Last Revised: April 14, 2023

PRIVACY POLICY

Your privacy is important, so we created this privacy policy to help you understand how we collect, store, use, or disclose your personal information.  Unless stated otherwise, this Privacy Policy applies when we interact with you through our online services, including but not limited to our web sites, application and contact forms, social media accounts, email correspondence, and any other services that we link to this Privacy Policy.

WHO ARE WE?

Our web sites and all pages thereof, including the web site through which you accessed this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Web Sites” or “Sites”, and each a “Web Site” or “Site”) are each operated by Dealer Media Inc. and/or one or more of its affiliates and/or agents (“Dealer Media” or “we” or “We” or “our” or “Our”).  Dealer Media operates a number of Web Sites to advertise, promote, and offer its goods and services to the public.  This Privacy Policy, and the personal information handling practices described herein, apply to all of our Web Sites and the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information by us through all of our Web Sites, including the Web Site through which you accessed this Privacy Policy. Unless stated otherwise, this Privacy Policy applies to all pages of the Site through which you accessed this Privacy Policy, and, unless otherwise stated thereon, to any other Dealer Media Web Site(s) that you access by or through the Web Site.

We may have to change this Privacy Policy to reflect new regulations, new technologies or changes to how we collect, use or disclose your personal information.  We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time at our sole discretion.  The date of the most recent revisions will appear at the top of this page.

BY USING OUR ONLINE SERVICES, YOU CONFIRM THAT YOU HAVE READ AND AGREED TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE OF OUR WEB SITE AVAILABLE AT https://www.drivingwithsteve.com/terms-conditions/, AND ACCEPT AND CONSENT TO THE PRACTICES DESCRIBED IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH YOU ACKNOWLEDGE ARE NECESSARY FOR DEALER MEDIA’S LEGITIMATE BUSINESS INTERESTS.  If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please do not use or access any of our Web Sites, and if you do not agree to any changes to this Privacy Policy that we make in the future, you must end your use of our Web Sites and the services available through our Web Sites.  Any changes will become effective as soon as they are posted to this Privacy Policy and are accessible through the relevant Web Site.  If a Web Site has additional, separate privacy provisions in addition to this Privacy Policy (“Additional Privacy Provisions”), then use of that Web Site is subject to those Additional Privacy Provisions.  If any terms of this Privacy Policy conflict with the Additional Privacy Provisions presented on any particular Dealer Media Web Site, then the Additional Privacy Provisions shall control to the extent of the conflict.

What do you mean by personal information?

Personal information means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with an individual or household.  We do not consider personal information to include information that has been de-identified so that it cannot reasonably identify, relate to, describe, be capable of being associated with, or be linked, directly or indirectly, to a particular consumer.  Your name, e-mail address, and IP address are all examples of data that may be personal information.  “Cookies” may or may not be considered personal information, depending on the law applicable in your jurisdiction and the nature of the cookie.  Please see our Cookie Policy below to review detailed information about our use of cookies and similar technology.

What personal information do you collect about me?

We collect and store personal information directly from you when you interact with us or when you submit personal information to us online by or through our Web Sites, by phone, by email, through our application forms on one or more of our Web Sites, via social media, or when you provide us with personal information through the “Contact” or “Contact Us” form on one or more of our Web Sites.  Categories of personal information that we collect about you when you interact with us online or offline may include the following:

• Identification data you share with us, including name, address, and gender;
• Contact information you share with us, including e-mail address, phone number, and mailing address;
• Where we make available account functionality on a Web Site, information you provide to create an account, including password and username, contact information, and data such as contact preferences;
• If you send us a query by email or via a contact form on one of our Web Sites, we may collect your name, contact details and details of the query, which we will use to respond to you;
• If you send us an application form in connection with our services through one of our Web Sites, we may collect your contact information including your name and address, credit information including your actual or approximate credit score and such information as is necessary to send to generate a credit report, income and salary information, home ownership and payment information, employer name and job title, age and date of birth, financial data, contact details, and other information that you share with us and that is required to allow you to use our services.  If you submit our application form in connection with our services through one of our Web Sites, You authorize Dealer Media, car dealerships, and other person(s) or organization(s), to conduct independent searches in relation to your Personal Information;
• Contact information and address information associated with social media accounts that you provide to us, including web address, profile and related information associated with your social media accounts; and
• Information you submit to us directly via email or other communication methods including, but not limited to, general inquiries, media inquiries, and customer support.

