Privacy Policy

Advantage Media Group, Inc.

Effective Date: January 2025

Last Updated: 01/31/25

Advantage Media Group (“the Company”) and its affiliated companies are committed to protecting your information. Please read this Privacy Policy (“the Policy”) carefully as it sets out important information relating to how we handle your personal information.

In this Policy, references to “we,” “us,” or “the Company” are references to Advantage Media Group, Inc., its brand names, (including Advantage Media Group, The Authority Collective,  Entrepreneur Authorities, Entrepreneur Books, Forbes Books and SXSW Books) and all its affiliated companies. Certain Advantage Media Group products and/or services which may be linked through our website or Company business models may have their own applicable privacy policies, and this Policy does not apply to them.

The Company will have access to information on individuals covered by this Policy.

How to Contact Us

Questions, comments and requests regarding this Privacy Policy should be addressed to our Data Protection Office by completing the form on our website, via email at privacy@theauthoritycompany.com or regular mail at:

Advantage Media Group, Inc.

ATTN: Global Data Protection Office Legal Department

18 Broad Street, Suite 300

Charleston, SC  29401

Overview

This Policy sets out how we collect and use personal information, and your choices and rights regarding our use of your personal information.

By using or accessing our products, services or our websites, you agree to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to be bound by this Policy, you should not use the website or provide us with any personal information.

This Policy describes our practices when using your information when you:

  • Create, activate and use a user account and/or license, including a Community profile and account;
  • Contact us via email or subscribe to a mailing list;
  • Express an interest in or have signed up for our conferences or introductions to products or services including newsletters, apps, extensions, webinars, and e-books;
  • Register for, and attend a virtual or in-person event; or
  • Visit our websites (including our public and/or member-based websites) or social media sites or use one of our mobile applications.

This Policy also applies to information we collect from you via our survey or diagnostic tools as outlined in more detail below. You may be shown an additional confidentiality notice before participating in a survey or diagnostic. Please note that in cases where the terms of any such survey- or diagnostic-specific confidentiality notice conflict with any terms in this Policy, the terms of that notice will take precedence over the terms in this Policy. We will not use information we collect via our survey or diagnostic tools to contact you for marketing purposes.

This Policy will apply whether you have provided the information directly to us or we have obtained it from a different source, such as a third party.

This Privacy Policy does not cover the practices of companies we don’t own or control or people we don’t manage, including companies or websites that you access through links on our website. Our website or emails may include links to external websites of third parties, such as business partners or advertisers. Third parties may use their own cookies, tracking codes, or web beacons when you click on their advertisement or link to their site or service We do not control the use of cookies, tracking codes, or web beacons by third parties, or how they manage personal data you provide to them. You should review the privacy policy of the sites you visit to understand their privacy practices before you share personal data.

1. INFORMATION THAT WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU

1.1 Data collection and use

Information we collect directly from you or from the following sources:

  • Referrals or recommendations, including from within the Company group of entities or from a third party;
  • Social media sites and other external internet sites, such as LinkedIn; and
  • Resources such as telephone directories, newspapers, internet sites, commercially available data resources, public registries or public records.

Categories of information we collect about you include:

  • Personal information such as name and title, contact details, and company information;
  • Communications with you;
  • Information you provide when posting content on social media sites.

We use this information for certain activities, including:

  • Facilitating the business through communication with corporate clients and other business contacts, for example, to communicate about vendor briefings or details of conferences or webinars;
  • For internal analysis and research to help us improve our existing products and services, and create new products and services;
  • To send marketing to business contacts regarding our services and products which may be of interest and to promote our business and brand;
  • Administering our website, investigating any complaints and providing customer service;
  • Monitoring social media content to manage relations with our clients and promote our business and brand.

We use this information because:

  • It is necessary to perform our obligations or exercise our contractual rights;
  • It is necessary to comply with applicable laws or regulations;
  • We have a legitimate business interest to:
    • Manage and promote our business and brand;
    • Provide and improve our services;
    • Maintain the safety, security and integrity of our properties, databases, technology assets and business;
    • Operate our business; and
  • We have your consent (where required under applicable law) to use your information for marketing. Where we rely on your consent, you have the right to withdraw consent by contacting us.

