Meebo privacy policy

Last Updated: November 16, 2010

On November 16, 2010, we launched Meebo Alpha, which introduced a variety of new features to Meebo. We took this opportunity to update our privacy policy to take into account these new features and to reorganize the policy to make it easier to use.

If you had a Meebo account prior to that date and you don't sign up for Meebo Alpha, we will not use the data you previously provided to Meebo in a manner that is materially different from our prior privacy policy.

What this Privacy Policy covers

This Privacy Policy applies to all of the websites and services offered by Meebo, including those listed here, Meebo Alpha and the Meebo MiniBar. By visiting or using Meebo, you agree to this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to any websites, products or services that are not owned or operated by Meebo or to actions taken by Meebo users. For example, this Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites where the Meebo Bar appears, to third-party applications that are available through Meebo, or to any social networks or IM service providers that you associate with your Meebo account, all of which are governed by their own privacy policies.

Information that Meebo collects

Personally identifiable information
Personally identifiable information is information that can be used to determine your personal identity, such as your name or email address. When you create an account we ask for your name and email address. If you link your third-party instant messaging (IM) accounts to your Meebo account, we may also collect your user name for that account, which is also considered personally identifiable information.

Optional profile data
Meebo gives you the opportunity to update your public profile with information about yourself such as your photo, your hometown, your website and a short biography. This information is public as described under "What is public and what is private?"

Information from the accounts you link to Meebo
If you connect your Meebo account to your third-party IM accounts or your social network accounts (e.g., Facebook and Twitter), they may send us information about you, including your name, username at those services, Unique User ID ("UUID") for those services, friends list, status, profile information, age and gender.

Demographic data
Meebo asks for your age and gender at registration and may collect additional demographic information about you, such as your location and interests. Meebo may receive this information from you or from outside sources, such as websites where the Meebo Bar is present, ad networks and other providers, or we may make assumptions based on the other information that we collect.

Log data
When you use Meebo via a browser, mobile application or other application, like most other websites we automatically collect information about you and your activity (known as "log data"), including your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your browser or device type, your mobile device ID, your interactions with Meebo, your interactions with third party IM and social networks through Meebo, your geographic region and Meebo cookies associated with your browser. If you visit a site that has the Meebo Bar, we also collect information about the website or web page that you view and your interactions with that site. If you are using the MiniBar, we do not record the websites you visit unless you interact with the MiniBar on that site. Meebo stores and uses this log data based on an anonymous identifier, except as described under "Check-in and sharing."

Check-in and sharing
We store your Meebo check-in activity, including the sites you check in to, your VIP status, and the people you follow and who follow you. We also retain information about the web pages, photos, files, or other data that you share through the sharing functionality of Meebo. This information is associated with your Meebo account.

Your communications
Meebo offers users various communication tools, including instant messaging and Meebo Rooms. For more information about Meebo’s collection and storage of your communications see "Meebo's communications platforms."

Email address of friends you invite
If you use the Meebo feature that allows you to invite friends to use Meebo, we will ask for your friend's email address but we will only use it to send them the invitation.

What is public and what is private?

Public information

Many features of Meebo, such as Meebo profiles and check-ins, are designed to be a public experience in order to allow people with similar interests to find each other and share the websites that they are visiting. This section describes which information is public. Public information is available to everyone on the Internet and can be viewed, copied, indexed, transferred and searched.

• Your profile and check-in activity. Your Meebo public profile and all of the information on it, including your picture, your check-in activity and the people you follow and who follow you on Meebo, are all public. Click here for more information on the privacy settings for Meebo public profiles and check-ins.
  
  
  

  Your username will also be part of your public profile URL (your Meebo profile web address) and will also be displayed to users you follow. Because of the way the Internet works, when you or other users click on a link from your public profile page, the website that you go to or the advertisements that you click on will also receive the URL that you are coming from, which includes your user name (known as the “referrer URL”).

