Privacy Policy

RankMyWebsite’s Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how we collect and use the personal information you decide to share, and help you make informed decisions when using RankMyWebsite, located at www.RankMyWebsite.net and its directly associated domains (collectively, “RankMyWebsite” or “Website”).

By using or accessing RankMyWebsite, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy. This privacy statement covers the site www.RankMyWebsite.com and its directly associated domains. From time to time, RankMyWebsite may modify its Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the law, industry practice, our personal information collection and use practices, technology, or the features available on RankMyWebsite. All modifications to our Privacy Policy will be effective upon RankMyWebsite posting such modified Privacy Policy on the Website.

If you have questions or concerns regarding RankMyWebsite’s Privacy Policy, you should contact our privacy staff at [email protected].

The Information We Collect

When you visit RankMyWebsite you provide us with two types of information: (i) personally identifiable information (Personal Information) you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected by us, and (ii) information collected by us as you interact with our Website.

When you register with RankMyWebsite, you provide us with certain Personal Information, such as your name, your email address, your telephone number, your address, your gender, schools attended and any other personal or preference information that you provide to us.

When you enter RankMyWebsite, we collect your browser type and IP address. This information is gathered from all RankMyWebsite visitors. In addition, we store certain information from your browser using ”cookies.” Cookies are small bits of information stored on the user’s computer to identify the user’s preferences. RankMyWebsite may use cookies and similar tools to customize the content and advertising you receive based on, among other things, the Personal Information you have provided. We use session ID cookies to confirm that users are logged in. These cookies terminate once the user closes the browser. By default, we use a persistent cookie that stores your login ID (but not your password) to make it easier for you to login when you come back to RankMyWebsite. You can remove or block this cookie using the settings in your browser if you want to disable this convenience feature.

When you use RankMyWebsite, you may set up your personal profile, form relationships, send messages, view videos and/or pictures, perform searches and queries, form groups, set up events, add applications, and transmit information through various channels. We collect this information so that we can provide you personalized features to enhance the services offered by RankMyWebsite. When you update information, we usually keep a backup copy of the prior version for a reasonable period of time to enable reversion to the prior version of that information. RankMyWebsite may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of the RankMyWebsite service in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized experience. By using RankMyWebsite, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.

You post User Content (as defined in the RankMyWebsite Terms of Use) on the Website at your own risk. Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your pages, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other users with whom you may choose to share your pages and information. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that User Content you post on the Website will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. In addition, RankMyWebsite makes chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups available to its users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your Personal Information. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal, copies of User Content may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other users have copied or stored your User Content.

Any improper collection or misuse of information provided on RankMyWebsite is a violation of the RankMyWebsite Terms of Service and should be reported to [email protected]

Children Under Age 13

RankMyWebsite.net does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register. If you are under the age of 13, please do not attempt to register for RankMyWebsite.net or send any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, or email address. No one under age 13 may provide any personal information to or on RankMyWebsite.net. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at [email protected]

Children Between the Ages of 13 and 18

We recommend that minors over the age of 13 ask their parents for permission before sending any information about themselves to anyone over the Internet.

Use of Information Obtained by RankMyWebsite.net

As described in detail below, RankMyWebsite may use your Personal Information in many ways, including sending you promotional materials, and sharing your information with third parties so that these third parties can send you promotional materials.

When you register with RankMyWebsite, you create your own profile and privacy settings. Your profile information, as well as your name, email and photo, are displayed to people in the networks specified in your privacy settings to enable you to connect with people on RankMyWebsite.net. We may occasionally use your name and email address to send you notifications regarding new services offered by RankMyWebsite that we think you may find valuable.

RankMyWebsite.net uses profile information to, in part, allow you to review and edit your profile when you access the Website so that you can present your information to other users permitted to view that information based on your privacy settings. You may choose what information you provide in your profile, including your name, date of birth, interests, hobbies, groups with which you are affiliated (ie. schools or organizations), videos and/or pictures, or personal statements. Profile information you submit to RankMyWebsite.net will be available to users of RankMyWebsite who have access to your profile based on your privacy settings.

RankMyWebsite.net may send you service-related announcements from time to time through the general operation of the service. Generally, you may opt out of such emails from the Notifications page, though RankMyWebsite.net reserves the right to send you notices about your account even if you opt out of all voluntary email notifications.

RankMyWebsite.net may use information in your profile without identifying you as an individual to third parties. We do this for purposes such as aggregating how many people like a school or video and personalizing advertisements and promotions so that we can provide you the services offered by RankMyWebsite. We believe this benefits you. You can make more informed choices about the schools you are considering, and know more about the world around you. In addition, where there are advertisements, they’re more likely to be interesting to you. For example, if you put a favorite school in your profile, we might serve you an advertisement highlighting information about that school or other, similar schools that may also be of interest to you.

We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services, RankMyWebsite platform developers and other users of RankMyWebsite, to supplement your profile. Where such information is used, we generally allow you to specify in your privacy settings that you do not want this to be done or to take other actions that limit the connection of this information to your profile.

