Tapulous

The Information We Collect

When you launch a Tapulous application you provide us with four types of information: personal information you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected by us; locational use information collected by us as you interact with our services; usage information that is collected by our servers as you use our applications; and information related to third party services that you would like to access through our applications and services.

When you register with Tapulous, you provide us with certain personal information, such as your username, your email address and a photo representation (“avatar”) and any other personal or preference information that you provide to us.

When you launch or interact with a Tapulous application, we collect your device type and IP address. This information is gathered for all users. In addition, we use the unique Device ID (“UUID”) that Apple makes available for each iPhone/iPod touch device in order to authenticate the user session. This UUID functions similarly to a persistent cookie to make it possible to authenticate the user without the need for a password. You can disassociate a UUID from a user account at any time by emailing us at . You can also do so through a form accessible through the Help button on the login/settings screen in each application.

When you use Tapulous applications, you may set up your personal profile, form relationships, send messages, and transmit information through various channels. We collect this information so that we can provide you the service and offer personalized features. In most cases, we retain it so that, for instance, you can return to view prior messages you have sent or easily see your friend list. When you update information, we usually keep a backup copy of the prior version for a reasonable period of time to enable reversion to the prior version of that information.

You post User Content through Tapulous applications at your own risk. Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your content and associated meta-data such as location information, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other Users with whom you may choose to share your information. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that User Content you post with Taplous will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained in Tapulous applications. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal, copies of User Content may remain viewable in cached and archived form or if other Users have copied or stored your User Content.

Any improper collection or misuse of information provided on Tapulous applications is a violation of the Tapulous Terms of Service and should be reported to .

If you choose to use our invitation service to tell a friend about our applications, we may ask you for information needed to send the invitation, such as your friend’s email address. We will automatically send your friend a one-time email or instant message inviting him or her to visit the site. Tapulous stores this information to send this one-time invitation, to register a friend connection if your invitation is accepted, and to track the success of our referral program. Your friend may contact us at to request that we remove this information from our database.

Tapulous may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of Tapulous applications through the operation of the service in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized experience.

By using Tapulous, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.

Third Party Services Accessed by Tapulous

You can configure certain third party services to be accessed by Tapulous applications and services. When you do so, we will store your access credentials to such third party services in a secure manner; we may temporarily cache your list of contacts from these services; and we will store messages, photos and other content created using our applications that are delivered to such third party services. We do this to improve the performance and experience of these services (such as, adding photos and location information not available in the third party services).

For example, if you configure Twinkle to access your Twitter account, we will store your Twitter credentials in a secure fashion; cache the list of people you follow on Twitter and periodically refresh that cached list; and store messages you have created on Twinkle that you are sending to Twitter.

Use of Information Obtained by Tapulous

When you register with Tapulous, you create your own profile.

Your username and profile are your unique identity that is shared across all of the applications in the Tapulous portfolio. As a previously registered user, when you download and access a new Tapulous application, your user profile is automatically incorporated into that new application. 

Your username and avatar (but not email address) are displayed to other Tapulous users to enable you to connect with people on Tapulous. We may occasionally use your username and email address to send you notifications regarding new services offered by Tapulous that we think you may find valuable.

Tapulous may send you service-related announcements from time to time through the general operation of the service. For instance, if a friend sends you a new message you may receive an email or other notification alerting you to that fact. These announcements may also relate to new product launches or other relevant information about Tapulous and the services we provide.

Tapulous may use information in your profile or related to your activities on Tapulous applications in order to personalize the application experience for you. Tapulous may also share information such as user trends and application downloads in aggregate to third parties without identifying you as an individual.

Sharing Your Information with Third Parties

Tapulous is about users sharing information with others. Some of our applications have privacy settings to allow you to control what information is made available. For example, in Twinkle you can choose to broadcast your location information and you can switch on and off third party networks.

We do not provide contact information to third party marketers without your permission. We share your information with third parties only in limited circumstances where we believe such sharing is 1) necessary for business operations (e.g., emailing you through a third party server such as Gmail), 2) legally required or when we choose to collaborate with a law enforcement agency in the investigation of a possible crime, 3) permitted by you.

If the ownership of all or substantially all of the Tapulous business, or individual business units owned by Tapulous, Inc., were to change, your user information may be transferred to the new owner so the service can continue operations. In any such transfer of information, your user information would remain subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Policy.

Third Party Advertising

Advertisements that may appear on Tapulous are sometimes delivered (or “served”) directly to users by third party advertisers. They automatically receive your IP address when this happens. In this way, they may compile information about where individuals using your computer or browser saw their advertisements and determine which advertisements are clicked. Third party advertisers have no access to your contact information.

Changing or Removing Information

Tapulous users may modify or delete any of their profile information at any time by logging into their account. Information will be updated immediately. Individuals who wish to deactivate their Tapulous account may do so by emailing us at . You can also do so through a form accessible through the Help button on the login/settings screen in each application. Removed information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally available to members of Tapulous.

Where you make use of the communication features of the service to share information with other individuals on Tapulous, however, (e.g., sending a direct message to another Tapulous user, sharing high scores with the community on the global scoreboard) you generally cannot remove such communications.

Security

Tapulous takes appropriate precautions to protect our users’ information. Your account information is located on a secured server. If you have any questions about the security of Tapulous applications, please contact us at .

Terms of Use, Notices and Revisions

Your use of Tapulous, and any disputes arising from it, is subject to this Privacy Policy as well as our Terms of Use and all of its dispute resolution provisions including arbitration, limitation on damages and choice of law. We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use at any time. Non-material changes and clarifications will take effect immediately, and material changes will take effect within 30 days of their posting on this site. If we make changes, we will post them and will indicate at the top of this page the policy’s new effective date. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or through notice on our home page. We encourage you to refer to this policy on an ongoing basis so that you understand our current privacy policy. Unless stated otherwise, our current privacy policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account.

Contacting Tapulous

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at . You may also contact us by mail at 240 Hamilton Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301