Last Updated on January 30, 2024

The Hatchit Marketplace, LLC (“Hatchit,” “Our,” “We,” or “Us”) prioritizes the privacy of our users (“You,” “Your,” “Yourself,” or “User”), and has developed this privacy policy to show Our commitment to that and to explain how We use certain information ("Privacy Policy"). This Privacy Policy is intended to explain to You, as a User of https://www.hatchit.us (“Website”) or Our services, what information we collect, how we use that information, with whom it may be shared, and Your options about such uses and disclosures.

We encourage You to read this Privacy Policy carefully when using Our Website or services or transacting business with Us. By using Our Website and associated products and/or services, You are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy and consent to the data collection and use practice described in this policy. As with Hatchit’s Terms of Use, the mere act of visiting the Website, even without reading the subject legal document, will be viewed as acceptance of the terms contained in the Privacy Policy.

Privacy Philosophies

Although Our business and social network community have unique services and offerings, they share a similar privacy philosophy. Hatchit follows these privacy principles in Our conduct in the collection, use, release, and security of information both online and offline:

• Providing You NOTICE of Our information practices.
• Giving You CHOICES about how Your data will be used.
• Providing You the opportunity to UPDATE or CORRECT Your personal information.
• Using information SECURITY safeguards.
• Limiting the SHARING of Your information.
• Committing to COMPLYING with applicable privacy requirements.
• Providing You with means to CONTACT US about privacy-related issues.

Information We Collect About You

General. Users can access limited features of Our Website without disclosing personal information. In order to access additional features of Our Website, Users may be required to register for an account.

Information Sought During Registration. During the account registration process, You will be asked to submit personal information, including Your proper name, LinkedIn address, and at least one active e-mail address.

Other Information You Provide. We may also collect and store any personal information You enter on Our Website or provide to us in some other manner, including personal information that may be contained in any comment or other item(s) You upload or post to the Website. This includes identifying information, such as Your name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number (if provided and applicable); Your likeness (both still and moving); and, if You transact business with us, financial information such as Your payment method (valid credit card number, type, expiration date or other financial information).

Information About Others. We may also collect and store personal information about other people that You provide to Us, including the email addresses and/or names of the people with whom You interact through the Website.

Sweepstakes and Contests. When Hatchit offers sweepstakes or contests, personal information is collected with the sole purpose of notifying You if You win the sweepstakes or contest.

Automatic Collection. Information concerning Your computer hardware and software is automatically collected and may be shared with affiliated websites. This information may include: Your IP address, browser type and language, domain names, access times, referring Website addresses and the content of any undeleted cookies that Your browser previously accepted from us (see "Cookies" below). Hatchit uses this information to maintain the quality of its service and to provide general statistics about Website visitors.

Cookies. When You visit Our Website, we may use one or more "Cookies" to make the Website easier for You to use and to personalize Your online experience. Through the use of a cookie, we also may automatically collect information about Your online activity on Our Website, such as the web pages You visit, the links You click, and the amount of time You spend on the Website. You can remove or block cookies using the footer on Our home page or settings in most browsers, but if You choose to decline cookies, You may not be able to sign in or use some of the features offered on Our Website.

Other Technologies. We may use the latest standard Internet technology, such as web beacons and other similar technologies, to track Your use of Our Website. We also may include web beacons in company e-mail messages, newsletters, or notifications to determine whether messages have been opened and/or acted upon. This enables us to customize the services we offer Our Website visitors to deliver targeted advertisements and to measure the overall effectiveness of Our online advertising, content, programming, or other activities.

Information Collected By Third Parties. We may allow third parties, including advertising companies, and ad networks, to display advertisements on Our Website. These companies may use tracking technologies, such as cookies, to collect information about Users who view or interact with their advertisements. Unless expressly stated otherwise, Our Website does not provide any personal information to these third parties. This information may allow them to deliver targeted advertisements and gauge their effectiveness.

