Privacy Policy

Date of Last Amendment: December 26, 2022

Originality.AI Inc. respects and endorses users’ rights to privacy and to understand how and why we collect, use, safeguard, and disclose personal information.

A. Accountability

Originality.AI Inc. (“Originality.AI,” “we,” “us,” “our”) offers services to, among others, web publishers, content agencies, and digital marketing companies. Our plagiarism-checking service identifies content that is not unique or original. Our AI detection service identifies content that may be AI-generated.

Most, if not all, Originality.AI customers create and operate websites. Because their websites must comply with privacy rules, our customers are likely to be familiar with privacy rights, how and why personal information is collected, and the operation of cookies and related technologies.

However, a user of our Website does not have to be a website or content creator, or a digital marketing professional, to understand this Policy. No special knowledge or experience is required.

In this Policy, references to our Website include Originality.AI’s App, Chrome Extension, API, and WordPress plugin.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, safeguard, and dispose of personal information, as well as other rights customers and Website users have concerning that information.

B. Personal Information

Two types of personal information are subject to privacy rights.

The first is information that identifies a specific person (either alone or in combination with other information).

If it is rare enough, a person’s name alone could be personal information. If it is not sufficiently uncommon (and most people’s names are not), an individual’s name combined with a second piece of information is an example of personal information. Home address, email address, telephone number, social media identifier, age, nickname, a detailed description of physical features, the neighbourhood in which the person lives, where they went to school, and their medical history are examples of information that would be personal information when combined with a name or other identifier.

The other type of protected personal information is anything of a personal nature about an identifiable individual.

Examples of this kind of personal information include

  • The person’s race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, or marital or family status.
  • The person’s education or medical, psychiatric, psychological, criminal, or employment history.
  • The person’s financial status or information relating to financial transactions in which the person has been involved.
  • The person’s social security number or another unique number or identifier assigned to them.
  • The person’s fingerprints or blood type.
  • The individual’s personal opinions or views about social or political issues.
  • The views or opinions of others about the person.
  • Generally, any information that could prove embarrassing or harmful to an individual’s reputation or that a reasonable person would not want to be in the public domain.

C. The Personal Information We Collect

Given the nature of our business and the reason customers visit our Website and enter into transactions with us, the personal information we collect and use is limited to

  • Identification information necessary for customers to create accounts and purchase and use our services: name, email address, and password.
  • Information that helps us improve our services, Website, and business processes.
  • Information to conduct customer relationship audits and management procedures, as well as marketing initiatives, including identifying service improvements and additional products or services that may be of interest to customers.
  • Information that will help us better manage and improve our customers’ overall relationship with us so they continue doing business with us, including improving user experience on our Website.
  • For additional information about points four through six in this list, see Other Information We Collect.

D. Why We Collect Personal Information and Your Consent

We collect personal information so that

  • Our Website works as users expect and to provide users with a personalized experience.
  • Customers can purchase our services.
  • We can carry out our contractual obligations to customers and take the necessary steps to enter into contracts with customers.
  • For other reasons described in this Policy.

Examples of carrying out our contractual obligations to a customer include providing access to our Plagiarism Check and Detect AI services and reports created by those services.

When you visit or log in to our website, cookies  and similar technologies may be used by our online data partners or vendors to associate these activities with other personal information they or others have about you.

We collect personal and non-personal information to operate our business and our Website. We require this information to ensure that our offerings meet the evolving needs of our customers and that the design and navigability of our Website are optimized for the best user experience.

Examples of the type of information we collect for these purposes and how we collect it can be found in Other Information We Collect.

In all instances, we only collect personal information for the purposes outlined in this Policy. We do not collect personal information for any other purpose, i.e., we do not collect personal information that is not needed for customers to purchase our services, for us to communicate with customers, including (i) providing services updates and support, (ii) operating our business. (e.g., keeping proper records), and (iii) improving or adding to our offerings and Website, all of which are legitimate business purposes.

