UrbanSitter Privacy Policy

Last updated April 15, 2024

UrbanSitter, Inc. ("UrbanSitter", "we" or "us") is committed to respecting the privacy of your information. This Privacy Policy ("Privacy Policy") describes the personal information we collect through our website and mobile applications (the "Site"), and how we collect and use this information. Terms not defined in this Privacy Policy have the meanings given to them in the Terms of Service.

This Privacy Policy is organized into the following nine sections:

1. Collection and Use of Personal Information
2. Automatically Collected Information
3. Disclosure of Your Information to Third Parties
4. Updating and Correcting Information
5. Your Choices
6. Security of Information
7. Age Restrictions
8. Additional Information for California Residents
9. Changes to Our Privacy Policy
10. Contact Us

1. Collection and Use of Personal Information.

Depending on how you use the Site, we may ask you to share personally identifiable information ("Personal Information") with us. Whether you choose to share Personal Information is completely up to you, but keep in mind that you may not be able to access some areas of the Site or effectively use the Services without sharing Personal Information. Personal Information includes any information that identifies or can be used to identify, contact or locate an individual. Examples include name, address, email address, phone number, age, household information, educational background and credit card information. The types of Personal Information that we may collect about you, and our uses of that Personal Information, are:

1. Account Information. When you register for the Site, we will ask for certain information about you, such as your name, address, email, birth date and phone number. If you are registering as a Family, we will also ask for any school/group affiliations and the number of children you have and their ages; if you are registering as a Provider, we will also ask for your total years of babysitting and/or nanny experience, your hourly rate(s), transportation information and booking availability.

   If you use an account from an online social platform (e.g., Facebook) to register for the Site, we will request your permission to access certain information about you from that social platform. For example, if you log in using your Facebook account, we will request your permission to access your basic information on Facebook, such as your name, profile picture, and list of friends. We will use your information from these online social platforms to make the Site registration process easier and to enhance and personalize your use of the Site (e.g., by connecting you with Families or Providers you or your online network know).

   We may also, either during or after the registration process, use the Personal Information you have provided to us, request further Personal Information from you and/or use third party services, to verify your account or registration information or compliance with UrbanSitter's Terms of Service, or order a background check. For example, you may be asked to answer a knowledge-based question and/or provide a form of photo identification for purposes of verifying your identity.

   We may use your email address and/or your phone number (if you choose to provide it) to send you account confirmations, notifications and appointment status reminders, to request reviews, to contact you on behalf of other Users sending you messages, and to otherwise provide the Services to you. We may also send you promotional emails, such as monthly newsletters, new Services, special discounts and third-party offers. If you would rather not receive promotional emails, please see the section below titled "Your Choices."

   We also use your Personal Information for administrative purposes, such as addressing account and billing issues, troubleshooting Site issues, investigating abuse on the Site, responding to User inquiries and enforcing and applying our Terms of Service. We may also send you text message communications in connection with the Services if you opt in to receive text messages by providing your mobile phone number as part of your registration process or in your account settings.

   If you choose to join groups, we may use your address to include you in the appropriate groups.

2. User Profile. After you register for the Site, you will have the opportunity to create a Profile about yourself. Your Profile may include different information depending on whether you are a Family or a Provider. How much Personal Information you add to your Profile is entirely up to you, though at a minimum, your Profile will include Personal Information you provided to us in the account registration process. The information you add to your Profile, also depends on whether you are part of a Family or a Provider:
   1. For Families: Families may include information on their Profile about their children (age, school, allergies, special needs), emergency contact information, parking availability, and group affiliations.
   2. For Providers: Providers may include information about their hourly rates, background, availability, education, certifications, languages spoken and experience, and any geographic or other limitations or preferences.
3. Reviews and Other Public Content. Families will have the opportunity to provide Reviews about Providers they have used. Providers will have the opportunity to provide Reviews about Families with whom they have a completed booking on the site. Users may also have other opportunities to contribute to the Site, such as public forums, bulletin boards and talk threads. We may store these contributions ("Public Content"), display them to other Users, and use them for promotional purposes. Your Public Content becomes public information once you post it, and copies of it may continue to be viewable even after you delete your account. Your Public Content may appear on other websites or web searches, and therefore this information can be read, collected and used by others. Note that if you include Personal Information about yourself in your Public Content, it can be used and viewed by others. Please remember that you are not permitted to disclose any Personal Information about another User or anyone else in your Public Content (see our content guidelines).
4. Third Party References. Providers may request third parties to provide Recommendations on the Site by providing the third party reference's email. We will use the email only to contact the third party reference and to invite the third party reference to provide a Recommendation for the Provider. Third party references will be required to become a registered Family in order to post a review. The Recommendation and the Family's user name will be posted on the Provider's Profile and search results pages that include the Provider.
5. Inviting Friends/Providers. Users may invite friends to join the Site by providing their contact information, selecting Facebook friends to be invited or by entering your log-in information to import your address book from other sites. We will use your friends' contact information to invite them to join and connect with you on the Site. We may store their Personal Information in our records, but will not send them promotional emails (other than the initial invitation) unless they register for an account or otherwise request us to do so.
6. Messaging. The Site allows you to exchange messages with other Users using the messaging feature. We may store these messages in order to deliver them and allow you to manage them.
7. Facebook and Other Third Party Services. In addition to Facebook, the Site may also provide you with the option to access other third party services to interact with friends and to import information about who you are connected with on those other services so you can connect with them on the Site. Some of those third party services may also provide us with information from accounts on those services to enhance and personalize your use of the Site. For example, you may be able to follow a Facebook friend's activity on the Site (e.g., a friend's booking activity or reviews they have posted) or see other Users whom they know. You may also allow your activity on the Site to be shared on the third-party site. For example, if you post a Review on the Site, you may have the option to post your Review on Facebook. You can modify your privacy settings with those other services directly.
8. Payment Information. To process payments, you will be required to submit your credit card information and billing information to our third-party payment processor. Credit card transactions are processed through industry standard Secure Socket Layer by the payment processor, which only uses your information for that purpose.
9. Job Postings. Information in your job postings, excluding your name (unless you include it in your job description) and profile photo, but including such other information as your neighborhood, city and state, job description (including number and age of children, hours needed, qualifications desired, rate offered) and job posting date may be shared with third party search engines and other services who run classified advertisements. Note that if you include Personal Information about yourself in your job description (e.g., your name or contact information), it may appear in the shared job postings and may be accessible to the public. These shared job postings may appear in third party web site search results, and would allow the public to link back to your UrbanSitter posting. To view your complete job posting, a user would then need to register and/or log in to the UrbanSitter site.
10. Feedback. If you contact us to give us feedback, register a complaint or ask questions about the Site or Services, we may store your communications, including any Personal Information you include in them, so we can effectively respond to you.

