This privacy statement describes how Kount Inc., an Equifax Company (collectively, “Kount”, “we”, “us”, “our”), collects, uses, and shares personal data provided to Kount by merchants and other users of Kount products for providing global fraud prevention and related services. Kount is committed to maintaining the privacy of personal data under its control, including personal data that you provide to us when using any of our online services, including Kount.com, Kount.net, and/or Kount services linked to Kount.com (collectively “websites”).
“Personal data” is any information that relates to an identifiable natural person. Your name, address, contact details and financial data are all examples. The term “process” means any activity relating to personal data, including (for example) its collection, storage, transfer or other use.
Kount is a “Controller” of your personal data. This means that we make decisions about how and why we process your personal data and because of this, we are responsible for making sure that it is used in accordance with data protection laws.
Depending on your use of our websites or services, any services provided by Kount clients which utilize our services, and any contact you may have with us (whether through our websites or otherwise) we may collect and/or receive the following types of personal data:
All Kount cookies are:
Kount will collect personal data from you only where we have a lawful basis to do so. The majority of our processing is on the lawful basis of legitimate interest, though we may also process data with your consent to do so, or where we need the personal data to perform a contract with you, or where we have a legal obligation to process your data.
The table below sets out the purposes for which we process your personal data and the relevant lawful basis on which we rely for that processing.
We may also use your personal data to conduct research and analysis, including to produce anonymous statistical reports. Where appropriate, we will convert your personal data into statistical or aggregated form to better protect your privacy, or so that you are not identified or identifiable (thereby creating anonymised data). Anonymised data is not personal data and can be used, for example, to help us understand and improve the analytics we undertake of individual transaction data. We may also share anonymised data or the research we produce from our analysis of anonymised data, with third parties.
Except as specifically set forth in this privacy statement, we will not share your personal data outside of Kount. Note that we do not use, rent, or sell any personal data for purposes materially different from those for which it was originally provided. If this practice should change in the future, we will provide individuals with prior notice and instruct them as to how they can exercise their right to opt-out or opt-in, as applicable. We may disclose and use personal data in special circumstances where it is necessary to enforce our service agreements or terms of use (for example to protect our intellectual property rights). We may also disclose or use your personal data when we, in good faith, believe that the law may require us to do so. Please be aware that Kount may be required to disclose an individual’s personal data in response to a lawful request by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
Affiliates and Third Parties: We may share your personal data with companies that control, are controlled by, or under common control with Kount, as well as selected third parties with whom Kount works. These recipients within and outside our group may be processing your personal data on our behalf as a Service Provider (see below) or they may be processing it for their own purposes as a Controller in their own right.
Additionally, we may share your personal data with the following categories of recipients:
Members of the Kount data sharing arrangement
Each organisation that shares fingerprint data with Kount is also entitled to receive similar kinds of data contributed by other organisations. These organisations are typically retail, telecommunications, financial services, leisure, entertainment, and gaming.
Kount may employ third party companies and individuals (‘sub-processors’) to facilitate our service, to provide the service on our behalf, to perform site-related services (including but not limited to maintenance services, database management, web analytics, and improvement of our web sites’ features) or to assist us in analyzing how our web sites and services are used. Kount is committed to partnering with sub-processors that meet or exceed the privacy and security obligations Kount is committed to providing to its clients. These sub-processors have access to your personal data only for purposes of performing these tasks on our behalf. The names and locations of Kount’s sub-processors are available on our Privacy Page.
We may provide relevant personal data to business partners, including cookie identifiers and IP addresses, to provide you with a product or service you have requested. We may also provide this personal data to business partners with whom we jointly offer products or services. In such cases, our business partner’s name will appear along with ours.
Kount only retains your personal data for a limited period of time and for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which we are processing it.
For example, we will typically retain personal data in relation to our Kount Services for two years after application on behalf of the relevant client/merchant. Your personal data is not otherwise used for the benefit of any other party or for Kount’s own purposes, outside of Kount’s own analytical purposes.
In some cases, it may be necessary to retain your personal data for different periods. The factors that direct how long we will retain personal data include the following:
For more information regarding our retention periods, please contact us.
First Party Cookies. First party cookies are cookies that we have published on our
websites to understand how visitors navigate our websites and improve the performance of our websites. We utilize third-party analytics providers to help us gather information about a visitor’s experience which may include browser type, time spent on our websites, pages clicked, operating system type, device type and ID, and information related to products you ordered. We utilize the information collected through first party cookies to perform website analytics and to update the layout and content of our websites. Third party analytics providers are able to read their own cookies on your device and are contractually restricted in how they can use the information collected.
First Party Cookie Opt Out. If you do not wish to have your information collected through first party cookies on our websites, most browsers allow you to adjust the browser settings to decline particular cookies or cookies from a specific website. Opting out of first party cookies may impact your website experience.
