PRIVACY POLICY

Welcome to Bearshare. We want you to know that we respect your privacy and that we value your business. This privacy statement covers the BearShareTM software, Bearshare MediaBar and the BearShareTM website (www.bearshare.com). In order to ensure your privacy we want you to know the details of what information we collect and what we do with it.

INFORMATION COLLECTION

Bearshare takes your privacy very seriously. In order to provide you with the highest quality service, we do collect certain information from you in accordance with the following guidelines.

Direct Submissions:

In order to provide you with excellent service and a superior customer experience Bearshare has several areas where you can submit information to us and we also have features that automatically collect information from users of our service. Some of the information you may choose to provide includes personally identifiable information such as your name, address, email, age, gender and interests. In addition, we may collect information linked to your communications preferences, your payment and billing information, your searches and purchases, music you own, your music listening preferences, your library, play lists, most played artists and other requested information on surveys that are presented to you.

Bearshare Personalization Service:

If you have elected to enable any of Bearshare’s Personalization Services, Bearshare uses technology and services from third party partners to understand your unique interests by analyzing what content you view across Web sites and search results. This information is used to make music and other content recommendations to you. Bearshare and its partners also provide this information to other third parties to enable them to show you advertisements across the web that might be more interesting to you.

What Information is collected by the Bearshare Personalization Service?

When you first agree to receive the Bearshare Personalization Service, information will be collected about your Web browsing history to begin building a profile of your interests. While your computer is on, the Personalization Service will periodically collect:

  • Anonymous information about how you use the Web; for example —
    • the URL addresses of Web pages you view and how long you view them,
    • the links and advertisements you click on,
    • whether you make a purchase, and
    • non-personally identifiable information you provide on Web pages and forms, including the Internet searches you conduct.
  • Which computer operating system and Web browser(s) you use, and identification of some of your system settings.
  • Information on how you use the Bearshare Personalization Service; for example, how often you use it and its settings and preferences.

Personalization information is stored on servers located in the United States by Bearshare and our third party partners.

     How is this Information used?

This information is used to make music and content recommendations to you within the Bearshare software and Bearshare MediaBar. This information also enables the Personalization Service to personalize the ads that are displayed to you on Web sites you visit.

This anonymous information might also be used to conduct research for use in improving and developing new products, and to complete aggregate analytics and custom marketing research programs.

     With Whom do you Share my Information?

Search Partners: Your search queries might be with partners who may provide you with search results, sponsored links and customized ads to display to you.

Research and Reporting: The analytics and custom marketing research programs compiled from the aggregated, anonymous information collected may be announced to the press or public to report emerging Web usage trends, or provided to its corporate clients and partners so they can better understand the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns, and trends in online consumer behavior.

Service Providers: Your information may be shared with third parties who help perform a business function that it would otherwise perform itself. Such third parties are prohibited from using the data to any greater extent than allowed by this privacy policy. This information may also be used by Bearshare or its partners in connection with a judicial or administrative proceeding, or in response to a court order, subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.

     How Do I Uninstall Personalization Service?

You can uninstall the Personalization Service by disabling the technology in both the Bearshare application and MediaBar (if installed).

     Sale, Merger, or Asset Transfer

Information that has been collected from you by our software may be one of the transferred assets in the event Bearshare or our partners are purchased or merged with another company.

Cookies and Other Technology:

Bearshare may use cookies or other technologies for several purposes all designed to improve the customer experience. Within the Bearshare service we may use either what are commonly called temporary or "session" cookies as well as permanent or "persistent" cookies. Temporary or "session" cookies mean that they only last as long as you are online. We may use these cookies to identify you as a valid member so that we can deliver music to you, and to help us personalize your service experience based on your registration preferences (such as genre choice, your connection speed, your preference with regard to receiving songs that contain explicit lyrics and the country you live in), and to tailor the content and ads you receive. We may also use session cookies to help us facilitate any promotions or surveys that we provide. Within the site, we may also use session cookies to keep track of your shopping cart. These cookies do not contain any personally identifying information and we do not store data collected by them.

We may as part of the sign-in process for our service or within our shopping module, use what are commonly called "persistent" cookies which stay with you after your session is over and you are offline. We may use these cookies in connection with a sign-in feature that allows you to save your member name and password so that the next time you sign in, these fields will be pre-populated for you. If we make this cookie available, it can only be activated if you select that option during your sign-in. If you select that option you can always deselect it each time you sign-in.

We may sometimes use cookies, as well as other tracking technology, such as web beacons, within the promotional emails that we send to our members or advertisements for our service or sites. These technologies help us track, for example, whether an e-mail recipient has completed an event, such as signing up for a trial. The generated information is related to non-personally identifiable customer identification numbers and is only analyzed at aggregate levels. We may send these emails via third-party service providers that act on our behalf.

