We understand that some customers are concerned about what PMMI will do with the data we collect from your website via Scout. We've assembled this FAQ to answer the most common questions.
How is the tracking data being used?
It is being used solely to feed recognized website visitors from PMMI's audience into your company's Converge report, which is accessible only by you, others at your company to whom you grant access, your PMMI Media Group sales representative, and your PMMI Media Group Client Success Manager. Internal PMMI Media Group internal digital staff also have access to client data for quality assurance purposes.
Will it be used for anything other than our/your own record keeping (i.e. will PMMI use the data for re-marketing, or other targeted advertising)?
Recognizing the sensitivity of this data, PMMI does NOT use it for any other purpose besides making it available in your company's Converge report. Nor are there any plans to use it for re-marketing or other targeted advertising.
If no, what assurances do we have for this?
Longtime PMMI members already know our reputation for honesty and data quality. But recognizing that may be insufficient for some, we are happy to furnished a signed statement from our data privacy officer stipulating this policy.
How do people opt-out of being tracked by your pixel?
By default, Scout only tracks visitors from the U.S. or Canada, so you are automatically in compliance with GDPR, the Mexico Privacy Directive, Asian data privacy laws, and the like.
Having said that, you still have to handle people in the U.S. or Canada who want to opt out of being tracked. Since the tracking happens on your website, not ours, that is your responsibility, no different from any other third-party web script that deposits cookies. There are many consent tracking platforms on the market to handle this. Some of the more affordable ones are Quantcast (free), Termly.io. or Usercentrics. Please note the limitations on our liability (see below).
Does the tracking comply with the GDPR regulation and the newer California data tracking laws?
Yes it does. At the current time, we do not track anyone from outside of the USA and Canada. If you're a geek, we use GeoPlugin -- specifically the server-side API, not in JavaScript on the client side, to detect the country of the visitor to our websites (where the cookies are first planted), and unless they are in the U.S. or Canada, our script does not even plant our cookies. That means we don't track anyone from Europe, which makes us compliant. Regarding the California law, if your company has revenues of less than $25M, then you are exempt. If you have revenues greater than $25M, you must comply with the California law for all the third-party scripts that run on your site, not just Scout. We have furnished boilerplate consent language that you can use on your website. (See bottom of page.) You still need a consent management platform (a few listed above).
If we ever part ways, what happens to this data?
We hope that day never happens, but alas, it may. We simply keep your data on file in case you return. And all data ultimately ages out after three years.
Do any third parties have access to the data? Is it possible that the data could be sold? If so, to whom?
No third parties have access to the data. It will never be sold.
Is the data confined/limited to my company only?
Yes. Nobody else sees it or has access to it.
And finally, because our lawyers make us say so . . .
By opting into using PMMI Media Group’s Scout product, you agree to place our beacon tracker onto your website, and in doing so, you agree to PMMI Media Group’s privacy policy. You should understand that by engaging in tracking activity on the web, there are potential legal risks and pitfalls that could result in inquiries, complaints and some theoretically potential legal liability. PMMI Media Group is not liable for any issues that may arise, however remote, from tracking activities performed on your website using the Scout tracking beacon. Nor is PMMI Media Group responsible for any legal liability that arises from any action that your company or your employees take with company and contact information transferred to your company through Converge.
It is your company’s responsibility to identify any laws and regulations that may apply and to comply with those that are applicable, such as Data Privacy, Anti-SPAM, Breach Notification, and Do-Not-Track laws. As of mid-2020, the only U.S. state with a do-not-track provision is California. If your company earns less than $25 million in revenues, you are exempt from complying with the California law. Otherwise you must notify website visitors from California and provide them a chance to opt out. There are many widely available consent platforms available to handle this. Some of the more affordable ones are Quantcast (free), Termly.io. or Usercentrics.
PMMI Media Group has taken appropriate measures to ensure its own compliance with various laws in existence today, but there are many developing regulations both inside and outside the United States that could develop into law in the near future. We recommend that your company regularly do its own research on these laws to determine which laws apply to you.
Scout is intended for use only within the United States and Canada and has been built to only report the activity of website visitors from these geographies. Scout does not report on the activity of anyone outside of the US and Canada, and as such, compliance with the EU's GDPR law is not a concern, as Scout is built to inherently ignore these geographies.
PMMI Media Group has developed the following general consent language that you may opt to use, or develop your own, to present to the website visitor when asking for consent to use tracking cookies:
We use cookies and other tracking technologies to provide website functionality, including the ability to recognize visitors from legitimate advertising campaigns that we run. By clicking below, you consent to the use of our cookies if you wish to continue using this website. Please read our privacy policy for details.
We use cookies and other tracking technologies (e.g., web beacons and other identifiers) to provide website functionality and recognize visitors from legitimate advertising campaigns that we run, as well as to better understand what types of content our current and potential customers are consuming on our website. Your continued use of this website constitutes agreement to our use of these technologies. [Insert optional link to your data privacy consent management platform if they want to opt out.]