This privacy policy was last updated on the following date: [29th January 2007]
This privacy policy relates to the following domains owned and operated by Merkruis Ltd:
- www.merkuris.net
- www.merkuris.ch
and to the mobile application Merkuris.
Merkuris Ltd. values the privacy of our customers, users, and others who use the web and/or mobile application owned or operated by Merkuris (the "Merkuris Service"). This privacy policy governs the Merkuris Service.
Merkuris Ltd. is a Swiss firm governed by very restrictive laws regarding privacy and data protection. The Swiss law requires us to protect the confidentiality of our clients and users.
The great majority of our Users will use the Merkuris Service for harmless and fun social purposes. However, please note that by its very nature, your real-time location information is subject to abuse, misuse, and over-monitoring by others including, perhaps, by your friends, family, or acquaintances. Please manage your own mobile preferences on the Merkuris Service, on an ongoing basis, accordingly.
Please be aware that any personally identifiable information or location information that you voluntarily disclose online such as when you use the Instant Messaging feature, post questions on the forum, etc. becomes publicly available and can be read, collected, and used by others and could be used to send to you unsolicited messages. Merkuris is not responsible for the personally identifiable information or Location Information you choose to disclose publicly on the Merkuris Service.
This Privacy Policy details important information regarding the use and disclosure of User information collected through the Merkuris Service. Merkuris provides this Privacy Policy to help you make an informed decision about whether to use or continue using the Merkuris Service.
This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and is subject to the Merkuris Terms and Conditions of Service. Your use of the Merkuris Service and any personal information you provide on the Merkuris Service remains subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions of Service.
Information gathered on registration. When you register for the Merkuris Service, you provide your email address, your pseudo and some optional details about yourself. They are available to you, and capable of being corrected or updated, through your Merkuris profile page.
Note that you do not have to provide any « real » information that is related to your person and that we do not monitor your location information nor do we save them. Only your contact can locate you on the Merkuris map (unless you are in a « free-to-talk » modus, which you can freely choose not to use).
Cookies. We use small files known as "cookies" to enhance users' experience of the Merkuris Service as follows:
- To hold Members' login information, so that your location details and contact information are displayed when you visit the Merkuris Service.
- To facilitate optimal use of the Merkuris Service by Members, by means of a temporary "session" cookie. These cookies disappear when the Member's browser session ends (web application), or if the Member shut down the mobile application.
The cookies on the Merkuris Service do not access or use information by which people can be personally identified. If you wish, you can prevent these files from using non-personal information about you by either deleting the cookie folder in your browser or by putting your browser's Privacy setting higher, but doing so will mean that you will not be able to use the Merkuris Service in the way that we intend it to be used and may well adversely affect your experience of websites that use cookies to enhance or personalize that experience.
Disclosures
Merkuris allows your "Merkuris contacts" to see where you are located using real-time location information. To provide Merkuris, we collect, maintain, use, and display your personal data and the real-time geographic location of your mobile device (we call this "location data"). Please note that this real-time location tracking does not occur when the Merkuris application is not actively open and running on your mobile device. The law requires us to protect the confidentiality of your location data. In addition, the law requires us to get your express consent to collect, maintain, use, and display your location data as part of providing Merkuris. You have the right at any time to deny or withdraw your consent to the disclosure of your location data. Your denial of consent will not affect your regular mobile phone service, but will prevent you from using Merkuris. In order to withdraw your consent send an email with "STOP" as subject to support(at)merkuris.net at any time.
Your Location Information
In registering for the Merkuris Service, you have agreed and consented: (a) to Merkuris' collection, use, maintenance, and display of your location data to provide all of the services, features, and functionality found within Merkuris; (b) to the disclosure and display of your location data to your Merkuris contactss, and Merkuris' third-party partners or advertisers, contractors, and successors, and in accordance with this Privacy Policy; (c) to receive SMS text messages and emails, including promotional text messages, from Merkuris and its third-party partners or advertisers; and (d) that Merkuris may terminate your subscription without notice and for any reason. You have the right at any time to disapprove these uses and to deny or withdraw access to your Location Data. Denial of Consent won't affect your regular phone service but will prevent you from getting the location functions of the Merkuris Service. In addition, you have expressly agreed to receive SMS and emails from Merkuris and you acknowledge that normal carrier charges and taxes may apply to SMS text messages to and from Merkuris.
If you choose to use our invite-a-friend service, then Merkuris will ask you for your friend's email address or pseudo. If you provide a friend's email address or pseudo, then Merkuris will automatically send to that friend a one-time text message inviting your friend to join the Merkuris Service and to add you as their contact. If you provide a friend's email address, then Merkuris will automatically send that friend a one-time email inviting your friend to register on the Merkuris website. Your friend may contact Merkuris at support(at)merkuris.net to request that Merkuris remove this information from our systems.
- User Provided Registration Information: When choosing to subscribe to the Merkuris Service, you provide to Merkuris certain "personally identifiable" information (such as mobile phone number, your pseudo, email address, password, payment information, etc.).
- Location Information: Merkuris receives Location Information from your mobile device.
- Cookies, Persistent File Information: When you visit the Merkuris Service, we may send one or more cookies small text files containing a string of alphanumeric characters to your computer. Merkuris uses both session cookies and persistent cookies. A session cookie disappears after you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains after you close your browser and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Merkuris Service. Persistent cookies can be removed. Please review your web browser "Help" file to learn the proper way to modify your cookie settings.
