What information we collect

We collect three kinds of information:

  1. Personal information that you directly provide to us, which includes information you supply when you register an account with us and save items to your profile.
  2. Non-personal information that’s automatically gathered as you use TEDxChaterRoad.com, which includes tracking information for our site.
  3. Cookies, to help us understand what areas of the site are most useful and interesting to our audience.

We collect some information to help customize your experience based on your previous activities on TED.com.

Information you provide directly to us

Account information

When you register an account with us, we ask for basic information such as email, name and password, and give you the option to provide other information. If you create an account through another user profile (such as Facebook, or other social media) then they will send us your information from your profile to use in accordance with our privacy policy. At times, you may be asked to provide additional information, such as payment for conference registration. We also collect activities you generate by favoriting, saving or watching talks.


We collect basic information you provide when you create a TED.com account or register for a conference. It’s secure, and we’ll never sell it.

Billing and credit card information

When required for TED Conference registration or other services, we may store your name, address, telephone number and email address. We do not store credit card numbers except for the last 4 digits. This information will only be shared with third parties who perform tasks required to complete the purchase transaction.


We need payment info to complete purchases, but we don’t store sensitive information.

Comments and other public activities

We offer you opportunities to engage in public activities on TED.com. “Public activities” are any actions you take that are designed to be visible to other users — including comments, recommendations and ratings. If you choose to engage in public activities, any personal information you submit there can be read, collected or used by other users of these areas. Your account is public by default. Please refer to the Community Guidelines about how to best take advantage of our interactive spaces.

We are not responsible for personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these forums. Information shared here could be used by others, potentially to send you unsolicited messages. If the information posted publicly is not consistent with our terms of use, your content may be removed. For more information, see the TED.com Terms of Use.


Any personal information you post publicly is visible to all users. Be mindful of what you share, as we are not responsible for what happens with this information.

Non-personal information collected automatically

Tracking information for our site

This type of information relates to how many views are associated with each TED Talk, how many times talks are saved or favorited, and/or other areas of the site that automatically store non-personal information about the sites’ usage, popularity or positive or negative impact. We perform statistical analyses of users of the site, and their viewing and participation patterns, for product development purposes and to generally inform advertisers about the nature of our audience.


We keep track of how often our audience engages with TED and do not share contact information with our advertisers.

Device information

We may collect non-personal information about the computer, mobile device or other device you use to access TED services, such as IP address, geolocation information, unique device identifiers, browser type, browser language and other transactional information.


We use non-personal information to help us understand how our audience views TED.

Information collected with cookies

Tracking usage

We use various technologies, including Google Analytics cookies, to manage TED.com and track use of the content we provide, including:

  • Standard web analytics information
  • Aggregated data about email click-through rates and video viewing
  • Information collected through HTML cookies, Flash cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies
  • Demographics and other details that are provided to TED to help us customize the site based on your preferences

Cookies provide a mechanism for us to understand how you use the site over time so that we can provide you the best user experience according to your expressed preferences. We do not sell this information to any third party, but may provide information to partners that assist us in updating, managing or maintaining our websites.


We use cookies to customize your experience. We do not sell data collected from cookies to any third party, but may provide information to partners to help us update and maintain our website.

Location information

We may collect and use information about your location (such as your country) to provide a tailored, language-specific experience for your region, but we don’t collect any exact data of you or your device. You can change the settings on your computer or mobile device to prevent your location information from being shared with us. In case you wish to opt-out of the tracking and cookies, please feel free to manage your settings on your browser in privacy, or select other ways to opt-out so that the cookies and/or ad features are turned off.


We collect information about your location to provide you with the most localized experience possible, but never collect data from your device.


How we use this information

We use your information for limited purposes and do not sell it to any third parties. Specific uses are defined below.

Providing requested services

We may use the information that we collect to fulfill your requests for services and information. For example, using your contact information to respond to your customer service requests, or to enable registration for one of our conferences.

Communication

We also use the information we collect to send email newsletters, or information about conferences and TED events (if you have opted in for this information). We may also use the information that we collect to send you e-mail communications, such as information about your account or changes to the site.

Enforcement

We may use the information that we collect to prevent illegal activities, to enforce the TED.com Terms of Use, or as otherwise required by law.

Personalization

TED connects Google Analytics client id data with TED user ID data so that we can create a more personalized experience for users, even when not logged in.

When permitted

In addition to the uses identified above, we may use the information that we collect for any other purposes disclosed to you at the time we collect your information or pursuant to your consent.


Steps we take to protect your privacy

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy and ensure the appropriate use of information, we put in place commercially reasonable physical, technical and administrative controls to protect your information. Please note that no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.

Remember, when visiting a third-party site from TED.com, we do not control the privacy policies of other parties, so please check before browsing on those sites to ensure you agree with their terms.

Children under the age of 13

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected any personal information from a child under the age of 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information from our database as quickly as possible. If you believe that we may have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us.

Changes to this privacy policy

This privacy policy may be amended from time to time. When the policy is updated, the date of the last update will appear at the top of the privacy policy. If we make material changes, you will be notified here for a period of 30-60 days based on our last update. As of July 2016, we added information to our privacy policy defining cookies, how we use this data to optimize our website based on your preferences and made a change to our policy update section.

Deactivating your account and managing privacy settings

You can request that your account be deactivated at any time by contacting us. When your account is deactivated, your user profile and all public activities (such as comments) will be hidden. You can also manage who can view your TED.com profile activity in the Privacy tab of your profile’s account settings. To unsubscribe from our newsletters, click on the link at the bottom of a newsletter you have received, or you can manage your subscriptions from your TED.com profile.