Originality.AI is a B2B company. We do not conduct business with or collect personal information from or about minors (children). If you have not reached the age of majority where you live, you must not (i) enter any personal information in any form on our Website, (ii) provide personal information any other way, (iii) transact or attempt to transact business with Originality.AI, or (iv) continue to browse our Website.

By contracting with Originality.AI (i.e., purchasing a service), you consent to our collection and use of personal information as outlined in this Policy.

By browsing our Website, you consent to our collection and use of personal and non-personal information arising out of your use as outlined in this Policy.

If you do not want us to collect or use personal information, do not browse our Website or purchase a service from us. If you are unable to find an acceptable alternative to one of our services and have no choice but to purchase from us but still do not wish to provide us with personal information, you may contact our Privacy Compliance Officer (PCO) at support@originality.ai to discuss if and how this can be accomplished. When contacting our PCO, please indicate “Privacy Inquiry” in the subject line.

If you object to our collection of information while you access our Website, contact our PCO at support@originality.ai. We will make commercially reasonable efforts to delete and permanently destroy any personal information collected up until the time you made your wishes known. Non-personal (anonymous) information will not be deleted.

When you contact us by way of a form on this Website, you consent to our collection and use of the personal information you provide. Similarly, if you contact us by any other means, you consent to our collection and use of the personal information you provide. That use may include email marketing, from which you may unsubscribe.

Should we wish to use your personal information for any purpose other than as outlined in this Policy, we will first obtain your consent.

E. Internal Access to Personal Information

Access to personal information is limited to Originality.AI employees who require it to (i) develop and provide our services, and (ii) provide customer support. The personal information made available to employees is limited to the information they need to do their jobs.

We may share personal information with companies affiliated with Originality.AI. If we do, we will require those companies to adhere to this Policy or a materially identical privacy policy. Affiliate companies include a parent company of Originality.AI and any subsidiary companies, joint venture partners, and any other companies we control or that are under common control with us.

If a third-party contractor has or could have access to personal information, we require that contractor to treat it as confidentially as we do. An IT contractor providing system maintenance is an example of a third party that may have access to personal information in the course of providing services to us. Other third-party services that will or may involve access to personal information include payment processing, customer services (e.g., contact centre services), data analysis, hosting services, marketing, and product development. Specific third-party contractors to which we provide personal information are identified in Other Information We Collect.

F. External Disclosure of Personal Information

Other than as detailed in this Policy, Originality.AI does not disclose personal information to third parties except in situations in which a reasonable person would expect it to be disclosed. An example is if we hired a third party to provide customer support (e.g., Help Desk) services.

Originality.AI discloses personal information if required to do so by Court order or operation of law (e.g., receipt of a subpoena or summons). Unless legally prevented from doing so, we will first attempt to advise the customer that we have received an order or direction to disclose personal information so that the customer can challenge the order if they see fit.

We disclose personal information to the proper authorities if necessary to report criminal or probable criminal activity, including fraud against us or one of our customers, or to protect the security of our customers and their property, including their intellectual property. You consent to the reasonable exercise of our discretion in such matters.

We do not sell customers’ personal information.

G. Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information indefinitely so that customers can purchase services in the future. This also allows us to provide ongoing services updates and support.

When we dispose of personal information, we do so in a way that prevents a privacy breach, i.e., by securely shredding paper files and completely and permanently deleting electronic records. Any information retained purely for statistical purposes will be rendered anonymous and no longer personal information.

If instructed to do so by a user or customer, we will dispose of personal information. Please contact our PCO at support@originality.ai if you wish to have your personal information deleted from our records. When contacting our PCO, please indicate “Privacy Inquiry” in the subject line.

H. Accuracy of Personal Information

We make commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that personal information is accurate, complete, and up to date.

For that purpose, we may require customers to confirm/update information from time to time. We are not responsible for the inaccuracy or incompleteness of information if a customer fails to update us in a timely manner.

I. Safeguards

We use industry-standard administrative, electronic (HTTPS over TLS encryption), and physical security measures to prevent unauthorized access to your personal information.