Information From Other Sources.  We sometimes supplement the information that we receive that has been outlined in this Privacy Policy with information from other sources and companies. Such outside information includes updated delivery and address information from carriers or third parties, which enables us to correct Our records and deliver future communications more easily; account information, purchase or redemption information, and page-view information from some merchants with which we operate co-branded businesses or for which we provide technical, fulfillment, advertising, or other services; search term and search result information from some searches conducted through the Web search features; search results and links, including paid listings (such as Sponsored Links from Google); and credit history information from credit bureaus, which we use to help prevent and detect fraud and to offer certain credit or financial services to some customers.

Storage and Transfer of Personally Identifiable Information. Hatchit may store and process in the United States or any other country in which Hatchit or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or agents maintain facilities. By using Hatchit's website, You consent to any such transfer of information outside of Your country.

How We Use the Information We Collect

General. The vast majority of data collection from Website Users is used to assess the type of people visiting the Website and to determine what content is most frequently accessed by those Users. This information helps Hatchit improve its Website by offering content that more specifically meets the interests of its Website Users. Specifically, data is used to:

1. Operate the Website and to deliver the services that You have requested;
2. Manage Your account and provide You with customer support;
3. Perform research and analysis about Your use of (personal and aggregate), or interest in, Our products, services, or content, or products, services or content offered by others;
4. Verify Your eligibility and deliver online and/or offline in connection with contests and sweepstakes;
5. Enforce Our terms and conditions;
6. Manage Our business, and;
7. Perform functions as otherwise described to You at the time of Your registration.

The collection of Your e-mail address, name and address during account registration enables Hatchit to send You any requested newsletter(s) or to send You any requested mailings or offers. Information concerning Your geographical location is used to determine if Hatchit should provide regionalized information to its customers. When You voluntarily enter a sweepstakes or contest, we request Your e-mail address and other contact information in order to be able to contact You in the event You are a winner of the sweepstakes or contest. Except as otherwise stated in this Privacy Policy, the personal information You provide on this Website will not be shared with any third-parties, although Hatchit reserves the right to share such information with its affiliates and subsidiaries without Your permission.

For Your convenience, Hatchit provides forms for Users to send messages to the Website and Your e-mail address is used so that We or Users may reply to Your messages. Hatchit tracks the pages on the Website that Our customers visit in order to determine which areas of the Website are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within the Website to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.

Financial Information. Hatchit may use Your financial information or payment method to process payment for any purchases, subscriptions, or sales made on Our Website, to protect against or identify possible fraudulent transactions, and otherwise as needed to manage Our business.

With Whom We Share Your Information

General. We want You to understand when and with whom we may share personal or other information we have collected about You or Your activities on Our Website or while using Our services.

Personal information. We do not share Your personal information with others except as indicated below or when we inform You and give You an opportunity to opt out of having Your personal information shared. We may share personal information with:

Authorized Service Providers: We may share Your personal information with Our authorized service providers that perform certain services on Our behalf. These services may include processing credit card payments, providing customer service and marketing assistance, performing business and sales analysis, supporting Our Website functionality, and supporting other features and promotions offered through Our Website. We will only provide these service providers with the limited information that they need to provide us with such services, including limited access to personal information needed to perform their functions. However, they are not permitted to share or use such information for any other purposes. When You enter into transactions with others or make payments on Our Website, we will share transaction information with only those third parties necessary to complete the transaction. We will require those third parties to agree to respect the privacy of Your information.

Business Partners: From time to time, we may offer promotions, sweepstakes, or third-party offerings on Our Website. If and when You make purchases, engage in these services and/or products offered through Our Website or Our services, we may share personal information with the businesses with which we partner to offer You those products, services, promotions, contests, and/or sweepstakes. When You elect to engage in a particular merchant's offer or program, You authorize us to provide Your email address and other information to that merchant.

