Terms of Service & Privacy Policy

Last Updated on: January 15, 2024

PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how Dictionary.com, LLC (“Dictionary,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses and otherwise processes information about you. This Policy applies to information we collect as a data controller when you access or use our websites (the “Sites”) and any related online Dictionary products and services including the Dictionary.com mobile app available here (provision of the Sites and related products and services, collectively the “Services”), and when you otherwise interact with us, such as through our customer support channels.

We may change this Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this Policy. If we make material changes, we will provide you with additional notice (such as by adding a statement to the Services or sending you a notification). Some states may provide additional privacy rights, please refer to the Additional Information Regarding Your State Privacy Rights section to learn more. We encourage you to review this Policy whenever you access the Services or otherwise interact with us to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.

1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND MEANS OF COLLECTION. The information we collect about you depends on how you interact with us or use our Services. In this section, we describe the categories of information we collect and the sources of this information.

  • Information you Provide directly to us. We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information directly from you when you open an account or sign up for our newsletters, fill out a form, submit or post content through our Services (such as via message boards, chat groups, or surveys), make a purchase (such as a subscription), communicate with us via third-party platforms, participate in a contest, sweepstakes, or promotion, request customer support, or otherwise communicate with us. The types of information we collect include your name, username, email address, postal address, phone number, demographic information (age, gender, etc.), payment information, and any other information you choose to provide.
We do not need and therefore do not request any sensitive information about you or anyone else including, details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership or information about your health.
  • Information collected via automated technologies and interactions. As you interact with the Services, we may collect information via automated means about your computer or mobile device, your preference settings, your location and your activities, including
    • Activity Information: We collect information about your activity on our Services, such as your access times, sessions, search queries, the URL of the last webpage you visited before visiting the Sites, mis-formatted DNS entries, search results selected, clicks, pages viewed, search history, and comments;
    • Transactional Information: When you make a purchase (e.g., for a subscription or a premium version of one of our Services), we collect information about the transaction, such as product details, purchase price, and the date and location of the transaction.
    • Device and Usage Information: We collect information about how you access our Services, including data about the device and network you use, such as the IP address of your computer, unique mobile device identifier, type of device, mobile device ID number, screen resolution, web browser information and operating system or platform, your preferences and settings (time zone, language, etc.), internet provider or mobile carrier name.
    • Audio Recordings and Chat Content: If you contact customer service through our chat feature or by phone, we may monitor and retain those conversations, including for training purposes.
    • Your Content: With your permission, we collect information and content stored on your device, such as if you choose to upload a profile picture in connection with your account.
    • Precise Geolocation Information: With your consent, if you are using a mobile device, we may collect information about the precise location of your device. If you have not enabled our collection of that information, then we only collect approximate geographic location information. You may stop the collection of precise geolocation information at any time (see the Your Privacy Rights and Choices section below for details).

Information Collected by Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies: Information Collected by Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies: We (and those who perform work for us) use tracking technologies, such as cookies and web beacons, to collect information about your interactions with the Services. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us improve our Services and your experience, see which areas and features of our Services are popular and which emails and advertisements you view, authenticate users, reconstruct or observe activity relating to a session or by a user for troubleshooting, issue resolution, and other purposes, and count visits to our Services.

Web beacons (also known as “pixel tags” or “clear GIFs”) are electronic images that we use on our Services and in our emails to help deliver cookies, count visits, and understand usage and campaign effectiveness. In our mobile apps, we may also use technologies that are not browser-based like cookies.

For example, our apps may include software development kits (known as SDKs) which are code that sends information about your use to a server. These SDKs allow us to track our conversions, bring you advertising both on and off the Service, and provide you additional functionality. For more information about these tracking technologies and how to disable them, see the Advertising and Analytics section below.

  • Information collected from other sources. We obtain information from other sources. For example, we may collect information from publicly available sources, from third-party platforms through which you interact with us, and other third-parties such as identity verification services, advertising networks, data analytics providers, and mailing list providers. This information includes information about your purchases, information from reviews you post, your username and profile picture for those third-party services, and demographic information.

Additionally, if you create or log into your Dictionary account through a third-party platform, such as Facebook or Google, we’ll have access to certain information from that platform, such as your name, birthday, and profile picture, in accordance with the authorization procedures determined by such platform.