2. Automatically Collected Information.

We automatically collect certain information as a result of your use of the Site and Services. This type of information may include things like the URL of the website you visited before and after visiting our Site, the type of browser you are using, and the IP address of the computer you use to visit the Site. More specifically, we automatically collect information through the following means:

1. Cookies. We collect some anonymous information about how you use the Site by setting and accessing cookies on your computer. A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your computer. These cookies track your activity on the Site, such as how often you visit the Site, and what pages you view. The cookies may also enable our service providers, like our third-party payment processor, to provide their services. You may be able to change the preferences on your browser or device to prevent or limit your device's acceptance of cookies. If you choose to disable a cookie, you may not be able to use certain features of the Site.
2. Activity and Log Data. We automatically store information related to your use of the Site in our log files, such as the pages you view on the Site, your browser type, IP address, operating system, referring URL and the date and time of your visit. We use this type of information to administer the Site and to analyze trends.
3. Web Beacons and Other Tracking Devices. We may use other industry standard technologies like web beacons or tracking pixels to analyze how users interact with the Site, report on Site traffic, and analyze where out Users are coming from. We may also rely upon third parties to assist with the use and implementation of web beacons.
4. Do Not Track Signals. Some web browsers have a "Do Not Track" feature. This feature lets you tell websites you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. These features are not yet uniform across browsers. UrbanSitter does not engage in online tracking of its users (i.e., the collection of personal information about an user's online activities over time and across third party websites or online services), and therefore, the Site is not currently set up to respond to "Do Not Track" signals. UrbanSitter also does not authorize third parties to collect personally identifiable information about an individual consumer's online activities over time and across different websites when a consumer uses the Site or Services.

