PRIVACY POLICY
Effective Date: 4-2-2019
Esteem America, LLC (“Esteem,” “us,” or “we”) appreciate your visit to our website. Because your privacy is important to us, we want you to understand our practices with respect to collecting and using your personal information online. We have established this website privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) to explain how Esteem uses, discloses, protects and manages the personal information that Esteem collects from you (the customer) online.
1. Scope, Consent for Collection, Use and Disclosure
This Privacy Policy governs your use of the EsteemAmerica.com website (the “Website” or the “Site”), and also applies to your use of interactive features, widgets, applications, content or downloads that we make available through the Website and that post this Privacy Policy (collectively referred to herein as the “Services”), regardless of how you access or use the Services, whether via personal computers, mobile devices or otherwise, but does not apply to data we receive from third parties [unless we combine such data with Personal Information (defined below) that we have ourselves collected under this Privacy Policy.]
This Privacy Policy does not apply to our data collection offline or otherwise outside of our Services (unless otherwise stated below). Out statements under this Privacy Policy cover only information collected through the Services directly by us, and not by third parties that may interact with our Services or link to this Website.
To the extent we provide you notice on this Site of different or additional privacy policies or practices (e.g., at the point of our collection), those additional terms shall govern such data collection and use.
By using the Services and/or by submitting inquiries through the Services, you explicitly agree to the terms and conditions of the Privacy Policy in effect at the time of your use.
We may add to, update, delete from or modify our Privacy Policy at any time in our sole discretion. We reserve the right, at any time and in our sole discretion, to change the Privacy Policy. We may post or display notices of changes to the Privacy Policy on this Site. Once posted, these changes to the Privacy Policy become effective immediately.
If any change that we make is not acceptable to you, promptly stop using our Services. If you continue to use our Services, doing so is your agreement to be bound by those changes. You should check back regularly and review this Privacy Policy so that you are aware of the most current rights and obligations which apply to your agreement with us. Nothing in this Privacy Policy shall be deemed to confer any third-party rights or benefits to you.
2. What Kind of Information Do We Collect?
2.1 Information you Provide to Us.
We do not collect “Personal Information” about you through the Services unless you choose to provide it to us voluntarily, such as through the “Contact Us” page or through submitting a life insurance policy settlement inquiry through our “Inquire Now” page. We define Personal Information as information that is unique to you and might include your phone number, name, address, email address, Social Security Number, life insurance policy number, face amount, issue date, premium payment history, and name of your life insurance company and certain medical or health information.
We may also collect demographic information, such as information about your gender, age, marital status and education level (“Demographic Information”) when you submit an inquiry through our “Inquire Now” page.
If you encounter a screen or page that requests information you do not want to share with us, do not enter the information and do not proceed with that screen or page.
If you do provide us with Personal Information, we will use it for the purpose of responding to your inquiry, and we will not sell, license, transmit or disclose this information to third parties unless: (1) you expressly authorize us to do so, (2) it is necessary to allow our contractors or agents to provide services for us, (3) in order to provide our products or services to you, (4) it is disclosed to entities that perform marketing services on our behalf or to other entities with whom we have joint marketing agreements, (5) it is disclosed to licensed life settlement providers that may have an interest in purchasing your life insurance policy in a life settlement transaction and/or investors that may have an interest in purchasing your life insurance policy from a licensed life settlement provider, or (6) otherwise as we are required or permitted by applicable law. We may also use the information you choose to provide to us to improve the content of this Site and our Services or to contact you for marketing purposes.
[2.2 Information Others Provide to Us About You]
[We may, from time to time, supplement the information we collect directly from you on our Services with outside records from third parties for various purposes, including to enhance our ability to serve you, to tailor our content to you, and to offer you opportunities that may be of interest to you. To the extent we combine information we receive from those sources with your Personal Information we collect on the Service, it will be treated as Personal Information and we will apply this Privacy Policy to such combined information, unless we have disclosed otherwise.]