Sharing Your Information with Third Parties

RankMyWebsite is about sharing information with others, while providing you with privacy settings that restrict other users from accessing your information. We allow you to choose the information you provide through RankMyWebsite. Our network architecture and your privacy settings allow you to make informed choices about who has access to your information. We share your information with third parties only in limited circumstances where we believe such sharing is 1) reasonably necessary to offer the services offered by RankMyWebsite, 2) legally required or, 3) permitted by you. For example:

  • RankMyWebsite may share your Personal Information with selected third parties so that they can send you promotional materials about goods and services (including special offers and promotions) offered by them. When sharing your information for promotional purposes, RankMyWebsite attempts to select only reputable companies and institutions that offer high quality products and services. When RankMyWebsite shares your Personal Information with a third party, your Personal Information will become permanently subject to the information use and sharing practices of the third party, and the third party will not be restricted by this Privacy Policy with respect to its use and further sharing of your Personal Information.
  • We may also provide information to service providers to help us bring you the services we offer. Specifically, we may use third parties to facilitate our business, such as to host the service at a co-location facility for servers, to send out email updates about RankMyWebsite, to remove repetitive information from our user lists, to process payments for products or services, to offer an online job application process, or to provide search results or links (including sponsored links). In connection with these offerings and business operations, our service providers may have access to your Personal Information for use for a limited time in connection with these business activities. Where we utilize third parties for the processing of any Personal Information, we implement reasonable contractual and technical protections limiting the use of that information to the RankMyWebsite-specified purposes.
  • We may be required to disclose user information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. We do not reveal information until we have a good faith belief that an information request by law enforcement or private litigants meets applicable legal standards. Additionally, we may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law, to protect our interests or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through the RankMyWebsite service or using the RankMyWebsite name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies.
  • We let you choose to share information with marketers or electronic commerce providers through sponsored groups or other on-site offers.
  • We may offer stores or provide services jointly with other companies on RankMyWebsite. You can tell when another company is involved in any store or service provided on RankMyWebsite, and we may share customer information with that company in connection with your use of that store or service.
  • If the ownership of all or substantially all of the RankMyWebsite business, or individual business units owned by RankMyWebsite, LLC, were to change, your user information may be transferred to the new owner so the service can continue operations. In any such transfer of information, your user information would remain subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Policy.

When you use RankMyWebsite, certain information you post or share with third parties, such as Personal Information, comments, messages, photos, videos, or other information, may be shared with other users in accordance with the privacy settings you select. All such sharing of information is done at your own risk. Please keep in mind that if you disclose Personal Information in your profile or when posting comments, messages, photos, videos, or other items, this information may become publicly available.

Links

RankMyWebsite may contain links to other websites. We are of course not responsible for the privacy practices of other web sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by RankMyWebsite.

Third Party Advertising

Advertisements that appear on RankMyWebsite are sometimes delivered directly to users by third party advertisers. They automatically receive your IP address when this happens. These third party advertisers may also download cookies to your computer, or use other technologies such as JavaScript and “web beacons” (also known as “1×1 gifs”) to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize advertising content. Doing this allows the advertising network to recognize your computer each time they send you an advertisement in order to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize advertising content. In this way, they may compile information about where individuals using your computer or browser saw their advertisements and determine which advertisements are clicked. RankMyWebsite does not have access to or control of the cookies that may be placed by the third party advertisers. Third party advertisers have no access to your contact information stored on RankMyWebsite unless you choose to share it with them.

This Privacy Policy covers the use of cookies by RankMyWebsite and does not cover the use of cookies or other tracking technologies by any of its advertisers.

If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.

Changing or Removing Information

Access and control over most Personal Information on RankMyWebsite is readily available through the profile editing tools. RankMyWebsite users may modify or delete any of their profile information at any time by logging into their account. Information will be updated immediately. Individuals who wish to deactivate their RankMyWebsite account may do so on the My Account page. Removed information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally available to members of RankMyWebsite.

Where you make use of the communication features of the service to share information with other individuals on RankMyWebsite, however, (e.g., sending a personal message to another RankMyWebsite user) you generally cannot remove such communications.

Security

RankMyWebsite takes appropriate precautions to protect our users’ information. Your account information is located on a secured server behind a firewall. When you enter sensitive information (such as credit card number), we encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). (To learn more about SSL, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Sockets_Layer).Because email and instant messaging are not recognized as secure communications, we request that you not send private information to us by email or instant messaging services. If you have any questions about the security of RankMyWebsite web site, please contact us at [email protected].

Terms of Use, Notices and Revisions

Your use of RankMyWebsite,and any disputes arising from it, is subject to this Privacy Policy as well as our Terms of Use and all of its dispute resolution provisions including arbitration, limitation on damages and choice of law. We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use at any time. Non-material changes and clarifications will take effect immediately, and material changes will take effect within 30 days of their posting on this site. If we make changes, we will post them and will indicate at the top of this page the policy’s new effective date. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or through notice on our home page. We encourage you to refer to this policy on an ongoing basis so that you understand our current Privacy Policy. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account.

Contacting the Web Site

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us