Privacy Policy

Last Updated: September 19, 2022

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes and governs our personal information collection, use, and sharing practices with respect to your use of our https://www.phonehistory.com website that link to this Privacy Policy (the “Website”), and the services we provide through our Website (the “Services”).

This Policy is incorporated into and part of our Terms of Use (“Terms”) located at https://www.phonehistory.com/terms.

Before you use or submit any information through or in connection with the Services, please carefully review this Privacy Policy. By using any part of the Services, you understand that your information will be collected, used, and disclosed as outlined in this Privacy Policy. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT USE THE SERVICES.

1. Public Information available through the Services

We aggregate publicly available information from phone books and other public sources (“Public Information”). This Public Information is available to users through the Services.

Personal information, such as information that you provide to us or information that is collected automatically as described in the “Personal Information We Collect” section and other sections below is not part of the Public Information available to users through the Services.

How to Opt-Out

We create our directory by collecting information from publicly available information. If you want your record to be removed from our phone directory, you can send an opt-out request containing the link to the web-page with your record to support@phonehistory.com.

2. Personal Information We Collect

We may collect Personal Information when you provide information directly to us or when we passively collect information from you, such as from your browser or device.

Information You Provide Directly to Us

We will collect any information you provide to us. We may collect information from you, for example, when you contact us or provide feedback. This information may include but is not limited to your name and email address.

Please note that the provision of this information to us by you is optional, we do not ask for any Personal Information.

Information that Is Automatically Collected

Device/Usage Information

We may automatically collect certain information about the computer or devices (including mobile devices or tablets) you use to access the Services. As described further below, we may collect and analyze (a) device information such as IP addresses, location information (by country and city), unique device identifiers, IMEI and TCP/IP address, browser types, browser language, operating system, mobile device carrier information, and (b) information related to the ways in which you interact with the Services, such as referring and exit web pages and URLs, platform type, the number of clicks, domain names, landing pages, pages and content viewed and the order of those pages, statistical information about the use of the Services, the amount of time spent on particular pages, the date and time you used the Services, the frequency of your use of the Services, error logs, and other similar information. As described further below, we may use third-party analytics providers and technologies, including cookies and similar tools, to assist in collecting this information.

Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

We also collect data about your use of the Services through the use of Internet server logs and online tracking technologies like cookies and tracking pixels. A web server log is a file where website activity is stored. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer when you visit a website, that enables us to: (a) recognize your computer; (b) understand the web pages of the Services you have visited and the referral sites that have led you to our Services; (c) enhance your user experience by delivering content specific to your interests; (d) perform searches and analytics; and (e) assist with security administrative functions. Tracking pixels (sometimes referred to as web beacons or clear GIFs) are tiny electronic tags with a unique identifier embedded in websites, online ads and/or email, and that are designed to provide usage information like ad impressions or clicks, measure popularity of the Services and associated advertising, and to access user cookies. This data allows us to gauge the effectiveness of our communications and marketing campaigns. As we adopt additional technologies, we may also gather additional information through other methods.

Please note that you can change your settings to notify you when a cookie is being set or updated, or to block cookies altogether. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information (e.g.,Google Chrome; Mozilla Firefox; or Apple Safari). Please note that by blocking any or all cookies, you may not have access to certain features or offerings of the Services.

For more information about how we use cookies, please see our cookies notice below.

3. Cookies

What are cookies?

Cookies are text files that are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website and store certain information about Site usage. They are useful because they allow websites to recognize a user’s device. They are then returned to the original website on each subsequent visit or to any other website that recognizes them. For more information on cookies, go to www.allaboutcookies.org.

The term “cookie” is used in this Policy in the broad sense to include all similar techniques and technology, including web beacons and log files.

Types of information collected and reasons for collection

Cookies help us to better understand your use of our Website and, as a result, allow us, among other things, to offer our web visitors a more personalized and consistent experience. Here are examples of the types of information that we collect through cookies:

  • The number of users visiting the Website, the frequency with which the Website was viewed, the pages viewed, the clicks made on the Website and the total duration of navigation on the Website;
  • The name of the website visited prior to the Website;
  • Whether you are visiting our Website for the first time or not;
  • Your viewing preferences (e.g. layout, sizing preferences, etc.);
  • The type of browser used and your IP address.

In addition, cookies allow us to do the following:

  • Customize your visit: We may use information collected during your visit to facilitate your next visit to our Website.
  • Analyze trends: We compile information on our Website visits and analyze them as a whole in aggregated form. This type of study aims to identify trends among many visitors to our Website, rather than analyze the information of a particular visitor.

