Privacy Policy

(Last updated February 10, 2024)

Web of Trust, operated by WOT Services LP ( “WOT“ ), is a worldwide community of millions of users dedicated to creating and maintaining a safe and trustworthy web experience. The WOT services, offered through our website https://www.mywot.com/ (the “Site“ ) as well as our desktop and mobile apps (each, a “WOT App“ ), and the web service API (the “WOT API“ and together with the WOT Apps, the “WOT Products“ ) and our online forum and community platform (such forum and platform, together with the WOT Products, the “WOT Services“ ), involve the collection and analysis of data necessary for the supply of the WOT Services.

This policy (our “Privacy Policy“ ) is intended to make our users fully aware of the data we collect, the way it is stored, used, and shared, and our users’ rights in relation to such data and practices. We greatly value our users and their privacy rights, and we encouragde all of our users to read and become familiar with this Privacy Policy so that they may understand those rights and how to protect them. Use of the WOT Services is subject to the WOT Terms of Use, available at https://www.mywot.com/en/terms ( “Terms of Use“ ) and the WOT Community Guidelines, available at https://www.mywot.com/en/guidelines. This Privacy Policy is part of the WOT Terms of Use.

If you are interested in using our desktop and/or mobile browser add-on extensions, please refer to the separate privacy policy available on ** https://mywot.com/extension-privacy ** .

If you are interested in using only our mobile app, please refer to the mobile app section of this Privacy Policy, under Automatically Collected Information .

By installing any WOT Products and/or using any of the WOT Services, you acknowledge our collection, storage, use and sharing of your Personal Information and Non-Personal Information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy.

IF YOU OBJECT TO THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS OR USE THE WOT PRODUCTS OR WOT SERVICES.

Information We Collect

We may collect from and about you both Personal Information and Non-Personal Information, as follows:

Information You Provide Directly – We may collect information directly from you, including information that identifies or can reasonably be used to identify an individual (referred to herein as “Personal Information“ ). This information that we collect directly from you includes:

• Registration Information – You may choose to become an active member of the WOT community and register as a WOT user. Among other things, this will allow you to join and participate in our forums, share your experience, contribute your comments and otherwise take part in group discussions with other WOT users. You may register with us directly through https://www.mywot.com/en/signup. If you do choose to register, then we will collect from you certain registration information including your name, email address, user name and password. In addition, once you have registered, you may choose to enter certain information about you in your user profile. All of this data, including Personal Information, we receive in relation to your registration is referred to herein as “Registration Information“ . Note that, with the exception of the WOT API, registration is not mandatory and currently you may use all other WOT Products and WOT Services without registration.

• Customer Support Information – You may voluntarily provide us with information when you contact us for customer support, such as your name and email address. We will use any Personal Information received for customer support purposes to communicate with and support you, and we will not share it with any third parties, except as reasonably necessary to provide customer support.

• User-Generated Content – Content provided by you and other users of the WOT Services, for purposes of sharing with other members of the WOT community, through our forums or otherwise, is referred to as “User-Generated Content“ and may include Personal Information, such as your name, if you include such information with your User-Generated Content.

• Payment Information – In order to access and use certain WOT Products, such as the WOT API, you may need to purchase a license or a subscription. We use the tools and services provided by Stripe and PayPal to process transactions on our behalf. In order to complete such transaction, you will be required to provide Stripe or PayPal, as applicable, with certain Personal Information, such as a credit card number and related account and billing information, and invoice-related information. WOT does not directly collect any credit card or other payment method information. Stripe’s privacy policy is available at https://stripe.com/privacy and PayPal’s privacy policy is available at https://www.paypal.com/va/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full; the use of any Personal Information in connection with such transactions is governed by and subject to such privacy policies.