  • Information we derive. We may derive information or draw inferences about you based on the information we collect. For example, we may make inferences about your approximate location based on your IP address or infer that you are looking to purchase certain products based on your browsing behavior, the ways in which you interact with or use Dictionary Services or products and past purchases.

2. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION. We use the categories of information we collect to provide, maintain, and improve our products and Services. We may also use the information we collect for the following purposes:

  • Provide services you requested;
  • Provide, maintain, improve and develop new products, services and features, including debugging and repairing errors in our Services;
  • Personalize your experience with us;
  • Send you technical notices;
  • Communicate with you about products, services, and events offered by us and others and provide news and information that we think will interest you (see the Your Privacy Rights and Choices section below for information about how to opt out of these communications at any time);
  • Provide and administer any loyalty programs we offer;
  • Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our business, products, and services;
  • Target advertisements to you on third-party platforms and websites (for more information and to opt out, see the Your Privacy Rights and Choices section below);
  • Target advertising to you when you use our Services based on information provided by our advertising partners (for more information and to opt out see the Targeted Advertising and Analytics section below);
  • Facilitate contests, sweepstakes, and promotions and process and deliver entries and rewards;
  • Detect, investigate, and help prevent security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity and help protect the rights and property of Dictionary and others;
  • Comply with our legal and financial obligations; and
  • Carry out any other purposes with your consent or at your direction.

We may also aggregate and de-identify your information in such a way that you may not reasonably be re-identified by us or any other company and may use this information for any other purpose. We process, maintain, and use this information only in a de-identified fashion and will not attempt to re-identify such information, except as permitted by law.

3. TARGETED ADVERTISING AND ANALYTICS. We engage others to provide analytics services, serve advertisements, and perform related services across the web and in mobile applications. These entities may use cookies, web beacons, SDKs, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of our Services and other websites and mobile apps, including your IP address, web browser and mobile network information, pages viewed, time spent on pages or in mobile apps, links clicked, and conversion information. This information is used to deliver advertising targeted to your interests on other companies’ sites or mobile apps and to analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, and better understand your activity. Some of the activities described in this section may constitute “targeted advertising,” “sharing,” or “selling” under certain laws. To learn more about the choices available to you with respect to these practices, see below: Opt-Out. We require all third parties to respect your privacy and to treat your information in accordance with the law, including when you opt-out of targeted advertising. We only permit third parties to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our agreements with them.

You can also learn more about interest-based ads, or opt out of having your web browsing information used for behavioral advertising purposes by companies that participate in the Digital Advertising Alliance, by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices, or, if you reside in the European Union, by visiting www.youronlinechoices.eu.

4. HOW WE DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION. In certain circumstances, we disclose (or permit others to directly collect) information about you. We disclose the categories of personal information described above in the following ways:

  • Service Providers. We may disclose your information with vendors who provide services on our behalf such as web hosting, fraud prevention, payment processing, voice transcription, email messaging, customer service, trouble shooting, survey providers, video players and conferencing and appointment booking and scheduling.
  • Third Parties. We may disclose your information to vendors who we use to help us run our business, such as marketing agencies, data analytics and contextual intelligence providers, and digital advertising agencies (including those providing attribution, cross contextual behavioral advertising or targeted advertising, affiliate network marketing, and commercial data products to or on behalf of Dictionary), including, among others, InMobi PTE Ltd and its affiliates (whose privacy policy can be found here: https://www.inmobi.com/privacy-policy/); Triple Lift, Inc. (whose privacy policy can be found here: https://triplelift.com/privacy/); and Teads Inc. (whose privacy policy can be found here: https://privacy-policy.teads.com/).
  • Contests/Sweepstakes Partners. When you sign up to participate in a contest or sweepstakes, your information may be provided to our sweepstakes or contest advertisers, operators, or sponsors and the use of that information will be also governed by those advertisers, operators, or sponsors’ privacy policies or practices.
  • Affiliates. We may disclose your information with our affiliates, which are entities under common ownership or control of our ultimate parent company, Rock Holdings Inc. for security, internal reporting, recruiting and employment, and regulatory compliance.
  • Fraud prevention. We may disclose your information when we believe disclosure is necessary to investigate, prevent, or respond to suspected illegal or fraudulent activity or to protect the safety, rights, or property of us, our users, or others.
  • Law enforcement purposes and public safety. If requested or required by government authorities, such as law enforcement authorities, courts, or regulators, or otherwise to comply with the law, we may disclose any information we have about our users. We may disclose information collected about you in order to exercise or protect legal rights or defend against legal claims. We also may be required to disclose an individual’s personal information in response to a lawful request by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
  • Sale or merger of our business. We may transfer your information to a third party if we or any of our affiliates are involved in a corporate restructuring (e.g., a sale, merger, or other transfer of assets).

