Cookie Policy
LAST UPDATED: July 20, 2019 (summary of changes)
Introduction
Hi there! The following Cookie and Tracking Technology Policy is designed to help you understand how Chorus Connection uses various web tracking technologies (including for advertising purposes), and what your options are to control our use of them. This Cookie and Tracking Technology Policy is an addendum to our Privacy Policy. Any capitalized terms not specifically defined in this Cookie and Tracking Technology Policy retain their meaning as defined in our Privacy Policy.
Cookies
Cookies are small data files that get saved on your device when you visit websites. Cookies are widely used by online service providers and serve a number of different purposes. Some cookies are used by service providers as part of the core functionality of their websites (“Essential Cookies”). Others are used to keep track of the options you select on a website to make your life easier if you visit the same website again (“Customization Cookies”). Some are used to help online service providers understand how their websites are being used (“Analytics Cookies”). And finally, some are used for purposes related to advertising (“Advertising Cookies”).
In some cases, cookies are sent to your device by the website you’re visiting (“First-Party Cookies”). In other cases, websites partner with other companies in order to offer special features or functionality, and those other companies will store cookies on your device (“Third-Party Cookies”).
Web Beacons
Web beacons (also known as “pixels” or “clear gifs”) are another common tracking tool. These small graphics files are typically transparent images 1 pixel wide and 1 pixel tall (roughly the size of the period at the end of this sentence), and are often used for analytics and advertising purposes. When used in emails, web beacons can identify when someone has opened an email, and they’re used extensively by email marketing services for this reason. When used on websites, web beacons may permit us or a third party to save cookies to your browser. Web beacons are used in combination with these cookies to monitor a visitor’s behavior across different websites, and are commonly used by online advertising services.
How and Why We Use Tracking Technology
We use tracking technologies for a range of different purposes. Here are some of the more common examples.
Essential Cookies
When you log in to Chorus Connection, we use Essential Cookies to remember who you are. This makes it possible for you to use the Site without needing to log in every time you visit a new page or take an action.
Customization Cookies
We use Customization Cookies to keep track of information you submit on the Site. For example, let’s say you want to download our database of 1000 Grants for Community Choruses. When you fill out the form on that page, we ask you for a number of pieces of information, including your name and email address. Next week, if you want to download our 101 Free Tools for Choirs, the Customization Cookies we stored on your device will allow us to pre-populate the data in those fields so that you don’t have to spend time entering the information again.
Analytics Cookies
To help us better understand how people use the Site, we use Analytics Cookies to give us both aggregate and individual data. For example, at the aggregate level, these cookies tell us how many people have visited each page on the Site and what devices and web browsers they are using. On an individual level, Analytics Cookies allow us to keep track of an individual’s behavior on the Site.
We use individual information gathered by Analytics Cookies to inform our sales or marketing efforts. We also use this data to help us provide better information and services to Visitors, Subscribers, Users, and Ticket Purchasers. For example, if you happen to be visiting our pricing page, these cookies make it possible for us to send you a quick message via live chat, asking if you have any questions about our pricing.
Advertising Cookies
We use Advertising Cookies to track your activities across time and services for purposes of associating the different devices you use, and to provide you with relevant ads and/or other content on the Site and third-party websites after you have left the Site. For example, if you’ve spent time looking at the fundraising resources on our blog, when we publish more fundraising resources in the future, Advertising Cookies make it easier for us to let you know about those additional resources. Advertising Cookies also help us avoid sending you messages that aren’t relevant to you. For example, if your choir is already using Chorus Connection, we’ll try to avoid sending you advertising encouraging you to start a free trial.
Web Beacons
We use Web Beacons in emails to Subscribers (“Marketing Emails”), emails to Users and Ticket Purchasers (“Transactional Emails”), and on our website.
In Marketing Emails, Web Beacons allow us to track when you open our emails. This helps us better understand what types of choir management resources and information you actually want to read. It also allows us to determine whether you’re still interested in getting our emails. You can always manually unsubscribe from our Marketing Emails, but in addition, we’ll also automatically stop sending you Marketing Emails if you’ve stopped interacting with such emails for an extended period of time. We don’t like spam any more than you do, and this is one of the many ways we try to be respectful of your inbox.
