Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy informs you of the policies and procedures of Blind Creator Inc. ("Blind") for the collection, use, and disclosure of information through www.blindcreator.com ("Site"). It includes websites, features, applications, widgets, or online services owned or controlled by Blind that post a link to this Privacy Policy (together with the Site, the "Service"). It also includes any information that Blind collects offline in connection with the Service.

This Privacy Policy describes the choices available to you for the use, your access, and how to update and correct your personal information. This Privacy Policy incorporates by reference the Blind Global Data Processing Agreement. Please note that we combine the information we collect from you from the Site, through the Service in general, or offline.

Certain features or services referenced in this Privacy Policy may not be offered on the Service at all times. Please also review our Terms of Service, which govern your use of the Service.

We have provided brief summaries in this Privacy Policy to help you understand what information we collect, how we use it, and what choices or rights you may have. While these summaries help explain some of these concepts in a simple and clear way, we recommend that you read the entire Privacy Policy to understand our data practices.

Content

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A) Information Collection

  • Information You Provide to Us
  • Personal Information
  • Payment Information
  • Identity Verification
  • General Audience Service
  • Non-Identifiable Information
  • Combination of Personal and Non-Identifiable Information
  • Information Received from Third Parties
  • Information Collected Automatically
  • Cookies
  • Web Beacons
  • Embedded Scripts
  • How We Respond to Do Not Track Signals
  • Work Logs
  • User Profiles
  • Community Forums
  • Job Listings Through the Service
  • Feedback
  • Email to Friends and Referral Program
  • Social Media Services
  • SMS Terms of Service

B) Use of Information

C) Data Retention

D) Information Sharing and Disclosure

  • Information About Freelancers Shared with Clients and Agencies or Teams
  • Service Providers
  • What Happens If You Agree to Receive Information from Third Parties or Request That We Share Your Information
  • Legal and Investigative Purposes
  • Internal and Business Transfers
  • Sweepstakes, Contests, and Promotions
  • Third-Party Analytics Providers, Ad Servers, and Similar Third Parties
  • Your Choices and Rights
  • Security
  • International Transfers of Personal Information
  • Links to Other Sites
  • Public Profile
  • Phishing
  • California and Nevada Residents: Your Privacy Rights
  • Changes to This Policy
  • Supplemental Privacy Notice for California Residents

A. INFORMATION COLLECTION

Users of the Service may be Clients, Content Creators or Agencies, or Site Visitors (as each is defined in the User Agreement).

Information You Provide to Us

When you use the Service, you may provide us with information about yourself. This may include your name and contact information, financial information to make or receive payments for services obtained through the Blind platform, or information to help us complete tax forms. When you use the Service, we may also collect information related to your use of the Service and aggregate it with information about other users. This helps us improve our Services for you. You may also provide us with information about your contacts or friends if, for example, you want to add those contacts to a messaging room. Agencies may also provide us with information about Content Creators associated with the Agency.

Personal Information: When using the Service (whether as a Client or Content Creator or Agency), we may require or collect information that identifies you as a specific individual and that can be used to contact or identify you ("Personal Information"). Examples of personal information include your name, email address, company address, billing address, and phone number.

Payment Information: If you use the Service to make or receive payments, we will also collect certain payment information, such as credit card information or other financial account information, and billing address.

Identity Verification: We may collect personal information, such as your date of birth or taxpayer identification number, to validate your identity or as required by law, such as to complete tax returns. We may request documents to verify this information, such as a copy of your government-issued identification or photo or a bank statement.

Biometric Identifiers or Service Interaction Information: We may collect personal information to verify your identity and detect fraud, identity theft, or other misuse of your account through facial recognition and other technologies. This could be a photograph of your face, a selfie, or data about your interactions with the Service. We may request documents to verify this information, such as a copy of your government-issued identification. From time to time, Blind may require you to take and submit another updated image of your face to compare with your government-issued identification. Biometric identifiers or information collected are used solely to verify your identity and for platform security and usage integrity purposes.

