Privacy Policy – Effective January 28, 2025

EQUITY METHODS, LLC PRIVACY POLICY

Last Modified: January 21, 2025

Effective Date: January 28, 2025

Our Commitment to Privacy

Equity Methods, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company (“Company”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit our website at  https://equitymethods.com and any other websites owned by us that link to this policy (collectively and individually, the “Website”). The Company takes your privacy very seriously. To better protect your privacy the Company provides this Privacy Policy explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used and describes how you can access and update this information.

This policy applies to information we collect: (1) on the Website; (2) in email, text, and other electronic messages between you and the Website; and (3) through mobile and desktop applications you may download from the Website, which provided dedicated non-browser-based interaction between you and the Website. It does not apply to information collected by: (1) us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by the Company or any third party; or (2) any third party, including through any application or content that may link to or be accessible from or on the Website.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Website. By accessing or using the Website, you agree to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy may change from time to time and is incorporated into our Terms of Use. Your continued use of this Website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.

BY USING OR ACCESSING THE WEBSITE, YOU ARE ACCEPTING THE PRACTICES DESCRIBED IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY.

Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email at privacy@equitymethods.com or by phone at (480) 428-1200 (follow the prompts to reach the privacy policy line).  You may also reach us at: ATTN: Privacy Policy, Equity Methods, 8801 E. Raintree Dr., Ste. 100, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Children Under the Age of 18

The Website is not intended for children under 18 years of age. No one under age 18 may provide any personal information to or on the Website. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you are under 18, do not use or provide any information on the Website or through any of its features or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or username you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 18 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 18, please contact us at the contact information above.

Information We Collect

We may collect several types of information from and about users of our Website, including information: (1) by which you may be personally identified, such as name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number or any other identifier which is deemed personal information under various laws, rules, and regulations applicable to this Privacy Policy (“personal information”); (2) professional or employment related personal information; (3) that is about you but individually does not identify you; and (4) about your internet connection, the equipment you use to access the Website, and usage details. We collect this information (i) directly from you when you provide it to us; and (ii) automatically as you navigate through the Website. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies, web beacons (also referred to as web bugs, gifs, pixel tags, pixels and single-pixel gifs, and other tracking technologies.

Information You Provide to Us

The information we collect on or through the Website may include, without limitation: (1) information that you provide by filling in forms on the Website, which includes information provided at the time of contacting us through the Website, or any additional information provided that we may ask for if you report a problem with our Website or when you register for events (including webinars, conferences and any programs that we host ourselves, but not events hosted by a third party event manager with its own privacy policy); (2) records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us; (3) your search queries and locations visited on the Website; and (4) records and copies of correspondence (including email addresses) if you contact us.

You also may provide information to be published or displayed (hereinafter, “posted”) on public areas of the Website, or transmitted to other users of the Website or third parties (collectively, “User Contributions”). Your User Contributions are posted on and transmitted to others at your own risk. Although we limit access to certain pages, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. Additionally, we cannot control the actions of other users of the Website with whom you may choose to share your User Contributions. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that your User Contributions will not be viewed by unauthorized persons.

Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies

As you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including, without limitation: (1) details of your visits to our Website, including traffic data, location data, logs, and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on the Website, such as actions taken on our Website, page requested, content consumed (e.g., viewed, uploaded, and shared), dates and times of Website visits, metadata, and other information associated with other files stored on your device; (2) information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address (including geolocation), unique device identifier, operating system, browser type and characteristics, domain and other system settings, search queries, device characteristics, operating system type, language preferences, and referring URLs; and (3) your preferences, such as language selection.

We also may use these technologies to collect information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or other online services (behavioral tracking) to provide targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, please see Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information and Behavioral Advertising.

The information we collect automatically may include personal information, but we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect directly from you. It helps us to improve our Website and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to: (1) estimate our audience size and usage patterns; (2) store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Website according to your individual interests; (3) speed up your searches; and (4) recognize you when you return to the Website.

