25 Jan 2024
Last Updated Effective as of: January 26, 2024*
*The Services are affiliated with CMI Marketing, Inc., d/b/a Raptive (“Raptive”) for the purposes of placing advertising on the Services, and Raptive will collect and use certain data for advertising purposes. To learn more about Raptive’s data usage, click here: https://raptive.com/creator-advertising-privacy-statement.
Your use of our Services is governed by our Terms of Use. OUR TERMS OF USE CONTAIN DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY, A CHOICE OF LAW PROVISION AND A CLASS ACTION WAIVER. THESE PROVISIONS AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT HOW TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE WITH MERRIAM-WEBSTER, INCORPORATED ("MERRIAM") INCLUDING UNDER THIS PRIVACY POLICY. PLEASE REVIEW. YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND OUR TERMS OF USE.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Cookie Notice & Cookie Policy
COPPA Compliance
Links to Third-Party Websites or Apps
How We Collect & Use Your Personal Information
Use of Our Services - Information Collected Automatically & Other Information
Your Rights & Choices
How we respond to “Do Not Track” signals
Children's Privacy
The Puku Privacy Notice
Security of Your Information
Data Storage and Retention
Consent to Processing and Transfer of Information about You
Privacy Notice for California Residents
EU Data Subject Rights
EU Representative and Data Protection Officer
Copyright
Business Transfers
Acceptance of Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions
Questions, Comments or Complaints
Introduction
Your privacy is important to us. We understand that you are aware of and care about your own personal privacy interests, and we take that seriously. This Privacy Policy sets forth your privacy rights and applies to personal information we may collect through our websites, mobile applications or online services that link to this Privacy Policy (our “Services”); how we will use, disclose and protect this information; and how you can opt out of some of our uses and disclosures of your information. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information that we collect in other ways, such as over the phone, by mail or in person, except where state otherwise or as required by law.
Your decision to use the Services and provide your personal data is voluntary. We indicate on our online, mobile, and other registration forms what types of personal data are requested. You may choose not to submit requested information online, or may choose to restrict the use of cookies (see our Cookie Policy and Your Rights & Choices below for more information), but that may limit the services Merriam-Webster is able to provide to you.
The Services are a network of general audience sites, and are not targeted to, and do not knowingly collect personal data from, minors under 16 years of age. We request that these individuals do not provide personal data through the Services.Please see COPPA Compliance below for more information.
We recognize that information privacy is an ongoing responsibility, and so we will from time to time update this Privacy Policy as we undertake new personal data practices or adopt new privacy policies.
Cookie Notice & Cookie Policy
Our Services use cookies, which are small data files that are placed on the hard drive of your computer, tablet, smartphone, or other devices when you visit a website and other tracking tools on our website and digital platforms. When we refer to cookies, this includes other similar technologies such as pixel tags, or web beacons. For more information about these tools and your choices, please refer to our Cookie Policy, Use of Our Services - Information Collected Automatically & Other Information and Your Rights & Choices below.
COPPA Compliance
In accordance with the Federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we will never knowingly solicit, nor will we accept, personally identifiable information from users known to be under thirteen (13) years of age without the consent of their educational institution or the child's parent or guardian. We do, however, use COPPA-compliant, third party services that automatically collect or share certain information and usage data with us to support our internal operations as described under How we use your information and Puku third-party service providers below.
If an educational institution with students that are under thirteen (13) years of age uses our Merriam-Webster Unabridged Service, the educational institution also may provide us with personally identifiable information about its students. We use student information to provide this Service to the educational institution and its students, consistent with our Merriam-Webster Unabridged Privacy Notice.
If you believe that we have collected personal information from someone under the age of 13, please contact us at: privacy@m-w.com.
How We Collect & Use Your Personal Information
Merriam-Webster protects the identity of visitors to the Services by limiting the collection of personally identifiable information. Personal information provided by you to us will not be posted or published by us for viewing by third parties. In most cases, the information you provide is limited to first name, last name, email address, city, state, age, and phone number. We use this information to provide you with goods and services, including subscription services, publications, and the like. We do not sell personal information to anyone and only share it with third parties who are facilitating the delivery of our Services as provided in this Privacy Policy. You can enjoy many of our Services and their unique features without giving us your personal information.
Subscriptions, User Login Registrations, and Mobile App Services
When you subscribe to or register for a Service or download a mobile app service, we collect information about you that may include (but not be limited to) your name, email address, city, state, and age. We may also collect a personal mailing address and a phone number. Users may edit their information at any time to change, add or remove certain personal information. We process your personal information to administer and manage your subscription or other-like Service, deliver user benefits to you, inform you of prizes and other benefits or opportunities associated with your Service and respond to your information requests. We also may use this information for legitimate business purposes that help us analyze the demographics of our subscribers and understand our users' needs and interests to better tailor our products and services to meet users' needs and deliver additional services to our users. See also The Puku Privacy Notice below.
