Home / The Channel Company Privacy Policy

The Channel Company Privacy Policy

(Revised December 2020)

For purposes of this Privacy Policy (the "Policy"), "The Channel Company" shall refer to both The Channel Company LLC, a Massachusetts limited liability company, and its subsidiary Partner Demand LLC, also a Massachusetts limited liability company.  The Policy covers personal information which you share with The Channel Company as you register for or attend our face-to-face events around the world, visit or participate in any of our websites or online venues which are hosted on servers located in the United States (notably www.crn.com;  wotc.crn.com; www.thechannelco.com; www.partnerdemand.com; www.ipedchannelytics.com; www.thechannelcocommunites.com and www.iotconnex.com), subscribe to any of our print publications, and volunteer or post information, whether through social media or otherwise. We will attempt to post or display a link to this Policy on all forms and online pages to which it applies.

BY USING THE SITE OR SUBMITTING PERSONAL DATA TO US, YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE TO THE COLLECTION, USE, DISCLOSURE, RETENTION, AND DESTRUCTION OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA SUBMITTED TO US IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY.

Many of our websites allow you to publish or share content, including personal information which identifies you and/or your company. This Policy will govern how The Channel Company uses the information you provide and what choices you have about its publication.

Each of The Channel Company's lines of business aims to be at the heart of the commercial or professional communities it serves. Our business includes creating opportunities for you to access other companies' information and resources. When we work with other companies to build co-branded web sites, virtual events, sponsored webinars, or in any way that allows you to connect directly with that other company, we will include a link to this Policy and, to the extent it is readily available, to the other company's Privacy Policy as well. Our Policy will govern our collection and use of information about you. We recommend that you read the partner's Policy as well, if applicable, to learn how that company will treat the information you provide.

This privacy policy describes the information we collect from you and how it may be stored and processed in the United States of America.  Our websites, associated events and publications provide products, content and services for a professional audience and is not intended for individuals under the age of 13 years old. We do not knowingly collect or store personal data provided by anyone under 13 years of age.

Information That Identifies You

We rely on the information you provide to us – as you register, contact us, participate in surveys, post comments to public areas of and interact with our web sites, respond to our email campaigns, complete applications for award and recognition lists, and participate in webinars or online events. This ordinarily consists of basic contact information – name, company, title, address, telephone number, and email address – but may include other information such as business preferences and affiliations.  We will add information about how you interact with our offerings – your subscriptions, the events you attend, and the like.  We may also supplement with additional data from external sources.

The amount and type of information that we collect depends on the nature of our interaction with you.  In each case, The Channel Company collects information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of your interaction with us. 

When you provide it to us, we collect the following information that identifies you (“Personal Data”):

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Address
  • Telephone number
  • Information about your business
  • Content of your email or other messages to us

When you visit our website, we collect the following data from the device or browser through which you access the site (“Log Data”):

  • Your internet protocol (“IP”) address
  • Browser type
  • Browser version
  • Statistics on your activities on the Site (such as the date and time of visits, the pages viewed, time spent at the Site)
  • Information about how you came to the Site
  • Data collected through Cookies or other similar technologies discussed in more detail below.

Much of this Log Data does not identify you personally. However, we may associate this Log Data with your Personal Data. When we do, we will treat any such combined data as Personal Data until such time as it can no longer be associated with you or used to identify you. 

Automatic Data Collection Technologies

We may also use cookies and common data collection technologies, including web beacons and clear GIFs associated with cookies, on our web pages, in newsletters, and in our email campaigns to collect information both on an aggregate and individual basis.

Some of our web sites use Adobe Flash to provide video content, and the Adobe Flash Player has the ability to separately store information about that particular Flash application. We do not associate this Adobe Flash stored information with you as an individual. Please see the Adobe Flash Player Help page for additional information about controlling the settings of the Adobe Flash Player on your computer.

We gather date, time, certain information about a user's browser and system or device configuration and capabilities, navigation history and IP address for all visitors to our web sites. We use this information for our internal security audit log, for trend analysis and system administration and to gather broad information about our audiences and their geographic locations.

Please see More Information About Cookies (below) for additional details about how we use cookies that identify you, which third party advertisers and advertising networks we allow to serve third party advertising displayed on our sites or to display our ads to you once you have left our web pages, and how to control cookies or their use for serving targeted advertising.

