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Privacy Notice

QuinStreet Privacy Notice

Last Updated: July 10, 2024

Click here to view QuinStreet’s GLBA Notice.

QuinStreet, Inc. owns and operates each website that displays this Privacy Notice (each, a “Site”). QuinStreet is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: QNST; https://www.quinstreet.com) that operates in a variety of industry categories.

Your privacy is important to us. We created this Privacy Notice to explain how we collect, use, and share the information that we collect from and about you.

Notice at Collection

The following serves as our notice at collection (“Notice”) of personal information in accordance with applicable law. We collect personal information as detailed in this Notice and in our Privacy Notice.

We may “sell” or “share” personal information as those terms are defined under applicable law, and as indicated for each relevant category of personal information below. All sections in this Notice exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; except as you previously instructed or consented to as described in this Privacy Notice, this information will not be shared with third parties. If you would like to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, you may do so here or reply “STOP” to any SMS message.

We keep personal information as long as reasonably necessary or relevant for the practices described in this Privacy Notice. We also keep personal information as otherwise required by law. What this means in practice will vary among different types of information and our ongoing business or legal needs for the information.

 

What categories of personal information do we collect?

–       Identifiers: This includes your name, email address, telephone number, postal address, zip code, unique personal identifier, online identifier, IP address, account name, and other similar identifiers. This data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

–       Personal Information Described Under Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e): This includes your insurance policy number, employment status, bank account information, credit card or debit card number, financial information, health insurance information, number of vehicles you own, vehicle identification number, outstanding loan amount, homeowner status, and credit information. This data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

–       Characteristics of Protected Classifications under California or Federal Law: This includes your age, marital status, medical condition, gender, veteran or military status. With the exception of sensitive personal information (e.g., medical condition), this data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

–       Commercial Information:. This includes information related to products or services obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. This data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

–       Internet or other Electronic Network Activity Information: This includes information related to your browsing history and search history information.

–       Technical Information: This includes your browser type, referrer URL, date and time of your visit, MAC address, device type, screen resolution, and OS version.

This data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

–       Geolocation Data: This includes your IP location.

–       Visual and Audio Information: We may use tools and software to monitor and record information about your interactions with the Site and Media Partner sites, including keystrokes, mouse movements, form field entries, and overall engagement with the Site and Media Partner sites. We may also record our marketing calls with you. This data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

–       Professional or Employment-related Information: This includes consumer-reported current or past job history. This data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

–       Education Information: This includes information related to your educational level. This data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

–       Inferences Drawn From the Above: We collect profile inferences that we draw from your information and web activity to create a personalized profile so we can better identify goods and services that may be of interest. This data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

–       Sensitive Personal Information: This includes your Social Security number, driver’s license number, medical information, and medical condition. This data may be sold or shared as described in more detail in our Privacy Notice.

 

What are the purposes for which we collect and use your personal information?

We use the data we collect from and about you through this Site to connect you with Advertising Partners who can provide you with information about the products and services you are seeking.

We may also use the data we collect from and about you: (i) to respond to your requests (e.g., via email, phone calls or texts); (ii) to keep you informed of our products and services (and those of our Advertising Partners); (iii) to allow you to send messages through this Site; (iv) to improve and protect our Sites and business; (v) to monitor your user experience for compliance verification and litigation purposes and (vi) use your data in an aggregated, non-specific format for analytic and demographic purposes. In addition, we use your data to monitor this Site’s performance, analyze traffic patterns and usage, and ensure that this Site and any transactions function properly.

 

Data Collected and Data Sources
Data Use
Data Sharing
Third-Party Websites
Social Media Websites

Security
Children
Choices and Access
Retention Period
Information for California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia Consumers
California Privacy Rights Reporting
Transfer of Personal Information Internationally
Changes to This Privacy Notice
QuinStreet Businesses
Dispute Resolution
Contact Us

 

 

Data Collected and Data Sources

Automatically Collected Information: We collect data that your device provides when you interact with the Site or sites owned by third-parties with whom we have contractual relationships (“Media Partners”). In most cases, when you come to the Site, we will automatically gather or receive technical data which may include browser type, referrer URL, date and time of your visit, IP address, MAC address, device type, screen resolution, and OS version (“Technical Data”). Technical Data also includes “Cookie and Similar Data” described below. We (or our third-party vendors) may use tools and software (e.g., Jornaya and ActiveProspect) to monitor and record information (including screenshots and videos) about your interactions with the Site and Media Partner sites, including keystrokes, mouse movements, form field entries, and overall engagement with the Site and Media Partner sites.