Information we collect when you register for, and attend one of our virtual or in-person conferences:

Categories of information we collect about you include:

  • Information you provide during registration, such as name, business email address, profile photograph, job title, professional interests, requested accommodation, and payment card information;
  • Information you provide throughout the conference to receive additional research or materials (e.g., via badge scan or QR scan);
  • Geo-location information at an in-person conference (if you attend a conference where we are using RFID-enabled badges and you do not request a non-RFID-enabled badge);
  • Information collected when we record one of our conferences.

We use this information for certain activities, including:

  • Enabling you to attend our conferences;
  • Conducting our conferences;
  • Sending research and material related to topics that may be of interest to you;
  • Analyzing attendee interests in and interactions with the conference, including through geo-location data for in-person conferences, where applicable;
  • Marketing our conferences through the use of video;
  • Providing recordings of certain conference sessions to interested business contacts, attendees, and online through our website or our social media sites.

We use this information because:

  • It is necessary to perform our obligations or exercise our contractual rights;
  • It is necessary to comply with applicable laws or regulations;
  • We have a legitimate business interest to:
    • Manage and promote our business and brand;
    • Operate our conferences business;
    • Provide and improve our services;
    • Collect relevant information for hospitality and health and safety purposes.

Information we collect from users of:

  • Our public and member-based websites;
  • Our apps and our website browser extensions; and
  • Our social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter.

Categories of information we collect about you include:

  • Information you provide when you enter information on our website, such as when you provide contact details, payment card information, answer online questionnaires, or feedback forms;
  • Information you provide when you subscribe to email newsletters such as name, email address, job title;
  • Information you provide when registering for an online or member account, including name, business or personal email address, job title, organization, organization’s physical address, direct telephone number, photograph, and biographical details;
  • Where you have an online or member account, log-in credentials and information about your use of and preferences for these services;
  • When you link your account profile with your LinkedIn profile, we collect information from your profile, including your profile photograph;
  • URLs of webpages visited when you use our Company website extensions.

We use this information for certain activities, including:

  • Enabling you to access your accounts across devices;
  • Personalizing your experience of our website, extension and apps;
  • Administering our website, extension, and apps;
  • For internal analysis and research to help us improve our existing products and services, and create new products and services;
  • Enabling peer networking opportunities based on your background and experience;
  • Providing more customized client service;
  • Investigating complaints;
  • Monitoring social media content to manage relations with our clients and promote our business and brand.

We use this information because:

  • It is necessary to perform our obligations or exercise our contractual rights;
  • It is necessary to comply with applicable laws or regulations;
  • We have a legitimate business interest to:
    • Promote our brand and business through our website and through social media tools;
    • Monitor, investigate and report any attempts to breach the security of our website;
    • Provide and improve our services including and our apps;
    • Operate our business;
  • We have your consent (where required under applicable law) to use your information for marketing. Where we rely on your consent, you have the right to withdraw consent by contacting us.

Information we collect about the use of our website and apps from users:

Categories of information we collect about you include:

  • Information captured in our web logs such as device information (e.g., device brand and model, screen dimensions), unique identification numbers (e.g., IP address and device ID), and browser information (e.g., URL, browser type, pages visited, date/time of access), geo-location and other device-specific information, Internet connection information;
  • Advertising information (such as size/type of ad, ad impressions, location/format of ad, data about interactions with ad);
  • Behavioral information (such as information on the behavior or presumed interests of individuals which are linked to those individuals and may be used to create a user profile); and
  • Information captured by our cookies (see Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies).

We use this information for certain activities, including:

  • Personalizing the experience of our website;
  • Administering our website;
  • Performing statistical and trend analysis to improve the user experience and performance of our website;
  • Providing better, more customized client service;
  • Detecting and preventing fraudulent and/or unlawful use of our website(s), products and services, including user-provided review content;
  • Investigating any complaints.

We use this information because:

  • It is necessary to comply with applicable laws or regulations;
  • We have a legitimate business interest to:
    • Monitor, investigate and report any attempts to breach the security of our websites;
    • Improve the performance and user experience of our websites;
    • Customize the client experience.

Information we collect from participants of a survey or diagnostic:

Categories of information we collect about you include:

  • Personal information such as name and title, contact details, and company name; and
  • Demographic information provided by your employer and
  • Responses to survey or diagnostic questions.

