Privacy Statement




Privacy Policy

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TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to build user trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices. Because this website wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe. By displaying the TRUSTe trustmark, this website has agreed to notify you of:

1. Any personally identifiable information of yours or third party personal identification is collected from you through the eHarmony.co.uk ("eHarmony") website;

2. The organization collecting the information;

3. How the information is used;

4. With whom the information may be shared;

5. What choices are available to you regarding collection, use and distribution of the information;

6. The kinds of security procedures that are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under eHarmony's control; and

7. How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact the website by writing to eHarmony, Inc., P.O. Box 60157, Pasadena, California 91116 USA, or by sending an email to privacy@eHarmony.co.uk. If you do not receive acknowledgment of your inquiry or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact TRUSTe at http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php. TRUSTe will then serve as a liaison with the website to resolve your concerns.

General Information

eHarmony is committed to protecting your privacy. eHarmony will only collect, use, disclose and store any personal information in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act 1998 (the "Act") and this privacy statement.

This privacy statement discloses the privacy practices for the eHarmony.co.uk website, which may be accessed through www.eHarmony.co.uk, or through related URL's such as http://www.eHarmony.co.uk/singles/. This privacy statement (together with the eHarmony Terms and Conditions of Service and any other documents referred to on it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. By agreeing to use eHarmony's products and services you agree that you will allow eHarmony to use your personal information together with any sensitive personal information, such as your ethnic origin, in conformity with the processes set out in the eHarmony Terms and Conditions of Service and this privacy statement.

For the purpose of the Act, the data controller is eHarmony, Inc. of P.O. Box 60157, Pasadena, California 91116 USA.

What Information We Collect

The types of information that eHarmony collects fall under two general categories: personally identifiable information (PII) and non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) including "sensitive personal data" as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998. PII consists of any information which can be used to specifically identify you as an individual, whereas non-PII consists of aggregate information or any information that does not specifically identify you as an individual. The following sections describe how your PII and non-PII are collected by us, and how we use such information.

