Note: this is an archived privacy policy. To see the current policy, visit http://www.zendesk.com/company/privacy.
At Zendesk, We respect and protect the privacy of visitors to our website, www.zendesk.com (the Site), and our customers who use our on-demand support platform, tools and services offered on the Site (the Service). This Privacy Policy (Policy) explains how We collect and use visitors and customers information as part of our Site and our Service.
To mark its commitment to privacy, Zendesk has entered into a number of voluntary data privacy programs, including the TRUSTe® Privacy Certification Programs, and the United States European Union and the US-Swiss Safe Harbor programs. We have been awarded TRUSTe’s Privacy Seal signifying that this Policy and our privacy practices have been reviewed by TRUSTe for compliance with TRUSTes Program Requirements and Cloud Privacy Requirements, including transparency, accountability and choice regarding the collection and use of your personal information. TRUSTe’s mission, as an independent third party, is to accelerate online trust among consumers and organizations globally through its leading privacy programs. Zendesk also complies with the US-EU and US-Swiss Safe Harbor Frameworks as set forth by the US Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of personal information from EU member countries and Switzerland. We have certified our adherence to the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles of notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access and enforcement. Our compliance has been recognized by TRUSTe, which has awarded Zendesk the TRUSTes EU Safe Harbor Seal. To learn more about the Safe Harbor program, and to view Zendesks certification, please visit http://www.export.gov/safeharbor/. If You have questions or complaints regarding our Policy or practices, please contact us at privacy@zendesk.com. If You are not satisfied with our response or We do not respond to your query within 30 days, You can contact TRUSTe here.
We self-certify compliance with:
Information You Provide
In this Policy, personal information means information or an information set that identifies or could be used by or on behalf of Zendesk to identify an individual, but not including encoded, anonymized, or publically-available data that has not been combined with non-public personal information.
The information Zendesk collects and uses is limited to the purpose for which customers engage Zendesk. When You register for the Service, We ask for information such as your name, company name and address, site name, phone number, e-mail address and credit card information. If You sign-up for the 30-day free trial account, You are not required to enter your credit card information until You decide to continue with a paid plan. Zendesk uses a third-party intermediary to manage credit card processing. This intermediary is not permitted to store, retain, or use your billing information, except for the sole purpose of credit card processing on Zendesks behalf.
Zendesk may use the personal information and other information We collect about your use of the Service to operate the Service and tailor it to your needs, for billing, identification and authentication, to contact You about your use of the Service, send you marketing materials (subject to your opt-out option), for research purposes, and to generally improve the content and functionality of the Service and the Site.
Zendesk may also share your personal information with its third-party vendors (such as its credit card processor) and hosting partners to provide the necessary hardware, software, networking, storage, and other services We use to operate the Service and maintain quality user experience. Although Zendesk owns all rights to the software, code, databases, and other Service applications, You retain all rights to your data. Our service providers may not use your personal information for marketing purposes.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of information either stored temporarily (session cookie) or placed on your computer’s hard drive (persistent cookie). The main purpose of a cookie is to allow a web server to identify a user, and serve up customized web pages and/or login information to the user’s web browser when revisiting a web page. Cookies help us promptly display the information You need and other information which We consider to be of interest to You. By gathering and remembering information about your website preferences through cookies We can provide a better web and marketing experience.
When You visit the Site or use the Service, We use session cookies to allow the Site or Service to uniquely identify your browser while You are logged in and to enable Zendesk to process your online transactions. Session cookies also help us confirm your identity and are required in order to use the Service. We also use persistent cookies that only We can read and use, to identify You as a Zendesk customer and make it easier for You to log into the Service.
As a user You can accept or decline the use of cookies through a functionality built into most web browsers. Users who disable their web browsers ability to accept cookies will be able to browse our Site, but will not be able to access or take advantage of the Service.
Clear Gifs (a.k.a Web Beacons)
Our third-party tracking utility company employs a software technology called clear gifs that helps us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. Unlike cookies, which are stored on a users computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on Web pages.
We tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers personal information, and use them in our HTML-based emails to learn which emails have been opened by recipients. This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and our marketing campaigns. If You would like to opt-out of these emails, please follow the unsubscribe instructions within our marketing emails.
Log Files
As is true with most web sites, Zendesk gathers certain information automatically and stores it in log files. This information includes internet protocol addresses as well as browser, internet service provider, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and click stream data. Occasionally We may connect personal information to data gathered in our log files, as necessary to improve the Service to individual customers. Otherwise We mostly use this information with no connection to individual users, to analyze trends, administer the Site, or track usage of various features within the Site.
Links to Other Sites
Our Site contains links to other websites that are not owned or controlled by Zendesk. Please be aware that We do not determine and We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such other sites. We encourage You to be aware when you leave our Site, and read the privacy statements of other websites linked to our Site. This Policy applies only to information collected by this Site.
Public Forums
Our Site offers publicly-accessible blogs or community forums. You should be aware that any information You provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them. To request removal of your personal information from our blog or community forum, contact us at privacy@zendesk.com. In some cases, We may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case We will let You know if We are unable to do so and why.
Customer Testimonials/Comments/Reviews
From time to time, We post customer testimonials on the Site which may contain personal information. We do obtain the customers consent to post their names along with their testimonials.
