Dentsu International (referred to as “our”, “us” and “we” in this notice) is an advertising agency that is part of a global media group.  Merkle is part of Dentsu International. We help our clients to improve how they advertise and market, whether by print, post, email or on websites. We believe that the responsible use of data supports business growth and builds strong relationships between brand and consumer. As a business, we are committed to respecting and protecting the privacy of all individuals with whom we interact. We are committed to being transparent in our handling and processing of personal data at all times in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection laws.

This Privacy Notice explains in detail the types of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us on any website where this Privacy Notice appears.

It also covers marketing for Merkle’s various brands, and with those acting in a professional capacity (such as when enquiring about, researching, reporting on, assessing or engaging in business discussions).

Data collected by us within the scope of this Privacy Notice, is not incorporated into our data products. You can find privacy information for our products here.

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”), the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”), the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (“CTDPA”), and the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (“UCPA”) provides residents of their respective states with additional rights with respect to their personal data. Those rights are explained below in Section 6 (Your Privacy Rights).

This Privacy Notice includes certain disclosures required under applicable U.S. privacy laws.  Please note that the rules implementing some of these laws have not yet been finalized.  We are committed to continual compliance with these laws and will update our processes and this notice as the rules are finalized and the law requires.

In this Privacy Notice, the term “personal data” has the meaning ascribed to it under applicable U.S. privacy laws, and includes the term “”personal information” as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended.

Personal data does not include de-identified or aggregate data or publicly available data.

01 | Information We May Collect

The type of information we collect will depend on the circumstances and the service you are using. Generally speaking, we will collect information relating to you and/or your use of our services in the following ways:

02 | How we use this information

Except where prohibited by law or court order, we use your personal data for the following purposes:

• to deliver the specific information or services you have requested;
• to enable the download of our content;
• to send you newsletters and advertising messages (these may contain information relating to our brands and services);
• to respond to your requests and feedback;
• to analyze and/or improve our websites and services;
• to recognize you across multiple touchpoints by creating a single record for you; 
• other purposes for which we seek your consent; and
• to protect us, our websites, customers, employees, and business partners from fraud or other malicious activity.

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) requires us to provide you with the following additional information about: (1) the purpose for which we use each category of “personal information” (as defined in the CCPA) we collect; and (2) the categories of third parties to which we (a) disclose such personal information for a “business purpose,” (b) “share” personal information for “cross-context behavioral advertising,” (also known as “targeted advertising”) and/or (c) “sell” such personal information.

As noted above, in this Privacy Notice, the term “personal data” has the meaning ascribed to it under applicable U.S. laws, and includes the term “personal information” as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended.

In the table below we set out further information about the purposes for which we use your personal data and the categories of third parties that we disclose, “sell,” or share the personal data.  The term “share” has the meanings ascribed to it under applicable U.S. privacy laws, including for “cross-context behavioral advertising” or “targeted advertising.”  The term “sell” has the meanings ascribed to it under applicable U.S. laws, meaning the sale of your personal data to an outside party for monetary or other valuable consideration, subject to certain exceptions.  In the second column, we also specify how such personal data is categorized under applicable U.S. privacy laws. For more information about the categories of personal data under applicable U.S. privacy laws,  see Your Privacy Rights.

We may use personal data to create deidentified or aggregated data which does not identify you or any other individual. We may use and disclose this anonymous or aggregated data as we choose.

03 | Information sharing and disclosing

04 | Where and When We Send Information

We are a globally operating media group consisting of multiple companies. Therefore, we may from time to time disclose your personal data within our group of companies. Some of our group companies are located inside the European Union (“EU”) or European Economic Area (“EEA”), and we implement and maintain policies designed to ensure the security of such disclosures and transfers in accordance with the applicable privacy and data protection laws.

If you reside in the EU or EEA, we will only transfer your personal data outside the EU or EEA where we are satisfied that adequate levels of protection are in place designed to protect the integrity and security of any information being processed in compliance with applicable privacy and data protection laws. These measures may include, as applicable, the use of standard contractual/data protection clauses adopted by the European Commission and where transfers are to the United States of America, the EU-US Privacy Shield, Swiss-US Privacy Shield or your consent. Where we transfer personal data between our group companies we have covered these transfers by entering into standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission.  

You may request further information on the measures used for such transfers via the contact details given in this Privacy Notice.

05 | Retention of your Information

We retain information for different periods of time depending on the purposes for which we collect and use it, as described in this Privacy Notice. We will delete or de-identify information when it is no longer needed to fulfill these purposes unless a longer retention period is required to comply with applicable laws. There may be technical or other operational reasons where we are unable to fully delete or de-identify your information. Where this is the case, we will take reasonable measures to prevent further processing your information.