3. Disclosure of Your Information to Third Parties.

1. Family Profiles. If you are part of a Family, all registered Users will be able to view the Family's photo, your first name, last initial, neighborhood and (if elected) number of children. In addition, other registered Families and Providers can view shared connections and affiliations. If you review a Provider or request a booking with a Provider, the Provider can view the Family's full Profile.
2. Provider Profiles. If you are a Provider, all visitors to the Site (including non-registered visitors) can view your Profile, except that your email, address and phone number will only be disclosed to a Family with a confirmed booking.
3. Bookings and Other Site Activity. Your Profile, completed bookings and other Site activity (e.g., Reviews, number of repeat Providers/Families, how long you've been on UrbanSitter, number of friends on UrbanSitter, any linked Facebook accounts) may be shared with other Users that (i) you're friends with on a social networking platform like Facebook, or (ii) are in the same Group as you. For example, your booking activity may be displayed on your friends' dashboards so your friends can see what Providers you have used and/or reviewed, or Families you have worked with, or a Provider's Profile, availability, or booking activity may be shared in marketing or promotional emails to other Users. Some of this information may be displayed as "badges" on your profile (for example, if you are a Provider who has cleared a current background check, your profile will display a background check badge). In addition, other Users you have designated as "Favorites" or whom you've recommended may be visible to other Users.
4. Information You Share. If you include personal information in content that you share with other Users (e.g., in messages, in Public Content, or in job postings), that information will be viewable by anyone who has access to that content.
5. Disclosure By Law; Protection of Us and Others. We may disclose information you provide if required to do so by law, or if we, in our sole discretion, believe that disclosure is reasonable to (1) comply with the law, requests or orders from law enforcement, or any legal process (whether or not such disclosure is required by applicable law), (2) protect or defend UrbanSitter's, or a third party's rights or property, or (3) protect someone's health or safety, such as when harm or violence against any person (including you) is threatened.
6. Aggregate Data. We may share aggregate data about Users with third parties, including advertisers and marketing partners. This information does not identify individual Users.
7. Service Providers. We may share your Personal Information with companies that perform services for us, such as analyzing customer data, providing marketing assistance, and processing credit card payments. They have access to Personal Information as needed to perform their functions, but may not disclose your Personal Information for other purposes.
8. reCAPTCHA. In order to protect the input forms on our website, we utilize the “reCAPTCHA” service from Google. With this service, we can differentiate between information that has been entered into a form by a human and information that has been entered by an automated machine. The use of automated information entry violates UrbanSitter's Terms of Service. Your use of reCAPTCHA is subject to Google's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
9. Business Changes. We may share your information with any parent company, subsidiary, joint ventures or other companies under a common control that we may have now or in the future, in which case, we will require them to honor this Privacy Policy. If another company acquires our company or all or substantially all of our assets, that company will own your information and will assume the rights and obligations with respect to that information as described in this Privacy Policy.
10. Promotional Partners. We may share certain Personal Information about Users who were referred to our Site through a promotional partner using a designated promotional code. In such circumstances, we will notify Users using the promotional code of the information that will be shared and the party to whom it will be shared.
11. Third Party Advertisers. Third parties may provide some of the advertisements on the Site. We do not share any Personal Information with them, but they may have access to information they obtain through cookies, beacons or other tracking devices discussed in Section 2 above or that you share with them yourself. Please note that we do not rent, share, sell or trade Personal Information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

4. Updating and Correcting Information.

If you need to change your Personal Information, you may access, update or correct this information by logging into your account and accessing either the "Profile" section within your account or the "Settings" section under "My Account." We encourage you to update your Personal Information promptly if it changes.

You may submit a request for us to delete your personal information by emailing our Chief Privacy Officer at [email protected]. You will need access to the email account associated with your UrbanSitter account in order to verify your identity and complete this process. We need certain types of information so that we can provide our Services. If you ask us to delete it, you may no longer be able to access or use our Services. In addition, we may retain certain personal information as authorized under applicable law, including: (i) to help ensure security and integrity of the Site and Services, including, without limitation, to help detect security incidents or fraud or to help ensure the physical safety of others, (ii) to identify and repair errors that impair existing functionality, or (iii) to enable solely internal uses compatible with the context in which the information was provided. In addition, we may deny a deletion request if (i) the denial is necessary for us to comply with applicable law, or (ii) the request pertains to content that you posted on a publicly available portion of the Services and that cannot be deleted without impacting the Services experience for other users. You may not request the removal of de-identified, anonymous, or aggregate data from our databases.

5. Your Choices.

UrbanSitter provides you with the ability to opt-out of receiving promotional emails (e.g., monthly newsletters, new Services, special discounts and third-party offers) from us. If you wish to discontinue receiving promotional emails, you can opt-out by using the link on the bottom of every promotional email you receive from UrbanSitter.

Please note that you cannot opt-out of receiving administrative and transaction-related emails from us. These are emails that relate to your account or your activity on the Site.

6. Security of Information.

We take security of your Personal Information seriously and take precautions to protect your Personal Information. Among these safeguards, we maintain and follow policies and practices so that Personal Information is handled in accordance with applicable law. We encrypt certain sensitive information (such as credit card information) using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, and implement other commercially reasonable procedures to protect your Personal Information. But, no method of data transmission over the Internet or data storage is 100% secure and therefore, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of any information transmitted to or from the Site.

7. Age Restrictions.

The Site is not intended for individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from individuals under 18, and no part of the Site is designed to attract anyone under the age of 18. If you become aware that your child has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us. If we become aware that an individual under 18 has opened an account and provided us with Personal Information, we take steps to remove such information and terminate that person's account.

8. Additional Information for California Residents.

California law permits users who are California residents to request and obtain from us once a year, free of charge, a list of the third parties to whom we have disclosed their personal information (if any) for their direct marketing purposes in the prior calendar year, as well as the types of personal information disclosed to those parties. If you are a California resident and would like to request this information, please submit your request in an email to our Chief Privacy Officer at [email protected].

9. Changes to Our Privacy Policy.

We may revise our Privacy Policy from time to time. The most current version of the Privacy Policy will govern our use of your information and will always be located on this webpage. If we make a change to our Privacy Policy that is material, we will notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes before implementing the change on the Site and/or via the email associated with your account. By continuing to access the Site and use the Services after those changes become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Privacy Policy.

10. Contact Us.

If you have any feedback, questions or complaints about this Privacy Policy or any of our privacy-related practices, please contact our Chief Privacy officer directly at: