Area

Privacy Policy

Area allows users to communicate, share information, and increase productivity at work. This privacy policy (the "Privacy Policy") describes how Area, collects, uses, discloses, and handles information, including personal data, when you use the Area platform, including our website, software, and related services that link to or post this Privacy Policy ("Services" or "Site"). Please read this Privacy Policy carefully.

If you are located in the European Union ("EU") or the United Kingdom ("U.K."), this Privacy Policy also informs you about the management of your personal data and your rights in accordance with Article 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 ("GDPR") or Article 13 of the U.K. Data Protection Act of 2018 ("U.K. DPA"). Please see the section below titled Rights of Residents of the EU and U.K. for more information.

As explained below, Area acts as a data controller in determining the purposes and means of processing data related to the use of this website and of Individual Users (described below).

Your Privacy Rights under this Privacy Policy Depend On the Type of Account You Have

As explained below, the way in which a user's account is created will affect the user's rights in the information provided to, or collected by, Area and in the information shared and sent through the Services ("Content"). Area accounts can be created in the following way:

Individual Accounts:

Users can invite someone outside of their company with whom they collaborate for work or business purposes (e.g., contractor, consultant) to create an account. The User provides the name and email address of the person they want to invite to Area, and Area will send that person an email invitation with a link to create an account. The invited individual is an "Individual User" who can then create an "Individual User Account" directly with Area, independent of any company or organizational affiliation. Individual Users have a relationship directly with Area.

If you are an Individual User in the EU or U.K., Area is the data controller and can be contacted as explained below in the How to Contact Us section.

If you use the Services as an Individual User to communicate or interact with an Enterprise User, however, your Content may become Enterprise Data, owned by an Enterprise Customer and subject to that Enterprise Customer's policies and procedures and to the rights afforded Enterprise Customers regarding access to Content.

In addition, if you create an Individual User Account, and your employer becomes an Enterprise Customer at a later time, your Individual User Account may be converted to an Enterprise User Account associated with your employer, and all of your previous Content may become Enterprise Data under the ownership and control of your employer.

What Information Does Area Collect?

Area collects the following types of information when Users register for, use, or access the Services:

Information provided directly to Area:

In order to provide the Services, we collect information about you directly from you and Users with whom you interact, including:

  • Account Information. Account information includes contact information, such as your name and email address, username, work title, department, manager, and other information related to your work and/or the User who provided your User Account; physical address; phone number; payment information such as your credit card or other financial information; photos; and information about your occupation or education that you provided to complete your profile. We do not collect your password in clear text. Instead, your password is hashed and encrypted before transmission.
  • Content. Content includes, but is not limited to, any messages you send, information you post, audio/video content you send to others, and files you share, or which are provided on your behalf. We also collect information about the Content you create (metadata), such as the time that particular Content was created, and from which session that Content was created. Although Area collects the Content you create, that Content is Enterprise Data and is owned by the Customer that provided you with your User Account, and subject to the Customer’s policies and procedures. As explained above, Content created by Individual Users while communicating or interacting with an Enterprise User may become Enterprise Data, owned by an Enterprise Customer and subject to that Enterprise Customer’s policies and procedures.
  • Connections. We also collect information about the people and groups you are connected to, such as channels you’ve joined or created and people you’ve directly messaged.
  • Survey Responses. You and others may conduct surveys through the Services. We collect responses from all survey participants and provide anonymized, aggregated survey results (from all respondents) to the survey creator.

Information We Automatically Collect:

  • Usage. We may collect information about the devices you use to interact with our Services. This includes your web browser type and version, IP address, mobile device identifier, information you access (e.g., to distinguish between read and unread messages), the date and time of usage, language, and browsing information. We may also automatically collect information about how you use our Site. This helps us improve the Services and can help enhance the security of your account.
  • Cookies. Area may place pieces of code, commonly referred to as “cookies,” pixel tags, or similar technology on your devices. These are used to, among other things, manage sessions so that you don’t have to log in each time you visit the Services; collect information about how and when you use the Services; collect information about the devices you use to access the Services. Subject to applicable laws, we may begin collecting information as soon as you visit our Site. Many Internet browsers and mobile devices allow you to block the transmission of certain information or block the installation of cookies. You may choose to enable these options. However, enabling these options may prevent you from using many of the core features and functions available on our Site and Services.
  • Third Party Cookies and Analytics. Area may use third-party cookies to collect analytics about how you use the public-facing Area website (pages and content accessible when not logged in to a user account) and for advertising purposes. For instance, Area uses third parties like Google Analytics for public-facing website analytics. You may opt-out of Google Analytics on its website. Please visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/ for additional information.