We may also collect your personal information from other sources, such as:

• Our partners and affiliates, and through automatic collection through our Web Sites and emails;
• Our service providers, who may assist us with performing aspects of our services or may handle your personal information on our behalf, as set out in this Privacy Policy;
• Your computer or device, from which we may obtain information about your location; and
• Internet activity and other electronic data, such as your IP address, device ID, and information collected from cookies and similar technology when you open our emails and visit our Web Sites (for more information about cookies, how we use them, and your related choices, please see our Cookie Policy below).

You authorize Dealer Media to sell to one or more person or organization, car dealerships any or all of which may conduct independent searches in relation to your Personal Information.

BY USING ANY ONE OF OUR WEB SITES, YOU CONSENT TO THE APPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY (I.E., THOSE RELATING TO THE APPLICABLE WEB SITE AND THE APPLICABLE SERVICES THAT YOU ACCESS AND USE ON THAT WEB SITE), RELATING TO THE COLLECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH YOU ACKNOWLEDGE IS NECESSARY FOR DEALER MEDIA’S LEGITIMATE BUSINESS INTERESTS.

We may make available a linked ‘Careers’ panel and functionality through one or more of the Web Sites, where you can view career opportunities with Dealer Media and submit an application for an open career opportunity.  These functionalities are provided by a third party service provider, who provides services to Dealer Media.  Our service provider is responsible for the handling of your personal information that you provide to them.  The collection and use of your personal information for employment purposes by Dealer Media’s third party service provider is not subject to this Privacy Policy.  If you use the ‘Careers’ panel and functionality through one of our Web Sites, please review and consider the privacy policy of our service provider, before you provide them with your personal information.

How do you use my personal information?

We use the above categories of personal information to support our typical business activities, and to provide services to our customers, in particular for the following purposes:

• Respond to your requests, for instance, if you contact us by email, by our contact form(s) on our Web Sites, and/or through our application forms on our Web Sites, or when you provide us with personal information through the “Contact” or “Contact Us” form on one or more of our Web Sites;
• Offer you a tailored version of one or more of our Web Sites;
• Manage and administer our Web Sites;
• Improve our products or services;
• Notify you about changes to our legal terms or business practices, or the terms of this Privacy Policy;
• Get in touch with you after you submit an inquiry to us;
• If you send us an application form in connection with our services through one of our Web Sites (an “Application”), we may use your applicable personal information to:

• obtain any and all credit information concerning your Application from any sources which Dealer Media deems appropriate;
• obtain consumer credit reports from one or more credit reporting agencies in connection with the administration of your Application;
• communicate with you in-person, by telephone, mail, email, text or any social media platforms;
• provide reports to you on the status of your Application, including information concerning whether you pre-qualify for a loan or not, which lender’s loan offer (if any) you choose to accept, or whether your Application for credit is denied; and

• • sell or otherwise disclose information concerning your Application, including your personal information, to one or more persons or organizations, affiliates, credit reporting agencies, or wholesale lead providers, any or all of whom may conduct independent searches using the information disclosed in your Application for the purpose of processing and facilitating your Application,
• Correspond with third parties to obtain or estimate your credit score or credit reports, process your application and your request for our services to determine what vehicle(s) or other product(s) may be suitable for you, and to refer and send your personal information to others including wholesale lead providers or motor vehicle dealerships who may be able to assist you in financing and purchasing a vehicle;
• Where we make available account functionality on a Web Site, setting up, administering, and managing your account, and your preferences on our Web Site(s);
• Display advertisements related to products and services that we think may interest you, on one or more of our Web Sites, in e-mail communications you consent to receive, and/or on social media platforms;
• Personalizing the version of the Web Site displayed to you, and displaying where our products or services may be obtained from locations near you;
• Review and use your personal information for compliance with our legal obligations, for the security of us and our employees and customers, and to protect against fraud; and
• Use and disclose your contact and personal information to our affiliates and advertising partners, for use in cross-promotional advertising and lookalike ad targeting (including to develop advertising profiles and look-alike audience profiles).

How can I opt-out of receiving marketing e-mails?

We may communicate with you through e-mail for marketing and promotional purposes.  When you receive such communications from Dealer Media, you can always unsubscribe using the link in the e-mail.  Alternatively, you can reach out directly to us and we will help you out: [email protected].

How do you protect my personal information?

