At Scoota, we take the interests of end users, clients, advertisers and publishers extremely seriously, especially in how information is collected and used. The following privacy notice describes how we collect and process information from our business activities.

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This privacy notice governs Scoota’s online information collection and use practices and does not apply to any information a user may provide to Scoota or that Scoota may collect offline and/or through other means. Scoota reserves the right to change, modify, add or remove portions of this policy at any time and without notice. If we change our privacy policy, we will make every effort to post those changes in this area so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it.

Scoota places brand-funded content – for example, display advertising – onto the internet for the benefit of the user. Brand-funded content allows the internet to offer broader areas of interest and content choices to the user. Advertising is the fundamental source of finance for a very large number of Internet companies and premium content providers. When an online advertisement (ad) is requested, the ad server receives information from the user’s browser which influences which ad is sent back. The registration, collection and use of this information are subject to stringent data protection regulations under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the GDPR 2018.

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Traditionally in online advertising, cookies are used to store an anonymous, unique ID in a user’s browser. In basic, direct ad serving, this ID was usually used to control the delivery of an individual ad and ensure that a single user wouldn’t receive the same ad too many times, which could cause annoyance and wouldn’t represent value for money for the advertiser. This practice is known as frequency capping.

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More recently, programmatic advertising has taken advantage of advances in data processing technology to extend the uses to which the ID stored in the cookie may be put. In this case, the ID is often used to ascertain user preferences based on their browsing habits, interactions with content and so on. In this way, users can be placed into audience ‘segments’ – for example, ‘potential hatchback buyers’ or ‘showed interest in a Nintendo Switch’. Advertisers can then target these audience segments with advertising they think might be of interest to them.

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At Scoota, we do not employ any of these techniques, and do not use cookies to create audience segments or build profiles of individual users based on a stored cookie ID. We only set cookies when given permission to do so, and only use them for frequency capping as described above.

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We do store anonymous data from the ads that we deliver – this includes the fact that an ad has delivered, which website it was served to, and any interactions a user has had with the ad. We need to collect this data so that we can provide evidence to the advertisers that the money they have spent has resulted in ads being delivered (ie that we are providing the service they are paying us for), and to provide them with analysis into the success of the advertising in terms of user engagement. We don’t attempt in any way to gather other data about the user from the surrounding page that we’ve delivered to – our interest is purely in the ads we serve. We will never attempt to gather or store any direct personal information about you, including your name, email, address, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion or any similar information without your explicit consent – for example as part of a competition entry.

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Scoota delivers advertising in a number of different ways. Broadly speaking these fall into two categories: programmatic and non-programmatic.

Non-programmatic

Our non-programmatic ad delivery does not use any mechanism to identify users – no cookie ID or IP address is stored in our databases, and there is no way we can take any of the data we gather and associate it back with an individual user. We report ad delivery statistics to our clients in aggregate, with many users’ data grouped together.

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Rather than using individual user activity and audience segments to help tune and optimise the performance of these campaigns, we use other techniques based on sites, content, time of day, day of week and co-ordination with offline activity.

Programmatic

When we serve programmatically, we use the unique, anonymous ID stored in our cookie to manage frequency capping as described above. This cookie is saved against the domain 'scoota.co'.

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From 25th May 2018, the new GDPR legislation came into force. This radically changed the way in which companies can collect, process and store any data collected about an individual. From that point on, we have needed your explicit consent to process your data in any way. If we don’t receive this consent, we will not store your cookie ID.

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Scoota uses certain methods to collect data as described in the following subsections. In all cases other than frequency capping, the data we collect is anonymised and we never gather personally-identifiable information.

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“web beacons” – used to collect click-stream data that we use for ad delivery and reporting purposes, as well as track how users interact with an ad displayed on a website hosting our ads.

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“server logs” – Scoota collects information through its web servers and server logs when an ad on our Network is displayed to you

 

“other third party service providers” – In connection with our services, Scoota may engage third parties to provide services or to support aspects of our business on our behalf. In connection with those relationships, such third parties may collect data on our behalf. In that case, the third party would only collect and use such information as instructed by us and otherwise in accordance with this policy.

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“P3P” – Scoota Ads are delivered via P3P-compliant Ad servers that communicate the details of this practice to P3P-enabled web browsers

 

Opting out of tracking

Scoota adheres to the EDAA principles to ensure end users retain control and transparency of how we use data gathered during the serving of our content. You can read more about the EDAA and its principles here:

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http://www.edaa.eu/european-principles

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Scoota does not tailor ads using an ad serving cookie, so there is no need to opt out of being targeted in this way. If you would like to use this mechanism to prevent a cookie being set, even if you've given permission elsewhere in the past, you can do so here:

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http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices

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Blocking and/or opting out of cookies will not stop advertisements from being served to your computer – it prevents data from being associated with your browser. Please note that if you choose an opt-out cookie, we will be unable to recognise your browser from one visit to the next, and you may therefore receive the same ad multiple times. The opt-out cookie will apply to the specific browser you are using; if you wish to opt out for other browsers or computers that you use, you must repeat the process using these browsers or computers. All other cookies associated with your browser will remain intact and your opt-out will be effective with respect to the browser used as long as you do not delete the cookie file from your hard drive. This opt-out process will erase the cookie ID but not the cookie. It is necessary for us to store this “Keep Out” cookie on your computer in order to recognise you as an opt-out user. Please note that if you erase all cookies from your computer, you will also erase our opt-out cookie and will need to repeat the process of opting out.

