Effective Date: April 1, 2024
This Privacy Policy is between Earthlink LLC (“Provider”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) and its customers and visitors (individually, “you”). We care about your privacy and the protection of your Personal Information. It is our policy not to sell your Personal Information (defined below) for money. We have put forth this Privacy Policy to describe how Provider collects, uses, and shares information that we may collect from you when you use or visit the webpages, any related subdomains and their pages, online services, and any Provider-provisioned mobile applications, including the myEarthlink app, or mobile services (collectively, “Provider Services” or “Services”). It governs your use of Provider Services, including the mobile telecommunications services that are provisioned through EarthLink Mobile powered by Ultra Mobile. This Privacy Policy also tells you about the rights and choices that you may have when it comes to your Personal Information.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your Personal Information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your only alternative is not to use our Services. By accessing or using our Services you agree to this Privacy Policy. This Policy may change from time to time. Your continued use of our Services after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the Policy periodically for updates.
Information We Collect | We collect Personal Information directly from you (e.g., when you apply for Services). We may also generate information about you (e.g., information about your device while you use Provider Services). In some cases, we may also collect Personal Information from third parties (e.g., third party referrals, our service providers). |
How We Use Your Information | We use your information to provide our Services to you; to provide you with advertising and offers that may be of interest to you; and for other purposes described below. |
How We Share Your Information | We do not sell your Personal Information to third parties for money. We share your information with our service providers (including our mobile telecommunications services provider Ultra Mobile, payment processors, customer service companies) to provide Services to you, and for other reasons, including legal and security purposes, described below. |
How We Protect Your Information | We maintain technical, administrative, and physical security measures designed to protect your information. Access to Personal Information is authorized only for Provider employees and service providers who have a business need for such access, in accordance with applicable laws. |
Cookies | We use cookies and similar technologies, such as Google Analytics, to help provide and improve our Services. |
Your Choices and Rights | You can manage your information, and in some circumstances, you may be able to opt-out of receiving certain marketing communications, change your communication preferences, and access and update your account information. These choices and other rights may vary depending on your state’s laws. If you are a California resident, please visit our Privacy Notice for California Residents for more information about your rights under the CCPA. |
Links to Other Websites | Our Services may contain links to and content from other websites or services that are not owned or controlled by Provider, including advertisers. This Privacy Policy does not apply to non-Provider products, services, websites, or mobile applications that you may access or use through the Provider Services. |
Children | Our Services are not directed at or intended for use by children, nor do we knowingly collect information from children under 16 years of age. |
Changes to this Policy | We update this Privacy Policy from time to time, and changes will be effective when posted (as identified in the Policy). |
How to Contact Us | If you have any questions about this Policy or how to manage your personal information, please contact us at [email protected] or EarthLink, LLC, Legal Department, 980 Hammond Drive NE, Suite 400, Atlanta, Georgia 30328. |
This Privacy Policy covers the following information:
This Privacy Policy does not apply to information collected by us offline or through any other means not specified in this Policy. This Privacy Policy does not apply to non-Provider products, services, websites, or mobile applications that you may access or use through the Services.
To provide you with our Services, we collect your “Personal Information.” Personal Information is data that identifies, relates to, describes, or can be used to contact, or could reasonably be linked directly or indirectly to you. Examples of the categories of Personal Information we collect directly from you as you visit or interact with our Services include, but are not limited to, the following types information:
We may also receive certain categories of Personal Information from third parties, such as third party websites, applications, and services. The categories of Personal Information that we obtain from third parties include your name, email address, and/or other contact information. In some cases, California requires that we use different names to describe the categories of information that we collect. For more information about these categories, please see our Privacy Notice for California Residents.
As you navigate through and interact with our Services, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect or generate certain Personal Information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including:
The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:
Third party websites linked to or from our Services may have information practices different from ours. You should consult the other websites’ privacy policies because we have no control over information that is submitted to, or collected by, these third parties. The inclusion of a link to a third party website does not imply an endorsement of the website by Provider or any association with the third party website’s operators.