How We Collect and Use Information

  • Log Files. Any time you visit the eHarmony website, we gather certain information about your use of our website (such as your IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks) to analyze trends, administer the site, track visitor movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. For example, we log your IP address for system administration purposes. IP addresses are logged to track a user's session. This gives eHarmony an idea of which parts of our site users are visiting. We do not link any of the log files to any PII. This means that a user's session will be tracked, but the user will be anonymous. We will only link your log files to your PII, if necessary, for internal troubleshooting and system performance purposes. We do not share your log files externally.
  • Cookies. We use "cookies" to keep track of some types of information while you are visiting our website or using our services. Cookies are very small files placed on your computer, and they allow us to count the number of visitors to our website and distinguish repeat visitors from new visitors. They also allow us to save user preferences and track user trends. You may change your internet browser settings to reject all cookies. However, we rely on cookies for the proper operation of our website and if your browser is set to reject all cookies, the website will not function properly. Users who refuse cookies assume all responsibility for any resulting loss of functionality. We do not link the cookies to any PII.
  • Web Beacons. "Web beacons" (also known as "clear gifs" and "pixel tags") are small transparent graphic images that are often used in conjunction with cookies in order to further personalize our website for our users and to collect a limited set of information about our visitors. We may also use web beacons in email communications in order to understand the behaviour of our customers. We do not link the web beacons to any PII.
  • Registration/Subscription Questionnaires and Personality Profiles. When you register for or subscribe to any of eHarmony's services, we collect a wide variety of information which we use in order to better understand your personality, find compatible matches which offer the highest possible chance of a successful long-term relationship, or help you grow and strengthen your most important relationships. Based on your answers to our proprietary questionnaires, such as for our Singles product, we build a personality profile which we then use to offer you compatible matches in our Singles service. Your individual responses to the questions in our intake questionnaires will be held strictly confidential. However, you may choose to share the personality profile we create for you as a result of having completed the intake questionnaire with other users or matches, by clicking on the "My Settings" page on your home page and clicking on "Share Settings" to make adjustments. Information collected during the intake questionnaire which may be shared with other users of eHarmony Singles service will be displayed in a strictly anonymous manner with no personally identifying details, and will only be shown to potential match candidates.
  • Aggregate Information. In addition to the personality profile described above, we collect certain information from you, such as your first name, location, age, occupation, height, ethnicity, and religion, in order to provide more details about you to your matches and users of eHarmony's services. By providing such information to us, you acknowledge that eHarmony has the right to disclose such information to other users in connection with eHarmony's services. You may choose to provide us with your photo(s) or video(s) and by providing us such content, you agree that we may make them available to your match candidates and users of eHarmony services. If you are using our Singles service, you may control the stage at which your matches will see your photo by clicking on the "My Settings" page on your home page and clicking on "Share Settings" to make adjustments. If you are using our community services, such as Advice, you are in full control of what aggregate information will be disclosed to other visitors. We do not disclose your PII to your match candidates or other users of eHarmony's services.
  • Purchase Information. eHarmony offers, among other services, a subscriber-based service to users seeking partners, as well as retail sale of products related to successful relationships and personal growth. To process subscriptions or product purchases, we may collect your name, billing address, phone number, email address, shipping address and credit card information. Such information is used primarily to process your order or as otherwise described herein. Credit card transactions are processed through industry standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and/or strong encryption (3DES) by a third party, which only uses your information for that purpose.
  • E-mails and Telephone Calls. We require an e-mail address from you when you register for our services. For paid services such as our Singles services, you will receive one email notification that you have placed an order, and another email notification that your order has been completed (or that your credit card or other method of payment has been rejected for an order renewal). You will be similarly notified of subscription renewal transactions when they occur. For our Singles services, e-mail contact information provided by you is also used primarily to notify you of potential match candidates identified by eHarmony based on your matching criteria and profile. For our community services such as Advice, if you have consented to us doing so, your e-mail address is used to send you newsletters about such services. Once you begin eHarmony's registration process, if you have consented to us doing so, we may also occasionally send you newsletters and e-mail you notifications of special events, product offerings, promotions or special discounts at eHarmony. If you have started, but not completed, the registration process, we may also send you email messages encouraging you to complete the process and become a subscriber. All of the email messages we send you may contain code that enables our database to track your usage of the emails, including whether the email was opened and what links (if any) were clicked. If you would rather not receive emails about new products, promotions or other noteworthy news, please see the section below labeled "Choice/Opt-out". If, during the registration process, you have consented to us doing so, then we may also contact you by telephone (including to any wireless number you may provide to us) solely in connection with eHarmony services. If you would rather not receive telephone calls from eHarmony, you may change or delete your number by clicking on the "My Settings" tab on your home page and the "Account Settings" link therein and making adjustments, or by asking to be removed from our contact list if you receive a call from us.
  • Demographic and Profile Data. Demographic and profile data is also collected at our site. We use this data to tailor our visitors' experience at our site, showing them content that we think they might be interested in, and displaying the content according to their preferences. Some of this information (i.e., customer demographic information) may be shared with advertisers on a non personally identifiable basis.
  • Online Survey Data. We may periodically conduct voluntary member surveys. We encourage our members to participate in such surveys because they provide us with important information regarding the improvement of our services. You may also volunteer for certain surveys that we may offer to our users, and any additional rules regarding the conduct of such surveys will be disclosed to you prior to your participation. We do not link the survey responses to any PII, and all responses are anonymous.
  • Information Regarding Your Friends. eHarmony encourages you to refer a friend to our service by sending us a friend's name and email address. We will keep this information in our database, and send that person a one-time email containing your name and inviting them to visit our site. We will not send them additional emails unless they request more promotional emails or if they sign up for our services. This email will also include a quick and easy way for them to remove their information from our database, if they desire. We ask that you do not abuse this feature by entering names and addresses of those who would not be interested in eHarmony. You may also give gift memberships to your friends, in which case we will use your friends' email address that you provide in order to deliver the gift. Upon subscribing, your friends can change their email preferences via the "My Settings" tab and the "Account Settings" link on their eHarmony home page.
  • Public Forums. eHarmony makes discussion boards available to its users and visitors. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose any personally identifying information. Please consult our Community Guidelines when posting comments on the Advice discussion boards.
  • Use for Research. In addition to the uses outlined above, by using eHarmony.co.uk, you agree to allow eHarmony to use anonymized information from you and your experiences through the Services to continue eHarmony's research into successful relationships and to improve the Services. This research, conducted by psychologists and behaviour research scientists, may be published in academic journals. However, all of your responses will be kept anonymous, and no PII will ever be published. You can find out more about the standards we follow in conducting scientific research by clicking here.