5. TRANSFER OF INFORMATION TO THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES. Dictionary is headquartered in the United States, and we have operations and vendors in the United States and other countries. Therefore, we and those that perform work for us may transfer your personal information to, or store or access it in, jurisdictions that may not provide levels of data protection that are equivalent to those of your home jurisdiction. In particular, you are advised that the United States uses a sectoral model of privacy protection that relies on a mix of legislation, governmental regulation, and self-regulation. Where required by law, we provide adequate protection for the transfer of personal data in accordance with applicable law. Where the laws of your country allow you to do so, by using our Services, you consent and authorize Dictionary to transfer, store, and use all such information in the United States and any other country where we operate which may not offer an equivalent level of protection to that required in the country where you reside and to the processing of that information by us on its servers located in the United States as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not want your personal information transferred to the United States and any other country where we operate, please do not submit any information to us or use our Services.

6. RETENTION. We store the personal information we collect for as long as is necessary for the purpose(s) for which we originally collected it or for legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. For example, if you register for an account with us, we will generally maintain your account information as long as needed to service your account. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information, and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. We may also retain personal information as required by law.

In some circumstances we may aggregate and de-identify your information in such a way that you may not reasonably be re-identified by us or any other company in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

7. CHILDREN’S PRIVACY. As a general matter, our Services are intended for audiences age 18 and older, however, we may knowingly collect personal information from individuals under the age of 18 in connection with certain school-based activities.

To the extent that we knowingly collect information from children under age 18 (called “children” in this Privacy Policy) we do so with the consent of the parent or legal guardian as described in this section of our Privacy Policy.

With regard to school-based activities, teachers and school administrators may act in the stead of parents to provide consent for the collection of personal information from children. We require such participating schools and school districts to notify parents about these activities. For more information on parental rights with respect to a child’s educational record under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), please visit the FERPA site. If use of the Dictionary Services is allowed as a student of a participating National Student Data Privacy Consortium School District which has approved the use of Dictionary Services, please reach out to your school district for further details of the criteria for approval, how consent is collected and can be withdrawn and for details of required data processing practices of approved service providers within the District.

Dictionary is committed to compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), a federal law designed to protect children (under the age of 13) online. We take children’s privacy seriously and encourage parents to take an active role in protecting their children’s privacy and online experience at all times.

Please discuss this Privacy Policy with your children so that they will better understand how to use the Site and our Services and the information they may be asked to provide when using the Site or our Services. Except as otherwise outlined in this Section 7, we do not knowingly collect personal information from users under the age of 18.

  • Information We Collect from Children. In addition to the information we collect from you through the Services where you can register an account, and provide information about your child, we collect the following information about your children:
    • Email Address
    • Name

If at any time personal information may be collected from a child through the Services, Dictionary will seek verifiable parental consent for the collection. As required by law, if Dictionary knowingly collects personal information from a child, when seeking consent from a parent or guardian, such consent will explain what information is being collected, how Dictionary plans to use it, how the parent can provide consent, and how the parent can revoke consent. If we do not receive parental consent within a reasonable time, we will refrain from collecting and processing any personal information from children and will delete all personal information collected from the child.

  • How We Use the Information We Collect About Children
    • We use the information we knowingly collect from children to provide, our Services in compliance with our agreements with their schools, authenticate users’ identities, and to provide customer support.
    • We also use the data we collect for internal purposes such as troubleshooting, protecting against errors, and to promote the safety and security of our Services.

To the extent we knowingly collect information from or relating to children, we do not use the information collected from children for behavioral or targeted advertising to children or to profile children.

