Privacy Policy
In this Privacy Policy, "we", "us" and "our" means WorldGaming.com and its affiliates including, The WG Group Inc., Impact Entertainment LLC (USA) (collectively, "WorldGaming").
We recognize the importance of an individual's right to keep personally identifiable information private. This Privacy Policy explains how we manage and safeguard personal information in the course of operating our business. We are dedicated to adhering to the following principles that relate to the collection, use, retention and disclosure of Personal Information (defined below).
1. Accountability
WorldGaming is accountable for all Personal Information in its control. This includes information under the direct control of WorldGaming, as well as Personal Information that WorldGaming may transfer to its affiliates or to third party service providers for servicing, processing, storage or other purposes that facilitate WorldGaming's business operations. WorldGaming will use contractual or other measures to require third parties that process information or provide services on our behalf to maintain a level of privacy protection comparable to our own practices. By way of example, WorldGaming uses third parties such as payment processing service providers, printing and mailing services, data storage and destruction facilities and outsourced technology support service providers.
Numerous individuals within WorldGaming are responsible for the day-to-day collection and processing of Personal Information, including technical and administration personnel trained for this purpose. However, WorldGaming has a designated Privacy Officer who is responsible for WorldGaming's compliance with applicable privacy legislation as described in this Privacy Policy.
Any questions with regard to the manner in which WorldGaming handles or manages Personal Information should be directed to our Privacy Officer who can be reached as follows:
WorldGaming Privacy Officer
Email:
2. Collection of Personal Information
WorldGaming collects information from its customers through various websites it operates, including WorldGaming.com and forums.WorldGaming.com and sub-sites thereof (the "sites"). Information is collected on the sites when a user creates a user account, through contact forms and surveys, and through their interaction with the sites (for example, information about which games you play, player rating information and player game statistics). Individuals may also disclose information about themselves when they use features on the sites such as user forums, the "Invite Your Friends / Tell-A-Friend" feature or when they contact Customer Care. We collect the names and e-mail addresses of individuals' friends when that individual uses the "Invite Your Friends / Tell-A-Friend" feature on the sites. We may also require you to provide additional personal information, such as a copy of a driver's license, bank statement or utility bill in the process of address and identity verification which is part of the withdrawal process.
A. What information is collected through the sites?
(i) Types of Information
We collect two types of information from you when you visit the sites: information that does not identify you personally ("Non-Personal Information"), and information that does identify you personally ("Personal Information").
Non-Personal Information
Our Web servers may automatically record certain technical information related to your visit to the sites. This information is anonymous and does not identify you personally. It includes things such as: the Internet domain for your Internet service provider; the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer accessing the sites; the address of the last webpage that you visited prior to clicking through to the sites; the browser used and the type of computer operating system that your computer is using; information about your computer hardware; the date and time that you visited the sites; and a record of which pages you viewed while you were visiting the sites. Other information such as demographic information which does not identify an individual is also considered Non-Personal Information. Gamer Information (described below) is also considered Non Personal Information.
(ii) Personal Information
When you create a free, basic user account (a "Basic Account"), you consent to our collection of Personal Information including your email address. If you choose to create an account which will allow you to enter cash games and tournaments (a "Real Money Account"), you will also be required to provide additional information such as your name, gender, date of birth and mailing address. If you choose to make a deposit into your Real Money Account, you will also be required to provide information relevant to your payment method (for example your credit card number and expiry date).
As noted above, the sites also provide you with certain ways to voluntarily give us your Personal Information. You may also use the features of the sites to invite others to create Basic Accounts or Real Money Accounts. We may also collect Personal Information about you if you choose to send us an email message using links contained on the sites. You may also disclose Personal Information when you post content to user forums on the sites or when you contact WorldGaming's Customer Care representatives via live chat or email. Certain information about your activity on the sites is not itself Personal Information (for example, information about your game play preferences) but may be combined with Personal Information by linking it to your account information. For example, the following information ("Gamer Information") is publicly displayed on the sites and is not considered Personal Information for the purposes of this Privacy Policy:
- your UserName or Alias
- your Skill Rating
- your Top Players Ranking (if any) and your WorldGaming Points
- your scores in games and tournaments
- your gaming preferences or your personal motto
- summary of your gaming activity, including when you joined, the number of games that you have played
- winnings from games and tournaments
- any personal information you chose to disclose in a chat window or Forums on the sites
We may include footage of game play in promotional materials such as trailers which may be displayed on the sites, or on websites run by other parties including those of our marketing partners. For example, we may display "play of the week", "highlight reel" or similar content. This content may also include the use of Gamer Information.