Other Situations. We also may disclose Your information:

1. In response to a subpoena, court order, or other requests for cooperation from a law enforcement or other government agency (including civil and criminal matters); to establish or exercise Our legal rights; to defend against legal claims; or as otherwise required by law. In such cases, we may raise or waive any legal objection or right available to us, in Our sole discretion. This may include respecting requests from jurisdictions outside of the United States if we have a good faith belief that (a) response is required by law under the local laws in that jurisdiction, (b) the requests apply to Users from that jurisdiction, and, (c) the requests are consistent with generally accepted international standards. We may also share information when we have a good faith belief it is necessary to prevent illegal activity, to prevent imminent bodily harm, or to protect Ourselves and You from people violating Our Terms of Use. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, courts, or other government entities where applicable.
2. In connection with a substantial corporate transaction, such as the sale of Our business, a merger, divestiture, consolidation, or asset sale; though in any event, any acquiring entity or other third-party assignee will be bound by the terms of this Privacy Policy.
3. To protect and defend the rights or property of Hatchit or Hatchit's Website; and, act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of Users of Hatchit, its Website, or the public.

Any third parties to whom We may disclose personal information may have their own privacy policies, which describe how they use and disclose personal information. Those policies will govern use, handling and disclosure of Your personal information once we have shared it with those third parties as described in this Privacy Policy. If You want to learn more about their privacy practices, We encourage You to visit the websites of those third parties. These entities or their servers may be located either inside or outside the United States.

Aggregated and Non-personal Information. We may share aggregated and non-personal information We collect. We may also share it with third parties to develop and deliver targeted advertising on Our Website and on websites of third parties. We may combine non-personal information We collect with additional non-personal information collected from other sources. We also may share aggregated information with third parties, including advisors, advertisers, and investors, for the purpose of conducting general business analysis. For example, We may tell Our advertisers how many people visit Our Website, how long they spend on it, how they use the Website, and the most popular features or services accessed. This information does not contain any personal information and may be used to develop services that We hope You and other Users will enjoy using.

About User-Generated-Content

We do not screen, filter, or monitor User submissions to the Website, nor do we scrape or glean personal information from any such submissions. To the extent that any video, comment or other User submission contains personal information (including name, likeness, email address, whether such information pertains to the submitter or someone else), such personal information may be viewed by authorized Users of the Website with whom You have shared that information, subject to Our Terms of Use.

Third-Party Websites

The Website contains affiliate links to Hatchit’s broker-partner sites. If you choose to buy or sell a business through a brokerage site we link you to, Hatchit may receive a referral fee at no additional cost to you. There are a number of places on Our Website or through Our services where You may click on a link to access other websites that do not operate under this Privacy Policy. For example, if You click on an advertisement or a search result on Our Website, You may be taken to a Website that we do not control. These third-party websites may independently solicit and collect information, including personal information, from You and, in some instances, provide us with information about Your activities on those websites. We recommend that You consult the privacy statements of all third-party websites You visit by clicking on the "privacy" link typically located at the bottom of the webpage You are visiting.

Accessing Your Information

If You have an online account with Us, You have the ability to review and update Your personal information online by logging into Your account. You can also review and update Your personal information by contacting Us. More information about how to contact Us is provided below.

If You have an online account with Us, You also may choose to close Your account at any time by emailing Us at support@hatchit.us. If You close Your account, We may still retain certain information associated with Your account for analytical purposes and record keeping requirements, as well as to prevent fraud, collect any fees owed, enforce Our Terms of Use, or take other actions otherwise permitted by law. In addition, if certain information has already been provided to third parties as described in this Privacy Policy, retention of that information will be subject to those third parties' policies.

Your Choices About Collection and Use of Your Information

1. You can choose not to provide Us with certain information, but that may result in You being unable to use certain features of Our Website because such information may be required in order for You to register as a member, purchase products or services, participate in a contest, promotion, survey, or sweepstakes, ask a question, or initiate other transactions on Our Website.
2. When You register on Our Website You may be given a choice as to whether You want to receive email notifications and/or newsletters. At any time You can choose to stop receiving notification emails by accessing Your account settings or through the link at the bottom of the notification emails and commercial or promotional emails or newsletters from Us, by clicking on the link at the bottom of any of Our emails. You will be given the opportunity, in any commercial e-mail that we send to You, to opt out of receiving such messages in the future. It may take up to 10 days for Us to process an opt-out request. We may send You other types of transactional and relationship e-mail communications, such as service announcements, administrative notices, and surveys, without offering You the opportunity to opt out of receiving them as long as Your account is active. Please note that, changing information in Your account, or otherwise opting out of receipt of promotional email communications will only affect future activities or communications from Us. If we have already provided Your information to a third party (such as a credit card processing partner or an event provider) before You have changed Your preferences or updated Your information, You may have to change Your preferences directly with that third party.