How Does Area Use My Information?

Area may access and use the information and Content we collect from you or about you from other users with whom you interact on the Services, for a number of purposes including:

  • Enhancing the security of the Services for you;
  • To personalize your experiences with the Services;
  • To offer you information and promotional material about the Services you see on our Site;
  • To advertise other products and services that may be of interest to you;
  • To provide the Services;
  • To facilitate payment for use of the Services;
  • To manage our everyday business needs, such as administration and improvement of the Services; and
  • To prevent fraud, to enforce our Terms of Use, to comply with all applicable laws and Area’s corporate reporting obligations, and to enforce our policies and agreements.

We also access and use your information and Content to conduct data and system analytics, including research to improve the Services. When performing such research, however, we will not examine the Content of messages sent from you to anyone, or to you by anyone, using our messaging features. We conduct research to develop new tools, products, and services for all users and to improve the functioning of our Services.

When Will Area Disclose My Information?

Area may disclose information as follows:

  • To Third-Party Sites. We may disclose information to Third-Party Sites that you or the Enterprise Customer who provided your Enterprise User Account connect to the Services.
  • To Online Advertising Partners. Third-party advertising networks use cookies and other online tracking technologies to collect information to personalize, retarget, and measure the effectiveness of advertising.
  • To Social Media Platforms. If you interact with us on social media platforms, the platform may be able to collect information about you and your interaction with us. If you interact with social media objects on our Services (for example, by clicking on a LinkedIn button), both the platform and your connections on the platform may be able to view that activity. To control this sharing, please review the privacy policy of the relevant social media platform.
  • To the Enterprise Customer who provided you with your Enterprise User Account. We may disclose information to the Enterprise Customer, network administrators, and other users authorized by the Enterprise Customer to access the requested information.
  • To Others Working for and on Behalf of Area. We may provide access to, or share your information with, third-party service providers contracted by Area to assist in providing the Services (e.g., a web hosting service provider or payment processing provider). We may also need to provide a third-party service provider access to information to support auditing, compliance, and corporate governance functions. These third parties have no independent rights related to the information and cannot use it for any purpose other than on behalf, and at the direction of, Area.
  • Inclusion in Aggregate Statistics. Area may perform statistical research about usage of the Services to better improve and provide the Services (e.g., to determine how many messages are sent in total per day on its system, or by device type).
  • Legal Process. If we receive a subpoena, warrant, discovery request, or other request or order from a law enforcement agency, court, governmental entity, or litigant seeking data from a User, and direct the requesting party to make the request directly to you or the appropriate Enterprise Customer. If we are legally compelled to produce information, we will, unless legally prohibited, use reasonable efforts to notify you.
  • Security. Area may share information with third parties, including law enforcement authorities, where we determine that doing so is appropriate to: Enforce our Acceptable Use Policy or Terms of Service; Protect our property, services, and legal rights; Prevent physical harm to the persons or property of others; or Prevent fraud against us and others.
  • Other businesses in the context of a commercial transaction. We may change our ownership or corporate organization while providing the Services. We may transfer to another entity or its affiliates or service providers some or all information about you in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, acquisition, sale of assets or any line of business, change in ownership control, or financing transaction. We cannot promise that an acquiring party or the merged entity will have the same privacy practices or treat your information as described in this policy.

How Does Area Protect My Information?

Area has implemented an information security program that contains administrative, technical and physical controls that are designed to reasonably safeguard information that can individually identify you. Area undergoes routine audits to ensure its compliance with those programs.

Are my chats or messages shared with my employer?

The messaging, chat, file sharing, or other collaborative features in Area are similar for privacy purposes to email. Whenever a User is a party to a communication (whether it is a message, file shared, etc.), access to the communication shall be governed by the policies and procedures of the Customer who provided the User Account, just as it would be if you sent an email to that User’s employer-provided email address.

How do account closures work?

You may contact Area at support@Area.com to close your account. If your account is closed, it may be deleted. Content you created while using Area will remain available to the other Area users with whom you communicated. Users will no longer be able to search for and find your account, however, and we will cease contacting you.

Does Area Track My Activity On Other Sites?