Similarly, some content or applications available on our Services are served by third parties, including content providers and application providers. These third parties may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our website. We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies (if any) or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an application or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly.
Provider uses information about you or that you provide to us, including your Personal Information, for one or more of the following business or commercial purposes:
Third Parties: Provider values your privacy and does not sell your Personal Information for monetary consideration. Provider may share or disclose information that we collected about you or that you provided to us, including your Personal Information, as described in this Privacy Policy, as follows:
When Provider uses service providers to perform business functions on our behalf, including third party vendors, we require them through contracts to treat your information confidentially and to only use your information for the express purpose of providing the specific business functions for Provider. Other examples of such service providers include but are not limited to: (i) merchant banks for credit card authorizations, (ii) collection agencies, and (iii) and customer service companies.
Legal and Security Purposes: We may also share your information in order to (i) comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request; (ii) protect or defend the legal rights or property of Provider, or the legal rights of our business partners, employees, agents, and contractors (including enforcement of our agreements, other Provider policies, and this Privacy Policy); (iii) protect the safety and security of Provider users or members of the public including acting in urgent circumstances; (iv) protect against fraud or to conduct risk management; or (v) in the event of a corporate reorganization, restructuring, merger, divestiture, dissolution, sale of assets, bankruptcy or other similar proceeding.
Feedback You Provide on Our Social Media Pages: Provider offers publicly accessible and available profiles on social media platforms that you may access and post Feedback. Such information is subject to the privacy policies of those social media companies and the methods available, if any, for changing privacy settings and removal of content. If you provide us with a testimonial, review, or any other Feedback, you authorize us to publish it on all our Services under the name or username you provided and to aggregate it with other users’ Feedback.
Protecting children’s privacy is especially important to us. You must be 18 years of age or older to order and receive the Provider Services. No one under the age of 16 may provide information to or on the website. If, however, you authorize a child to use the Provider Services by providing them a device associated with your account, any information associated with such use will be treated as your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Provider does not knowingly or proactively ask for or collect information from any person under the age of 16. If you are under 16, do not use or provide any information on our website or through any of its features, make any purchases through our website, or provide any Feedback. If Provider learns that it may have collected or received information from a child under 16 without verification of responsible adult consent, we will delete that information. If you are a parent, guardian or other care-taker and think your child under 16 has provided us with information, please contact us at [email protected].
Provider has implemented an information security program that contains administrative, technical, and physical controls that are designed to safeguard your information, including your Personal Information. We use industry standards to secure your information when it is being collected and transmitted over the Internet, as well as firewalls, security monitoring, encryption, and intrusion detection software. Although we cannot guarantee that our information security program will prevent every unauthorized attempt to access, use, or disclose your information, we maintain security and incident response practices to handle incidents involving unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of your information.
Under our practices and policies, access to Personal Information is authorized only for Provider employees and service providers who have a business need for such access, and records are retained in accordance with applicable laws. Provider employees and service providers are trained on the importance of protecting privacy and on the proper access to, use of, and disclosure of Personal Information. As an extra precaution, you should not share your password to your Provider account with anyone.
Provider provides you with access to your account information, as well as the ability to update this information through your online Provider account or by calling Provider Customer Service. To contact Customer Service via telephone or live chat, go to earthlink.net/about-us/contact for the Provider Services. Once we have verified your identity, we will provide you with access to and/or update your account information. If we cannot verify the identity of the person making the request or suspect fraudulent or malicious activity from your Provider account, we will deny the request and inform you of the reasons. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.
Promotional, Marketing Communications From Provider: You may exercise your option to opt out from receiving email marketing communications from Provider by (i) clicking the links under communications preferences on the bottom of the email marketing communications or (ii) visiting your Provider account. If you choose to opt out of email marketing communications, you will still receive newsletters and other non-account specific messages from Provider. You may opt out of receiving Provider newsletters by clicking on the link at the bottom of the newsletter or by visiting your Provider account.