  • How We Share Information We Collect About Children.
    • Service Providers: We may share information collected from your child with vendors who provide services on our behalf such as email messaging, customer service, trouble shooting, video conferencing, and appointment booking and scheduling.
    • Sale or merger of our business: We may transfer information to a third party if we or any of our affiliates are involved in a corporate restructuring (e.g., a sale, merger, or other transfer of assets).
    • Law enforcement purposes and public safety: If requested or required by government authorities, such as law enforcement authorities, courts, or regulators, or otherwise to comply with the law, we may disclose any information we have about our users. We may disclose information collected in order to exercise or protect legal rights or defend against legal claims. We also may be required to disclose information in response to a lawful request by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
  • How to Access and Delete Your Child’s Personal Information.
    • Access: As a parent, you have control of your child’s information including the information provided during the creation of an account, and you can view and correct your child’s account-related information at any time by signing into your account., please contact us at privacy@dictionary.com.
    • Deletion: If at any time you wish to stop further collection or use of your child’s information, you can delete your account by visiting your account settings and clicking “delete account,” and you can ask that we delete your child’s previously-collected information by contacting us privacy@dictionary.com.

If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 18 without the consent of the parent or legal guardian, we will delete that information. If you believe that a child under 18 may have provided us with personal information without the consent of their parent or legal guardian, please contact us at: privacy@dictionary.com.

8. THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND CONTENT. Our Services may include links to other websites and embedded content such as videos provided by third parties or social media plugins. Those parties’ privacy practices may differ from those of Dictionary. If you engage with any of those third-party providers, your information is governed by their privacy statements. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy statement of any website you visit.

9.YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS AND CHOICES.

  • Access, Correction, and Deletion. Depending upon where you are located you may have the right to (1) request to know more about and access your personal information, including in a portable format, (2) request deletion of your personal information, (3) request correction of inaccurate personal information, and (4) Request to Opt-Out of Targeted Advertising, Sell or Sharing of your personal information. For more information regarding these rights and details of how to exercise these rights please see Additional Information Regarding Your Privacy Rights.
  • Nondiscrimination. Some state laws, such as California and Virginia, specify that you have the right to not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights under those laws.
  • Location Information. When you first launch any of our mobile apps that collect precise location information, you will be asked to consent to the app’s collection of this information. If you initially consent to our collection of such location information, you can subsequently stop the collection of this information at any time by changing the preferences on your mobile device.
  • Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies. Dictionary uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to analyze visits to and use of our Services and how consumers are interacting with our marketing communications. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually adjust your browser settings to remove or reject browser cookies. You can also adjust certain cookie settings by clicking here, and navigating to the footer and using your mouse to click the “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” link, then selecting your preferences. Please note that removing or rejecting cookies could affect the availability and functionality of our Services.
  • Communication Preferences. You may opt out of receiving promotional contact from Dictionary by following the instructions in those communications. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those about your account or our ongoing business relations.
  • Mobile Push Notifications. With your permission, we may send push notifications to your mobile device. You can deactivate these messages at any time by changing the notification settings on your mobile device.

10. Additional Information Regarding Your Privacy Rights

STATES NOTICE OF COLLECTION AND PRIVACY RIGHTS. Some states require that we provide additional information regarding our privacy practices and your privacy rights. States that have passed comprehensive privacy laws giving residents specific privacy rights include: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Below we provide you additional notices about our privacy practices and consumer rights relating to your information. Some of the rights may depend on whether you are a resident of a state with specific privacy laws, as well as other factors.

