Privacy Policy
QDOS is a free online service owned and operated by Garlik Limited ("Garlik"), which enables individuals to discover their web profile and assess their online status. To enjoy the unique functionalities of QDOS, you will be asked to disclose certain personal information to us. Garlik has provided this Privacy Policy (the "Policy") because we value your right to control what personal information is collected about you and how this information is used. This Policy (together with our terms of use and any other documents referred to in it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect about you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us.
Please read this Policy carefully to understand how we will treat your personal information and before submitting any personal information to our site. By using QDOS, you consent to the collection and use of personal information as outlined in this Policy. If you do not agree to this Policy, please do not use our site. Your use of the QDOS site indicates your acceptance of this Policy and of the collection and use of personal information in accordance with it.
If we make any material changes to this Policy, those changes will be posted on this site. You should check this site periodically and specifically before you provide any personal information to ensure you are aware of our data processing practices. Your continued use of the QDOS service following posting of any changes to the Policy will signal your acceptance of such changes.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this Policy, please contact or write to:
Charles Rudgard
Product and Services Director
2 Sheen Road
Richmond
TW9 1AE
Information we collect
To offer you this service, we collect information about you from legitimate public sources. The information we collect is limited to your name and postcode. We feed this information into QDOS to enable the site to recognise you and provide you with a QDOS score.
1. Unregistered Users
We encourage you to register with us in order to enjoy the full benefits of QDOS. However, you may choose not to register and still take advantage of our site where registration is not required.
In order to calculate your initial QDOS, you will be asked to provide your name and your postcode. We will use this information to calculate your initial QDOS using our proprietary algorhythm based on an analysis of a variety of public online and geodemographic sources and primary research in to digital demographics we have undertaken. Please note that if you do not register with us, any data associated with your initial QDOS will only be stored temporarily and other people will not be able to see this cached data. Your QDOS is a score and shape that constitute a numerical and visual reflection of your online activity, impact, individuality and popularity.
2. Registered Users
If you choose to register, you will be asked to provide further personal details which include your email address, username, age-range, gender, country of residence and job sector. Following registration, you will be able to contribute information about yourself to the site. You can contribute as much or as little information about your online presence as you wish. Information you provide will be used to update your QDOS to provide a more accurate reflection of your digital status.
As a user with a claimed QDOS, you will also be able to contribute links to other web pages that contain personal information about you and which tell us more about your web presence. If you provide web page links, we will not request any passwords from you. Instead, you will be asked to authenticate our access to any information.
IP Addresses and cookies
Like most web sites, QDOS uses web log files to track site usage. When you visit the QDOS site, we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going. We also receive the Internet protocol (IP) address of your computer. We may use this data in an aggregated format to anonymously determine how visitors navigate our site and how we may better tailor our services to meet user needs. It is extremely difficult to identify you through your IP address and we make no attempt to do so.
As a result of your visit to our site, our web server may directly or indirectly place a "cookie" into your web browser. A cookie is a small piece of information that helps us understand how users navigate our site. These cookies contain no personal information, and cannot be linked to any personal information. They are used only to help us understand how visitors navigate our site. You may refuse to accept cookies by following the procedures specific to your browser. However, if you do this, you may be unable to access certain parts of our site.
How we use personal information
We use the information you give us and information we collect about you to calculate your QDOS and generate your individual QDOS score and shape. Your score and shape constitute a numerical and visual reflection of your online activity, impact, individuality and popularity.
Garlik communications
If you are a registered user, we may contact you by email with information about Garlik products and services similar to those which were the subject of a previous service to you.
You may opt-out of receiving promotional communications from us at any time by contacting us at .
Sharing information with third parties
1. Your Public Profile
You name, QDOS score, QDOS shape and QDOS breakdown comprise your public profile and will be freely available and accessible to other QDOS users throughout the world and also to non-registrants who have not logged in. You can choose to make other personal information public or private. If you choose to make more personal information available to other users of the site, you do so at your own risk. Garlik cannot accept any responsibility for ensuring the privacy of information that you choose to disclose in the public area of the site.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR BETA USERS
During the beta testing phase, your complete QDOS profile will automatically be made public. This means that if you register as a beta user, in addition to your QDOS score, QDOS shape and 4-criteria breakdown, any other information that you add to your profile will be freely available and accessible to any visitors to the QDOS site. Visitors will be able to view all the elements of your QDOS profile, including links to other web pages containing personal information about you, which you may have added to influence your QDOS score. You should understand that no element of your QDOS profile will be hidden during the test phase.
Profiles will be made fully public during the beta testing phase to allow Garlik to test all required functionality and ensure the quality of our service. Once the beta test is complete, users will be able to choose whether to make the additional elements of their QDOS profile public or private (see above "Your Public Profile"). If you do not agree to your complete QDOS profile being accessible to other users during the beta test, we ask you not to register as a beta user.
2. Service Providers
You should be aware that Garlik engages third parties to perform certain services in connection with the operation of QDOS. These third party service providers who have access to your personally identifiable information are authorized to use this information only in a manner consistent with this Policy and for no unrelated purposes.
3. Non-Disclosure Agreement
We will not sell, rent or otherwise make available any personal information comprising your private profile to any persons or companies who could use your personal information for sales purposes or other than you originally intended. We may however share non-personal aggregated data with third parties. Disclosure of aggregated data will not enable third parties to identify who you are or how to contact you personally.
4. Disclosure to Law Enforcement
In certain circumstances, we may be required to disclose information comprising your private profile to law enforcement or other government officials. If this happens we will only disclose the information necessary to comply with the request. We may also, if we deem it necessary, disclose information to prevent a violation of the law and by accepting this Policy, you consent to our doing so, in our sole discretion.
Access, corrections and retention of information
You can review your personal information and amend, add or delete information (e.g., web links) as desired. You can do this at any time by logging in to your account on the QDOS site and editing your profile. If you wish to remove your profile from the QDOS list you may contact us at .
We may retain certain data contributed by you where necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, non-personally-identifiable data or any data required by law. All retained data will continue to be subject to the terms of this Policy, and will not be kept by us for longer than six months.
Security
All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Additionally, information comprising your private profile can be accessed only by providing your password. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password that enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share this password with anyone.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. We will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorized access to your private profile.
Celebrities and high profile individuals
Users can check the QDOS of certain celebrities and high profile individuals through our site by carrying out a simple name search. The information displayed will include the celebrity's name, QDOS number, QDOS shape and links to other web pages containing information about them. This feature allows a user to see how his or her QDOS compares with the QDOS of a famous person.
We only use information from public websites and other freely accessible online forums to maintain celebrity profiles on our site. We do not knowingly obtain celebrity personal data from private persons or organisations that trade in illicitly obtained personal information.
In order for us to correct or remove personal information about a celebrity from the public area of the site, we will require either the celebrity or an authorized third party to provide sufficient evidence to enable us to verify the celebrity's identity.
Children
QDOS is specifically targetted at and designed for use by adults. It does not target children and we ask that minors (persons under 18 years) do not submit any personal information to our site or use our service. If we have reason to believe that a user is under 18 we reserve the right to suspend their account on these grounds.
Last Updated: [3] December 2007
