Transparency: CBS Interactive provides clear notice of its privacy practices through a single Privacy Policy that is readily accessible across all CBS Interactive Web Sites. CBS Interactive also provides clear information about its online advertising practices.
Choice: CBS Interactive allows you to enjoy content and features on CBS Interactive Web Sites without directly providing any contact information.
Access: CBS Interactive allows you to update or disable the contact information you have provided through our Web Sites.
Security: CBS Interactive has adopted commercially reasonable information security policies and practices to help protect your information.
Accountability: CBS Interactive responds to user inquiries, participates in industry programs, and has adopted privacy practices that are consistent with applicable country, state, and local data protection laws.
If you have any questions about these principles or CBS Interactive's Privacy Policy, please contact us.
Questions regarding this privacy policy should be sent via e-mail to marketing@cnet.com.au or to our corporate offices at Level 12, 50 Goulburn St, Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia. We read every message submitted and try to reply promptly to everyone. We may also file your comments to improve the site, or review and discard the information.
Questions regarding any other aspects of our network of Web sites should be directed to our corporate offices at 235 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.
Note: The CBS Interactive Privacy Policy has been updated. Please review the updated privacy policy carefully before using the CBS Interactive Web Sites. By using any of the CBS Interactive Web Sites, you consent to the terms of the updated privacy policy.
Scope of Privacy Policy
CBS Interactive owns, operates, or provides access to, several interactive web sites and other interactive features that provide an authorized link to the CBS Interactive Privacy Policy (collectively "CBS Interactive Web Sites"). This Privacy Policy, effective July 1, 2011, is guided by a core set of Privacy Principles and applies only to the CBS Interactive Web Sites.
Information Collected
We collect a variety of information about you, including:
Use of Information
We use the information we collect to:
Disclosure of Information
We may share your information:
Your Choices
Other Information
How to Contact Us
If you have questions regarding the CBS Interactive Privacy Policy, please contact us.
Effective Date: September 1, 2011
Note: The CBS Interactive Privacy Policy has been updated. Please review the updated privacy policy carefully before using the CBS Interactive Web Sites.
CBS Interactive Inc. ("CBS Interactive") is committed to protecting your privacy. CBS Interactive, its subsidiaries and associated companies own, operate, or provide access to, several interactive web sites and other interactive features that provide an authorized link to this Privacy Policy (collectively "CBS Interactive Web Sites"). This Privacy Policy applies only to the CBS Interactive Web Sites.
You agree to be bound by these terms and conditions by accessing, opening or otherwise using any part of the CBS Interactive Web Sites.
CBS Interactive acknowledges that its Australian subsidiaries and associated companies are subject to the National Privacy Principles as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). All information received is subject to confidentiality and CBS Interactive will not disclose such information except in accordance with this Privacy Policy and your instructions. This Privacy Policy describes, among other things, the types of information collected about you when you visit a CBS Interactive Web Site; how your information may be used and when it may be disclosed; how you can control the use and disclosure of your information; and how your information is protected.
1. Scope of Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to information, including contact information, collected about you by a CBS Interactive Web Site and covers other communication you may have with CBS Interactive including over the telephone and in person, as well as any correspondence you may send via letter, email or fax, unless indicated otherwise. This Privacy Policy does not cover any information collected through any other web site. Please note that some CBS Interactive Web Sites may contain links to non-CBS Interactive Web Sites. CBS Interactive is not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites, and we recommend that you visit the privacy policies of each web site that you visit.
2. Information Collected
Information you provide directly to CBS Interactive Web Sites.
You are not required to provide information about yourself when you visit a CBS Interactive Web Site.
CBS Interactive will only collect such personal information from you as is necessary to provide our services and conduct our business. CBS Interactive may ask you for some or all of the following types of information when you register for certain services, access various content or features, or directly contact the Web Site including:
Information we obtain from other sources.
