=================================================================== --- 20210401_rev01 +++ 20211001_rev01 @@ -1,239 +1,406 @@ ## Stack Exchange, Inc. Privacy Policy -Updated 17 March 2021 +Updated 24 September 2021 ABOUT STACK OVERFLOW -The Stack Overflow Network (also referred to herein as "Stack Overflow" or "Network") is a set of related Internet sites and other applications for questions and answers, owned and operated by Stack Exchange, Inc. ("Stack Overflow", "we" or "us"), a Delaware corporation. +The Stack Overflow Network (also referred to herein as "Stack Overflow" or "Network") is a set of related Internet sites and other applications for asynchronous collaboration and sharing knowledge, owned and operated by Stack Exchange, Inc. ("Stack Overflow", "we" or "us"), a Delaware corporation. -Stack Overflow welcomes you to the Network, the largest community of developers in the world, and invites you to participate in the community by sharing knowledge with your peers and colleagues. +Stack Overflow welcomes you to the Network, the largest community of developers and technologists in the world, and invites you to participate in the community by sharing knowledge with your peers and colleagues. +WE DO NOT AND WILL NOT SELL YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. + +1. [INTRODUCTION TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY]() +2. [GENERAL PRIVACY NOTICE FOR STACK EXCHANGE, INC.]() +3. [WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?]() +4. [HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA]() +5. [WHO DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA WITH?]() +6. [HOW LONG DO WE RETAIN YOUR PERSONAL DATA?]() +7. [YOUR RIGHTS]() +8. [INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS]() +9. [ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR CALIFORNIA CONSUMERS]() +10. [CONTACT US]() + INTRODUCTION TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY -This privacy policy and our related Privacy Notices (see below) describe how we collect, use, protect and share information about you that we collect when you use any of our products and services, our websites, or apps or otherwise interact with us (Services). +Stack Overflow's products, services and websites can be accessed by users across various locations including in jurisdictions which have specific privacy requirements. -We have set out below, an overview of how our privacy policies work. Depending on how you interact with us, we will collect and process your personal information as shown in the table below. +This privacy policy and our related Privacy Notices (see below) describe how we collect, use, protect, share and transfer information about you that we collect when you use any of our products and services, our websites, or apps or otherwise interact with us or with our Network (Services). It also includes information about how we handle information on California residents under the CCPA. -This statement should be read together with our related Privacy Notices, in particular our [Privacy Notice for the Public Network](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/public-network), [Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams Free](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-free), [Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams Basic](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-basic), [Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams Business](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-business), [Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams Enterprise](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-enterprise), [Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Talent and Jobs](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/talent) and our Employee Privacy Notice. +"Personal data" in this policy, includes "personal information," as it is defined under the CCPA. -

If you interact with us through the Public Network	In addition, we will collect and process your personal information in accordance with the Stack Overflow Privacy Notice for the Public Network.
If you are a Stack Overflow for Teams, Free customer	In addition, we will collect and process your personal information in accordance with the Stack Overflow for Teams Free Privacy Notice.
If you are a Stack Overflow for Teams, Basic customer	In addition, we will collect and process your personal information in accordance with the Stack Overflow for Teams Basic Privacy Notice.
If you are a Stack Overflow for Teams, Business customer	In addition, we will collect and process your personal information in accordance with the Stack Overflow for Teams, Business Privacy Notice and any other agreement that we may have with you.
If you are a Stack Overflow Talent customer	This statement should be read together with our related Privacy Notices, in particular our Stack Overflow Talent Privacy Notice and any other agreement that we may have with you.
If you are a Stack Overflow for Teams, Enterprise customer	In addition, we will collect and process your personal information in accordance with the Stack Overflow for Teams, Enterprise Privacy Notice and any other agreement that we may have with you.
If you visit or register with any of our websites	We will collect and use your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the Privacy Notice for the Public website if applicable. In particular, we may see how you use our websites and what content you interact with and for how long. This may involve the use of cookies which is explained in our Cookie Policy.
If you are a supplier and you or your company provides us with goods or services	We may collect your individual contact information in order to communicate with you and may use other information that we need in order to manage our account with your business. We will process such data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and any other agreement that we may have with you.
If you are employed by us	We will process your personal information in accordance with our Employee Privacy Notice. This will be made available to you internally.

