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Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy –
updated March 2, 2012 2. What does this Privacy Policy apply to?3. What types of information does THQ collect?4. How does THQ use the information it collects?5. What happens if I refuse to provide my personal information to THQ?6. Does THQ use cookies, track IP addresses, or use other passive means to collect information?7. Who is collecting my personal information and is it shared with anyone?8. Which information is visible to the public and how does THQ protect or use it?9. Can I choose how my personal information is used?10. How can I access my personal information?11. What is THQ's policy regarding children under 13?12. What safeguards does THQ use to protect my personal information?13. How do I ask a question or file a complaint? (Contact Information)
THQ Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively "THQ," "we," "us," or "our") respect the privacy rights of our online visitors and are committed to protecting the personal information collected about you. To further this commitment, we have adopted this Online Privacy Policy ("Privacy Policy") to guide how we collect, store, and use the information you provide us online. This Privacy Statement and the certification seal located on this page confirm that THQ is a valid licensee and participating member in the Entertainment Software Rating Board's Privacy Online Program: ESRB Privacy Online. To protect your privacy, we have voluntarily undertaken this privacy initiative and all of our websites have been reviewed and certified by ESRB Privacy Online to meet established online information collection and use practices. As part of this privacy program, we are subject to frequent audits of our sites and other enforcement and accountability mechanisms administered independently by ESRB Privacy Online. Because the website you are currently visiting displays the ESRB Privacy Online certification seal, you can expect to be notified of the following.
If you are a visitor from outside the United States, any information you provide (both personal and non-personal) may be transferred to, stored, and processed within the United States or other countries where THQ maintains facilities or business operations. If you have any questions, complaints, or comments regarding our Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Policy Administrator at the address below. 2. What does this Privacy Policy apply to?The website you are currently visiting is operated by THQ located at Please note that this Privacy Policy applies only to information submitted and collected online through the THQ Properties (as listed above), and does not apply to information that may be collected by THQ offline. In addition, this Privacy Policy does not extend to websites maintained by our international affiliates (e.g., THQ Australia, THQ UK, THQ France, etc.) or other companies or organizations to which we link. If you access the THQ Properties from a third party social network (“Social Site”) (e.g., Facebook, Google +), you may be required to also read and accept the terms of service and the privacy policy of such Social Site. Because we cannot guarantee that the privacy policies of such sites meet the requirements of the ESRB Privacy Online Program, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of the website to which you link before you submit any personal information to that site. Please note that by using the THQ Properties, you signify your assent to THQ's Online Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not use the THQ Properties. This Privacy Policy supplements the privacy policies and terms of any Software License Agreements ("SLAs") provided to you with any THQ product or service. We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy. If we make a material change to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by posting the change on the THQ Properties or in this Privacy Policy and, if necessary, give you additional choices regarding such change. Please check back from time to time to ensure that you are aware of these changes. Your continued use of the THQ Properties will signify your acceptance of these changes. 3. What types of information does THQ collect?In order to give you the best experience on the THQ Properties, THQ may collect information about you. We will only collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us. Typically, we may ask you to submit personal and/or demographic information in connection with any one of the following features or services.