J. Data Breaches

While we take commercially reasonable steps to secure personal information, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data storage or transmission can be guaranteed against any interception or other misuse. In particular, any information stored online is vulnerable to interception and misuse by unauthorized parties.

In the event of a data breach that poses a real risk of significant harm to customers, we will take the following steps:

  • Notify customers of the breach if their personal information was or may have been accessed or affected.
  • If known, advise customers of the specific personal information that was or may have been accessed or affected.
  • Advise customers of steps they can take to reduce the risk of harm from the breach, e.g., changing passwords or monitoring accounts.
  • Advise customers when the breach has been addressed and the risk to data has abated.
  • Advise applicable government authorities of the breach if required to do so by law.

K. Your Access to Your Personal Information

You are entitled to know your personal information in our records.

If you would like a copy of your personal information, please contact our PCO at support@originality.ai. When contacting our PCO, please indicate “Privacy Inquiry” in the subject line.

If any of your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, please advise our PCO and we will correct it.

L. Compliance

Originality.AI offers its services to anyone with Internet access offering products or services to which our services relate. Our customers can be found in countries all around the world.

We have made commercially reasonable efforts to create a Privacy Policy that complies with the laws in all jurisdictions and have included special provisions to comply with specific regulatory requirements in California, the countries in the European Economic Area, and the U.K.

If you believe we are not handling your personal information as required by the privacy regulations in your country, please address your concern in the first instance to our PCO at support@originality.ai. When contacting our PCO, please indicate “Privacy Inquiry” in the subject line.

You have the right to have your concern reviewed fairly and impartially by our PCO in the context of the laws and regulations that apply to you, and to be advised of the outcome of the review and any steps taken to address your concern, including any amendments to this Policy or any changes to our practices as they apply to customers in your country.

M. Originality.AI’s Privacy Compliance Officer

Originality.AI has designated an appropriate official as its Privacy Compliance Officer (PCO). The PCO is empowered to ensure compliance with Originality.AI’s confidentiality of personal information obligations.

Contact our Privacy Compliance Officer at support@originality.ai. When contacting our PCO, please indicate “Privacy Inquiry” in the subject line.

N. Other Information We Collect

Each time a user visits our Website or otherwise connects with us electronically, we collect information. This information might be about the user’s preferences or device and is mostly used to make our Website work as users expect it to. The information does not usually personally identify the user (although it might). It does allow for a more personalized web experience.

Examples of the information we collect or may collect include the date and time of a visit or connection, the user’s browser type, the user’s Internet Service Provider and IP address, the site the user visited before or after our Website (“navigation history,” “referring site”), and the pages on our site that were viewed. In isolation, a single piece of such information does not necessarily identify a user but, in some cases, it could be used in combination with other information to identify an individual user, particularly if the user provided us with personal information at the time of their visit or connection.

In addition to using this information to optimize our Website, we use this information for our internal security audit log, usage and trend analysis, system administration, and to gather aggregate demographic information about our user base for market identification and related purposes, including how customers use our services. We share this information, including personal information, with third parties that provide services to us, including analysis, storage, and data aggregation/organization.

Because such information could in some cases be used to identify an individual, we treat it as personal information. This means we only use it for the legitimate purposes of operating our business and advancing our commercially reasonable business objectives, including understanding how customers use our services. We do not use it for any other purpose.

By using our Website or otherwise connecting with us electronically, you acknowledge that you understand that we collect information of the nature described. If you object to our gathering information of this type, do not use our Website or connect with us electronically.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on users’ computers by websites. They are widely used to allow websites to work properly and be more user-friendly, remember user preferences, improve user experience, and to provide website owners with information they use for legitimate business purposes. A description of what cookies are and how they work can be found here.

We use cookies for all of the reasons listed.

Some cookies placed by our Website are from third-party companies that provide us with analytics and other services. The information collected helps us understand how users interact with our Website and, in some cases, how customers use our services so that we can identify new services (or products) to offer and upgrades to existing services that will add value for our customers.