Disclosure of Your Information to Third Parties

  • Disclosure By Law. You acknowledge and agree that eHarmony may disclose information you provide if required or permitted to do so by law, at the request of a third party, or if we, in our sole discretion, believe that disclosure is reasonable to (1) comply with the law, requests or orders from law enforcement, or any legal process (whether or not such disclosure is required by applicable law); (2) protect or defend eHarmony's, or a third party's, rights; or (3) protect someone's life, health or safety, such as when harm or violence against any person (including the user) is threatened.
  • Disclosure to Protect Abuse Victims. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Privacy Statement or the Terms and Conditions of Service, eHarmony reserves the right, but has no obligation, to disclose any information that you submit to the Services, if in its sole opinion, eHarmony suspects or has reason to suspect, that the information involves a party who may be the victim of abuse in any form. Abuse may include, without limitation, elder abuse, child abuse, spousal abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. Information may be disclosed to authorities that eHarmony, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate to handle such disclosure. Appropriate authorities may include, without limitation, law enforcement agencies, child protection agencies, or court officials. You hereby acknowledge and agree that eHarmony is permitted to make such disclosure.
  • Disclosure to Trusted Third Parties By Us. We may share your PII with service providers that may be associated with us to help provide services to you. For example, outsourced customer care agents or technology assistants may need access to your PII to perform services for you. Your PII will be kept in the utmost confidence by such associated service providers. In addition, from time to time and only upon receipt of express consent, we may share PII (such as e-mail or mailing address) about our user base with carefully selected third parties, so they can offer goods and services that we believe may be of interest to our users. If you do not wish to receive offers from our trusted partners, you can change your e-mail preferences at any time by following the steps outlined in the "Choice/Opt Out" section below.
  • Disclosure to Trusted Third Parties at Your Request. When purchasing an eHarmony subscription or while visiting our site, we may provide you with advertisements, promotions, sweepstakes and offers from third party providers. If you choose to accept any such offers, you may either (depending on the situation) directly provide your information in connection with the offer to such third party provider, or eHarmony will provide your information, including billing information, to the third party provider by pre-populating the offer registration forms. Your information will not be transferred until you actually accept the offer. You may opt-out of the offer at any time up until this point. Please refer to the third party provider's own privacy policy (provided on the offer pages) if you have any questions regarding how your information is used by such providers. Please be aware that these offers may be presented on pages framed by the eHarmony website. We do this to provide a seamless experience. Although these offer pages have the look and feel of our website, you will be submitting your information directly to the third-party advertiser. You agree that eHarmony will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings, including the sharing of the information you supply to eHarmony with third party providers described here, or as the result of the presence of such providers on the eHarmony site.
  • Information Transferred As a Result of Sale of Business. By registering with eHarmony you agree that eHarmony may disclose your personal data to any member of our group, which means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and its subsidiaries, as defined in section 736 of the UK Companies Act 1985. We may also disclose your personal data to third parties in the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets. In particular, if eHarmony or substantially all of its assets are acquired by another party, your PII may be part of the assets transferred to the acquiring party. In the case of any transfer of your PII, you will be required to reconfirm your consent before any material changes can be made to the way your PII is stored and used.
  • Information Transferred Overseas. We process all information, including your PII, via our servers and networks located in the United States or other countries. By using our services and expressly assenting to this privacy statement, you have consented to the overseas transfer of your PII solely for the purpose of providing you the services for which you have registered or to which you have subscribed. We reserve the right to transfer your PII back to the UK. As described herein, we take the utmost care to protect your PII from unauthorized disclosure to any third party.

