Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 2021

Thought Marketing provides consulting services and programs that benefit business leaders and executive professionals, particularly in the technology sector. As such, we use digital and physical methods to engage interested prospects and communicate with our highly respected communities. We are a client-first company, as well as a technology company, and continually work to ensure we are both cutting-edge in our marketing practices as well as high-integrity to protect our very important client relationships.

This Policy informs you of the types of information Thought Marketing  (“we”, “us”, “our” or the “Company”) collects about you when you visit our website at http://www.thoughtmarketing.com, and associated sub-domains (the “Site”). By visiting the Site or utilizing our Services, you agree to the provisions of this Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, please do not use, access or utilize the Site or our Services. In addition, we encourage you to reach out to us so we can best understand your perspectives regarding any policy areas that do not meet your needs. Whenever possible, we adapt our privacy policy based on client feedback.

In order to usefully communicate to prospects and serve their individualized needs, we regularly collect and analyze data. Our data collection methods may include:

• Email communications
• Web site campaigns
• Commercially available lead tools
• Social media profile and communications information
• Commercially available media mining tools, cross-platform
• Phone calls
• Trade show lead scanning
• Event lead capture
• Search advertising

Personal data collected typically includes the individual and company name, geographic location, and contact information.  In some cases, we track interests or topics of interest, in order to better align our engagement activities and content to meet client or prospect needs.

At some in-person events, we may ask for technical environment information or personal opinions about industry trends, subject matters, or service benefits.

In some individual digital chat sessions, conference call/meeting apps or other commercially available communication technologies, we may inadvertently capture screenshots or photos that happen to include a prospect’s headshot as well as visuals of their working surroundings. This is not the primary intent of our information collection. Screenshots are typically collected to document action items, URLs, next steps and other customer-benefiting activities. Customer documentation or information in those surroundings can be visible through these technologies. We highly recommend prospects and clients take actions to remove any PII or sensitive information or visuals from their line of sight before engaging in any digital communications.

Although not typical practice, this information may be used in aggregate, anonymously, to produce market education materials such as trend or survey result content. It may also be used to inform improved marketing and communication approaches.

Online forms and email templates that collect personal information include an opt-out address for those unwilling to receive future electronic contact from the company. Email communications include our clearly marked physical address as well as an opt-out method.

If you do not want to receive further information or materials from us, you can update your information or opt out by following the instructions contained within each communication from us, however:

Support contracts or other legal policies may require that we send notifications via email regarding your Software and/or Services for the purpose of keeping you informed of any updates or changes to the Software and/or Services. These email communications are required to ensure continued functionality of the Software and/or Services, and you will continue to receive these types of email communications even if you choose to opt-out of any other email communication from us.

Client information is not actively shared with third parties unless it is required to run the business to serve our clients. Examples include:

Client information such as email address or company name may be shared with trusted parties such as marketing personnel, both internal and contracted, to configure communication or marketing tools.

Anonymous information such as tool optimization suggestions or “pulse” readings on market trends may be shared with other clients to benefit in non-competitive situations. This does not include PII.

Marketing may also use prospect information to designate event locations or plan future campaign strategies, as well as inform new offering designs.

We reserve the right to share your information with trusted third parties who assist us in operating our Site, conducting our business, or providing you with the Services. Each trusted third party must agree to keep your personal information confidential. These third parties may not use your personal information for other purposes, unless you agree. These third parties are accountable for following ethical and security policies we typically require they sign prior to engagement. They are liable should they breach our policies.

We may also disclose your personal information as required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or other legal process, when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, respond to a government request, or to conduct investigations of violations of our legal agreements.

We may also provide access to, assign or disclose information maintained by us, including customer account information, in connection with a corporate transaction, such as a merger, acquisition, or purchase of all or substantially all of our assets.

Information is stored electronically within contact management systems and databases. These systems are restricted in access through physical distancing, as well as digital efforts. Digital efforts include privilege and access rights management policies that limit who and how many individuals may use these systems on our behalf. The commercially available systems we use include security features for data protection and data access, however, we cannot in good faith suggest that all commercial software is secure. We are not responsible or liable for the security of these commercially available systems.

To do our part to offset third party software risks, we limit how many solutions we use and follow best practices for password management and other defense-in-depth methods. We seek out solutions that prioritize security and where possible, align with our customer-first, high integrity company culture.

If you are concerned about your data security, please do not share information with us that you are not comfortable revealing in the public domain.

