Privacy Policy

Your Privacy Matters

Handshake’s mission is to simplify the exchange of referrals and peer networking to improve the lives of our customers. Central to this mission is our commitment to be transparent about the data we collect about you, how it is used and with whom it is shared.This Privacy Policy applies when you use our Services (described below).

Introduction

We are a social network and online platform for professionals. People use our Services to find and be found for business opportunities, to connect with others and find information. Our Privacy Policy applies to any Member or Visitor to our Services.

Our registered users (“Members”) share their professional identities, engage with the network, exchange referrals, knowledge and professional insights, and find business opportunities. Content and data on some of our Services is viewable to non-members (“Visitors”).

Services

This Privacy Policy, including our Cookie Policy applies to your use of our Services.This Privacy Policy applies to gethandshake.com, the Handshake app and other communications and services (“Services”), but excluding services that state that they are offered under a different privacy policy.

Data Controllers and Contracting Parties

As a Visitor or Member of our Services, the collection, use and sharing of your personal data is subject to this Privacy Policy and other documents referenced in this Privacy Policy, as well as updates.

Change
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Changes to the Privacy Policy apply to your use of our Services after the “effective date.”Handshake (“we” or “us”) can modify this Privacy Policy, and if we make material changes to it, we will provide notice through our Services, or by other means, to provide you the opportunity to review the changes before they become effective. If you object to any changes, you may close your account.

You acknowledge that your continued use of our Services after we publish or send a notice about our changes to this Privacy Policy means that the collection, use and sharing of your personal data is subject to the updated Privacy Policy, as of its effective date.

1. Data We Collect

1.1 Data You Provide To Us
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You provide data to create an account with us.

Registration
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To create an account you need to provide data including your name, email address and/or mobile number, general location (e.g., city), and a password. If you register for a premium Service, you will need to provide payment (e.g., credit card) and billing information via iOS or Google Play App Center.You create your Handshake profile (a complete profile helps you get the most from our Services).

Profile
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You have choices about the information on your profile, such as your years of experience, skills, photo, and service area(s). You don’t have to provide additional information on your profile; however, profile information helps you to get more from our Services, including helping other professionals find you. It’s your choice whether to include sensitive information on your profile and to make that sensitive information public. Please do not post or add personal data to your profile that you would not want to be publicly available.

Posting and Uploading
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We collect personal data from you when you provide, post or upload it to our Services, such as when you fill out a form, respond to a survey, or submit a Handshake request to another Member. You don’t have to post or upload personal data; though if you don’t, it may limit your ability to grow and engage with your network over our Services.

1.2 Data From Others
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Others may score you via a customer satisfaction survey.

1.3 Service Use
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We log your visits and use of our Services, including mobile apps.

We log usage data when you visit or otherwise use our Services, including our sites, app and platform technology, such as when you view or click on profiles, Handshake requests, and customer satisfaction surveys.
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1.4 Cookies and Similar Technologies
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We collect data through cookies and similar technologies.

We use cookies and similar technologies (e.g., pixels and ad tags) to collect data (e.g., device IDs) to recognize you and your device(s) on, off and across different services and devices where you have engaged with our Services. We also allow some others to use cookies as described in our Cookie Policy. If you are outside the Designated Countries, we also collect (or rely on others who collect) information about your device where you have not engaged with our Services (e.g., ad ID, IP address, operating system and browser information) so we can provide our Members with relevant content and better understand their effectiveness.
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1.5 Your Device and Location
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We receive data through cookies and similar technologies.

When you visit or leave our Services (including some plugins and our cookies or similar technology on the sites of others), we receive the URL of both the site you came from and the one you go to and the time of your visit. We also get information about your network and device (e.g., IP address, proxy server, operating system, web browser and add-ons, device identifier and features, cookie IDs and/or ISP, or your mobile carrier). If you use our Services from a mobile device, that device will send us data about your location based on your phone settings. We will ask you to opt-in before we use GPS or other tools to identify your precise location.

1.6 Messages
If you communicate through our Services, we learn about that.

1.7 Other
We are improving our Services, which means we get new data and create new ways to use data.

Our Services are dynamic, and we often introduce new features, which may require the collection of new information. If we collect materially different personal data or materially change how we collect, use or share your data, we will notify you and may also modify this Privacy Policy.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use your data to provide, support, personalize and develop our Services.

How we use your personal data will depend on which Services you use, how you use those Services and the choices you make in your settings. We use the data that we have about you to provide and personalize our Services, including with the help of automated systems and inferences we make, so that our Services can be more relevant and useful to you and others.