• Your activity in Meebo Rooms or on Meebo message boards. Your communications in Meebo Rooms are logged and can be seen by anyone the user who created the Meebo Room has allowed to access the Meebo Room, which may be everyone. Your postings on Meebo message boards are public.

Private Information

The following information is not made available as part of your public profile or otherwise made public by Meebo:

• your age and gender
• your email address
• your third-party IM account user names
• your third-party IM account buddies or third-party (e.g., Facebook) social network friends
• your IM communications
• your log data

Meebo's communication platforms

Meebo offers users the ability to communicate with each other through IM, through chat rooms known as Meebo Rooms and on the Meebo message boards. Never disclose personal information about yourself in a public area like Meebo Rooms or the message boards. Don't share personal information in a private IM unless it's someone you know well in the real world.

When you create a Meebo account, your preferences are set to enable all Meebo users to send you an IM, but only people who you follow can see if you are online. You can change those settings by logging into your Meebo account and clicking on "Settings".

Your preferences are also automatically set to store your IM history on Meebo's servers. You can view or delete your IM history by clicking on the IM history icon in your chat window. You can turn off the IM history feature in your Meebo Messenger account under "Preferences."

Keep in mind that even if you elect not to store your IM history, the person that you're chatting with may be storing your conversation, either on Meebo, on their IM network's servers or on their own computers. By using Meebo, you consent to the storage of your IM history on Meebo as the default option and to the storing of your IM history by other users with whom you are chatting or by the Third Party IM Service that you or your friend is using. For more information about IM history features and settings, please see Meebo's support documentation.

Meebo may customize the advertising shown to users based on software analysis of IM chat or Meebo Room conversations.

Meebo's use of cookies

Like most websites and web applications, Meebo uses cookies. A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to your browser from a website's computers and stored on your computer's hard drive. Meebo does not store personally identifiable information or passwords in its cookies.

We use these cookies to provide you with a better Meebo experience, such as by recognizing you when you come to Meebo or to a site where Meebo features such as the Meebo Bar are present, by remembering if you are already signed-in and by remembering information about you, like your preferences. We also use cookies to generate aggregate and anonymous data so that we can better understand and analyze how users use Meebo.

Meebo also allows third parties to place cookies on your browser in order to help us with our analytics, to deliver and report on advertising that runs on Meebo and to measure whether you’ve seen or interacted with an ad on Meebo or other sites. Meebo does not allow these third parties to collect any personally identifiable information about you through their cookies on Meebo.

Sometimes the cookies that we and our third-party advertising partners set are used to provide customized advertising to you on Meebo and on the other websites that you visit. You can learn more about customized advertising on Meebo or opt out here.

You can also disable cookies or otherwise manage them through tools provided with your browser software and with third-party software packages.

Meebo uses cookies to block users that indicate that they are under the age of 13 who are attempting to use the services again giving a different age.In Meebo Rooms, these cookies are based on "local stored objects" from the Adobe Flash Player, which can be removed by visiting Adobe's web site. Local stored objects are also used in Meebo Rooms to recognize users and remember their settings when they visit a Room.

Meebo Platform

Meebo allows third parties who have entered into an agreement with us to make their applications available through Meebo. Meebo may provide these third-parties with information that is part of your public profile, as described under "What is public and what is private" Meebo requires that these third parties only use this information to provide their applications to you and that they not disclose it to any third party without your consent.

In addition, some of the applications may collect personally identifiable information from you directly. In that case, any information that you provide through the application will be governed by the application owner’s privacy policy, which you should review. Each application owner will be solely responsible for complying with its privacy policy.

Information usage and sharing

If we propose to use personal information for any purpose other than those described in this Privacy Policy and/or in the specific service privacy notices, we will offer you an effective way to opt out.

Usage of information.

Meebo uses the information it collects:

• To provide you with access to your account;
• To provide you with the Meebo services;
• To enhance and improve the Meebo services;
• To recommend to you or other Meebo users potential friends or websites that may be of interest;
• To provide customized advertising to you (opt out here);
• To conduct research;
• To determine your geographic location or other demographic information about you;
• To create reports and to analyze usage patterns; and
• To contact you as described under “Emails and other notifications.”

