Privacy Policy

Last Updated: September 2023


This EarthRanger™ Privacy Policy (this “Privacy Policy”) describes the online data policies and practices of The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (“AI2”) in connection with this website (i.e. earthranger.com) (the “Site”) and EarthRanger™ products and services (collectively, “EarthRanger Products”). When you access or use the EarthRanger Products, you consent to AI2’s collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. Capitalized terms used but not defined in this Privacy Policy have the meanings given in the EarthRanger End User License Agreement (the “EarthRanger EULA”).

AI2 is committed to maintaining your confidence and trust with respect to your privacy. Please read this privacy policy carefully to understand our practices about how we collect, use and share your personal information.

What This Privacy Policy Covers

This policy differentiates between the Site and EarthRanger products. Please note what each section refers to specifically as you read.

The Site is AI2’s general marketing and informational website for EarthRanger™. EarthRanger Products, on the other hand, refer to (a) the EarthRanger™ cloud-based, software-as-a-service Domain Awareness System and web application (“SaaS Service”), and (b) any other EarthRanger applications released by AI2 that interoperate with the SaaS Service, such as mobile applications (“Applications”). This Privacy Policy differentiates between the Site and EarthRanger Products. Accordingly, references made below to the “Site” do not include “EarthRanger Products” and vice versa. Your use of the AI2 website, allenai.org, is governed by AI2’s Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy.

Note on EarthRanger Products

This policy only applies to information regarding you, not your “Customer Data”.

If you are a customer or user of the SaaS Service and/or Applications, this Privacy Policy does not apply to your “Customer Data” as defined in the EarthRanger EULA and the EarthRanger Customer Data and Privacy Policy (collectively, “EarthRanger Terms”). With respect to EarthRanger Products, this Privacy Policy applies to information, other than Customer Data, that may be collected through your use of EarthRanger Products. This Privacy Policy supplements, but does not supersede the EarthRanger Terms. In the event of any conflict between the EarthRanger Terms and this Privacy Policy regarding your Customer Data, the EarthRanger Terms will govern.

Information AI2 Collects and Why it is Collected

"Personal information" is information that can personally identify you, such as your name or email address. Personal information also includes other data that can reasonably be linked to your personally identifiable information. You can directly or indirectly provide your personal information through your use of the Site and EarthRanger Products. The following describes the types of personal information we may collect:

