which Personal Information may be processed. SymmetryCat may process Your Personal Information because:
SymmetryCat currently does not contact users by email other than possibly during the sign-up process to confirm a valid email address or in response to a situation as detailed above. In the event that this changes, you will be able to control the kinds of emails You receive after creating an account by clicking on this link https://www.symmetrycat.org/users/edit and following the instructions on that page, or by clicking unsubscribe links in emails that We may send You. Should You require assistance, You may contact Us directly by emailing help@symmetrycat.org. Keep in mind that these preferences regarding promotional contacts do not mean that We might not contact You for other reasons, such as those related to an inquiry You made, a legally required notice and so on.
We retain Your Personal Information associated with Your registration for so long as You remain a registered User of SymmetryCat. In addition, We may retain Personal Information from closed accounts to comply with national laws, prevent fraud, collect any fees owed, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigation, enforce Our User Agreement and take other actions permitted or required by applicable national laws.
Personal information associated with Observations (time, date, location, classification, etc.) may remain attached to Observations, even after You have closed Your account unless You request that We delete it.
We do not knowingly collect or solicit Personal Information from children or knowingly allow children to make purchases through Our Platform. Visitors 12 years of age and younger must obtain an adult's permission before submitting any Personal Information to our Platform. In the event that We learn that We have received any Personal Information from a visitor 12 years of age or younger, and We do not receive parental permission within a reasonable period of time of Our request for it, We will delete that information as quickly as possible. If You believe that We might have Personal Information from or about a child 12 years of age or younger, please contact Us at help@symmetrycat.org.
Automated technology collects information from Your computer or mobile device and includes cookies, web beacons, local shared objects, or other similar technology. A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor's computer, and that the visitor's browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. A "web beacon" is a small object or image that is embedded into a web page, application, or email and is used to track activity. They are also sometimes referred to as pixels and tags.
As You access or use Our Website, We and/or third parties may collect information using cookies, web beacons, pixels, navigational and location data collection (clickstream, log files, server logs) and other similar technologies for the purposes described in this Policy. SymmetryCat uses cookies to help SymmetryCat identify and track visitors, their usage of the SymmetryCat Websites and their Website access preferences. SymmetryCat visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using SymmetryCat's Websites. Certain features of SymmetryCat's Websites, such as the ability to post Observations, may not function properly without the aid of cookies.
To find more information about cookies please visit www.allaboutcookies.org. Most browsers are initially set to allow cookies, but also offer the option to restrict cookies or warn You of their use.
We and/or third-parties and service providers on Our behalf, use cookies, web beacons and other similar technology, to collect information for the purposes described in this Policy including analytics, monitoring performance and improvement of Our online services (traffic, errors, page load time, popular pages, etc.).
You may opt out of analytics as follows. Residents of the European Economic Area (EEA) that have the right to opt-out of decisions based solely on automatic decision-making may also opt-out of analytics as follows.
All SymmetryCat users may opt-out of all third party tracking by visiting https://www.symmetrycat.org/users/edit. If You are unable to perform these actions yourself, please contact Us to assist You.
If You do not wish to have the time, date, place, or other identifying information of an Observation included on SymmetryCat, You should not post an Observation. Upon Your request, We will close Your account and remove Your Observations.
If You withdraw Your consent for the use or disclosure of Your Personal Information for purposes set out in this Privacy Policy You may not have access to all Our Services and We might not be able to provide You all of the Services and customer support offered to Our users and authorized under this Privacy Notice and Our User Agreement.
The Data Controller who collects and processes your Personal Information is: SymmetryCat at admin@symmetrycat.org.
There may be opportunities through the SymmetryCat Platform from time to time to opt-in to receive information from non-SymmetryCat entities. If You opt-in, You may receive correspondence from these organizations on programs, products or services that might interest You. Your communication with these entities should be directly with such entities.
Although most changes are likely to be minor, SymmetryCat may change its Privacy Policy from time to time, and at SymmetryCat's sole discretion. We will post an updated and revised version of this Privacy Policy on the SymmetryCat Platform when any material changes have been made, and SymmetryCat encourages visitors to check this Privacy Policy often so You are aware of the most current terms and conditions that apply to You. The revisions are effective immediately upon posting. Your continued use of this site after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute Your acceptance of such change.
The Services of SymmetryCat are operated from and in the U.S. By using the Services and posting Observations, You consent to the transfer, processing and storage of Your Personal Information in the U.S., a jurisdiction in which the privacy laws may not be as comprehensive as those in the country in which You reside. We take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your Personal Information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Because there are not yet common, industry accepted “do not track” standards and systems, the Websites may not respond to Do Not Track signals. In addition, we may allow third parties to collect Personal Information from your activity on our Website, as described in this Privacy Policy.
Although We do not disclose to any third parties for their marketing purposes any Personal Information, residents of the State of California are entitled to receive the following disclosure information under California law:
Residents of the State of California, under the California Civil Code, have the right to request from companies conducting business in California, a list of all third parties to which the company has disclosed Personal Information during the preceding year for direct marketing purposes. We do not share Your Personal Information with any third parties for direct marketing purposes.
If You are a California resident and request information about how to exercise Your third party disclosure choices, You must send a request to the following address with a preference on how Our response to Your request should be sent (email or postal mail). Send an email to the SymmetryCat Data Protection Officer at admin@symmetrycat.org.
For all requests, please include Your name, street address, city, state, and zip code. (Your street address is optional if You wish to receive a response to Your request via email. Please include Your zip code for our own recordkeeping.) We will not accept requests via the telephone or by facsimile. We are not responsible for notices that are not labeled or sent properly, notices that are illegible or do not have complete information.
If any User of Our Platform, or any Subscriber has any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact the SymmetryCat Data Protection Officer admin@symmetrycat.org.