Background.
Meridian Venture Services LLC (“Meridian”, “we,” or “us”) is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Statement (the “Statement”) explains how Meridian collects and uses the personal information that users (“you”) provide online to our website (the “Site”), as well as offline when clients retain Meridian to provide performance management, benchmarking, analytics or other business intelligence-related services.
You should read this Statement before you submit any personal information to us. By using our Site or registering with Meridian online, you consent to the collection and use of your personal information as outlined in this Statement. If you do not agree with the content of this Statement, you should refrain from using our Site.
Who We Are.
This website is owned and operated by Meridian Venture Services LLC, which has its principal offices in Ridgefield, Washington in the United States. More information about Meridian is available on our About page.
Personal Information We Collect.
In general, we may collect and store any personal information you enter on our website or provide to us in some other manner. Personal information is data that identifies you, or that can be combined with other information to identify or contact you, and includes (but is not limited to) your name, business or personal email address, job title, organization, organization’s physical address, direct telephone number, photograph, and biographical details. You are not obligated to provide us with any personal information, although you may need to provide some information to register or become a Meridian client, submit a question, or engage in other transactions on our Site. We strive to limit the type of personal information that we collect to information that helps us accomplish our goal of providing hight-quality services tailored to the requirements of Meridian’s existing and prospective clients.
If you are a Meridian client and access the restricted, clients-only areas of our Site, Meridian may collect additional information relating to your online activities and participation in Meridian’s online programs and events. We may also obtain information about your access and use of Meridian’s online and offline services. We may also periodically obtain both personal and non-personal information about you from other sources. Examples of information we may receive include updated contact information and additional demographic information. Please note that Meridian may have previously collected personal information relating to you before or at the time you or your organization became a Meridian client or in the course of issuing to you your unique username and password to access Restricted Areas of our Site.
When you visit our website, we automatically collect and analyze certain information about your computer. This information includes but may not be limited to the IP address used to connect your computer to the Internet, information about your browser type and language, the date and time you are accessing our site, the content of any undeleted cookies that your browser previously accepted from us, and the referring website address.
We use various technologies to collect information about your activities on our site:
Cookies. When you visit our website, we may assign your computer one or more “cookies.” A cookie is a small text file that contains information that can later be read by us to facilitate your access to our site and personalize your online experience. For example, whenever you sign into our site, we will record your user ID in a cookie file on your computer. If applicable, we may also record your password in this cookie file (if you check the “Remember Me” box on the Log In page). Also, through the use of a cookie, we may automatically collect information about your online activity on our site, such as the web pages you visit, the links you click, and the searches you conduct. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser settings to decline cookies by visiting the Help portion of your browser’s toolbar. If you choose to decline cookies, please note that you may not be able to sign in or use some of the interactive features offered on our website.
Other Technologies. We may use standard Internet technology, such as Web beacons (also called clear GIFs or pixel tags) and other similar technologies, to deliver or communicate with cookies and track your use of our site. We may also include Web beacons in e-mail messages or newsletters to determine whether messages have been opened and acted upon. The information we obtain in this manner enables us to customize the services we offer and measure the overall effectiveness of our online content, advertising campaigns, and the products and services we offer through the site.
Third party service providers may use cookies and other technologies (such as Web beacons) to collect information about your online activities. The purposes for collecting this information includes: to measure usage of our site; to analyze, modify, and personalize content on our Site; and to provide information about goods and services we hope will be of interest to you. We do not have access to or control over cookies or other features these third parties may use, and the information practices of these third parties are not covered by this Privacy Statement.
How We Use the Information We Collect.
In general, Meridian uses the information we collect about you for the following purposes:
- To respond to inquiries that you submit to us about Meridian via online “contact” features and determine which services will help you achieve your business goals;
- To send you information about Meridian services that you have requested from us;
- To administer your relationship with us and manage our delivery of services under a Meridian Business Services Agreement or a similar agreement;
- To communicate with you about research, marketing, and events as well as exclusive clients-only opportunities offered by Meridian;
- To develop, test, and improve our services; and
- To ensure the technical functioning of the Site.
Choices About the Use of Your Information.
Meridian believes that it is important for individuals to be given the opportunity to exercise choice with respect to how their personal information is collected and used. If we propose to use your personal information for any purposes other than those described in this Statement or any service-specific privacy notices, we will allow you a convenient way to opt-out of such further uses.
Marketing Communications. We hope you find value in the communications we provide and we will respect your wishes not to receive marketing communications if you so choose. Please note that we will continue to send you service-related communications regardless of any such request. These service-related communications are an integral part of Meridian’s services. Rest assured that Meridian will not share your information and personal details with other non-agent third parties for promotional or marketing purposes without giving you a choice about such sharing.
