Privacy Policy

Effective date: September 30, 2019

We at Chudo know you care about how your personal information is used and shared, and we take your privacy seriously. Please read the following to learn more about our Privacy Policy. By using or accessing the Services in any manner, you acknowledge that you accept the practices and policies outlined in this Privacy Policy, and you hereby consent that we will collect, use, and share your information in the following ways.

Remember that your use of Chudo’s Services is at all times subject to the Terms of Use, which incorporates this Privacy Policy. Any terms we use in this Policy without defining them have the definitions given to them in the Terms of Use.

What does this Privacy Policy cover?

This Privacy Policy covers our treatment of personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) that we gather when you are accessing or using our Services, but not to the practices of companies we don’t own or control, or people that we don’t manage. We gather various types of Personal Information from our users, as explained in more detail below, and we use this Personal Information internally in connection with our Services, including to personalize, provide, and improve our services, to allow you to set up a user account and profile, to contact you and allow other users to contact you, to fulfill your requests for certain products and services, and to analyze how you use the Services. In certain cases, we may also share some Personal Information with third parties, but only as described below.

As noted in the Terms of Use, we do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not attempt to register for the Services or send any Personal Information about yourself to us. If we learn that we have collected Personal Information from a child under age 13, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that a child under 13 may have provided us Personal Information, please contact us at [email protected].

Will Chudo ever change this Privacy Policy?

We’re constantly trying to improve our Services, so we may need to change this Privacy Policy from time to time as well, but we will alert you to changes by placing a notice on the App, on chu.do, by sending you an email, and/or by some other means. Please note that if you’ve opted not to receive legal notice emails from us (or you haven’t provided us with your email address), those legal notices will still govern your use of the Services, and you are still responsible for reading and understanding them. If you use the Services after any changes to the Privacy Policy have been posted, that means you agree to all of the changes. Use of information we collect now is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such information is collected.

What information does Chudo collect?

Information You Provide to Us:

We receive and store any information you knowingly provide to us. For example, through the registration process and/or through your account settings, we may collect Personal Information such as your name. We will also need to access your mobile device camera in order to create your Chumoji avatar. We also receive and store media files that you knowingly provide through the Services (such as photos, videos and audio files), and contact lists that you provide through the App or that we access from your mobile device address book. Contacts lists will include both your contacts’ names and MSISDN.

We may communicate with you if you’ve provided us the means to do so. For example, if you’ve given us your email address, we may email you about your use of the Services. If you do not want to receive communications from us, please indicate your preference by emailing us at [email protected].

Information Collected Automatically

Whenever you interact with our Services, we automatically receive and record information on our server logs from your device, which may include your IP address, geolocation data, device identification, “cookie” information, the type of device you’re using to access our Services, and the page or feature you requested. “Cookies” are identifiers we transfer to your device that allow us to recognize your device and tell us how and when pages and features in our Services are visited and by how many people. You may be able to change the preferences on your device to prevent or limit your device’s acceptance of cookies, but this may prevent you from taking advantage of some of our features. You can change the preferences on your device as follows:

For iOS: Every iOS device includes an advertising identifier (IDFA) with two key features:

  1. Users can reset the identifier at any time.
  2. Users can also opt out of all remarketing campaigns by activating the Limit Ad Tracking (LAT) setting, thus keeping advertisers from using the device’s IDFA for behavioral advertising. For more information about how to enable this setting, click here.

For Android: Every Android device includes an advertising identifier (AAID). To opt out or to change its settings, follow these steps:

  1. If using Android 2.3 or above, select “Google settings” in the app drawer.
  2. Select “Ads”.
  3. Select “Reset advertising ID” to generate a new identifier and eliminate any previously stored data.
  4. Then select “Opt out of interest-based ads”.

If you click on a link to a third party website or service, a third party may also transmit cookies to you. Again, this Privacy Policy does not cover the use of cookies by any third parties, and we aren’t responsible for their privacy policies and practices. Please be aware that cookies placed by third parties may continue to track your activities online even after you have left our Services, and those third parties may not honor “Do Not Track” requests you have set using your browser or device.

We automatically receive and store message data (such as text messages, information about the recipient, information about the sender and timestamps) when you send or receive messages through the App. We also collect and display information about your online and status message changes on our Services, such as whether you are online (your “online status”), when you last used our Services (your “last seen status”), and when you last updated your status message. In addition, we display typing awareness indicators, which are the indicator bubbles that appear when a user is in the process of typing you a message.

We may use this data to customize content for you that we think you might like, based on your usage patterns. We may also use it to improve the Services – for example, this data can tell us how often users use a particular feature of the Services, and we can use that knowledge to make the Services interesting to as many users as possible.

Will Chudo share any of the Personal Information it receives?

