Privacy policy
Updated October 14, 2024
Thank you for visiting www.polleverywhere.com (the “Site”), which is owned by Poll Everywhere, Inc. (“Poll Everywhere”) and hosted in the United States. We strive to make our Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”) easy to understand. While we encourage you to fully review our Privacy Policy, we provide a summary below that describes in general terms what we do and what we don’t do with your personal information. The complete Privacy Policy is set forth below the summary in the form of FAQs. We also encourage you to review the Site Terms of Service (the “Terms of Service”), which is the agreement between you and Poll Everywhere that governs your use of the Site, as well as provides the terms and conditions under which Poll Everywhere provides, and you may use, the Poll Everywhere Service (the “Service”).
In this Privacy Policy, we refer to our consumers as “Visitors” and “Users.” If you visit our Site and do not register, we refer to you as a “Visitor.” If you choose to register on our Site, we refer to you as a “User.” Both Users and Visitors can use our polling services.
This Privacy Policy applies to the personal information we collect on our Site, our mobile Site, desktop applications, and mobile applications, whether you are a Visitor or have registered to use our Service and have become a User. This Privacy Policy governs the handling of the information we obtain from all Visitors and Users.
The Privacy Policy includes the contents of this web page, including the summary points above and the FAQs below. We provide the summary points above only for your convenience. Please read the entire Privacy Policy, as well as the Terms of Service.
If you do not agree with the Privacy Policy, or the Terms of Service, you may not use this Site, the Service, our applications, or our mobile Site.
What We Do
- We collect clickstream information and basic, technical information, such as browser type, from Visitors.
- If you register as a user of the Service and become a User, Poll Everywhere collects the same information we collect from Visitors, as well as the personal information Users submit during the registration, and we use cookies to support Users’ logged-in experience.
- We use a limited number of select service providers to perform work on our behalf. We may disclose personal information to these service providers, or they may collect personal information, as necessary for the performance of their services. They are permitted to use personal information only for the purpose of providing their services or at an aggregate level. Information regarding such service providers, including the types of data processed, can be found at the following link, which is updated periodically: https://www.polleverywhere.com/third-party-service-providers.
- When Visitors or Users participate in our polling services, we obtain the individual’s mobile phone number provided to us in connection with SMS responses, the device type and operating system, and the poll responses. We use this information to facilitate the individual's participation in polls.
- We may collect information regarding a User’s geolocation solely for purposes of verifying that a User is attending a particular event at which our polling services are provided or for a User to establish a geofence. In those cases, we provide the User with notice and obtain the User’s consent before the geolocation feature is enabled.
- In some cases, you may be able to purchase services from us, in which case we’ll also collect payment card information from you.
- In addition to providing polling services directly to individuals, Poll Everywhere also has business customers, such as employers or companies that organize conferences. When our business customers conduct polls using Poll Everywhere software, they may choose to collect additional information about poll participants. We require our business customers to explain their privacy practices to poll participants.
- We share your personal information only as described in this Privacy Policy and do not sell the information, except if our company or assets are sold or acquired.
- We may use the information we have about you to offer you products and services that we believe may be of interest to you. We may offer these products and services in conjunction with our business and marketing partners. You may direct us not to use or share your information by submitting our opt-out form.
- If you registered with Poll Everywhere using an email address based on a domain owned by your company or organization (e.g., JohnDoe@AcmeCorp.com), we may share the fact of your registration with other users registered with an email address using the domain of the same company or organization and its affiliates to facilitate collaboration with your business colleagues.
- If you provide your email, we automatically add it to our email list for periodic announcements. You may opt out and unsubscribe at any time using the “unsubscribe” links in our emails, or the checkbox next to your email address on your Settings page.
Children's Privacy
Poll Everywhere is committed to protecting the privacy of young children, and therefore does not knowingly collect or maintain personally identifiable information on the Site or Service from persons under 13 years of age, except in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 ("COPPA"). If you are under 13, do not provide any information on the Site or the Service. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at security@polleverywhere.com.
