Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

ShortenedUrl ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our URL shortening service.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

We collect information that you provide directly to us, including:

• Account Information: Email address, password (hashed), username, and profile information
• Profile Information: Name, preferences, account settings, and subscription details
• URL Data: URLs that you shorten through our service, custom short codes, and link metadata
• Communications: Support requests, feedback, survey responses, and correspondence with us
• Payment Information: For premium accounts, we collect billing information through secure third-party payment processors
• OAuth Information: If you sign in using OAuth providers (Google, Facebook), we may collect profile information from those services

2.2 Automatically Collected Information

When you use our service, we automatically collect certain information, including:

• Technical Data: IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, and screen resolution
• Location Data: General geographic location based on IP address (country, city level)
• Usage Data: Pages visited, time spent on pages, click patterns, referral sources, and interaction data
• Link Analytics: Click counts, timestamps, geographic distribution of clicks, device types, and referrers for shortened URLs
• Cookies and Tracking: Session cookies, persistent cookies, and similar tracking technologies
• Log Data: Server logs, error logs, and diagnostic information

2.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third-party services:

• OAuth providers (Google, Facebook) when you sign in using these services
• Payment processors when you make purchases
• Analytics services that help us understand how our service is used
• Security services that help us detect and prevent fraud

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

3.1 Service Provision

• Create and manage your account
• Process URL shortening requests and generate short links
• Provide analytics and statistics about your shortened URLs
• Enable link management features (editing, deleting, organizing links)
• Deliver personalized content and features

3.2 Communication

• Send you technical notices, updates, and support messages
• Respond to your comments, questions, and support requests
• Send you marketing communications (with your consent, which you can opt out of)
• Notify you about changes to our service or policies
• Send you account-related notifications (password resets, security alerts)

3.3 Service Improvement

• Analyze usage patterns to improve our service
• Develop new features and functionality
• Conduct research and analytics
• Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities

3.4 Security and Legal Compliance

• Detect, prevent, and address technical issues, security threats, and fraudulent activity
• Verify your identity and prevent unauthorized access
• Comply with legal obligations and respond to legal requests
• Enforce our Terms of Service and other policies
• Protect the rights, property, and safety of ShortenedUrl, our users, and others

3.5 Business Operations

• Process payments and manage subscriptions
• Provide customer support
• Conduct business analytics and reporting
• Manage our business operations and infrastructure

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share your information only in the following circumstances:

4.1 Service Providers

We may share information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf, including:

• Hosting and Infrastructure: Cloud hosting providers that store and process our data
• Payment Processing: Payment processors to handle subscription payments
• Analytics: Analytics services to understand how our service is used
• Email Services: Email service providers to send transactional and marketing emails
• Customer Support: Customer support platforms to manage support requests
• Security Services: Security providers to detect and prevent fraud and abuse

These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and use it only for the purposes we specify.

4.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose information if required by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities, including:

• Compliance with legal obligations, court orders, or legal processes
• Responding to government or regulatory requests
• Protecting our rights, property, or safety, or that of our users or others
• Investigating potential violations of our Terms of Service
• Preventing or addressing security, fraud, or technical issues

4.3 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity. We will notify you of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information.

4.4 With Your Consent

We may share information with your explicit consent or at your direction. For example, if you choose to integrate our service with third-party applications, we may share information as necessary to provide that integration.

4.5 Aggregated and Anonymized Data

We may share aggregated, anonymized, or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you. This may include usage statistics, trends, and other analytical data.

5. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

5.1 Security Measures

We employ various security measures to protect your information, including:

• Encryption: Data in transit is encrypted using TLS/SSL protocols
• Password Security: Passwords are hashed using industry-standard algorithms (bcrypt)
• Access Controls: Limited access to personal information on a need-to-know basis
• Regular Security Audits: Regular security assessments and vulnerability testing
• Secure Infrastructure: Hosting on secure, monitored servers with firewalls and intrusion detection
• Data Backup: Regular backups to prevent data loss
• Incident Response: Procedures for responding to security incidents

5.2 Your Role in Security

You also play an important role in protecting your information:

• Use a strong, unique password for your account
• Do not share your account credentials with others
• Log out of your account when using shared devices
• Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access to your account
• Keep your email account secure, as it's used for account recovery

5.3 Data Breaches

In the event of a data breach that may affect your personal information, we will notify you and relevant authorities as required by applicable law. We will take immediate steps to contain the breach and mitigate any potential harm.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our service and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.