2.3 Information We Collect When you Use our Services
In addition to any Personal Information or other information that you choose to submit to us (as described above) we and our third-party service providers may use a variety of technologies that store or collect certain information whenever you visit or interact with the Services (“Usage Information”). This Usage Information may be stored or accessed using a variety of technologies that may be downloaded to your personal computer, browser, laptop, tablet, mobile phone or other device (a “Device”) whenever you visit or interact with our Services. [To the extent we associate Usage Information with your Personal Information we collect directly from you on the Services, we will treat your Usage Information as your Personal Information.]
Usage Information may include:
- your IP address, UDID or other unique identifier (“Device Identifier”). A Device Identifier is a number that is automatically assigned to your Device used to access the Services, and our computers identify your Device by its Device Identifier;
- your Device functionality (including browser, operating system, hardware, mobile network information);
- the URL that referred you to our Services;
- the areas within our Services that you visit and your activities there, including remembering you and your preferences;
- your Device location;
- your Device characteristics; and
- certain other Device data, including the time of day, among other information.
2.3 Information Collected Through Tracking Technologies
A. Types of Tracking Technologies we Use
We may use a variety of tracking technologies to automatically collect Usage Information [and Demographic Information], including, but not limited to, cookies, web beacons, embedded scripts, browser fingerprinting, GPS, iBeacons, and ETags (collectively “Tracking Technologies”). A cookie (or “locally shared object”) is a data file placed on your device when you visit our site. Your browser, or other software (including Adobe Flash), may allow you to reject or remove cookies, but if you do so, some features of our Services may not work properly, and we may not be able to remember your preferences the next time that you visit. We also use web server logs to collect and store information about usage of our Services. When you use the Services from a mobile device, like a smartphone, we may also collect additional information from your device, including your location, Device Identifier, and information about your mobile network.
B. Purpose of Tracking Technologies
We may use Tracking Technologies for a variety of purposes, including:
i. When Strictly Necessary to Provide the Services
We may use Tracking Technologies that we consider strictly necessary to allow you to use and access the Services, including Cookies required to prevent fraudulent activity and improve security.
ii. To Assess Performance
We may use Tracking Technologies that are useful in order to assess the performance of the Services, including as part of our analytic practices or otherwise to improve the content or services offered through the Services.
iii. To Improve Functionality
We may use Tracking Technologies to offer you enhanced functionality when accessing the Services, including identifying you when you visit this Site or keeping track of your specified preferences, including in terms of the presentation of content on this Site.
[iv. To Deliver Relevant Content
We may use Tracking Technologies to deliver content relevant to your interests on the Services and third-party sites based on how you interact with the Services. This includes using Tracking Technologies to understand the usefulness to you of the content that has been delivered to you.]
C. Tracking Technologies Choices and Consent
We obtain your consent to our collection of Usage Information [and Demographic Information] through using Tracking Technologies by providing you with transparent information in this Privacy Policy and providing you with the opportunity to make a choice to disable Cookies as set forth above. Please note that we are not required to obtain your consent to our use of Tracking Technologies identified above that are strictly necessary.
We are giving you detailed notice of the Tracking Technologies and your limited choices regarding them so that your consent is meaningfully informed.
D. Third Party Tracking
There may be other Tracking Technologies now and later devised and used by us in connection with the Services. Further, third parties may use Tracking Technologies in connection with the Services, which may include the collection of information about your online activities over time and across third-party web sites or online services. We may not control those Tracking Technologies and we are not responsible for them. However, you consent to potentially encountering third-party Tracking Technologies in connection with use of the Services and accept that our statements under this Privacy Policy do not apply to the Tracking Technologies or practices of such third parties.
E. Do Not Track
Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. California Business & Professions Code Section 22575(b) provides that California residents are entitled to know how Esteem responds to “Do Not Track” browser settings.
There currently is no consensus among industry participants as to what “Do Not Track” means in this context. Therefore, like many websites and online services, our Services do not alter their practices when they receive a “Do Not Track” signal from a visitor’s browser. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.
F. Disabling Tracking Features
Regular Cookies may generally be disabled or removed by tools that are available as part of most commercial browsers, and in some but not all instances can be blocked by selecting certain settings. [We use tracking and advertising products provided by Google. You may learn more about Google’s use of Cookies by visiting the Google advertising opt-out page.]
