Collection and Use of Personal Information
Personal information is data that can be used to uniquely identify or contact a single person.
You may be asked to provide your personal information anytime you are in contact with Akros or an Akros affiliated company. Akros and its affiliates may share this personal information with each other and use it consistent with this Privacy Policy. They may also combine it with other information to provide and improve our products, services, content, and advertising.
Here are some examples of the types of personal information Akros may collect and how we may use it.
What Personal Information We Collect
- When you create an Akros ID, register your services, contact us, or participate in an online survey, we may collect a variety of information, including your name, mailing address, phone number, email address, and contact preferences.
How We Use Your Personal Information
- The personal information we collect allows us to keep you posted on Akros’ latest product and service announcements, updates, and upcoming events. It also helps us to improve our services, content, and advertising. If you don’t want to be on our mailing list, you can opt out anytime by emailing us.
- We also use personal information to help us develop, deliver, and improve our products, services, content, and advertising.
- From time to time, we may use your personal information to send important notices, such as communications about purchases and changes to our terms, conditions, and policies. Because this information is important to your interaction with Akros, you may not opt out of receiving these communications.
- We may also use personal information for internal purposes such as auditing, data analysis, and research to improve Akros’ products, services, and customer communications.
- If you enter into a sweepstakes, contest, or similar promotion we may use the information you provide to administer those programs.
Collection and Use of Non-Personal Information
We also collect non-personal information − data in a form that does not permit direct association with any specific individual. We may collect, use, transfer, and disclose non-personal information for any purpose. The following are some examples of non-personal information that we collect and how we may use it:
- We may collect information such as company, questionnaire answers, occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone where an Akros product is used so that we can better understand customer behavior and improve our products, services, and advertising.
- We also may collect information regarding customer activities on our website. This information is aggregated and used to help us provide more useful information to our customers and to understand which parts of our website, products, and services are of most interest. Aggregated data is considered non-personal information for the purposes of this Privacy Policy.
If we do combine non-personal information with personal information the combined information will be treated as personal information for as long as it remains combined.
Cookies and Other Technologies
Akros’ website, online services, interactive applications, email messages, and advertisements may use “cookies” and other technologies such as pixel tags and web beacons. These technologies help us better understand user behavior, tell us which parts of our website people have visited, and facilitate and measure the effectiveness of advertisements and web searches. We treat information collected by cookies and other technologies as non-personal information. However, to the extent that Internet Protocol (IP) addresses or similar identifiers are considered personal information by local law, we also treat these identifiers as personal information. Similarly, to the extent that non-personal information is combined with personal information, we treat the combined information as personal information for the purposes of this Privacy Policy.
Akros and its partners use cookies and other technologies in mobile advertising services to control the number of times you see a given ad, deliver ads that relate to your interests, and measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns. If you do not want to receive ads with this level of relevance on your mobile device, you can opt out by emailing us and letting us know. If you opt out, you will continue to receive the same number of mobile ads, but they may be less relevant because they will not be based on your interests. You may still see ads related to the content on a web page or in an application or based on other non-personal information. This opt-out applies only to Akros advertising services and does not affect interest-based advertising from other advertising networks.
Akros and our partners also use cookies and other technologies to remember personal information when you use our website, online services, and applications. Our goal in these cases is to make your experience with Akros more convenient and personal. For example, knowing your first name lets us welcome you the next time you visit the FIRE System website. Knowing someone using your computer or device has shopped for a certain product or used a particular service helps us make our advertising and email communications more relevant to your interests. And knowing your contact information helps us personalize your operating system, set up your service, and provides you with better customer service.
If you want to disable cookies and you’re using the Safari web browser, go to Safari preferences and then to the Security pane to disable cookies for other browsers, check with your provider to find out how to disable cookies. Please note that certain features of the Akros website may not be available once cookies are disabled.
As is true of most websites, we gather some information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser type and language, Internet service provider (ISP), referring and exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data.
We use this information to understand and analyze trends, to administer the site, to learn about user behavior on the site, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. Akros may use this information in our marketing and advertising services.
In some of our email messages, we may use a “click-through URL” linked to content on the Akros website. When customers click one of these URLs, they pass through a separate web server before arriving at the destination page on our website. We track this click-through data to help us determine interest in particular topics and measure the effectiveness of our customer communications. If you prefer not to be tracked in this way, you should not click text or graphic links in the email messages.
Pixel tags enable us to send email messages in a format customers can read, and they tell us whether mail has been opened. We may use this information to reduce or eliminate messages sent to customers.
Disclosure to Third Parties
At times Akros may make certain personal information available to strategic partners that work with Akros to provide products and services, or that help Akros market to customers. Personal information will only be shared by Akros to provide or improve our products, services and advertising; it will not be shared with third parties for their marketing purposes.
Service Providers
Akros shares personal information with companies who provide services such as information processing, managing and enhancing customer data, providing customer service, assessing your interest in our products and services, and conducting customer research or satisfaction surveys. These companies are obligated to protect your information and may be located wherever Akros operates.
Others
It may be necessary − by law, legal process, litigation, and/or requests from public and governmental authorities within or outside your country of residence − for Akros to disclose your personal information. We may also disclose information about you if we determine that for purposes of national security, law enforcement, or other issues of public importance, disclosure is necessary or appropriate.
We may also disclose information about you if we determine that disclosure is reasonably necessary to enforce our terms and conditions or protect our operations or users. Additionally, in the event of a reorganization, merger, or sale we may transfer any and all personal information we collect to the relevant third party.
Protection of Personal Information
Akros takes precautions — including administrative, technical, and physical measures — to safeguard your personal information against loss, theft, and misuse, as well as against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.
When you use some Akros products or services or post on an Akros forum, chat room, or social networking service, the personal information you share is visible to other users and can be read, collected, or used by them. You are responsible for the personal information you choose to submit in these instances. For example, if you list your name and email address in a forum posting, that information is public. Please take care when using these features.
Integrity and Retention of Personal Information
Akros makes it easy for you to keep your personal information accurate, complete, and up to date. We will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
Children
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected the personal information of a child under 13 we will take steps to delete the information as soon as possible.
Location-Based Services
To provide location-based services on Akros products, Akros and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Akros computer or device. This location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is used by Akros and our partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based products and services. For example, we may share geographic location with application or licensee providers when you opt in to their location services.
Some location-based services offered by Akros, such as Consulting, require your personal information for the feature to work.
Third-Party Sites and Services
Akros websites, products, applications, and services may contain links to third-party websites, products, and services. Our products and services may also use or offer products or services from third parties. Information collected by third parties, which may include such things as location data or contact details, is governed by their privacy practices. We encourage you to learn about the privacy practices of those third parties.
International Users
Information you provide may be transferred or accessed by entities around the world as described in this Privacy Policy. Akros abides by the “safe harbor” framework set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information collected by organizations in the European Economic Area and Switzerland. Learn more about the U.S. Department of Commerce Safe Harbor Program.
Our Company-wide Commitment to Your Privacy
To make sure your personal information is secure; we communicate our privacy and security guidelines to Akros employees and strictly enforce privacy safeguards within the company.
Privacy Questions
If you have any questions or concerns about Akros’ Privacy Policy or data processing, please contact us.
Akros may update its Privacy Policy from time to time. When we change the policy in a material way, a notice will be posted on our website along with the updated Privacy Policy.