06 | Your Choices

You have certain choices about how we use your information. 

You can control cookies and tracking tools. To learn more about your choices related to cookies, please see our Cookie Notice. 

You may choose not to receive marketing communications from us. You can ask us to stop such messages at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the message.  Please note that even if you choose not to receive marketing communications from us, you still may receive non-marketing communications, such as responses to your inquiries or notices regarding your account or our relationship with you.

Opting Out of Interest Based Advertising

We enable users to opt-out from certain uses of information in a digital environment. If you want to opt-out from our solutions from the browser you are currently using, click here and our systems will attempt to place an opt-out cookie on your computer.

You may also visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ to have the option of opting out of many of our partners. Please note that if you clear cookies from your browser, you may need to renew your opt-out choice. The mobile operating systems (e.g., Android and iOS) have their own opt-out mechanisms that apply IBA in mobile app environments. To exercise this opt-out, please visit the privacy settings of your Android or iOS device and select “limit ad tracking” (Apple iOS) or “opt-out of interest based ads” (Android).

Notice Concerning Do Not Track

Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. We are committed to providing you with meaningful choices about the information collected on our websites for third-party purposes, and that is why we provide the variety of opt-out mechanisms listed above, and in our Cookies Notice. Some web browsers offer users a “Do Not Track” privacy preference setting in the web browser. We do not currently recognize or respond to browser initiated Do Not Track signals.

While we do not currently respond to Do Not Track signals, when our systems detect the presence of our opt-out cookie or a mobile o/s opt-out indicator, our solutions will stop engaging in IBA for the opted out browser or device. And if we have linked two or more browsers or devices as described above, our systems will attempt to sever the link for the opted out browser or device.

Opting Out of Direct Mail and Telemarketing

Responsible marketing companies respect your choice to not receive direct mail advertising. We use Direct Marketing Association (DMA) resources to suppress the names and addresses of individuals who have notified the DMA that they do not want to receive advertising by mail.

If you would like to opt out of direct mail advertising, send your complete name and address to: DMA Mail Preference Service P.O. Box 643 Carmel, NY 10512

Responsible marketing companies respect your choice to not receive telemarketing calls. We use DMA resources to suppress the phone numbers of individuals who have notified the DMA that they do not want to receive telemarketing calls.

If you would like to opt out of telemarketing calls, send your complete name, address and telephone number to: DMA Telephone Preference Service P.O. Box 1559 Carmel.

Email Marketing Preferences

If you wish to update your email marketing preferences, or unsubscribe, you can also do so by visiting this page.

Your Privacy Rights

The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), as amended, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”), the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”), the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (“CTDPA”), and the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (“UCPA”) provides residents of their respective states with additional rights with respect to their personal data.

Depending on where you live and what you are asking us to do, we may or may not be obligated to comply with your request, and/or the time required to complete a request may vary.  Based on how we collect and utilize your personal data, you may have the following rights:

• Right to Access – You have the right to request that we provide you with a copy of the specific pieces of personal data we collected about you.
• Right to Delete – You have the right to request that we delete your personal data that we maintain about you, subject to certain exceptions.
  • If you were known by another name or lived at another address, we may not be able to locate all information which relates to you if you do not include it in the form below. Please provide as much information as possible so that we can try to identify all records which relate to you.  We may keep certain personal data in accordance with our legal obligations and rights, such as keeping sufficient information about you to recognize that you have made a personal data request and to keep a record of that request.
  • However, if we lawfully receive your personal data after fulfilling your deletion request, that new information may be included in future data products unless/until you submit a new deletion request. However, if one of our clients separately has your personal data and they provide it to us, along with specific instructions on how we are to use it on their behalf, you may still receive their advertising. (We do not add our clients’ data to our own data products unless allowed to by our clients)
• Right to Opt-Out of Targeted Advertising – You have the right to request that we not include your data for any targeted advertising we conduct.
  • Your choices do NOT affect marketing that is not based on your personal data. For example, you may still receive advertising based on the content and predicted audience of the website you are browsing. This is known as “contextual advertising” and will not stop in response to your requests.
• Right to Correct – You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal data that we maintain about you, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Data – You have the right to request that we do not process or share your sensitive personal data.
• Right to Opt-Out of Profiling – You have the right to request that we not process your information for profiling.
• Right to Non-Discrimination – You have the right to not receive discriminatory treatment for the exercise of your privacy rights.
• Do Not Sell/Share My Info – You can request that we not sell or share your personal data that we have in our products by clicking Do Not Sell/Share My Info. For purposes of this Privacy Notice, “sell” means the sale of your personal data to an outside party for monetary or other valuable consideration, subject to certain exceptions set forth in applicable U.S. privacy laws. For purposes of this Privacy Notice, “share” means the targeting of advertising to you based on that your personal data obtained from your activity across websites, subject to certain exceptions set forth in applicable U.S. privacy laws. Any opt-out of cookie-based tracking for advertising purposes is specific to the device, website, and browser you are using, and is deleted whenever you clear your browser’s cache.
  • If you request an opt-out of the sale or share of your personal data, we will stop including your information in the data products we give to our clients.