Information is typically stored permanently and is updated as frequently as a contact interacts with the company through any Sales or Marketing activities. Duplicate copies may exist for disaster recovery purposes.

Information may be automatically stored, without our direct consent, in technologies such as SAAS email solutions and cloud provisioned storage services. The commercially available systems we use include security features for data protection and data access, however, we cannot in good faith suggest that commercial software can protect against all security threats. We are not responsible or liable for the security of these commercially available systems or their claims.

To do our part to offset risk, we add on multiple security technologies and process layers, throughout our systems, and regularly invest in updated security solutions and assessments. We highly recommend our prospects and clients do the same. Wherever possible, we seek out solutions from companies that prioritize security and take personal privacy seriously.

As a helpful resource, our site and associated social media accounts include links to third party sites, products and services. Your access to these third party sites may result in the collection or sharing of your information. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies, therefore we are not responsible or liable for the content and activities of these linked sites. The inclusion of these third party sites on our Site shall not be construed to be an endorsement or representation regarding any third party sites, products, or services. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of such third party sites. We also encourage you to be aware of potential security threats initiated through any Web site on the public Internet, and consider having your IT administrator deploy security tools accordingly. As noted above, we highly encourage your use of multiple security technologies and processes to limit exploitation through browsers, mobile phones, apps and SAAS solutions that may interface with these third party sites, scripts and content.

We use cookies and similar technologies to analyze trends, administer the website, track users’ movements around the website, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level, but if you choose to disable cookies, it may limit your use of certain features or functions on our website or service.

We may also automatically collect certain aggregate information and analytical data related to your Site visit, Software and/or Services, and event participation. Aggregate information is non-personally identifiable or anonymous information about you, including the date and time of your visit, the Internet Protocol (“IP”) address of your computer, your browser information, operating system, the state or country from which you accessed the Site, the Internet address you visited before reaching the Site, error logs, the name of the domain and host you used to access the Internet and the features of our Site, Software and or Services which you accessed, and other hardware and software information. We also maintain log files for the traffic that visits our Site.

For events, aggregated information may include job role and level, timing/dates of participation, and geographic location. Event organizers may perform their own data collection methods and share with us aggregate information from beacons, scanners, or other collection methods. These third party companies have separate and independent privacy policies, therefore we are not responsible or liable for the content and activities of these entities. Our reliance upon these third party sites for delegating and approving vendor event participation shall not be construed to be an endorsement or representation regarding any third party company, product, or service. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of such third party event organizers when you register for such events.

We may also use Google Analytics and other third party analytics providers to assist in collecting aggregate information to improve our Site. Google’s use and collection of information from our Site governed by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy. To prevent Google Analytics from using your information for analytics, you may install the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on by clicking here.

The information we collect may be stored in the United States since our operations are primarily in the United States. As such, your information may be transferred to, used, processed, or maintained on computers located outside of your province or country or other governmental jurisdiction where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. In situations where you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, we will transfer your information to the United States and process it there. Furthermore, this policy is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of California.

If you are a California resident, California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits you to request and obtain from us once a year, free of charge, information regarding the disclosure of your personal information by the Company to third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes. With respect to these entities, this Policy applies only to their activities within the State of California. If you are a California resident and would like to request this information, please write to us at the address below.

We do not knowingly collect any information from anyone under 13 years of age, and our Site, Software and Services are all directed to people who are at least 13 years old. If you become aware that your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us in writing as noted in Contact Information below. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will take steps to remove such information from our active systems and terminate the child’s account.

This Policy applies only to information collected through our Site, by the use of our Software or the utilization of our Services, or through event participation, and not to information collected in other offline formats. Your agreement to our legal Statements of Work and other contractual documentation is subject to additional terms and conditions that define your rights, as well as our rights, with respect to information and its use.

By using our Site and/or downloading or using the Software or utilizing the Services, you consent to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.

Each time you use the Site or Software or utilize the Services, the current version of this Policy will apply. We reserve the right to change this Policy at any time to reflect changes in the law, in the Software or Services we provide, in our business and technology, and our data collection and use practices. Accordingly, each time you use the Site or Software, or utilize the Services you should check the date of this Policy (which appears at the top of the Policy) and review any changes since the last version. Your continued use of the Site, the Software, or the Services following the posting of changes to this policy will mean you accept those changes.

If there are any questions regarding this Policy, you may contact us using the information below:

ATT: Client Privacy Officer
Thought Marketing
PO Box 1391
Los Altos, CA 94023