Google

We use the Google Analytics suite of tools. Google (Alphabet Inc.) uses cookies to help us better understand how our Website is being used including the number of users, session statistics (the pages visited, how long users stay on the site), approximate geolocation, and browser and device information.

In particular, we use Google Tag Manager, a Google Analytics tool, to manage tags. Marketing tags are segments of code on a website that track user actions and collect data. Specific actions on a website trigger tags to collect data about the activity and send it to an analytics tool. Different tags serve different functions: Pageview Tags monitor visits to pages on a website; Conversion Tags track, for example, each time a sale is made or a form is filled out.

We use the Google Search Console to obtain search-engine-related data to help us optimize traffic to our Website. Examples of search-engine-relate data include user queries and the number of times our site’s URLs appear in search results (impressions), along with post-click data about site engagement like bounce rates and e-commerce conversion rates.

Google policies require that no data be passed to Google that Google could use or recognize as personal information. More information about Google’s policies is here.

Ad Services

We use Google Ads to highlight our Website when users use Google’s search engine. We do not disclose personal information when we use Google Ads.

We use Meta Ads to advertise on, for example, Facebook and Instagram. We may disclose aggregate, anonymous data about visitors and visits to our Website to Meta but we do not disclose personal information.

We partner with Microsoft Clarity and Microsoft Advertising to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioral metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve and market our products/services. Website usage data is captured using first and third-party cookies and other tracking technologies to determine the popularity of products/services and online activity. Additionally, we use this information for site optimization, fraud/security purposes, and advertising. For more information about how Microsoft collects and uses your data, visit the Microsoft Privacy Statemen

Other Service Providers

In addition to Google, the following companies provide services to us:

  • Active Campaign We use Active Campaign for email marketing.
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS) & Kinsta are our server and Web host. This means that we store your personal information on AWS servers. From AWS’s Privacy Policy: AWS is located in the United States, and our affiliated companies are located throughout the world. Personal information may be stored in or accessed from multiple countries, including the United States. Whenever AWS transfers personal information to other jurisdictions, AWS ensures that the information is transferred in accordance with its Privacy Notice and as permitted by applicable data protection laws.”
  • Mixpanel & Google Analytics for analytics.
  • SendGrid We use SendGrid for email marketing.
  • Stripe Is our payment processor

We provide these service providers with personal information. We acknowledge that we are ultimately responsible for the security of personal information provided to us. We are satisfied that these providers properly protect and lawfully use personal information in their possession. You can read each company’s privacy policy by clicking on their names.

‍Other User-Tracking Technologies

We may use web beacons (sometimes called trackers). Web beacons allow the owner of a website to count the number of users who click on an advertisement for its product or service on a third-party site (in order to assess the value of advertising on that third-party site). Web beacons collect only specific information, such as a cookie number, time and date of visit, and a description of the page on which the web beacon is installed. Personal information is not collected.

It is not possible to opt out of web beacons used on web pages. However, because web beacons are used together with cookies, their use can be limited by deleting cookies or changing your browser’s cookie settings.

Managing Cookies Settings

You can manage your cookies settings to clear or block specific cookies or all cookies. However, if you block all of the cookies that we use, it may affect your user experience or result in our Website becoming unusable. You can access your cookie settings via your browser settings. Please keep in mind that by clearing all cookies, all website preferences will be lost.

O. Affiliate Disclaimer

This website may contain product affiliate links. When you click on an affiliate link placed on our website, we may receive a small commission or other form of compensation at no additional cost to you. Please assume that any links contained on our website may be affiliate links. Our use of affiliate links does not influence the products, services and websites that we share with you. This Disclaimer applies to all of the various means we use to communicate with you, including via this website, email, phone, social media, our products or otherwise.

P. Amendments to this Privacy Policy

We amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. If the Date of Last Amendment is later than the last time you read it, please review this Policy again. Continued use of our website and/or the purchase of services from us constitutes your consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Policy.