We strive to implement reasonable measures to protect your personal information against accidental or unlawful destruction, accidental loss or alteration, unauthorized disclosure or access, and any other unauthorized access or use.  We aim to ensure that the level of security and the measures adopted to protect your personal information are appropriate for the risks presented by the nature and use of your personal information.  However, we cannot guarantee that your personal information will be secure from theft, loss, alteration, misuse, or unauthorized access, nor do we make any representation as to the reasonableness, efficacy, or appropriateness of the measures we use to safeguard such information.  We are not responsible for any attempt made by a third party to circumvent our privacy and security protocols. Please immediately contact [email protected] in the event that you feel the security of your personal information has been compromised.

Who will access my personal information in your organization?

We only allow our employees and agents and affiliates, where applicable, to use your personal information on a need-to-know basis.  Our employees and agents handling personal information are subject to confidentiality agreements.

Do you share my personal information with third parties?

You authorize Dealer Media and/or our agents and affiliates to provide reports on the status of your application, including information concerning whether you pre-qualify for a loan or not, which lender’s loan offer (if any) you choose to accept, whether your application for credit is denied, and whether you accept a loan from that lender, and/or otherwise disclose your personal information and sell a summary of your personal information as a “lead” to third parties such as wholesale lead providers or motor vehicle dealerships who may be able to assist you in financing and purchasing a vehicle.

We may share the categories of personal information described above with service providers that we partner with to assist us in various functions, including providing technological support and performing security and anti-fraud services, providing you with our services where applicable, and providing you with communications and marketing information on our behalf.  

These service providers can be classified in the following categories:

• Credit partners, who process your credit information to conduct credit checks and provider one or more reports on your creditworthiness;
• Marketing partners, which we may use to display advertisements, to send you promotional communications, and for the purposes of cross-promotional advertising among and between different entities within the Dealer Media Group of Companies, and lookalike ad targeting (including developing advertising profiles and look-alike audience profiles);
• Recruitment service providers, who will hold information provided to the third party web site and ‘Careers’ functionality;
• IT service providers, such as our web and data hosting providers; and
• Other service providers, who we may engage to provide services to us or on our behalf.

These service providers may process your personal information as part of the services they offer to us.  We take steps to ensure that our service providers process your personal information in accordance with applicable privacy laws and regulations, only use it in accordance with our contract with them, and keep it secure.  If you would like more information about our service providers, including the identities of those service providers, please contact us by e-mail at [email protected].

We may have to share your personal information if necessary, in our judgment, to comply with laws or regulations or in response to a subpoena, warrant, or legal order, or to protect our rights or the rights of others.  

We reserve the right to transfer your personal information to a successor entity (or potential buyer) if we sell or transfer our business operation.  We reserve the same right in case of merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, reorganization or sale of assets.  In addition, in the event we become the subject of an insolvency proceeding, whether voluntary or involuntary, we or our liquidator, administrator, receiver, or administrative receiver may sell, license or otherwise dispose of such information in a transaction approved by the court.

Our Web Sites may contain links to other sites on the Internet that are owned and operated by third parties, including social media (the “External Sites”).  Even if the third party is affiliated with Dealer Media, Dealer Media has no control over these External Sites, all of which have separate privacy policies, data collection practices and terms and conditions independent of Dealer Media.  If you click on these links, you are leaving our Web Site and the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information will be subject to these third parties’ privacy practices, terms of use, and other contractual documentation listed on such External Sites. Dealer Media has no responsibility or liability for these independent policies or actions and is not responsible for the privacy practices, the terms and conditions or the content of such External Sites.

Where will my personal information be stored?

We may store your personal information in any jurisdiction where we operate, including in Canada or the United States.  When we share your personal information with our trusted partners, they may store some of your personal information in their databases in Canada, the United States, or elsewhere in the world. If you are accessing one or more of our Web Sites from jurisdictions outside Canada, please be advised that by transmitting or sending personal information to us, you are transferring your personal information to us in Canada and/or the United States, as applicable, where data protection and privacy laws may be less stringent than the laws of your country.

BY USING ANY ONE OF OUR WEB SITES, YOU CONSENT TO THE APPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY (I.E., THOSE RELATING TO THE APPLICABLE WEB SITE AND THE APPLICABLE SERVICES THAT YOU ACCESS AND USE ON THAT WEB SITE), RELATING TO THE TRANSFER, STORAGE, AND USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH YOU ACKNOWLEDGE ARE NECESSARY FOR DEALER MEDIA’S LEGITIMATE BUSINESS INTERESTS.