As far as is reasonable and practicable, personal information will be collected from you personally. However, CBS Interactive may obtain personal information about you from a third party, including through interactive applications (such as mobile devices, third-party services, and embedded video players), from co-branded partners and sites (for example, on our pages on Facebook), and from commercially available sources (such as data aggregators and public databases).
CBS Interactive will take reasonable steps to ensure you are aware of this processing.
The following are examples of information we may collect from other sources:
This Privacy Policy does not cover the practices of third parties, including those that may disclose information to CBS Interactive.
Information we collect automatically on CBS Interactive Websites.
CBS Interactive Web Sites may collect certain information automatically, including:
Combining Information.
Please note that all of the information we collect about you may be combined, including to help us tailor our communications to you and to develop rich online content and services across the CBS Interactive Web Sites.
3. Use of Information
The personal information CBS Interactive collects about you will only be used and disclosed in order to provide you with the services you have requested, as well as in circumstances you would reasonably expect CBS Interactive to use and disclose the information.
For example, CBS Interactive may use personal information we collect about you to:
4. Disclosure of Information
CBS Interactive is committed to maintaining your trust and we want you to understand when and with whom we may share information collected about you.
Please note that we may share information with advertisers as described in our overview of CBS Interactive online advertising. We also may share aggregated or anonymized information with third parties, including to help us develop content and services we hope you will find of interest or to help these third parties develop their own products and service offerings. This sharing of anonymized or aggregated information will not include information that could be used to individually identify you.
5. Your Choices
You can choose to enjoy content and features on CBS Interactive Web Sites without directly providing us with any information about you, however, as described above, some information may automatically be collected or may be requested so you can take advantage of certain features and services offered on CBS Interactive Web Sites.
You can opt out of receiving commercial email or text messages from a particular CBS Interactive Web Site or service by following the instructions contained in any such message. Please note that even if you unsubscribe to commercial messages, we still may need to send you communications relating to your use of the CBS Interactive Web Sites, such as service announcements.
You have a choice about the display of relevant advertisements by third parties; for more information, visit our overview of third-party online advertising.
6. Access
CBS Interactive will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you choose to share contact information with us, you may have the opportunity to update that information on a CBS Interactive Web Site. You can also update or amend your information by contacting us.
If you believe that the personal information we hold about you is not accurate, complete or up-to-date, please contact us and we will take reasonable steps to ensure it is correct.
7. Protection of Information
We are committed to protecting your information. We have adopted commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and physical procedures to help protect your information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, modification, disclosure or alteration.
If you ask us to shut down your account or delete your information, we will disable your account within a reasonable period of time. CBS will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify personal information if it is no longer need for any purposes for which the information may be used or disclosed.
Please note that no data transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We want you to feel confident using CBS Interactive Web Sites but we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us. As the Internet is an inherently insecure environment, any information you send to us via the Internet is sent at your own risk.
8. Transfer of Data Internationally
CBS Interactive is a company with global operations. CBS Interactive is headquartered in the United States and has affiliate offices and partners in other countries. Information which you enter on our website may be transmitted electronically to the server of a website one of our subsidiaries and associated companies in another country. Please be aware that information you provide to us or we obtain as a result of your use of the CBS Interactive Web Sites may be collected in your country and subsequently transferred to the United States or another country in accordance with applicable law.
By using and participating in any CBS Interactive Web Site or providing us with your personal information, you consent to the collection, international transfer, storage, and processing of your personal information.
9. Privacy Protections for Children
In instances where a CBS Interactive Web Site may collect information from children, or offers a service directed toward children under the age of 18, it will comply with applicable laws. To read about our privacy policy for children under the age of 18, please see the Children's Privacy Policy.
10. User-Generated Content
Some CBS Interactive Web Sites enable users to submit their own content for contests, blogs, videos, message boards, and other functions. Publication of User Generated Content on the CBS Interactive Web Sites is subject to our Terms of Use. Please remember that any information you disclose becomes public information and exercise caution when deciding to disclose your contact, financial, and other information in a submission. We cannot prevent such information from being used in a manner that may violate this Privacy Policy, the law, or your personal privacy and safety.