General Matters
Because of our commitment to our Visitors’ and Users’ privacy, Poll Everywhere continuously evaluates our Privacy Policy, and may implement refinements from time to time. We encourage you to check our Site, the current Privacy Policy and Terms of Service frequently to see any changes that may have been made to them. If we make significant changes to this Privacy Policy that affect our Users, we will notify the Users of the change using the contact information we have on file. By continuing to use the Site or the Service after such notice has been posted, you are expressly agreeing to any changes to the Privacy Policy and/or Terms of Service. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you.
We welcome any questions, comments or suggestions you may have about this Privacy Policy or any other material on Poll Everywhere. Please send your questions, comments or suggestions to .
Your California Privacy Rights
State consumer privacy laws may provide their residents with additional rights regarding our use of their personal information. In particular, California law grants additional privacy rights to California residents. The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CCPA) requires businesses to disclose, for the past 12 months, (i) the categories of personal information collected, (ii) the sources of the collected personal information, (iii) the purposes for which the collected personal information is used, (iv) the categories of personal information disclosed for a business purpose, and (v) the categories of any personal information sold or shared. Poll Everywhere provides these disclosures in the following table.
Poll Everywhere has not "sold" or shared (as those terms are defined in the CCPA) any personal information in the past 12 months.
| Category | Sources of Collection | Purposes of Collection | Disclosures for a Business Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | Website visits and registration for the Poll Everywhere Service | To allow use of the Poll Everywhere Service and to enable Poll Everywhere to communicate with you, including offering products/services | To Poll Everywhere service providers for the purpose of providing the Poll Everywhere Service to you |
| Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute | Registration for the Poll Everywhere Service | Payment card information to permit payment for the Poll Everywhere Service | To Poll Everywhere service providers to facilitate payment transactions |
| Internet or other similar network activity | Your browsing and search history on the Poll Everywhere Site or mobile Site | To improve the visitor experience on the Poll Everywhere Site, diagnose server problems and administer the Poll Everywhere Site | This provision applies exclusively to the advertisement of our own services; To marketing specialist companies for the purpose of enhancing the Poll Everywhere Site and improving the effectiveness of our advertising |
| Geolocation data | Your use of the Poll Everywhere mobile app | To provide location-related functionality for purposes of confirming attendance at an event where the Poll Everywhere services are provided | N/A |
The geolocation data we collect may be “precise geolocation” data, which is “sensitive personal information,” as those terms are defined under the CCPA. In accordance with the CCPA, Poll Everywhere (i) does not sell or share any geolocation data it collects, and (ii) does not use geolocation data collected for additional purposes that are incompatible with the purpose disclosed above.
California residents also have the rights described below. We will not discriminate against any California resident who exercises these rights.
Right to access/know your personal information. You may request from us a list of (i) the personal information that we have collected about you, and (ii) the categories of third parties to whom we have disclosed your personal information. You have the right to up to two (2) access requests each twelve (12) months.
Right to delete your personal information. You may request, at any time, that we delete your personal information and direct our service providers to delete your personal information from their records. We are not required to delete any information that is necessary to provide the services you have requested, to detect security incidents, or to comply with a legal obligation, among other limited exceptions
You may contact us to exercise these rights as indicated below. To ensure the privacy and protection of individuals, we are required to verify your identity or otherwise authenticate your request(s). Please note that, under the CCPA, we are not required to grant a request to access/know or a request to delete with respect to personal information obtained from you in your role as an employee, owner, director, officer or contractor of a company and within the context of Poll Everywhere providing the Poll Everywhere Services to such company.
Protection of Student Data
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") protects personally identifiable information contained in students’ education records from unauthorized use or disclosure. Poll Everywhere is committed to complying with FERPA. If you are an educational institution, or a teacher or school official at an educational institution, that is required to comply with FERPA, we will only use any education records (as defined under FERPA) that you may make available to Poll Everywhere for the purpose of providing the Service to you. We will never share or sell FERPA-protected information, or use it for any other purpose, commercial or otherwise, except as otherwise directed or permitted by you. If a parent or eligible student requests access to or deletion of any education records that are hosted on our servers, we will help facilitate such access or deletion. We will not retain student data beyond the time period required to support the authorized education/school purpose, or as otherwise authorized by the parent or eligible student.