  • Notice of Information Collected: We collect, and have collected, in the preceding 12 months, the following categories of personal information:
    • identifiers, such as name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and IP address; categories of personal information, such as name, address, credit card number, debit card number, or other financial information; characteristics of protected classifications under state or federal law, such as age or gender; commercial information, such as record of purchases; internet or other electronic network activity information, such as log data and information about the devices and computers you use to access the Services; geolocation data, such as GPS, Bluetooth or WiFi signals where you have allowed access to that information; other information you choose to provide, such as messages to customer service; inferences drawn from any of this information, including about the content or ads that may be of interest to you; and sensitive personal information (if you consent to sharing your precise geolocation). For details about the precise data points we collect and the categories of sources of such collection, please see the section labeled, “INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND MEANS OF COLLECTION” above. We collect personal information for the business and commercial purposes described in the section labeled, “HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION” above.
  • Retention of Personal Information: For information about how long we retain personal information, see the Retention section above.
  • Business Purposes for Use and Disclosure of Personal Information: We use and disclose personal information for the business purposes described in the “HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION” section above.
  • Disclosures of Personal Information for a Business Purpose: We disclose your personal information as described above in “HOW WE DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION.” In the preceding 12 months, we have disclosed the following categories of personal information for business purposes to the following categories of recipients.
Category of Personal Information Categories of Recipients
Identifiers Advertising networks, data analytics providers, data brokers, operating systems and platforms, email service providers, data storage providers, customer support providers, payment processing providers, and account management providers.
Categories of personal information Payment processing providers
Commercial information Payment processing providers
Internet or other electronic network activity information Advertising networks, data analytics providers, data brokers, operating systems and platforms, data storage providers
Geolocation data Advertising networks, data analytics providers, operating systems and platforms, data storage providers
Inferences Advertising networks, data analytics providers, operating systems and platforms, data storage providers

 

  • Sale of Personal information: Some states require certain disclosures about personal information we “sell.” Under some laws such as in California, “sale” means certain scenarios in which Dictionary has disclosed personal information with third parties in exchange for valuable consideration. In addition, California and other state privacy laws define “sale” to include disclosure of personal information with third parties for monetary consideration.

Under California law, the “sharing” described below may constitutes a “sale.” Accordingly, Dictionary “sells,” and has “sold” in the past 12 months, personal information as described in the “Disclosure” section below.

  • Disclosure of Personal Information: Some states law also requires that we notify you if we “share” or “sell” your personal information with third parties. “Sharing” in this context means that we make available or otherwise disclose your information to third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising, such as targeting of advertising to you based on your personal information obtained from your activity across businesses, websites, apps, and services other than our Services. We “share” or “sell” personal information for the following commercial purposes: to advertise our products to you. In the past 12 months we have “shared” or “sold” the following categories of personal information for the business or commercial purposes mentioned above to the following categories of recipients:
Category of Personal Information Categories of Recipients
Identifiers Advertising networks
Internet or other electronic network activity information Advertising networks
Inferences Advertising networks

Please see the “Your Consumer Privacy Rights” section for more information about how to opt-out of our sharing of personal information.

  • Sensitive Personal Information: Privacy laws in some states specify certain rights with respect to our collection of certain information those laws designate as “sensitive” personal information (“Sensitive Personal Information”). We obtain consent to collect that information in those states where consent is required. Moreover, each state’s privacy law may consider different pieces of information to be Sensitive Personal Information. When we notify residents of certain states that we collect Sensitive Personal Information, that means that we collect Sensitive Personal Information within the meaning of the law of that particular state.
  • Your Consumer Privacy Rights: Depending on where you reside, you may have the right to: (1) request to know more about and access your personal information, (2) request deletion of your personal information, (3) request correction of inaccurate personal information; (4) receive the personal information you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party; (5) not be discriminated against by us because you exercised any of your rights; and (6) appeal any decision we have made about your request by following any instructions in any communication you may receive from us notifying you of our decision.

You may also have the right to opt out of sharing and sales at any time by clicking here. You can also opt out of certain targeted advertising, sharing and sales by visiting our Services with a legally-recognized universal choice signal enabled (such as the Global Privacy Control). Our Sites are configured to recognize these signals which are also often labeled as “do not track” or “opt-out preference” or “global preference”. Please note that, depending on which legally-recognized opt-out preference signal you use and whether you are logged into your account with us, our processing of the signal may be limited to the specific browser or device that you are using. You may need to renew your opt-out choice if you use a different browser or device to access our Services. Please see the Your Privacy Rights and Choices section above for more information about the privacy rights you may have, how to exercise your rights, and how we will verify your requests.

