textPlus Privacy Policy

Revised:  October 17, 2022

Your privacy is very important to us. We’ve prepared this Privacy Policy to explain how textPlus, Inc. (“we”) collect, use, protect, and disclose Personal Information, Usage Data, Message Data, and Contact Data when you use the textPlus and Nextplus websites (“Site”) and/or our SMS, instant messaging, voice telephony or other services (“Services”), such as our textPlus and Nextplus mobile applications. This Privacy Policy also explains your choices for managing your information preferences. By using the Site or Services, you consent to this Privacy Policy.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Personal Information. We collect information that personally identifies you, such as your name, mobile telephone number, or e-mail address, and any other personally identifiable information that you provide us with or that you choose to include in any profile or account (“Personal Information”). You may be asked to provide us with certain Personal Information when you register with the Site or any of our Services and at other times. The decision to provide certain Personal Information is optional. However, if you choose not to provide the requested information, you may not be able to use certain features of the Site or Services. You can delete or modify this provided Personal Information at any time via the "My Profile" feature. 

Usage Data. We automatically collect usage information that does not identify an individual user (“Usage Data”). For example, when you download and use our Services, we may automatically collect information such as your device type, operating system version and type, certain device settings, device time zone, device carrier, current IP address, the presence of connected devices via BlueTooth, and platform-specific advertising identifiers. We may also collect location information, such as your device GPS coordinates unless you configure your device operating system settings to prevent our collection of location information. Additionally, each time you use the Site we may automatically collect the type of web browser you use, your operating system, your Internet Service Provider, your IP address, the pages you view, and the time and duration of your visits to the Site. We use this information to enhance the services we offer, provide targeted advertising, and help us understand how people use the Site and Services. You can opt out of ads personalization and other associated services at any time via the system controls on your device.

Messages and Message Data including Images, Photos, and Audio & Video Recordings.  When you send or receive messages using our Services, we process and store your messages, log and connection data, and other related information (“Message Data”) including images, photos, audio, and video recordings that you may choose to share via our messaging service.  We process and store this content in order to provide these Services to you, so you can retrieve the content again when logging in to our services from a second device or when logging into our service again after logging out (much like an email provider).  Your messages, and all their content, can be deleted at any time via the inbox feature by deleting the conversation.  Additionally, you can delete all of this content by triggering the delete my account function in the settings from within the app. In any case, all stored message content including images, photos, and audio and video recordings are deleted from our servers after 36 months.  

Contacts. With your permission, we will access your device address book and your contacts, including names, telephone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles, if available (“Contact Data”). This Contact Data is managed locally on your device and not collected or stored by our service.

Cookies and Web Beacons. We use cookies (a small text file placed on your computer to identify your computer and browser when you visit our Site or use our Services). We also use Web beacons (an electronic file placed on a website that monitors usage). We do not use cookies or Web beacons to collect Personal Information. We use cookies and Web beacons to improve the quality of the Site and Services. Most Web browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can reset your Web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, certain features of the Site or Services may not work if you delete or disable cookies. Some of our Service Providers may use their own cookies and Web beacons in connection with the services they perform on our behalf.

Location. In addition to other information described in this policy, we may collect and share precise and/or approximate location information. This information may be used by itself, aggregated, or combined with mobile identifiers (such as advertising identifiers), and may be shared with other parties for purposes related to advertising, attribution (e.g., measuring ad performance), analytics and research.  You can withdraw your consent to having your location data collected by changing the settings on your device (note that certain services may lose functionality as a result). You can also activate your device’s functionality to reset or opt-out of settings for personalized advertising which will tell advertisers to not use your in-app information from that device for purposes of collecting and serving interest-based advertising.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION AND WHEN WE MAY SHARE INFORMATION 

Generally. We use Personal Information, Message Data, and Content, and Contact Data for internal purposes only, such as to provide you with the Site and Services, to notify you of new products or Services, and to otherwise communicate with you. We will not disclose Personal Information, Message Data, or Contact Data to third parties without your consent, except as explained in this Privacy Policy.

We may use and share with third parties, including advertisers, non-Personal Information you provide in using the Services, such as general demographic and location information that does not identify you personally. Advertisers may use this information to make predictions about your interests or preferences so that they can display advertisements on our Services and on other sites across the Internet tailored to your apparent interests. The use and disclosure of such non-Personal Information are not subject to any restrictions under this Privacy Policy.