2.1 Services
Our Services help you connect with others, find and be found for work and business opportunities, and stay informed.

We use your data to authorize access to our Services and honor your settings.

Stay Connected‍

Our Services allow you to stay in touch and up to date with colleagues, partners, clients, and other professional contacts. To do so, you can “connect” with the professionals who you choose, and who also wish to “connect” with you. Subject to your and their settings when you connect with other Members, you will be able to search each others’ connections in order to exchange professional opportunities.

We use data about you (such as your profile and profiles you have viewed) to help others find your profile, match you with Handshakes requests, and enable you to invite others to become a Member and connect with you.

Productivity‍

Our Services allow you to collaborate with colleagues, search for potential clients, customers, partners and others to do business with. Our Services allow you to communicate with other Members and schedule and prepare meetings with them.

Customers can export limited information from your profile, such as name, headline, current company, current title, and general location (e.g., Dublin), and customer contact information.

We will contact you through email, mobile phone, notices posted on our websites or apps, messages to your Handshake inbox, and other ways through our Services, including text messages and push notifications. We will send you messages about the availability of our Services, security, or other service-related issues. We also send messages about how to use our Services, network updates, reminders, and promotional messages from us and our partners. Please be aware that you cannot opt out of receiving service messages from us, including security and legal notices.

We also enable communications between you and others through our Services, including for example Handshake Initiations and messaging between connections.

materially different personal data or materially change how we collect, use or share your data, we will notify you and may also modify this Privacy Policy.

2.2 Premium Services
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Our premium Services help paying users to receive initiated Handshakes from Members in the network through our Services.

2.3 Communications
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We contact you and enable communications between Members. We offer settings to control what messages you receive and how often you receive some types of messages.

We collect information about you when you send, receive, or engage with messages in connection with our Services. For example, if you get a Handshake request, we track whether you have acted on it and will send you reminders.

2.4 Marketing
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We promote our Services to you and others.

In addition to advertising our Services, we use Members’ data and content for invitations and communications promoting membership and network growth, engagement and our Services, such as by showing your connections that you have used a feature on our Services.

2.5 Developing Services and Research
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We develop our Services and conduct research.

Service Development and Research
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We use data, including public feedback, to conduct research and development for our Services in order to provide you and others with a better, more intuitive and personalized experience, drive membership growth and engagement on our Services, and help connect professionals to each other and to economic opportunity.

Other Research
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We seek to create economic opportunity for Members of the global workforce and to help them be more productive and successful. In some cases, we work with trusted third parties to perform this research, under controls that are designed to protect your privacy. We publish or allow others to publish economic insights, presented as aggregated data rather than personal data.

Surveys
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Polls and surveys are conducted by us and others through our Services. You are not obligated to respond to polls or surveys, and you have choices about the information you provide.

2.6 Customer Support
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We use data to help you and fix problems.

We use data (which can include your communications) to investigate, respond to and resolve complaints and for Service issues (e.g., bugs).

2.7 Insights That Do Not Identify You
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We use data to generate insights that do not identify you.

We use your data to produce and share insights that do not identify you. For example, we may use your data to generate statistics about our members, their profession or industry, to locate other Members.

2.8 Security and Investigations
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We use data for security, fraud prevention and investigations.

We use your data (including your communications) for security purposes or to prevent or investigate possible fraud or other violations of our User Agreement and/or attempts to harm our Members, Visitors or others.

3. How We Share Information

‍3.1 Our Services
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Any data that you include on your profile and any content you post or social action (e.g., Handshake invitations, Handshake acceptances, surveys) you take on our Services will be seen by others, consistent with your settings.

‍Profile
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Your profile is fully visible to all Members and customers of our Services. Subject to your settings, it can also be visible to others on or off of our Services (e.g., Visitors to our Services or users of third- party search engines). Your settings, degree of connection with the viewing Member, the subscriptions they may have, their usage of our services, and search types (e.g., by name or by keyword) impact the availability of your profile and whether they can view certain fields in your profile.

‍3.2 Communication Archival
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Regulated Members may need to store communications outside of our Service.

Some Members need, for legal or professional compliance, to archive their communications and social media activity, and will use services of others to provide these archival services. We enable archiving of messages by and to those Members outside of our Services.

‍3.3 Service Providers
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We may use others to help us with our Services.

We use others to help us provide our Services (e.g., maintenance, analysis, audit, payments, fraud detection, marketing and development). They will have access to your information as reasonably necessary to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for other purposes.