You also may contact Provider Customer Service via telephone or live chat regarding your opt in or opt out choices. We generally respond to such requests within 48 hours of receiving a request, but it may take up to 30 days depending on the volume of requests we receive. Your opt out choices will remain in effect until you change them.
We will continue to send you transaction confirmation emails and other Services-related announcements when it is necessary to do so. For instance, if any of our Services are temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send you an email. Generally, you may not opt out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature.
You may modify your contact preferences regarding any marketing communications sent by us using automated or manually dialed calls, text messages, and pre-recorded messages by going directly to your Provider account or calling Provider Customer Service. You also may text STOP in response to any text message from Provider to stop receiving text messages from Provider.
Tracking Technologies: All browsers are different, so visit the “help” section of your browser to learn about cookie preferences and other privacy settings that may be available. For example, you can manage cookie preferences set by Provider by adjusting the settings in your browser not to accept cookies. If your browser is set to reject cookies, Provider will not be able to provide you with personalized features on Provider’s website(s). The Provider website(s) do not honor “Do Not Track” requests from browsers. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” you can visit allaboutdnt.com.
Targeted Advertising: Provider uses and works with a variety of advertising networks and Ad Partners that customize and serve third party advertisements or other content on Provider Services. The servers of these advertising networks place and access cookies and other similar technologies in browsers to collect information about your visits to Provider Services in order to serve relevant ads. Information collected via the data collection technologies described in this section may be linked to other information about you and may be considered Personal Information. We do not control Ad Partners’ data collection technologies or their use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However, such Ad Partners may provide you with ways to opt out from having your information collected or used in this way. You can learn more about opting out of receiving targeted ads by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s website and learning about its consumer choice tools at youradchoices.com/control. If you would like more information about online advertising in general, you can go to networkadvertising.org/faq.
The following additional terms shall apply to the purchase and use of any mobile communications services provided through EarthLink Mobile powered by Ultra Mobile:
In addition to the terms set forth in Section 3 (Information Provider Collects Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies) above, Provider, along with the mobile telecommunications services provider, may collect technical and service information from you during the provisioning of mobile communications services or from a wireless device. Such information may include usage information (such as when your wireless device is turned on) and location information (such as where a wireless device is approximately physically located).
Location-Based Services: We use location information to route wireless communications and to provide 911 service, which allows emergency services to locate your general location. We may disclose, without your consent, the approximate location of a wireless device to a governmental entity or law enforcement authority when we are served with lawful process or reasonably believe there is an emergency involving risk of death or serious physical harm. Depending on your device, you may also be able to obtain a wide array of services based on the location of your device (for example, driving directions, enhanced 411 Directory Assistance or search results, etc.). These data services, known as Location-Based Services (“LBS”) are made available by us and other entities, usually via applications. These services use various location technologies and acquire location data from various sources. These applications and services use various location technologies (including Global Positioning Satellite (“GPS”), Assisted GPS (“AGPS”), cell ID and enhanced cell ID technologies) to identify the approximate location of a device, which is then used in conjunction with the application to enhance the user’s experience (for example, to provide driving directions, to provide enhanced 411 Directory Assistance or search results, etc.). LBS may, or may not, involve any interaction with or dependency on Provider’s mobile telecommunications service provider’s network, and location-based services may or may not look to our service provider’s network to obtain location data. Where our mobile telecommunications services provider allows third parties the capability of accessing data about your location that is derived from its network, our mobile telecommunications services provider requires those third parties to observe specific privacy and security protections consistent with this Policy. It is important that you understand the location capabilities and settings of your device, and that you carefully read and understand the terms under which these services are provided – whether by us or another entity. You should carefully review the privacy policies and other terms of third parties with whom you have authorized the sharing of your location information, and you should consider the risks involved in disclosing your location information to other people. Where we provide a location-based service, you will receive notice of the location features of the service and collection of location data is with your consent. You will be provided options for managing when and how such information should be shared. You can review our mobile telecommunications services provider’s privacy practices here.