The types and amount of personal information collected for these activities will vary depending on the activity. The requested personal information may include: your name, home address, telephone number, e-mail address and (for those purchasing products online) credit card information including billing and shipping addresses. For some activities, we may ask you to create a username and password and to provide other non-personal information such as your age or date of birth, gender, game and platform preferences (including information about the games and hardware you own), hobbies and interests, Internet Protocol ("IP") address, Steam ID, PlayStation Network ID, Xbox Live Gamertag, game play statistics, game achievements, game scores, game replays, system technical specifications, and other information (also known as "demographic information"). If demographic information is collected for an activity that also requires personal information, we may combine the demographic information with your personal information. Combining data allows us to customize the notices we send you and the services we provide you according to your interests and preferences. Please note, when demographic information, or any other non-personal information, is combined with personal information, we shall treat all of the information, collectively, as personal information. Additionally, Social Sites may provide us access to the personal and non-personal information you have provided to them, including your account ID with those services, your name, email address, telephone number, uploaded pictures, friends and family. Such third party information shall only be used for purposes consistent with those stated in this policy. For more on how we use your information, please read the section on use below. Personal information may be collected through your active provision of it by signing up for THQ services or through other online and mobile activities, such as those described above. The information you allow us to access varies by activity, THQ Property and Social Site, including the privacy settings you establish within the THQ Properties and applicable Social Sites. Non-personal demographic information may be obtained as described above, through the use of passively Technical Methods (as defined in Section 6) or through your active provision of such information to THQ. No matter what method we use to collect information and no matter how we use that information, we will only collect the information deemed reasonably necessary to fulfill your online requests and our legitimate business objectives. THQ has the right to gather non-personal information regarding YOU, your game play activities, game usage, or preferences, THROUGH THE USE OF COOKIES OR OTHER MEANS, without any additional notice to you or affirmative actions taken by you BEYOND USING ANY OF THE THQ PROPERTIES OR PRODUCTS. This non-personal information may include, but shall not be limited to, your IP address, age, gender, general location, THQ game or THQ Property download history, Steam ID, PlayStation Network ID, Games for Windows LIVE ID, Xbox Live ID, game genre preferences, game achievements, game scores, game replays, technical specifications and other demographic information or statistics. Such information may be collected whether or not you register for a THQ Property Account. Such information may also be collected while you are offline and may be transmitted to THQ when you next connect to the Internet, regardless of the location where or device through which that connection is established. THQ reserves the right to compile, save and use such information within the scope of THQ’s business activities, and analyze any and all of the data collected in this manner. The data collected by THQ may be posted on websites accessible to the public; shared with console manufacturers, software developers, and/or marketing partners; or used by THQ for any other lawful purpose. By using the THQ Properties you consent to THQ’s use of the data THQ collects, including the public display of information such as your user ID, your user created content or any other gameplay data. THQ may also use such information for statistical purposes, the public display of user statistics and/or game rankings, to improve your game play experience, to provide you with advertisements or information that might be of interest to you, and any other reasonable purpose, at THQ’s sole discretion.
THQ will not collect personal information unless you voluntarily provide it, whether directly or through your agreement to provide your Social Site profile information as part of registering for a THQ Property, and will not post any information that clearly identifies you (such as your real name or email address) unless you voluntarily provide such information to THQ for public display, such as by entering a contest that will post the names of its winners. Any personal information THQ collects shall only be used for the purposes for which it is collected, such as for play THQ’s online or social games, creating a THQ Property Account, participating in our community forums or chat rooms, purchasing a product through a THQ Property, applying for a beta tester position, providing customer or technical support, participating in contests or promotions, or registering a THQ product online. Personal information may be combined with non-personal information. THQ shall not sell or rent your personal information to third parties without your consent. The failure to disclose requested personal information as part of certain THQ Property Services (such as using a THQ Property online store) may prevent you from using those Services.
If you access our Properties through your mobile phone or other mobile device, we may collect your unique device identifier and phone number, country and other information you choose to provide.