‍3.4 Legal Disclosures
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We may need to share your data when we believe it’s required by law or to help protect the rights and safety of you, us or others.

It is possible that we will need to disclose information about you when required by law, subpoena, or other legal process or if we have a good faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to (1) investigate, prevent or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities or to assist government enforcement agencies; (2) enforce our agreements with you; (3) investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations; (4) protect the security or integrity of our Services (such as by sharing with companies facing similar threats); or (5) exercise or protect the rights and safety of Handshake, our Members, personnel or others. We attempt to notify Members about legal demands for their personal data when appropriate in our judgment, unless prohibited by law or court order or when the request is an emergency. We may dispute such demands when we believe, in our discretion, that the requests are overbroad, vague or lack proper authority, but we do not promise to challenge every demand.

‍3.5 Change in Control or Sale
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We may share your data when our business is sold to others, but it must continue to be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We can also share your personal data as part of a sale, merger or change in control, or in preparation for any of these events. Any other entity which buys us or part of our business will have the right to continue to use your data, but only in the manner set out in this Privacy Policy unless you agree otherwise.

‍4. Your Choices and Obligations‍

‍4.1 Data Retention

We keep most of your personal data for as long as your account is open.

We generally retain your personal data as long as you keep your account open or as needed to provide you Services. This includes data you or others provided to us and data generated or inferred from your use of our Services. Even if you only use our Services when looking for a new job every few years, we will retain your information and keep your profile open, unless you close your account. In some cases we choose to retain certain information (e.g., insights about Services use) in a depersonalized or aggregated form.

‍4.2 Rights to Access and Control Your Personal Data‍

You can access or delete your personal data. You have many choices about how your data is collected, used and shared.

For personal data that we have about you, you can:

• Delete Data: You can ask us to erase or delete all or some of your personal data (e.g., if it is no longer necessary to provide Services to you).
• Change or Correct Data: You can edit some of your personal data through your account. You can also ask us to change, update or fix your data in certain cases, particularly if it’s inaccurate.
• Object to, or Limit or Restrict, Use of Data: You can ask us to stop using all or some of your personal data (e.g., if we have no legal right to keep using it) or to limit our use of it (e.g., if your personal data is inaccurate or unlawfully held).
• Right to Access and/or Take Your Data: You can ask us for a copy of your personal data and can ask for a copy of personal data you provided in machine readable form.

‍4.3 Account Closure‍

We keep some of your data even after you close your account.

If you choose to close your Handshake account, your personal data will generally stop being visible to others on our Services within 24 hours. We generally delete closed account information within 30 days of account closure, except as noted below.

We retain your personal data even after you have closed your account if reasonably necessary to comply with our legal obligations (including law enforcement requests), meet regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, maintain security, prevent fraud and abuse (e.g., if we have restricted your account for breach of our professional community guidelines), enforce our User Agreement, or fulfill your request to "unsubscribe" from further messages from us. We will retain de-personalized information after your account has been closed.

Information you have shared with others (e.g., through InMail, updates or group posts) will remain visible after you close your account or delete the information from your own profile or mailbox, and we do not control data that other Members have copied out of our Services. Groups content and ratings or review content associated with closed accounts will show an unknown user as the source. Your profile may continue to be displayed in the services of others (e.g., search engine results) until they refresh their cache.

5. Other Important Information

5.1 Security

‍We monitor for and try to prevent security breaches. Please use the security features available through our Services.

We implement security safeguards designed to protect your data, such as HTTPS. We regularly monitor our systems for possible vulnerabilities and attacks. However, we cannot warrant the security of any information that you send us. There is no guarantee that data may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards.

‍5.2 Cross-Border Data Transfers‍

We store and use your data outside your country.
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We process data both inside and outside of the United States and rely on legally-provided mechanisms to lawfully transfer data across borders.

‍5.3 Lawful Bases for Processing

We have lawful bases to collect, use and share data about you. You have choices about our use of your data. At any time, you can withdraw consent you have provided by going to settings.

We will only collect and process personal data about you where we have lawful bases. Lawful bases include consent (where you have given consent), contract (where processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you (e.g., to deliver the Handshake Services you have requested) and “legitimate interests.”

Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw or decline your consent at any time and where we rely on legitimate interests, you have the right to object.
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5.4 Direct Marketing and Do Not Track Signals

Our statements regarding direct marketing and “do not track” signals.

We currently do not share personal data with third parties for their direct marketing purposes without your permission.

5.5 Contact Information

You can contact us or use other options to resolve any complaints.