Sharing of information.

Meebo may share your non-public personally identifiable information with third parties only in the following cases:

• We may need to share your log-in information with the third-party IM services and networks where you have an account that you have chosen to access through Meebo in order to permit you to log onto and use that service;
• With trusted third-party service providers who help us in the operation of Meebo and who have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of the data;
• To the third-party applications available through Meebo, as described under “Meebo Platform;”
• When we have your consent;
• In cases of abusive behavior or suspected violations of the terms of use of Meebo or of any third-party service accessed through or in association with Meebo, we may share personal information, including IP address, with that third party in order to investigate the violation and to take appropriate action;
• Where we have a good faith belief that it is required in order to respond to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process, to prevent fraud or imminent harm, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
• In the event that Meebo is acquired by or merged with another company or transfers substantially all of its assets to another company, Meebo will transfer all of its user information and data, including information about you, to that other company.

Meebo may share your public information or any anonymous information for any of the purposes described under “Usage of information.”

Emails and other notifications

Meebo will send you emails about your check-in and profile activity, such as when someone follows you or when you lose VIP status. You can adjust these account settings by logging into your Meebo account and clicking on “Settings.”

Meebo reserves the right to send you communications relating to your account and the Meebo services. You can elect not to receive certain marketing messages from Meebo by email, but you cannot elect not to receive administrative messages relating to your account or legal matters. You consent to receiving all legally-required notifications from Meebo through display on Meebo, through the email associated with your Meebo account or the email associated with any of your third-party IM services or social networks through which you connect to Meebo (such as Facebook).

Non-U.S. users; EU Safe Harbor

Meebo is hosted and operated entirely in the United States and is subject to United States law. Any personal information that you provide to Meebo is being provided to Meebo solely in the United States and will be hosted on United States servers. You consent to the transfer of your personal information to the United States. If you are accessing Meebo from outside the United States, please be advised that United States law may not offer the same privacy protections as the law of your jurisdiction.

Meebo participates in the Safe Harbor program developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Union. To view our certification, visit the U.S. Department of Commerce's Safe Harbor Web site.

If a complaint or dispute under the Safe Harbor Principles cannot be resolved through our internal process, you should contact:

Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.
BBB EU Safe Harbor
4200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203
Phone: +1 703.276.0100
Web: www.us.bbb.org
Email: eusafeharbor@council.bbb.org

Changes to this Privacy Policy

Any changes to this policy will be posted at this URL (http://www.meebo.com/privacy/full/). We will not use data we collect in a manner that is materially different from promises made in this Privacy Policy without your consent.

Editing and deleting your account information

You can edit certain personal information that you have provided or request that your account be deleted by logging into your Meebo account and accessing your account settings. Information that was already publicly shared, such as your check-ins, comments or pages that you shared, and messages that you previously sent will still be visible in the various places that information is displayed.

Deleting your Meebo account does not currently automatically remove your personally identifiable information from the Meebo servers. However, if you delete your account, we will use your personally identifiable information only to investigate abuse and comply with legal requests as described under “Information usage and sharing.” If you would like to have your personally identifiable information deleted, please contact us as provided under “Comments and Questions.”

Children

Meebo does not knowingly permit children under 13 to create a Meebo account or to use Meebo Rooms. In addition, Meebo does not store the personal information of users who access their third-party IM accounts and indicate to us that they are under 13. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13, we will delete that information. If you are a parent of a child under 13 and you believe that your child has created a Meebo account in violation of our policy, please contact us immediately at www.meebo.com/support/contact/.

Comments and Questions

Meebo periodically reviews its privacy practices and this privacy policy. We encourage interested persons to raise any concerns using the contact information provided below and we will investigate and attempt to resolve any concerns or complaints.

Meebo Customer Service
Email Form: www.meebo.com/support/contact/
Mail: Customer Service, Meebo, Inc., 215 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA 94041
Phone: (650) 237-3130