Service Providers. From time to time, we may establish a business relationship with other businesses that we believe are trustworthy and who have confirmed that their privacy practices are consistent with ours (“Service Providers”). For example, we may contract with Service Providers to provide certain services, such as hosting and maintenance, customer relationship management, data storage and management, and direct marketing campaigns. We provide our Service Providers with only the information necessary for them to perform these services on our behalf. Each Service Provider must agree to use reasonable security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of the information involved in order to protect your Personal Information, Message Data, and Contact Data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Service Providers are prohibited from using Personal Information, Message Data, or Contact Data other than as specified by us.

Ad Networks. We work with third-party marketing and advertising companies (“Ad Networks”). These companies may collect and use information about your use of the Site or Services in order to provide advertisements about goods and services that may be of interest to you. Advertisements may be shown via the Site, the Services, or third-party websites. These companies may place or recognize a unique cookie on your computer or use other technologies such as Web beacons. Our Privacy Policy does not cover any use of information that an Ad Network may collect from you. It also does not cover any information that you may choose to provide to an Ad Network or to an advertiser whose goods or services are advertised through the Site or the Services.

Standard Analytics Information. We may use and disclose to third parties certain aggregate or anonymous Usage Data regarding the Site and Services. Again, such information does not identify you individually.

Other Transfers. We may share Personal Information, Usage Data, and Message Data with businesses controlling, controlled by, or under common control with us. If our company is merged, acquired, or sold, or in the event of a transfer of some or all of our assets, we may disclose or transfer Personal Information, Usage Data, and Message Data in connection with such transaction. You will have the opportunity to opt-out of any such transfer if, in our discretion, the new entity plans to handle your information in a way that differs materially from this Privacy Policy.

Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement. We cooperate with government and law enforcement officials to enforce and comply with the law. We may therefore disclose Personal Information, Usage Data, Message Data, and any other information about you if we have a good faith belief that it is reasonably necessary to (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request, (b) enforce our Terms of Use, including investigation of potential violations thereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or (d) protect against harm to our rights, property or safety, or that of our users or the public as required or permitted by law.

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU SHARE INFORMATION WITH OTHERS

Please be aware that whenever you share information on a publicly available profile page, community page, or any other public forum, this information may be accessed by the public. In addition, when you share information in SMS, WAP, instant messages, images, photos, or any other communications with third parties, that information may be passed along or made public by others. That means anyone with access to such information can potentially use it for any purpose, including sending unsolicited communications.

SECURITY

We’re very concerned about safeguarding the confidentiality of your information. We employ measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access. However, no data transmission over the Internet or other network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect information transmitted on or through the Site or Services, we cannot and do not guarantee the security of any information you transmit on or through the Site or Services, and you do so at your own risk.

LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

Our Site and Services may contain links to other websites or allow others to send you such links. A link to a third party’s website does not mean that we endorse it or that we are affiliated with it. We do not exercise control over third-party websites. You access such third-party websites or content at your own risk. You should always read the privacy policy of a third-party website before providing any information to the website.

MANAGING YOUR INFORMATION PREFERENCES

You can always review, correct, update, or change your Personal Information or opt-out of our direct marketing efforts by changing the relevant setting in your profile or account (if available), or by contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@textPlus.com. If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please e-mail us at privacy@textPlus.com.  You may also delete your account, which deletes all of the information we’ve collected, by triggering the “delete my account” function from within the app’s settings.

CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13. Using our Site or Services, you promise that you are at least 13 years old. If we become aware that we have inadvertently received Personal Information from a child under the age of 13, we will delete such information from our records. In addition, we recommend that minors 13 years of age or older ask their parents for permission before sending any information about themselves to anyone over the Internet.

PROCESSING IN THE UNITED STATES

Please be aware that your Personal Information and communications may be transferred to and maintained on servers or databases located outside your state, province, or country. If you are located outside of the United States, please be advised that we process and store all information in the United States. The laws in the United States may not be as protective of your privacy as those in your location. By using our Site or Services, you agree that the collection, use, transfer, and disclosure of your Personal Information and communications will be governed by the applicable laws in the United States.

PRIVACY POLICY CHANGES

From time to time, we may change this Privacy Policy. If we decide to change this Privacy Policy, we will inform you by posting the revised Privacy Policy on the Site. Those changes will go into effect on the Revision Date shown in the revised Privacy Policy. Your continued use of our Site or Services constitutes your consent to be bound by the revised Privacy Policy.