How long do you keep my personal information?

We will retain your information for as long as needed to provide you with our services, which may include our services through the applicable Web Site, for our valid business purposes, and as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, defend our legal rights, and enforce our agreements.  You can request that we delete personal information about you in our possession.  If you would like us to delete some or all of your personal information, or delete your account (if applicable), you can reach us directly at [email protected].  For questions regarding your account (if applicable) on a particular Web Site, you can also contact us through the applicable contact information made available on the ‘Contact’ page on each of our Web Sites.

What are my rights regarding my personal information?

Different laws allow you to exercise rights relating to your personal information in our possession.  Depending on where you are located, these rights can vary. Your rights usually include the right to:

• access copies of the personal information that we collect, use and disclose about you, as long as such data remain available in our databases; and
• ask for the deletion of your personal information in certain circumstances provided by applicable law.

Depending on where you are located and subject to applicable law, you may have additional rights with respect to your personal information in our possession, including:

• “Right to rectification” – the right to ask for the rectification of your personal information in case it is incorrect, incomplete, invalid or ambiguous;
• “Right to be forgotten” – the right to request that we erase your personal information in certain circumstances provided by applicable law;
• “Data portability” – the right to request that we send to another company, where technically feasible, your personal information; and
• The right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances; for example, if you contest the accuracy of the personal information while we are verifying the accuracy thereof; and
• The right to object to processing of your personal information where it is processed on the grounds of legitimate business interests.

If you have any questions about your rights or if you want to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected].  We will take reasonable steps to enable you to access your personal information, or to update or correct personal information in our possession that you have previously submitted.

If you request a transcription, reproduction, or transmission of your personal information, we may have to charge a reasonable fee to process your request, subject to applicable laws.  In this case, we will contact you about these charges before addressing your request.

Additionally, in some cases, your ability to access or control your personal information will be limited, as required or permitted under the applicable laws.  If your request is denied, we will notify you in writing, with the reasons for our refusal and information on how to appeal our decision.

Nevada Residents

Nevada residents have the right to submit a verified request directing us not to sell your Personal Information.  To submit such a request, please email us at [email protected].

How do we protect children’s privacy online?

Our Web Sites are restricted and limited only to users that are above the legal age in their jurisdiction and we do not knowingly collect or store personal information from children.  However, if we learn that we have collected personal information from a child without parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible.  If you believe that we have personal information from or about a child, please notify us at [email protected].

 

How can I reach you if I have more questions, concerns, or any inquiries?

Dealer Media welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy Policy. If you would like more information on this Privacy Policy or Dealer Media’s organizational privacy policies, or if you believe that Dealer Media has not adhered to the terms of this Privacy Policy, you can always reach out to us by e-mail at [email protected], and our privacy officer will get back to you as soon as possible.

 

Cookie Policy

 

What are Cookies?

Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers or small data text files that are sent from a server during a browsing session.  A cookie is a small piece of information that is placed on your computer when you visit certain web sites.  When we refer to “cookies” we include other technologies with similar purposes, such as tags, pixels, and identifiers.  Find out more about the use of cookies on http://www.cookiecentral.com.

Why do we use cookies?

Dealer Media uses cookies to help us to improve your experience of the Web Sites and to ensure that our Web Sites perform as you expect them to perform.  Cookies can improve your experience of using a web site, for example, by remembering your preference settings and tracking your use of a web site so that it can be improved to meet your needs.  You can set your cookie preferences when you arrive at each of our Web Sites, and modify your cookie preferences at any time by modifying the applicable settings on your browser applicable to our Web Site.

Dealer Media uses cookies for the following purposes:

• To improve your experience when navigating our Web Sites;
• To remember some of your preferences, or save some of your credentials for your next visit to our Web Sites;
• To perform analytics and understand the pages and advertisements that you like, how you ended up on our Web Site or Web Sites and from what type of devices;
• To provide functionalities and features of our Web Sites;
• To provide information as to where and how visitors to our Web Sites navigated to our Web Sites (i.e., whether or not you accessed our Web Site or Web Sites via an advertisement, and to identify the web site that you visited before our Web Site or Web Sites); and
• If you subscribe to our mailing list or newsletter, we can use cookies to know if you opened your e-mail and if so, from what device.  If you click on an offer that we sent you by e-mail, you will be redirected to the applicable Web Site for the relevant product or service, and we will know that you visited our applicable Web Site through this communication.  This will help us understand which promotions work better than others for you, and will enable us to send you more personalized offers.