We put Web Beacons in Transactional Emails (e.g. password reset emails, payment receipts, etc.) so we can monitor for problems. If we notice that open rates for our Transactional Emails have plummeted unexpectedly, it’s a sign that something is wrong (e.g. our email servers might be on a blacklist that’s causing email service providers to treat our Transactional Emails as spam), and we are able to proactively investigate and address the issue.
We primarily use Web Beacons on our website for the same reasons we use Advertising Cookies. In particular, Web Beacons help us present you with information that is most likely to be relevant to you, including via advertising on third-party websites.
Third Parties
The Site contains tracking technologies owned and operated by third parties. For example, we use tracking technologies from third-party analytics providers, such as Google Analytics, to help us analyze your use of the Site, compile aggregated reports on Site activity, and provide us with other related services. We also work with advertising-related services to serve targeted ads on third-party websites. The information collected and stored by third parties remains subject to their own policies and practices, including what information they share with us, your rights and choices on their services and devices, and whether they store information in the United States or elsewhere.
You can use the browser add-on Ghostery to see which third-party tracking technologies are used on the Site and other websites you visit. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with and consult the privacy policies and terms of use of such third parties. If you have any questions about the third-party tracking technologies we are using, please contact us at support@chorusconnection.com.
Managing Tracking Technology
There are a handful of ways you can manage the tracking technologies listed above, both when used by us and third parties.
Browsers
Most web browsers offer you the ability to accept or reject cookies from websites. If you choose to reject Chorus Connection cookies, you can still use the Site, but because we use Essential Cookies, you may find that some functionality doesn’t work as expected. The instructions for managing cookies differ across browsers, so look in your browser’s help menu for more information.
Google Analytics
You can prevent Google Analytics from sending cookies to your browser by visiting Google’s website and downloading the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Targeted Ads
Many advertising networks give you the ability to limit the use of information gathered by Advertising Cookies & Web Beacons for the purposes of targeted online and mobile advertising. To learn more, or to opt out of most targeted ads and limit the use of Advertising Cookies & Web Beacons, you can visit http://preferences-mgr.truste.com, http://optout.aboutads.info, and http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices. For European Union residents, http://www.youronlinechoices.com is also a resource.
Please note that these opt outs generally only affect the web browser you’re using at the time, so you may need to go through the opt out process from each web browser you use. Also note that if you choose to opt out of these targeted ads, you will still see advertisements online, but they will be generic ads geared for a general audience.
Email Opens
If you don’t like email marketing services being able to track your email behavior, you can prevent them from knowing when you open emails. Since email marketing services use small graphics files (Web Beacons) to track email opens, your best option is to avoid loading images in emails. Most common email clients (e.g. Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.) give you this option, but the specifics differ between email clients. Look at the help documentation for the email client(s) you use for additional information.
Do Not Track
Some web browsers have the ability to activate a “Do Not Track” signal. There is currently no consensus around how these signals should be implemented by browsers, so we’ve decided not to respond to these signals right now. As the development of these signals continues, we may decide to respond to them in the future. If we do, we will update this Cookie and Tracking Technology Policy accordingly. To find out more about “Do Not Track” signals, please visit https://www.allaboutdnt.com.
Changes to This Policy
As our company evolves, we may occasionally update this Cookie and Tracking Technology Policy to make the language clearer, reflect new business practices, or for other reasons. We will keep this page updated with the latest version of the Cookie and Tracking Technology Policy. We will also keep prior versions of the Cookie and Tracking Technology Policy on file. If there are ever material revisions to our Cookie and Tracking Technology Policy, we will attempt to notify you via email or a notice on the Site.
Contact Us
To learn more about our use of tracking technologies, to request a copy of a prior version of the Cookie and Tracking Technology Policy, or for any other questions or concerns, please email us at support@chorusconnection.com, or you can reach us by mail at the below address.
MAILING ADDRESS
Attn: Support
Chorus Connection
157 Columbus Ave, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10023