In order to provide a fair playing environment for all users and to protect the integrity of the sites, we also collect Personal Information which we use to investigate complaints of cheating or behavior that we believe may be contrary to the Terms of Service, including the Code of Conduct. This may include screenshots of players' computer desktops or footage of in-game play.
In addition to collecting Personal Information directly from visitors to the sites, we may also collect Personal Information from third parties such as marketing partners who have been provided permission to share that information with us.
When you download any WorldGaming Widgetor a WorldGaming application, you may also be provided with the opportunity to download software provided by parties other than WorldGaming (for example, Xfire communications). Please note that when you install and use software provided by third parties, any information that you provide through such use (including Personal Information) will be subject to the privacy policy of that software provider, and not this Privacy Policy.
B. What are "cookies" and how do the sites use them?
A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that is transferred (through your browser) from a website to the hard drive of your computer. The cookie identifies your browser but will not let a website know any Personal Information about you, such as your name or address. These files are then used by such websites as a kind of electronic identification tag when users re visit that site. Since cookies are only text files, they cannot run on your computer, search your computer for other information or transmit any information to anyone.
As with many major websites, the sites use cookies. Cookies are used by the sites so that we can recognize you when you return to the sites and personalize your settings and preferences. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. If you wish, you can change your browser settings either to notify you when you have received a cookie, or to refuse to accept cookies
C. Personal Information about Children
Our sites comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"). We do not allow children under 13 years of age to create accounts on the site and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13 years of age through our sites. In addition, in the event that a visitor to our sites identifies himself or herself as a child under the age of 13, we will not collect, store or use any Personal Information of such individual. In the event that we receive Personal Information that we discover was provided by a child under the age of 13, we will promptly delete such Personal Information in a secure manner.
D. Limits To Collecting Personal Information
We limit the type of mandatory information collected by us: we collect only the Personal Information that is required to accomplish the purpose of managing our relationship with our customers, including the uses described in the following paragraphs under the heading "Use and Disclosure of Personal Information", below.
3. Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
A. Internal Uses
We collect Personal Information to open and maintain customer accounts with us, to contact customers regarding updates of the sites, their account status, new products and services and upcoming events, to collect subscription and entry fees from users, to process payments, to prevent fraud and to protect the integrity of the sites and to deliver prizes to users. We use your date of birth and address information to ensure that you comply with our Terms of Service and are permitted to create an account where you reside. We also collect Personal Information to facilitate a fair game play environment and for fraud prevention. We may also, but do not have any obligation to, use Personal Information to contact customers regarding changes to the Terms of Service for the sites and any other policies or agreements relevant to the sites. If an individual uses the "Invite Your Friends / Tell-A-Friend" feature, we will use the name and e-mail address that that individual provides to invite his or her friend to create a user account.
In addition to the uses above, we use Personal Information for feedback and marketing purposes, to promote goods and services we believe you may be interested in, to provide a product or service requested by you, to notify you of changes to our products and services, and to customize and improve the content and layout of the sites. When you create your account, you can customize these preferences. If you wish to change your account preferences to modify the ways that we contact you, please contact Customer Care or use the "unsubscribe" link included in all email messages sent on our behalf.
B. Transfers to third parties
In addition to sharing information between WorldGaming entities for the purposes above, in order to fulfill such purposes and to better serve our customers, we may transfer Personal Information to third parties who are legally or contractually obligated to keep such information private. For example, as described above, WorldGaming uses third parties such as payment processing service providers, printing and mailing services, data storage and destruction facilities and outsourced technology support service providers. Third parties to whom information is provided may be located in the United States, Canada, Panama or elsewhere.
C. Disclosures to third parties
In addition to transfers of Personal Information, we may also disclose any Personal Information you provide us to third parties such as marketing partners who provide products, information or services which we believe you may be interested in purchasing or obtaining. In doing so, we will make reasonable efforts to ensure that these third parties only use the Personal Information for our stated purposes and provide a method of opting out from receiving future communications from such parties, but we shall not responsible for their handling or dissemination practices with respect to Personal Information. If you wish to change your account preferences to not receive information from such third parties, please contact Customer Care or use the "unsubscribe" link included in email messages sent by such parties. We may also disclose Non-Personal Information to our business partners.