What type of Cookies do we use?

When you browse our Web Sites, different types of cookies are set on your device’s storage space. Cookies can be installed by us or can be installed by third parties.

• First Party Cookies – First party cookies are those that are issued by our Web Site domains, and they can only be set or retrieved by us.  They are used for purposes specific to us, such as to personalize our Web Sites.
• Third Party Cookies – Third party cookies are usually placed on a web site via scripts or tags added to a web page.  Sometimes, these scripts will also bring additional functionality to our Web Sites.

We use different categories of cookies, including:

• Strictly Necessary – These cookies are essential to enable you to navigate our Web Sites and use the features of our Web Sites.
• Performance Cookies – Performance cookies collect information about how visitors use a web site, such as the pages that visitors go most often, and whether they get an error messages from our web pages.  These cookies don’t collect information that allows us to specifically identify you; they only provide aggregated information about our visitors. Most performance cookies are persistent.  For example, on many of our Web Sites, we use a cookie called _ga, which allows Google Analytics to generate aggregated statistical data on how a visitor uses our Web Site.  To learn more about Google Analytics privacy practices and opt-out mechanisms, please visit the Google Analytics Security and Privacy Principles page at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en. Google also provides a complete privacy policy and instructions on opting-out of Google Analytics at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
• Functionality Cookies – These cookies are used to allow specific functionalities that are useful to you.  
• Third Party and Personalization Cookies – These cookies are used to deliver advertising that is relevant to you and your interests. For example, these cookies can remember that you visited a web site and share this information with third parties for ad personalization purposes.

How long do cookies stay installed on my device?

We use both session cookies and persistent cookies as described below:

• Session cookies – Those are files set temporarily on your device and deleted once you close your browser.  They are not stored nor transmitted to third parties.  We use this type of cookie to ensure you have a user-friendly experience.  As an example, we may use a cookie to store a session ID, which allows us to preserve users’ states across page requests.  Most of our cookies are session cookies.
• Persistent cookies – Those remain active on your device for some time, which may vary from a few days to two years after your visit on our applicable Web Site.  As an example, we may use a cookie to save your language preference on our applicable Web Site.

Can third parties have access to my cookies?

We use Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting to conduct some analytics on performance of our Web Sites.  However, we cannot and do not use these cookies or the information tracked by these cookies to track you individually.  This service gives us an idea of the overall traffic on our different pages, to help us optimize the Web Sites for visitors.

Our Web Sites also use Mouseflow, a website analytics tool that provides session replay, heatmaps, funnels, form analytics, feedback campaigns, and similar features/functionality. Mouseflow may record your clicks, mouse movements, scrolling, form fills (keystrokes) in non-excluded fields, pages visited and content, time on site, browser, operating system, device type (desktop/tablet/phone), screen resolution, visitor type (first time/returning), referrer, anonymized IP address, location (city/country), language, and similar meta data. Mouseflow does not collect any information on pages where it is not installed, nor does it track or collect information outside your web browser. If you would like to opt-out, you can do so at https://mouseflow.com/opt-out. If you would like to obtain a copy of your data that is handled by Mouseflow, make a correction, or have it erased, please contact Mouseflow at [email protected]

Dealer Media may use interest-based advertising services (sometimes called “remarketing” or “retargeting”) provided by third party vendors (such as Google and Facebook) to display unique offers on third party websites and social media sites visited by users of the Dealer Media Web Site. You may always opt-out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. You can also opt out of a remarketing vendor’s use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative’s consumer opt-out page.

Advertising vendors (such as Google and Facebook) use cookies, pixels or tokens – unique identifiers of a web browser on a specific computer that are installed on the computer when it accesses Dealer Media website – to display ads based on the computer’s past access to Dealer Media Web Sites.

How can I manage my cookie preferences?

Browsers and devices have tools that allow you to control cookies; you can block them, ensure that you are notified when you are subject to cookies and control the cookies already stored on your device.  Adjustments to your cookie preferences can be made in your browser settings.  However, if you block all the cookies used by one or more of our Web Sites, you may not be able to access all functionalities of the applicable Web Site.

If you want to opt-out from Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting, you can do so by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on made available by Google.