We use this information for certain activities, including:

  • Validating and analyzing survey and diagnostics;
  • Conducting general research, including creating or updating aggregate benchmark data sets and reports;
  • Providing our services; and
  • Developing new products and services.

We use this information because:

  • We have a legitimate business interest to:
    • Provide and update benchmark data and analysis; and
    • Validate and update our products and services.

Information we collect when you create a Company Community profile and participate in either via the website or app:

Categories of information we collect about you include:

  • Information you provide when you create a profile, including: name and title, contact details (including your personal and company email addresses), and company information;
  • A photograph, video, or audio file containing your image or voice;
  • Information you choose to add to your profile, including links to your LinkedIn and/or Twitter profiles;
  • Communications with you;
  • Contributions you make to either platform, including discussion questions, responses to various surveys or polls, reviews, etc.;
  • Information you provide when you subscribe to email newsletters such as name, email address, job title;
  • Log-in credentials and information about your use of and preferences for participating in our community programs;
  • When you link your account and/or your profile with your LinkedIn profile, we collect information from your profile, including your profile photograph.

We use this information for certain activities, including:

  • To provide the service;
  • To send notices about your account;
  • Enabling you to access your account across devices;
  • Personalizing your Community experience;
  • For internal analysis and research to help us improve our existing and create new products and services;
  • Administering our website and app, investigating any complaints and providing customer service;
  • To administer contests, promotions, and surveys or other features;
  • To contact you about products and services that may be of interest, including third parties’ goods and services;
  • Enabling peer networking opportunities.

We use this information because:

  • It is necessary to provide the service;
  • It is necessary to perform our obligations or exercise our contractual rights;
  • It is necessary to comply with applicable laws or regulations;
  • We have a legitimate business interest to:
    • Manage and promote our businesses and brands;
    • Monitor, investigate and report any attempts to breach the security of our Website;
    • Provide and improve our services;
    • Operate our business;
  • We have your consent (where required under applicable law) to use your information for marketing. Where we rely on your consent, you have the right to withdraw consent by contacting us.

1.2 Special Categories of Information

Certain types of personal information are more sensitive than others. This includes information about health, disability, race, ethnicity, criminal offenses (or alleged offenses), political opinions, biometric information, or religion. It is voluntary for you to disclose this information, but where we collect and receive these types of information about you, we have identified the type of special information, how we will use it and why we will use it.

Information we collect when you attend one of our virtual or in-person conferences:

Categories of information we collect about you include:

  • Dietary requirements that may imply specific religious beliefs or medical conditions.
  • Any physical or mental disability or impairment you may disclose to us.

We use this information for certain activities, including:

  • Providing hospitality that is suitable for attendees of our conferences.

We use this information because:

  • You have consented by providing us with the information. Where we rely on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent by contacting us.

Special category information that you choose to provide voluntarily as part of a survey or diagnostic:

Categories of information we collect about you include:

  • Certain surveys or diagnostics may be configured to collect optional demographics such as race, ethnicity, or disability status.

We use this information for certain activities, including:

  • Validating and analyzing survey and diagnostics;
  • Conducting general research, including creating or updating aggregate benchmark data sets and reports;
  • Providing our services; and
  • Developing new products and services.

We use this information because:

  • You have consented by providing us with the information. Where we rely on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent by contacting us.

1.3 Further Information

Where we collect and use information for our legitimate interests as mentioned above, a legitimate interest will only apply when we consider that your interests or rights requiring protection of your personal information do not override our legitimate interests. For more information regarding our legitimate interests as applied to your personal information, please contact us.

Our websites and online services are for individuals who are at least 18 years old. Our online services are not designed to be used by individuals under the age of 18.

In certain circumstances, if you do not provide personal information which is required (for example, in relation to activating your Company community license), we will not be able to perform our contractual obligations or provide you with products and services. When this is the case, we will make it clear.

Recorded Communications with The Company

We may ask to record calls for training, quality, and research purposes. All recordings will be treated as confidential. If you do not want us to record your call, you will be given a chance to opt out. If your call is already in progress, you may ask us to turn off the recording at the start of the call.

Communication with Colleagues

You may use the send-to-colleague functionality on some of our sites or apps to send your colleagues information from the Company. In order to fulfill this request, we will ask you for your and your colleagues’ names and email addresses. We do not retain this data after the email is sent. Please be aware that your name and email address may be included in the communication sent to your colleague.