THQ may, with or without notice to you, disclose your Internet Protocol (IP) address(es), personal information, THQ Property communications, and other information about you and your activities either in response to a request by law enforcement, a court order, or other legal mandate; or if THQ believes that doing so may protect your safety or the safety of others. 4. How does THQ use the information it collects?Generally, information that we collect for a particular purpose is used for that purpose only. For example, if you request product support, the email address that you provide will only be used for purposes of diagnosing your specific technical problem and providing an acceptable solution. Information collected from those who register on the THQ Properties is used to provide registrants the benefits associated with such registration (e.g., subscription to newsletter or access to the latest game news and exclusive store promotions). And, of course, any credit card information is solely used to fulfill and process purchase orders. In some instances, however, you may also be given the option to have your information used for an activity or service different from the activity or service that you are requesting (e.g., to have your name entered into a contest when subscribing to our newsletter or vice versa). If you choose to receive these additional services, THQ will use your information to provide them to you. We may use your email address to send you service-related announcements that tell you about updates to our Privacy Policy, new areas or features on our THQ Properties, changes to our online service or technical support policies, and other related changes. We may also use your personal, demographic and third party provided information, both individually and combined together, for our internal marketing and demographic studies, so we can constantly improve the products and services we provide you, to troubleshoot technical problems, to enforce our Terms of Use, to provide you with promotional materials and notice of special events that may be of interest to you, to better tailor our game play experience to you and to better meet your needs. Demographic information may also be used to display user IDs, game user leader boards, game statistics, to identify tournament participants on our websites, or other similar purposes. Please be advised that in some areas of the THQ Properties, you may be able to submit information about yourself in a business capacity. Although we can assure you that any personal information gathered in this context will be used solely for its intended purpose, such information is not subject to this Privacy Policy. These areas typically include an employment section where you can submit your resume online and/or an investors relations section where you can fill out an online form to request financial information about THQ. THQ does not sell, market, trade, or otherwise distribute personally identifiable information to third parties outside of our company. 5. What happens if I refuse to provide my personal information to THQ?If you choose not to submit personal information when requested, you may not be able to participate in certain activities on the THQ Properties and may limit the services we can provide you. For example, if you refuse to share your email address, you may not be able to receive general support or product support. To simply browse the THQ Properties, however, you do not need to give us any personal information. Regardless of whether you register with THQ, certain demographic information (such as user ID, in-game achievements, gameplay statistics or leader boards) collected through the use of the THQ Properties or any THQ products or services may be published by THQ to further the online gameplay experience of users. 6. Does THQ use cookies, track IP addresses, or use other passive means to collect information?The various means described below shall be collectively referred to as “Technical Methods.” Please note that this Privacy Policy only covers the use of Technical Methods by THQ, and does not cover the use of such methods by advertisers and other parties.CookiesWe may use cookies to improve the use and functionality of the THQ Properties. A "cookie" is a small file or record-keeping device that websites often store on a user's computer. Storage of cookies on your system provides an easy and convenient method for us to personalize your experience on the THQ Properties. For example, cookies will remember what you've placed in your shopping cart, tell us that you have visited one of the THQ Properties before, and may contain other information that will make your next visit to the THQ Properties more enjoyable. We may also use cookies to collect information such as which of our games are played, how much time is spent playing our games, or which advertisements or links are clicked. We may combine information contained in cookies with your personal information. You can always disable cookies or set your browser to alert you when cookies are being sent to your computer, although this may affect your ability to shop online, both at THQ and elsewhere. Web BeaconsWe may use web beacons (or clear GIFs) on the THQ Properties or include them in the e-mail messages we send you. Web beacons (also known as "web bugs") are small strings of code that provide a method of delivering a graphic image on a web page or in an email message for the purpose of transferring data. We use web beacons for many purposes, including site traffic reporting, unique visitor counts, advertising and email auditing and reporting, and personalization. Information gathered through web beacons may be linked to your personal information. IP AddressesTHQ may also keep track of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to troubleshoot technical concerns and to maintain website safety and security. An IP address is a number that is used by computers on the network to identify your computer every time you log on to the Internet. We may block certain IP addresses or users if they violate our Terms of Use, and may use IP addresses and game system user IDs to personally identify violators for further action (legal and otherwise) and per our Terms of Use, where necessary. Log FilesTHQ may collect information in the form of logs - files that record website activity and gather statistics about web users' browsing habits. These entries are generated anonymously, and help THQ determine (among other things) user hardware specifications, how many and how often users have visited the THQ Properties, which pages they've visited, and other similar data (a.k.a., navigational data). We also use the log file entries for our internal marketing and demographic studies, so we can constantly improve the online services we provide you. Log files are used internally only, and are not associated with any particular user, computer, or browser, though they may contain your IP address. Authentication THQ may implement security measures from time to time in ensure that participants on the THQ Properties and for services offered via the THQ Properties are individuals rather than web crawlers, bots, or other automated programs. These authentication measures ensure a smooth and safe user experience. 