  • Notice of Financial Incentive: We offer various financial incentives. For example, we may provide discounts, coupons, or other benefits to customers who join membership programs or sign up to receive our marketing emails or text messages. When you participate in a financial incentive, we collect personal information from you, such as identifiers (like your email address or phone number), commercial information (like your purchase preferences and interests or purchase history), professional or employment-related information, inferences drawn about your preferences, and other categories of personal data that relate to or are reasonably capable of being associated with you. You can opt into a financial incentive by following the sign-up or participation instructions provided, and, for any ongoing benefits, you can opt-out at any time, such as by following the unsubscribe instructions in the applicable program’s terms and conditions, promotional emails, or text messages, or contacting us at privacy@dictionary.com. In some cases, we may provide additional terms and conditions for a financial incentive, which we will provide to you when you sign up. The value of your personal information is reasonably related to the value of the offer or discount presented to you.
  • California Shine the Light: If you are a resident of the State of California, under the California Civil Code, you have the right to request from companies conducting business in California a list of all third parties to which the company has disclosed personal information (as defined by California law) during the preceding year for direct marketing purposes. Alternatively, the law provides that if a company has a privacy policy that gives either an opt-out for use of your personal information by third parties for their own marketing purposes, the company may instead provide you with information on how to exercise your disclosure choice options. We qualify for the alternative option. If you are a California resident and you want to opt out of such sharing, please send your request via email to privacy@dictionary.com and include your name, street address, city, state, and zip code (your street address is optional if you wish to receive a response to your request via email. Please include your zip code for our own record-keeping).

11.ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES FOR INDIVIDUALS IN EUROPE. If you are located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the following section applies to you.

  • Legal Basis for Processing. When we process your personal data as described above, we do so in reliance on the following lawful bases:
    • To perform our responsibilities under our contract with you (e.g., processing payments for and providing the products and services you requested).
    • When we have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data to operate our business or protect our interests (e.g., to provide, maintain, and improve our products and services, conduct data analytics, and communicate with you).
    • To comply with our legal obligations (e.g., to maintain a record of your consents and track those who have opted out of marketing communications).
    • When we have your consent to do so (e.g., when you opt in to receive marketing communications from us). When consent is the legal basis for our processing your personal data, you may withdraw such consent at any time.
  • Data Subject Requests. Please see the Your Privacy Rights and Choices section above for more information about your privacy rights. In addition, you may have the right to object to certain processing or request we restrict certain processing. To request access, correction, or deletion of your personal information, or to exercise any other right you may have, please email us at privacy@dictionary.com. You can also access, correct, or delete certain information stored within your online account by logging into your account and visiting the “Settings” page.
  • To assist us in processing your request in timely manner, please make your request in English if you are able to do so. Your request should include any information relevant to your request, including, without limitation: (i) your name, email and postal address; (ii) the specific right you are asserting (e.g., removal); and (iii) if you are requesting removal, a brief explanation of why you believe such information should be removed. We may verify your request by asking you to provide additional information related to your recent interactions with us, such as by asking you to provide information that matches what we have on file about you or by having you log into your account to submit or confirm the request.
  • If you are submitting a rights request as an authorized agent, you are required to submit proof of your authorization to make the request, such as a valid power of attorney or proof that you have signed permission from the individual who is the subject of the request. Please do not provide any sensitive personal information in connection with this request, such as a driver’s license or other government-issued ID. In some cases, we may be required to contact the individual who is the subject of the request to verify his or her own identity or confirm you have permission to submit this request. If you are an authorized agent seeking to make a request, please email us at privacy@dictionary.com.

We take data protection seriously, and have appointed DataRep as our Data Protection Representative in the European Union, which can be contacted by sending an email to DataRep at dictionary@datarep.com. Please note that this email address is only for privacy-related inquiries. General website assistance can be obtained through our Contact Us web page or by emailing support@dictionary.com.

If you have a concern about our processing of personal data that we are not able to resolve, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority where you reside. Contact details for your Data Protection Authority can be found using the links below:

For individuals in the EEA: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en

For individuals in the UK: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

For individuals in Switzerland: https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home/the-fdpic/contact.html

Where required by law, we provide adequate protection for the transfer of personal data in accordance with applicable law, such as by obtaining your consent, relying on the European Commission’s adequacy decisions, or executing Standard Contractual Clauses

12. CONTACT US. If you have any questions or concerns about this Policy or the manner in which your information is processed, collected, or would like to submit a request to us, please contact us by using our Contact Us web page or by emailing privacy@dictionary.com.