Information from Third Parties – We may also receive Registration Information about you if you register through a social network (e.g. Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and others). This Registration Information may include any information (such as profile picture, public and basic information, status and photos) as provided by you to the applicable social network operator, and which such social network operator permits to be shared with third parties. The data we receive from your social network operator depends on your privacy settings with the social network operator, and we will not post information about you on third party social media sites without your consent. You should review and, if necessary, adjust your privacy settings on third-party websites and services before linking or connecting them to the WOT Products or WOT Services. When you make a purchase using Stripe or PayPal, as applicable, Stripe or PayPal provide us with confirmation of payment for your user ID, which we use to grant you access to the applicable WOT Services that you purchased. The information we receive from Stripe or PayPal does not include the details of your payment method or any other Personal Information.

Automatically Collected Information – When you install and use any WOT App and/or the WOT API, we also collect from you automatically, and where applicable through the Android accessibility services feature as further described below, information related to your use of the WOT Services and your web browsing activity. This information may include, without limitation, the following:

• From WOT App (for Android) – IP address (trimmed to permanently remove specific location information other than country, city & postal code); device information (device model name, device ID (permanently and irreversibly encrypted), OS version, whether device is rooted, screen size); information about installed apps (name, id, type, install date, update date, version, time used, whether on home page); applications web connections; and browsing information (browser, web pages visited and time stamp of the visit). WOT App (for Android) requires access to the following permissions ( “Permission” ) to enable certain user facing features:

1. Accessibility and “Appear on Top” permissions - To allow you to receive WOT alerts on suspicious websites without requiring you to search each website individually on the WOT App; to protect your browsing experience and block malicious websites; anti-phishing, etc.

2. Location, Wi-Fi Connection permissions - Wi-Fi protection.

3. Access the Camera - Photo Vault feature.

4. View network connections, full network access permissions - Network monitoring and protection feature.

5. All File Access, Storage, App Usage, Accessibility permissions - Scan the files on the device and enable the app protection feature; detect threats in files and pictures; enable the Photo Vault feature and other app protection features.

Opt-Out - To access these Permissions, you will need to actively and explicitly enable them through an in-app permission or the mobile settings. You can disable the Permissions at any time but please note that depending on the Permission you disable, a feature or all features may not operate properly. IT IS HEREBY CLARIFIED THAT WE DO NOT SHARE WITH THIRD PARTIES ANY INFORMATION WE COLLECT THROUGH OUR ANDROID MOBILE APP UNLESS (I) REQUIRED BY LAW OR REGULATION; (II) NEEDED FOR SECURITY AND FRAUD DETECTION; (III) TO PROVIDE THE SERVICES AND USER FACING FEATURE; AND (VI) IN CASE OF MERGER AND ACQUISITION.

• From WOT App (for iOS) – IP address (trimmed to permanently remove specific location information other than country, city & postal code); GUID (randomly generated ID number); websites visited; apps in use; and time stamp.

• From WOT API – IP address (trimmed to permanently remove specific location information other than country, city & postal code); WOT user ID.

In addition, if you register and use our website to rate and/or provide comments on a website, your IP address is automatically collected. Some of this automatically collected information may be considered “Non-Personal Information,” which is anonymous, aggregated or de-identified information that is not collected together, or otherwise associated by us, with any Registration Information or other Personal Information, if any, that we hold about you. When we automatically collect information, we go to great lengths to make sure that Non-Personal Information remains anonymous, as further described below.

How We Use the Data

WOT uses the information collected from or about our users for analytical, operational and business purposes in the following ways:

• to provide and operate the WOT Services for our community of users, including the display of safety and reputation data about websites you visit;

• to further develop and improve the functionality and features of the WOT Services;

• to analyze how you interact with the WOT Services, including to monitor and analyze usage and activity trends;

• with respect to Registration Information and Customer Support Information, to provide our users access to our user forums, customer and technical support, to respond to user inquiries, and to notify our users of WOT updates and promotions;

• to enforce the Terms of Use, to prevent misuse of the WOT Services and unlawful activities by WOT users, and to take any necessary action in the event of a dispute regarding use of the WOT Services; and

• to comply with any applicable laws, regulations, or requests from government agencies or legal authorities.

Our use of your Personal Information and Non-Personal Information will be based on (a) our legitimate interests in enhancing, improving and promoting the WOT Services and our other services and products; or (b) where allowed under applicable law, the implied consent you provide by using the WOT Services or by contacting us in order to address a specific request.