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Promotions and Personal Data

If you intentionally provide us with personal information such as your name and email address, as part of a Promotion then Scoota will treat this information appropriately and only for the purposes of collection on behalf of the Promoter. The privacy policy associated with the collection of the data in that case will be clearly provided at the point of data capture, and you will not be able to submit your data without explicitly confirming your acceptance of that policy.

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Promotion:
This means any prize draw, competition or promotion that you choose to enter into by clicking a link, submitting your name and/or email address via direct message or email or leaving a comment on a twitter post. This Privacy Policy will apply equally to all these Promotions.

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Promoter:
The Promoter will be clearly stated in the terms and conditions of the Promotion. Scoota will only collect your data on behalf of the Promoter and Scoota is registered in the United Kingdom under the UK Data Protection Act 1998 (registration number: Z3662912).

 

Personal Data:
Means the information you provide to take part in the Promotion, which is described as Personal Data in the UK Data Protection Act 1998. This is explained more clearly in the section below: “The personal data collected about you”.

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The personal data collected about you
When you enter a Promotion, we as the Promoter will collect the following Personal Data from you:
(a) Name (first name and surname); and
(b) Email address.

If any Promotion also needs other personal data to be provided about you also, this will be made clear by the entry fields you need to compete to enter into the Promotion. If you are a winner, we may also collect additional personal data from you that you provide to us that we will provide to the Promoter to enable them to make any prize available to you (for example your bank details, where the prize is paid by bank transfer).

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How will we use the personal data about you
We will use your personal data for each of the purposes set out here in this section:

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(a) Entry into the Promotion: The Promoter and/or third parties assisting it with the Promotion, will collect the personal data you provide to enter into the Promotion, to allow it to process your entry into the Promotion. The Promoter and any third parties involved in collection of data will named in the Promotion terms and conditions.

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(b) Ongoing Communications in connection with the Promotion: This personal data may also be used by the Promoter and/or third parties assisting it with providing the Promotion, to communicate with you on any matter relating the Promotion and to administer prizes.

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How we protect your personal data
We restrict access to your personal data to those Promoters, employees, and third parties who need to know and use that personal data for Promotion related purposes.

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Children’s Privacy Statement

This children’s privacy statement explains Scoota’s practices with respect to the online collection and use of personal information from children under the age of 13, and provides important information regarding their legal rights to such information. This site is not directed to children under the age of 13 and we do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13 as part of the Site. We screen users who wish to provide personal information in order to prevent users under the age of 13 from providing such information. If we become aware that we have inadvertently received personally identifiable information from a user under the age of 13 as part of the Site, we will promptly delete such information from our records. Because we do not collect or maintain any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13 via the Site, we also do not knowingly distribute such information to third parties. We do not knowingly allow children under the age of 13 to publicly post or otherwise distribute personally identifiable contact information through the Site. Because we do not collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13 via the Site, we do not condition the participation of a child under 13 in the Site’s online activities on providing personally identifiable information.

 

Storage of Information

All information we gather on our Site is stored within a database to which only we and our hosting services provider are provided access. Scoota make every reasonable effort to ensure data security on our systems to protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure or destruction of data. However, no data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be secure. As a result, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you do so at your own risk.

Transfer of Data

All of the data Scoota has collected (both personally identifiable and non-personally identifiable) may be transferred to another entity in the context of a financing, sale or other disposition of Scoota. All data collected by Scoota is encrypted and kept with the EEA. We do not transfer personally-identifiable information outside of this area.

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Glossary

Please see below for a brief glossary to help clarify use of certain terms in this Privacy Policy:

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“click stream” means the pages viewed, elements or experiences interacted with and/or items clicked on when a user visits our website or one of our advertisements displayed in an experience of one our Publishers
 

“cookie” or “browser” cookie is a small file containing a string of numbers and characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website. When you visit the website again, the cookie allows that site to recognize your browser. Cookies may store user preferences and other information. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some website features or services may not function properly without cookies.

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“persistent” cookie is a cookie that remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time.

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“session” cookie is a cookie that is temporary and disappears after you close your browser

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“server logs” are logs of information communicated by web browsers as they make requests to the server, including: (i) IP address from the requesting computer; (ii) date and time of the request; (iii) URL of the actual request; and (iv) any cookie returned by the browser.

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“web beacon” is generally a transparent 1×1 pixel image placed on the code of a web page that can be used to help Scoota understand

 

Access to your personal data and correcting or deleting your personal data

You have the right to receive information about the personal data we hold about you. If you would like to use your access right, please get in touch by emailing us at info@scoota.com

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The aim of this policy is to provide you, the user, with a clear understanding of our privacy practices. If you have any questions about this privacy policy or Scoota’s privacy practices, we would be happy to hear from you and to clarify any aspect of the policy. If you wish to contact us, please write to Scoota, West Wing, Seventh Floor, 52 Grosvenor Gardens, SW1W 0AU.

 

Scoota is the trading name of Rockabox Media Ltd.

 

Last updated 1st July 2022