How We Use Information That Identifies You

We may use information about you: 

  • to provide the services, publications, and information you request -- and to manage your account with us.
  • to deliver or display content that matches your professional interests and responsibilities.
  • to contact you with information about and invitations for products and services – ours and other companies' – directed to your professional interests and responsibilities.
  • to offer you opportunities to connect directly with your peers and with sellers of technology that may be of interest to you.

We do not “sell” your personal information as defined under current domestic and international regulations to any Business Partners. 

There are, however, certain circumstances in which we may disclose, transfer, or share your Personal Data with certain third parties to perform services on behalf of The Channel Company.  By using the Site or submitting your Personal Data to us, you expressly consent to our sharing your Personal Data, as set forth below.

Sharing Personal Data With Affiliates, Successors, and Agents

For purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy, we may share your Personal Data with: 

  • our parent companies, subsidiaries, and/or affiliates;
  • successors who acquire your Personal Data if we sell, merge, reorganize, dissolve, or similarly change our ownership or corporate structure;
  • other companies we engage to perform business-related functions, such as:
    • digital marketing agencies;
    • database service providers;
    • backup and disaster recovery service providers;
    • email service providers; and
    • payment processors. 

 

We only share your Personal Data with companies that have agreed to maintain and use it securely and only in accordance with this Privacy Policy. 

Legally Compelled Disclosure of Personal Data

We may disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in our good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • comply with a legal obligation;
  • protect or defend our rights, interests, or property, or that of third parties;
  • prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Site;
  • act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of Site users or the public; or
  • protect against legal liability.

Data Privacy Notice

1. Your personal data – what is it?

Personal data relates to an individual who can be identified from that data.  Identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with any other information in the data controller’s possession, or likely to come into such possession.

2. Who are we?

The Channel Company is a data controller of certain personal data.  This means it decides how your personal data is processed and for what purposes.

3. How do we process your personal data?

The Channel Company complies with its obligations under certain privacy laws by keeping personal data up to date; by storing and destroying it securely; by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data; by protecting personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorized access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data.

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

  • To maintain our own accounts and records; and
  • To inform you of news, events, activities and services provided by The Channel Company.
  •  
  • For event registration

4. What is the legal basis for processing your personal data?

  • Explicit consent of the data subject so that we can keep you informed about news, events, activities and services.

5. Sharing your personal data


Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential and will only be shared with other entities for the foregoing purposes.

We do not “sell” your personal information as currently defined under the California Consumer Protection Act to any Business Partners.

6. How long do we keep your personal data?


We retain your personal data for the duration of your business relationship with us, and we hold your information only as long as necessary for each purpose we use it, unless we have obtained your consent to use for another or similar purpose.

7. Your rights and your personal data 

Unless subject to an exemption under certain privacy laws such as GDPR or CCPA, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

  • The right to request a copy of your personal data which The Channel Company holds about you;
  • The right to request that The Channel Company correct any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date; 
  • The right to request your personal data is deleted where it is no longer necessary for The Channel Company to retain such data;
  • The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time;
  • The right to request information about the personal data we have disclosed for business purposes and / or provided (as such term is defined under the CCPA) to a business partner within the last 12 months.
  • The right to request that The Channel Company provide you with your personal data and where possible, to transmit that data directly to another data controller (known as the right to data portability), where applicable;
  • The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request a restriction is placed on further processing;
  • The right to object to the processing of personal data, where applicable; and
  • The right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General. 

What Are My Rights About The Processing Of My Personal Data?

You always have a choice regarding the tools that you use and the information that you provide so that we can provide products and services that are of real value. 

You may withdraw your consent to the processing of your Personal Data at any time.  To opt out of receiving emails, direct mail, catalogues, or other communications, please call us at (508) 416-1175 or email us at privacyrequests@thechannelcompany.com with the phrase “Privacy Opt-out” in the subject line and specify what you would like us to do (for example, change your mailing preferences).  To stop email communications from us, you can also follow the unsubscribe instructions set forth at the bottom of our promotional e-mail messages.  You may also access and correct some of your Personal Data by logging into your online account, if you have one. 

If you choose to limit our use of your Personal Data, you may not have access to certain functionality of the Site.  If you change your privacy preferences in the future, that will not limit the lawfulness of any processing performed based on your prior consent.  We do not sell your Personal Data, but you have the right to opt out of the sale of your Personal Data at any time.