7. Who is collecting my personal information and is it shared with anyone?The information that you disclose on the THQ Properties is collected by THQ or by a vendor on THQ's behalf; and, is used in accordance with the practices set forth above. Vendors (or agents) are entities that provide support for the internal operations of the THQ Properties and who only use the information we share with them (or that they collect on our behalf) for purposes of internal operations and fulfillment (e.g., online product fulfillment, payment processing, hosting services, etc.). Vendors are required to handle such information in accordance terms no less strict than those set forth in this Privacy Policy. From time to time, we may run contests, tournaments, or other events or activities ("Events") on the THQ Properties. Information collected for these Events may include personal information such as your email address and may be collected by or shared with a third party sponsor, co-sponsor, or other reputable third party (e.g., promotional partner, software licensee, or game developer). While we have no control over the third party's use of such information, we use reasonable efforts to always contractually ensure that they agree to protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of any personal information we share with them (or that they collect through the THQ Properties), and that they only use such information for the purposes specifically authorized by you. If you do not want your information to be collected by or shared with a third party, you can choose not to participate in these Events at the time the information is collected. The THQ Properties or their purchase pages may display an "offer wall" that is hosted by an offer wall provider. The offer wall allows third party advertisers to provide certain in-game benefits, such as in-game currency, to users in exchange for interacting with an advertisement or for completing a marketing offer that may include signing up for an account with one of those advertisers. These offers may be displayed to you based on certain technical information, such as your geographic area or anonymous demographic information and are not offers made by THQ. After clicking on one of these advertisements, you will no longer be at a THQ Website and THQ privacy policy shall not apply to any transactions completed on such website. To properly credit user accounts and to prevent fraud, a unique identifier may be shared with the offer wall provider. This identifier is used to ensure proper crediting of your account, prevent fraud or duplicate offers and to resolve any customer service inquiries that may arise. We may disclose personal information in the good faith belief that we are required to do so by law, including but not limited to disclosure to law enforcement or other government officials in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringements, or other activity that is illegal or may expose you or us to legal liability. In addition, in the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy, or other similar event, we will make commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that any organization receiving personal information collected by THQ will adhere to the terms of this Privacy Policy regarding the treatment of your personal information. Except as set forth above and in Section 14 below, we will not disclose your personal information to third parties without your express consent. We may, however, share certain anonymous demographic data in the aggregate with third parties. 8. Which information is visible to the public and how does THQ protect or use it?You should be aware that user profiles and IDs (both in-game and on the THQ Properties), chat room messages, blog postings, message boards and forum comments are made available to be viewed by the public on the THQ Properties. As such, any personally identifiable information or conversations made through such online services can be read, collected, or used by other visitors of the THQ Properties without your consent, and the use of such services is done at your own risk. We are not responsible for the privacy of any personal information you have so chosen to publicly submit. Also, any videos or images you post for public view on one of the THQ Properties may be viewed, collected, copied and/or used by other visitors to the THQ Properties without your consent. We are not responsible for the privacy of any videos or images you choose to submit on the THQ Properties.By submitting any such information, image or video to the public through the THQ Properties you consent to allowing THQ to monitor, record, review, modify, use and/or disclose it without notice to you, per our Terms of Use.Please note that if you access or play THQ Properties through a Social Site, that the information you share with us will depend on your settings on the applicable Social Site. THQ does not control the privacy options available through a Social Site and is not responsible for any information shared by a Social Site with THQ.9. Can I choose how my personal information is used?If you do not want to receive our newsletter, service related announcements, or any other communications and/or services from THQ, please opt-out from these communications or services at the time of registration or information collection. If you have opted-in and, at a later time, wish to opt-out, please visit the appropriate "Profile" section on the THQ Properties or contact us using the information provided below.
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