+Personal data is any information about you by which you can be identified or be identifiable (either on its own or when combined with other information). This can include information such as: your name, email address and username; information about your device (e.g., IP address); and information relating to how you use and interact with our sites, apps and services. -HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM YOU +We have set out below an overview of how our privacy notices work. Depending on how you interact with us, we will collect and process your personal information as shown below. -Information that you give to us +- This Privacy Notice applies where you interact with us through the Network, or use any of our products and services. +- If you interact with us through our Collectives on Stack Overflow product, please read the [Collectives Privacy Notice](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/collectives). +- If you interact with us through your organization's Private Network on Teams Free, Basic, Business or Enterprise, we will only process certain limited information as controller. +- For Teams Free, Basic, Business: Please read the [Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams Free, Basic and Business](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-free-basic-business). +- For Teams Enterprise: Please read the [Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams Enterprise](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-enterprise). +- If you're an employee, our Employee Privacy Notice will be applicable. +- Please read the [Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Talent and Jobs.](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/talent) -In the course of providing you access to the Network, as well as Products and Services, Stack Overflow collects and receives personal information in a few ways, for example, when you set up a Stack Overflow account or register for a product, newsletter or service., e.g. a demo or make comments on our site. Often, you can choose what information to provide, but sometimes we require personal information from you to carry out certain activities such as account verification or registration. This section details the ways in which we collect information from you and how that information is received. +GENERAL PRIVACY NOTICE FOR STACK EXCHANGE, INC. -Information we generate or collect automatically through your use of our services +This Privacy Notice is applicable to you, including when you participate in our Public Community Platform for Questions and Answers by interacting with us through Stack Overflow's Public Network ("Public Network"), or when you otherwise interact with us, e.g., when you purchase or use our Advertising or Teams or Collectives or other products ("Products") or when you contact our Customer Service, Sales or other teams for assistance or inquiries ("Services"). -- Information about the systems and device(s) you use to access our Services, including, IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, operating system and platform, device type, and device identifiers; -- Information about your visits to the Websites, including the full URL clickstream to, through and from the Websites (including date and time); -- Information about your use of our mobile apps, including the information you view in our mobile apps and the date and time you view it; -- Information to facilitate your use of our Services (including to provide access to third-party websites and services), such as URL requests, destination IP addresses, or device configuration details; and -- Pages you view or search for, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), your engagement with certain variable/dynamic elements of a page and methods used to browse away from the page. +The Public Network allows individual users to engage in a community to share their knowledge and expertise, and to acquire knowledge and expertise. It is community-moderated, and the content in the Public Network is public and therefore visible for anyone to see and is subject to our Public Network Terms of Use. -More information on cookies can be found [here](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/cookie-policy). +Below you will find details about the personal information we collect about you when you use the Public Network or our Products and Services and interact with us; how and why we collect it, how we use it, and how we keep it secure. -Information we collect about you from third parties +This Privacy Notice also tells you about your rights, how you can exercise those rights, and how the law protects you. -Our Products and Services may also, from time to time, contain links to and from social media platforms. If you choose to connect with us through a social media platform, we may, through the social media platform connection, collect additional information from you, such as your user names, profile picture, contact information, contact list, and the profile pictures of your contacts. Similarly, the social media platforms may collect information about your interaction with our Products and Services. We do not have any control of the collection, use and sharing of your information when using any social media platforms. You should read any associated privacy policies before using them. +Stack Exchange, Inc. is the Controller responsible for your personal data collected on the Public Network or directly by us for Stack's operational purposes. In connection with certain Products and Services, Stack is the Processor for the organizations who provide your data to us or use our Products and Services. -Information we collect from other sources, e.g.: information from third party providers, information that helps us to combat fraud or that relates to your social interactions (including your communications via social media, between individuals, organisations, prospects and other stakeholders acquired from companies that collect combined information); +If you interact with Stack Overflow through your organization, please refer to the specific privacy notices applicable to those Products. -We may combine the information we collect about you from the various sources described above. +If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or the way in which we use your personal data, please contact us at [privacy@stackoverflow.com](mailto:privacy@stackoverflow.com) -WHY WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION (PURPOSES) +WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT? -This section explains why we collect your information and what we need it for (purposes). This is set out below, by reference to what the information is required for. +This section sets out the categories and details of personal information that we collect across our Products and Services. We collect and process your personal information in order to offer the Network, and to offer you our Products and Services. -If you decline to provide us with personal information when we ask you, you may not be able to access all or some of our services and you may not be able to use the Network or certain Products and Services. For example, if you do not provide us with your email address or other information required for account registration, we will not be able to register you for certain account services. +If you decline to provide us with personal information when we ask you, you may not be able to access all or some of our services, and you may not be able to use the Network or certain Products and Services. For example, if you do not provide us with your email address or other information required for account registration, we will not be able to register you for certain account services. -Account registration information +We collect: -We need to collect your personal information for account registration purposes. Although the Network provides for anonymous and pseudonymous participation, in some instances in order to use certain Products or Services, we require account registration. This requires a name associated with your account, an email address at which we can contact you, and in some cases, additional information including, a contact address, a billing address, and a password to help secure your personal information. +**Identity Data** -Profile information +We collect information such as your username, password, email address, IP address (collected at each site visit). This information is also used to identify individual users to the Public Network and to award activities and attribute them to you. Your username and additional content you provide, including your profile picture, question and answer content, and your reputation, are visible publicly. We or our community moderators may delete a question, an answer, a comment, or all of them and after deletion such information is only available to certain community members or Stack employees. -When completing a public "profile", whether it is for use with the Network or our Products and Services, we may require you to share certain personally identifying information in required and optional profile fields. The name associated with your account, which you may review and change in your account settings, as well as reputation points are publicly displayed and connected to your activity on the Stack Overflow Network and via certain Products and Services such as our Talent and Teams platforms. +**Contact Data**: including delivery address, email address, and telephone numbers for operational purposes, including providing Services and Products. -Other profile information may also be publicly displayed if you choose to complete certain elective components of the Account Registration options including, e.g., your Developer Story, display picture, affiliated role and company, your location and your preferred technologies (javascript, swift, sql-server, etc.), and some information is publicly displayed and required, such as how long you have been a member. +**Technical Data**: including internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, traffic data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, and platform and other communication data which gives us information about how you accessed our website. Other account information and usage information including your IP address and browser data may be used for diagnosis, security, and Product and Service optimization. -Similarly, you may elect to share additional information that is not required but this will be displayed publicly at your election. +**Account registration information** -If you are using the private Network (e.g., Stack Overflow for Teams), your account settings including, name, affiliated role and company, and other information may be shared with your private Network Team members designated as authorized users of your private Network account. While some of the public and private Network profile information is required, much of it is within your control as we describe herein and can be modified, updated, and restricted by you in your Profile Settings. +When you register for a Stack Overflow account, we collect your name and email address, your username and any additional information you provide. We will generate a unique identification number that we will use to recognize you when you are signed in. We need to collect your personal information for account registration purposes. Although the Network provides for anonymous and pseudonymous participation, in some instances in order to use certain Products or Services, we require account registration. This requires a name associated with your account, an email address at which we can contact you, and in some cases, additional information, including a contact address, a billing address, and a password to help secure your personal information. -Information we use to identify and authenticate you. We need this information to be able to recognize you, for example, when you access your accounts. It also helps us to protect your details and keep them secure. +**Billing information** -Marketing and sales information, e.g. details