This CC Network Privacy Policy ("Privacy Policy") explains the collection, use, and disclosure of "personal
information" by Creative Commons Corporation ("CC" or "Creative Commons"), a Massachusetts Corporation, with its
principal place of business at 171 Second St, Suite 300, San Francisco, 94150, USA, through the beta website that
Creative Commons operates at http://creativecommons.net (the "ccNet
Website" or the "Website"). Any "personal information" that Creative Commons collects via our main website (http://creativecommons.org) or via our Science
Commons website http://sciencecommons.org) is
handled in accordance with the privacy policy posted on those websites (http://creativecommons.org/privacy), and any "personal information"
that Creative Commons collects via our ccMixter site (http://ccmixter.org) is handled in accordance with our ccMixter Privacy Policy (http://ccmixter.org/privacy).
This Privacy Policy also explains our commitment to you with respect to our use and disclosure of non personal
browsing and site usage data that Creative Commons collects as the provider of the Website and an OpenID service
provider. That commitment is contained in a "Data Usage Policy," below.
As used in this policy, "personal information" means information that would allow a party to identify you such
as, for example, your name, address or location, telephone number or email address.
By accessing the Website or using Creative Commons as your OpenID service provider, you are accepting the
practices described in this Privacy Policy.
Our Principles
Creative Commons is committed to handling responsibly the information and data we collect about you through our
Website, whether personal information or non personal browsing and site usage data. We have designed our Privacy
Policy and our Data Usage Policy consistent with the following principles (the "Principles"):
- Privacy policies and data collection and use policies should be human readable, comprehensive, and easy to
locate; - Only the minimum amount of information reasonably necessary to provide you with services should be collected
and maintained, and only for so long as reasonably needed; - Information you provide through our Website or that we gather as a result of your use of our Website or
OpenID services should not be used for marketing or advertising purposes, nor should it be provided voluntarily
(without your permission) to anyone else for any reason; and - Unless restricted or prohibited by law, you should be notified when Creative Commons is required to provide a
third party with your personal information (whether by subpoena or otherwise).
Personal Information we Collect
We collect personal information at several places on the Website, including without limitation when you join the C
reative Commons network through our ccNet Website, and when
you thereafter create/edit your profile page, identify your works, share your story, and/or establish a Creative
Commons OpenID. We also collect personal information when you send us an email or contact us through our
website.
What CC does with the Personal Information
Emails. We use the personal information you provide to us when you send us emails in order to
respond to your request — for example, to reply to your email or to send you communications about news and
events related to Creative Commons.
ccNet Website. When you join our network you provide personal information to create your account
and establish a password and profile, and (optionally) to create an OpenID. We use that personal information to
establish and maintain your accounts, provide you with the features we provide for account holders, to act as your
OpenID service provider, and for the purpose of contacting you about upcoming news and events relevant to Creative
Commons.
By joining the Creative Commons network, you are also given a public profile page where you can post personal
information for public viewing. The information that you submit on your public profile page, including information
you provide in the field "Your CC Story," is posted at your discretion (although subject to CC's Terms of Use
). The information you publish on your public profile page, including your personal information, may be used
by anyone who views that information for any lawful purpose, with the exception of the text you insert in the "Your
CC Story" field, which if you choose to provide must be licensed under and becomes subject to the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
License, as stated on the Edit Profile page. CC may use the personal and non personal information you provide
in your public profile, including the text in the "Your CC Story" field (subject to the terms of that license), to
promote the mission of Creative Commons and the ccNet Website.
Any other personal information that we may collect which is not described specifically in this Privacy Policy
will only be collected and used in accordance with the Principles.
Disclosures of Personal Information
In general, it is not Creative Commons' practice to disclose personal information to third parties. We may share
personal information in two instances:
- First, Creative Commons may share personal information with our contractors and service providers in order
to maintain, enhance, or add to the functionality of the Website or the OpenID service. - Second, we may disclose your personal information to third parties in a good faith belief that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to (a) take action regarding suspected illegal activities; (b) enforce or apply our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy; (c) comply with legal process, such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order; or (d) protect our rights, reputation, and property, or that of our users, affiliates, or the public.