Third-Party Advertising

We may use third-party advertising agencies or other service providers to serve ads on our website on behalf of eHarmony or third-party advertisers (e.g., retailers of goods or services). These companies may employ cookies and beacons (also known as single pixel gifs or action tags) to measure advertising effectiveness. Any information that these third parties collect via cookies and beacons is completely anonymous. Some of these third-party advertising agencies may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative, which offers you the option to opt out of ad targeting from its member agencies at http://www.networkadvertising.org/consumer/opt_out.asp

We will only share your information with third parties in the ways defined in this privacy statement.

Age Restrictions

Our age restrictions are set forth in our Terms and Conditions of Service. We do not target our site or service to children under the age of 13, and any information we may receive from users we believe to be under the age of 13 will be purged from our database.

Security

eHarmony has extensive security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information stored in our database. These measures include the use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and/or strong encryption (3DES) technology during credit card transactions and administrative access to site data, as well as other proprietary security measures which are applied to all repositories and transfers of user information. We will exercise reasonable care in providing secure transmission of information between your computer and our servers, but given that no information transmitted over the Internet can be guaranteed 100% secure, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted to us over the Internet and hence accept no liability for any unintentional disclosure.

Links to Other Sites

eHarmony is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other websites that may be linked to this site or of any third party advertisers.

Choice/Opt-Out

We generally retain your PII only for so long as is necessary for the purpose for which it is used, or required by law. As an eHarmony member, you may use the following options for removing your information from our database or if you wish to opt out of receiving future communications.

1. Go to our website http://www.eharmony.co.uk and select our help link at the bottom right portion of the page. You will then be able to search our FAQ's to find the answer you are looking for, or send us an e-mail and our Customer Care agents will be happy to assist you; or

2. Send mail to the following postal address:

eHarmony UK Ltd.
BM Box 5904, London WC1N 3XX

You can also opt-out of receiving promotional emails and newsletters by clicking on "My Settings" option on your eHarmony home page, choosing the "Email Settings" link and un-checking the undesired promotions.

Access to information

The Act gives you the right to access information held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with the Act. Any access request may be subject to a small administration charge to meet our costs in providing you with the details of the information we hold about you.

Correct/Update

eHarmony provides users the following options for changing and modifying information previously submitted.

1. You may change your credit card, password and other information by going to "My Settings" option on your eHarmony home page and selecting "Account Settings" link in the top navigation area;

2. You can select our help link at the bottom right portion of your eHarmony home page or on the http://www.eHarmony.co.uk website. You will then be able to search our FAQ's to find the answer you are looking for or send us an e-mail and our Customer Care agents will be happy to assist you; or

3. You can send mail to the postal address listed above:

Contacting the Website

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with the eHarmony website, you can contact:

Site Administrator
eHarmony UK Ltd.
BM Box 5904, London WC1N 3XX

Acceptance of Privacy Statement

Your use of our website, including any dispute concerning privacy, is subject to this privacy statement and the Terms and Conditions of Service.

Any changes we may make to our privacy statement in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail or other suitable means. Your continued use of any portion of our website following posting and/or notification of the updated privacy statement will constitute your acceptance of the changes.

Effective Date

This privacy statement was last revised on July 7, 2008.