You can make these requests online by clicking here or by calling us at (+1) (877) 570-5939.  For any business-to-business requests, you can make these requests online by clicking here, or by calling us at (+1) (833) 570-5939 (toll-free in the US). For any employment related requests, you can make these requests online by clicking here.  If you are an EU resident, please email us at dpo@merkle.com.  We may deny certain requests, or fulfill a request only in part, based on our legal rights and obligations. For example, we may retain personal data as permitted by law, such as for tax or other record keeping purposes, to maintain an active account, and to process transactions and facilitate customer requests. Note that for purposes of these requests under this Privacy Notice, personal data does not include information we have collected as a service provider to our clients. Finally, please note that we are required by California Civil Code section 1798.105(d) to keep a record of your request.

Only you, or a person or business entity that you authorize to act on your behalf (an “Authorized Agent”), may make the requests set forth above. You may also make a request on behalf of your minor child.  For California residents, Authorized Agents must be a person or entity registered with the California Secretary of State.

The request should include your contact information and describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it. In addition, you should provide sufficient information (including information that reasonably enables us verify the identifying information we currently maintain about you) that allows us to reasonably verify that you are the person about whom we collected the personal data or an authorized representative.

We will respond to consumer requests in a reasonably timely manner. If we require extra time to respond, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. In order to protect the security of your personal data, we will not honor a request if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal data relates to you. The method used to verify your identity will depend on the type, sensitivity and value of the information, including the risk of harm to you posed by any authorized access or deletion. Generally speaking, verification will be performed by matching the identifying information provided by you to the personal data that we already have. 

Any disclosures we provide for California residents will only cover the 12-month period preceding our receipt of your request (and will not be made more than twice in a 12-month period). If we cannot comply with a request, or cannot fully comply with a request, the response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply. If we deny your request in whole or in part, you may have the right to appeal the decision. In such circumstances, we will provide you with information regarding the appeals process.

Data Subject Rights Requests Metrics - California Consumer Privacy Act

• Click here to view our most recent reporting metrics

If you reside in California, you have the right to ask us one time each year if we have shared personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make a request, please send us an email, or write to us at the address listed below. Indicate in your letter that you are a California resident making a “Shine the Light” inquiry.

07 | How We Protect Your Personal Information

We have reasonable security measures in place to help protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.

We have implemented reasonable, industry-standard security policies, standards and practices designed to protect information from internal and external threats. The degree of protection for each piece of information is based on the risk and consequences associated with having that information compromised. While no security measures will provide for absolute security, all of our employees responsible for the management of information have the responsibility to adhere to our documented security controls, which are developed commensurate with the understood risk.

08 | Our Responsibility for Website Links

This Privacy Notice is limited to the personal data collected by us. We do provide links within this site to other websites, including social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you follow these links, your use of these sites will be governed by their applicable user and privacy notices since their data practices fall outside the scope of this Privacy Notice. Further, we have no responsibility for or control over the information collected by any third-party website and we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you may provide on such websites.

09 | Children

This website is not intended for children aged 16 or under. We do not actively seek to collect personal data about children aged 16 or under. If you have any concerns about your child’s privacy in relation to our services, or if you believe that your child under the age of 16 may have entered personal data onto our website, please contact us at dpous@merkleinc.com. We will delete such personal data from our records or seek verifiable parental or legal guardian consent to retain such information within a reasonable time.

10 | Updates

This Privacy Notice may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in law, best practice or a change in our practices regarding the treatment of personal data.  The date of the most recent revision will appear at the top of this page. If you do not agree to the changes, please do not continue to use our services and please refrain from sharing your personal data with us. You should check this notice frequently for updates.

This Notice is effective as of November 20, 2023.

11 | Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or our approach to privacy, you can contact our Data Protection Officer in any of the following ways:

Address: Data Protection Officer
Merkle Inc.
7001 Columbia Gateway Drive
Columbia, MD 21046

Telephone:

(+1) (877) 570-5939 (U.S. toll-free)

Or by email at: dpous@merkleinc.com (Americas) or dpo@merkle.com (EU/EEA)