555 12th St, 4th floor
Oakland, CA 94607
Phone: (510) 671-8337
privacy@dictionary.com

COOKIE POLICY

This Cookie Policy explains how cookies, web beacons, pixel tags, clear gifs, and other similar files or technologies may be used to collect and store the information automatically collected about your computer, device, and Service usage and how you can control the use of these technologies.

  • Cookies and other Trackers.
    • WHAT IS A COOKIE? Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognizes that cookie. A pixel tag (also called a web beacon or clear GIF) is a tiny graphic with a unique identifier, embedded invisibly on a webpage (or an online ad or email) that links web pages to particular web servers and their cookies, and may be used for a variety of purposes, such as counting the number of visitors to the Sites, analyzing how users navigate around the Sites, assessing what content or ads are viewed or clicked on by our visitors. Some ad companies and game developers use “flash cookies” for ads and games that use Flash media technology. We use the term “cookies” in this policy to refer to cookies and all such similar technologies. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site. We use these technologies to let you navigate between pages efficiently, remember your preferences, track your use of the Services and generally improve your experience. Ad companies we work with place cookies on your computer to track your activities across various sites so that they can display ads on our Sites and third party websites that are more relevant to you and your interests. There are two broad categories of cookies:
      • First party cookies, served directly by us to your computer or mobile device.
      • Third party cookies, which are served by a third party on our behalf. We use third party cookies for functionality, performance / analytics, advertising and social media purposes.

Cookies can remain on your computer or mobile device for different periods of time. Some cookies are ‘session cookies’, meaning that they exist only while your browser is open. These are deleted automatically once you close your browser. Other cookies are ‘permanent cookies’, meaning that they survive after your browser is closed. They can be used by websites to recognize your computer when you open your browser and browse the Internet again.

    • HOW DO WE USE COOKIES? We use cookies to:
      • track traffic flow and patterns of travel in connection with our Services;
      • understand the total number of visitors to our sites on an ongoing basis and the types of internet browsers (e.g. Chrome, Safari or Edge), operating systems (e.g. Windows or Mac OS), and screen resolutions used by our visitors;
      • monitor and analyze the performance of our Services and to continually improve them;
      • customize and enhance your online experience; and
      • enable Dictionary and third-party advertising both on and off our Sites.

Third parties whose products or services are accessible or advertised through the Services, including social networking services, may also use cookies or similar tools, and we advise you to check their privacy policies for information about their cookies and other practices. We do not control the practices of such partners and their privacy policies govern their interactions with you. We encourage you to read their privacy policies.

      • WHAT TYPES OF COOKIES DO WE USE? The types of cookies used by us and our partners in connection with the Services can be classified into one of the five categories below. We’ve set out some further information about each category, and the purposes of the cookies we and third parties set in the following table.
TYPE OF COOKIE WHAT IT DOES
Strictly Necessary Cookies These cookies are essential to operate the Sites and provide the Services by helping us provide basic functionality such as loading and rendering pages on the Sites and enabling your navigation around the Sites and use of certain features. They are also used to identify and prevent fraud and improve security.
Functionality Cookies Functionality cookies record information about choices you’ve made and allow us to tailor the Sites to you. These cookies mean that when you continue to use or come back to the Sites, we can provide you with our Services as you have asked for them to be provided. For example, these cookies allow us to store language preference. They may also be used to provide certain functionality such as playing video content.
Performance / Analytics Cookies We use performance/analytics cookies to analyze how the Sites are accessed, used, or is performing in order to provide you with a better user experience and to maintain, operate and continually improve the Sites. For example, these cookies allow us to:

  • Better understand our Site visitors so that we can improve how we present our content;
  • Test different design ideas for particular pages, such as our homepage;
  • Collect information about site visitors such as where they are located and what browsers they are using;
  • Determine the number of unique users of the Sites;
  • Improve the Sites by measuring any errors that occur; and
  • Conduct research and diagnostics to improve product offerings.
Advertising and Tracking Cookies As you use our Sites, you will notice that it includes advertising. We allow third party advertising companies to place cookies on our Sites. These cookies enable such companies to track your activity across various sites where they display ads and record your activities so they can show ads that they consider relevant to you as you browse the web.
Cookies also allow us and third parties to know whether you’ve seen an ad or a type of ad, and how long it has been since you’ve last seen it. This information is used for frequency capping purposes, to help tailor the ads you see, and to measure the effectiveness of ads.
Social Media Cookies Third parties that make their applications available through/on our Sites may set their own cookies in order to track the performance of their applications or customize those applications for you. For example, when you share an article using a social media sharing button on our Sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram), the social network that has created the button will record that you have done this. Because of how cookies work, we cannot access these cookies, nor can the third parties access the data in cookies used by us. Some pages of our Sites may also contain embedded content, such as video content from YouTube, and these sites may set their own cookies.