General Audience Service: The Service is general audience and is intended for users over 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18 years of age. If we become aware that a child under 18 has provided us with personal information, we will make all commercially reasonable efforts to delete such information from our files. If you are the parent or legal guardian of a child under 18 and believe that Blind has collected personal information from your child, contact us at: legal@blindcreator.com.

If you have not reached the age of majority in the jurisdiction where you reside, you have received permission to use the Services from your parent or legal guardian.

Non-Identifiable Information / Usernames: We may also collect other information, such as zip codes, demographics, information about your use of the Service, and general project-related data ("Non-Identifiable Information"). We may combine information collected from Blind users, whether registered or not ("Blind Users"). In some cases, we may convert Personal Information (generally, email address) into a form of Non-Identifiable Information referred to in this Privacy Policy as "Hashed Information." This is generally accomplished using a mathematical process (commonly known as a hash function) to convert information into a code. The code does not directly identify you, but may be used to connect your activity and interests.

Combination of Personal and Non-Identifiable Information: Sometimes, when non-identifiable information is combined, it can identify an individual. For example, if a date of birth is combined with a name, it could identify a person even if the birthday or name alone could not. But the same pieces of information are considered non-identifiable information when taken alone or combined only with other non-identifiable information (for example, your viewing preferences). We may combine your personal information with non-identifiable information, but Blind will treat the combined information as personal information.

Collection of Personal Information from Third Parties: We collect the following personal information from you about your contacts or friends: first name, last name, and email address when you provide it to us for the purpose of adding your contacts to a messaging room.

You have no legal obligation to provide us with any information, but you may have a contractual obligation to do so, and if we do not receive certain information from you, then we will not be able to provide you with our Service. If you have any questions about whether the provision of information is mandatory and the consequences of withholding such information, please contact us using the contact information below.

Information Received from Third Parties

Third parties may also give us information about you. If we combine that information with information about you collected through the Service, we will continue to treat that combined information as set forth in this Privacy Policy.

We may also receive information about you from third parties. For example, we may supplement the information we collect with external records or third parties may provide information in connection with a co-marketing agreement or at your request (such as if you choose to log in with a third-party service). If we combine information we receive from others with information we collect through the Service, we will treat the combined information as described in this Privacy Policy.

Information Collected Automatically

Like other online companies, we receive technical information when you use our Services. We use these technologies to analyze how people use the Service, to improve the functioning of our Site, to save your login information for future sessions, and to serve you ads that may interest you.

We and our third-party service providers, including analytics and third-party content providers, may automatically collect certain information from you whenever you access or interact with the Service. This information may include, among other information, the browser and operating system you are using, the URL or advertisement that referred you to the Service, the search terms you entered into a search engine that led you to the Service, areas within the Service that you visited, which links you clicked on, what pages or content you viewed and for how long, other similar information and statistics about your interactions, such as content response times, download errors, and length of visits to certain pages, and other information commonly shared when browsers communicate with websites. We may combine this automatically collected log information with other information we collect about you. We do this to improve the services we offer you and to improve marketing, analytics, and site functionality.

The information we collect also includes the Internet Protocol ("IP") address or other unique device identifier ("Device Identifier") for any device (computer, mobile phone, tablet, etc.) used to access the Service. A Device Identifier is a number that is automatically assigned or connected to the device you use to access the Service, and our servers identify your device by its Device Identifier. Some mobile service providers may also provide us or our third-party service providers with information about the physical location of the device used to access the Service.

Blind and its partners use cookies or similar technologies to analyze trends, administer the website, track users' movement through the website, desktop application, and mobile application, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. The technology used to collect information automatically from Blind Users may include the following:

Cookies: Like many websites, we and our marketing partners, affiliates, analytics, and service providers use "cookies" to collect information. A cookie is a small data file that we transfer to your computer's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. We use persistent cookies that remain on your computer or similar device (such as to save your registration ID and login password for future logins to the Service and to track your compliance with Blind's Terms of Service) and session ID cookies, which expire at the end of your browser session (for example, to enable certain features of the Service, to better understand how Blind Users interact with the Service, and to monitor aggregate usage by Blind Users and web traffic routing on the Service). You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level, but if you choose to disable cookies, it may limit your use of certain features or functionalities of the Service.