Additional Privacy Rights

If you are a resident of California or certain other states that have passed data privacy laws, you may have the right to request information from us regarding the manner in which we process certain Personal Data or categories of Personal Data. Under California law, you have the right request the following information, which you may do by calling us at (508) 416-1175 or emailing us at privacyrequests@thechannelcompany.com:

  • the categories of Personal Data we collected, sold, or disclosed in the prior 12 months;
  • the pieces of Personal Data we collected about you in the prior 12 months; 
  • our business purposes for collecting or selling Personal Data;
  • the categories of sources from which we collected Personal Data in the prior 12 months;
  • the categories of third persons with whom we sold or shared Personal Data in the prior 12 months;
  • the categories of information we disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year;
  • the names and addresses of the third parties that received the information; and,
  • if the nature of the third party's business cannot be determined from their name, examples of the products or services they marketed.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity. This is a security measure to ensure we do not disclose personal information to any person who is not entitled to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.  We may provide this information in a standardized format that is not entirely specific to you. 

You may also have the right to delete your Personal Data, upon receipt of a verified request, with some exceptions.  You may also have the right to equal treatment, in terms of prices and the level of service, regardless of your exercise of your privacy rights.

How Long Will You Keep My Personal Data?

You may close your account, unsubscribe to emails, and otherwise limit our use of your Personal Data by contacting us. However, we may retain your Personal Data for an additional period as is permitted or required under applicable laws. Even if we delete your Personal Data, it may persist on backup or archival media for an additional period of time

Submitting a Request:

If you have any questions about the type of personal information we hold about you or if you wish to request deletion of personal information we may hold about you, or exercise any other privacy right as set out above, contact us by:

Sending a written request to privacyrequests@thechannelcompany.com or writing to us at the postal address provided at the bottom of this Privacy Statement.

Further processing:

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Data Privacy Notice, we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.

Contact Details:

To exercise all relevant rights, or for more information, please contact The Channel Company at privacyrequests@thechannelcompany.com or (508) 416-1175.

EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Compliance

The Channel Company complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework (the "Privacy Shield") as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information from European Union member countries.  The Channel Company adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles of Notice; Choice; Accountability for Onward Transfer; Security; Data Integrity and Purpose Limitation; Access; and Recourse, Enforcement and Liability.  The Channel Company is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.  If there is any conflict between the policies 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 page, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/. 

To the extent that your data is transferred The Channel Company remains potentially liable for subsequent violations of the Privacy Shield.  We shall not be responsible, however, for the compliance of our customers or licensees with Privacy Shield, or their compliance with data privacy laws and regulations of the European Union or any other country.

Your Choices

In keeping with one of the Privacy Shield's core principles, Choice, you always have a choice about whether to opt in or opt out, and you maintain control over your data in the following ways:

Deletion of your data, or corrections.

Please help us keep your account information up to date. You may update most online registrations by consulting the particular web site itself or visiting a preference page after you have logged on to the site.  Upon request you are entitled to access a copy of your personal data to correct it, or you may instruct us to delete it from our systems.

Connecting directly with other companies for marketing purposes.

In addition to providing you with our own editorial content, we offer you the opportunity to access others' branded content and expertise. When you choose to take advantage of that content or expertise, you choose to have your name and contact details transferred directly to that other company. We may put you in direct contact with another company or companies when you choose to:

  • Register for certain registration-only, or "gated" communities. Access to technical resources provided or sponsored by another company is contingent on your agreement that your contact details may be shared with the other company. We may track your interest in that company's content or our own content over time and disclose your interest to that company.
  • Register for a specific webcast, online event, web site, newsletter, or other offering which is sponsored or co-sponsored by another company.
  • Register to attend one of our virtual events. We may give your name and contact details to all exhibitors and give the exhibitor whose booths and resources you access a record of your visits and interaction with content from that exhibitor.
  • Attend one of our face-to-face events. Exhibitors may receive an attendance list for the event. It is up to you, however, to decide whether to leave your business card or allow your RFID-enabled badge to be read by a particular exhibitor – the badges cannot be read remotely. A sponsor of a special, sponsored conference session will also be given information about you if you choose to attend that company's session. Your future interaction with online content from an exhibitor or sponsor to whom you provided your contact data may also be tracked and disclosed to that exhibitor or sponsor.
  • Submit an application for a published CRN award or recognition list.  To remain eligible for certain awards or lists, you may be required to disclose certain personal data and/or company information. By submitting information requested in an application, you give your permission for this information to be published by The Channel Company on CRN-related media properties and otherwise shared with relevant companies in the IT industry, unless otherwise specified in the award/list application. 

Making information you provide public

We offer websites that allow you to publish content. Many of these blog sites require that you register if you wish to comment. We will publish the user name you provide at registration when you comment. Some sites allow you to create a public profile as well.