Data Privacy Framework and the GDPR
Poll Everywhere has self-certified to and complies with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (including the UK Extension thereto) and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (collectively, the “DPF”) regarding the collection, use and retention of personal data transferred from the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, respectively, to the United States. Poll Everywhere also complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), including the version of the GDPR adopted by the United Kingdom (collectively, the “GDPR”). For details on Poll Everywhere’s compliance with the DPF and the GDPR, view our Data Privacy Framework and GDPR Compliance Policy. References to “this Privacy Policy” include the Data Privacy Framework and GDPR Compliance Policy.
International Transfers
By providing any personal information to Poll Everywhere or otherwise using the Service, all Visitors and Users, including without limitation individuals in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, must acknowledge and hereby unambiguously consent to the transfer to, collection and processing of such information in the United States. You may not use the Service if you do not agree to such transfer to, collection, and processing of your personal information in the United States. The United States may not have data protection laws that are as comprehensive or protective as those in your country of residence; however, our collection, storage and use of your personal information will at all times be in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
FAQs
What information does Poll Everywhere collect from Visitors?
Poll Everywhere only collects technical information, such as device and browser type, from Visitors to the Site or mobile Site. Visitors commonly chose to provide personal information, however, as part of using the Service, such as answering a poll that asks for a Visitor’s name. In addition, when Visitors participate in polls using a mobile device, the poll response includes the Visitor’s mobile phone number.
What information does Poll Everywhere collect from Users?
To register to use some parts of the Service, you must provide a full name and email address. To purchase service, we also require your payment information. Poll Everywhere only collects this personal information if a Visitor chooses to register with the Service to become a User. We may collect information related to how you logged in (e.g., through a mobile app or a browser) so we can alert you to new features about the Service.
Poll Everywhere may use your registration information to contact you to: deliver the Service and improve our Site, Service, features and content, and provide customer service; administer and enable your use, enjoyment and navigation of our Site, Service, and mobile Site; better understand your needs and interests; fulfill requests you make; and personalize your experience.
We may collect and store Custom User Identification data, which refers to unique identifiers selected and provided by users, or their organization, within integrated systems like SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) and LMS (Learning Management Systems). This identifier is used to manage and sync user accounts across these systems to ensure consistency in user identification and access management. We do not control the content or structure of the Custom User ID but facilitate its use within our systems.
How does Poll Everywhere collect information from Visitors or Users?
Poll Everywhere may collect non-personal information during your visit to the Site or mobile Site through our automatic data collection tools, which may include “cookies” and other commonly used technologies.
A cookie is a small piece of data stored by a user’s browser that contains session information to identify you for access purposes as you navigate Poll Everywhere. Cookies are required to use our service.
When you visit our Site, ad networks and other parties may collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these ad networks and other parties. Because there is not yet a consensus on how companies should respond to web browser-based or other do-not-track (“DNT”) mechanisms, we do not respond to web browser-based DNT signals at this time.
Some of our Services, such as mobile applications, may collect geo-location data to provide location-related functionality. We may link location data to other information we have collected about you. You may stop sharing your location data by adjusting your mobile device’s location services settings. For instruction on changing the relevant settings, please contact your service provider or device manufacturer.
Does Poll Everywhere create user profiles of everyone who visits the Site?
No. Poll Everywhere uses cookies to facilitate the Service’s functionality and to preserve User preferences. When you visit the Site or mobile Site, Poll Everywhere may place a cookie in order to improve your experience by recognizing you when you visit. But Poll Everywhere does not use cookies to create profiles of Visitors or Users.
Poll Everywhere also does not use cookies or other information gathering tools to automatically collect personal information from Visitors to the Site or mobile Site. We only receive personal information when you choose to provide it.
What other parties can view my data on Poll Everywhere?
