Privacy Policy

Last Updated: April 2008

Tellme Networks, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation ("Tellme") is committed to protecting your privacy. This privacy statement applies only to the collection and use of data by Tellme, and Tellme products and services (including the Tellme.com website) discussed in this statement (the "Privacy Statement"). It does not apply to other online or offline sites, products or services of Tellme, Microsoft or any of our subsidiaries or affiliates. "Third Parties" are defined as non-Tellme persons, affiliates, subsidiaries and/or entities that have not entered into a non-disclosure agreement with Tellme for the protection of confidential or personal information.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE PRIVACY PRACTICES DESCRIBED IN THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT, PLEASE DO NOT USE THE TELLME SERVICES AND PRODUCTS THAT ARE GOVERNED BY THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT.

We offer some of our services in connection with other web sites or service providers. Personal information that you provide to those service providers, such as Fandango®, is subject to the terms, conditions and privacy practices of those service providers. The service providers may have different privacy practices and we encourage you to read their privacy statements.

Collection and Use of Your Information

The information we collect from you will be used by Tellme and its subsidiaries and affiliates to enable the features you are using and provide the service(s) or carry out the transaction(s) you have requested or authorized. It may also be used to analyze and improve our products and services; to request additional information on feedback that you provide about the product or service that you are using; to provide important notifications regarding the software; to provide you with advance notice of events; or to tell you about new product releases.

Except as described in this Privacy Statement, personal information you provide will not be transferred to third parties without your consent. We occasionally hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, such as answering customer questions about products or services or performing statistical analysis of our services. We will only provide those companies the personal information they need to deliver the service, and they are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.

Tellme may disclose personal information about you if required to do so by law or in the good faith that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on us; (b) protect and defend our rights (including enforcement of our agreements); or (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of our employees, users of our products or services, or members of the public.

In order to offer you a more consistent and personalized experience in your interactions with Tellme, information collected through one Tellme or Microsoft service may be combined with information obtained through other Tellme or Microsoft services. We may also supplement the information we collect with information obtained from other companies. To the extent we link personal information from third parties with the information we collect, we will treat that information as personal information under this Privacy Statement. For example, we may use services from other companies that enable us to derive a general geographic area based on your IP address in order to customize certain services to your geographic area.

Information that is collected by or sent to Tellme may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Tellme or its affiliates, subsidiaries or agents maintain facilities, and by using a Tellme site or service, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country. To the extent applicable, Tellme abides by the safe harbor framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of data from the European Union.

Collection and Use of Information when You Visit Tellme Web Sites

When you visit Tellme Web sites, we may collect information about your visit, including the pages you view, the links you click and other actions taken in connection with the Web site. We also collect certain standard information that your browser sends to every website you visit, such as your IP address, browser type and language, access times and referring Web site addresses.

Access to Your Personal Information

You can review and change some of the personal information Tellme collects and stores from you obtained from the Tellme Web site or the Tellme service you use. In some cases, you can review and change personal information by contacting us through our Web site or writing to us at:

Tellme Privacy
Tellme Networks, Inc.
1310 Villa Street
Mountain View, California 94041

Visit Privacy Question Form at www.tellme.com/about/contact_us/feedback

Collection and Use of Information when You Use SMS

When you send a text message to Tellme or via Tellme, we log the incoming phone number, the wireless provider associated with the number, and the date and time of the transaction. We use this data to analyze the message traffic in order to operate, develop and improve our services.

Security of Your Information

Tellme is committed to protecting the security of your personal information. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. For example, we store the personal information you provide on computer servers with limited access that are located in access and security controlled facilities. Additionally, if we transmit sensitive personal information (such as a credit card number) over the Internet, we protect it through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

Feedback

On our website, you may have the opportunity to email Tellme directly from the webpage. By sending an email to Tellme, you give Tellme and its affiliates permission to use your comments and feedback freely to improve or create new services, tools or products. While we do not provide compensation, we do appreciate your feedback.

Use of Cookies

We may use cookies on Tellme Web sites to ensure the integrity of the registration process and to personalize the sites. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. For example, if you personalize a Web page, or navigate within a site, a cookie helps the site to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of delivering relevant content, eases site navigation, and so on. When you return to the Web site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the site's features that you customized.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to use interactive features of this or other Web sites that depend on cookies.

Children's Use of Tellme Services

The Tellme website and services are intended for general audiences and do not knowingly collect any personal information from children. We will not knowingly ask children under the age of 13 to provide more information than is reasonably necessary to provide our services.