WOT goes to great lengths, and invests substantial resources, to avoid disclosing Personal Information. This includes the use of various state-of-the-art anonymization, data cleaning and aggregation techniques to identify and remove Personal Information from information we collect with the goal of storing only Non-Personal Information.

Disclosure: WOT's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Sharing Collected Data with Third Parties

Personal Information. We do not share your Personal Information or Non-Personal Information with third parties, except as follows:

• User-Generated Content: We share User-Generated Content provided by you with other WOT users through the WOT forums, for the purposes for which you provided it.

• Legal Requirement: Solely to the extent required to comply with applicable law, regulation, or the request of a governmental agency or authority.

• Policy Enforcement: To the extent reasonably necessary to enforce our Privacy Policy or Terms of Use, including investigations of potential violations thereof, or to take action regarding any actual or suspected illegal activities or security violations.

• Protect Rights and Defense of Legal Claims: To the extent reasonably necessary to exercise our rights, to defend against legal claims or actions against us, or protect the safety, rights, or property of WOT or any third party.

• Corporate Transaction: In the event of a corporate transaction (e.g. the sale of a substantial part of our business, or a merger or consolidation with another legal entity), including during negotiations of such a transaction. We will endeavor to require that the acquiring or surviving legal entity assume the rights and obligations as described in this Privacy Policy.

• Third Party Service Providers: We share automatically collected information (as described above) with third-party service providers and our affiliated companies who help us deliver elements of the WOT Services. WOT users may opt-out of sharing and collecting this data at any time by following the steps mentioned below in the section “Your Rights”.

Cookies & Third-Party Tools

When you use the Site, we may use cookies that enable us to identify you. A "cookie" is a small text file located in a browser directory, that a website assigns and stores on your computer while you are viewing a website. The use of cookies is a standard practice, and they are used for various purposes including allowing you to navigate between pages efficiently, enabling automatic activation of certain features, remembering your preferences and making the interaction between you and services such as ours quicker and easier. Cookies are also used to help customize your experience. You can find more information about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org.

Our website may use third party content (e.g. www.youtube.com ), third party tools (e.g. www.google.com/analytics/ ), or embedded badges from social networks (e.g. www.facebook.com ). These third parties may use and store their own cookies on your device, which may collect information about you, including Personal Information, subject to their own privacy practices. These cookies may collect information such as how often users access the WOT website, what pages users visit and when.

We use Hotjar in order to better understand our users’ needs and to optimize our service. Hotjar is a technology service that helps us better understand our users’ experience (e.g. how much time they spend on which pages, which links they choose to click, what users do and do not like) which enables us to build and maintain our service with user feedback. Hotjar uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behavior and their devices (in particular device IP address (captured and stored only in anonymized form), device screen size, device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), preferred language used to display our website). Hotjar stores this information in a pseudonymized user profile. Neither Hotjar nor we will use this information to identify individual users or to match it with further data on an individual user. For further details, please see Hotjar’s privacy policy by clicking on this link.

You can opt out of the creation of a user profile, Hotjar’s storing of data about your usage of our site and Hotjar’s use of tracking cookies on other websites, by following this opt-out link.

For more information on third party Cookies, check with the relevant third party. For more information about the third party tools we use at any given time, please contact us at support@mywot.com.

We use the information we receive from third parties such as Google Analytics to improve the WOT Services. We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with any Personal Information that we collect from you. You may remove Cookies by following the instructions on your device for setting your preferences. Our Cookies do not enable any access to or inspection of other information on your computer. If you wish to be notified of when they are placed, you may set your web browser to provide such notices.

Do Not Track Disclosure

The WOT Services do not respond to Do Not Track signals. For more information about Do Not Track signals, please see http://www.allaboutdnt.com/.