Generally, Provider collects Personal Information for the following purposes: (i) to improve the products and services that Provider sells to consumers; (ii) to market and sell products and services to you and send you information about special offers; (iii) to contact you about products or services you have purchased from Provider (including but not limited to the Service); (iii) to respond to your inquiries; (iv) to manage and develop our business and operations, administer accounts, and collect and process payments; and (v) if you authorize text messaging regarding your account information, we will use your mobile number to communicate with you about your account. If you decide that you no longer wish to receive emails or text messages from Provider that you had authorized, you may opt-out of receiving emails and text messages by managing your account preferences on the Web site at myaccount.earthlink.net or by any other reasonable opt-out method available to you. Please note that Provider may have to communicate with you about product or service orders that you choose to place. You cannot opt-out of receiving product or service-related emails. Under federal law, you have a right, and our mobile telecommunications services provider has a duty, to protect the confidentiality of information regarding your telephone use, the mobile telecommunication services you purchase from them, the calls you place and the location of your device on its network when you make a telephone call. This information is referred to as, among other things, “Customer Proprietary Network Information”.
California Residents: If you are a California resident, California law may provide you with additional rights regarding our use of your Personal Information. To learn more about your California privacy rights, visit oag.ca.gov/privacy/privacy-laws.
Please also visit our Privacy Notice for California Residents (“Supplemental Notice“), which supplements the information contained in this Privacy Policy and applies solely to visitors, users, and others who are California residents, as defined in Section 17014 of Title 18 of the California Code of Regulations. We adopt this Supplemental Notice to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) and any terms defined in the CCPA and this Privacy Policy have the same meaning when used in our Supplemental Notice.
If you are a California resident and you have any questions about Provider’s Privacy Policy, the Supplemental Notice, or the ways in which you may exercise your rights under the CCPA, please contact us at [email protected] or EarthLink, LLC, Legal Department, 980 Hammond Drive NE, Suite 400, Atlanta, Georgia 30328.
Maine Residents: Provider does not sell its customers’ Personal Information. However, if you are a resident of Maine and an Provider Internet customer, we will first obtain your express and affirmative consent prior selling your Personal Information. Additionally, in certain circumstances and subject to applicable law, you may have the right to opt-out of any use, disclosure, or access to your non-personal information by sending an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Maine Opt-Out Request” along with your first and last name, billing address, zip code, account number(s), and whether you are a former or current Provider Internet customer.
Nevada Residents: Provider does not sell its customers Personal Information. However, if you are a resident of Nevada, you may apply limits to the sale of certain Personal Information to third parties for resale or licensing purposes, subject to applicable law. You are entitled to submit your preference for limits on such sales by sending an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Nevada Do Not Sell Request,” along with your first and last name, billing address, zip code, account number(s), and whether you are a former or current Provider customer.
Your Personal Information will be processed and maintained by us in compliance with this Privacy Policy and United States data protection and privacy laws, and regulations. If you create an account to use an Provider Service and/or are using an Provider website as a visitor from outside the United States, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and you consent to the transfer and processing of all your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and United States data protection and privacy laws. Please be aware that United States law where we may store and process your information may offer different levels of protection for information than may be available in your country.
From time to time, Provider may update this Privacy Policy to reflect new or different privacy practices. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ information, we will notify you. You are responsible for periodically visiting our website and this Privacy Policy to check any changes. Continued use of our Services following notice of any changes shall indicate your acknowledgement of such changes and agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of such changes.
Please contact us if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or its implementation, at [email protected] or EarthLink LLC, Legal Department, 980 Hammond Drive NE, Suite 400, Atlanta, Georgia 30328.
This Privacy Notice for California Residents (“Supplemental Notice”) supplements information contained in the EarthLink Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by this reference, and applies solely to visitors, users, and others who are California residents, as defined in Section 17014 of Title 18 of the California Code of Regulations (referred to herein as “consumers” or “you”). We adopt this Supplemental Notice to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) and any terms defined in the CCPA and our Privacy Policy and not defined herein have the same meaning when used in this Supplemental Notice.