Payment Card Information

Where you choose to pay for any of our products or services using your payment card, we will collect your personal data connected to your payment card. We use this personal data in order to process your payment and to prevent fraudulent transactions. We do this on the basis of your consent to process this information.  We use third-party processors to tokenize and/or anonymize this sensitive data.

My Favorites

The My Favorites feature of our websites allows clients to save content available to the client’s Favorites list, add labels, tags, and notes to saved content, and share content and notes with and receive content and notes from other clients. We may review information about your use of My Favorites, including the content you save, folders you create, any tags, labels, or notes you add to your saved content or folders you have created, and any content that you share, and use such information to recommend content, tools, or other services we think may be of interest to you. Information about your use of My Favorites will only be accessible to us and will not be visible to or otherwise shared with other Company clients unless you choose to share it.

Restricted Areas

If you access the Restricted Areas of any of our sites (via browser or a Company app), we may collect information about your access to and use of research materials, decision-support tools, and other online and offline resources we offer.

General Benchmarking and Research Purposes

We may use information disclosed through surveys or diagnostics or otherwise provided to or generated by us (collectively “Research Data”) for validation, research, and benchmarking purposes and product development. Unless otherwise specified prior to collection, Research Data will be disclosed in the aggregate and presented in anonymous form and will not include (directly or by inference) any information identifying participating organizations or any identifiable individual as the source of such data. Access to Research Data will be restricted to those individuals who need such access to deliver our products and/or services.

Algorithm Recommendation

Basic Principles

We recommend content & topics based on users’ role, industry, and activities with us. Users’ activities include research content users read, topics that were followed, webinars views, discussions with us. Recommendations depend on the freshness of the content and the popularity of the content amongst similar users.

Our algorithm will refine over time based on users’ continuous interactions with us in order to provide high-quality, decision-relevant content.

Computation Mechanism

We take users’ roles, industries, and activities data (primarily users’ readership, topic follow data) to train deep learning recommendation models. Most models only update daily with some reacting close to real-time to users’ actions.

Our models predict the most relevant content and topics that users are interested in after adjusting for user entitlements and use-case-specific suppressions.

Use Cases

Primarily used in:

  • Recommended contents and topics on our website home pages
  • Recommended related contents within the context of research content
  • Recommended contents delivered through in-app notifications & emails

Purposes

Surfacing high-quality, decision-relevant contents to enable users to make better and faster decisions and make progress on their priorities.

2. When We Disclose Your Personal Information

We may disclose your personal information to third parties as follows:

  • To any of our affiliated companies in order to process the data for the above-mentioned purposes;
  • When we have your consent or authorization to do so;
  • When you engage directly with an exhibitor at an in-person or virtual conference e.g., when you allow an exhibitor to scan your badge (at an in-person conference) or attend a virtual sponsored session (during a virtual conference);
  • To third parties who work on our behalf to service or maintain business contact databases and other IT systems, e.g., suppliers of the IT systems which we use to process personal information, or who provide other technical services, such as printing;
  • To third parties providing services to us or on our behalf who have a need to access your information, e.g., our professional advisors (e.g., auditors and lawyers) or venues for our conferences;
  • To comply with applicable laws, protect rights, safety, and property, and respond to lawful requests from public authorities (e.g., disclosing data in appropriate situations for national security or law enforcement purposes);
  • Subject to applicable law, in the event that we are merged, sold, or in the event of a transfer of some or all of our assets (including in bankruptcy), or in the event of another corporate change, in connection with such a transaction, or for pre-transaction review in relation to such transactions.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personally identifiable information to third parties for their marketing purposes without your consent. Your personal information may be shared if we anonymize and/or aggregate it, as in these circumstances the information will cease to be personal information.

Utilization Information

We may share information with our organizational clients about how their employees use the sites and the resources available to them through the sites (e.g., how employees used certain features of the sites, utilization trends, which features were most popular with the client’s employees).

3. Data Subject Rights

In certain circumstances, you have certain rights regarding your personal information. A summary of each right and how you can exercise it is set out below. To opt out of receiving commercial communications, please send an email to privacy@theauthoritycompany.com. To exercise any of your other rights (such as the right to access or deletion of your information), please send an email to privacy@theauthoritycompany.com.Such requests should include information to allow us to verify your identity (e.g., your name, address, email address or other information reasonably required). If you are a California resident, please refer to Section 10 below for more detailed information on your rights under California law.