Your Responsibility for User-Generated Content

Any User-Generated Content provided by you, including any of your Personal Information or third-party Personal Information contained therein (including comments, recommendations, images, or other content), may be subject to data protection, intellectual property and other laws and regulation, and you are fully and solely responsible for compliance with such laws and regulations with respect to such User-Generated Content. When including your Personal Information or Personal Information of others in any User-Generated Content provided by you, we require that you exercise due care and assume full responsibility for the disclosure and use of such information and for protecting the rights of such third parties. You acknowledge and, where relevant, agree that we may monitor the User-Generated Content and may remove any parts thereof at our sole discretion.

Data Transfers, Storage and Security

We may need to transfer your information to our affiliated companies in locations around the world for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We may also appoint third party service providers, operating under our instructions, who may need access to your information in connection with their services on our behalf. (Currently, all of the data we collect from you is stored on servers in the United States.) In these cases, transfers of Personal Information will be done in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

We will take the necessary steps to ensure that any international transfers of Personal Information meet all statutory requirements under applicable data protection law. In particular, when Personal Information collected within the European Economic Area (" EEA ") is transferred outside the EEA, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that the transfer of such information provides adequate safeguards, and you may exercise your rights (where applicable) to receive information on the relevant transfer mechanism.

While there are inherent risks involved in all data transmissions over the Internet or wireless networks, and other security risks that apply to stored data, and we therefore cannot guarantee the security of your information, we use our best efforts, using industry-standard encryption and security technologies and methods, to collect and store information collected from you in a secure and safe manner.

Data Retention

We retain the data collected in accordance with this Privacy Policy for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill and support our operational and business purposes as described herein, or to comply with any applicable legal request or requirement as set forth herein. With respect to Non-Personal Information, we may choose to retain it for a longer period of time.

Your Rights

Where foreseen under applicable law, as is the case within the European Union, you may have the right to ask us to delete Personal Information which you have provided to us (subject to applicable exceptions, such as in order to preserve that information for anticipated litigation or demands from a regulator) or some or all of the following additional rights: the right to obtain information on our use of your Personal Information, the right to obtain a copy thereof, the right to data portability, the right of data rectification, the right to object to the processing of data based on our legitimate interests, the right to restriction of the processing, and the right to withdraw your consent.

In relation to these rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@mywot.com. Note that we may request certain information in order to confirm your identity, and we reserve the right to charge a fee where permitted by law, such as in circumstances where your request is excessive. We will use our best efforts to respond to your request within applicable required timeframes. In addition, you may (subject to applicable law, as is the case within the European Union) have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Note that you may opt out of the data collection and sharing of Non-Personal Information described above by changing the options selected in the “Settings” menu so that the “Real-time Protection” option is set to “Off”.

After you opt out, we will no longer automatically collect and share your Non-Personal Information in connection with your use of the WOT Apps.

We may send periodic promotional and informational emails to you, about the WOT Services and other products, services or information we think may interest you. You may opt out of such communications by following the opt-out instructions contained in the email or emailing us at support@mywot.com. Please note that it may take up to ten (10) business days for us to process opt-out requests. If you opt out of receiving promotional and informational emails from us, we may still send you emails about your account or any WOT Services you have requested or received from us.

Minors

If you are under 18, please be sure to read this Privacy Policy with your parents or legal guardian and ask questions about things you do not understand. In addition, children under age 13 are prohibited from using the WOT Services. In the event we become aware that a user under the age of 13 has shared any personal information, we will discard such information. If you have any reason to believe that a child under the age of 13 has shared any personal information with us, please contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@mywot.com.

Third-Party Links

The WOT Services may contain links to third-party websites and applications, including social networking platforms. Any access to and use of such linked websites and applications is not governed by this Privacy Policy but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third parties. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites or applications and encourage you to review the privacy policies provided by such third parties.

Updates & Revisions

We may, from time to time, change this Privacy Policy. We will post the updated policy on our website https://www.mywot.com/, and encourage you to review this Privacy Policy frequently to be kept informed of any updates. Note the date at the top of the Privacy Policy in order to determine when the most recent changes have been made. Your continued use of the WOT Services after the effective date of any update to this Privacy Policy will indicate your acceptance of the updated and amended Privacy Policy.