11. Third Party Sites
When you select a link to a third party web site from one of the CBS Interactive Web Sites (for example, if you link to Pay Pal in order to pay for a product or service offered by a CBS Interactive Web Site), you will be leaving the CBS Interactive Site. Any information that you disclose on the third party site will be governed by that site's privacy policy.
12. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices and service offerings. If we modify our Privacy Policy, we will update the "Effective Date" and such changes will be effective upon posting. If we make any material changes in the way we use your information, we will notify you by sending an email message to the email address you most recently provided to us or by prominently posting a notice of the changes on CBS Interactive Web Sites.
13. Questions and Contact Information
If you have questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us and we will endeavor to respond to your request within a reasonable period of time. You may also submit questions or comments using the postal address listed below:
CBS Interactive Pty. Ltd.
Level 12, 50 Goulburn Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia
Attn: Marketing Department
We are committed to working with you to obtain a fair resolution of any privacy concern.
Cookies
Cookies are small amounts of data that are stored in separate files within your computer's Internet browser. Cookies are accessed and recorded by the web sites you visit, and by the companies that show advertisements on web sites, so they can recognize the same browser navigating online.
CBS Interactive Web Sites use cookies for the following general purposes:
Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Twitter include their cookies on CBS Interactive Web Sites to support social network integration and functionality and for use according to their privacy policies. For more information, please see our overview of third-party social networking services.
For more information about the use of cookies by third parties for advertising purposes, please read about third-party online advertising on CBS Interactive Web Sites.
Please note that CBS Interactive can only access cookies that we set on your browser, not the cookies sent to you by other companies. For information about your choices in allowing cookies to be set, please see "Your Choices with respect to Cookies and Web Beacons" at the end of this section.
Web Beacons and Other Technologies
We may use standard Internet technology, such as web beacons and similar technologies, to track your use of the CBS Interactive Web Sites. Web beacons (sometimes called transparent GIFs, clear GIFs, or web bugs) are small strings of code that provide a way for us to deliver a small graphic image (usually invisible) on a web page or in an email. Web beacons can recognize certain types of information on your computer such as cookies, the time and date a page is viewed, and a description of the page where the web beacon is placed.
We use web beacons to improve your experience on our CBS Interactive Web Sites, including to provide you with content customized to your interests and to understand whether users read email messages and click on links contained within those messages so that we can deliver relevant content and offers. Our web beacons may collect some contact information (for example, the email address associated with an email message that contains a web beacon).
CBS Interactive Web Sites also may include third-party web beacons. These web beacons allow third party service providers to collect certain information such as your IP address, your browser type, and the web page that you visited before arriving at our CBS Interactive Web Sites. These service providers process the information they collect for purposes of auditing, research, and reporting information about the CBS Interactive Web Sites and advertisements viewed on the CBS Interactive Web Sites.
Third parties that use cookies, web beacons and other technologies to help us with traffic measurement, research and analytics include Omniture, Comscore, Nielsen, Data Warehouse (the internal US System), Revenue Science, Boomerang, Google analytics, Doubleclick, and MediaMind. Please note that we do not share contact information with these third parties.
For more information about the use of beacons by third parties for advertising purposes, please read about third-party online advertising on CBS Interactive Web Sites.
We do not share any contact information (for example, your phone number or email address) with these third parties in connection with their use of web beacons.
Mobile Devices
Certain mobile devices contain unique identifiers that can be used, for example, to identify the physical location of such devices. Mobile devices also typically transmit caller ID data when used to transmit a telephone call or text message. CBS Interactive Web Sites may collect, use, transmit, process and maintain unique identifiers, caller ID data, location-based data, and similar information when you rely on mobile devices, including to provide the services you request, tell you about offers we think you will value, and improve your experience on CBS Interactive Web Sites. CBS Interactive Web Sites also may require collection of your mobile phone number in order for you to participate in certain services or features and that number may be associated with such information.