Type of cookies we use

We use first-party and third-party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are necessary for technical reasons for our Site to operate and/or provide basic functionality to you, and we refer to these as “essential” cookies. Other cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users and to enhance the experience on our Website. Third parties also serve cookies through our Website for analytics purposes.

First-party cookies:

These cookies are created by us. They are, for the most part, used to allow you to browse our Website and use its features. They may also assist in analytics activities.

Third-party cookies:

In addition to our proprietary cookies, some third-party and affiliated companies may place cookies on your computer, access them and associate web beacons with them. These cookies enable third-party features or functionalities to be provided on or through the Website. The parties that set these third-party cookies can recognize your device both when it visits our Website and also when it visits certain other websites.

The types of first- and third-party cookies we use on the Website are:

  • Essential website cookies: These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our Site and to use some of its features, such as access to secure areas that require registration. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the Site to you, you cannot refuse them without impacting Site functionality
  • Functional cookies: These cookies allow you to browse our Site or benefit from some of its features, such as memorizing language preferences, placing orders online or using instant messaging support. Similar to essential cookies, if these cookies are disabled, it could impact your experience to use some site functionality, such as your set preferences
  • Analytics cookies: These cookies allow us or our third-party analytics providers to collect statistics on the use of the Website by you and other visitors. Thanks to this information, we are able to improve the features offered on our Website.

Duration of storage of cookies on your device

The duration of storage of cookies on your device may vary, depending on the category to which they belong: temporary or permanent.

Temporary cookies:

We use temporary cookies on all our secure pages to assign and register a session ID. You can browse our entire Website without interruption. This identifier is also used for internal reporting purposes. It does not allow us to identify you by name and this type of cookie does not leave any information recoverable on your hard drive. Most of our proprietary cookies fall into this category and expire when you close your Internet browser.

Permanent cookies:

Our proprietary analysis cookies and third-party cookies are often permanent cookies. They allow us to understand visitors’ browsing behavior over a longer period of time or to provide you with additional features related to your Website customization requests and the content that you have saved or stored. They can stay on your computer for 24 hours, a week or several years, depending on their function. This means that these cookies survive after your browser is closed and can be used by our Site to recognize your computer when you reopen your browser later.

Cookie management

You can decide whether to accept or reject cookies. If you want to refuse cookies, please follow the instructions below:

All cookies:

You can exercise your preference to receive all types of cookies by managing cookies from your web browser. As the means by which to activate or deactivate cookies varies from one web browser to another, you should visit your web browser’s help menu for more information on cookie preferences. You can also configure your browser at any time to be notified of the receipt of a cookie, so that you can decide whether you want to accept it or not. Cookies do not under any circumstances read the data from your hard drive and you can delete them from your computer at any time. At the moment, it is technically impossible for you to synchronize your settings between your browsers and your devices (your computer or your smartphone). You must set them on each browser/device that you currently use and each time you use a new browser or device.

Analytics cookies:

To disable analytics cookies managed by our third-party analytics partners, either use the browser disablement mechanisms discussed immediately above, or use the analytics opt-out mechanisms maintained by our analytics providers: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on

Consequences of deactivation of all cookies

If you choose to deactivate cookies, you may continue to use certain parts of our Website. However, some useful features may not work anymore, depending on which cookies you deactivate. Please note that if you have disabled one or more cookies, we may continue to use the information that was collected by such cookies before they were deactivated. However, we will cease to collect any information via the opted-out cookie once a cookie has been deactivated.

4. How We Use Your Information

We may use the information we collect from and about you to:

  • Fulfill the purposes for which it was collected or provided;
  • Provide and improve the Services, including to develop new features or services, take steps to secure the Services, and for technical support;
  • Send you information or other communications, which you requested;
  • Process and respond to your inquiries or to request your feedback;
  • Conduct analytics, research, and reporting, including to synthesize and derive insights from your use of our Services;
  • Comply with the law and protect our safety, rights, property, or security, the Services, our users, and the general public; and
  • Enforce our Terms, including to investigate potential violations thereof.

We may aggregate and/or de-identify information collected through the Services. We may use de-identified and/or aggregated data for any purpose, including without limitation for research and marketing purposes.