Other Data You Provide: We collect additional data if you choose to engage with the Site or certain sites owned by our Media Partners. We refer to the information you choose to provide as “Provided Attributes.” This includes contact information that you choose to provide to us or our Media Partners (e.g., name, address, email address, telephone number) about yourself or others. For example, if you click on our advertisement located on a Media Partner’s site, that Media Partner may pass your contact information to us. Or, if you inquire about insurance opportunities, products and services, the Provided Attributes you may choose to disclose may also include age, gender, number of vehicles owned and homeowner status. If you inquire about personal loan or related opportunities, products and services, the Provided Attributes you may choose to disclose may also include employment and financial information.

Third Party Data: In some cases, we may combine Technical Data and any Provided Attributes with Third Party Data. “Third Party Data” includes information that we receive from third parties such as credit reporting agencies and Partners (defined below). Third Party Data may also include information we use to confirm, or supplement validate the data you provide (e.g., phone number, Vehicle Identification Number, outstanding loan amount). Finally, our Advertising Partners may also provide us with information about your interaction with their advertised products and services (e.g., whether you purchase their products or services). We may combine Technical Data, Provided Attributes and Third Party Data. Please note, we will only obtain credit reporting information with your consent.

Cookie and Similar Data: When you use this Site, we may use a “cookie” or other tracking technology to recognize you or your device. These technologies act as unique identifiers and allow us to tailor this Site to your specified interests and track your activity on this Site and across devices that you use. We may use this information to deliver offers and advertisements that we believe are relevant to your interests.

We have contractual relationships with advertisers, advertising agencies and other intermediaries that have advertisers as clients (collectively, “Advertising Partners”). Our Media Partners and Advertising Partners (collectively, “Partners”) may also utilize third-party cookies and other tracking technologies like clear pixel GIFs (i.e., web beacons) to identify you. We and our Partners may use these technologies to measure responses to emails, interactions with advertisements, page views on this Site and our Partners’ websites and other similar metrics. Among other things, we use these technologies to enhance this Site, to make this Site more relevant to you, and to measure the effectiveness of our email and other advertising campaigns and those of our Partners. You can opt out of some of our and our Partners’ use of cookies and other technologies at: Google, the Network Advertising Initiative, Invite Media, and Clicktale.

Certain Sites require cookies to function efficiently. We may use cookies to deliver advertising we believe is relevant to you and to link data collected across other devices you use.

Data Use

We use the data we collect from and about you through this Site primarily to connect you with Advertising Partners who can provide you with information about the products and services you are seeking. We generally do this using Technical Data and Provided Attributes, but in certain cases (e.g., lending products) we may also use Third Party Data.

For example, we may have an auto insurance Partner who is only licensed in certain states. We may use Technical Data or Provided Attributes to determine if you are a resident of one of those states. We refer to Advertising Partner requirements generally as “segmentation” and the alignment of consumer data and our Advertising Partner segments as “matching.”

We may also use the data we collect from and about you: (i) to respond to your requests (e.g., via email, phone calls or texts); (ii) to keep you informed of our products and services (and those of our Partners); (iii) to allow you to send messages through this Site; (iv) to improve and protect our Sites and business; (v) to fulfill any purchase you make; (vi) to monitor your user experience for compliance verification and litigation purposes and (vii) use your data in an aggregated, non-specific format for analytic and demographic purposes. We use Technical Data to monitor this Site’s performance, analyze traffic patterns and usage, ensure that this Site and any transactions function properly, and gather demographic information about our user base. We may use automated decision-making in segmentation and matching.

Data Sharing

In addition to the primary uses described in the “Data Use” section above (i.e., sharing your data with Advertising Partners and third parties for the purpose of providing you with information about the products and services you are seeking), we may share your data as follows: (i) with other QuinStreet businesses; (ii) with service providers who assist us in compliance and verification activities (e.g., credit agencies), or provide services such as payment processing, IT, and data analysis; (iii) if you choose to send a message through, or to contribute to public areas of, this Site (e.g., message boards, blogs); and (iv) with a third party in the event of a sale or transfer of all or part of our business.

