PRIVACY POLICY

Here At House Operating System (HOS) We Take Your Privacy Seriously

House Operating System (HOS) (“House Operating System", "HOS”, “we”, or “us”) understands that you care about how information about you is collected and used. We only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the products and services you have requested from us. We respect your privacy and we are committed to protecting the personal information that you share with us. This Privacy Policy describes the privacy practices of House Operating System (HOS) with respect to our products, services and websites (including www.houseoperatingsystem.com or other websites, online services, or applications operated or controlled by House Operating System (HOS), collectively the "Sites"). We outline the types of information House Operating System (HOS) collects, how we collect it, how we use it, and the options you have to restrict the collection and use of your personally identifiable information.

By using House Operating System (HOS)'s products, services or Sites you signify your acceptance of House Operating System (HOS)’s collection and use of your personal information in the manner and for the purposes described herein. If you do not agree to some aspect of House Operating System (HOS)’s intended use of your information, you may use one or more of the methods described in this Privacy Policy to opt out of the specific type of collection or use of information. If you feel that these methods are insufficient to alleviate your concerns, please do not use our products, services, or Sites or otherwise provide House Operating System (HOS) with your personal information.

Collection Of Information

House Operating System (HOS) may collect information about you any time you are in contact with House Operating System (HOS), its products, services or Sites. House Operating System (HOS) will not share this personal information with other subsidiaries and affiliates (and vice versa) unless for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Information You Provide

We may ask you to provide personal information when you visit our Sites, use our products, register for a program or service, subscribe to a newsletter, respond to a survey, fill out a form, or in connection with other activities, services, features or resources we make available to you from time to time. We may ask you for: your name, title or position, email address, mailing address, phone number, financial information, and other personal information as appropriate. Additionally, we may request information about the House Operating System (HOS) products you use, or third-party products connected to your House Operating System (HOS), such as model or serial numbers. In the case of a technical issue, we may also collect information relating to a support or service incident. Please note that we do not intentionally collect any sensitive personal information relating to confidential medical facts, racial or ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs or sexuality; please do provide any of this type of information to us.

Information Collected Automatically

To measure and improve the performance of our Sites, we may collect information during your visit to the Sites through our automatic data collection tools, which may include Web beacons, cookies, embedded Web links, pixel tags and other commonly used information-gathering tools. These tools help us track how users are interacting with our Sites, and help us make your visit to our Sites easier and more efficient by providing you with a customized experience and recognizing you when you return. House Operating System (HOS) maintains its own pages on many social networking sites, and we may also collect information from you when you interact with our social networking pages.

Data Retention

We store the information we collect about you for as long as is necessary for the purpose(s) for which we originally collected it. We may retain certain information for legitimate business purposes or as required by law.

Your Choices

You may update, correct, or delete information about you at any time by logging into your account or emailing us at [email protected]. If you wish to delete or deactivate your account, please email us at [email protected], but note that we may retain certain information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes. We may also retain cached or archived copies of information about you for a certain period of time.

Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that if you choose to remove or reject cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of our Services.

You may opt out of receiving promotional emails from House Operating System (HOS) by following the instructions in those emails. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those about your account or updates to our Services.

With your consent, we may send promotional and non-promotional push notifications or alerts to your mobile device. You can deactivate these messages at any time by changing the notification settings on your mobile device.

Use of Cookies and Other Web Tracking Technologies

A "cookie" is a small piece of data stored on a user's device. When you visit the Sites, House Operating System (HOS) may place a "cookie" on your device which allows us to compile information about Sites usage and to recognize you when you visit the Sites again. In addition, we use pixel tags "tiny graphic images " to tell us what parts of our Sites our users have visited or to measure the effectiveness of searches performed on our Sites. This information can be used to enhance the content of the Sites and make your experience more informative. Pixel tags also enable us to send email messages in a format that users can read and tell us whether emails have been opened to help assure that we're only sending messages that are of interest to our users. If you subsequently provide us with your personal information, such as your email address, we will associate our cookies and tags with that information and you will no longer be an anonymous visitor to the Sites.