While you download and install Bearshare, Web beacons may be used to monitor your progress through the installation process. These Web beacons are used to identify and correct problems with the installer program and to improve the installation process.

We sometimes utilize third party service providers to help us track the activity and user flows within our service or sites. These third parties may use temporary cookies and/or web beaconing technology to facilitate such tracking. Such tracking would track an individual user's movements but the data would not be tracked in a personally identifiable way. Such data would be stored and analyzed on an aggregated basis for purposes of internal analysis by Bearshare to continue to optimize our customer experience.

If we engage with any advertising partners and or other third parties, our approved advertising partners and third parties whose products or services are promoted on our site may also use cookies, and we advise you to check their privacy policies for information about their cookies and other privacy practices if you are presented with one of their offers during your association with Bearshare.

Log Files and IP addresses:

We and our Personalization Partner use internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, geographical location and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track users' movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses are not linked by Bearshare to personally identifiable information and are not kept after the statistics are logged in the aggregated database. The information we collect is used for internal review and is then discarded. It is not shared with other organizations. However, users should be aware that both static and dynamic IP addresses can be mapped back to users on most ISPs based on the users login time and recorded information.

SEARCH TECHNOLOGY AND THE BEARSHARE MEDIA BAR

Bearshare and the bearshare.com website also feature the Bearshare MediaBar ("BMB") and search services ("Services"), respectively, that are powered by third party search partners ("Search Partners"). Your use of BMB and the Services are subject to the following privacy restrictions required by our Search Partners. Our Search Partners use this information to properly process your search requests. Importantly, all information collected in connection with a search query is recorded on a non-personally identifiable basis and is kept strictly anonymous, except as may be required by law or to protect the rights or safety of others.

BMB does not and our Search Partners do not: (a) collect or report back to us (or anyone else) any information about sites you visit on the Internet; (b) collect or "screen-scrape" any search queries or information that you provide to any other web sites; (c) serve pop-ups when you are on other websites; or (d) collect or report back to us (or anyone else) any data regarding your computer keystrokes or other data unrelated to the Services. When you visit this website and use the Service, neither we nor our Search Partners collect any such personal information.

Search Query and Other Non-personal Information

BMB, in the course of processing a given search query, sends a request to our Search Partners' servers. This request includes the keyword query, time of day, browser type, default language setting, IP address, an anonymous unique ID, and a code which identifying you as a Bearshare user to our Search Partners. All information collected from a search query is recorded on a non-personally identifiable basis and is kept strictly anonymous. Search Partners use this information in order to properly process your search request. For example, this data provides them with: information on which language you prefer to use; aggregated click information for the purpose of ensuring that our Search Partners are appropriately compensating us; aggregated usage and retention information; and aggregated search query information for the purpose of further monetizing commercially oriented search keywords.

In addition, all information about search activity is evaluated only on an aggregated basis (excepted in response to a customer service inquiry or legal process), and our Search Partners does not disclose any non-aggregated information to third parties, except as required by a valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order, or to protect someone's safety.

When you visit the Web Sites, our Search Partners also capture your source IP address which is a standard practice for most Internet sites. They in no way associate your IP address with any cookies and do not use your IP address in conjunction with any personally identifiable information.

Cookies

Our Search Partners also use "cookies". They do this in order to identify you as a Bearshare user and also in order to store your personal preferences. Importantly, a cookie does not allow our Search Partners to obtain any personally identifiable information (such as your real name or address) unless you have specifically provided such information when using the Web Sites or BMB.

Disclosure to Third Parties

Our Search Partners will disclose information, including personally identifiable information, data acquired by cookies, and other data, where required by a subpoena, interception order or other lawful process. Our Search Partners also reserve the right to disclose such information when they believe, in their sole judgment and to the extent consistent with applicable law, that such disclosure is necessary to protect the rights or safety of others or to enforce, or protect their rights under, this Agreement.

If the BMB or Service is ever sold or all or substantially all of the assets relating to BM or the Service are transferred to another entity, our Search Partners may transfer all information provided by or collected from you, including personally identifiable information, in order to ensure continuity of service. Our Search Partners may also transfer all information provided by or collected from you, including personally identifiable information, to another entity in the event our Search Partners or substantially all their assets are sold to another entity.

If you wish to withdraw your consent to the communication and data usage as described herein, you should uninstall BMB from your computer and cease using the Web Sites. You may uninstall or remove BMB at any time by following the instructions at the beginning of the Bearshare MediaBar section above.