Your Choices with respect to Cookies and Web Beacons
You have the choice to set your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, notify you when a cookie is set, and to delete your cookies periodically. Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.
Web beacons are generally used in conjunction with cookies, so if your browser is set to reject cookies, or if cookies are deleted, web beacons will be unable to track your activity as you navigate between web sites.
It is up to you whether to allow us or third parties to send you cookies, but if you block cookies, you may not be able to view or access some or all of a CBS Interactive Web Site. By using CBS Interactive Web Sites and by choosing not to block or disable cookies, web beacons or other similar technologies where you have the opportunity to do so, you consent to the uses of your personal information in relation to these technologies as described in this policy.
For more information about cookies and web beacons, including how to manage your browser settings to accept or refuse cookies, please visit AllAboutCookies.org.
In addition, you have choices about the collection and use of your information by third parties to display relevant advertisements, as described in our overview of third-party online advertising.
In order to customize your experience on the CBS Interactive Web Sites, we may use cookies, web beacons, and other technologies to collect information about the content and advertisements you view on our CBS Interactive Web Sites and the web sites of our business partners. Based on this information, and other information we may collect about you as described in the "Information Collected" section of our Privacy Policy, we try to assign you to one or more categories of interests and show content and advertising that relevant to the categories of interests to which we have assigned you. For example, if you access an article about computers on ZDNet.com.au, we may show you a computer-related advertisement on CNET.com.au based on your apparent interests.
For more information on cookies, web beacons, and other technologies, please click here.
Some of the advertisements you see on CBS Interactive Web Sites are delivered by third parties. To learn more, please read about third-party online advertising.
We also may receive information from third parties about you and your activities on other sites for the purpose of serving relevant advertisements to you on CBS Interactive Web Sites. For example, if you access an article on a third-party site about computers, we may use that information to serve you with a computer-related advertisement on a CBS Interactive Web Site. This CBS Interactive privacy policy does not cover the practices of third parties, including those that may disclose information to CBS Interactive.
Please note that we may share information about our users with advertisers so that they can measure the effectiveness of advertisements viewed on the CBS Interactive Web Sites. For example, we may tell advertisers the number of users who clicked on a particular advertisement. Except in the circumstances described in the "sharing" section of our Privacy Policy, such as with your consent, this information will be anonymized or aggregated.
These online advertising efforts across CBS Interactive Web Sites do not result in you seeing more advertisements, just more relevant advertising, and they allow us to provide you with free content and services on our Web Sites. We hope you value our efforts to show you content and advertising that more closely reflects your interests.
Some of the advertisements you see on CBS Interactive Web Sites are delivered by third parties who also collect information through cookies, web beacons, and other technologies about your online activities, either on our CBS Interactive Web Sites or across the Internet, in an effort to understand your interests and deliver you advertisements that are tailored to your interests. These third parties include advertisers, advertising agencies, and ad networks that may collect information when you view or interact with one of their advertisements.
In addition, CBS Interactive works with third parties to help us track the ads that are delivered to you, in particular to control the number of times you receive the same ad, and to analyze the effectiveness of advertising on the CBS Interactive Web Sites.
Please note that CBS Interactive does not have access to the information these third parties may collect about your interests to deliver relevant advertising to you, and the information practices of these third parties are not covered by the CBS Interactive Privacy Policy.
Third parties that currently serve, track and/or analyze ads on our Web Sites, and thereby may collect information about your online activities on such Web Sites, include, but are not limited to, Atlas, DoubleClick, EyeWonder, Mediamind, Audience Science and Pointroll. These companies may offer you a way to choose not to have your information used for advertising purposes. You can find more information by clicking on the company names above and following the links to each company's web site.