Protecting Your Personal Information

We take appropriate security measures (including physical, electronic and procedural measures) to help safeguard Your personal information from unauthorized access and disclosure. For example, only authorized employees are permitted to access personal information, and they may do so only for permitted business functions. In addition, we use encryption in the transmission of Your sensitive personal information between Your system and Ours. If You choose to create a profile on Our Website or if You choose to register for an account, You will be required to select a password. This password can be changed at any time after You first log into the service by using Your current password. You must keep Your password confidential and You must not share this information with anyone. If You share a computer with anyone, You should always log out of the Website before leaving it to prevent access to Your information from subsequent Users of that computer. There are, however, risks inherent in sharing information; please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other Users with whom You share Your information. Therefore, although We take steps to secure Your information, We do not promise, and You should not expect, that Your personal information, searches, or other communications will always remain secure. Users should also take care with how they handle and disclose their personal information and should avoid sending personal information through insecure email. We are not responsible for third party circumvention of any of Our privacy settings or security measures. Please be careful and conscientious with whom You share Your personal information and choose a strong password that You do not use for other services. For information about how to protect Yourself against identity theft, please refer to the Federal Trade Commission's website.

Communities and Forums Offered on this Website

Any personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data that You disclose through the Communities, Forums, Message Boards, Chat Rooms, or other public online forums hosted on this Website, may be collected and used by others. We recommend caution when giving out personal information to others in these public online forums. We encourage You to review the privacy statements of websites You choose to visit via hyper-links posted on this Website so that You can understand how those websites collect, use and share Your information. Hatchit is not responsible for the privacy policies or other content on third-party websites accessed through its Website.

User Submissions

We may provide areas on Our Website where You can post information about Yourself, including Your name and email address, communicate with others via video or text, upload content, and post comments on videos that You have either shared or received. Such postings are governed by Our Terms of Use. Also, whenever You voluntarily disclose personal information on the Website, that information will be available and can be collected and used by others who have access to Your content. We encourage You to exercise discretion and caution with respect to Your personal information. Once You have posted information, You may not be able to edit or delete such information.

Children's Privacy

Our Website is a general audience site, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Should we ever do so, we will comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Visiting Our Website from Outside the United States

This Privacy Policy is intended to cover collection of information on or via Our Website from residents of the United States. If You are visiting Our Website from outside the United States, please be aware that Your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States where Our servers are located and Our central database is operated. The data protection and other laws of the United States and other countries might not be as comprehensive as those in Your country. Please be assured that we seek to take reasonable steps to ensure that Your privacy is protected. By using Our services, You understand that Your information may be transferred to Our facilities and those third parties with whom we share it as described in this privacy policy.

If you are a resident in Canada, the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom (UK), then the United States may not necessarily have data protection laws or other similar laws as comprehensive as those in your country. We will however take all necessary measures to protect your personal information in accordance with this privacy notice and applicable law.

No Rights of Third Parties

This Privacy Policy does not create rights enforceable by third parties or require disclosure of any personal information relating to Users of the Website.

In some regions, such as the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom (UK), you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time to address any concerns.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We will occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in Our practices and services. When We post changes to this Privacy Policy, We will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy. If We make any material changes in the way We collect, use, and/or share Your personal information, We will notify You by sending an email to the email address You most recently provided Us in Your account, profile or registration (unless We do not have such an email address), and/or by prominently posting notice of the changes on Our Website. We recommend that You check Our Website from time to time to inform Yourself of any changes in this Privacy Policy or any of Our other policies.

How to Contact Us

If You have any questions about this Privacy Policy or Our information-handling practices, or if You would like to request information about Our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes, please contact us by email or postal mail as follows:

The Hatchit Marketplace, LLC
Attn: Legal Department
201 Rossburn Way
Chapel, Hill, NC 27516
Email: support@hatchit.us