Privacy Policy

At Linden Lab, we value your privacy and maintaining a strong bond of trust with our customers. This Privacy Policy explains the use of information collected via our Websites, the PATTERNS service and our customer service operations (collectively, "PATTERNS" or the "Service") that we operate. Your use of the Service indicates to us that you have read and accept our privacy practices, as outlined in this Privacy Policy.

As further described below, we collect and maintain a range of data in order to provide our services to you and maintain a safe and secure platform. Access to your personal information is limited to (a) Linden Lab employees, and (b) service providers under contract who help with our business operations (such as to provide or help Linden Lab provide products or services to you, provide payment, billing or similar services, or perform anti-fraud functions). As used in this Privacy Policy, the term "personal information" means any real world information that readily may be used to identify an individual, including but not limited to a first and last name, home or other physical address, an email address, phone number or other contact information.

This Privacy Policy refers to PATTERNS and any websites operated by Linden Lab where this policy appears in the footer of the page (the "Websites"). It is divided into the following sections:

Your Privacy Rights

If at any time you wish to opt out of receiving emails from Linden Lab containing newsletters, promotions, new features and benefit announcements, recommendations for locations and events, or special offers that target your interests in PATTERNS you may unsubscribe here: http://lindenmktg.p0.com/resubscribe.jsp.

You may also unsubscribe by postal mail, please address your request to:

Linden Research PATTERNS Privacy Policy
ATTN: Opt-Out Administrator
945 Battery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111

Please indicate what publications or services you no longer wish to receive so that we may better address your needs.

The Information We Collect and How We Collect It

We collect a range of personal information and usage statistics to maintain a high-quality user experience and deliver superior customer service. We request some information directly from you during registration. We gather other pieces of data indirectly from Website traffic, your computer hardware and Internet connection, or your PATTERNS activities, communications and usage.

There are thus different levels of information we collect, depending upon your relationship to Linden Lab and how you use the Service:

  • Website Visitor: If you use our Websites, we automatically record information related to your IP address, Linden Lab cookie information, and aggregate information on what content you access or visit.
  • Mailing List Member: If you provide us personal information in order to subscribe to our mailing list, we collect information to aid delivery and preferences such as e-mail address and message performance statistics.
  • Registered Website Member: If you register on any of our Websites, we will track broad site usage information as well as aggregate usage of any Website community features such as downloads and forums.PATTERNS User: If you use the PATTERNS software, we collect and aggregate a variety of data to monitor system performance, and to verify your unique identity. This may include specific and general information about your computer hardware and Internet connection, which are stored together but are not personally identifiable. We track usage of customer service resources in order to ensure high quality interactions.
  • Additionally there are a few special situations to note:
    • Service Beta User: If you volunteer to serve as a beta user for pre-commercial content, we will track bug reports and potentially individual system performance in an effort to rigorously test technology before it is deployed.
    • Individuals Outside of the United States: Anyone using PATTERNS or the Linden Lab Websites from outside of the United States should be aware that personal information collected on these Websites may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Linden Lab or its affiliates, subsidiaries or agents maintain facilities, and by using the Service, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country.
    • We May Communicate With or Email You: You agree that Linden Lab (including through its agents) may communicate with you via email and any similar technology for any purpose relating to the Service, the Linden Software and any services or software which may in the future be provided by Linden Lab or on Linden Lab's behalf.

Linden Lab's Disclosure of Your Information

Except under certain limited circumstances set forth here and in our Terms of Service ("Terms of Service"), Linden Lab does not disclose to third parties the personal information or other account-related information you provide us, such as IP address, without your permission. You understand, however, that Linden Lab may disclose your personal or other account-related information under the following circumstances:

  • If we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary under applicable law, or to comply with legal process served on Linden Lab;
  • In order to protect and defend the rights or interests of Linden Lab, PATTERNS or the users of PATTERNS;
  • In order to report to law enforcement authorities, or assist in their investigation of, suspected illegal or wrongful activity, or to report any instance in which we believe a person may be in danger;
  • To service providers with whom we have contracted to assist us with PATTERNS features or operations (such as anti-fraud functions, billing, collections, registration, customer support, email delivery or age verification), to fulfill your service requests, offer new content or help us improve our Service. Our contracts with these third parties prohibit them from using any of your personal information for purposes unrelated to the product or service they are providing;
  • To other third parties (a) to provide you with services you have requested, (b) to offer you information about our Service (e.g., events or features), or (c) to whom you explicitly ask us to send your information (or about whom you are otherwise explicitly notified and consent to when using a specific service). For instance, we may provide certain information to our payment processor, to credit card associations, banks or issuers (if you are using a credit card), to PayPal (if you are using a PayPal account), or to providers of other services you request. If you choose to use these third parties' products or services, then their use of your information is governed by their privacy policies. You should evaluate the practices of third party providers before deciding to use their services; and
  • To other business entities, should we plan to merge with or be acquired by that business entity. Should such a combination occur, we will require that the new combined entity follow this Privacy Policy with respect to your personal information. If your personal information will be used contrary to this policy, you will receive prior notice.

Linden Lab's Use of Cookies

A cookie is a small string of data which often includes an anonymous unique identifier sent to your browser from a website's computers, and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a website to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.

You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. (Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.) However, if you reject all cookies, you may not be able to use certain of our (or other companies') web pages. Linden Lab and third parties acting on our behalf use cookies for a number of purposes relating to the Websites including to:

  • Access your account information when you "log in" to our Websites, forums, or other areas;
  • Keep track of your Website session data;Keep track of certain information that is then aggregated (i.e., not connected to your personal information), such as how you use our Websites, what web pages you visit, and the frequency and length of those visits.

Third Party Advertisements

Linden Lab participates in ad and/or affiliate networks operated by various third party companies. These companies collect and may use certain anonymous information about your visits to our Websites as a function of referring Internet traffic to our Websites. We do not permit these companies to collect any personal information about you, such as your name, address, or email address; however, we do permit these companies to collect your IP address. These companies may set and use cookies, web beacons, pixels, or other technologies to collect anonymous information about your visits to our Websites, and may otherwise aggregate, analyze and anonymize that data. If you seek information about these specialized advertising technologies, the Network Advertising Initiative offers useful information about Internet advertising companies (also called "ad networks" or "network advertisers"), including information about how to opt-out of their information collection.

Security

We use reasonable security measures that are designed to protect the personal information and other account-related information you provide to us from accidental loss, disclosure, misuse, and destruction. Please be aware, however, that no data security measures can be guaranteed to be completely effective. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information that you provide to us. You transmit information to us at your own risk.

Amendment of this Policy

We may need to update our Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in the types of information we collect, the means we use to collect information, or our usage of collected information. We will make reasonable efforts to alert you to these changes when they occur.