In addition, some of these companies are members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI"), which offers a single location to opt out of receiving tailored ads from member companies. To opt out of information collection by NAI member companies, or to obtain information about the technologies they use or their own privacy policies, please visit the NAI consumer opt out page. Also, through the Digital Advertising Alliance ("DAA"), several media and marketing associations have developed an industry self-regulatory program to give consumers a better understanding of and greater control over ads that are customized based on their online behavior across different Web Sites. To make choices about interest-based ads from participating third parties, please visit the DAA consumer opt out page. In Australia, the Internet Advertising Bureau ("IAB AU") has developed (http://www.youronlinechoices.com.au/adaa-best-practice-guideline). More information and an opt out page to manage online behavioral advertising preferences with IAB UK member companies are available at (http://www.youronlinechoices.com.au/).
Please note that if you choose to opt out of having your information used to deliver advertisements tailored to your interests, you will continue to see advertisements on our Web Sites, but these advertisements may not be as relevant to you.
For more information about relevant advertisements delivered by CBS Interactive, please read about CBS Interactive online advertising.
We recognize the need to provide additional privacy protections when children visit the sites on which this Children's Privacy Policy is posted. The following guidelines supplement our Privacy Policy and follow the rules set by the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and other applicable laws. "Child" means an individual under 13 years of age or an individual under 18 where the collection, use or disclosure of personal information about such an individual is restricted by applicable law. When we use the term "parent" below, we mean to include legal guardians.
CBS Interactive acknowledges that the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) does not stipulate an age when a child or young person can make decisions about their own personal information. Accordingly, CBS Interactive provides the following guidance to children, young people, parents and guardians in relation to persons under the age of 18.
Information We Collect
Children can enjoy content and features on CBS Interactive Web Sites without directly providing contact information. However, children who wish to participate in sweepstakes, contests, and certain other special activities may need to provide information such as first name, user name, password, email address, date of birth, city and state of residence, and gender.
In the course of participating in interactive features such as chat rooms and message boards, a child may provide us with additional information about himself or herself, such as the contents of his or her postings. Some information, including information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other technologies, may be collected automatically. For more information, see the "Information we collect automatically" section of our Privacy Policy.
If we knowingly collect, use, or disclose contact information collected from a child CBS Interactive may provide notice and obtain parental consent in accordance with applicable law.
We do not condition a child's participation in an online activity on the child's providing more contact information than is reasonably necessary to participate in that activity.
Use of Information
We use the information we collect consistent with the services requested by the child. For example, we may use information provided by the child to:
In addition, we may use a parent's contact information to communicate with the parent regarding the child's activities on CBS Interactive Web Sites. For example, if a child wins a sweepstakes or contest, we may use the parent's contact information to conduct prize fulfillment.
Disclosure of Information
Information collected from children will be disclosed in the same ways described in the "Disclosure of Information" section of our general Privacy Policy. Third parties who receive contact information collected by CBS Interactive have agreed to maintain the confidentiality, security, and integrity of that information. Parents have the option not to consent to the disclosure of their child's contact information to third parties. Parents may consent to CBS Interactive's collection and use of their child's contact information while refusing to permit the disclosure of that information to third parties.
Parents' Choices and Access to Children's Information
Parents may review the contact information we have collected from their child, refuse to permit us to collect further contact information from their child, and request that any contact information we have collected be deleted from our records. Parents may also correct factual inaccuracies.
To review, update, or delete your child's contact information, please contact us. You may also send your request to the postal address listed below. To protect your child's safety, we ask for proof of your identification. We may deny access if we believe there is a question about your identity.
Certain information cannot be deleted because of other legal obligations.
Changes to the Children's Privacy Policy
We may amend our Children's Privacy Policy at any time. We will provide parents with notice of any material changes in the way we intend to collect, use, and share children's contact information. Please note that, at all times, parents should update their contact information to provide us with current email addresses. We will apply material changes in our Children's Privacy Policy only in conformance with applicable law.