of the services you receive and your preferences; information about your device or the software you use, e.g. its IP address, technical specification and uniquely identifying data; cookies and similar technologies we use to recognize you, remember your preferences and tailor the content we provide to you - our [cookie policy](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/cookie-policy) contains more details about how we use cookies . +For Products and Services requiring payment, we collect a billing name, phone number, and email address. We also collect a billing and shipping address for invoicing purposes. If you elect to pay by credit card, Stack Overflow may engage a third party to securely process your payment. All payment processing is done through a PCI DSS compliant third party. If customers are paying by a credit card, their card details are vaulted through a third-party payment gateway. Stack Overflow will store an encrypted token along with the last four digits of the credit card and the expiration month and year of the card and will not store or retain any other billing information about you. -Device and browser information received automatically +**Profile information** +When completing a public "profile", whether it is for use with the Network or our Products and Services, we may require you to share certain personally identifying information in required and optional profile fields. The name associated with your account, which you may review and change in your account settings, as well as reputation points are publicly displayed and connected to your activity on the Stack Overflow Network and via certain Products and Services, such as our Talent and Teams platforms. Moderators, who have elevated access privileges, may access non-public user profile data, as well as content in posts and other public data. For more information about moderators and their role in the Stack Exchange Network, please visit [our help center](https://stackoverflow.com/help/site-moderators). + +Other profile information may also be publicly displayed if you choose to complete certain elective components of the Account Registration options, including e.g., your Developer Story, display picture, affiliated role and company, your location, and your preferred technologies (javascript, swift, sql-server, etc.), and some information is publicly displayed and required, such as how long you have been a member. + +Similarly, you may elect to share additional information that is not required, but this will be displayed publicly if you so choose to share it. + +If you are using the private Network (e.g., Stack Overflow for Teams), your account settings, including name, affiliated role and company, and other information may be shared with your private Network Team members designated as authorized users of your private Network account. While some of the public and private Network profile information is required, much of it is within your control as we describe herein and can be modified, updated, and restricted by you in your settings. + +**Information we use to identify and authenticate you** + +We need this information to be able to recognize you, for example, when you access your accounts. It also helps us to protect your details and keep them secure. We may also use this information for fraud detection and prevention. + +**Analytics information** + +Stack Overflow uses data analytics to ensure site functionality and to optimize our Product and Service offerings to you. We use web browser and mobile analytics to allow us to understand Network and Apps functionality. In doing so, we record information including, for example, how often you visit the Network, how often you contribute content, Network and Apps performance data, errors and debugging information, and the type of activity you engage in while on the Network or in your use of our Products and Services. We may on occasion share this information with third parties with whom we have contracts for products and services to assist Stack. + +**Information from Developer surveys, questionnaires, research and feedback programs** + +We collect information through questionnaires, surveys and feedback programs to help improve our products and give us insights. We may also conduct similar research for advertisers and our marketing partners. We ask you for your consent to use this information when you participate in these programs and events. + +**Marketing and sales information** + +We collect details of the services you receive and your preferences; information about your device or the software you use, e.g., its IP address, technical specification and uniquely identifying data; cookies and similar technologies we use to recognize you, remember your preferences and tailor the content we provide to you - our [cookie policy](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/cookie-policy) contains more details about how we use cookies. + +**Device and browser information received automatically** + When you visit the Network or use our Apps, Stack Overflow automatically receives and records information from your browser or mobile device, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address or unique device identifier. Cookies and data about which pages you visit on our Network allow us to operate and optimize the Products and Services we provide to you. This information is stored in secure logs and is collected automatically. We may combine this browser information with other information we collect about you. This information is used to keep the Products and Services secure, to analyze and understand how our Products and Services are used, optimize such usage, provide advertising across the Network as well as certain Products and Services to personalize your experience, and to help connect you with potential job opportunities in the case of our recruiting Products and Services. -Location information +**Location information** -When you use the Stack Overflow Network, and certain of our Products and Services, we collect location information about you including your IP address, your location, browser information, and how you came to the Stack Overflow Network. This is the case for individuals who have registered for an account, and non-members who engage with the Stack Overflow Network by visiting our website(s) but who have not completed an account registration. +When you use the Stack Overflow Network, and certain of our Products and Services, we collect location information about you, including your IP address, your location, browser information, and how you came to the Stack Overflow Network. This is the case for individuals who have registered for an account, and non-members who engage with the Stack Overflow Network by visiting our website(s), but who have not completed an account registration. This information is collected for various purposes, including advertising, analytics and to serve content as it relates to certain Products or Services (e.g., Talent), as well as to provide you with localized content, recommendations, and marketing. You may revoke our permission to collect some of this data, including your location and browser information through your Account Settings, but this may limit functionality in some cases. Certain location information we collect is required for security and site functionality. We share this information with certain third-parties (e.g., talent recruiters, payment processors, and advertising providers) in order to provide you with our Products and Services. -WHO WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH +You should not include any financial information or other information that you do not wish to make public when using our Public Network, which is a public website. We do not collect such information. It is your responsibility to keep such information safe and secure. -We may share personal information with third parties who provide services to Stack Overflow, such as payment processors, email delivery services, software providers, advertising providers and when we enter into product integrations with Software providers. Additionally, to improve user experience, we offer single sign-on solutions for account login and these third parties (including Facebook and Google) may receive information from these services when you elect to use them. When Stack Overflow shares your personal information and other collected information with third party service providers, we require that they use your information only for the purpose of providing services to us and consistent with this privacy policy. +**Can I revoke permissions once I have put information on the Public Network?** -Advertising and marketing partners +Please be aware that when using the Public Question and Answer Network, you cannot revoke permission for Stack Overflow to publish and to allow others to have derivative rights to such public content once it is made public. -When you register for an account, and when you interact with Stack Overflow, e.g., when you use the Public Network, we and authorized third parties place cookies on you and your account activity as described in more detail within our [cookie policy](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/cookie-policy). We use this information to serve you certain advertising content. Similarly, we market our Products and Services to you and communicate important information, product and other opportunities to you. If you do not wish to receive direct marketing communications from us, you can tell us and remove yourself from our marketing communications via the unsubscribe and opt out options in our email communications and your Account Settings. For more information on how to control your account settings or to opt out of direct marketing campaigns, please visit your Profile Settings. +The content you contribute on the public network is public, in perpetuity, and Stack Overflow loses direct control over such content when it is published on the open internet. This also means that if you post personal information about yourself, you do so at your own risk, including the risk of abandoning any privacy rights you had in such information. However, we can work with users to remove any personal data that has been posted in error or which a user wishes to remove. -Analytics information +Additionally, from time to time, Stack Overflow makes such public content available via our Stack Overflow Network API, compilation via the Creative Commons Data Dump and by providing public content to the Stack Overflow Network. You should be aware that such content, once public, cannot often be removed from public view even if it is removed from the Stack Overflow network and our servers. -Stack Overflow uses data analytics to ensure site functionality and to optimize our Product and Service offerings to you. We use web browser and mobile analytics to allow us to understand Network and Apps functionality. In doing so, we record information including, for example how often you visit the Network, how often you contribute content, Network and Apps performance data, errors and debugging information, and the type of activity you engage in while on the Network or in your use of our Products and Services. We may on occasion share this information with third parties for research or product and services optimization. +**How we collect information from you** -Billing information +**Information that you give to us** -For Products and Services requiring payment, we collect a billing name, phone number, and email address. We also collect a billing and shipping address for invoicing purposes. If you elect to pay by credit card, Stack Overflow may engage a third party to securely process your payment. All payment processing is done through a PCI DSS compliant third party. If customers are paying by a credit card, their card details are vaulted through a third-party payment gateway. Stack Overflow will store an encrypted token along with the last four digits of the credit card and the expiration month and year of the card and will not store or retain any other billing information about you. +