Promotions, sweepstakes, contests, and other special features
For specific promotions, sweepstakes and contests sponsored or co-sponsored by us, and to access certain features, such as the ‘save your words' feature, we collect information voluntarily submitted by you to us to deliver the requested feature that may include (but not be limited to) your name, email address, city, state, and age. You may edit this information at any time to change, add or remove it from our Services.
Newsletters
To register for or subscribe to receive a Merriam-Webster newsletter, you must provide us with your email address. We use Ortto (formerly known as Autopilot) and Salesforce, our third-party service providers, to deliver requested newsletters, such as Word of the Day, to you on our behalf. When you open an email that contains a newsletter, we gather certain statistics, such as number of emails opened and clicks within a newsletter, using industry-standard technologies, including clear gifs, helping us monitor and improve our newsletters. For more information, please see Ortto's Privacy Policy and Salesforce's Privacy Statement. Except for Ortto and Salesforce, we do not share your voluntarily provided email address with any third party.
You may manage your Merriam-Webster newsletter subscriptions by subscribing or unsubscribing at any time using the link included in the related newsletter or marketing email or visiting the 'Manage Newsletter'section of your Account Settings page. Please note that if you have set your browser to block cookies, this may have an impact on your ability to unsubscribe. If you have any difficulties managing your email or other communication preferences with Merriam-Webster, please contact Merriam Customer Support.
Communications from our approved, third-party partners and us
If you choose to provide us with your email address or other personal information, you also may receive the following types of emails from us:
Emails related to subscription-maintenance activities;
Emails highlighting new features, content, and usage tips for the Services; and
Special offers and other marketing messages
From us for additional Merriam-Webster and Encyclopædia Britannica (Merriam-Webster's parent company) products and services, and
From our approved, third-party partners, if you "opt-in" or give us your permission to send them.
When you provide us with your personal information, you can let us know that you do not wish to receive special offers from Merriam-Webster or its third-party partners. Also, each special offer will have information available to allow you to "opt-out" if you no longer wish to receive special offers. We may use Ortto or Salesforce to deliver emails to you on our behalf. When you open an email from us, we may gather certain statistics, such as number of emails opened and clicks within the email, using industry-standard technologies, including clear gifs, helping us monitor and improve our Services. For more information, please see Ortto's Privacy Policy and Salesforce's Privacy Statement. Except for Ortto and Salesforce, we do not share your voluntarily provided email address with any third party.
Surveys
We may occasionally conduct online surveys. All surveys are voluntary, and you may decline to participate.
Purposes for processing (using) personal data provided directly by you
As explained above, Merriam-Webster processes your data to provide you with the products and services you have requested or purchased from us, including special features, subscriptions, newsletters, and other content. Sometimes we use third-party providers or work with co-sponsors to facilitate the delivery of the services or special features described above, and these third-party providers may be supplied with or have access to your personal information for the sole purpose of providing services to you on our behalf, such as Word of the Day or delivering the special feature. Also, we may disclose your personal information in special legal circumstances. For instance, such information may be used where it is necessary to protect our copyright or intellectual property rights, or if the law requires us to do so.
To carry out these activities, Merriam-Webster may rely on many legal bases to process your personal data, including where:
necessary to perform the contractual obligations in our Terms of Service and to provide the requested Services to you;
necessary for a third party's, or our, legitimate interests;
necessary to comply with a legal obligation or to defend legal claims;
necessary to protect the public interest or vital interest of others;
you have expressly made information public; or
you have consented to the processing, which may be revoked at any time.
We also use your data for legitimate business purposes that enable us to refine our products and services to better tailor them to your needs, communicate with you about other products and services offered by Merriam-Webster, secure your personal data, or comply with regulatory and legal obligations.
You can update your personal information and change your marketing preferences at any time by (i) following the instructions at the bottom of any newsletter or marketing email; (ii) visiting your Account Settings page; or (iii) contacting Merriam Customer Support.
Payment card information
You may choose to purchase goods or services from Merriam-Webster using a payment card. Typically, payment card information is provided directly by users, via the Services, into the PCI/DSS-compliant payment processing service to which the Merriam-Webster subscribes, and Merriam-Webster does not, itself, process or store your card information. We strongly encourage you not to submit this information by email. When Merriam-Webster employees receive payment card information from users by email, fax, phone, or mail, it is entered as instructed and then deleted or destroyed.