We may also disclose the data we collect from and about you to (i) comply with legal processes; (ii) to respond to lawful requests from authorities (including public and government authorities outside your state or country of residence, and including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements); (iii) to enforce our Terms of Service and this Privacy Notice; (iv) to protect our business, rights, privacy, safety, or property or that of others; and (v) as necessary under applicable law (including laws outside your state or country of residence).

Third-Party Websites

This Site may contain links to websites that we do not own or operate. We are not responsible for the content or practices of such websites, including their practices with respect to your data. We have no responsibility or liability for such practices, and the website owner’s privacy policy governs your use of those websites. If this Site includes any mapping features, those mapping features are powered by Google, Inc. and governed by Google’s privacy policy, as amended from time to time.

Social Media Websites

If you engage in any interaction with QuinStreet or any third party on any social media pages, you should be aware that: (a) the personal information that you submit by and through such social media pages can be read, collected and/or used by other users of these websites/services (depending on your privacy settings associated with your accounts with the applicable social media websites), and could be used to send you unsolicited messages or otherwise to contact you without your consent or desire; and (b) where QuinStreet responds to any interaction on such social media pages, your account name/handle may be viewable by any and all members of QuinStreet’s social media presence.

We are not responsible for the personal information that you choose to submit on any social media websites.  The social media websites operate independently from QuinStreet, and we are not responsible for such social media websites’ interfaces or privacy or security practices.  We encourage you to review the privacy policies and settings of the social media websites with which you interact to help you understand those social media websites’ privacy practices.  If you have questions about the security and privacy settings of any social media websites that you use, please refer to their applicable privacy notices or policies.

Security

We have taken certain physical, technical, and administrative steps to protect the data we collect from and about Site users. We use certain reasonable security measures to help protect your personal information from accidental loss, unauthorized use, alteration, or disclosure. However, no electronic data transmission or storage of information can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Please note that we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us. We are not responsible if you circumvent any privacy settings or security measures on our Websites. You use the Site and provide us with your data at your own risk. If we share data as detailed in this Privacy Notice with a third party, we will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that they keep the information secure and that they only use the information consistent with the terms of this Privacy Notice.

Children

We do not knowingly collect, use, share, or sell the personal information of individuals under the age of 16 and this Site is not directed to individuals under 16. If you become aware that an individual under 16 has provided us with personal information, please click here to contact us. If we are made aware that we have collected personal information from an individual under age 16, we will delete this information as soon as practicable.

Choices and Access

Marketing Emails: To stop receiving marketing emails from us, please click here and follow the instructions to unsubscribe. Even if you unsubscribe, we may still send administrative (i.e., non-marketing) messages. To unsubscribe from a third party’s communications, contact that third party directly or follow the instructions to unsubscribe in the applicable marketing email.

Phone Calls and Texts: To opt out of receiving telephone calls or texts from us, please click here and follow the instructions to be placed on our Do Not Call list or reply STOP to any text message.

Please note that we will not be able to remove your data from third parties’ databases, and you will need to contact them directly and/or use any available opt-out mechanisms.

Retention Period

We keep Personal Information as long as reasonably necessary or relevant for the practices described in this Privacy Notice. We also keep Personal Information as otherwise required by law. What this means in practice will vary among different types of information and our ongoing business or legal needs for the information, for example in relation to tax, health and safety, and potential or actual disputes or investigations.

Information for California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia Consumers

When we use the term “personal information” (also known as personal data) in this Privacy Notice, we mean information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to an individual or household. It does not include aggregated, anonymized, or de-identified information (subject to applicable laws, rules, or regulations) that is maintained in a form that is not capable of being associated with or reasonably linked to an individual.

In addition to the disclosures elsewhere in this Privacy Notice, this section describes (i) the categories and sources of personal information that QuinStreet collected, sold or shared; (ii) the purpose for collection and disclosure of such personal information; and (iii) the types of third parties to whom QuinStreet disclosed such personal information.