As explained above, Poll Everywhere uses a select number of service providers to help facilitate our Service. We may employ independent companies or other third parties and individuals to help us provide, facilitate or improve our Service (such as customer service support). They are permitted to use data only for the purpose of performing services on our behalf or at an aggregate level. Notable third party services you should be aware of include Facebook and their “like” button, and web analytics providers, including Google Analytics.
Please be aware that Google may transfer the data they collect on our behalf from the European Union and other countries to wherever those companies maintain their servers. You consent to such transfers. For information about Google’s privacy practices, see Google's Privacy and Terms.
Some features may expose your presence on the Service. For example, if you are interacting with a poll from a presenter, they can see your responses. If you give them permission, they can also associate your responses with your name and email address.
How does polling work for Poll Everywhere’s business customers?
In addition to providing polling services directly to individuals, we also have business customers, such as employers or companies that organize conferences. When our business customers conduct polls using our software, we share participants’ information with the customers. Business customers may configure the polling software to collect additional information about poll participants. We require our business customers to explain their privacy practices to poll participants.
Is there an age restriction for joining Poll Everywhere?
Poll Everywhere is committed to protecting the privacy of young children, and therefore does not knowingly collect or maintain personally identifiable information on the Site or Service from persons under 13 years of age, except in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). Accordingly, children under the age of 13 may only use the Site or the Service with the permission and supervision of their parents. Additionally, teachers and schools seeking to use the Site or Service in the classroom with children under 13 years of age are required to obtain the express consent of such children’s parents in compliance with COPPA, prior to permitting such children to access or use the Site or Service.
Can I invite others to join Poll Everywhere?
Yes. If you’d like to do that, we will ask you for the individual’s email address for the sole purpose of inviting them to the Service. They are not added to our email list unless they register. All marketing communications from Poll Everywhere contain a link allowing recipients to unsubscribe from our mailing list.
When might Poll Everywhere be required to disclose my personal information?
We may disclose information about you (i) if we are required to do so by law or legal process (such as a court order or a subpoena), (ii) in response to a request by law enforcement authorities, or (iii) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate (a) to prevent physical harm or financial loss or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity, or (b) to protect or defend the rights or property of Poll Everywhere, Users, Visitors, our business customers or others. We also reserve the right to transfer personal information in the event we sell, merge or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets. Should such a sale, merger or transfer occur, we will use reasonable efforts to direct the transferee to use the personal information in a manner that is consistent with our Privacy Policy. Following such a sale, merger or transfer, you may contact the entity to which we transferred your personal information with any inquiries concerning the processing of that information.
Where your personal information has been requested by any governmental entity or other third party pursuant to subpoena or similar legal process, we will notify you as quickly as practicable before providing any such information, unless we are legally prohibited from doing so or we believe in good faith that disclosure is or may be necessary to protect life, avoid serious physical injury or property loss or damage, or to prevent or investigate an ongoing crime.
What practices does Poll Everywhere follow to secure my information?
The security of your personal information is important to us. We have implemented industry standard measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure, both during transmission and once we receive it. All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers behind firewalls. Any payment transactions are encrypted using SSL technology.
The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to the Service, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.
Nevertheless, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. If we discover a security incident that compromises your personal information, we will let you know about it, in accordance with applicable law.
What about the practices of other websites linked to the Site or Service?
The Poll Everywhere Site, mobile Site and the Service may contain links to other websites, but please be aware that Poll Everywhere is not responsible for those websites’ privacy practices. Poll Everywhere encourages User and Visitors to be aware when they leave the Site and to read the privacy policies of each website they visit that collects personal information. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected on this Site and our mobile Site.
Where can I send questions, comments or suggestions about Poll Everywhere's privacy practices?
Please contact us at or via mail at:
Poll Everywhere, Inc. Attn: Legal Department 548 Market St PMB 17358 San Francisco CA 94104-5401
PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY SENSITIVE INFORMATION TO US VIA UNENCRYPTED EMAIL. Also, please note that we will need to verify and authenticate any emailed requests for access or changes to your personal or account information.