Account information	If you create a Stack Overflow account, we require an email address, username and password. Only your username is public. You also have the option to provide other information about yourself, such as your name, bio or any profile picture you have uploaded. We also store your user account preferences and settings.
Content you submit	We collect the content you submit to the Services. This includes your posts and comments and any communications with moderators and with us.
Actions you take	We collect information about the actions you take when using the Services. This includes your interactions with content, like voting, saving, hiding, and reporting. It also includes your interactions with other users, such as following. We collect your interactions with communities, like your subscriptions or moderator status.
Transactional information	If you purchase any products or services from us, we will collect certain information from you, including your name, address, email address, and information about the product or service you are purchasing.
Other information	You may choose to provide other information directly to us. For example, we may collect information when you fill out a form, register for a product, newsletter or service, participate in surveys or Stack-sponsored activities or promotions, apply for a job, request customer support, or otherwise communicate with us.

-Developer Survey +**Information we generate or collect automatically through your use of our services or via our IT systems** -As the world's largest developer community, Stack Overflow publishes an annual Developer Survey to provide key insights into the developer community, as well as other surveys from time to time, all of which include demographic (e.g. gender, race, age etc) and certain personal information. Your participation in the Developer Survey as well as any other Stack Overflow survey is entirely voluntary. In order to provide meaningful insights into the developer community, Stack Overflow may collect sensitive data about you, including, but not limited to your gender, race, sexual orientation, immigration status, and your location. We consider this data to be among our most sensitive, and have taken elevated measures to protect such data as well as to de-identify your name and other personal information from such data. We restrict such data within Stack Overflow on a privileged basis to only those that need to see it and while we may share your personal information with certain third parties such as researchers, we do so only after imposing contractual obligations of confidentiality on such third parties and only where absolutely necessary for limited research purposes. +

Log and usage data	We will log information when you access and use the Services. This may include information about the systems and device(s) you use to access our Services, including IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, operating system and platform, device type, and device identifiers;
	Information about your visits to our sites, including the full URL clickstream to, through and from the sites (including date and time);
	Information about your use of our mobile apps, including the information you view in our mobile apps and the date and time you view it;
	Information to facilitate your use of our Services (including to provide access to third-party websites and services), such as URL requests, destination IP addresses, or device configuration details; and
	Pages you view or search for, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), your engagement with certain variable/dynamic elements of a page, and methods used to browse away from the page.
Information collected from our IT systems	From door entry systems and reception logs, (e.g., when you visit our offices), automated monitoring of our websites and technical systems, such as our computer networks and connections, CCTV and access control systems, communications systems, email and instant messaging systems.
Information collected from cookies and similar technologies	We use cookies, which are small text files that collect and track certain technical information, and similar technologies to help us operate and provide our Services to you. We use this information for various reasons including to improve the quality of our services, improve your experience, understand user activity, and personalize content and advertisements. More information on how Stack uses cookies and how you can disable them can be found in our cookie policy.
Location information	We may receive and process information about your location. For example, with your consent, we may collect information about the specific location of your mobile device (for example, by using GPS or Bluetooth).

-When we publish our surveys, they are published as a compilation of anonymized data, which means that we take every effort to ensure that your information is understood in a statistical narrative decoupled from your personal identity. +**Information we collect about you from third parties** -If you have any questions concerning the Developer Survey or other survey and our security measures to protect your sensitive personal data, please contact us at: privacy@stackoverflow.com. +

Third party services	We collect information through third party services, such as Google Ads and Google Analytics, for the purposes of serving targeted advertisements, personalized content and analytics.
Links and social media	Our Products and Services may also, from time to time, contain links to and from social media platforms. If you choose to connect with us through a social media platform, we may, through the social media platform connection, collect additional information from you, such as your usernames, profile picture, contact information, contact list, and the profile pictures of your contacts. Similarly, the social media platforms may collect information about your interaction with our Products and Services. We do not have any control of the collection, use and sharing of your information when using any social media platforms. You should read any associated privacy policies before using them.
Information we collect from other sources	Information from third parties to help us to combat fraud, provide Services or that relates to your interactions, including your communications between individuals, organizations, prospects and other stakeholders acquired from companies that collect combined information and share it with us.

-Legal basis for processing your information +**Information collected from Advertisers and Potential Advertisers** -We will only use your information where we have a legal basis for using it, for example, where we have your consent, or where we need to carry out processing to provide you with a service you have requested. This section describes the legal bases we rely on for processing your information, including when we share it with third parties. +

Contact forms

When you contact us to inquire about advertisements, we collect your name, email, telephone number and other details through our web form. If you purchase advertising services, you will need to provide transactional information, and we may also require additional documentation to verify your identity.

-When you access the Stack Overflow Network and use the Products and Services we offer, we collect, display, store, share, transmit, and process your information in the manner described in this policy. +We may combine the information we collect about you from the various sources described above. -In order to carry out these activities, Stack Overflow may rely on the following legal bases in order to process your personal data: +HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA -- Where you have given us consent to process the information, which you can withdraw at any time. -- Where the processing is necessary: - - to carry out the contractual obligations in the Terms of Service or to provide the Products and Services you have requested - - to comply with a legal obligation or to defend legal claims - - to protect the public interest or vital interest of others -- Where it is in our legitimate interests, or that of a third party to carry out the processing. +This section explains how we use your information and what we need it for (purposes). We use your personal data only when we have a valid reason and the legal grounds to do so. We determine the legal grounds based on the purposes for which we have collected your personal data. More information is provided below: +**Purposes for collecting and using personal information** + +We use the above categories of personal information for the following purposes: + +- To verify your identity and enable you to access your products and services when you contact us or access our services. +- To protect you from fraud and for fraud prevention and detection. +- To provide commercial quotes to you, e.g., when you inquire about a product or service. +- For statistical analysis (e.g., on the use of our websites). +- To operate and improve our websites and services. +- To notify you of any changes to our websites or our services and products that may affect you. +- To provide you with technical and customer support. +- To ask your opinion or feedback on our services or surveys. +- To communicate with you about other Stack Overflow products or services, events, offers, promotions and other information or news that we think may be of interest to you. Whenever we communicate with you in this way, we will give you an opportunity to opt out of receiving future messages. +- To enforce our legal rights or comply with legal requirements. +- To provide improved website and product experience and communications informed by your product subscriptions and/or data collected. + +**Our legal grounds for using your personal data** + +We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. We will use your personal data in the following circumstances: + +- Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you. For example, where you have purchased a product or service or requested a service from us. +- Where we have your consent. For example, where you have provided your consent to receive marketing emails from us or where you have given your consent to be contacted by a third party sponsor for an event you have participated in. You can withdraw your consent at any time. In the case of marketing emails, you can withdraw your consent by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link in the email you received. +- Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation. +- Where it is in our legitimate interests, including our commercial interests or a third party's legitimate interest in using the personal information. Examples include when we analyze what content has been viewed on our Network and apps, so that we can understand how they are used and improve our content; carrying out marketing analyses to better understand your interests and preferences so that we can make our marketing more relevant to your interests and preferences. This includes when we promote our own products and services. + Whenever we rely on legitimate interests for processing, we ensure that we consider and balance our interests against the individual's interests before processing. We do not use your personal data on the basis of legitimate interest for activities where individuals' interests override our interests. -Where we process your information on the basis of legitimate interests, we do so in order to: +The table below gives further details of the personal data we collect and our reasons (legal basis) for using the information. -Secure your personal data and information +