 

    • COOKIE CONTROLS. You can control your cookie settings as explained below. We may disclose your opt-out choices to third parties so that they can honor your preferences in accordance with applicable laws.
      • Web Browser Controls. Most browsers allow you to change your cookie settings. Users can usually set their browsers to block all third-party cookies (which are those set by third-party companies collecting information on websites operated by other companies), block all cookies (including first-party cookies such as the ones We uses to collect search activity information about its users), or block specific cookies. These settings will typically be found in the “options” or “preferences” menu of your browser. In order to understand these settings, the following links may be helpful, otherwise you should use the “Help” option in your browser for more details.
      • Cookie settings in Microsoft Edge
      • Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
      • Cookie settings in Firefox
      • Cookie settings in Chrome
      • Cookie settings in Safari web

We note that an optional browser setting or extensions known as Do Not Track (DNT) or Universal Opt-Out which allows you to express your preferences regarding tracking by advertisers and other third-parties. A DNT or universal opt-out request is a signal that is sent by a third-party platform on behalf of a website user that communicates the user’s choice to opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information. Essentially, these signals are a way for users to communicate privacy preferences to a host of websites by using a specific search engine or browser plug-in rather than having to manually indicate the user’s preferences on each website the user visits. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice.

Your decision not to accept cookies could limit access to some of our Online Services and features. For example, we may not recognize your device.

      • Flash Cookie Controls. You can manage the use of Flash technologies with the Flash management tools available at Adobe’s website.
      • Web-Beacons. You can usually prevent the operation of web-beacons by changing your web-browser cookie settings and your ad choices, or for those in emails, by switching off images in your email client or viewing emails using only the “text” display (rather than “HTML” display”). See the “Help” section of your email client for instructions. Please see the All About Cookies website for further information about managing your options.
      • Mobile Apps. With respect to our mobile apps, you can stop all collection of information via an app by uninstalling the app. Also, you may be able to exercise specific privacy choices, such as enabling or disabling certain location-based services, by adjusting the permissions in your mobile device.
      • Google Analytics Controls. To see an overview of privacy at Google and how to opt out of certain Google practices, visit https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy. You can prevent your data from being collected by Google Analytics by downloading the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Opting-out is generally done by the third party dropping a cookie on your browser indicating your intent to opt-out. If you get a new device, install a new browser, erase, or otherwise alter the third party’s browser cookie file, you may clear the opt-out cookie and no longer be subject to its opt-out.
      • Third Party Advertising Controls. You may exercise choices regarding certain third party advertising cookies on our Site by navigating to the footer and selecting the Do Not Sell My Info link and selecting your cookie preferences from the Consent Management Window that is presented. You may also exercise choices regarding certain third party advertising cookies through the following organizations:
        • Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising. You exercise the DAA choices regarding Interest-based Advertising here. You can also download the DAA AppChoices app for control over how information about your interests is used for in-app advertising on your mobile device here.
        • European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (“EDAA”). To learn more about the EDAA and your opt out options, see https://www.edaa.eu/. You exercise the EDAA choices regarding Interest-based Advertising here: http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/.
        • Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”). To learn more about the NAI and your opt out options for their members, see http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/.

Please be aware that, even if you are able to opt out of certain Interest/behavioral/targeted -based advertising, you may continue to receive other types of ads. Opting out only means that those selected members should no longer deliver certain Interest/behavioral/targeted -based ads to you but does not mean you will no longer receive any targeted content and/or ads (e.g., from other ad networks). Dictionary is not responsible for effectiveness of, or compliance with, any third-parties’ opt out options or programs or the accuracy of their statements regarding their programs.