Where we receive your request to exercise one of these rights, we will respond without undue delay and within the time required by applicable law. This may be extended in certain circumstances, e.g., where requests are complex or numerous.

We will provide the information free of charge, except where requests are manifestly unfounded or excessive, e.g., because of their repetitive character. In these circumstances, we may charge a reasonable fee or may refuse to act on the request. We will advise you of any fees prior to proceeding with a request. We may ask for additional information to verify your identity before carrying out a request.

Right to Access and/or Correct Your Personal Information

You have the right to access personal information we hold about you and to be provided with a copy of the information (in most circumstances). You also have the right to correct any information we may hold about you that is inaccurate.

Right to Restrict Use of Your Personal Information

You have the right to ask us to restrict processing of your personal information where one of the following applies:

  • The processing is unlawful but you want us to restrict use of the data instead of deleting it;
  • Where you contest the accuracy of your personal information, the restriction will apply until we have verified the accuracy or corrected your personal information;
  • We no longer require the personal information for the purposes of processing but are required to keep it in connection with a legal claim;
  • You have exercised your right to object to the processing. The restriction will apply until we have taken steps to verify whether we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue processing.

Right to Request Deletion of Your Personal Information

You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances. If you want to opt-out from receiving marketing communications, the best way to do so is to allow us to retain your information with a “do not contact” tag so we know not to contact you in the future.

There are also certain exceptions where we may refuse a request for erasure, for example, where the personal information is required to comply with a legal obligation or for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

Right to Object to Processing of Your Personal Information

You may object to our use of your personal information for marketing purposes.

You may also object to the processing of your personal information in cases where we have used legitimate interests as the basis for processing. In such cases, we will stop processing your personal information until we verify that we have compelling legitimate grounds for processing that outweigh your interests, rights, and freedoms in asking us to stop processing the data, or in limited cases where we need to continue processing the data for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

Right to Data Portability

In most cases, you have the right to receive all personal information you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit this data to another data controller, where technically feasible.

4. International Visitors

If you are accessing the Site from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where our servers are located and our central database is operated. The data protection laws in the United States may differ from those of your country. By using the Site and providing your information, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States and the use of it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

5. Retention Periods

We will retain your personal information for as long as required to perform the purposes for which the data was collected, depending on the legal basis for which that data was obtained and/or whether additional legal/regulatory obligations require us to retain it.

In general terms, this will mean that your personal information will be kept for the duration of our relationship with you and:

  • the period required by tax and company laws and regulations; and
  • as long as it is necessary for you to be able to bring a claim against us and for us to be able to defend ourselves against any legal claims. This will generally be the length of the relationship plus the length of any applicable statutory limitation period under local laws.

6. Choices About Your Information

We believe it is important to give you choices about the use of your information. We will use your information as described in this Policy (or any other conference- or service-specific Privacy Policy). If we want to use your information for a purpose not described in this Policy, we will first get your consent to do so.

Marketing Communications

We will respect your wishes not to receive marketing communications. You can change your marketing preferences by contacting us at the address here. If you gave us your email address to receive marketing communications, you can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe links or instructions included at the bottom of our emails. Please note that we will continue to send you service-related communications regardless of any opt-out request. We will not sell or share your information with third parties (other than our subsidiaries or affiliates) for their own promotional or marketing purposes unless you give us consent to do so and where permitted by applicable law.

7. Security

We have implemented administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help prevent unauthorized access. Despite these measures, no data transmission over the Internet can be entirely secure, and we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit via our websites or apps. Please note that you are responsible for maintaining the security of your credentials used to access any Company service or account, and you must report suspected unauthorized activity to us.

We make reasonable efforts to restrict access to information to only those employees, contractors, and agents who need such access in order to operate, develop, improve, or deliver our programs, products, and services.

8. Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies

A cookie is a small text file which includes a unique identifier that is sent by a web server to the browser on your computer, mobile phone or any other internet-enabled device when you visit an online site. Cookies and similar technologies are widely used to make websites work efficiently and to collect information about your online preferences. For simplicity, we refer to all these technologies as “cookies”.