Each browser you use will need to be set separately and different browsers offer different functionality and options in this regard. Also, these tools may not be effective with regard to Flash cookies or HTML5 cookies or other Tracking Technologies. For information on disabling Flash cookies go to Adobe’s website www.adobe.com.
Please be aware that if you disable or remove these technologies some parts of our Services may not work and that when you revisit this Site your ability to limit browser-based Tracking Technologies is subject to your browser settings and limitations.
3. How do We Use the Information Collected?
We may use your Personal Information, Demographic Information, and/or Usage Information that we collect about you subject to this Privacy Policy for the following purposes:
- to provide you with information or services that you have requested or agreed to receive or to provide you with marketing information or services on behalf of us or third parties;
- to licensed life settlement providers that may have an interest in purchasing your life insurance policy in a life settlement transaction;
- to investors that may have an interest in purchasing your life insurance policy from a licensed life settlement provider;
- to respond to a legitimate claim, judicial process, or request from law enforcement agency as permitted or required by law;
- to enable you to participate in a variety of the Services’ features;
- to process an inquiry submitted through the Services, including verifying your information is accurate and valid;
- to improve our Services or their functionality, or to customize your experience on the Services[, or to serve you specific content that is relevant to you;]
- to contact you with regard to your use of the Services and, in our discretion, changes to the Services and/or Services’ policies;
- for internal business purposes; and
- for purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information to us or as otherwise set forth in this Privacy Policy.
3.1 To Develop Services, Provide Support, and Improve Security
We may use your Personal Information, Demographic Information, and/or Usage Information, to conduct research and further develop our Services. In some cases, we may work with trusted third parties to perform research.
We may use Personal Information, Demographic Information, and/or Usage Information (which can include your communications to us) to investigate, respond to and resolve complaints and security issues. We may use such information to investigate violations of [our Terms of Use or] this Privacy Policy.
3.2 To Promote Communications
We may use your Personal Information to facilitate communication with you through, for example, email or mobile phone. We may send you messages about the availability of our Services, security, or other service-related issues. We may also send messages about how to use the Services, network updates, reminders, promotional messages, or to communicate with you regarding life settlement offers. While you may change your communication preferences [at any time,] please be aware that you cannot opt-out of receiving service messages from us, such as security and legal notices.
3.3 To Provide Advertising and Location-Based Services
We may also use your Personal Information, Demographic Information or Usage Information that we collect about you: (1) to specifically target relevant advertisements or content to you based on how you interact with our Services; (2) to understand the usefulness to you of the advertisements or content that have been delivered to you; and (3) to increase this Site’s functionality, including allowing you to comment or add content to the Services.
4. Sharing of Information with Third Parties
We may share non-Personal Information, such as aggregated user statistics, with third parties. We may share your Device Identifiers with third parties along with data related to you and your activities. [We do not share your Personal Information that you have provided, through using our “Contact Us” page with third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes. We may share your Personal Information that you have provided through our “Inquire Now” page with third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes.]
If we de-identify data about you, it is not treated as Personal Information by us, and we may share it with others freely. In addition, we may share the information we have collected about you, including Personal Information, as disclosed at the time you provide your information and as described below or otherwise in this Privacy Policy.
We may also share information with third parties as described below.
4.1 When You Request Information From or Provide Information to Third Parties
You may be presented with an option through our Services to receive certain information from third parties, or to have us send certain information to third parties or give them access to it.
If you choose to do so, we may disclose your Personal Information and other information to such third parties and all information you disclose will be subject to the third-party’s privacy policies and practices.
In addition, third parties may store, collect or otherwise have access to your information when you interact with their Tracking Technologies, content, tools, apps, or ads on our Services. By using those third-party tools, you acknowledge that you are subject to those third-parties’ practices and policies regarding Tracking Technology.
We are not responsible for the privacy policies and practices of third parties and, therefore, you should review any third-party privacy policies and practices prior to requesting information from them or otherwise interacting with them.
4.2 When Third Parties Provide Services on Our Behalf
We may use third-party vendors to perform certain services on our behalf, such as hosting this Site, designing and/or operating the Services’ features, tracking the Services’ activities and analytics, and other administrative services.