The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include cookies, web beacons, tags and scripts and are used by Equity Methods and our affiliates and analytics providers. These technologies are used in analyzing trends, administering the Website, tracking users’ movements around the Website and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser or by utilizing the cookie banner that appears on the top of the Website homepage. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Website. Once a cookie is placed in your browser, you can still delete it following the instructions for your specific browser. You can learn more about controlling cookies here: https://www.aboutcookies.org/.

We use cookies for setting user preferences and storing user activity. Our use of cookies is governed by our Privacy Policy. We have employed certain third party service providers for the maintenance, placement, and management of cookies, such as Act-On and CookieYes, and do not have access or control of their use of cookies.

Please see Act-On’s and CookieYes’s privacy policies here to see their treatment of cookies:

Web Beacons

Pages of the Website and our e-mails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit Equity Methods, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity).

Log Files

As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data. We do link this automatically collected data to other information we collect about you.

Local Storage Objects

We may use Local Storage Objects (LSOs) such as HTML5 content information and preferences. Third parties with whom we partner to provide certain features on our Website may also use LSOs such as HTML 5 and Flash to collect and store information. Various browsers may offer their own management tools for removing HTML5 LSOs. To manage Flash LSOs please click the link below:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html

Google Analytics

To help facilitate the delivery of relevant content and understand how our customers use the Website, we may use Google Analytics and retargeting tools. Google Analytics uses cookies to report on user interactions on our and others’ websites. We use the data collected for optimizing marketing, refining advertising and/or programming strategies, and generally improving user experience. For more information about Google features we may use and how they collect and process data, please visit: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. Instructions on opting out of Google Analytics tools using a specific plug-in is available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. Note that this opt-out is specific to Google activities and does not affect the activities of other ad networks or analytics providers that we may use.

Facebook Analytics.

We may also use Facebook Analytics and retargeting tools to measure your use of our Website, tailor our Website to your interests, and improve our products and services. Please note, Facebook can connect this data with your Facebook account and use it for its own advertising purposes, in accordance with Facebook’s Data Policy which can be found at Facebook.com/about/privacy/. Please see Behavioral Advertising for information on how to opt out of Facebook Analytics.

Instagram Analytics.

We may use Instagram retargeting tools for more relevant marketing and to improve our products and services.  Please see Behavioral Advertising if you would like to adjust your Instagram settings.

Residents of certain states may have additional personal information rights and choices. Please see Your State Privacy Rights for more information.

Third-Party Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

Some content or applications on the Website are served by third-parties, including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers, and application providers. These third parties may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our website. The information they collect may be associated with your personal information or they may collect information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content.

We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly. For information about how you can opt out of receiving targeted advertising from many providers, see Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information and Behavioral Advertising.

How We Use Your Information

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information: (1) to present our Website and its contents to you; (2) to provide you with information, products, or services that may be of interest to you; (3) to fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it; (4) to carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection; (5) to notify you about changes to our Website or any products or services we offer or provide through it; (6) allow you to participate with interactive features on our Website; (7) in any other way we may describe when you provide the information; and (8) for any other purpose with your consent.

Finally, we never use, share, sell or rent the personal information provided to us online in ways unrelated to the ones described in this Privacy Policy without also providing you an opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.

Behavioral Advertising

We may use the information we have collected from you to enable us to display advertisements to our advertisers’ target audiences. Even though we do not disclose your personal information for these purposes without your consent, if you click on or otherwise interact with an advertisement, the advertiser may assume that you meet its target criteria.

For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at:

https://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work and https://optout.networkadvertising.org/.

You can opt out of targeted advertising by:

Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at:  http://optout.aboutads.info/. The Digital Advertising Alliance also provides an opt-out mobile app to control interest-based advertising on apps on your mobile device, available on the Apple StoreGoogle Play, and Amazon’s Appstore.