What we use your personal data for	Our reasons (Legal basis)
Providing the Network, products and services to you	To perform our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract
Preventing and detecting fraud against you or us	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e., to minimize fraud that could be damaging for you and/or us
Keeping your personal data secure	Our legitimate interests. Stack Overflow is committed to the safety and security of your personal data and the information that you share with us and with the public. We treat your personal data and safety from harassment as top organizational priorities. We consider it necessary to pursue these legitimate interests in order to keep our community, you and your information safe from spam, harassment, intellectual property infringement, identity theft, and the scraping and unlawful collection of your information.
Providing, improving and optimizing our products and services	We use your information to provide and improve our Products and Services, for identification, verification, to provide support, for online and offline marketing, including through third party tools such as Google Analytics, and for general research and analytics reporting. We gain insights into which of our Products and Services you are using most, what you're interested in, and to better enable you to use and access our Products and Services. For example, we provide an API with information that has already been made publicly available by users to enable users to more easily access and use our services. We have a legitimate interest in enabling and customizing your experience of our Product and Services offerings.
Engaging in commercial transactions	We and our third-party processors will use your information, including financial information, to process payments when you purchase certain products and services in order to perform a contract or provide you with services you have requested.
Complying with regulatory and legal obligations	We have a legitimate interest in complying with certain regulatory obligations, including sanctions, anti-money laundering, and other checks which require the disclosure of your personal information. We consider our obligation to protect the Stack Overflow community from imminent physical harm to be both a legitimate business interest as well as to be within the public interest and may disclose your personal information if we believe you or another individual may be in imminent danger of harm to yourself or to another.
Core business operations	We may engage with third parties in business transactions, including the buying and selling of assets, the auditing of our business practices and financials, and to engage in business development opportunities. This may involve the processing and/or disclosure of some limited personal information, which may be necessary and within our legitimate interests to develop the Stack Overflow brand and business. If we transfer any personal information in pursuing such a business transaction, we will always ensure that strict confidentiality measures are in place to protect your privacy interests.
Conducting checks to identify our customers and verify their identity	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Screening for financial and other sanctions or embargoes	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Other activities necessary to comply with professional, legal and regulatory obligations that apply to our business, e.g., under health and safety law or rules issued by our professional regulator.	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Gathering and providing information required by or relating to audits, inquiries or investigations by regulatory bodies	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Ensuring business policies are adhered to, e.g., policies covering security and internet use	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e., to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can deliver the best service to you
Operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training and quality control	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e., to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best service to you at the best price
Ensuring the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e., to protect trade secrets and other commercially valuable information To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Statistical analysis to help us manage our business, e.g., in relation to our financial performance, customer base, product range or other efficiency measures	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e., to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best service to you at the best price
Preventing unauthorized access and modifications to systems	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, ie to prevent and detect criminal activity that could be damaging for you and/or us To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Updating and enhancing customer records	To perform our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g., making sure that we can keep in touch with our customers about existing orders and new products
Statutory returns	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Ensuring safe working practices, staff administration and assessments	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g., to make sure we are following our own internal procedures and working efficiently so we can deliver the best service to you
Marketing our services and those of selected third parties to: existing and former customers; third parties who have previously expressed an interest in our services; third parties with whom we have had no previous dealings.	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e., to promote our business to existing and former customers
External audits and quality checks, e.g., for ISO or Investors in People accreditation and the audit of our accounts	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e., to maintain our accreditations so we can demonstrate we operate at the highest standards To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations

-Stack Overflow is committed to the safety and security of your personal data and the information that you share with us and with the public. We treat your personal data and safety from harassment as top organizational priorities. At Stack Overflow we consider it necessary to pursue these legitimate interests in order to keep our community, you and your information safe from spam, harassment, intellectual property infringement, identity theft, and the scraping and unlawful collection of your information. +**More details about how we use your personal data** -Provide and optimize products and services +**Cookies and Similar Technologies** -We use your information to provide and improve our Products and Services, for identification, verification, to provide support, for online and offline marketing including through third party tools such as Google Analytics, and for general research and analytics reporting. In doing so, we may learn which of our Products and Services you are using most, what you're interested in, and to better enable you to use and access our Products and Services. As a core part of our business, Stack Overflow has a legitimate interest in enabling and customizing your experience of our Product and Services offerings. +When you visit our Network and sites or when you use our apps, we may collect personal data from you automatically using cookies or similar technologies. A cookie is a small file that can be placed on your device that allows us to recognize and remember you. We may place cookies on your device (with your consent, where applicable), as well as partner with third parties, including advertising partners, who may use cookies or other similar technologies to provide you with advertising based on your browsing activities and interests. Please see our [cookie policy](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/cookie-policy) for additional information on how we use cookies and what third party cookies we permit. -Engage in commercial transactions +**Tracking** -As part of providing our core Products and Services, Stack Overflow may charge you for the use of some Products and Services, or certain features within these Products and Services. In order to process your payment, and to secure your financial information, we may facilitate the sharing of your information with third parties. We share your information only with third parties who have met strict security standards and consider the secure processing of your financial information to be a strict and legitimate business necessity. +Stack Overflow emails use Javascript for email tracking of opens, clicks, and unsubscribes or may contain a small, invisible, one pixel image which can be used to let us know when the email is opened or forwarded. If the email recipient has images enabled on their device, when the email is opened, a message (an automatic request) is sent to Stack Overflow's server requesting the image. That request is logged by Stack Overflow and tells us that the email has been opened. A similar process may be used in relation to links or attachments in the email, with a request being sent to Stack Overflow for the content that is accessible via the links or attachments, thus telling Stack Overflow that the link or attachment has been accessed. -Comply with regulatory and legal obligations +**Developer Survey** -Stack Overflow has a legitimate interest in complying with certain legal obligations and interests which, from time to time, may require the disclosure of your personal information. Stack Overflow will not disclose your personal information to legal authorities except where such disclosure is by lawful request, including to meet legitimate national security or law enforcement demands (including a subpoena, court order, or other lawful legal demand by a legal authority with lawful jurisdiction). In some cases, we may also release your personal information to defend our legitimate legal interests. We consider our obligation to protect the Stack Overflow community from imminent physical harm to be both a legitimate business interest as well as to be within the public interest and may disclose your personal information if we believe you or another individual may be in imminent danger of harm to yourself or to another. +As the world's largest developer community, Stack Overflow publishes an annual Developer Survey to provide key insights into the developer community, as well as other surveys from time to time, some of which include demographic (e.g., gender, race, age, etc.) and certain personal information. Your participation in the Developer Survey as well as any other Stack Overflow survey is entirely voluntary. In order to provide meaningful insights into the developer community, Stack Overflow may collect sensitive data about you, including, but not limited to your gender, race, sexual orientation, immigration status, and your location. We consider this data to be among our most sensitive and have taken elevated measures to protect such data as well as to de-identify your name and other personal information from such data. We restrict such data within Stack Overflow on a privileged basis to only those that need to see it and while we may share your personal information with our third party providers for our research, we do so only after imposing contractual obligations of confidentiality on such third parties and only where necessary for limited research purposes. -Marketing and product communications +When we publish our surveys, they are published as a compilation of anonymized data. We may ask for your consent to contact you following completion of the surveys. -From time to time, Stack Overflow may communicate with you about commercial and other Product and Services offerings. In doing so, we provide you with an opportunity to opt-out of such messages at any time you choose via your account settings. Stack Overflow will not sell your personal information to enhance our marketing opportunities or profitability (except as may relate to a corporate event such as a sale or merger), and as we are committed to preventing spam, our direct marketing efforts are limited in scope and frequency. We engage in such activities as a legitimate business interest in order to promote key Products and Service offerings and provide you with every opportunity to unsubscribe from such communications or to further limit their scope and frequency. In short, while we want to communicate some key commercial communications with you and have determined it to be a legitimate interest for us to be able to do so, you have the final say in whether or not you would like to receive such commercial communications from us. You can review or change your permissions in your Profile Settings. +If you have any questions concerning the Developer Survey or other survey and our security measures to protect your sensitive personal data, please contact us at: [privacy@stackoverflow.com](mailto:privacy@stackoverflow.com). -Core business operations +**Advertising on our Network** -Stack Overflow may engage with third parties in business transactions including the buying and selling of assets, the auditing of our business practices and financials, and to engage in business development opportunities. These core activities may involve the processing and/or disclosure of some limited personal information which may be necessary and within our legitimate interests to develop the Stack Overflow brand and business. If we transfer any personal information in pursuing such a business transaction, we will always ensure that strict confidentiality measures are in place to protect your privacy interests. +We work with third party advertisers to deliver ads on our Network. This involves tracking, targeting and measuring, using your personal data. We will get consent through our online consent management portal, or via other consent mechanisms before we can use your personal data in this way. -YOUR CHOICE AND CONTROL OF THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT ON YOU +**Targeting:** -Privacy is a guiding principle of all Stack Overflow Products and Services and we value your privacy. To this end, we provide you with the ability to control how your information is stored, and what information is collected. You may change or correct your account settings and choose not to share certain information by creating a pseudonymous account. Additionally, much of the data we collect is voluntary and your choice entirely to provide us or not. You may also remove certain optional information that you no longer wish to be publicly displayed, such as your photo, or job history. In the event Stack Overflow decides to provide additional opt-out or opt-in mechanisms under the Privacy Shield Framework, the mechanisms will be clear, conspicuous, and readily available for you to exercise your choice. And of course, should you wish, you may also request the permanent deletion of your account, in which case all personal information collected on you will be removed from our servers and encrypted (except, in some cases your IP address required for security purposes, site maintenance, and spam protection). +- Advertisers can target their campaigns using topic tags. +- Advertisers can target by geography, which is identified through Google Ad Manager, based on a visitor's IP address (which is truncated by Google). +- Advertisers can target by industry or company size, which is identified using IP address and matching that to Dunn & Bradstreet data. -We also provide you additional data control options created by the GDPR, but provided to the Stack Overflow community regardless of geographic location with respect to your information, including data access and portability (including the right to obtain and download a copy of the personal data you provided to Stack Overflow), data correction (the ability to update the personal data we collect and display on you, in many cases via your account settings), data deletion (where Stack Overflow will delete personal information stored on you, which we are not required by necessity to maintain), and the ability to have us stop processing your personal data (with certain exceptions as may be necessary). You may submit data requests to privacy@stackoverflow.com. +**Measuring:** -Please also be aware that in order to respond to data requests and provide data choices to you, we may need to first verify your identity. +- We allow advertisers to use MOAT, Doubleverify, and IAS tags on their campaigns to monitor for fraud. +- We also offer conversion pixels so advertisers can track conversions that happen within 30 days of an ad being served. -You may additionally control the receipt of certain marketing and advertising communications from Stack Overflow. Some messages that we send are required, and related to our legal obligations, or service related and mandatory. Other messages, like marketing and advertising communications are provided by us to let you know how you can continue to share, learn, and build your knowledge within the Stack Overflow community, and are voluntary. We provide you with the opportunity to control which voluntary (non-mandatory/required) messages you would like to receive in your Profile Settings. +**Other Third Party Online and Digital Advertising** -ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT ON YOU WHEN YOU USE SPECIFIC PRODUCTS +When you access our websites, complete online contact forms, or interact with us, we may use your information to provide you with advertising content. -When you register for our services or if you or your organization set up a Private Network, we may collect some additional information in connection with that service or product. This section describes in further detail the information we collect on you and how we use that information broken down by our Products and Services offerings. +**Google Ads** -Click below for links to the Privacy Notices for each of our Products and Service Offerings: +We use Google