Some of our website pages may contain electronic images known as web beacons (also known as clear gifs, tags or pixels) that allow us to count users who have visited our pages. Web beacons collect only limited information, e.g. a cookie number, time and date of a page view, and a description of the page on which the web beacon resides. We may also carry web beacons placed by third-party advertisers. These beacons do not carry any information that could directly identify you.

We also include web beacons in e-mail messages or newsletters to track whether you open the messages. We use this information to customize our services and measure the overall effectiveness of our online content, advertising campaigns, and products and services we offer through the Site. Flash cookies operate differently than browser cookies, and cookie management tools available in a web browser will not remove flash cookies.

We use the following types of Cookies:

Essential Cookies. Essential Cookies are required for providing you with features or services that you have requested. For example, certain Cookies enable you to log into secure areas of our Services. Disabling these Cookies may make certain features and services unavailable.

Functional Cookies. Functional Cookies are used to record your choices and settings regarding our Services, maintain your preferences over time and recognize you when you return to our Services. These Cookies help us to personalize our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).

Performance/Analytical Cookies. Performance/Analytical Cookies allow us to understand how visitors use our Services. They do this by collecting information about the number of visitors to the Services, what pages visitors view on our Services and how long visitors are viewing pages on the Services. Performance/Analytical Cookies also help us measure the performance of our advertising campaigns in order to help us improve our campaigns and the Services’ content for those who engage with our advertising. For example, Google LLC (“Google”) uses cookies in connection with its Google Analytics services. We use Google Analytics Demographics & Interests reports to improve our Site, track our success at reaching audiences, and optimize delivery of Site and ad content specifically targeted to your interests based on your use of our Site. We also use Google Display Network Impression Reporting in order to understand the effectiveness of different ad types across various platforms, and remarketing with Google Analytics to deliver relevant ads to you based on your use of our Site. We may use additional Google products and services that require Google Analytics to collect data for advertising purposes. We will not combine non-personally identifiable information collected through Google Analytics with your Personal Data. We will not attempt to disaggregate data that Google reports in aggregate. The Google Analytics Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy govern Google’s ability to use and share information collected through Google Analytics. You can prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics by using the Google Analytics Opt-Out tool at www.google.com/privacy_ads.html or the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

Retargeting/Advertising Cookies. Retargeting/Advertising Cookies collect data about your online activity and identify your interests so that we can provide advertising that we believe is relevant to you. For more information about this, please see the section below titled “Information about Interest-Based Advertisements.” SXSW works with advertisers that use tracking technology (e.g., Meta Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Twitter Pixel, etc.) to collect information about your Site activity and third party website activity that allows us to customize the content and advertising that is delivered to you. We may also use third party tracking technology to generate analytics reports used to improve our Site, track our success at reaching audiences, and optimize delivery of Site and ad content specifically targeted to your interests based on your use of our Site. We will not combine non-personally identifiable information collected through third party advertiser tracking with your Personal Data. We will not attempt to disaggregate data that third parties report in aggregate.

Deactivating Cookies. You can block collection of your information and Site activity by turning off Cookies. You will find further information on how to turn off Cookies in the support page of your respective browser. Deactivating cookies may hinder our ability to provide you with certain services or your ability to enjoy certain features of the Site.

To explore what cookie and Tracking Technologies settings are available to you or to modify your preferences with respect to cookies and Tracking Technologies, you can access your Cookie management settings by clicking here.  To find out more information about Cookies generally, including information about how to manage and delete Cookies, please visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org/ or https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies/ if you are located in the European Union.

How We Use Cookie and Web Beacon Information. The information collected by cookies and web beacons helps us dynamically generate content on the Site or in emails specifically designed for you, allows us to monitor Site traffic (i.e., where a user is geographically located, device type, browser selection, referring website, Site navigation, demographic information), and provide advertising tailored to you, as discussed in detail in the Marketing and Promotions section.