We do not rent or sell your Personal Information in personally identifiable form to anyone. We may share your Personal Information with third parties as described in this section:

Information that’s been de-identified. We may de-identify your Personal Information so that you are not identified as an individual, and provide that information to our partners. We may also provide aggregate usage information to our partners (or allow partners to collect that information from you), who may use such information to understand how often and in what ways people use our Services, so that they, too, can provide you with an optimal online experience. However, we never disclose aggregate usage or de-identified information to a partner (or allow a partner to collect such information) in a manner that would identify you as an individual person.

Analytics service providers: To support and enhance the Services, we use third-party analytics services, including those provided by iTunes Connect, Google Inc. and Fabric, which is owned by Google, Inc. (collectively, “Third Party Analytics Services”), to analyze how you interact and engage with the Services so that we can learn and make enhancements to offer you a better experience. The Third Party Analytics Services use cookies and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Services and other websites, and they may track your activity on the Services over time. Information collected by the Third Party Analytics Services may include your IP address, time spent on the App, Features purchased and conversion information. Information from Third Party Analytics Services may be used by us and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain Content, deliver Content targeted to your interests on our Services and better understand your App activity. Google Inc.'s ("Google") ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your use of the Services is subject to the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy. You have the option to opt out of Google's use of cookies by visiting the Google advertising opt-out page at www.google.com/privacy_ads.html or the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/. Third Party Analytics Services will never have access to anonymized information, which means that they will never be able to match your name or other identifying information with the messages or media files that you send through the App.

Affiliated Businesses: In certain situations, businesses or third party websites we’re affiliated with may sell or provide products or services to you through or in connection with the Services (either alone or jointly with us). You can recognize when an affiliated business is associated with such a transaction or service, and we will share your Personal Information with that affiliated business only to the extent that it is related to such transaction or service. We have no control over the policies and practices of third party websites or businesses as to privacy or anything else, so if you choose to take part in any transaction or service relating to an affiliated website or business, please review all such business’ or websites’ policies.

Agents: We employ other companies and people to perform tasks on our behalf and need to share your information with them to provide products or services to you. Unless we tell you differently, our agents do not have any right to use the Personal Information we share with them beyond what is necessary to assist us.

User Profiles and Submissions: Certain user profile information, including your Chudo User ID and your Chumoji avatar, may be displayed to other users to facilitate user interaction within the Services or address your request for our Services. [Please remember that any Content you upload to your user profile, along with any Personal Information or Content that you voluntarily disclose online in a manner other users can view (e.g., in messages) becomes publicly available, and can be collected and used by anyone. Your Chudo User ID may also be displayed to other users if and when you send messages or media through the Services and other users can contact you through messages.

Business Transfers: We may choose to buy or sell assets, and may share and/or transfer customer information in connection with the evaluation of and entry into such transactions. Also, if we (or our assets) are acquired, or if we go out of business, enter bankruptcy, or go through some other change of control, Personal Information could be one of the assets transferred to or acquired by a third party.

Protection of Company and Others: We reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information that we reasonably believe is necessary to comply with law or court order; enforce or apply our Terms of Use and other agreements; or protect the rights, property, or safety of Company, our employees, our users, or others.

Is Personal Information about me secure?

You must prevent unauthorized access to your account and Personal Information limiting access to your device.

We endeavor to protect the privacy of your account and other Personal Information we hold in our records, but unfortunately, we cannot guarantee complete security. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors, may compromise the security of user information at any time.

What Personal Information can I access?

Through your account settings, you may access, and, in some cases, edit or delete the following information you’ve provided to us:

  1. Name (first and last);
  2. Chumoji avatar.

The information you can view, update, and delete may change as the Services change. If you have any questions about viewing or updating information we have on file about you, please contact us at [email protected].

Under California Civil Code Sections 1798.83-1798.84, California residents are entitled to ask us for a notice identifying the categories of Personal Information which we share with our affiliates and/or third parties for marketing purposes, and providing contact information for such affiliates and/or third parties. If you are a California resident and would like a copy of this notice, please submit a written request to [email protected].

What choices do I have?

You can always opt not to disclose information to us, but keep in mind some information may be needed to register with us or to take advantage of some of our features.

You may be able to add, update, or delete information as explained above. When you update information, however, we may maintain a copy of the unrevised information in our records. You may also delete your account. Although we delete all data from our servers that is associated with your deleted account, some information may remain in our records after your deletion of such information from your account. For example, we may use any aggregated data derived from or incorporating your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally.

What if I have questions about this policy?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our privacy policies, please send us a detailed message to [email protected], and we will try to resolve your concerns.

GDPR Privacy Notice

If you are a resident of the European Union (“EU”), United Kingdom, Lichtenstein, Norway, or Iceland, you may have additional rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) with respect to yourPersonal Data, as outlined below.