Ads to display personalized ads to users. You can find out more or opt out by visiting [Google's help center.](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2676774) -[Privacy Notice for the Public Network](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/public-network) -[Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams, Free](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-free) -[Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams, Basic](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-basic) -[Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams, Business](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-business) -[Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Teams, Enterprise](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/teams-enterprise) -[Privacy Notice for Stack Overflow Talent and Jobs](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/talent) +We will only process your data for any online or digital advertising on the basis of your informed consent, which can be withdrawn at any time, or if we have a legitimate interest. Your data can only be used by Stack Overflow and will not be shared with other parties. -Children +**Microsoft Advertising** -Stack Overflow Network is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect personal data pertaining to children. +We use Microsoft services (e.g., Bing) for personalized advertising purposes, including Match lists, user event tracking (UET) and retargeting. When we do this, Microsoft collects or receives Personal Data from us to provide Microsoft advertising. Your data can only be used by Stack Overflow and will not be shared with other parties. Where applicable, (for example, if you reside in the EEA or where EEA law applies), we will get your consent before we can share your personal data with Microsoft. You can find out more by visiting [Microsoft Privacy Statements](https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-gb/privacystatement). -Cookies +You can also control the use of your data for interest-based advertising from Microsoft by visiting their [opt-out page](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/). -In order to provide the Stack Overflow Network along with the Products and Services described in this policy, we may place cookies on you as well as partner with third parties including advertising partners, who may use cookies or other similar technologies to provide you with advertising based on your browsing activities and interests. Please see our [cookie policy](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/cookie-policy) for additional information on how we use cookies and what third party cookies we permit. +**Employer Branding** -Online and other digital advertising +Stack Overflow provides services that enable organizations to provide branded content on our website. We maintain a dedicated page on the public Stack Overflow page that enables our customers to set up a page and create branded content. -When you access our websites, we may use your information to provide you with advertising content. +The Customer has an admin key to the page, controls the content and can invite others to be admins. Most content is static and just resides on the page. -We will only process your data for any online or digital advertising on the basis of your informed consent, which can be withdrawn at any time, or if we have a legitimate interest. +Dynamic content (posting updates, giving advice, etc.) lives externally to the page and can be accessed by users through links provided by our customer. Public users can "follow" the page through getting a weekly email digest and they can unfollow or opt out of receiving emails from the Customer. -WHERE WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION (LOCATION) +The Customer has no direct interaction with the public website users on the page. -Stack Overflow will process your information through, or on behalf of its entities located in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the EEA. We may transfer your information to companies working on our behalf and to other third parties and agents located outside the European Economic Area. +Users must ensure that they read any privacy notices provided by customers on the page as well as this privacy notice. -Please be aware that the privacy laws and standards in certain countries outside the EEA, including the rights of authorities to access your personal information, may differ from those that apply in the country in which you reside. We will transfer personal information only to countries to which we are permitted by law to transfer personal information and we will continue to ensure that your personal information is appropriately safeguarded. More information on this is provided within the policy. +WHO DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA WITH? +We share personal data with: + +- Companies within the Stack Exchange network. +- Third parties who provide professional services, including but not limited to accountants; banking, insurance and insurance broking services for us. +- Third parties we use to help deliver our products and services to you, e.g., payment service providers, payment processors, warehouses and delivery companies; cloud service providers, e.g., Microsoft Azure, service providers that help us carry out certain tasks, including order fulfilment, customer service providers, maintaining technology and related infrastructure, serving and targeting ads, measuring performance, managing and analysing research, email distribution, managing marketing e.g., Marketo and promotions and surveys. +- Additionally, to improve user experience, we offer single sign-on solutions for account login and these third parties (including Facebook and Google) may receive information from these services when you elect to use them. +- When Stack Overflow shares your personal information and other collected information with third party service providers, we require that they use your information only for the purpose of providing services to us and consistent with this privacy policy. +- Third parties that we partner with to deliver products and services, including certain marketing and features to you, such as [Employer Branding](); and Collectives on Stack Overflow (please read the [Collectives Privacy Notice](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy/collectives)). +- Advertising partners - When you visit or interact with our websites, e.g., when you use the Public Network, we and authorized third parties will, with your permission, place certain cookies on your device and your account activity as described in more detail within our [cookie policy](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/cookie-policy). We use this information to serve you certain advertising content. We also partner with other third parties, such as Google Ads and Microsoft Bing, to serve advertising content and manage advertising campaigns. When we use Google Ads or Microsoft Bing Customer Match for advertising campaigns, your personal data will be protected using hashed codes. + Google users can control the ads that they see on Google services, including Customer Match ads, in their Google Ads Settings. + More information on how to control your account settings or to opt out of direct marketing campaigns can be found under [Your Choices]() section. You can also opt out in your [Profile Settings](https://stackoverflow.com/users/email/settings/current). +- Event sponsors and partners - we may share your personal data with sponsors of Stack Overflow events and partners whom we hold events with for marketing purposes when you have given your permission for us to do so. +- Other third parties approved by you, e.g., third parties that run our Developer Survey, social media sites you choose to link your account to or third party payment providers. +- We may make available APIs to enable users to download publicly available information from our websites. +- Authorities who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances, for example, for anti-money laundering, sanctions and other regulatory obligations. We will not disclose your personal information to legal authorities except where such disclosure is by lawful request, including to meet legitimate national security or law enforcement demands (including a subpoena, court order, or other lawful legal demand by a legal authority with lawful jurisdiction) or in the public interest in compliance with applicable laws. In some cases, we may also release your personal information to defend our legal interests. +- If we choose to sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business or our assets, your personal data would be shared with such third parties as part of such a transaction. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy notice. + +We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with contractual obligations which ensure adequate protection for your personal data. + +HOW LONG DO WE RETAIN YOUR PERSONAL DATA? + +We will keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice and to fulfil our legal obligations. We will not keep more data than we need. While you remain a user of the Public Network or a customer, we will retain your data in order to keep providing services to you. + +We are required to keep some basic information about our customers for a longer period in accordance with applicable tax and other laws. In some circumstances, you can ask us to delete your data. + +**Your choices - how to access and control your personal data** + +You can make choices about the collection and use of your data by Stack Overflow in the various ways set out below. + +You may change or correct your account settings and choose not to share certain information by creating a pseudonymous account. You may also remove certain optional information that you no longer wish to be publicly displayed, such as your photo, or job history. + +You can also control your personal data that Stack Overflow has collected and exercise your data protection rights as set out in the section below, or by using the tools described below. Please be aware that in some cases, your ability to access or control your personal data will be limited under applicable law. + +**Promotional emails, SMS messages, telephone calls and postal mail from Stack Overflow** + +When we send promotional emails and texts, we will give you an 'unsubscribe' option to opt out of receiving such messages. You can opt out of receiving telephone calls. Occasionally, we may send promotional mail, you can let us know if you do not wish to receive mail by contacting us. You can also opt out in your [Profile Settings](https://stackoverflow.com/users/email/settings/current). + +**Interest based advertising** + +We may carry out interest-based advertising through third party services such as Microsoft or Google, as described under Advertising, above. You can opt out of such advertising in the following ways: + +- You can control the use of your data for interest-based advertising from Microsoft by visiting their [opt-out page.](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/) +- You can opt out of advertising from Google or find out more by visiting [Google's help center.](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2676774) + +More information and resources on how you can control your ad choices and how to opt out of interest based advertising can be found on [NAI Consumer Opt Out](https://optout.networkadvertising.org/) and [YourAdChoices.com](https://youradchoices.com/). + +If you want to access or control personal data processed by Stack Overflow that is not available via the tools, please refer to [Your Rights]() or contact us at [privacy@stackoverflow.com](mailto:privacy@stackoverflow.com). + +YOUR RIGHTS + +You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, and you can contact us if you want to exercise any of these. + +Your rights include: + +