We may serve advertisements, and also allow third party ad networks, including third party ad servers, ad agencies, ad technology vendors and research firms, to serve advertisements through the Services. These advertisements may be targeted to users who fit certain general profile categories or display certain preferences or behaviors (“Interest-Based Ads”). Information for Interest-Based Ads (including Personal Data) may be provided to us by you or derived from the usage patterns of particular users on the Services and/or services of third parties. Such information may be gathered through tracking users’ activities across time and unaffiliated properties, including when you leave the Services. To accomplish this, we or our service providers may deliver Cookies, including a file (known as a “web beacon”) from an ad network to you through the Services. Web beacons allow ad networks to provide anonymized, aggregated auditing, research and reporting for us and for advertisers. Web beacons also enable ad networks to serve targeted advertisements to you when you visit other websites. Web beacons allow ad networks to view, edit or set their own Cookies on your browser, just as if you had requested a web page from their site.

9. Miscellaneous

9.1 Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, legal requirements, and other factors. When we update the policy, we will revise the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information. If we make significant changes to this Privacy Policy, we may also notify you via email or through a notice on the Site.

9.2 Children’s Privacy

Our websites are not intended for use by children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information as soon as possible.

10. California Privacy Rights & Notice of Collection

California law requires us to provide California residents with additional information regarding how we collect, use, and share your personal information.

Categories of Personal Information We Collect

In Section 1 above, and otherwise throughout this Policy, we discuss in detail the specific pieces of information we collect from and about users. Below are the categories of personal information we collect:

  • Identifiers (such as name and title, contact details, and company name);
  • Internet or other network or device activity (such as browsing history or app usage);
  • Inference data about you; and
  • Other information that identifies or can be reasonably associated with you.

Use of Categories of Personal Information

We may disclose the categories of personal information identified above for our operational purposes where the use is reasonably necessary and proportionate to achieve the operational purpose for which it was collected or processed, or for another compatible operational purpose.

Sale of Personal Information

Based on the definition of “sell” under California law and under current regulatory guidance, we do not believe we engage in such activity and have not engaged in such activity in the past twelve months (including that we do not “sell” the personal information of minors under 16 years of age).

Sharing of Personal Information

We do share certain information as set forth in Sections 1 and 2 of this Policy, and allow third parties to collect certain information about your activity, for example through cookies, as explained in Section 8. Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies. You can opt-out of sharing your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising by emailing us at privacy@theauthoritycompany.com. Please note that if you opt out of this sharing, you may still continue to see advertising on other Company websites, but those ads may not be as relevant to you. Sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising is limited to data collected from our public websites and does not occur when individuals are logged into their Company account.

Individual Rights

California law may provide you with certain rights and permit you to request the following:

  • Provide you the categories of personal information we have collected or disclosed about you in the last twelve months; the categories of sources of such information; the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling your personal information; and the categories of third parties with whom we shared personal information.
  • Provide access to and/or a copy of certain information we hold about you.
  • Delete certain information we have about you.

You may have the right to receive information about the financial incentives that we offer to you (if any). You also have the right to not be discriminated against (as provided for in applicable law) for exercising certain of your rights. Certain information may be exempt from such requests under applicable law. For example, we need certain types of information so that we can provide the Services to you and for compliance with applicable law. If you ask us to delete certain information, you may no longer be able to access or use the Services.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please email us at privacy@theauthoritycompany.com  or send your written request to

Advantage Media Group, Inc.

ATTN: Global Data Protection Office Legal Department

18 Broad Street, Suite 300

Charleston, SC  29401

You will be required to verify your identity before we fulfill your request. You can also designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. To do so, you must provide us with written authorization or a power of attorney, signed by you, for the agent to act on your behalf. You will still need to verify your identity directly with us.

Subject to certain limits under California Civil Code § 1798.83, California residents may request certain information regarding our disclosure of information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please contact us as specified at the beginning of this Privacy Policy.

California Online Privacy Protection Act Notice Concerning Do Not Track Signals

Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. We do not recognize or respond to browser-related DNT signals, as the industry is currently working toward a common approach to responding to DNT. To learn more about Do Not Track, please  email us at privacy@theauthoritycompany.com.

11. Other State Privacy Rights

Other State laws require us to provide certain consumers privacy rights pertaining to the collection, use, and disclosure of their personal data by businesses; as well as the ability to opt out of the “sale” of “personally identifiable information” as such terms are defined under these state laws. We do not engage in such activity; however, if you have purchased goods or services from us, you may submit a request to opt out of any potential future sales of your data by emailing privacy@theauthoritycompany.com. Once verified, we will maintain your request in the event our practices change.