If Creative Commons is required to provide a third party with your personal information (whether by subpoena or
otherwise), then CC will use reasonable means to notify you promptly of that event, unless prohibited by law or CC
is otherwise advised not to notify you on the advice of legal counsel.
Security of Personal Information Collected via the Website; OpenID
Creative Commons has implemented reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to and unlawful
interception or processing of personal information that Creative Commons stores and controls. However, no website
can fully eliminate security risks. Third parties may circumvent our security measures to unlawfully intercept or
access transmissions or private communications. We will post a reasonably prominent notice to the Website if any
such security breach occurs.
OpenID, including Creative Commons OpenID services, has security risks in addition to those described above.
Among other things, OpenID is vulnerable to DNS attacks, and using OpenID may increase the risk of phishing. See About OpenID for more information about the types and levels of risks associated with
OpenID.
Data Usage Policy: Non Personal Browsing and Site Usage Information
Our Data Usage Policy covers how we maintain and use information about you that is collected by our Website and
server logs, including when you log into a website using your Creative Commons OpenID.
Non Personal Information we Collect. When you use the Website, our servers (which may be hosted
by a third party service provider) may collect information indirectly and automatically (through, for example, the
use of your "IP address") about your activities while visiting the Website and information about the browser you are
using. In addition, whenever you use your Creative Commons OpenID to log into a website, our servers (which, again,
may be hosted by a third party service provider) keep a log of the websites you visit and when you visit them. See
About OpenID for more information about how OpenID works.
No Linking. We do not link browsing information or information from our OpenID server logs to
the personal information you submit to us. We use this information for internal purposes only, such as to help
understand how the Website is being used, to improve our Website and the features we provide, and for systems
administration purposes. CC may use a third party analytics provider to help us collect and analyze non personal
information through operation of our Website for those same purposes; however, we will never use a third party
analytics provider to collect or analyze any information through our operations as an OpenID service provider. In
all cases, we subsequently discard the non personal data unless we are required to maintain it by law or are advised
to do so upon the advice of legal counsel.
No Selling or Sharing. Except in the unique situations listed above, Creative Commons does not voluntarily provide information about your OpenID usage to third parties.
No Access. As an OpenID service provider, CC could technically access your web-based account
tied to our OpenID service, and could log in on behalf of any of its OpenID users to any of the accounts they have
accessed using their Creative Commons OpenID. Creative Commons will never use this technical login ability for any
purpose unless otherwise required by law.
No Retention. CC discards non personal information from our OpenID server logs once we have
used the information for the limited purposes noted above, under "No Linking."
Notice. If Creative Commons is required to provide a third party with your non personal
information or to log in on behalf of an OpenID user (whether by subpoena or otherwise), then CC will use reasonable
means to notify you promptly of that event, unless CC is prohibited by law from doing so or is otherwise advised not
to notify you on the advice of legal counsel.
Any other non-personal information that we collect which is not described specifically in this Privacy Policy will only be collected and used in accordance with the Principles.
Children
Consistent with the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we will never knowingly request personal information from anyone under the age of 13 without requiring parental consent. Any person who provides their personal information to CC through the Website represents that they are 13 years of age or older.
Third-Party Sites
The Website may include links to other websites. You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party sites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other websites.
Special Note to International Users
The Website is hosted in the United States. If you are accessing the Website from the European Union, Asia, or any other region with laws or regulations governing personal data collection, use, and disclosure, that differ from United States laws, please note that you are transferring your personal data to the United States which does not have the same data protection laws as the EU and other regions. By providing your personal data you consent to:
- the use of your personal data for the uses identified above in accordance with the Privacy Policy; and
- the transfer of your personal data to the United States as indicated above.
Changes and Updates to this Privacy Policy
We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy. When we do, we will also revise the Effective Date below. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed about how we are protecting the personal information we collect. Your continued use of the Website constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Policy and any updates.
Questions? If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email at info@creativecommons.org.
Effective Date: October 1, 2008