Privacy Policy

Last Updated: May 8, 2024

The Entertainment Software Association and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, the “ESA”) respects the privacy rights of our online visitors and recognizes the importance of protecting all information that you may choose to share with us. This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes our policies and practices for handling personal information that we collect through this website and any website that operates under this privacy policy (“Websites”).

What information does this Privacy Policy cover?

This Privacy Policy applies only to personal information collected on the Websites where this Privacy Policy is posted and does not apply to any other information collected by the ESA through any other means. This Privacy Policy applies only to information submitted and collected online and does not apply to information that may be collected by the ESA offline. In addition, this Privacy Policy applies only to Websites maintained by the ESA and not to our international affiliates nor to any websites maintained by other companies or organizations to which we link. The ESA is not responsible for the content or activities provided on those other websites.

What types of personal information do we collect about our guests?

To offer our guests certain features on our Websites, we may collect several types of personal information when you use and interact with our Websites.

Information You Provide to Us
When you visit our Websites, you may provide personal information to us directly. We may collect personal information from our guests to:

Respond to your requests
Report piracy, offer feedback, or make other business inquiries
Sign up to receive newsletters
Receive customer or technical support
Purchase merchandise from our online stores
Participate in contests, sweepstakes, or other promotions
Register for and participate in our conferences or other events

This information may include:

Name
E-mail address
Mailing address or zip code
Telephone number
Photo
Payment information
Other content you provide to us, including your stories and images

Please note that if you donate to our fundraising campaign (“ESA PAC”), the ESA PAC collects the amount of your contribution and your name, occupation, and address (whichever address you provide). This information is then sent to Democracy Engine for processing purposes. Payment information you provide on the ESA PAC website (card number, expiration date, and CVV code) is not stored by the ESA PAC. That information is transmitted directly to Democracy Engine for processing. We encourage you to review Democracy Engine’s privacy policy located at http://www.democracyengine.com/subscriber_privacy_policy.

Children and Minors
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 and minors under the age of 18. We take kids’ privacy seriously, and we encourage parents to play an active role in their children’s online experience at all times. If parents believe that we have unintentionally collected their child’s personal information, they should contact us at privacy@theESA.com to request the deletion of the information.

Information Collected Through Technology
We collect information through technology to make our Websites more interesting and useful to you. For example, when you visit one of our Websites, we collect your IP address. An IP address often is associated with the portal through which you enter the Internet, such as your ISP (Internet service provider), your company, or your university. At times, we use IP addresses to collect information regarding the frequency with which our guests visit various parts of our Websites. We do not combine your IP address with any other personal information.

Cookies
Our Websites also use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies. Cookies are pieces of information that a Website sends to your computer while you are viewing the Website. We and other companies use cookies for a variety of purposes. For example, when you return to one of our Websites after logging in, cookies provide information to the Website so that the Website will remember you. You may be able to choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent or to turn off all cookies. You can do this through your web browser settings. Each browser is a little different, so consult your browser’s help menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies. If you turn off cookies, you will not have access to many features that make your web experience smoother, like the features mentioned above, and some of our services may not function properly.

How is your personal information processed?

We may use the personal information we collect for the purposes set out below:

To provide our services, including to process or fulfill orders and transactions, to provide updates on special events, game news, information about local representatives, advocacy, and promotions, and e-mail announcements of interest to our users, to verify customer information, and to provide you with customer service;
To market and advertise our services, including by processing your personal information for targeted advertising. For example, we may display content or send you messages about events in your area, promotions, or new products that may interest you;
To improve our services, including to undertake internal research for technological development and demonstration and to upgrade or enhance our services;
To help keep the services effective and secure, including to debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing functionality;
To contact you, including to send information to you in response to your requests;
To comply with applicable laws and regulatory obligations;
For any other purpose disclosed to you at the time we collect your information with your consent.

Our legal bases to process information for these purposes include processing that is necessary for our legitimate interests (including those described above and as necessary to provide the Websites and services); to comply with our legal obligations and exercise our legal rights; for performance of the Terms of Use; and where applicable on the basis of consent, which may subsequently be withdrawn at any time by contacting us. We rely on consent for certain use of cookies and certain international transfers of personal information.

How is your personal information shared?