Web Beacons: We and our marketing partners, affiliates, analytics, and service providers may also employ software technology known as "Web Beacons" and/or "tracking tags" to help us keep track of what content on our Service is effective and to serve you relevant advertising. Web Beacons are small graphics with a unique identifier that may be invisible to you and that are used to track the online activity of Internet users. Web Beacons are embedded in the web pages you view or email messages you receive. Web Beacons or similar technologies may be used for a number of purposes, including, without limitation, to count visitors to our Service, to monitor how Upwork Users navigate the Service, to count how many emails that were sent were actually opened, or to count how many particular articles or links were actually viewed.

Embedded Scripts: We and our marketing partners, affiliates, analytics, and service providers may also employ software technology known as Embedded Script. An Embedded Script is programming code designed to collect information about your interactions with the Service, such as the links you click. The code is temporarily downloaded onto your computer or other device and is deactivated or deleted when you disconnect from the Service.

In addition, we and our marketing partners, affiliates, analytics, and service providers may use a variety of other technologies (such as tags) that collect similar information for security and fraud detection purposes, and we may use third parties to perform these services on our behalf.

HOW WE RESPOND TO DO NOT TRACK SIGNALS

Blind does not respond to Do-Not-Track signals.

Please note that your browser settings may allow you to automatically transmit a "Do Not Track" signal to websites and online services you visit. There is no consensus among industry participants as to what "Do Not Track" means in this context. Like many websites and online services, Blind does not alter its practices when it receives a "Do Not Track" signal from a visitor's browser. To learn more about "Do Not Track," visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.

General Data Protection Regulation: Data Processing Agreement

To streamline compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), Blind has published a Data Processing Agreement ("DPA") that governs the relationship between the Customer (as defined in the DPA) acting as data controller or data processor, as applicable (and as defined in the DPA), of personal data under European Data Protection Legislation; and Blind (acting as data processor or data subprocessor, as applicable).

Unless you and Blind agree otherwise in writing, to the extent that Blind processes any EU personal data for you as a controller (as defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679) in your role as a Customer, the Data Processing Agreement applies.

Content Drafts and Work View

We collect information about a Content Creator's work for a Client, including information automatically collected about work on a particular campaign. If a Content Creator enables Content Drafts, we will share the drafts with the corresponding Client and Agency. We tell Content Creators when we are capturing information for the Work Log and allow Content Creators to block such data sharing.

As part of the Service, when enabled by a Content Creator, we collect information about a Content Creator's work on a project for a Client. This feature is known as Work Log. Work Logs include information provided by the Content Creator, such as a note, as well as information automatically collected about work on a campaign (which may include a webcam photo of you if you have enabled this feature in your settings). To use Content Drafts, you must download and install the Team App software from www.blindcreator.com.

We will share the information contained in Work Drafts with the corresponding Client and with any manager or administrator of any applicable Agency. We inform Content Creators each time we capture information for Work Drafts. As set forth in our Terms of Service, End User License Agreement, and help pages on the Site, a Content Creator may choose to block or delete the screenshot and associated data for a recorded work interval, but then the Content Creator may not be paid for that work interval. Blind may use non-identified or aggregated information from Work Logs for statistical analysis, product development, marketing, and research.

User Profiles

Content Creators may create a profile, with some or all of the information publicly available. Clients and Agencies may also create organization profiles.

You may have the opportunity to create a profile, which consists of information about you, and may include Personal Information, photographs, examples of your work, information about work previously performed through the Service and outside the Service, skills, tests taken, test scores, hourly pay rates and earnings information, feedback/rating information, and other information, including your username ("Profile"). Your Profile information may be visible to all Blind Users and the general public, subject to the privacy choices you make within your Blind Profile. If you choose to make your profile publicly visible, your profile will be visible to the entire Internet, including clients, freelancers, visitors, and search engines like Google and Bing, and may appear on Blind partners' sites. You may edit certain information in your Profile through your account and may choose to limit who can see certain content you post to your Profile. Individual user Clients and Agencies or associated companies may also have the opportunity to create an organization profile. If, in any case, you believe an unauthorized profile has been created about you, you may request its removal by contacting us at legal@blindcreator.com.