  1. Contact Information: This includes your email, name, and/or organization. This information may be used to contact you via email, phone, text message, or by other reasonable methods for various reasons, including providing support.
  2. Site. If you use the “Contact Us” form on the Site, you will be asked to provide your first name, last name, company name, country where you are located, email address, phone number and your comments. We will use the information you provide only for the purpose of contacting you about the question or comments you have submitted.
  3. EarthRanger Products: If you are a customer or user of the SaaS Service, you may provide personal information with your user account or when you opt-in or subscribe to optional features of the SaaS Service (e.g. SMS alerts), such as your first name, last name, email address and phone number. You may also provide your contact information when you request support services for EarthRanger Products. AI2 will only use your contact information in accordance with the EarthRanger Terms to provide the EarthRanger Products to you, including any associated technical, administrative and support services.
  4. Gundi: AI2 only processes machine-to-machine integration data. No user information is required or stored beyond a username, though the data represented in the Gundi integrations may represent your location.
  5. Location:
    a. SaaS Service. If you are a customer or user of the SaaS Service, the SaaS Service will prompt you to give permission to share your location. If you enable location sharing, the location data that is transmitted will be stored within the SaaS Service. We will only use such location data to provide the SaaS Service to you.
    b. Applications. If you use an Application that employs global position system (GPS) technology, we collect the geolocation data transmitted through your device when you are logged into the Application. Since Applications interoperate with the SaaS Service, your location data from an Application may also transmit to the SaaS Service. Location data from the Application that is transmitted to the SaaS Service will be stored within the SaaS Service. Location data from your device may also be temporarily stored within the Application. For example, if you use the EarthRanger Track Application, the location data of your device’s last position is stored within the Application when you log out until the next time you log in. Upon your next login, the location data of your device’s last position is deleted within EarthRanger Track and we do not retain such historic location data within the Application.
  6. Browsers and Devices: AI2 collects certain information about the browsers and devices you use to access the Site and EathRanger Products, including unique identifiers. Unique identifiers are cookie files used to uniquely identify a browser or device. Please see the section below on “Cookies” for more information.
  7. IP Address: AI2 collects your Internet Protocol (IP) address whenever you access the Site or SaaS Service, which is a number automatically assigned to your computer or device when you browse the internet. These numbers are usually assigned based on geography, so an IP address can often be used to identify the general geographic area of where a device is connecting to the internet. AI2 uses your IP address to administer and address technical issues with the SSite and EarthRanger Products.
  8. Use Statistics: AI2 collects information about how your browsers and devices interact with the Site and EarthRanger Products, including crash reports, system activity, and the date, time and referrer URL (the webpage you came from if you clicked a link to access the Site or any EathRanger Products). AI2 also collects statistical information about user activity on theSite and EarthRanger Products, including web traffic, and the date, time, duration and number of visits.
  9. Feedback: If you submit or provide any Feedback to AI2, you are solely responsible for its contents and any personal information you may disclose therein. Provision of any Feedback is at your own risk. AI2 does not knowingly collect or monitor Feedback for personal information, and may use Feedback in any manner without any obligation or limitation in accordance with the terms of the EarthRanger EULA. If AI2 discovers it has received any personal information in error, it will take steps to delete the data as soon as possible without notice to you.
  10. Workplace and Organization-Provided Information: Others agreeing to our End-User License Agreement for our SaaS Services or Applications for your use, such as your employer or other organization, may provide us with personal data about you and your eligibility to use the Saas Services and Applications. For example, we may receive contact information for administrators and for authorizing users of our SaaS Service and Applications.
  11. Other:
    a. Our products are dynamic, and we often introduce new features, which may require the collection of new information. If we collect materially different personal data or materially change how we collect, use or share your data, we will notify you and may also modify this Privacy Policy.
    b. Research. We seek to aid protected area managers, ecologists, and wildlife biologists in making more informed operational decisions for wildlife conservation. We may use personal data available to us to conduct research related to our product effectiveness in achieving our mission and conservation areas that could benefit from greater access to the products. In some cases, we work with trusted third parties to perform this research, under controls that are designed to protect your privacy. We publish or allow others to publish results, presented as aggregated data rather than personal data.
    c. Security. We may use your data (including your communications) for security purposes or to prevent or investigate possible fraud or other violations of our End-User License Agreement and/or attempts to harm others.

Cookies

"Cookies" are small snippets of data (text files) that are stored in the web browser on your device in order to remember information about you. Cookies are used to compile anonymous, aggregate statistics based information collected through the Site or EarthRanger Products (“Aggregate Data”). AI2 uses cookies to administer and operate the Site and EarthRanger Products, including site configuration and IT security. AI2 also uses cookies with Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager (referred together as “Google Web Tools”) for feedback and usage statistics to operate and improve the Site and EarthRanger Products. AI2 uses use both “first party cookies” (cookies set by AI2) and “third party cookies” (cookies from another domain) as follows:


  • Strictly Necessary Cookies. “Strictly Necessary Cookies” are cookies that are necessary for a website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. We use Strictly Necessary Cookies, which are first party session cookies for load balancing so that visitor page requests are routed to the same server in any browsing session. Session cookies are stored in temporary memory and erased when you close your web browser.
  • Performance Cookies. “Performance Cookies” are cookies that allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of a website.
  • Targeting Cookies. “Targeting Cookies” are third party cookies that log the record and activity of websites you visit, such as the links you click. We employ Targeting Cookies with Google Analytics. These cookies send you a cookie file with a unique identifier, which is tracked with other cookies stored in your browser to log your browsing history over time. For more information about how Google Analytics uses cookies, please review the Google Analytics Cookie Guide.
  • Tags. We use third party JavaScript tags (code elements), to set the Performance Cookies. We manage the tags using Google Tag Manager, which is a tag management tool that integrates with Google Analytics to derive usage statistics and performance analytics.