5. When We Disclose Your Information

We may disclose and/or share your information under the following circumstances:

  • Service Providers. We may disclose your information with third parties who perform services on our behalf, including without limitation, marketing, support, data storage, data analysis and processing, and legal services.
  • Legal Compliance, Our Protection and Protection of Others. We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or on a good faith belief that such disclosure is permitted by this Privacy Policy or reasonably necessary or appropriate for any of the following reasons: (a) to comply with legal process; (b) to enforce or apply our Terms and this Privacy Policy, or other contracts with you, including investigation of potential violations thereof; (c) to respond to your requests; and/or (d) to protect our rights, property, or personal safety and the rights, property, or personal safety of our agents and affiliates, our users, and the public. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection, spam/malware prevention, and similar purposes.
  • Business Transfers. As we continue to develop our business, we may engage in certain business transactions, such as the transfer or sale of our assets. In such transactions, (including in contemplation of such transactions, e.g., due diligence) your information may be disclosed. If any of our assets are sold or transferred to a third party, customer information (including your email address) would likely be one of the transferred business assets.
  • Affiliated Companies. We may disclose your information with current or future affiliated companies.
  • Aggregate/De-identified Information. We may disclose de-identified and/or aggregated data for any purpose to third parties, including advertisers, promotional partners, and/or others.

6. Online Analytics

We may use third-party web analytics services (such as Google Analytics) on our Services to collect and analyze the information discussed above, and to engage in auditing, research, or reporting. The information (including your IP address) collected by various analytics technologies described in the “Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies” section above will be disclosed to or collected directly by these service providers, who use the information to evaluate your use of the Services, including by noting the third-party website from which you arrive to our Website, analyzing usage trends, assisting with fraud prevention, and providing certain features to you. To prevent Google Analytics from using your information for analytics, you may install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on by clicking here.

7. International Transfers

As described above in the “When We Disclose Your Information” section, we may share your information with trusted service providers or business partners in countries other than your country of residence, including the United States, in accordance with applicable law.

If we provide any information about you to any third parties information processors located outside of the US, we will take appropriate measures to ensure such companies protect your information adequately in accordance with this Privacy Policy and other data protection laws to govern the transfers of such data.

8. Security Measures

We have implemented technical, physical, and organizational security measures to protect against the loss, misuse, and/or alteration of your information. These safeguards vary based on the sensitivity of the information that we collect and store. However, we cannot and do not guarantee that these measures will prevent every unauthorized attempt to access, use, or disclose your information since despite our efforts, no Internet and/or other electronic transmissions can be completely secure.

9. Children

The Services are intended for users over the age of 18 and are not directed at children under the age of 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information (as defined by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) from children under the age of 13, we will take reasonable steps to delete it as soon as practicable.

10. Data Retention

We retain the information we collect for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy or as long as we are legally required or permitted to do so. Information may persist in copies made for backup and business continuity purposes for additional time.

11. Third-Party Links and Services

The Services may contain links to third-party websites, third-party plug-ins and other services. If you choose to use these sites or features, you may disclose your information not just to those third parties, but also to their users and the public more generally depending on how their services function. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such third party websites or services. The collection, use and disclosure of your information will be subject to the privacy policies of the third party websites or services, and not this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of each and every site you visit.

12. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We will continue to evaluate this Privacy Policy as we update and expand our Services, and we may make changes to the Privacy Policy accordingly. We will post any changes here and revise the date last updated above. We encourage you to check this page periodically for updates to stay informed on how we collect, use and share your information. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will provide you with notice as required by law.

13. Questions About this Privacy Policy

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, you can contact us at support@phonehistory.com.

14. California Privacy Rights Notice

This Privacy Notice for California residents supplements the information contained in this Privacy Policy. This section applies solely to visitors, users, and others who reside in the State of California.

Categories of Personal Information Collected

Under the CCPA personal information does not include publicly available information from government records.

The personal information that we may collect, or may have collected from you in the preceding twelve months, fall into the following categories established by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

  • identifiers, such as your name, alias, email address (in case you have proactively shared such information with us) or IP address;
  • Internet or other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with an Internet Web site, application, or advertisement.

Categories of Personal Information Disclosed for a Business Purpose

The personal information that we may have disclosed about consumers for a business purpose in the preceding twelve months fall into the following categories established by the CCPA:

  • identifiers, such as your name or email address (in case you have proactively shared such information with us), for example if we use a third party customer support provider; and
  • Internet or other electronic network activity information, if we use a third party service provider to help us with analytics, marketing or advertising.

For more information about the personal information we may disclose to third parties for a business purpose, please check “When We Disclose Your Information” section above.

Your Rights

You may have the right under the CCPA to request information about the collection of your personal information by us, or access to or deletion of your personal information, in some circumstances. If you wish to do any of these things, please contact us at support@phonehistory.com. Please be aware that we do not accept or process requests through other means.

We will review the information provided and may request additional information to ensure we are interacting with the correct individual. Please also be aware that making any such request does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal or deletion of personal information, and there may be circumstances in which the law does not require or allow us to fulfill your request.

No Sale of Personal Information

In the preceding twelve months we have not sold any personal information of consumers, as those terms are defined under the CCPA.

No Discrimination

We will not discriminate against any consumer for exercising their rights under the CCPA.