Identity Verification

We prioritize trust in our Service, so we may take steps to verify your identity.

Before a Content Creator can complete registration on the Service, or at any time thereafter, we may request or re-request identity verification. Without limiting the way we request identity verification, we may require Content Creators to participate in a video call after submitting their government-issued ID to allow us to confirm that the Freelancer is actually the person on the ID. We may record such video calls and take screenshots of the user during the call. Upwork may use information obtained from identity verification for the purpose of verifying your identity, enforcing our Terms of Service and other agreements, and preventing fraud.

Messaging

Content Creators, Agencies, and Clients may communicate with each other through the Service. For example, Content Creators, Agencies, and Clients may want to discuss the Client's needs and Content Creators' work proposals. If you communicate with an Agency or Client, that Agency or Client will also be a "data controller" with respect to such communications.

Community Forums

We may offer public forums or blogs. If you participate, your comments and questions will be displayed publicly.

The Service may provide you with the opportunity to participate and post content publicly in forums, on blogs, through interactive features on Blind, and through other communication features ("Community Forums"). You may choose, through such features or otherwise, to submit or post questions, comments, or other content (collectively, "User Forum Content").

Please note that certain information, such as your name and Profile, may be publicly displayed on the Service along with your User Forum Content. Please note that your use of Community Forums is subject to Blind's Forum Rules and our Terms of Service.

Please note that anything you post to a Community Forum is public: others will have access to your User Forum Content and may use it or share it with third parties. If you choose to voluntarily disclose Personal Information in your User Forum Content or use Community Forums to link to your Profile, that information will be considered public information and the protections of this Privacy Policy will not apply.

Testimonials

We display personal testimonials from satisfied customers on our Service, in addition to other endorsements. With your consent, we may post your testimonial along with your name. If you wish to update or delete your testimonial, you can contact us at admin@blindcreator.com.

Job Listings Through the Service

If you choose to post a job listing through the Service as a Client, the content of such listing will be publicly visible, unless you designate the listing as visible only through the Service or as private using the settings available on the corresponding website. Job listings include information such as budget, location, Client's job listing history, names of other Content Creators performing work for the Client, Client feedback and rating information, and project performance timing.

Feedback

We collect public and private feedback from Blind Users about their experience with other Blind Users of our Service. Please note that any public feedback you provide through the Service about your experience with other Blind Users of our Service or that other Users provide about you is publicly visible through the Service. On rare occasions, we may remove feedback in accordance with the relevant provisions of our Terms of Service, including the Terms of Use. Any private feedback you provide through the Service about your experience with other Blind Users of our Service or that other Users provide about you will not be publicly visible through the Service.

We also collect feedback from Users about our Service. We use this information to respond to your inquiries, improve the Service and how our Site works, and develop new products and features.

Email to Friends and Referral Program

Blind allows you to send project posts to friends via email. Blind also offers the ability to send emails to friends about providing or purchasing services through the Service. You should only provide Blind contact information of people who are familiar to you and with their consent. If you choose to use any of the features, your friend's email address will be used to send the requested post and your email address will be used to copy you on the message to your friend or to send the message on your behalf. Blind stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email and tracking the success of our referral program.

Your friend may contact us at https://support.blindcreator.com or legal@blindcreator.com to request that we remove this information from our database.

Social Media Services

You may register for an account directly with our Site or through a social media service. If you register through a social media service (or later link your account to one), we will collect certain information about you from that social media service, and what we collect depends on your privacy settings with that social media service. The Service may also allow you to "like" or share content with social media services.

You may register to join the Service directly through the Service or by logging into your account with a third-party social networking service ("SNS") through our Service (e.g., Facebook, TikTok, and other third-party services that allow you to log in using your existing credentials with those services). If you choose to register through an SNS, or to later link your account with the Service to your account with an SNS, we will use the Personal Information you have provided to the SNS (such as your name, email address, gender, and other information you make publicly available through the SNS) to create your account. Please note that the information we collect from and through an SNS may depend on the privacy settings you have set with the SNS and the permissions you grant us in connection with linking your account with the Service to your account with an SNS. Other than what we may share with the SNS as described below, the Personal Information an SNS has about you is obtained by the SNS independent of our Service, and Blind is not responsible for it.