Additional Uses of Cookies

Purpose

Description

Authentication

We use cookies and similar technologies to recognize you when you visit our SaaS Service or Site.


If you’re signed in, these technologies help us show you the right information and personalize your experience in line with your settings. For example, cookies enable us to identify you and verify your account.

Security

We use cookies and similar technologies to make your interactions with our SaaS Service and Site faster and more secure.


For example, we use cookies to enable and support our security features, keep your account safe and to help us detect malicious activity and violations of our End User License Agreement.

Preferences, features, and services

We use cookies and similar technologies to enable the functionality of our SaaS Service and Site, such as helping you to fill out forms on our more easily and providing you with features, insights, and customized content in conjunction with our plugins. We also use these technologies to remember information about your browser and your preferences.


For example, cookies can tell us which language you prefer and what your communication preferences are. We may also use local storage to speed up site functionality.

Analytics and research

We or our service providers use these technologies to understand, improve, and research products, features and services, including as you navigate through our Site or when you access our Site from other sites, applications, or devices. We or our service providers use these technologies to determine and measure whether you have interacted with our websites, content, or emails, and provide analytics based on those interactions.


We also use these technologies to provide aggregated information to our vendors or partners.


If you have an account with us but are logged out of your account on a browser, we may still continue to log your interaction with our SaaS Service or Site on that browser until the expiration of the cookie in order to generate usage analytics for our SaaS Service or Site. We may share these analytics in aggregate form with our vendors and partners.

How Your Information May Be Shared

Please see below on the circumstances where AI2 may share your personal information with others:

  • Service Providers: AI2 may use third party providers to provide or support some of the services that are available through the Site and EarthRanger Products. AI2 may also rely on third party providers to perform certain services for AI2 in connection with your use of the Site and EarthRanger Products, such as, but not limited to, communications and hosting services, network security, technical and user support, tracking and reporting functions, quality assurance testing, and other functions. AI2 may share your information with these third party providers so that they can perform their services or complete your requests. These third party providers may share information with AI2 that they obtain from or about you in connection with providing their services or completing your requests. Some portions of the Site or EarthRanger Products may include web pages that utilize framing techniques to serve content to you from our third party providers, while preserving the look and feel of the Site and/or EarthRanger Products. In such cases, please note that the information you provide is being provided to the third party.
  • Business Transfers: AI2 may share your information with its affiliated entities, prospective buyers, partners or joint ventures, in which case AI2 will require them to honor this Privacy Policy. If another company acquires AI2 or all or substantially all of its assets (e.g. merger, acquisition or sale), that company will possess the same information, and will assume the rights and obligations with respect to that information as described in this Privacy Policy.
  • Investigations: AI2 may investigate and disclose your personal information if it has a good faith belief that such disclosure (a) is reasonably necessary to comply with legal process and law enforcement instructions and orders, such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, judicial proceeding, or other legal process served on AI2; (b) is helpful to prevent, investigate, or identify possible fraud wrongdoing in connection with the Site or EarthRanger Products; (c) is necessary to act under exigent circumstances to protect the safety of the public or users of the Site or EarthRanger Products, (d) is reasonably necessary to protect AI2’s rights, reputation, property, or that of its users, affiliates, partners or the public.
  • Links: The Site and EarthRanger Products may contain links to unaffiliated third party services. If you visit any websites through those links, the collection and use of your information will be subject to such third party’s terms and privacy policy. AI2 is not responsible for the privacy practices of such third party services. Please review the privacy policies posted on any such third party services.