We may provide these vendors with access to your information to carry out the services they are performing for you or for us. Third-party analytics and other service providers may set and access their own Tracking Technologies on your Device and they may otherwise collect or have access to information about you, potentially including your Personal Information. We are not responsible for those third-party technologies or activities arising out of them. We are not responsible for the effectiveness of or compliance with any third-parties’ opt-out options.
4.3 To Protect the Rights of Esteem and Others
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we may also disclose your information if we believe in good faith that doing so is necessary or appropriate:
(i) To protect or defend the rights, safety or property of Esteem or third parties (including through the enforcement of this Policy, our Terms of Use, and other applicable agreements and policies); or
(ii) To comply with legal and regulatory obligations (e.g., pursuant to law enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or court orders).
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we have complete discretion in electing to make or not make such disclosures, and to contest or not contest requests for such disclosures, without notice to you.
4.4 In the Event of a Business Transfer
We reserve the right to disclose and transfer all such information:
(i) To a subsequent owner, co-owner or operator of this Site or applicable database; or
(ii) In connection with a merger, consolidation, restructuring, the sale of substantially all of our interests and/or assets or other corporate change, including, during the course of any due diligence process.
Any other entity which buys us or part of our business will have the right to continue to use your data, but only in the manner set out in this Privacy Policy unless you agree otherwise.
4.5 Your California Privacy Rights
Under California law, California residents who have an established business relationship with us or one of our Affiliates may choose to opt out of Esteem’s disclosure of personal information about them to third parties for direct marketing purposes. Unless noted at the time of collection, our policy is not to disclose personal information collected online to a third party for direct marketing purposes without your approval. If you choose to opt-out at any time after granting approval, write to info@esteemamerica.com.
5. Third-Party Content and Links to Third-Party Sites
The Services may contain content that is supplied by third parties, and such third parties may collect Usage Information, Demographic Information, and your Device Identifier when you use the Services. In addition, when you use the Services, you may be directed to other services that are operated and controlled by third parties that we do not control.
We are not responsible for the data collection and privacy practices employed by any of these third parties or their services and they may be tracking you across multiple sites and may be sharing the results of that tracking with us and/or others.
For example, if you “click” on a link, the “click” may take you off this Site onto a different site. These other sites may associate their Tracking Technologies with you, independently collect data about you, including Personal Information, and may or may not have their own published privacy policies.
Third-party applications may also be available via the Services. The owners of these applications (“Third-Party Owners”) may collect Personal Information, Demographic Information, Usage Information, and/or other data from you and may have their own policies and practices. We are not responsible for how Third-Party Owners or their applications collect or use your information and they may be tracking you across multiple sites and may be sharing the results of that tracking with us and/or others.
These Third-Party Owners may have their own terms of service, privacy policies or other policies and ask you to agree to the same. We are not responsible for these third-party privacy policies or the practices of Third-Party Owners. Be sure to review any available policies before submitting any personally identifiable information to a third-party application or otherwise interacting with it and exercise caution in connection with these applications.
We also encourage you to note when you leave this Site and to review the third-party privacy policies of all third-party locations and exercise caution in connection with them.
6. Our Participation in Advertising Networks
The Services may, at our discretion, use third parties such as network advertisers and ad exchanges, to serve advertisements on the Services and may use third-party analytics and other service providers to evaluate and provide us and/or third parties with information about the use of the Services and viewing of ads and of our content. Network advertisers are third parties that display advertisements, which may be based on your visits to the Services and other apps and sites you have visited. Third-party ad serving enables us to target advertisements to you for products and services in which you might be interested.
6.2 Network Advertisers May use their Own Tracking Technologies
The Service’s third-party ad network and exchange providers, the advertisers, the sponsors and/or traffic measurement services may themselves set and access their own cookies (including Flash cookies), web beacons and other Tracking Technologies on your Device and track certain behavioral Usage Information regarding users of your Device via a Device Identifier.
These third-party Tracking Technologies may be set, among other things:
(i) To help deliver advertisements to you that you might be interested in;
(ii) To prevent you from seeing the same advertisements too many times; and
(iii) To understand the usefulness to you of the advertisements that have been delivered to you.