The Blind Service may also permit additional interactions between it and a third-party website, service, or other content provider, such as enabling you to "like" or share content with a third-party SNS. If you choose to "like" or share content, or to share information from or through our Service with a third-party site or service, that information may be publicly displayed, and the third party may have access to information about you and your use of our Service (and we may have access to information about you from that third party). These features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Your interactions with third parties through an SNS or similar features are governed by the respective privacy policies of those third parties.

You represent that you are entitled to use your SNS account for the purposes described herein without breach by you of any of the terms and conditions that govern the SNS, and without obligating Blind to pay any fees or making Blind subject to any usage limitations imposed by such SNS. You can disable the link between your Blind account and your SNS account at any time through the "Settings" section of our Service. Please note that your relationship with any SNS is governed solely by your agreement(s) with such SNS. If your SNS account terminates, then functions enabled through the link between your Upwork account and your SNS account will also terminate.

SMS Terms of Service

US Short Code Terms of Service

Blind Alerts

For users who opt-in, the Blind Alerts SMS program sends helpful reminders related to activity on the Blind platform and other marketing and promotional messages, such as event invitations and job posting support.

The number of messages received may vary based on user activity. Message and data rates may apply to all text messages between you and Blind. If you have any questions about your text plan or data plan, it is best to contact your wireless provider. This program is provided as a service to you, and neither Blind nor your mobile carrier will be responsible for delayed or undelivered messages.

B. USE OF INFORMATION

We use information collected through the Service to provide and improve the Service, process your requests, prevent fraud, provide you with information and advertising that may interest you, comply with the law, and as permitted with your consent.

WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT:

  • To provide and improve the Service, complete your transactions, address your inquiries, process your registration, verify the information you provide is valid, and for internal business and compliance purposes.
  • To contact you with administrative communications and Blind newsletters, marketing or promotional materials (on behalf of Upwork or third parties), and other information that may be of interest to you. If you decide at any time that you no longer wish to receive such communications from us, follow the instructions in the Your Choices and Rights section below.
  • To tailor the content we display to you and offers we may present to you, both on the Service and elsewhere online.
  • To administer and develop our business relationship with you and, if applicable, the corporation or other legal entity you represent.
  • To evaluate your proposal to perform a freelance project for Blind and prepare related governmental and internal statistical reports.
  • To enforce and comply with the law, including conducting an investigation, to protect the property and rights of Blind or a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop activity we may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, illegal, fraudulent, unethical, or legally actionable. We may also use device identifiers to identify Blind users.
  • For the purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information, with your consent, and as further described in this Privacy Policy. We use your personal information for the purposes described above:

To meet our contractual commitments to you. Much of our processing of personal information is to meet our contractual obligations to our investors, or to take steps at Users' request in anticipation of entering into a contract with them.

For our legitimate interests. In many cases, we handle personal information on the grounds that it furthers our legitimate interests in commercial activities, such as the following, in ways that are not overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the affected individuals:

  • Providing our Site and Service.
  • Detecting security incidents, protecting against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and prosecuting those responsible for that activity.
  • Measuring interest and engagement in our Services.
  • Short-term transient use, such as contextual customization of ads.
  • Improving, upgrading, or enhancing our Services.
  • Developing new products and services.
  • Ensuring internal quality control and safety.
  • Authenticating and verifying individual identities.
  • Debugging to identify and repair errors with our Services.
  • Auditing relating to interactions, transactions, and other compliance activities.
  • Enforcing our agreements and policies.
  • Analyzing and improving our business.
  • Communications, including marketing and responding to your inquiries about our services.
  • Addressing information security needs and protecting our Users, Blind, and others.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, any personal information obtained through third-party authentication services, such as Google APIs, will be used solely to provide and improve the core functionality of the application within the Service. Such data will not be used to send third-party marketing materials or for ad personalization outside of our Service.

  • Managing legal matters.