Disclosure of Your Information

We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction. We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this Privacy Policy: (1) to our subsidiaries and affiliates; (2) to contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business, each of which with whom we attempt to bind to contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them. But, please note that we cannot guarantee that all of our contractors, service providers and other third parties will agree to these contractual requirements; nor can we ensure that, even when they do agree, that they will always fully comply; (3) to a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Equity Methods’ assets and any preliminary negotiations and diligence thereto, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by Equity Methods about our Website users is among the assets transferred; (4) to fulfill the purpose for which you provide it; (5) for any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information; or (6) with your consent.

We may also disclose your personal information: (1) to comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request; (2) to enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements, including for billing and collection purposes; or (3) if we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of Equity Methods, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

We never use, share, sell or rent the personal information provided to us online in ways unrelated to the ones described in this Privacy Policy without also providing you an opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.

The categories of personal information we may disclose include:

  • Commercial information
  • Employment information
  • Financial information
  • Name, gender and contact information
  • Location information
  • IP address and browsing history
  • Any other categories of information required to disclose by court order, law or legal process or otherwise necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property or safety of Equity Methods, its affiliates, their respective customers, or others.

Knowledge Center and Resources

If you wish to subscribe to our publications, newsletter(s) or other available resources, we will use your name and email address to send such materials to you. If you wish to opt-out of receiving these materials, you may do so at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions within the emails you receive.

Service-Related Announcements

We will send you strictly service-related announcements on rare occasions when it is necessary to do so. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send you an email. Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature.

Links to Other Sites

The Website may contain links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by Equity Methods. Please be aware that Equity Methods is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our Website and to read the privacy policies of each and every website that collects personal information.

Service Providers

We use other third parties such as a text or an email service provider to send out messages on our behalf and/or provide service assistance to us, such as assisting with employee recruiting and hiring. When you sign up for our services or seek employment with us, we will share your personal information only as necessary for the third party to provide the applicable service(s).

Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information.

We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:

  • Tracking Technologies and Advertising. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this site may then be inaccessible or not function properly (especially if your turn off essential and functionality cookies).
  • Promotional Offers from Us. If you do not wish to have your contact information used by the Company to promote our own or third parties’ products or services, you can opt-out by either following the instructions in our unsubscribe link (for email ) or the text (for texts). You may also call us at 480-428-1200 and follow the prompts for our privacy policy line, or send us an email privacy@equitymethods.com. If we have sent you a promotional email, you may send us a return email asking to be omitted from future email distributions. This opt out does not apply to information provided to the Company as a result of a purchase, refund requests, registration, service experience or other transactions.
  • Texts. If you have elected to receive notices to your mobile device via text message, you may opt-out by replying “STOP” to such mobile message. You may receive a confirmatory text message in response to your “STOP” request and you hereby consent to receipt of such confirmation.

We do not control third parties’ collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. Please also see Behavioral Advertising.

Disclaimer regarding video content

Company materials may contain pixels which provide us and third parties with analytics regarding how website visitors interact with video content, audiovisual content, or content of a like nature. Video content is provided to enhance the user experience. You understand that your personal information, including your video viewing history, may be processed according to this Privacy Policy.

Data Integrity

Equity Methods will only collect and retain personal information which is relevant to the purposes for which the information is collected. We will not use your data in a way that is incompatible with these purposes unless such use has been subsequently authorized by you. We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is reliable for its intended use, accurate, complete, and current. We may occasionally contact you to verify that your data is still accurate and current.

How You Can Access, Correct, Delete and Deactivate Your Information

You can access, delete and correct all your personal information that we collect online and maintain by contacting us at the contact information below. If you delete your User Contributions from the Website, copies of your User Contributions may remain viewable in cached and archived pages, or might have been copied or stored by other Website users.

We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. If you wish that we no longer use your information to provide you services contact us at privacy@equitymethods.com. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We use this procedure to better safeguard your information. You can correct factual errors in your personal information by sending us a request that credibly shows errors. To protect your privacy and security, we will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.

Residents of certain states may have additional personal information rights and choices. Please see Your State Privacy Rights for more information.