You acknowledge and agree that associated technology may access and use your Device and may set or change settings on your Device in connection with the associated operations. Note that any images (or any other parts of content) provided by third parties in association with third-party ads or other content may serve as web beacons, which enable third parties to carry out the previously-described activities.
6.3 Esteem is not Responsible for Third-Party Tracking
Third-party Tracking Technologies used by network advertisers are not controlled by us. Statements regarding our practices do not apply to the methods for collecting information used by these third-party advertisers and others or the use of the information that such third parties collect. We have provided you with information below on their practices and available opportunity to exercise choice with respect to their Tracking Technology.
You should review the relevant third party’s terms of service, privacy policy, permissions, notices and choices should be reviewed regarding their collection, storage and sharing practices.
We make no representations regarding the policies or practices of third-party advertisers or advertising networks or exchanges or related third parties.
6.4 Network Advertising Opt Out
Further, while we may use a variety of companies to serve advertisements on the Service, you may wish to visit http://www.networkadvertising.org/optout, which provides information regarding this practice by Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) members, and your choices regarding having this information used by these companies, including the “opt-out” procedures of NAI members. Opting out of one or more NAI members only means that those NAI members no longer will be allowed under their own rules to deliver targeted content and/or ads to you, which will affect this and other sites, but does not mean you will no longer receive any targeted content and/or ads. Also, if your browsers are configured to reject cookies when you visit this opt-out page, or you subsequently erase your cookies, use a different Device or change web browsers, your NAI opt-out may not, or may no longer, be effective. Additional information is available on the NAI’s web site accessible by the above link. You may also opt-out of receiving third-party behavioral ads on this site by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) web site at http://optout.aboutads.info/. Similar limitations may apply to the DAA opt-out. We are not responsible for effectiveness of, or compliance with, any third-parties’ opt-out options or programs.]
7. Children Under the Age of 13
We offer the Services to businesses and individuals for the purchase and sale of life policy settlements, and it is not intended for use by minors, including children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 such that parental notice and consent under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) would be required. If you are a child under 13 years of age, you are not permitted to use the Services and you should exit this Site immediately.
In the event that we become aware that we have collected personal information from any child, we will dispose of that information in accordance with COPPA and other applicable laws and regulations. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe that your child under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information without COPPA-required consent, please contact us at info@esteemamerica.com.
8. Update and Accuracy of Personal Information
Keeping information accurate and up to date is important to us. An individual may see and correct their Personal Information that we collect. Contact us at the address provided below if you wish to verify your personal information.
If you request that we delete your Personal Information, please note that it is not always possible to completely remove or delete all of your information from our databases and that residual data may remain on backup media. We may retain some of your Personal Information even after you have asked to have it deleted if reasonably necessary to comply with our legal obligations, meet regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, maintain security, prevent fraud and abuse[, or enforce our Terms of Use.] We may retain de-personalized information after your account has been closed.
9. You May Opt out of Receiving Marketing Materials at Any Time
You may cancel or modify our e-mail marketing communications you receive from us by following the instructions contained within our promotional e-mails [or in some cases by logging into your Services account and changing your communication preferences].
[If you subscribe to text messages from us, you can terminate a particular text message subscription by reply texting “STOP.” Subsequent or different subscriptions will be unaffected.] Please note that we reserve the right to send you certain communications relating to your account or use of our Services, such as administrative and service announcements and these transactional account messages may be unaffected if you choose to opt-out from receiving our marketing communications.
10. Security Safeguards
We endeavor to incorporate commercially reasonable safeguards to help protect and secure your Personal Information and Usage Information. However, no data transmission over the Internet, mobile networks, wireless transmission or electronic storage of information can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Please note that we cannot ensure the security of any information you transmit to us, and you use our Services and provide us with your information at your own risk.
11. Questions
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, you may contact Esteem America by writing us at 747 Third Ave. Suite 200, New York, New York 10017 USA, or by emailing us at info@esteemamerica.com. If you send us an email to info@esteemamerica.com with questions or comments about the Services, the Privacy Policy [, or the Terms of Use,] we will share your messages with those within our organization who are most capable of addressing the issues contained in your message. We will keep a copy of your message until we have had an opportunity to address your concerns. We may archive your message for a certain period of time or discard it, but your email address will not be used for any other purpose.