KidzEyes Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy describes how KidzEyes collects, uses, shares, and retains personally identifiable information you and your children provide. If you have questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy that aren't addressed below, you can contact us at privacy@kidzeyes.com.
KidzEyes
KidzEyes.com is an online marketing research panel, made up of kids aged 6 to 12, owned and managed by C+R Research Services, Inc., a marketing research company located at 150 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois and at www.crresearch.com.
KidzEyes.com conducts marketing research projects of various kinds among its panel members and their families on our research website, www.netcrimson.com. If parents provide consent, we email kids invitations to participate in surveys and other kinds of projects, and ask them questions about themselves and their activities, their opinions about products, services, advertising and marketing, and their reactions to ideas for new products. By participating in surveys, kids have the opportunity to earn KidzPoints. KidzPoints totals can be accessed on our website. We do not seek parental consent before sending each specific communication to kids. Instead, by giving their consent for their children to become members of KidzEyes, parents or guardians agree to allow us contact their children directly and invite them to participate in the projects we conduct.
KidzEyes may occasionally invite members to participate in projects hosted at sites operated by one of our clients or partners, which will adhere to policies and standards comparable to KidzEyes' own. In such cases, we will inform parents or guardians of our intention before inviting their child to participate, and obtain their permission to include their child in the project before proceeding. At this time, we will explain the nature of the project, the type of information we will collect, and provide the name, address, and other contact information of the site operator. Parents or guardians have the option to decline to allow their child to participate in such projects without affecting their children’s membership in KidzEyes.
The results of the research we conduct is used by our clients to design new products or services to be marketed to kids and their families, to improve existing products, and to develop advertising or marketing programs for kids and families.
Modifications to this Privacy Policy
From time to time, KidzEyes may need to update or modify this Privacy Policy, in order to address new issues or to reflect changes on our web sites, including our site located www.kidzeyes.com (the “Sites”). To the extent required by law, we will notify you of material changes to this Privacy Policy, including posting the most recent version of the Privacy Policy and information about the changes from the previous version on the Sites.
Privacy and Online Safety
We urge parents to discuss the rules of safe online behavior with their kids. KidzEyes recommends that concerned parents and guardians go with their kids to Nickelodeon's guide to safe online behavior at http://www.nick.com/blab/safety/index.jhtml. This is a simple, straightforward guide, written in terms that kids will understand. We also recommend Yahoo’s terrific collection of online resources at http://kids.yahoo.com/parents/online-safety. Other links containing useful information for parents and children include: http://www.commonsensemedia.org, http://www.safekids.com and http://kids.getnetwise.org.
How we communicate with KidzEyes members
We use email as our main means of communication with KidzEyes members and their parents or guardians, using the address given to us by their parent or guardian.
Whenever we email an invitation for one of our projects to KidzEyes panel members, we will also send an email to their parent or guardian with a link to the project. Parents or guardians can view any project in which their child has been invited to participate.
Parent/Legal Guardian Consent
In order for a child to become a member of the KidzEyes.com panel and to participate in research projects, their parent or legal guardian must register them as members and give their permission for their kids to join. Parents can get the consent process started by going to "Join Now" and providing information about themselves and their child(ren). Before the registration process will be completed, however, parents must provide verifiable consent using one of the following four options:
1. Mail the signed permission form (available online) to KidzEyes, c/o C+R Research, 150 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60601;
2. Sign the permission form, scan the signed permission form and email a PDF file to memberinfo@kidzeyes.com
3. Fax the signed permission form to KidzEyes at 312 828-0553; or
4. Call our toll-free telephone number,1-800-KIDZEYES (1-800-543-9393) and press "1" during our working hours, 9:00am – 5:00pm, Central Time.
Parents or guardians have the option to agree to the collection and use of the child’s information without consenting to the disclosure of the information to third parties. You should be aware that COPPA (The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) prohibits us from requiring your child to provide any more information than reasonably necessary to participate in an activity.