Contact Us
If you need further assistance, please contact us. If you would prefer to submit your questions or comments by mail, please send a letter to the address below:
CBS Interactive Pty Ltd
Level 12, 50 Goulburn Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia
Attn: Marketing Department
CBS Interactive has partnered with certain third-party social networking services to offer you their services through certain CBS Interactive Web Sites. For example, you can use third-party social networking services, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google or Twitter, to share information about your experience on CBS Interactive Web Sites with your friends and followers on those services. These social networking services may be able to collect information about you, including about your activity on CBS Interactive Web Sites, and they also may notify your friends, both on CBS Interactive Web Sites and on the services themselves, that you are a CBS Interactive user or about your use of the CBS Interactive Web Sites, in accordance with applicable law and their own privacy policies.
Certain CBS Interactive Web Site feature Facebook Instant Personalization, which automatically personalizes a user's experience based on information from Facebook. To learn more about Instant Personalization, including how to opt out of the service through Facebook.com, please click here.
Sharing of information by social networking services with CBS Interactive will be consistent with the privacy policies and settings of those third-party services. For example, Facebook users can choose whether they wish to use Instant Personalization on Clicker and other websites outside of Facebook by clicking here.
We have updated our Privacy Policy to provide visitors of CBS Interactive Web Sites with a single, uniform policy consistent with our core Privacy Principles. Below, please find answers to some questions about our new Privacy Policy. To review the Privacy Policy, click.
Why are you updating your Privacy Policy?
As CBS Interactive expands and the laws protecting individual privacy evolve, we update our privacy policy accordingly to ensure that we our adhering to all applicable laws and best practice principles in all jurisdictions.
Have you made any substantively material changes to the Privacy Policy?
No, we have not made any substantively material changes to the manner in which we handle your information. But we have simplified our privacy policy, making it uniform across CBS Interactive Web Sites, and made it easier to follow.
What is a key difference with the new Privacy Policy?
One of the key differences is that our new Privacy Policy is provided in a layered format, allowing you to read highlights of our practices upfront with links to additional information about our privacy practices.
What are the "core" privacy principles that CBS Interactive follows?
Trust is a cornerstone of our mission at CBS Interactive. We are committed to gaining and maintaining your trust by following five key principles: transparency, choice, access, security and accountability. For more information, click here.
Will you share my contact information with third parties?
Like other businesses, we share contact information (such as name and email address) with vendors who process credit card transactions, with co-branded business partners, and when we have consent from our users. For more information, click here.
Can you give me an example when you will share my information with third parties?
If you enter a sweepstakes that is jointly sponsored by a third party, we will share your contact information with that third party. Also, if you seek to download a free whitepaper or listen to a free webinar about, for example, wireless services, we will ask you to consent to have your contact information shared with third parties who may contact you about wireless services. This allows us to offer you valuable content for free.
Does CBS Interactive share contact information with other CBS Interactive Web Sites?
As we continue to integrate CNET Networks into CBS, we will share information within our family of CBS Interactive Web Sites so we can better inform our users about products and services in which they may be interested. It is up to you as to whether you want to hear about special offers from us. You can choose not to receive marketing emails from us when you register with us, in any such email we send, or by contacting us.
Do you use my data for advertising on CBS Interactive Web Sites?
Like other web sites, we are able to offer free content and services through the revenue we receive from advertising on our Web Sites. We hope you value the advertising you see on our Web Sites, and we may use some data about you to tailor advertisements to your apparent interests. For example, if you visit a CNET site and view articles about computers, we may serve you with a computer-related advertisement when you visit another CBS Interactive Web Site. This advertising does not result in you seeing more ads; rather, it just means the ads you would otherwise see are more relevant. To learn more, click here.
Does CBS Interactive allow third parties to collect and use data about me for online advertising?
Our advertisers may have relationships with third parties who deliver their advertisements on our CBS Interactive Web Sites. As part of delivering these ads, the third parties may collect and use information about your activities on our Web Sites (such as the content you have viewed). These companies may offer you a way to choose not to have your information used for advertising purposes. To learn more, click here.
What are the benefits of the new Privacy Policy to me?
We hope you will find our Privacy Policy easier to read and understand across all CBS Interactive Web Sites. We are committed to gaining and maintaining your trust. If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, please contact us.