6.1 Types of Cookies We Use

• Essential Cookies: Required for the service to function properly (authentication, security)
• Functional Cookies: Remember your preferences and settings
• Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our service
• Performance Cookies: Collect information about how you interact with our service

6.2 Third-Party Cookies

We may use third-party services that set cookies on your device. These services help us analyze usage, provide advertising, and improve our service. These third parties have their own privacy policies.

6.3 Managing Cookies

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse cookies or delete existing cookies. However, disabling cookies may limit your ability to use certain features of our service.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

7.1 Access Rights

You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you. This includes information about what data we have, how we use it, and who we share it with. You can access much of this information directly through your account settings.

7.2 Correction Rights

You have the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information. You can update most of your information directly through your account settings. If you need to correct information that cannot be updated through your account, please contact us.

7.3 Deletion Rights

You have the right to request deletion of your personal information. You can delete your account at any time through your account settings, which will delete most of your personal information. Some information may be retained for legal or legitimate business purposes (e.g., transaction records, legal compliance).

7.4 Objection Rights

You have the right to object to processing of your personal information for certain purposes, such as direct marketing or processing based on legitimate interests. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails or contacting us.

7.5 Data Portability Rights

You have the right to request transfer of your data to another service in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format. You can export your link data through your account dashboard.

7.6 Withdraw Consent

Where we process your information based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred before the withdrawal.

7.7 Restriction Rights

You have the right to request restriction of processing of your personal information in certain circumstances, such as when you contest the accuracy of the data or object to processing.

7.8 Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@shortenedurl.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services and fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

8.1 Retention Periods

• Account Information: Retained while your account is active and for a reasonable period after account deletion for legal and business purposes
• URL Data: Retained while your account is active. Deleted URLs may be retained in backups for a limited period
• Analytics Data: Retained for up to 2 years for analytical purposes
• Transaction Records: Retained for 7 years as required by law for financial records
• Support Communications: Retained for up to 3 years for customer service purposes
• Log Data: Retained for up to 90 days for security and troubleshooting purposes

8.2 Deletion

When you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize most of your personal information. However, we may retain certain information for legal, regulatory, or legitimate business purposes, such as:

• Compliance with legal obligations
• Resolving disputes and enforcing agreements
• Preventing fraud and abuse
• Maintaining security and preventing unauthorized access

9. Children's Privacy

Our service is not intended for children under the age of 13 (or 16 in the European Union). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under these ages. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately.

If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child without parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information as soon as possible. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child, please contact us at privacy@shortenedurl.com.

10. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and maintained on computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where data protection laws may differ. By using our service, you consent to the transfer of your information.

10.1 Transfer Mechanisms

When we transfer your information internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:

• Standard contractual clauses approved by relevant data protection authorities
• Adequacy decisions recognizing the recipient country's data protection laws
• Other legally recognized transfer mechanisms

10.2 Your Rights

Regardless of where your information is processed, we apply the same protections described in this Privacy Policy. If you have questions about international data transfers, please contact us.

11. California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• Right to Know: Request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect, use, and disclose
• Right to Delete: Request deletion of your personal information
• Right to Opt-Out: Opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information)
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights

To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@shortenedurl.com.

12. European Privacy Rights (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including the rights described in Section 7. We are committed to complying with GDPR requirements.

Our legal basis for processing your information includes:

• Consent: When you provide explicit consent for specific processing activities
• Contract Performance: To fulfill our contract with you to provide our services
• Legitimate Interests: For our legitimate business interests, such as improving our service and preventing fraud
• Legal Obligations: To comply with legal requirements

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. For material changes, we will provide additional notice, such as sending you an email notification or displaying a prominent notice on our service.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Your continued use of our service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of those changes.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Privacy Officer
ShortenedUrl Privacy Team
Email: info@shortenedurl.com

General Inquiries
Email: info@shortenedurl.com
Visit our Contact Us page

Data Protection Officer (EU)
Email: info@shortenedurl.com