Managing your information

Google Web Tools

You can manage how your information is shared and used with Google Web Tools as follows:

  • Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Google has developed a browser add-on tool to enable visitors of websites with Google cookies and tags to prevent Google Analytics from receiving their information. This add-on will not prevent websites from collecting information through other first-party or third-party cookies and tags. You can download and install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on to begin using this tool.

  • Google settings. In addition to above, you can manage how Google uses the information obtained through Google Web Tools and other cookies, and how it interacts with other Google products by changing the settings in your Google account. For example, you can restrict personalization features used in Google ads by changing your preference settings in your Google account to prevent use for targeted ads and content. Please review Google’s Privacy Controls for more general information on how you can configure various privacy and share settings through Google.

  • Third party tools. Third parties have also developed mechanisms for opting out of various cookies that use and share information collected from Google Web Tools and other sources for advertising purposes. For US-based users, the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) WebChoices is a tool that enables you to view and manage the cookies used for online advertising. For EU-based users, there is Your Online Choices.

Compliance

Information collected from the Site and EarthRanger Products will be stored and processed in either Singapore or Germany. Where personal information is transferred from the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or Switzerland, we rely on appropriate safeguards to transfer the data. The data protection and other applicable laws of the United States or other countries may not be as comprehensive as those laws or regulations in your country and may otherwise differ from the data protection or consumer protection laws in such jurisdictions.

  • Security. AI2 is committed to protecting the security of your information and follows generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information it receives. However, no method of transmission over the Internet, devices, or cloud or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, while AI2 strives to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, AI2 cannot guarantee its absolute security.
  • Personal Information of Children. The Site and EarthRanger Products are intended for a general audience, and AI2 does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you become aware that a child has provided AI2 with personal information without parental consent, please contact AI2 at legal@allenai.org. If AI2 becomes aware that a child under 16 has provided personal information without parental consent, AI2 will take steps to delete such data as soon as possible.
  • European Union (EU) Residents: Your Privacy Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you are located in the EU, we will collect personal information only if AI2 has one or more legal bases for doing so under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The legal bases depend on your interaction with the Site and EarthRanger Products. AI2 will only collect personal information from you where: (i) you have given your consent for one or more specific purposes; (ii) it is necessary to perform a contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you or your employer/organization; (iii) it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests; (iv) it is necessary to protect the vital interests of you or another natural person; or (v) it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation. Where we rely on your consent to process personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, and where we rely on legitimate interests, you may have the right to object to our processing.
  • Data Subject Rights. If you are located in the EU, you can submit a request regarding your personal information to legal@allenai.org. To submit a request, you must provide certain information such as your first name, last name and email address, your relationship to AI2, and details about your request. AI2 will only use the information you provide to evaluate, process, fulfill or contact you regarding your request (e.g. to follow up or ask for additional details about your request). If the GDPR applies to your personal information, AI2 will provide an initial response within one (1) month of your submission date. Please note that if you provide incorrect or insufficient information, AI2 may not be able to fulfill your request.
  • Account Termination and Data Retention. You may close your User Account by contacting AI2 at support@earthranger.com. Subject to fulfillment of any requests regarding your personal information as provided in the “Data Subject Rights” section above, AI2 may retain your personal information for the purposes as described in this Privacy Policy unless prohibited by law.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

AI2 may change this privacy policy from time to time. Laws, regulations and industry standards evolve, which may make those changes necessary, or we may make changes to our business. We will post the changes to this page and encourage you to review our privacy policy to stay informed. If we change the policy in a material and retroactive manner, AI2 will provide additional notice, such as via email or through the Site and/or EarthRanger Products. If you disagree with the changes to this privacy policy, you should deactivate your account and immediately cease using the Site and EarthRanger Products.  

You acknowledge that your continued use of our SaaS Service or Applications after we publish or send a notice about our changes to this Privacy Policy means that the collection, use and sharing of your personal data is subject to the updated Privacy Policy, as of its effective date.

Contact

For any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact AI2 at legal@allenai.org.