Business Transitions

In the event Equity Methods goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your personal information will likely be among the assets transferred.

Our Commitment to Data Security

The security of your personal information is important to us. We have implemented an information security program that contains administrative, technical and physical controls that are intended to reasonably safeguard personal information. The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.  We urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of the Website like message boards. The information you share in public areas may be viewed by any user of the Website.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website.

Your State Privacy Rights

State consumer privacy laws may provide their residents with additional rights regarding our use of their personal information. Therefore, depending on your location, you might have different rights applicable to you and your data. Equity Methods responds to rights requests according to applicable local law. 

California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits users of our App that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to privacy@equitymethods.com or write us at the address listed under Contact Information at the top of this document.

Nevada provides its residents with a limited right to opt-out of certain personal information sales. Residents who wish to exercise their sale opt-out rights may submit a request to the address listed under Contact Us above; by calling us at 480-428-1200 and following the prompts to reach our privacy policy line; or sending an email to privacy@equitymethods.com. However, please know we do not currently sell data triggering that statute’s opt-out requirements.

As of the time this Privacy Policy was last updated, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia provide their state residents with rights to:

  • Confirm whether we process their personal information.
  • Access and delete certain personal information.
  • Correct inaccuracies in their personal information, taking into account the information’s nature and processing purpose (excluding Iowa and Utah).
  • Data portability.
  • Opt-out of personal data processing for:
    • targeted advertising (excluding Iowa);
    • sales; or
    • profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects (excluding Iowa and Utah).
  • Either limit (opt-out of) or require consent to process sensitive personal data.

The exact scope of these rights may vary by state. To exercise any of these rights please call us at 480-428-1200 and follow the prompts to reach our privacy policy line, or send us an email at privacy@equitymethods.com.

We must verify your identity before responding to your request. We do this by asking you to provide information that we can match against information we may have about you already. We may need to follow up with you to request more information to verify your identity. We will not use personal information we collect in connection with verifying or responding to your request for any purpose other than responding to your request.

We may have a reason under the law why we do not have to comply with your request, or why we may comply with it in a more limited way than you anticipated. If we do, we will explain that to you in our response. If you are entitled to appeal a decision regarding a consumer rights request, you must follow the process set forth in the notice of denial.

Sale of Personal Information

To personalize our ads and marketing experiences, we work with advertising and analytics partners and social media sites. These partnerships may be considered a “sale” under Colorado law, even when no money exchanges hands.

The personal information we might “sell” includes your identifiers, online activity information, and other records associated with you. When you login to your account on a web page or interact with Equity Methods materials where cookies are present, that may be considered a “sale” of your personal information. If you want to opt out of this use, please contact us at 480-428-1200 and follow the prompts to reach our privacy policy line, or send us an email at privacy@equitymethods.com.

We do not sell the personal data of children under the age of 18.

How We Respond to Do Not Track Signals

The “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) privacy preference is an option that may be made in some web browsers allowing you to opt-out of tracking by websites and online services. At this time, global standard DNT technology is not yet finalized and not all browsers support DNT. We therefore do not recognize DNT signals and do not respond to them.

Website Use Outside United States; Consent to Transfer

Our Website is generally intended for individuals located within the United States.  If you are visiting the Website from a location outside of the U.S., your connection may be through and to servers located in the U.S. Any information you provide during your visit will be processed and maintained on our server and other internal systems located within the U.S. The U.S. may not have the same data protection laws as the country you are visiting from and may not afford many of the rights conferred upon data subjects in your country. You acknowledge you understand that by providing your personal information to us, your personal information (i) will be used for the uses identified above in accordance with this Privacy Policy, and (ii) may be transferred to the U.S. as indicated above, in accordance with applicable law.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to our information practices. If we make any material changes, we will notify you by email (sent to the e-mail address specified in your account) or by means of a notice on this Website prior to the change becoming effective. The date the Privacy Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Website and this Privacy Policy to check for any changes.