Our online event venues also require that you register and allow you to have both public and closed communications with exhibitors and other participants. Information that identifies you will be published or shared according to your choices.

In addition, we may create online membership communities that allow you to create and publish your profile and other information. These communities may provide privacy controls which allow you to choose how much of your profile and other information to make public or to share with others within the community. As a professional, you remain responsible for locating the privacy controls (usually available on the page from which you can edit your profile), understanding how those controls, including default settings, work and protect the information you provide.

Receiving email marketing messages from us

You may opt out of our email marketing lists by following the instructions near the footer of our promotional emails. Please note that we have a number of brands and products, and therefore often allow you to opt out selectively. To remove a specific email address from all email marketing from The Channel Company, you may send a request to privacyrequests@thechannelcompany.com or visit our email preference center .

More Information about Cookies

The Channel Company uses cookies on each if its websites (collectively, the "Website"). By using the Website or any portion thereof (for residents of the European Union, by consenting to this policy), you consent to the use of cookies.

Our Cookies Policy explains what cookies are, how we use cookies, how third-parties we may partner with may use cookies on the Website, your choices regarding cookies and further information about cookies.

What are cookies

Cookies are small pieces of text sent to your web browser by a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in the user’s computer and enables the Website or a third-party to recognize you and make your next visit easier and the Website more useful to you.

Cookies can be "persistent" or "session" cookies. Persistent cookies act as described above, while session cookies may be stored in memory and deleted based upon browser settings.

How we use cookies

When you use and access the Website, we may place a number of cookies files in your web browser.

We use cookies for the following purposes: to enable certain functions of the Website such as personalization, to provide analytics, to store your preferences, to enable advertisements delivery, including behavioral advertising.

Essential uses

We use these technologies in a way that is essential for the operation of the Website or parts of it. For example, we may use cookies to effectively personalize your experience or for web analytics data collection. 

Performance/Analytics

We use these technologies to monitor the Website and to analyze how you use the Website.  We may place cookies that allow us to measure the time of your requests to our servers and our responses, to test new features, to record statistics about usage, to track your activities on the Website, and to track the places from which you come to the Website or Database. We may also use third-party cookies to collect information about behavior on the Website for these Performance/Analytics purposes.

Functionality

We use these technologies to allow us to provide certain functionality on the Website and to remember your preferences. For instance, cookies allow us to auto-populate certain information.  If you disable or delete cookies, you may not be able to use some functions of the Website.

Advertising (including behavioral/interest-based advertising)

We may use these technologies to deliver focused online banner advertisements to you both on and off the Website. By using these technologies, we hope to better tailor these advertisements to your interests. Sometimes this is called online behavioral, interest-based, or retargeted advertising. Many of the third party technologies that enable this advertising participate in voluntary frameworks that allow you to opt out of it.

Such third party service providers include Adroll, Rubicon, Google, Media Math, Perfect Audience, Quantcast, Retargeter, and Yahoo!, among others.  You can control your preferences directly with each such third-party service provider.

Most of the cookies and other technologies described above on the Website are set by us (“first-party cookies”). Other cookies are used in connection with the Website and are set by third-party service providers at our direction ("third-party cookies"). We may use third-party cookies with respect to each of the uses set forth above.

What are your choices regarding cookies

If you'd like to delete cookies or instruct your web browser to delete or refuse cookies, please visit the help pages of your web browser.

Please note, however, that if you delete cookies or refuse to accept them, you might not be able to use all of the features we offer, you may not be able to store your preferences, and some of our pages might not display properly.

Where can you find more information about cookies

You can learn more about cookies and the following third-party websites:

The Channel Company currently allows the following third-party ad servers to serve ads on our web pages: TRUSTe and Google AdSense. Some companies offer additional choices about your preferences. Please visit each of their web sites for more information about the technologies they use and their privacy practices.

Many of the third-party ad serving companies that serve ads to our web sites are members of the Network Advertising Initiative and/or the Digital Advertising Alliance. The NAI offers useful information about ad networks and a single place to turn off targeted ad serving from any of its member companies: https://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/.

The Channel Company further adheres to the data privacy principles set forth in the Interactive Advertising Bureau/American Association of Advertising Agencies' Standard Terms and Conditions version 3.0.

We may amend or modify the list of Third Party Advertisers from time to time without changing the effective date of the Policy itself. We urge you to check this section regularly for any modifications.