The Information We Collect and How It Is Used
We collect three kinds of information in connection with KidzEyes.com: (1) the opinions of KidzEyes panel members and their parents or guardians about issues of interest to us or our clients; (2) background information about the KidzEyes panel members, their parents or guardians, and their households as described in more detail below; and (3) personally identifiable information about the kids who are members of our panel, and their parents or guardians, including, for example, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, and demographic information. The way this information is used is as follows:
1. Information about the opinions and activities of KidzEyes panel members and their parents or guardians about issues of interest to us or our clients. In surveys conducted by KidzEyes, kids are asked questions that may cover any number of areas, but generally will involve products or services that are marketed for kids and families. Examples of such products and services include food products, snacks, beverages, Internet services, TV shows, movies, toys, video games, clothing, music products, sports, styles, and trends. Except as otherwise disclosed, survey results are reported to our clients or others in aggregate - 43% of survey participants thought this-or-that, or 23% of elementary-school-aged boys were aware of something-or-other. This information will be shared with our clients and other third parties without disclosing the identity of any child, parent or guardian.
In some cases we conduct projects that collect and report information about individual kids’ opinions and/or activities. For instance, we occasionally conduct studies in which kids are asked to create journals, sometimes accompanied by photos or videos, of things they do, products they use, and the like. In these cases we may report the project participants’ names, addresses, or other identifying information in our report to our clients and business partners.
2. Background information about the KidzEyes panel members, their parents or guardians, and their households. During the process of registering their child to become a member of the KidzEyes.com panel, and from time-to-time thereafter, parents or legal guardians will be asked a number of questions about their children, themselves and their households, such as how many children live in their household, whether they have cable or satellite TV, or whether they have a cable modem, video games, or other electronics. This information is used to help us determine which panel members should be invited to take part in the projects we conduct, and to better understand what we learn from them. For instance, if we were to conduct a survey about cable TV shows for kids, we would want to invite panel members whose households had cable service.
Background information is combined with survey opinion data and reported to our clients in non-identifiable aggregate form except as otherwise disclosed.
3. Additional uses of personally identifiable information. When a parent or guardian registers a child to become a member of the KidzEyes.com panel, we collect personal information (such as name, email address, physical address and phone number) in order to communicate with them about their child’s membership, about KidzEyes generally, about C+R Research, and about other products and services that we believe the parent or guardian may be interested in, or for other legitimate business purposes.
KidzEyes.com may share this information with a fulfillment (mailing) house or check processing company in order to send gifts or prizes to KidzEyes panel members, or to other vendors or subcontractors of KidzEyes. In the event of a sale of all or part of our business, we may share personally identifiable information with the buyer. We may also share information if we believe we are legally obligated to do so, to protect ourselves or our members, or to otherwise assist government or law enforcement. We may also share information with our clients, as described in this policy, or as otherwise described to you.
We may also use information you submit or that we may maintain about you or your child to tailor your and your child’s experience at our sites. We retain personally identifiable information for as long as necessary for our legitimate business purposes, and as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
Data Security
To help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and help ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place what we believe to be appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect.
We cannot guarantee, however, that the information we collect will remain secure. The Internet by its nature is a public medium, and we encourage you and your child to use caution when disclosing information online.
Passive Online Data Collection
KidzEyes collects certain information passively, such as collecting online, non-identifying information (browser used, type of computer, or operating system, for example) through the use of cookies, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address tracking, or other means. We use passive tracking techniques to help us uniquely identify the computer(s) you use to help identify fraud, identify those who have completed certain surveys, to customize your experience, and for other legitimate and lawful purposes.
Some of the projects we design may require certain other software to be installed – Flash, for instance – so we use passively tracked information to determine whether a panel member's computer is capable of displaying those. If a project requires some particular software, operating system, or browser and your computer does not have them, you may be able to install them, if you choose to do so. If you are not able to bring your computer into compliance with the survey requirements, or you choose not to do so, you will not be able to participate in that project.
How You Can Access Or Correct Information
Our site provides parents and guardians the opportunity to access personally identifiable information about their child(ren) and households by visiting KidzEyes Login Page. There, or by calling KIDZEYES (1-800-543-9393), or sending a letter to the mail address listed below, they can review the personal information about their child(ren) and households, update or correct the data, or indicate that they wish to withdraw permission for their children to participate in KidzEyes. You may be asked to verify your identity, including by providing your child’s member name and your full name or email address.
How To Contact Us
Should you have other questions or concerns about KidzEyes, please write to us at KidzEyes, 150 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60601 or send us an email at privacy@kidzeyes.com.