Ask.com Privacy Policy
As of November 11,2010
At Ask.com, we respect your privacy, and we understand the importance of the information you entrust to us. We want to describe our privacy practices concerning the information collected through the Ask.com website in a clear and concise way. Below we generally describe what information we collect when you visit the Ask.com website, how we protect that information, how long we retain it, whom we share it with, and what your privacy options are.
As our privacy practices evolve, we will update this privacy policy. Any material changes in our privacy practices will be posted prominently on this page.
If you have any question about our privacy practices, you can contact us
here or write to our Privacy Officer at:
Ask.com
Attn: Privacy Officer
555 12th Street, 11th Floor
Oakland, CA 94607
Information we collect about your computer or mobile device
IP address
Browser type (Internet Explorer 8, etc.)
Browser language setting
Other browser information (e.g. size, connection speed)
Operating system or platform (Mac, Windows XP, etc.)
The ID number of your mobile device
Information we collect about your activity on Ask.com and Ask iPhone application
The URL of the last webpage you visited before visiting Ask.com
All of your activity on the Ask.com website (your queries, questions, answers, comments, search results selected, clicks, pages viewed, etc.)
We use cookies and pixel tags to collect and store this information.
If you register with Ask, we collect additional information:
The username and email address that you provide when you register
Any optional profile information you provide: a photo or avatar image, areas of expertise, places you’ve visited, your favorite music, movies and shows, etc.
We use a cookie so you remain signed in to your account for two weeks even if you close your browser. You can sign out at any time, and if you do, the cookie that keeps you signed in will be disabled.
If you register with Ask, all past and future information collected about your activity on the Ask.com website will become part of your account information. You may prevent search queries or questions from being associated with your account by signing out of your account and turning on
Ask Eraser, and we will not retain any queries you submit while
Ask Eraser is turned on. You will not be able to submit any queries to the Ask community if Ask Eraser is turned on.
If you are an Ask iPhone application user, you may not use Ask Eraser.
Why we collect information
To respond to your queries with the best possible answers and search results and provide you with other services that you request.
To understand our users (their demographics, what they do on our website, what site features they like, how they use them, etc.) and improve our services.
To administer our site and diagnose technical problems.
To send you the Ask newsletter, though you can opt out of receiving it if you wish.
If you register with Ask, to send you questions from other users that you may be able to answer.
To enable us to show you ads on our website that are more relevant to you.
To comply with legal obligations, protect legal rights, and respond to requests from government authorities.
How long we keep data about you
We anonymize your search queries and non-community questions after 18 months by disassociating them from your IP address, cookie IDs or mobile device ID, and Ask account, unless government authorities request otherwise.
We retain all Ask account registration information and activity (e.g. questions to the community and answers to community questions) until you close your account. After you close your account, we retain your username and email address to prevent others from creating a profile using the same information.
We retain all your community questions, answers and comments indefinitely, but after you terminate your account we no longer display your username and avatar or photo with these postings.
Data collection and sharing involving third parties
Advertisers and advertising networks place ads (including sponsored links in search results) on our site. These companies may collect information, such as your computer’s IP address, browser information, and search queries, as you use our site. They also may use web technologies such as cookies and pixel tags to collect data about you when you visit our site.
We use outside vendors for a variety of purposes, such as to send you emails and messages on behalf of other Ask community members, push notifications to your iPhone on our behalf, provide voice recognition services to process your spoken queries and questions, and help us analyze use of our services. We also may use vendors for other projects, such as conducting surveys or organizing sweepstakes for us, that involve collection of information from our users. We may share information about you with these vendors to enable them to perform their services
We have contracts with all of these companies that prohibit them from sharing the information we provide to them with anyone else or using it for other purposes.
We will not share information we collected about you with any third party for direct marketing purposes or without your consent.
We may share information we collected about you in other ways, but we will will notify you and obtain your consent beforehand.
We may disclose data we collect about our users when we believe disclosure is necessary to investigate, prevent, or respond to suspected illegal or fraudulent activity or to protect the safety, rights, or property of us, our users, or others.
How you can opt out of our collection of information about you
You can turn on
Ask Eraser and we will not retain the search queries and questions you submit while Ask Eraser is turned on. You may not activate Ask Eraser from an iPhone application.
If you want to diasble the cookies of the advertising companies that place ads on our site from your computer to prevent them from using information about you for targeting purposes, you can use the opt-out feature at
http://www.networkadvertising.org/
Reviewing, changing or deleting information
If you would like to review, change or delete information we have collected about you, please contact the Ask Privacy Officer
here.
Security of the information we collect
We have implemented security measures to prevent unauthorized or unlawful access to and misuse of the information we collect, including technological and physical security measures as well as procedural safeguards. However, because no security system can be 100% effective, we cannot completely guarantee the security of any information we may have collected from or about you.
Cookies, pixel tags and Mobile Device IDs
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your computer.
Ask.com cookies enable us to recognize you (for example, as a registered user) when you visit our website and to store your preferences and settings.
Cookies from advertising companies enable them to track you across various sites where they display ads and record your activities, so they can show ads that they consider relevant to you.
If you are using our services through a mobile application, we use your mobile device ID number to recognize you when you use your application and to store your preferences and settings.
A pixel tag (also called a web beacon or clear GIF) is a tiny graphic with a unique identifier, embedded invisibly on a webpage (or an online ad or email), and is used to count or track things like activity on a webpage or ad impressions or clicks, as well as to access cookies stored on users’ computers.
Ask.com pixel tags are used to measure the popularity of our various pages and services.
Advertising company pixel tags are used to measure the number of ad impressions and the performance of ads on our site, and to access the advertising company’s cookies placed on your computer.
We use outside vendors to help us better understand our user demographics. They use cookies and pixel tags in providing their services to us, but do not use them to target ads to you.
Information from children under 13
We do not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from children under 13. Our site does not allow you to create an account if you are not at least 13.
Government authorities
If requested or required by government authorities, such as law enforcement authorities, courts, or regulators, or otherwise to comply with the law, we may disclose any information we have about our users or modify other practices described in this policy, such as how long and in what form we keep information. We may disclose information that we have collected when required by law or requested by a government authority, to exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
Information collected from users located outside the United State
If you are visiting the Ask.com website from outside the United States, your data will be transferred to and stored in our servers in the U.S. By using our website, you consent to our collection and use of your data as described in this privacy policy.
Ask.com is a participant in the Safe Harbor program developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Union and has self-certified compliance with the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles with respect to personal information transferred to us in the U.S. from the following Ask.com EU/EEA properties:
For more information about the Safe Harbor and to view our certification, visit the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Safe Harbor website at
https://safeharbor.export.gov/list.aspx. We are a participant in the BBB Safe
Harbor Privacy Dispute Program. If, after contacting us directly
here you believe that we have not satisfactorily addressed your data privacy concerns in regard to our compliance with the Safe Harbor, you may contact the BBB at
www.bbb.org.