Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

This Privacy Policy explains how our websites that link to this policy and the Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA,” “we,” or “us”) collect, use, and disclose information about you. This Privacy Policy applies when you use a website that links to this Privacy Policy, engage with us on social media, attend an in-person event, or otherwise interact with us (collectively, our “Services”).

 

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this policy and, in some cases, we may provide you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to our website or sending you a notification). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.

Collection of Information

 

Information You Provide Us

We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, you share information directly with us when you sign up for our newsletter, report a piracy issue, communicate with us via third-party platforms, participate in a survey or advocacy campaign, attend an in-person event, use our Gold and Platinum portal, or otherwise communicate with us. The types of personal information we may collect include your name, email address, postal address, phone number, and any other information you choose to provide.

 

Information We Collect Automatically When You Interact with Us

When you access or use our Services or otherwise transact business with us, we automatically collect certain information, including:

• Device and Usage Information: We collect information about how you access our Services, including data about the device and network you use, such as your hardware model, operating system version, mobile network, IP address, unique device identifiers, and browser type. We also collect information about your activity on our Services, such as access times, pages viewed, links clicked, and the page you visited before navigating to our Services.
• Information Collected by Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies: We (and our service providers) use tracking technologies, such as cookies and web beacons, to collect information about you. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us improve our Services and your experience, see which areas and features of our Services are popular, and count visits. Web beacons (also known as “pixel tags” or “clear GIFs”) are electronic images that we use on our Services and in our emails to help deliver cookies, count visits, and understand usage and campaign effectiveness. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, see the Your Choices section below.

Information We Collect from Other Sources

We obtain information from third-party sources. For example, we may collect information about you from identity verification services, credit bureaus, advertising networks, data analytics providers, social media, public registers, and mailing list providers.   

Use of Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our Services;
• Personalize and improve your experience on our Services;
• Inform you about opportunities with respect to our Services;
• Send you technical notices, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
• Respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service;
• Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Services;
• Personalize the advertisements you see on third-party platforms and websites (for more information, see the Advertising and Analytics section below);
• Detect, investigate, and prevent security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity and protect the rights and property of RIAA, our members, and others;
• Debug to identify and repair errors in our Services;
• Comply with our legal and financial obligations; and
• Carry out any other purpose described to you at the time the information was collected.

Sharing of Information

We share the information we collect in the following circumstances or as otherwise described in this policy:

• We share personal information with vendors, service providers, and consultants that need access to personal information in order to perform services for us, such as companies that assist us with web hosting, analytics, and marketing and advertising and our auditors that assist with our Gold and Platinum program.
• We may disclose personal information if we believe that disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law or legal process, including lawful requests by public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
• We may share personal information if we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our user agreements or policies, if we believe that you have violated the law, or if we believe it is necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of RIAA, our members, our users, the public, or others.
• We may share personal information in connection with, or during negotiations concerning, any merger, sale of our assets, or acquisition of all or a portion of our operations by another entity.
• We share personal information with your consent or at your direction.

We also share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

Advertising and Analytics

We allow others to provide analytics services and serve advertisements on our behalf across the web. These entities may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of our Services and other websites and applications, including your IP address, web browser, mobile network information, pages viewed, time spent on pages, links clicked, and conversion information. This information may be used by us and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests on our Services and other websites, and better understand your online activity. For more information about interest-based ads, or to opt out of having your web browsing information used for behavioral advertising purposes, please visit www.aboutads.info/choices.

Transfer of Information to the United States and Other Countries

We are headquartered in the United States. When you visit our websites or provide your personal information to us, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States and other countries where we or our service providers may process your information. We will take steps to ensure that your personal information receives an adequate level of protection in the jurisdictions in which we process it.

Your Choices

Cookies

Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually adjust your browser settings to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that removing or rejecting cookies could affect the availability and functionality of our Services.

 

Communications Preferences

If we send any promotional emails, you will be able to opt out by following the instructions in those communications. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those about your account or our ongoing business relations.

TERMS OF USE

These terms of use govern your use and access of the websites operated by us that link to these terms of use (“Sites”). We provide these Sites, including all information, tools, and services on these Sites, to you, conditioned on your acceptance of these terms of use.

 

Except as set forth below concerning our Gold and Platinum Portal Site (“G&P Portal”), the Sites are being made available to you for your non-commercial, informational purposes only. Although the information provided to you on Sites is obtained or compiled from sources we believe to be reliable, the information on the Sites is provided “as is” with no warranties of any kind.

 

You may only use the G&P Portal if you are a record label that has already obtained at least one Gold and Platinum certification and have registered to use the G&P Portal.  You represent and warrant that  (i) you will only use the G&P Portal to submit and monitor applications for certifications for which you are entitled to seek certification in accordance with our Gold and Platinum Program, (ii) all of the information you submit is true and correct, (iii) you are authorized to apply for such certification(s) and provide such information, and (iv) you will promptly provide any cooperation requested by the RIAA or its auditors in connection with any certification application.  You acknowledge that you will be invoiced for any certification application(s) you submit, regardless of whether the application is approved, and you agree to timely pay such invoices in accordance with the payment terms set forth on the invoice, and any other costs or expenses the RIAA may incur in connection with any application you submit. To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify the RIAA and its auditors from any legal proceedings that may incur or arise from a breach of the foregoing warranties or your improper use of the G&P Portal.  The RIAA may terminate your use of the G&P Portal if you breach any of your representations or warranties or use the G&P Portal in an improper manner or if the RIAA discontinues the G&P Portal.

 

The Sites contains links to other sites. These links are provided as a convenience to you. The inclusion of these links is not an endorsement by the RIAA of those sites or the content of such sites. The RIAA has no control over such sites and accepts no responsibility for them.

 

The RIAA does not warrant the accuracy, validity, timeliness, or completeness of any information or data or services provided, either expressly or impliedly, for any particular purpose and expressly disclaims any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

 

Neither the RIAA, nor any of its affiliates, directors, members, officers, or employees, nor any third-party contributor or vendor will be liable or have any responsibility of any kind for any loss or damage that you incur in the event of any failure or interruption of any of the Sites, or resulting from the act or omission of any other party involved in making this site or the data contained therein available to you, or from any other cause relating to your access to, inability to access, or use of the Sites or these materials, whether or not the circumstances giving rise to such cause may have been within the control of RIAA or of any vendor or other third party providing content, software, or services support. In no event will RIAA, its affiliates, directors, members, officers, employees, or any such vendors or third parties be liable to you for any direct, special, indirect, consequential, incidental damages or any other damages of any kind even if RIAA or any other party has been advised of the possibility thereof.

 

You may not use any “deep link,” “page-scrape,” “robot,” or “spider” on the Sites, nor copy any of their content, without prior authorization. You may not alter transmission data or attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion or feature of any of the Sites, or any other systems or networks connected to the Sites or to the RIAA server by illegitimate means.

 

All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos on this site (Marks) are the property of the RIAA, its content providers, or other third parties.  You may not use the RIAA trademarks without the RIAA’s written consent.

 

These terms of use and your use of the Sites is governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, without giving effect to its conflict of laws provision. To the extent permitted by applicable law, you consent to the jurisdiction of the courts of the District of Columbia for any action arising out of these terms of use or the privacy policy.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or Terms of Use, please contact us at legal@riaa.com.