Information Sharing
Except as described in this Policy, Zendesk will not give, sell, rent or loan any personal information to any third party. We may disclose such information to respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims. We may also share such information if we believe it is necessary in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of our Terms of Service, or as otherwise required by law. Zendesk may also provide non-personal, summary or group statistics about our customers, sales, traffic patterns, and related Site information to reputable third-party vendors, but these statistics will include no personal information.
Protection of Information
Zendesk is committed to ensuring the security of your personal information. We take every precaution to protect the confidentiality and security of the personal information placed on the Site or used within the Service, by employing technological, physical and administrative security safeguards, such as firewalls and carefully-developed security procedures. For example, when You enter sensitive information (such as login credentials and all your activity on our Service platform) We encrypt the transmission of that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). These technologies, procedures and other measures help ensure that your data is safe, secure, and only available to You and to those You authorized access.
Safe Harbor Data Privacy Notice for European Union Web site visitors and clients
Zendesk complies with the US EU and US Swiss Safe Harbor Frameworks for protecting the privacy of data flowing from the EU and Switzerland to the US, as set forth by the US Department of Commerce. Below We outline our practices for implementing the Safe Harbor Principles, including the type of information to which this notice applies, how We collect, use and retain personal information from EU member countries and Switzerland, and the choices individuals have regarding our use of, and their ability to correct, their personal information.
Generally
We frequently enter agreements with our EU customers to provide them our Service, which includes the processing of information relating to our customers’ customers. In providing our Service We do not own, control or direct the use of the information stored or processed on our platform at the direction of our customers, and in fact We are largely unaware of what information is actually being stored on our platform and only access such information as authorized by our customers or as required by law. Only You or your customers are entitled to access, retrieve and direct the use of such information. As such, We are only the data processors and not the data controllers of the information on our platform for purposes of the EU Directive on Data Protection (Directive 95/45/EC) and the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection. Our EU or Swiss customers, who control their customer data and send it to Zendesk for processing, are the controllers of that data and are responsible for compliance with the Directive.
As the processors of personal information on behalf of our European customers, we follow their instructions with respect to the information they control. In doing so We implement appropriate technical, physical and administrative measures against unauthorized processing of such information and against loss, destruction of, or damage to, personal information.
Notice
Where Zendesk collects personal information directly from its EU customers, it informs them about the purpose for which it collects and uses their personal information, the choices they have to limit the use of personal information about them, and how to contact Zendesk. Beyond that, We have no direct relationship with our customers customers whose personal data We processes. Zendesks customers are responsible for complying with the Directive and relevant data protection legislation in the relevant EU member state before sending personal data to Zendesk for processing. We work with our customers to help them provide notice to their customers concerning the purpose for which personal information is collected.
Choice
We process and store information on behalf of our customers. If You are a customer of one of our customers and would no longer like to be contacted by one of our customers that uses our Service, please contact that customer directly. If You are our customer and would like to opt-out of getting communications from Zendesk please contact us at privacy@zendesk.com or follow the unsubscribe instructions included in each marketing email. Requests to opt-out of transfers to our third-party vendors will also be considered, but limitations on data sharing may make it difficult or impossible to provide the Service.
Onwards Transfer
We may transfer personal information to our third-party vendors that help us provide the Service, subject to appropriate confidentiality restrictions. Such transfers are limited to the purposes for which personal data has been transferred to us from our customers. Transfers to subsequent third parties are covered by the provisions in this Policy regarding notice and choice, and the service agreements with our customers. Otherwise We may also share personal information as is required or permitted by law.
Access and Review of Data
Residents of the EU and Switzerland whose personal information Zendesk controls may request access and the opportunity to correct, amend, or delete that information. If You are our customer and would like to gain access to, or request deletion of information We have collected as data controllers, please contact us at privacy@zendesk.com. We will respond to such queries within 30 business days.
Zendesk has no direct relationship with its customers customers whose personal data it processes. An individual seeking access, or who would like to correct, amend, or delete inaccurate data should direct his query to the Zendesk customer with whom such individual interacts (the data controller). At the request of our customers We remove data within 30 business days.
Data Retention
Zendesk will retain personal information We process on behalf of our customers for as long as needed to provide Service to our customers, subject to our compliance with this Policy. We retain and use this personal information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
Enforcement
Zendesk will continuously monitor its privacy practices and continued compliance with the Directive and this Policy.
Childrens Personal Information
Zendesk does not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
If We make any material changes to this Policy We will notify You by email or by posting a prominent notice on the Site prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage You to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices. Your continued use of the Site or Service constitutes your agreement to be bound by such changes to this Policy. Your only remedy, if You do not accept the terms of this Policy, is to discontinue use of the Site and Service.
Business Transactions.
Zendesk may assign or transfer this Policy, and your user account and related information and data, to any person or entity that acquires or is merged with Zendesk.
Terms of Service.
When You access and use the Service, You are subject to the Zendesk Terms of Service.
Contact Us
If You have questions regarding this Policy or about the privacy practices of Zendesk, please contact us by email at privacy@zendesk.com, or at:
Zendesk, Inc.
Attn: Privacy Officer
989 Market Street #300
San Francisco, CA 94102