Categories of Data QuinStreet Collected in the Preceding 12 Months. QuinStreet collected the personal information listed in the Notice at Collection (above), for the purposes described above under “Data Use.”  QuinStreet generally collects the personal information listed in the Notice at Collection (above) as Technical Data or Provided Attributes. For example, QuinStreet does not create user profiles to determine the gender, marital status or employment status of consumers. QuinStreet may store aggregated data as segments based upon Technical Data and Provided Attributes. QuinStreet receives each of those categories of data only as self-reported data from the consumer.

Sources of Data QuinStreet Collects.

QuinStreet: QuinStreet collects Technical Data and Provided Attributes from consumers who visit or engage with our Sites, our call centers or other QuinStreet owned properties (e.g., in response to emails from or on behalf of QuinStreet).

Partners and Third Parties: Consumers who visit websites our Media Partners own may be redirected to our Sites. In some cases, we may gather data directly from Media Partner websites, or Media Partners or other third parties may post data to our Sites or otherwise transfer data to us. This may occur via display ads, click listings, inquiry forms or telephonic transfers from Media Partner call centers. Our Advertising Partners may also provide us with data.

Service Providers: QuinStreet engages service providers to perform a variety of functions (e.g., verifying consumer consent, validating email addresses or phone numbers).

Authorization: We require all parties from whom we receive personal information, whether they are Partners, service providers or other third parties, to represent and warrant to us that they have appropriately obtained the personal information provided to us and have the authority to share the personal information with us.

Categories of Third Parties with Whom QuinStreet Has Disclosed Personal Information for a Business Purpose in the Preceding 12 Months. We may disclose the personal information described in the Notice at Collection (above) with other QuinStreet businesses, service providers, and Third-Party websites for business purposes described above under “Data Use” and “Data Sharing”.

QuinStreet may also disclose or sell the personal information in the Notice at Collection (above) to other QuinStreet businesses or with a third party in the event of a sale or transfer of all or part of our business.

Categories of Personal Information Sold or Shared in the Preceding 12 months, including for the purposes of targeted advertising. We sold and shared the following categories of personal information to Advertising Partners and data aggregators for the commercial purposes described in this Privacy Notice, including for targeted advertising:  identifiers, credit information, characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, internet or other electronic network activity information, geolocation data, education information, and inferences drawn from the above.  We may receive a fee for the transfer of that data or when the consumer purchases a product or service. QuinStreet does not knowingly collect, share, or sell personal information from individuals under the age of 16.

Your Privacy Rights.

Depending on your U.S. state or residence, under applicable law, you may have certain rights in relation to your personal information, including:

Right to Know: You may have the right to know what personal information we have collected about you, including the categories of personal information, the categories of sources from which the personal information is collected, the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information, the categories of third parties to whom we disclose personal information, and the specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you. You may have the right to access your personal information in a portable format.

Right to Delete: You may have the right to delete personal information that we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions. Note that there are some reasons we will not be able to fully address your request, such as if we need to complete a transaction for you, to detect and protect against fraudulent and illegal activity, to exercise our rights, for our internal purposes, or to comply with a legal obligation.

Right to Correct: You may have the right to correct inaccurate personal information that we may maintain about you, subject to appropriate verification.

Right to Opt-Out of the Sale or Sharing of Personal Information: You may have the right to opt-out of the “sale” or “sharing” of your personal information, as such terms are defined in applicable privacy law, to third parties and to affiliated companies that do not share the same brand name. This means that, if you opt out, going forward, we will not sell or share your personal information with such third parties to use for their purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, unless you later direct us to do so.

Right to Opt-Out of Targeted Advertising: You may have the right to opt-out of “targeted” advertising, as such term is defined in applicable privacy law. Opting out does not mean that you will stop receiving ads, it just means that those ads will not be targeted based on your personal information.

Right to Appeal: You may have the right to appeal a decision we have made in connection with your privacy rights request.

Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information. To the extent that we use or disclose “sensitive personal information” or “sensitive data” as those terms are defined in applicable privacy laws, we limit our use or disclosure of the sensitive personal information for permitted business purposes.

How to Submit a Request.

To take advantage of the privacy rights available to you based on your state of residence, please contact us by phone at (844)-872-7854 or use the links below.

