Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 28, 2024

I. INTRODUCTION

Thank you for using The Center Square (“TCS”). TCS is committed to protecting your privacy and taking great care of your personally identifiable information (“Personal Information,” as defined in Section III, herein). Our Privacy Policy will help you understand what information we collect, how it is used, and how it is protected. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at info_tcs@thecentersquare.com.

This Privacy Policy details our practices associated with the collection of your Personal Information in the course of your use of thecentersquare.com (the “Site”). This Privacy Policy does not apply to any third-party websites that you access from our Site or that you use to access our Site, which have data collection, storage and use practices, and policies that may differ from this Privacy Policy. TCS is not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-parties or the content of linked sites, although we do encourage you to read the applicable privacy policies and terms and conditions of such third-parties or websites.

As our services evolve and we perceive the need or desirability of using information collected in other ways, we may from time to time amend this Privacy Policy. We post the effective date of our Privacy Policy above.

II. APPLICATION OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy applies to your use of (regardless of means of access) any of the current set of services from TCS’ Site, collectively referred to as “TCS Services.”

You can access TCS Services through applications on Devices. A “Device” is any computer used to access the TCS Services, including without limitation a desktop, laptop, mobile phone, tablet, or other consumer electronic Device.

TCS Services may enable you to use applications developed by third parties, individually and collectively referred to as “Third-Party Apps” on a Device, such as an Android app on a Device running either the Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X or Linux operating systems.

III. PERSONAL INFORMATION

“Personal Information” includes information that identifies or is reasonably linkable to a specific user or household, including but not limited to:

1. “contact data” – including, but not limited to, your name, mailing or billing address, email address, and/or phone number;
2. “demographic data” – including, but not limited to, your gender your date of birth, and your zip code;
3. “payment data” – including, but not limited to, your credit card number used as form of payment; and, without limitation,
4.  Other identifying information that you voluntarily choose to provide to TCS, such as unique identifiers or passwords, Personal Information in emails, or letters that you send to TCS.

IV. INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE US AND TCS MAY COLLECT

Generally, you may visit the Site without revealing any Personal Information. However, TCS may collect the Personal Information you choose to submit, as part of the inquiry process.

TCS may also collect additional information as described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent. You may still access our Site if you choose not to provide us with any Personal Information, but if you elect not to share Personal Information it may affect our ability to provide products or services to you.

By providing your Personal Information to TCS, you explicitly agree to our collection and use of such information as described in this Privacy Policy.

a. Billing and payment information

When you make a payment for donations or other purposes through the Site, your payment card information is collected and stored by our payment processing partner. Our payment processing partner collects your voluntarily provided payment card information necessary to process your payment. Such partner’s use and storage of information is governed by its applicable terms of service and privacy policy, and is not bound by this Privacy Policy, nor is TCS responsible for the privacy practices of its partners.

b. Information we automatically collect when you use the Site

Some information, which may include Personal Information, may be automatically collected when you use our Site (directly by TCS or its service providers acting on its behalf), such as the following: (i) IP address; (ii) domain server; (iii) type of device(s) used to access the Site; (iv) web browser(s) used to access the Site; (v) referring webpage or other source through which you accessed the Site; (vi) geolocation information; and (vii) other statistics and information associated with the interaction between your browser or device and the Site (collectively “Traffic Data”). Depending on applicable state law, some Traffic Data may be Personal Information.

c. How TCS Collects Information

TCS collects information (including Personal Information and Traffic Data) when you use and interact with the Site, and in some cases from third-party sources. Such means of collection include:

1. Cookies: “Cookies” are small computer files transferred to your computing Device that contain information such as user ID, user preferences, lists of pages visited, and activities conducted while using the TCS Services. TCS uses cookies to improve or tailor its Services, to customize advertisements by tracking navigation habits, measuring performance, and storing authentication status so re-entering credentials is not required, customize user experiences with the TCS Services, and for analytics and fraud prevention. For more information on cookies, including how to control your cookie settings and preferences, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org. Some cookies are placed by a third-party on your Device and provide information to TCS and third-parties about your browsing habits (such as your visits to our Site, the pages you have visited, and the links and advertisements you have clicked). These cookies can be used to determine whether certain third-party services are being used, to identify your interests, and to serve advertisements relevant to you. TCS does not control third-party cookies.
2. Web service analytics: TCS may use third-party analytics services in connection with the Site, including, for example, to register mouse clicks, mouse movements, scrolling activity, and text typed into the Site. These analytics services generally do not collect Personal Information unless you voluntarily provide it and generally do not track your browsing habits across web services that do not use their services. Additionally, thecentersquare.com uses Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting to track visitor demographics for the purposes of measuring the interest levels of various segments of our readership and engagement with website content.

V. HOW TCS USES YOUR INFORMATION

The use of your information is subject to this Privacy Policy and Terms of Use in effect at the time of use. The provisions contained herein supersede all previous notices or statements regarding TCS’ privacy practices with respect to this Site.

In certain circumstances, and in order to best provide you with our products or to perform services, we may use certain information that we collect from you for commercial purposes, as described in this Section:

1. Advertising: TCS does not sell email addresses to third-parties. However, TCS may send emails to you on behalf of paid advertisers. Sponsor or sale identification records may be made available for public inspection, as may be required by law.
2. Business partners: We may share your Personal Information and/or Traffic Data with our partners who perform operational services (such as hosting, billing, fulfillment, data storage, security, insurance verification, web service analytics, or ad serving) and/or who make certain services, features, or functionality available to our users.
3. Cross device matching: To determine if users have interacted with content across multiple devices and to match such devices, we work with partners who analyze device activity data and/or rely on your information (including demographic, geographic, and interest-based data). To supplement this analysis, we also provide de-identified data to these partners. Based on this data, we may then display targeted advertisements across devices that we believe are associated or use this data to further analyze usage of Site across devices.

Although TCS may retain service providers to carry out such services on its behalf, TCS enters into specific data protection and confidentiality terms with those agents to ensure they protect your personal data to the same extent as TCS. 

VI. STORAGE AND SECURITY INFORMATION

The security of your Personal Information is important to TCS. We endeavor to follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the Personal Information submitted to us, both during transmission and in storage. For example, when you enter sensitive information on our Site and/or our Services, we encrypt that information (both at rest and in transit) using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.

We store and process your information on our servers in the United States. We maintain industry standard backup and archival systems. No method of electronic transmission is 100% secure. Therefore, TCS cannot guarantee absolute security of your Personal Information. As such, please safeguard your Personal Information as it relates to the use of this Site. You agree to notify TCS immediately of any unauthorized use of your Personal Information or any other breach of security. TCS reserves the right to refuse service, terminate Site usage, or remove or edit content in its sole discretion.

VII. RETENTION OF YOUR INFORMATION

TCS retains Personal Information only for so long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including as described in this Privacy Policy, or as required by law. When assessing retention periods, TCS first carefully examines whether it is necessary to retain the Personal Information collected and, if retention is required, works to retain the Personal Information for the shortest possible period permissible under law.

VIII. OPT-OUT RIGHTS

If you do not wish to receive offers or other notices from TCS in the future, you can “opt out” by contacting us at the address indicated at the end of this policy.

IX. ACCESSING, UPDATING, CORRECTING INFORMATION

Users can access, update, or correct their Personal Information through the direct means provided for on the Site. For additional requests users can contact us as outlined in Section 10.

X. CONTACTING TCS

Privacy Contact Information:

If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about our privacy policy you may contact us using the information below:

The Center Square

20 N. Clark St., Suite 3300

Chicago, IL 60602

info_tcs@thecentersquare.com

847-497-5230