For this GDPR Privacy Notice, we use the terms “Personal Data” and “processing” as they are defined in theGDPR, but “Personal Data” generally means information that can be used to individually identify a person, and“processing” generally covers actions that can be performed in connection with data such as collection, use,storage and disclosure. We will be the controller of your Personal Data processed in connection with theServices.

Where applicable, this GDPR Privacy Notice is intended to supplement, and not replace, our Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”). If there are any conflicts between this GDPR Privacy Notice and our Privacy Policy, the policy or portion that is more protective of Personal Data shall control to the extent of such conflict. If you have any questions about this notice or whether any of the following applies to you, please contact us at [email protected].

We Collect, Use, Share and Otherwise Process Personal Data: We will only process your Personal Data if we have a lawful basis for doing so. Lawful bases for processing include the following:

  1. Legitimate Business Interest: We process Personal Data when we believe it furthers our legitimate business interests or the legitimate business interests of third parties. These legitimate business interests include:
    1. Operation and improvement of our business, products, App and Services
    2. Marketing our products, App and Services
    3. Provision of customer support
    4. Protection from fraud or security threats
    5. Completion of corporate transactions
    6. Provision of personalized services
  2. Consent: In some cases, we may need to process Personal Data based on the consent you expressly grant to us at the time we collect such Personal Data. If we need to process Personal Databased on your consent, it will be expressly indicated to you at the point and time of collection.
  3. Contractual Necessity: We may need to process Personal Data as a matter of “contractual necessity”, meaning that we need to process the Personal Data to perform under our Terms of Use with you, which enables us to provide you with the Services. If we need to process Personal Data due to contractual necessity, failure to provide such Personal Data will result in your inability to use some or all portions of the Services that require such Personal Data.

What Personal Data Do We Collect From You and How Do We Use Your Personal Data? We collect Personal Data about you when you provide such information directly to us, when third parties such as our business partners or service providers provide us with Personal Data about you, or when Personal Data about you is automatically collected in connection with your use of our Services.

Information we collect directly from you: We receive Personal Data directly from you when you provide us with such Personal Data, which may include:

  1. First and last name
  2. Email address
  3. Telephone/mobile number
  4. Contact lists through your mobile device address book (including both your contacts’ names and MSISDN)

We collect these categories of Personal Data because we have a legitimate business interest in providing the Services. We use this Personal Data to create and manage user profiles and accounts, communicate with you about the Services, provide support and assistance for the Services, respond to user inquiries, fulfill user requests, resolve disputes, and collect feedback about the Services. We also use this Personal Data to train our algorithms and models because we have a legitimate business interest in improving the Services for you.

We may also access User Submissions that are messages and media files, such as photos, videos and audio files and any other materials you might submit as part of, or in conjunction with, your use of our Services, and which may include Personal Data if you include Personal Data in such content. We will share any User Submissions, including any Personal Data you include therein, because we have a legitimate business interest in providing the Services, and you are authorizing us to share your User Submissions pursuant to our Terms of Use in order for us to provide the Services to you.

Information we automatically collect when you use our Services: Some Personal Data is automatically collected when you use our Services, such as the following:

  1. IP address
  2. Device identifiers and device type
  3. Geolocation data
  4. Message data (such as text messages, information about the recipient, information about the sender and timestamps) when you send or receive messages through the App

We collect these categories of Personal Data because we have a legitimate business interest in operating and improving our business, products and services. Specifically, this Personal Data is used to conduct data analysis to better understand user preferences; protect against or deter fraudulent, illegal or harmful actions;enforce our Terms of Use; comply with our legal or contractual obligations; and personalize the Services. We also use “cookies” and other tracking technologies to collect Personal Data. Cookies allow us to recognize your device and “remember” your device during subsequent visits for purposes of functionality, preferences, and performance, and they also tell us how and when features in our Services are used and by how many people.

How and With Whom Do We Share Your Data? We share Personal Data with vendors, third party service providers and agents who work on our behalf and provide us with services related to the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or our Terms of Use. These parties include but may not be limited to:

  1. Analytics service providers
  2. Staff augmentation and contract personnel
  3. Hosting service providers
  4. Cloud service providers
  5. Customer support

If we partner with third parties that offer products or services that you may also be interested in using and you choose to download and use those third-party applications, we will share your Personal Information (e.g.,IP address) with that third party only to the extent that it is necessary for you to use the third-party application and to measure the effectiveness of the joint advertising campaign. We have no control over th policies and practices of third parties as to privacy or anything else, so if you choose to download and use any third-party applications, please review all relevant terms and policies posted by those third parties.

Furthermore, if we choose to buy or sell assets, user information (including Personal Data) is typically one of the transferred business assets. Moreover, if we, or substantially all of our assets, were acquired, or if we go out of business or enter bankruptcy, user information (including Personal Data) would be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party, and we would share Personal Data with the party that is acquiring our assets. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of us or our assets may continue to use your Personal Data as set forth in this policy.