California Consumer Privacy Act

This section applies only to California consumers and describes the Personal Information that WOT collects, the sources from which we collect it, the purposes for which we use it, the circumstances under which we share Personal Information, and the parties with which we share it. The term “Personal Information” in this section has the meaning given to it in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

If you are unable to access this Privacy Policy due to a disability or any physical or mental impairment, please contact us and we will provide the relevant information in another format that you can access.

How We Collect, Use, and Share your Personal Information

We have collected the following categories of Personal Information in the past twelve (12) months:

• Identifiers, such as your name, e-mail address and IP address. We collect this information directly from you or from your device when you voluntarily register.

• Internet or network information, such as web browsing activity and search history. We collect this information directly from your device. This information is described in greater detail above in this Privacy Policy, under the heading “Automatically Collected Information.”

• Identifiers used to confirm whether you have purchased access or a license to any WOT Services. We collect this information from third-party payment processors, such as Stripe. This information does not include payment details used to charge a payment method.

• Other Personal Information, in instances when you interact with WOT by phone, e-mail or other online communication channels, in the context of requesting and receiving customer support.

The specific types of Personal Information of a California resident that we collect, use and disclose may depend on the specific goods and services provided to such resident and the circumstances of our interaction with such resident. For more information, please refer to the section above entitled “Information We Collect” And “Cookies and Third Party Tools”.

The business and commercial purposes for which we collect the information described above are detailed above in this Privacy Policy under the heading “How We Use the Data.” The categories of third parties to whom which we disclose this information for a business purpose are described under the heading “Sharing Collected Data with Third Parties.”

Your California Rights

If you are a California resident, you have certain rights under the CCPA regarding the Personal Information we collect or maintain about you. Please note these rights are not absolute, and there may be cases when we decline your request as permitted by law.

• Right of access: you have the right to request that we disclose to you what Personal Information we have collected, used and disclosed about you in the past 12 months. You may make up to 2 requests in a 12-month period.

• Right of deletion: you have the right to request that we delete Personal Information collected or maintained by us, subject to certain exceptions.

• Right to non-discrimination: you will not receive any discriminatory treatment when you exercise any of your privacy rights under the CCPA.

If you are a California resident, you have the right to opt out of our sale of your Personal Information. WOT does not sell or otherwise share Personal Information about you except as described in this Privacy Policy. Please note that the CCPA broadly defines the term “sale,” and certain sharing activities such as the exchange of data for consideration of any kind, may constitute a sale as defined in that law. Depending upon the circumstances, sharing your data with third party analytics and ad tech companies for our marketing purposes could also be deemed a sale.

How to Exercise your California Rights

Please contact us at support@mywot.com if you would like to:

• Access this policy in an alternative format;

• Exercise your rights;

• Learn more about your rights or our privacy practices; or

• Designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf.

You can exercise your rights by sending us a request that includes sufficient details in order for us to evaluate and respond to it. You may do so directly on your own behalf, or you can designate an authorized agent to exercise your rights on your behalf. Please note that to protect your Personal Information, we will verify your identity by a method appropriate to the type of request you are making. We may also request that your authorized agent have written permission from you to make requests on your behalf, and we may also need to verify your authorized agent's identity for the purpose of protecting your Personal Information. Such verification may necessitate the collection of Personal Information about you and/or your authorized agent. Please note that if we are unable to verify your identity or the identity of your agent making the request, we may decline your request to exercise your California rights.

We try to respond to all verified requests within 45 days of receiving them; in certain circumstances, we may need up to 90 days to respond, in which case we will notify you that we require additional time and explain the reason for such extension.

California “Shine the Light” Law

In addition to the CCPA rights described above, California's "Shine the Light" law (Civil Code Section §1798.83) grants California residents who have an established business relationship with us the right to request, no more than once per calendar year, certain information regarding the disclosure of certain categories of Personal Information to third parties for direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year. To make a request under such law, please send us an email at support@mywot.com.

Any Questions/Suggestions

We welcome and value your input. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact us at support@mywot.com