Area does not collect personal information about your online activities over time across third-party websites or online services. Therefore, “do not track” signals transmitted from web browsers do not apply to our site, and we do not alter any of our data collection and use practices upon receipt of such a signal. In limited circumstances, where Area provides its Services directly in conjunction with a third-party service and where we need to track your activity with respect to such a service we will do so only to enable Area’s Services.

Third-Party Links

Some of the Services may contain links to third-party content (e.g., if a user in your organization posts a hyperlink in a chat conversation) that is neither maintained nor controlled by Area. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of such third parties, and we recommend that you consult their privacy policies for more information.

Data Retention

If you are an Individual User, Area will retain your information as needed to provide you access to the Services.

Cross-Border Transfer of Data

The Site and Services are subject to United States law, unless otherwise provided herein. By using the Site or Services or providing us with your personal information, you are directly transferring your personal information to the United States, where it is hosted on supabase.com. Please reach out to legal@area.com for a list of our subprocessors.

How Does Area Protect the Privacy of Children?

Area is a general audience site not directed at children under the age of 18. If we obtain actual knowledge that any information we collect has been provided by a child under the age of 18, we will promptly delete that information. If you believe Area has personal information about anyone under the age of 18, please contact us at privacy@privacy.com.

Your California Privacy Rights

Pursuant to California Civil Code Section 1798.83(c)(2), Area does not share your personal information with third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing use.

Your Rights in the EU and U.K.

If you are located in the EU or the U.K., you are a “data subject” with certain rights related to your personal data. If you are an Individual User who would like to exercise these rights, please contact us at legal@area.com.

Legal Basis for Processing—Individual Users

When we act as a data controller in providing Services to Individual Users, will rely on the following legal bases for processing personal data, depending on the purpose of such processing. An Individual User consents to processing: We will obtain an Individual User’s consent before using or sharing data for surveys, advertising, or providing you promotional materials. If you consent to our use of your personal data for any purpose, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time by contacting us, as explained below. Processing is necessary to fulfill our legitimate interests: We have a legitimate interest in processing personal data for certain business and security purposes and to comply with applicable laws, including, but not limited to, the following: fraud detection and prevention; enforcing our Terms of Use; complying with reporting obligations; enforcing our policies; network and system security; general corporate operations; user personalization; compliance with applicable laws; customer support; and delivering, managing, developing and enhancing the Service. Processing is necessary to perform a contract: We need to process your personal data in order to deliver the services that you have requested. Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation: We will process your personal data when necessary to comply with obligations we have under EU or EU Member State law. If we intend to use personal data that we have collected for a different purpose than was described to you, we will provide you with information about this secondary purpose and any additional information necessary to ensure fair and transparent processing, before we engage in further processing.∏

Data Subjects’ Rights

If you are a user located in the EU and U.K., you have the following rights, subject to applicable exceptions, under the GDPR and the U.K. DPA: Right of access: You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether we are processing personal data about you, and if so, request a copy of the personal data. Right to correction: You have the right to correct any inaccuracies in the personal data we hold about you and, where applicable, complete any incomplete personal data that we hold. Right to erasure: You have the right to request that we erase the personal data that we hold about you, if one of the conditions in Article 17 of the GDPR applies. Right to restriction of processing: You have the right to restrict our processing of your personal data, if one of the conditions in Article 18 of the GDPR applies. Right to data portability: You have the right to receive personal data concerning you in a structured, common and machine-readable format or request transmission of the data to a third party, if the conditions in Article 20 of the GDPR are met. Right to object: You have the right to object to processing of your personal data based on our legitimate interests at any time. We will no longer process the data, unless there are compelling legitimate grounds for our processing that override the interests, rights and freedoms of the data subject, or the processing serves the purpose of asserting, exercising or defending legal claims. Right to withdraw consent: If we are processing your personal data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

Lodging a Complaint

Under Article 77 of the GDPR, if you are located in the EU or the U.K., you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe that the processing of your personal data infringes your rights under the GDPR or the U.K. DPA. The right to lodge a complaint under the GDPR may be invoked in the EU Member State in which you reside, in which you work or where the alleged infringement occurred.

How Can I Contact Area?

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our information collection practices, you can contact us at legal@area.com.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We ask that you read this Privacy Policy from time to time, as Area may modify this Privacy Policy at any time. When we do so, we will revise the "effective date" above and post the new Privacy Policy. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy that increase our rights to use personal information we have previously collected about you, we will notify you both by posting the new Privacy Policy on the Services, as well as by email.