ESA does not sell, share or rent this information to third parties in ways other than those disclosed in this policy. We may disclose the personal information we collect to the following categories of third parties:

Affiliates and related entities. We may disclose personal information to our affiliates and related entities. For example, we may use your mailing address as provided to us by you on our Website for the purpose of compiling and providing users with statistics relative to their congressional district. You may have the option to determine whether your name, city, and state will be displayed in our feed of video game industry advocates. You may also optionally upload a photo to be displayed with your name and generate a support banner that can be shared on your social media profile. We will never share your full mailing address with other users or with third parties outside of the scope of this Privacy Policy.
Service providers & business partners. We occasionally use third parties (such as other companies, agents, or contractors) to perform services to support our operations. For example, we have partnered with other companies to personalize our Websites, analyze users’ interaction with our Websites, operate our online stores, assist with fundraising, send newsletters, and process payments and consumer surveys. In the course of providing such services, these third parties may have contact with your personal information and have agreed to securely store and maintain the personal information received from us.

Some of these third parties may collect information in order to provide interest-based advertising on our Websites and elsewhere. These third parties may use the information they collect on our Websites to make predictions about your interests in order to provide you ads from us and other companies across the Internet.

We may also disclose the personal information we collect under the following circumstances:

In connection with a commercial transfer. From time to time, we may purchase a business or sell one or more of our businesses and your personal information may be transferred as a part of the purchase or sale. If we purchase a business, the personal information received with that business would be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy if it is practicable and permissible to do so. If we sell a business, we will include provisions in the selling contract requiring the purchaser to treat your personal information in the same manner required by this Privacy Policy (including any amendments to this Privacy Policy). The provisions of this paragraph also will apply if we are sold as part of bankruptcy proceedings.
For legal purposes. We may disclose your personal information as necessary to comply with applicable law, including laws outside your country of residence; to respond to subpoenas, court orders, legal process, requests from public and government authorities; and to protect and defend the rights, interests, safety, and security of ESA, our affiliates, users, or the public.

How is your personal information stored and transferred?

As a U.S. association, we store and process information in the U.S., which may not provide the same level of data privacy protection as the European Union/European Economic Area or your home country. You expressly consent to the transfer of your information to the U.S. for processing in accordance with this Privacy Policy. These transfers are essential to the provision of our Websites and services and to the performance of the Terms of Use.

What kinds of security measures do we take to safeguard your personal information?

The security and confidentiality of your information is extremely important to us. We have implemented technical, administrative, and physical security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, improper use, loss, or alteration. We use industry standard practices such as encrypted communications, physically-secured rooms, firewalls, and password-protection systems to safeguard the confidentiality of your personal information. We will notify users of a data breach as required by applicable law. We also strive to limit access to personal information to employees and vendors performing a legitimate business function. We retain information only for as long as is reasonably necessary in accordance with applicable laws. We periodically review our security procedures to consider appropriate new technology and updated methods. However, please understand that despite our best efforts, no security measure is perfect or impenetrable.

Right to Know: You may have the right to know what personal information we have collected about you.
Right to Access & Data Portability: Subject to certain exceptions, you may have the right to request a copy of the personal information we collected about you. We will provide the responsive information in a portable and, to the extent technically feasible, readily useable format that allows you to transmit the information to another entity without hindrance.
Right to Correction and Deletion: You may have the right to request that we correct or delete your personal information in certain circumstances.
Third Party Marketing: Users who provide certain personal information in connection with obtaining products or services for personal, family or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us once a calendar year information about the customer information we shared, if any, with other businesses for their own direct marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of customer information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared customer information for the immediately prior calendar year.
Do Not Track: We do not currently process or comply with any web browser’s “do not track” signal or similar mechanisms.
Opt-out of Newsletters. You may opt-out of receiving our newsletters at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter e-mail or by reaching out to us using our contact information provided later in this Privacy Policy.

To exercise your access, portability, correction, and deletion rights, you may submit a request by calling us at 202-223-2400, emailing us at privacy@theESA.com, or by writing to us at the address set out at the bottom of this Privacy Policy. Once we receive your request, we may verify it by requesting information sufficient to confirm your identity.

How can you ask questions or send us comments about this Privacy Policy?

If you have questions or wish to send us comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

The ESA
Attn.: Privacy Policy Administrator
601 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 300 West
Washington, DC 20001
202-223-2400
privacy@theESA.com

Please be assured that any personal information that you provide in communications to the above e-mail and postal mail addresses will not be used to send you promotional materials unless you request it.

How will you know if we amend this Privacy Policy?

We will update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any material changes to the way we collect, use, or share your personal information, we will notify you by sending you an e-mail at the last e-mail address that you provided us or by prominently posting notice of the changes on the Websites covered by this Privacy Policy. Any material changes to this Privacy Policy will be effective 30 days following our posting of notice of the changes on the Websites covered by this Privacy Policy.

Please note that, at all times, you are responsible for providing us with accurate personal information and updating it to provide us your current e-mail address.