To learn more about controlling information provided to third party analytics providers, click on the following links: Adobe Opt-Out Site, Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Third Party Cookies. Third party cookies are cookies that our partners place on your browser to provide you with customized offers and advertising. We have agreements with companies, sometimes called "Ad Networks," that serve advertising on behalf of other companies. Ad Networks use cookies to understand web usage patterns of people who see advertisements, to control the sequence of advertisements they see, to provide them with the most relevant advertising, and to make sure they do not see the same ad too many times. Ad Networks may connect information about pages visited on our site with information about pages visited on other sites. Ad Networks display advertising based on this combined information, including advertising for our products.
While we do not control Ad Networks or what they do with the information they collect, we only work with companies that have agreed to participate in the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) and abide by NAI principles, which prohibit members from connecting identifying information to information they collect through cookies without explicit consent. Your IP address may be used to identify the general geographical location of your device.
Third Party Cookie Opt Out. You can opt out of receiving ads based on your online behavior either by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) opt-out page at http://www.aboutads.info/choices/, the NAI opt-out page at http://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1, or by clicking on the Ad-Choices icon in or near the ad. If you elect to opt out of online behavioral advertising, you will still see ads, but they may not be as relevant to you. Please keep in mind that opting out is cookie-based and will only affect the specific computer and browser on which the opt out cookie is applied. If you delete your browser cookies or if you use a different computer or different browser and want to continue to be opted out of interest-based advertising, you will need to opt out again.
Pixel Tags. Pixel tags, also known as “web beacons”, are used to support the collection of information through cookies and are generally not visible to a website visitor. Cookies placed on your browser, via our website or other websites you visit, communicate with the pixel tag to collect information about your interactions with our website. Pixel tags are also used in email advertising to understand the effectiveness of a particular advertising campaign.
Security Tools. Security tools are used on our Websites to support our authentication processes and detect and prevent fraud. Account information, including Device ID and IP Address, is collected when a visitor registers for Kount services or logs in to their existing Kount account. Data captured by security tools is segregated from other data captured through our Websites and is only used to support our authentication processes or support a fraud investigation.
Do Not Track. Some browsers transmit “do not track” signals to the Websites and other online services with which a user communicates. We currently do not take action in response to these signals.
Kount is based in the United States and the personal data held by Kount is stored in the United States. Kount is also part of the Equifax global group of companies, with operations and service providers located in other jurisdictions. Your personal data may be accessed by or transferred to such group companies or third parties in other jurisdictions.
We may transfer your personal data to other countries which may not have the same data protection laws as the country in which you initially provided the information, but we will protect your personal data in accordance with this privacy statement, or as otherwise disclosed to you.
We comply with applicable legal requirements when transferring personal data to countries other than the country where you are located. If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), we will transfer your personal data in accordance with adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses, and other approved data transfer mechanisms.
Kount websites and services are not directed to children under 13 (or other age as required by local law), and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you learn that your child has provided us with personal data without your consent, you may contact us at privacy@equifax.com. If we learn that we have collected any personal data in violation of applicable law, we will promptly take steps to delete such information and terminate the child’s account.
Kount maintains industry accepted security safeguards when storing or destroying your personal data in order to prevent unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal, or similar risks. We regularly review, test, and enhance our systems to ensure they meet accepted industry standards. We also limit the number of employees who may access your personal data on a need-to-know basis. We conduct due diligence on, and impose appropriate security standards for, our members who are permitted to access your information through products or services we offer.
Your rights to control your personal data.
General. Kount complies with data subject rights in the jurisdictions in which it operates. Depending on the jurisdiction from which your personal data was collected, you may have rights under applicable law which you may exercise by contacting us at the address below.
Email Communications. If you receive an unwanted email from us, you can use the unsubscribe link found at the bottom of the email to opt out of receiving future emails. Note that you will continue to receive transaction-related emails regarding products or services you have requested. We may also send you certain non-promotional communications regarding us and our services, and you will not be able to opt out of those communications (e.g., communications regarding the services or updates to our Terms of Use or this privacy policy).
Subject to the requirements of applicable laws and certain limitations or exceptions, you may have the right to:
If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at:
privacy@equifax.com
or
Chief Privacy Officer
Equifax Inc.
1550 Peachtree Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
We will process such requests in accordance with applicable laws. To protect your privacy, Kount will take steps to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.
We may change this online privacy statement in the future. If we make changes to this privacy statement we will post the revised privacy statement and its effective date on this website.
If you have questions or comments about this privacy statement, please contact us at the below address.
Chief Privacy and Compliance Officer
Equifax Inc.
1550 Peachtree Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
privacy@equifax.com
European Data Protection Officer
Equifax Ltd
Data Protection Officer
PO Box 10036, Leicester, LE3 4FS.
UKDPO@equifax.com