Changes to this Privacy Statement

We will occasionally update this Privacy Statement to reflect changes in our services and customer feedback. When we post changes, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of this Privacy Statement. If there are material changes to this Privacy Statement or in how Tellme will use your personal information, we will notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes prior to implementing the change on the Tellme.com website or by directly sending you a notification via email if you provided your email address to Tellme. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Statement to be informed of how Tellme is protecting your information.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement, please feel free to contact us through our website or write to us at:

Tellme Privacy
Tellme Networks, Inc.
1310 Villa Street
Mountain View, California 94041

Visit Privacy Question Form at www.tellme.com/about/contact_us/feedback

Information about specific Tellme Services:

The remainder of this Privacy Statement will address the personal information collected and used by the following specific features and services.

  • Tellme's "Tellme by Mobile" Application and Service, also known as "Phonetop" or "Mobile Download" which is either downloaded on from the Tellme.com website ("Mobile Download"):

    • What we collect:

      Tellme collects and/or records your name (during the registration process), the mobile phone service provider, the mobile phone model, the mobile phone number you use to place a directory assistance query, the voice or text query content that you sent to Tellme, the response that you received on your mobile phone and other iterative communication between you and the Mobile Download application. Depending on the service you request, we may ask for additional information (such as address information for driving directions) which is also stored by Tellme and is linked to the mobile phone number. Email: Notwithstanding the foregoing, Tellme may retain your email address only if you opt in to the email update program and provided it during the Mobile Download application downloading process. We may also use your email to contact you about material changes to this Privacy Statement.

    • CONSENT TO COLLECTING UTTERANCES:

      BY USING TELLME'S MOBILE DOWNLOAD AND SERVICE, YOU CONSENT TO TELLME'S RECORDING OF ANY VOICE UTTERANCES YOU MAY MAKE USING THE TELLME MOBILE DOWNLOAD AND SERVICE, AS WELL AS STORING AND/OR LOGGING THE REQUIRED INFORMATION SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED BY THE APPLICATION. SUCH UTTERANCES AND DATA WILL BE USED TO FULFILL YOUR REQUEST AND TO TROUBLESHOOT, DEVELOP, CUSTOMIZE AND IMPROVE THE TELLME AND MICROSOFT SERVICES AND NEW OFFERINGS.

    • How we use it:

      Tellme uses the information collected from your interaction with the Tellme Mobile Application and Service to improve our services. For example, Tellme will track the percentage of successful responses, the average duration of queries and problems the voice recognition system has with certain spoken responses. Email: If you provided your email address during the application downloading process, you consent to Tellme using your email address solely to contact you about Tellme by Mobile updates, new features or products, material changes to this Privacy Statement and other highly relevant information. Tellme will not provide, share or disclose your email address to any Third Party or non-Tellme entity for any reason. If you no longer wish for Tellme to retain your email address, please fill out our feedback form with the same email address and a request to opt out of the email update program.

  • "Tellme by Text" Information or Tellme's Directory Search by Text Messaging:

    • What we collect:

      Tellme collects the mobile phone number you use to place a Tellme by Text query, the text query content that you sent to Tellme, the response that you received on your mobile phone and any other communication between you and the Tellme by Text service, if any. Tellme does not collect your name or address.

    • How we use it:

      Tellme uses the information collected from your interaction with Tellme by Text to improve our services. For example, Tellme will track the percentage of successful responses, the average duration of queries and the frequency with which unique callers use the service.

  • Tellme's 1-800-555-TELL Information Service

    • What we collect:

      Tellme collects the phone number you use to place a call to Tellme by Voice, the audible query that you sent to Tellme, the response that you received on your phone from Tellme by Voice and other communication between you and the Tellme by Voice service. Tellme does not collect your name or address.

    • CONSENT TO COLLECTING UTTERANCES:

      BY USING TELLME'S 1-800-555-TELL INFORMATION SERVICE, YOU CONSENT TO TELLME'S RECORDING OF ANY VOICE UTTERANCES YOU MAY MAKE USING TELLME BY VOICE, AS WELL AS STORING AND/OR LOGGING THE REQUIRED INFORMATION SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED BY THE APPLICATION. SUCH UTTERANCES AND DATA WILL BE USED TO FULFILL YOUR REQUEST AND TO TROUBLESHOOT, DEVELOP, CUSTOMIZE AND IMPROVE THE TELLME AND MICROSOFT SERVICES AND NEW OFFERINGS.

    • How we use it:

      Tellme uses the information collected from your interaction with Tellme's 1-800-555-TELL Information Service to improve our services. For example, Tellme will track the percentage of successful responses, the types of queries submitted, the average duration of queries and problems the voice recognition system has with certain spoken responses. Or, if you want to add a shortcut to a feature so you don't have to repeat the same information everytime you use the service, you can verbally add that shortcut to personalize your experience. For example, you can avoid having to say your zip code each time you access the weather information option by saying "Add to my Favorites."

"Tellme Studio" Information:

If you visit the Tellme Studio website or use the Tellme Studio service, please visit the Tellme Studio Privacy policy located here at https://studio.tellme.com/apply/privacypolicy.html.