To comply with legal obligations. We need to use and disclose personal information in certain ways to comply with our legal obligations.

C. DATA RETENTION

Unless you request that we delete certain information (see Your Choices and Rights below), we retain:

  • Government-issued identification documents you submit to verify your identity for 40 days
  • Selfies you submit to verify your identity for 180 days
  • A copy of the headshot from your identification document for 5 years
  • Other information we collect for at least 5 years

Your information may persist in copies made for backup and business continuity purposes for additional time. If you choose to provide us with personal information, we encourage you to routinely update the data to ensure we have accurate and current information about you.

D. INFORMATION SHARING AND DISCLOSURE

We may share information about you to provide the Services, for legal and investigative purposes, in connection with sweepstakes and promotions, or if we are part of a merger or acquisition. We may also share non-identifiable information with third parties. You have choices regarding whether we share your personal information with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

We may share aggregated non-identifiable information and may disclose non-identifiable information (including but not limited to hashed information) to third parties. We do not share your personal information with third parties for those third parties' marketing purposes unless we first provide you the opportunity to opt-in or opt-out of such sharing.

Information shared in the following circumstances:

Information about Content Creators Shared with Clients, Agencies, Blind Payroll Providers, and The Blind Foundation Initiative Partners:

We share information about Content Creators who have entered into a contract with a Client or who have chosen to participate in Blind Payroll, including information in work drafts and work history, with Clients, Agencies, and Blind Payroll providers.

Information about Clients and Agencies Shared with Content Creators:

If you have entered into a service contract or agreed to use Blind Payroll with another user, we may provide them with your name, company address, billing address, or tax identification or VAT number to complete the transaction or facilitate resolution of a claim or dispute.

Service Providers:

We may employ third-party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service, to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Service-related services, or to assist us in analyzing how our Service is used.

Legal and Investigative Purposes:

Blind will share information with governmental agencies as required by law in response to legal requests from public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.

Internal and Business Transfers:

Blind may share information, including personal information, with its parent company Blind Creator Inc. and any current or future subsidiaries or affiliates.

Sweepstakes, Contests, and Promotions:

We may offer sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions that may require registration.

Important Note: Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, data obtained through Google APIs will not be shared with third parties for their marketing purposes under any circumstances.

E. THIRD-PARTY ANALYTICS PROVIDERS, AD SERVERS, AND SIMILAR THIRD PARTIES

We may work with advertising agencies and vendors that use technology to help us understand how people use our Site.

Blind works with network advertisers, advertising agencies, analytics service providers, and other vendors to:

  • Provide us with information about traffic on the Service
  • Serve our advertisements on other websites and mobile applications
  • Provide us with information about the use of the Service and the effectiveness of our advertisements

If you would like to opt out of receiving interest-based advertising, you may visit:

  • NAI: http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp
  • DAA: http://www.aboutads.info/choices/

Important Note: Personal information obtained through Google APIs will not be shared with advertising networks, data brokers, or other advertising and analytics service providers.

F. YOUR CHOICES AND RIGHTS

According to applicable law, you may have certain choices and rights associated with your personal information.

Communication Preferences

  • Registered Users can update their communication choices through their online account
  • You may opt out of receiving marketing emails by following the opt-out instructions
  • Push notification preferences can be modified in the settings menu

Data Subject Rights

According to applicable law, you may have the right to:

  • Access personal information about you
  • Request correction of your personal information when it is inaccurate
  • Request deletion, anonymization, or blocking of your personal information
  • Request restriction or object to our processing of your personal information
  • Withdraw your consent for us to process your personal information
  • Request data portability and receive an electronic copy
  • Be informed about third parties with whom your information has been shared
  • Request review of decisions made solely on the basis of automated processing

To exercise these rights, send an email to: legal@blindcreator.com

G. SECURITY

We take a number of measures to protect your data, but security is not guaranteed.

Blind takes commercially reasonable steps to help protect and secure the information it collects:

  • All access to the Site is encrypted using TLS (Transport Layer Security)
  • Sensitive information is encrypted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
  • We use HTTP Strict Transport Security for additional protection

Important: No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure.

H. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Because we are a U.S. company, we process and store your information in the United States and our service providers may process and store it elsewhere.

If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide us with information:

  • Blind transfers Personal Information to the United States for processing
  • Our service providers may process Personal Information in the United States and elsewhere
  • These countries may not have the same data protection laws as your country

When we transfer Personal Information from territories in the EEA, we rely on approved data transfer mechanisms.

I. LINKS TO OTHER SITES

Our Service contains links to other websites. If you choose to click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's website.

Important:

  • We do not exercise control over third-party websites
  • These other websites may place their own cookies on your computer
  • We recommend that you read the privacy policies of other websites you visit

J. PUBLIC PROFILE

The profile you create on our Site will be publicly accessible unless otherwise indicated. This means it will be visible to:

  • The entire Internet
  • Clients
  • Freelancers
  • Visitors
  • Search engines like Google and Bing

You can change your profile's privacy settings through your account portal.

K. PHISHING

Phishing websites mimic legitimate websites to obtain personal or financial information.

For more information about phishing:

  • Visit the Federal Trade Commission website at http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing
  • If you believe you have received a phishing email impersonating Upwork, report it at https://support.upwork.com

L. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may change this Privacy Policy. If we make substantial changes, we will notify you.

Update Process:

  • Blind may update this Privacy Policy at any time
  • Any changes will take effect upon posting
  • In case of substantial changes, we will display a notice through the Services
  • We may also notify you by email

We will use your personal information in a manner consistent with the Privacy Policy in effect at the time you submitted the information, unless you consent to the new or revised policy.

M. SUPPLEMENTAL PRIVACY NOTICE FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS

This Supplemental Privacy Notice for California Residents supplements the information in our Privacy Policy above, and except as provided herein, applies solely to California residents. It applies to personal information we collect on or through the Service and through other means (such as information collected offline, in person, and over the phone). It does not apply to personal information we collect from our employees or job applicants in their capacity as employees and job applicants. It also does not apply to information we collect about businesses that use our Service, including employees, owners, directors, officers, or contractors of those businesses, in the course of our provision or receipt of business-related services.

N. USE OF GOOGLE API INFORMATION

Notwithstanding any other provision in this Privacy Policy, if you provide the application with access to your Google account data, the application's use of that information will be governed by the following limitations:

  • The application will use access solely to read, write, modify, or control data necessary to provide its core functions, and will not transfer this data to others unless necessary to improve those functions, comply with applicable law, or as part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
  • The application will not use this data to serve advertisements, including personalized, retargeted, or interest-based advertising.
  • The application will not allow humans to read this data unless with the user's affirmative consent for specific messages, necessary for security reasons (such as investigating abuse), to comply with applicable law, or for the application's internal operations when the data has been aggregated and anonymized.

Summary of Information We Collect

California law requires us to disclose information about the categories of personal information we have collected about California consumers (as that term is defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA")), the categories of sources from which the information was collected, the business or commercial purposes (as defined by applicable law) for which the information was collected, and the categories of parties with whom we share personal information.

We or our service providers may collect the following categories of information for the following business or commercial purposes (as those terms are defined in applicable law):

  • Providing the Service (e.g., account servicing and maintenance, matching freelancer talent with client needs, customer service, advertising and marketing, analytics, and communication about the Service);
  • Our operational purposes or those of our service providers;
  • Auditing consumer interactions on our site (e.g., measuring ad impressions);
  • Detecting, protecting against, and prosecuting security and privacy incidents and fraudulent or illegal activity;
  • Bug detection, error reporting, and activities to maintain the quality or safety of our Service;
  • Investigating compliance, enforcement, and/or compliance with law;
  • Short-term transient use, such as customizing content that we or our service providers display on the Service;
  • Improving our existing Service and developing new services (e.g., by conducting research to develop new products or features);
  • Other uses that advance our commercial or economic interests, such as third-party advertising and communicating with you about relevant offers from us or external partners;
  • Other uses about which we notify you.

    • Accessibility

    This Privacy Policy uses industry-standard technologies and was developed in connection with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.1. If you wish to print this policy, please do so from your web browser or by saving the page as a PDF.