To exercise your Right to Know, Delete, Correct, or Opt-Out under the laws of California, Texas, Oregon, Connecticut, Virginia, Colorado, and Utah, please follow the links below:

Request to Know

Request to Correct

Request to Delete

QuinStreet will confirm receipt of your request within 10 business days and respond within 45 calendar days of your submission (or such additional time as the law allows). Because of the nature of our Sites, QuinStreet may not be able to verify your identity prior to responding to your Request to Know, Correct, or Delete. Consumers who interact with our Sites are not required to set up an account, to register, or to validate their personal information and QuinStreet does not maintain an ongoing relationship with consumers who provide their personal information. Because of these factors, QuinStreet is not able to reasonably verify the identity of any consumer based on the information provided through our Sites and through a submitted request. Therefore, it may be difficult for QuinStreet to honor Requests to Know, Correct, or Delete. Instead, QuinStreet may provide in response to such requests a description of QuinStreet’s business practices regarding its handling of personal information, including a description of the categories of personal information collected, maintained, sold, and shared.

To take advantage of your right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information or to opt out of targeted advertising, please click here, which is also on our website footer (“Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information”) or call us at (844)-872-7854.

Submitting an opt-out request does not require you to create an account with us.

To appeal QuinStreet’s decision regarding a request related to these rights, you may email QuinStreet at [email protected].

Nevada residents may use the email address above to submit a verified request to direct us to stop the sale of your covered information.

We will not discriminate against you because you exercised your rights under this section of the Privacy Notice.

Agent Requests.

Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may submit a request related to your personal Information. You may also submit a request on behalf of your minor child.

Depending on your U.S. state of residence, you may authorize someone to make a privacy rights request on your behalf (an authorized agent). Authorized agents will need to demonstrate that you’ve authorized them to act on your behalf. QuinStreet retains the right to request confirmation directly from you confirming that the agent is authorized to make such a request, or to request additional information to confirm the agent’s identity.

 

California Privacy Rights Reporting

Calendar 2022 Data Subject Requests (DSRs) for Personal Information (PI)
Requests Received Requests Completed % Completed Average Days to Respond
Access to PI 65 65 100% 6 Days
Delete PI 135 135 100% 4 Days
Correct PI 3 3 100% 1 Day
Opt-out of Sale or Sharing of PI 2675 2675 100% 1 Day
Total 2878 2878 100%

 

Transfer of Personal Information Internationally

If you are visiting the Site from a country other than the country in which our servers are located, your communications with us may result in the transfer of personal information across international boundaries. By visiting the Site and/or otherwise communicating electronically with us, you consent to such transfers.  Even if your jurisdiction does not have the same privacy laws as the jurisdiction where our servers are located, your communications with us may result in the transfer of personal information across international boundaries. By visiting the Site and/or otherwise communicating electronically with us, you consent to such transfers. Even if your jurisdiction does not have the same privacy laws as the jurisdiction where our servers are located, we will treat your information as subject to the protections described in this Privacy Notice.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may amend this Privacy Notice from time to time. When we do, we will post an updated version of the Privacy Notice and revise the “LAST UPDATED” date at the top. We will provide appropriate notice to you if we change the Privacy Notice in any material way. Using this Site after we make any changes means you accept those changes and the revised Privacy Notice.

QuinStreet Businesses

For purposes of this Privacy Notice, “you” or “your” means the person(s) using this Site or the products or services offered through this Site. “QuinStreet,” “us,” or “we” includes (but is not limited to) QuinStreet, Inc., QuinStreet Insurance Agency, Inc., QuinStreet Properties, Inc. and QuinStreet PL, Inc. QuinStreet, Inc. is the party responsible for this Privacy Notice and compliance with it.

Dispute Resolution

You have the right to submit feedback about this Privacy Notice, or the practices described in it, to the applicable supervisory authority in your jurisdiction of residence.

 

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice you may: (1) submit an inquiry at the Contact Us page, here, and select “Other Consumer Issues,” (2) email at [email protected], or (3) mail at:

Privacy Notice Questions
c/o QuinStreet, Inc. [Legal Department]
950 Tower Lane, Suite 1200
Foster City, CA 94404