Disclosure of Information about You

We reserve the right to disclose information about you to third parties in certain circumstances: to vendors that work on our behalf, to entities that present valid legal process, to protect human safety or our networks or property, or as part of a corporate merger or sale of our business assets.

Please note that we may be required to disclose an individual's personal information in response to a lawful request by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.

Data Security

We collect and process information on servers hosted in the U.S. We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information against theft, loss, or misuse. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or storage can be guaranteed to be 100 percent secure. We strive to protect information about you and your professional interests and follow reasonable security and practices. You remain responsible for protecting your user name and passwords and for the security of information in transit to us over the Internet.

This Privacy Policy covers how we use information you provide. We cannot control how others may use information you may make public on our sites, for example, on professional networking sites or sites inviting user-generated content, in forums, at virtual events, or user-generated blogs.

Please note that virtual events may automatically display certain information about you to other participants in the event. We cannot control how other participants use that displayed information, so please take a moment to make sure you understand how a particular virtual event works and what information you are choosing to share within that particular environment.

What Data Is Not Covered By The Privacy Policy?

The limitations in and requirements of this Privacy Policy do not apply to:

  • Third Party Sites:  The Site may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by us (“Third Party Sites”).  THE CHANNEL COMPANY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE POLICIES AND PRACTICES EMPLOYED BY, OR THE CONTENT OF, THIRD PARTY SITES, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY LAW. We provide such links only as a convenience and the inclusion of a link on the Site does not imply endorsement of the linked site by The Channel Company. If you provide Personal Data through any such Third Party Site, your Personal Data may be collected by the third party and controlled by the privacy policy of that third party.  We suggest contacting those sites directly for information about their privacy policies and practices. 
  • Deidentified Data: Any non-personally identifiable data we collect, including, without limitation, Log Data, domain names of your Internet Service Provider, your approximate geographic location, a record of your usage of the Site, the time of your usage, and aggregated personally identifiable information, but only to the extent the foregoing cannot be used to specifically identify you.
  • Aggregated Personal Data: Any aggregated Personal Data that can no longer be used to identify you will be treated as non-personally identifiable data under this Privacy Policy.

Do You Collect The Personal Data of Children?

We do not intentionally or knowingly collect any Personal Data from children under the age of thirteen (13), nor do we target our emails to them.  Children under the age of thirteen (13) should not submit any Personal Data through the Site.  We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children's use of the Internet and instruct them to never provide Personal Data through the Site.  If you believe a child under the age of thirteen (13) may have provided Personal Data to us through the Site, please contact us at privacyrequests@thechannelcompany.com, and we will use reasonable efforts to delete it from the Site and our files.

International Privacy Laws

If you are visiting the Site from outside the United States, please be aware that you are sending information (including Personal Data) to the United States where our servers are located. That information may then be transferred within the United States or back out of the United States depending on the type of information and how it is stored by us. We will hold and process your Personal Data in accordance with privacy laws in the United States and this Privacy Policy. Please note that privacy laws in the United States may not be the same as, and in some cases may be less protective than, the privacy laws in your country, and while in the United States Personal Data may be subject to lawful access requests by government agencies.

Changes

We will post and date any changes to this Privacy Policy. Please check here periodically. Your continued use of our products and services covered by this Policy constitutes your consent to the practices in place at the time of your use. If we wish to use your Personal Data for a new purpose not covered by this Privacy Policy, we will provide you with a new Privacy Policy explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing of your Personal Data pursuant to the new Privacy Policy and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. For substantial changes to this Privacy Policy, we will use reasonable efforts to notify you.

Dispute Resolution

In compliance with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, The Channel Company commits to resolve complaints free of charge about your privacy and our collection or use of your personal information.  European Union individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding this privacy policy should first contact: privacyrequests@thechannelcompany.com   Tel. +00 (508) 416-1175; Fax +00 (508) 861-0142. Or by mail to: The Channel Company, 1 Research Dr, Suite 410A, Attn: Privacy Requests, Westborough, MA 01581, USA. 

The Channel Company has further committed to refer unresolved privacy complaints under the EU-US Privacy Shield Principles to BBB EU PRIVACY SHIELD, a non-profit alternative dispute resolution provider located in the United States and operated by the Council of Better Business Bureaus. If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your complaint, or if your complaint is not satisfactorily addressed, please visit www.bbb.org/EU-privacy-shield/for-eu-consumers/ for more information and to file a complaint.

Please note that if your complaint is not resolved through these channels, under limited circumstances, a binding arbitration option may be available before a Privacy Shield Panel.