Our Search Partners may provide search results or other links to other World Wide Web sites or resources. Because our Search Partners have no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that they are not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and do not endorse and are not responsible or liable for any Content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that neither Bearshare nor our Search Partners shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with your use of or reliance on any such Content, goods or services available on or through BMB or Web Sites.

INFORMATION USE

Except as described in this statement, we will not disclose any information about you outside of Bearshare and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates without your consent.

We may share non-personally identifiable information about our users with our partners and advertisers. In addition, there are times where it may be advantageous for Bearshare to make certain personally identifiable information about you available to companies that Bearshare has a strategic relationship with or that perform work in conjunction with the user experience. These companies may provide services such as those that fulfill customer service orders, those that extend credit, deliver products and or ancillary services to you, enhance and manage customer data, conduct market research for Bearshare. In addition, on occasion we allow you to choose to share your personal information with select Bearshare partners so that they can contact you about their products, services or offers. These companies are also required to protect your personal information in accordance with Bearshare's policies. Without our ability to integrate and share with these strategic partners it would be difficult for you to purchase and utilize Bearshare products and services, receive the appropriate quality and level of customer service and provide us the data needed to best improve our products and services.

In addition, by providing your email address, you'll receive our weekly email newsletter and account updates, sent to you by Bearshare. You can always opt out from any Bearshare communication.

Some Bearshare services may be co-branded and offered in conjunction with another company. If you register for or use such services, both Bearshare and the other company may receive information collected in conjunction with the co-branded services.

We occasionally hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, such as handling the processing and delivery of mailings, providing customer support, hosting websites, processing transactions, or performing statistical analysis of our services. Those companies will be permitted to obtain only the personally identifiable information they need to deliver the service. They are required to maintain the confidentiality of the information and are prohibited from using it for any other purpose.

In an endeavor to improve the customer experience we may also purchase marketing data from third parties and add it to our existing user database, to better target our features, services and offers in which we think you may be interested. To enrich our profiles of existing customers, we may tie this information to personally identifiable information that you have given to us.

In addition to the foregoing, we may disclose your personally identifiable information if we believe such action is necessary to: (a) comply with the law or legal process served on Bearshare; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Bearshare (including the enforcement of our agreements); or (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Bearshare services or members of the public.

LINKS

In an attempt to provide increased value to our visitors, we may choose various third party web sites to link from or frame within the Bearshare website. We also participate in co-branding, advertising and other relationships to offer e-commerce and other services and features to our users. Information about you may be visible to subsequent websites if you link off of the Bearshare website. However, even if the third party is affiliated with us, we have no control over these linked sites, each of which has separate privacy and data collection practices independent of us. Data collected by our co-brand partners, advertisers or third party web sites (even if offered on or through our site) is not received by us. As such, we are not responsible for, or have any control over, the content or the privacy policies of those third party websites, and encourage all users to read the privacy policies of each and every website visited when linking from Bearshare.com. These linked sites are only for your convenience and you therefore access them at your own risk. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by Bearshare.

CHOICE/OPT-OUT

As a member of Bearshare, you can download, search, share and publish just about any digital media file. Users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of the sharing component of the Bearshare Software, so that such user's files are not made available to other users, by disabling that component of the Software. Each user is provided with the option to disable the sharing component of the Software by going into the preferences section of our site and "disabling" the appropriate component...

Additionally you can modify your registration and preferences information at any time in the My Account section of our service. Also all of Bearshare's promotional emails are accompanied with information on how to change your communications preferences and how to "opt-out" of certain communications. For access to our communications preferences page please go to the My Account section of the Service.

OUR COMMITMENT TO CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. We operate our website in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We never knowingly collect or maintain information at or on our website from those we actually know are under 13, and no part of our website is directed at or structured to attract anyone under 13. Visitors younger than 13 years of age may NOT use the Bearshare website and software and must LEAVE immediately.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

At times Bearshare may be required by law or litigation to disclose your personal information. We may also disclose information about you if we determine that for national security, law enforcement, or other issues of public importance that disclosure of information is necessary.

SECURITY

We take every reasonable precaution to protect information from misuse, loss and unauthorized access. Although we cannot guarantee that users' information will not be subject to unauthorized access, we have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we may collect online. All employees are kept up to date on our security and privacy practices.

NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement and on our homepage so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify registered users by way of an e-mail or instant messaging or similar method, and/or by posting a notice on our website.

QUESTIONS

If you have questions or concerns regarding this please email us at privacy@Bearshare.com. You can also contact us by sending us postal mail at Bearshare. 211 East 43rd St. 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10017, Attn: PRIVACY OFFICER.