We may also disclose Personal Information to a third party pursuant to a subpoena, other form of legal process or request on behalf of any local, state, federal governmental department or agency to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, or as otherwise permitted or required by law.
4. Obtaining Consent
In most cases, when we do collect Personal Information directly from an individual, the individual provides us with the information required for us to effectively provide our business services, and as such, consent to the collection and use of Personal Information will be implied. If we choose to use Personal Information already in our possession for a purpose that was not identified at the time we initially collected the information, we will seek the consent of the affected individuals before using this information for the new purpose. Please note that if the new purpose is required or permitted by law, WorldGaming is not required to seek the consent of the affected individuals and may not do so. Individuals may withdraw consent to the collection, use and disclosure of their Personal Information at any time, subject to certain restrictions set out in applicable privacy legislation, but by doing so may be unable to utilize the services and products offered on the sites by WorldGaming. When an individual uses the "Invite Your Friends / Tell-A-Friend" feature, we rely on that individual to obtain the consent of their friend to allow us to use that information to invite them to create a user account.
5. Management of Personal Information
WorldGaming has policies and procedures as to how long it retains information that it collects. Personal Information that is no longer required to fulfill the purposes identified when the information was collected is either destroyed, erased or rendered anonymous to prevent unauthorized parties from gaining access to the information. We retain Personal Information received from third parties in accordance with our legal and contractual obligations.
Personal Information included in computer databases is typically stored in a secure data center with an extra copy of the data stored at an alternate location of equal security to ensure that we will be able to retrieve the data even in the event of a disaster. These computer databases may be located in Canada, the United States, Ireland or elsewhere in the world. From time to time, we may transfer Personal Information stored in these databases (as otherwise permitted under this Privacy Policy) to third parties located in Canada, the United States, Ireland or elsewhere in the world. For example, certain third party service providers such as data storage companies, computer security specialists, database technicians or corporate affiliates of WorldGaming may have remote access to Personal Information in our custody, but we use contractual and other safeguards to ensure that Personal Information transferred to such parties is provided with a comparable level of protection as WorldGaming provides, regardless of the format in which the information exists.
WorldGaming has implemented a variety of security safeguards to protect Personal Information in our control against loss, theft, misuse and interception by third parties. These safeguards include organizational, technical and physical measures designed to protect information from unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. Among the steps taken are:
- premises security;
- restricted file access to Personal Information;
- technology safeguards, including security software, firewalls to prevent hacking and other unauthorized computer access; and
- internal password and security policies.
6. Accuracy and Currency of Personal Information
WorldGaming is committed to open and fair privacy practices which comply with applicable privacy legislation.
Any individual may request access to the individual's Personal Information that WorldGaming has in its custody by contacting WorldGaming's Privacy Officer in writing. After receiving such a request, our Privacy Officer shall inform the individual of the existence, use and disclosure of their Personal Information and shall allow the individual to access such information.
In certain circumstances, access to Personal Information may be denied. If we deny an individual's request for access to their Personal Information, we will advise such individual in writing of the reason for the refusal and they may then challenge our decision.
Where Personal Information is used on an on-going basis, WorldGaming undertakes to correct any information that is shown to be inaccurate, incomplete or not up to date. Otherwise, WorldGaming does not routinely update Personal Information unless it is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which the information is collected. WorldGaming must be advised, by the individual to whom the information relates, of any correction to be made to their Personal Information.
Upon notification from an individual of their desire to have any or all of their Personal Information in our records deleted or destroyed, WorldGaming may undertake to delete or destroy all such information to the extent that retention of such information is not required by law, or for any other lawful purpose, such as the investigation of claims or the defence of an action. In the event that an individual wishes to challenge WorldGaming's compliance with any of these principles, they can contact WorldGaming's Privacy Officer using the contact information set out above. If WorldGaming finds a complaint to be justified, appropriate measures will be taken, including, if necessary, amending our policies and practices.
7. Changes to Privacy Policy
All policies and procedures of WorldGaming are reviewed periodically and, as such, we may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. This version of the Privacy Policy is in effect since February 24 2008. Please refer to this page for the most recent version of this Privacy Policy.