Other Choices. You can, if you wish, contact Meridian and request access to your personal information, as described more fully below under “Access and Correction of Personal Information.” We will also strive to comply with your wishes with respect to the handling of your personal information in all other cases, provided that this does not interfere with our provision of services or our legal or regulatory obligations. You are free to decline to provide personal information to us at any time, although this may mean that you will be unable to use Meridian services.
Disclosures of Personal Information.
Meridian may share your personal information with other companies or individuals in the following instances:
- When we engage service providers and third-party agents to process personal information on our behalf. When we do so, Meridian requires that these service providers implement adequate technological and organizational security measures before they can receive any personal information from us.
- For legitimate business purposes connected with providing Meridian’s services to our clients. Where information is shared with a third party for a legitimate business purpose, Meridian will seek reasonable assurances from that third party that the personal information will be processed for legitimate reasons and appropriately protected.
- For legal purposes. These include (but are not limited to) (i) responding to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; (ii) establishing or exercising our legal rights; (iii) defending against legal claims; or (iv) as otherwise required by law. In such cases we reserve the right to raise or waive any legal objection or right available to us.
- For legitimate risk management purposes. These include (but are not limited to) (i) preventing, investigating, or taking action relative to illegal or suspected illegal activities; and (ii) to protect and defend the rights, property, or safety of Meridian, other Meridian clients, our Employees, or others.
- In connection with our Terms of Service and other agreements.
- In connection with corporate transactions. Examples of such transactions include (but are not limited to) divestitures, mergers, consolidations, asset sales, and bankruptcies.
Please note that, when you become a Meridian client, we may share aggregate or anonymous information with third parties, including investors, partners, and advertisers. This information does not contain any personal information and is used to measure, manage, and develop Meridian’s business. Other than as set out above, you will be notified when personal information about you will be shared with third parties, and you will have an opportunity to choose not to have us share such information.
International Transfers of Personal Information.
Meridian operates the Meridian Site in the United States and, depending on your country of residence, the submission of personal information to our Site may involve some transfer of personal information to the United States. In addition, we may transfer personal information to third parties outside the United States for certain processing operations. You should be aware that privacy laws in the United States or other countries may not provide protections equivalent to those of your country of residence. Meridian has taken steps to ensure that appropriate levels of protection necessary to maintain the security and quality of your personal information are in place and that any transferred data is processed only in accordance with this Statement.
Information Integrity.
Meridian processes personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected and in accordance with this Statement or any service-specific privacy notices. We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we process is accurate, complete, and current. Where Meridian receives any personal information directly from Meridian clients, we rely upon our clients to provide us with information that is accurate and correct, and to inform us in the event of errors or if the information becomes out-of-date.
Access and Correction of Personal Information.
You can request access to any personal information that we hold about you and ask us to correct any personal information that may be inaccurate, except where the law requires otherwise.
To access, correct or raise inquiries concerning your personal information in our possession, please email us at legal@meridianvs.com using the subject heading “Personal Information.”
Information Security.
Meridian has implemented technical and organizational security measures to help protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure, or destruction of personal information. We review our systems regularly to ensure that the security and integrity of personal information in our possession is not compromised. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be entirely secure, and Meridian assumes no liability for any damage suffered by you caused by the interception, alteration, or misuse of information during transmission.
Within Meridian, we restrict access to personal information to employees, contractors, and agents who need to know that information in order to develop, deliver, and improve Meridian’s services. We subject our third-party agents to contractual controls to ensure that they apply suitable protections to any personal information they access or receive from us.
Please note that effective security with respect to our Site depends, in part, on our clients ensuring that any usernames and passwords that they have been issued by us are kept confidential and secure, and that clients adhere to the restrictions on username and password sharing set forth in our Terms of Service.
Other Websites.
To provide increased value to users of our Site, we may provide links to other websites or resources that are not owned or operated by Meridian. Please note that Meridian does not exercise control over these websites or their privacy practices.
Changes to This Statement.
This Privacy Statement may change from time to time. If we make material changes to this Privacy Statement, we will post any changes on this page. If we feel it appropriate, we will provide a more prominent notice (including, for certain services, email notification). Your continued use of our Site and services following such posts or notices will signal your acceptance of such changes.
Questions.
If you have any additional questions or concerns about this Statement, please feel free to email us at legal@meridianvs.com using the subject heading “Privacy Statement.”
Revised March 2018.