Processing Grounds: From time to time we may also need to process Personal Data to comply with a legal obligation, if it is necessary to protect the vital interests of you or other data subjects, or if it is necessary for a task carried out in the public interest.

Long Do We Retain Your Personal Data? We retain Personal Data about you for as long as you have an open account with us or as otherwise necessary to provide the Services to you and improve the Services for all users generally. In some cases we retain Personal Data for longer, if doing so is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, or is otherwise permitted or required by applicable law, rule or regulation. Afterwards, we retain some information in a depersonalized or aggregated form but not in a way that would identify you personally.

Personal Data of Children: We do not knowingly collect or solicit Personal Data from anyone in the EU under the age of 16. If you are under 16, please do not attempt to register for the Services or send anyPersonal Data about yourself to us. If we learn that we have collected Personal Data from a child under age of 16, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that a child under 16 may have provided us Personal Data, please contact us at [email protected]. To the extent that provision conflicts with any age restrictions in the Terms of Use, this provision will control with respect to EU users

What Rights Do You Have Regarding Your Personal Data? You have certain rights with respect to yourPersonal Data, including those set forth below. For more information about these rights, or to submit a request, please email [email protected]. Please note that in some circumstances, we may not be able to fully comply with your request, such as if it is frivolous or extremely impractical, if it jeopardizes the rights of others, or if it is not required by law, but in those circumstances, we will still respond to notify you of such a decision. In some cases, we may also need to you to provide us with additional information, which may include Personal Data, if necessary to verify your identity and the nature of your request.

  1. Access: You can request more information about the Personal Data we hold about you and request a copy of such Personal Data by emailing us at [email protected].
  2. Rectification: If you believe that any Personal Data we are holding about you is incorrect or incomplete, you can request that we correct or supplement such Personal Data by emailing us at [email protected].
  3. Erasure: You can request that we erase some or all of your Personal Data from our systems.
  4. Withdrawal of Consent: If we are processing your Personal Data based on your consent (as indicated at the time of collection of such Personal Data), you have the right to withdraw your consent at anytime. Please note, however, that if you exercise this right, you may have to then provide express consent on a case-by-case basis for the use or disclosure of certain of your Personal Data, if such use or disclosure is necessary to enable you to utilize some or all of our Services.
  5. Portability: You can ask for a copy of your Personal Data in a machine-readable format. You can also request that we transmit the Personal Data to another controller where technically feasible.
  6. Objection: You can contact us to let us know that you object to the further use or disclosure of your Personal Data for certain purposes.
  7. Restriction of Processing: You can ask us to restrict further processing of your Personal Data
  8. Right to File Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint about our practices with respect to your Personal Data with the supervisory authority of your country or EU Member State.

Transfers of Personal Data: The Services are hosted and operated in the United States (“U.S.”) through Chudo and its service providers, and if you do not reside in the U.S., laws in the U.S. may differ from the laws where you reside. By using the Services, you acknowledge that any Personal Data about you, regardless of whether provided by you or obtained from a third party, is being provided to Chudo in the U.S. and will be hosted on U.S. servers, and you authorize Chudo to transfer, store and process your information to and in the U.S., and possibly other countries. You hereby consent to the transfer of your data to the U.S. pursuant to EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, the details of which are further set forth below.

Chudo has certified to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection and use of Personal Information transferred from the EU. For more information about the Privacy Shield Program, and to view Chudo’s certification, please visit www.privacyshield.gov.Chudo is committed to the Privacy Shield Principles of (1) notice, (2) consent, (3) accountability for onward transfer, (4)security, (5) data integrity and purpose limitation, (6) access and (7) recourse, enforcement and liability with respect to all Personal Information received from within the EU in reliance on the Privacy Shield. The Privacy Shield Principles require that we remain potentially liable if any third party processing Personal Information on our behalf fails to comply with these Privacy Shield Principles (except to the extent we are not responsible for the event giving rise to any alleged damage).Chudo’s compliance with the Privacy Shield is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions or concerns relating to our Privacy Shield Certification. If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your Privacy Shield-related complaint from us, or if we have not resolved your complaint, you may also resolve a Privacy Shield-related complaint through JAMS, an alternative dispute resolution provider located in the United States. You can visit https://www.jamsadr.com/file-an-eu-us-privacy-shield-or-safe-harbor-claim for more information or to file a complaint, at no cost to you. Under certain conditions, you may also be entitled to invoke binding arbitration for complaints not resolved by other means. If there is any conflict between the terms in this GDPR Privacy Notice and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program, and to view our certification please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/.

What If You Have Questions Regarding Your Personal Data? If you have any questions about this GDPR Privacy Notice or our data practices generally, please contact us at [email protected].