Privacy Policy

The Short Version

Grinning Cat's stance on privacy is pretty simple: we protect people-privacy. We don't want to collect people-data you aren't willing to give and we refuse to share people-data as much as is possible. People-data belongs to people and not to us. We try our best to be fair about that. We also try our best to keep any data we interact with out of the hands of any "AI" training. Both data we generate and data that is shared with us.

However, we provide a service that is based on people, so some people-data is involved. You may choose to share some of your data while using the Service and that means some people-data is in our hands. This Privacy Policy giverns how we handle that data when this happens.

Definitions

We define "Personal Information" as any information relating to an identifiable individual. This may include, but is not limited to: name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, Internet Protocol ("IP") address, age, gender identity, or social account names. Wherever any such Personal Information is collected, we indicate whether any is required and why you might provide that Personal Information as well as any consequences of failing to do so if applicable. There are some cases where, if Personal Information is not provided when requested, you may not be able to benefit from aspects of the Service. There are some cases where we are legally required to collect some Personal Information.

Jurisdiction

Your use of the Service may result in the transfer of Personal Information across international boundaries. For example, Personal Information collected within the European Economic Area ("EEA") and Switzerland may be transferred to and processed in a country outside of the EEA and Switzerland, where you may have different legal rights in relation to your Personal Information. We make such transfers to the United States and the jurisdictions of our service providers with your consent or because it is necessary for the performance of a contract with you. By using the Service, you expressly agree to this Privacy Policy and you consent to the processing of your Personal Information in the United States or other jurisdictions in connection with the Site and the Service.

Account Data

What we collect:
Information that is necessary for the use of the Service, such as your username, email address, and password. If you register for the Service via third parties like Facebook or Google, they send us information that is necessary for your use of the Service, such as your email address.

What we do with it:
Create your account and provide you with the Service, identify you across the Service such as when you sign in or make a comment, communicate with you such as letting you know about upcoming changes, display the information as part of your profile, and calculate anonymous aggregate statistics to better improve the Service or develop new features.

Personlization Data

What we collect:
Information you choose to provide the Service, such as your author name, preferences, and social account names.

What we do with it:
Display the information as part of your profile, personalize the Service and display relevant features tailored to your selections, and calculate anonymous aggregate statistics to better improve the Service or develop new features.

Technical Data

What we collect:
Information we automatically collect from your use of the Service, including: IP address, cookie data, device information, browser type, pages visited, or actions performed such as voting.

What we do with it:
Provide communication features as part of the Service, measure the use and overall satisfaction with the Service, investigate and prevent reported issues or breaches of the Terms of Use, help prevent prohibited activity such as fraud or abuse, calculate anonymous aggregate statistics to better improve the Service or develop new features, and for security purposes.

Optionality

Except for your username and email address, which are required to create your account, you can always opt not to disclose any Personal Information, however some features of the Service may not be usable or useful. Aside from your username, which is required to set up your account and can be fictitious, we do not display your Personal Information on the Site or reveal it to other Members unless you choose to publicly display such information via your account settings.

Automated Decision Making

We do not make decisions that may have legal effects or similarly significantly affect you based solely on automated processing of your Personal Information. All decision-making processes related to the processing purposes described above are carried out with human intervention.

Legal Disclosure

We may disclose your Personal Information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with applicable laws, in response to a court order, judicial or other government subpoena or warrant, or to otherwise cooperate with law enforcement or other governmental agencies. We also reserve the right to disclose your Personal Information that we believe, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary to:

• take precautions against liability,
• protect ourselves or others from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses or activity,
• investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations,
• protect the security or integrity of the Service and any facilities or equipment used to make the Service available, or
• protect our property or other legal rights, including to enforce our agreements, or the rights, property, or safety of others.

Paired Terms

Note that the Terms of Use apply to this Privacy Policy. By creating an account, using the Service, or submitting any Personal Information Information via the Service, you are acknowledging that we will collect, use and disclose your Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not want your Personal Information to be used in these ways, please stop using the Service.