We collect information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer, household, or device (“Personal Information”). In particular, we have collected the following categories of Personal Information from consumers within the last twelve (12) months:
Categories of Personal Information Collected by Provider | Collected? |
|
YES |
Categories of Personal Information NOT Collected by Provider | Collected? |
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NO |
We obtain the categories of Personal Information listed above from the following categories of sources:
We may disclose your Personal Information for a business purpose with certain third parties in order to provide Provider Services. In the preceding twelve (12) months, we may have disclosed Personal Information for a business purpose with our service providers, including but not limited to the following categories:
We do not sell your Personal Information for a commercial purpose to third parties in exchange for money as the term is traditionally understood. However, California law may treat certain sharing of information for advertising purposes as a “sale.” If you have seen ads on Provider Services in the past twelve (12) months, then under California law the following categories of Personal Information might have been “sold” to our third party Ad Partners:
The CCPA provides consumers with specific rights regarding their Personal Information. This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.
You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your Personal Information over the past twelve (12) months. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will disclose to you:
You may only make a verifiable consumer request for exercising your Right to Know twice within a 12-month period.
You have the right to request that we delete the Personal Information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your Personal Information from our records, unless an exception applies. Following a verified deletion request, we will retain a record of your request to ensure that we do not re-insert your information into our systems. This record allows us to comply with our legal obligation to you.
You have the right to direct us not to sell your Personal Information at any time in accordance with law.
To exercise your right to opt out, you (or your authorized agent), please submit a by emailing us at [email protected]. We will only use the Personal Information provided in an opt out request to review and comply with the request. Once you make an opt out request, we will wait at least twelve (12) months before asking you to reauthorize sales of your Personal Information.
To exercise the Right to Know and Right to Delete as described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request by emailing us at [email protected]. Only you, or a person that you have authorized to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your Personal Information. You may also make a verifiable consumer request on behalf of your minor child.
If you are making a Right to Know or Right to Delete request as an authorized agent on behalf of a California resident, Provider requires that you submit a notarized permission form to [email protected]. The permission form must be signed by the individual for whom you are making the request and by you.
If you are an existing Provider customer, we will reasonably work to verify your identity through our existing authentication practices for your password-protected Provider account. If you do not have a Provider account, we will reasonably work to verify your identity, where feasible, by matching the identifying information provided in your consumer request with any Personal Information that Provider currently maintains.
We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information if we cannot verify your identity or your authority to make the request. If we cannot verify the identity of the person making the request to a reasonable degree of certainty, we will deny the request and inform you of the reasons. Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us. We will only use Personal Information provided in a verifiable consumer request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.
If we suspect fraudulent or malicious activity, we will not comply with your Right to Know or Right to Delete requests until further verification procedures determine that your request is authentic. We will not disclose through a verifiable consumer request any Social Security number, driver’s license number or other government-issued identification number, financial account number, any health insurance or medical identification number, an account password, any security questions and answers, or unique biometric data.
We will endeavor to respond to your Right to Know and Deletion Requests within 45 days of our receipt of your request. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. If you have a Provider account with us, we will deliver our written response to your account. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding our receipt of your verifiable consumer request. If we are unable to comply with you request, we will explain the basis for our denial.
We will not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.
We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights under law or in our Privacy Policy.
We reserve the right to amend this Supplemental Notice at our discretion and at any time. When we make changes, we will post the updated Supplemental Notice on our website and update the effective date. Your continued use of our website(s) and our Services following posting of changes to this Supplemental Notice constitutes your acceptance of such changes.
Please contact us if you have any questions about Provider’s Privacy Policy, this Supplemental Notice, or the ways in which you may exercise your rights under the CCPA, at [email protected] or EarthLink LLC, Legal Department, 980 Hammond Drive NE, Suite 400, Atlanta, Georgia 30328.