- Log File Information: When you use the Merkuris Service, our servers do not record information from your mobile device or web browser.
- Merkuris uses your personally identifiable information and your Location Information to operate, maintain, and provide to you and our other Users the features and functionality of the Merkuris Service.
- Merkuris uses your personally identifiable information, your Location Information, and certain non-personally-identifiable information (such as anonymous User usage data, cookies data, browser type, clickstream data, etc.) to improve the quality and design of the Merkuris Service and to create new features, promotions, functionality, and services by storing, tracking, and analyzing User preferences and trends.
- Merkuris uses cookies, clear gifs, and log file information to: (a) remember information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the Merkuris Service; (b) provide custom and personalized content, advertisements, and information; (c) monitor the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns; and (d) monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors, pages viewed, etc. Merkuris does not combine cookie, clear-gif, or log file-based information with personally identifiable information.
- Merkuris does not use your personally identifiable information or Location Information to send commercial or marketing messages without your express consent or unless if you have opted-in to be part of a specific program or feature in accordance with the consent procedures described in this Privacy Policy.
- We may use your email address or mobile number at any time and without further consent for non-marketing or administrative purposes such as notifying you of major Merkuris Service changes, for customer service purposes, and to send privacy or security related notices.
- Merkuris does not share your personally identifiable information or Location Information with other, third-party companies for their commercial or marketing use without your express consent or unless you have opted-in to be part of a specific program or feature in accordance with the consent procedures described in this Privacy Policy.
- Merkuris provides personally identifiable information, Location Information, and non-personally-identifiable information to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies, or other businesses or persons for the purpose of providing certain Merkuris Service features and for processing such information on our behalf. For example, we may share information with our wireless carrier partners for the purpose of revenue recognition, or we may share information to offer mapping or directions features. We require that these parties agree to process such information in compliance with our privacy policy, we use reasonable efforts to limit their use of such information, and we require these parties to use any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
- Merkuris provides non-personally-identifiable information (such as anonymous User usage data, referring / exit pages and URLs, platform types, number of clicks, etc.) with interested third-parties to assist those parties in understanding the usage patterns for certain content, services, advertisements, promotions, and/or functionality on the Merkuris Service.
- Merkuris may release personally identifiable information, Location Information, or non-personally-identifiable information if required to do so by law, or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with state and federal laws or respond to a court order, subpoena, or search warrant.
- Merkuris also reserves the right to disclose personally identifiable information, Location Information, or non-personally-identifiable information that Merkuris believes, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary to: enforce the Terms of Use; take precautions against liability; protect Users from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses; to investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations; to assist government enforcement agencies; to protect the security or integrity of our web site; and to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Merkuris, our Users, or others.
Merkuris uses commercially reasonable physical, managerial, and technical safeguards. We cannot, however, ensure or warrant the security of any information that Merkuris receives on your behalf to operate the services or that you transmit to Merkuris and you do so at your own risk. We also cannot guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards.
If Merkuris learns of a security systems breach, then we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. Merkuris may post a notice on the Merkuris Service if a security breach occurs. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing.
Our Commitment To Children's Privacy:
Protecting the privacy of young children is especially important. For that reason, no part of Merkuris Service is directed to persons under 14. IF YOU ARE UNDER 14 YEARS OF AGE, THEN PLEASE DO NOT USE OR ACCESS MERKURIS SERVICE AT ANY TIME OR IN ANY MANNER. If Merkuris learns that personally-identifiable information of persons less than 14-years-of-age has been collected on the Merkuris Service without verifiable parental consent, then Merkuris will take the appropriate steps to delete this information. If you are a parent or guardian and discover that your child under the age of 14 has obtained a Merkuris Service account, then you may alert Merkuris at support(at)merkuris.net and request that Merkuris delete that child's personal information from its systems.
Parents, the following are some resources that may help you in monitoring and limiting your childrens' access to certain types of material on the Internet. While Merkuris does not endorse these sites or products, we provide information about them as a public service to our Users.
The Merkuris Service are hosted in Switzerland and are intended for Swiss visitors. If you are using the Merkuris Service from the United States, the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from Swiss law, please note that you are transferring your personal data to Switzerland and by providing your personal data you consent to that transfer.
In the event that Merkuris is acquired by or merged with a third party entity, we reserve the right, in any of these circumstances, to transfer or assign the information we have collected from our Users as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control. In the unlikely event of our bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership, or assignment for the benefit of creditors, or the application of laws or equitable principles affecting creditors' rights generally, we may not be able to control how your personal information is treated, transferred, or used. You will be notified via notice through the Merkuris Service of any such change in ownership or control of your personally identifiable information.
This Privacy Policy may be revised periodically without further notice to you and this will be reflected by the "last modified" notice below. Please revisit this page to stay aware of any changes. In general, we only use your personal information in the manner described in the Privacy Policy in effect when we received that personal information. Your continued use of the Merkuris Service constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Policy and any future revisions. If we decide to change our privacy policies, then we will post those changes to this Privacy Policy, and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
For revisions to this Privacy Policy that may be materially less restrictive on our use or disclosure of personal information you have provided to us, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you and obtain your consent before implementing such revisions with respect to such information. If we make such material changes to this policy, then we will notify you here in this Privacy Policy, by email, or by means of a notice on the Merkuris Service home page.
Effective Date, Date Last Modified:
Merkuris Privacy Policy effective as of January 29, 2008.
If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact our Privacy Manager at support@merkuris.net.