Access	The right to be provided with a copy of your personal data also known as a "data subject access request"
Rectification	The right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal data
Erasure	The right to require us to delete your personal data-in certain situations
Restriction of processing	The right to require us to restrict processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, e.g., if you contest the accuracy of the data
Data portability	The right to receive the personal data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party-in certain situations
To object	The right to object: at any time to your personal data being processed for direct marketing (including profiling); in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal data, e.g., processing carried out for the purpose of our legitimate interests.

+ +If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please email [privacy@stackoverflow.com.](mailto:privacy@stackoverflow.com) + +We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity before we can deal with your request. We will respond to your request within one month. If your request is complicated, it may take us longer. We will let you know if we need longer than one month to respond. + +You also have the right to take your concerns at any time to the UK or EU Supervisory Authority, depending on your location. + +**Where we process your information (locations)** + +Stack Overflow will process your information through, or on behalf of its entities located in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (EEA). We may transfer your information to companies working on our behalf and to other third parties and agents located outside the European Economic Area. + +Please be aware that the privacy laws and standards in certain countries outside the UK and the EEA, including the rights of authorities to access your personal information, may differ from those that apply in the country in which you reside. We will transfer personal information only to countries to which we are permitted by law to transfer personal information and we will continue to ensure that your personal information is appropriately safeguarded. More information on this is provided within the policy. + INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS -Stack Overflow is a global community and as such, you may access the Stack Overflow Network from almost anywhere in the world. When you do this, you will also be subject to the local laws of your jurisdiction you are accessing it from. By accessing the Stack Overflow Network and engaging with our Products and Services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be collected and transferred from your local jurisdiction (including member states to the European Union) to the United States. +To deliver services to you, it is sometimes necessary for us to transfer or share your personal data outside the UK/EEA: -Where Stack Overflow transfers your personal data from your local jurisdiction (including member states to the European Union) we rely on certain lawful transfer mechanisms to do so, including the following lawful bases for such transfers: +- with our offices or other companies within our group located outside the UK/EEA; +- with your and our service providers, e.g., cloud service providers, located outside the UK/EEA; +- if you are based outside the UK/EEA; +- where there is a European and/or international dimension to the services we are providing to you. -Privacy shield +If applicable, we will only transfer or share your personal data outside the UK/EEA: -Stack Overflow complies with the EU - US Privacy Shield Framework and Swiss - US Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union and Switzerland to the United States. Stack Overflow has certified (note: certification under legal name Stack Exchange, Inc.) to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles including onward transfer principles as amended by the GDPR where applicable. Stack Overflow acknowledges accountability under the onward transfer principles of the Privacy Shield Framework when transferring data to third parties. If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy 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/](https://www.privacyshield.gov/). Stack Exchange, Inc. is subject to the investigative and enforcement powers of the Federal Trade Commission. Under certain circumstances, you may invoke binding arbitration to determine, for residual claims, whether Stack Overflow has violated its Privacy Shield obligations, and whether any such violation remains fully or partially unremedied. Stack Overflow has further committed to refer unresolved Privacy Shield complaints to the PrivacyTrust Shield Program, an alternative dispute resolution provider located in the United Kingdom. If you do not receive timely acknowledgement of your complaint from Stack Overflow, or if we have not addressed your concern to your satisfaction, please contact us: privacy@stackoverflow.com or visit [https://privacytrust.com/drs/stackexchange](https://privacytrust.com/drs/stackexchange) or at the contact information provided below. +- to a country, territory or organization that has been assessed as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data 'adequacy decision' by the UK or the EU Commission; +- By using legally-approved UK or EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCS) or Model Clauses, in addition to implementing appropriate supplementary measures to ensure the protection of the personal data. -Standard contractual clauses +If you are located in the UK or the EU, you may contact us at [legal@stackoverflow.com](mailto:legal@stackoverflow.com) to request a copy of the Standard Contractual Clauses. -The European Commission has adopted standard contractual clauses (also referred to as model clauses), which provide safeguards to protect the transfer of personal information outside of the European Union. We may use these standard contractual clauses when transferring personal information outside of the European Union. You may review and request a copy of such standard contractual clauses as used by Stack Overflow by contacting us at legal@stackoverflow.com. +By accessing the Stack Overflow Network and engaging with our Products and Services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be collected and transferred from your local jurisdiction (including those in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK) to the United States or other jurisdictions. -OUR ONGOING COMMITMENT TO DATA SECURITY +**Our ongoing commitment to data security** -Security is important to us and we know it is important to you. Stack Overflow follows generally accepted standards to protect your personal information when processing, transferring, and storing your personal information including Transport Layer Security ("TLS"), by restricting your personal data when we do not need to access it and by keeping your personal data only as necessary to perform our legitimate business interests. +Security is important to us and we know it is important to you. Stack Overflow follows generally accepted standards to protect your personal information when processing, transferring, and storing your personal information including Transport Layer Security ("TLS"). -As the data subject, you too have an important role to play in helping us protect your personal information. We encourage you to protect yourself against unauthorized access to your personal information by choosing a password carefully and in accordance with industry best standards. Do not share your password with anyone you do not trust, and make sure your computer accesses Stack Overflow via a secure network and that you do not leave your personal information vulnerable to hackers and other bad actors by leaving your computer unattended or by failing to logout of your account when you have ended your session activity. +We have appropriate security measures to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed unlawfully. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to access it and only as necessary to perform our legitimate business interests. We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so. -DIRECT MARKETING OPT OUT +We also encourage you to protect yourself against unauthorized access to your personal information by choosing a password carefully and in accordance with industry best standards. Do not share your password with anyone you do not trust, and make sure your computer accesses Stack Overflow via a secure network and that you do not leave your personal information vulnerable to hackers and other bad actors by leaving your computer unattended or by failing to logout of your account when you have ended your session activity. -You may opt-out of receiving Stack Overflow email marketing materials by using the unsubscribe link in these communications or by changing your Email Settings. +**How we may contact you** +**Service communications** + +From time to time, we may send you service emails, for example, how to use certain features of products you have bought or renewal reminders (if applicable). + +**Marketing and product communications and newsletters** + +From time to time, Stack Overflow may communicate with you about commercial and other Product and Services offerings and to let you know how you can continue to share, learn, and build your knowledge within the Stack Overflow community. You can opt-out of such messages at any time by changing your permissions in your [Profile Settings](https://stackoverflow.com/users/email/settings/current). In some cases, e.g., third party offers, we will only send these if you have given us permission. + +**Direct marketing opt out** + +You may opt-out of receiving Stack Overflow email marketing materials by using the unsubscribe link in these communications or by changing your [Email Settings](https://stackoverflow.com/users/email/settings/current). + ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR CALIFORNIA CONSUMERS -Under the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"), we are required to notify California consumers about our collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information (whether collected through this website or offline). Please see more information about this in the Legal section of our website. +Under the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"), we are required to notify California consumers about our collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information (whether collected through this website or offline). -PRIVACY POLICY AMENDMENTS +Stack Overflow does not sell (as the term is defined in the CCPA) the personal information we collect (and will not sell it without providing a right to opt out). Please note that we do use third-party cookies for our advertising purposes, as described in our [cookie policy](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/cookie-policy). +In the last 12 months, we collected the following categories of personal information from California consumers: + +- Identifiers, like your Stack username, email address, IP address, and cookie information. +- Commercial information, including information about transactions you undertake with us. +- Internet or other electronic network activity information, such as information about your activity on our Services and limited information about your activity on the services of advertisers who use our advertising technology. +- Geolocation information based on your IP address, or more specific location information if you authorize your device to provide it to us. +- Audio and visual information submitted to Stack. +- Professional or employment-related information or demographic information, but only if you explicitly provide it to us, such as by applying for a job or filling out a survey. +- Inferences we make based on other collected data, for purposes such as recommending content, advertising, and analytics. + +You can find more information about (a) what we collect and sources of that information, (b) the business and commercial purposes for collecting that information, and (c) the categories of third parties with whom we share that information in the sections of our privacy statement above. + +California consumers have additional rights under the CCPA (subject to certain limitations), including the right to request access to or deletion of your personal information, and information about our data practices, as well as the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights. + +These rights can be exercised by contacting us at [privacy@stackoverflow.com](mailto:privacy@stackoverflow.com). + +We will verify your request using the information associated with your account, including email address. Government identification may be required. Consumers can also designate an authorized agent to exercise these rights on their behalf. + +**Children** + +The Stack Overflow platform is not intended for children. We do not knowingly offer this or any other Product or Service to anyone under the age of 16. + +**Privacy policy amendments** + We may amend or update this policy from time to time and will notify you of any material changes to this policy. Previous versions of this privacy policy are available upon request. CONTACT US -General Contact Information - Privacy Officer -- Privacy Officer, 110 William Street, Floor 28, New York, NY 10038, privacy@stackoverflow.com, phone: 212-232-8280 +- Privacy Officer, 110 William Street, Floor 28, New York, NY 10038, [privacy@stackoverflow.com](mailto:privacy@stackoverflow.com), phone: 212-232-8280 -Privacy Shield +UK Representative -- Privacy Trust, Communications House, 26 York Street, London, W1U 6PZ +- Privacy Officer, Bentima House, 168-172 Old Street, London EC1V 9BP, [privacy@stackoverflow.com](mailto:privacy@stackoverflow.com), phone: +44 (0) 20 3349 1000 EU Representative -- Privacy Officer, Bentima House, 168-172 Old Street, London EC1V 9BP, privacy@stackoverflow.com, phone: +44 (0) 20 3349 1000 +- The MD Stack Overflow GMBH HRB 234500 + 3 Frieslandstraat, Amsterdam, + [privacy@stackoverflow.com](mailto:privacy@stackoverflow.com), phone: +44 (0) 20 3349 1000

Stack Overflow Privacy Policy

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