In some of our email messages we use a "click-through URL" linked to content on the Sites. When a user clicks one of these URLs, they pass through our web server before arriving at the destination web page. We track this click-through data to help us determine interest in particular topics and measure the effectiveness of our communications. If you prefer not to be tracked this way, simply avoid clicking text or graphic links in our email messages.

Like many other companies, we use third party partners to analyze data collected about your browsing behavior when you visit our Sties. Our Sites may include technology from Flurry Analytics, Google Analytics, Quantcast, Elaqua, Hubspot and other similar technologies. These tools provide us with analytical information, reports and analysis about the use of our Sites, and may record the internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your device to the Internet, the type of device and operating system you are using, your general geographic information, as well as events that occur within our Site, such as the page that led you to our Sites, how often you visit pages within our Sites and other data related to the use of our Sites. We may also use these tools to help serve content that is relevant to you. For more information about these services and the related privacy policies and options available to you, please visit the websites of our analytics service providers listed above. If you wish to avoid House Operating System (HOS)’s use of these analytics services on our Sites, you may use any opt-out mechanisms provided by our analytics providers and/or actively manage the settings on your browser or mobile device to delete and disable cookies and other tracking/recording tools.

Do Not Track Features

Some web browsers may let you enable a "do not track" feature that sends signals to the websites you visit, indicating that you do not want your online activities tracked. This is different than blocking or deleting cookies, as browsers with a "do not track" feature enabled may still accept cookies. There is currently no industry standard for how companies should respond to "do not track" signals, although one may develop in the future. We do not respond to "do not track" signals at this time. If we do so in the future, we will update our Privacy Policy and describe to describe our response. More information about "do not track" is available at www.allaboutdnt.org. The only way to completely opt out of the collection of any information through cookies or other tracking technology is to actively manage the settings on your browser or mobile device to delete and disable cookies and other tracking/recording tools.

Information Collected through our Products When you install our systems to help automate your house, we receive information that you or your installer inputs into your configuration project files which may include: the model and serial numbers of the House Operating System (HOS) products installed; the version and type of any software installed; the type of third-party devices you integrate,; the names of the rooms where you have connected devices; your zip code or time zone; and other information about your configuration. Some of our products also allow us to automatically receive data related to the functionality and use of the system, such as the time, frequency and type of use of the various components your system, a history of your device settings including any adjustments you make, data from any sensors built into the House Operating System (HOS) or the products you integrate into the system, the type of media player and media you are using, etc. This project--specific data may be stored along with any account information you provide when you set up an account with House Operating System (HOS) including your email and other contact information. We use this information to help us customize our communications to you, troubleshoot problems with your system or account, and to improve the functionality of our products and help make your life more comfortable and secure. By way of example, depending on how you’ve configured your House Operating System (HOS).

• We may use your zip code to determine the sunrise and sunset in your area in order to adjust thermostats or to open or close blinds at the appropriate times of day.
• If you’ve turned off all the lights in the house and locked the doors but the garage door is still open, we can send you a message asking you if you intended to leave the garage door open, and give you the option to close it remotely.
• We may use usage information from one system to trigger the automatic action of another. For example, when you arm your alarms system, all your doors will automatically lock as well.

WHY WE COLLECT INFORMATION

House Operating System (HOS) may collect and use your information for the following purposes:

• To improve customer service and respond to requests. Information you provide helps us respond to your service requests and support needs more efficiently, and enables us to contact you in response to your requests for product information and support.
• To personalize and customize your home automation experience.
• To share with independent dealers that sell and service House Operating System (HOS) products in your geographical area. We don’t typically sell our products directly to our end users, so it is important that you have access to authorized dealers to be able to purchase our products.
• To improve our products and services.
• To process orders, returns and payments from our independent dealers and distributors.
• To run promotions, contests, surveys or other features.
• To conduct market research about our users, improve our marketing campaigns, content on our Sites, and display personalized ads to you on the internet.
• To contract you by telephone to discuss your account or respond to requests and questions.
• To send you periodic emails. We may use email addresses provided to us to send information and updates pertaining to accounts, purchases, or products. It may also be used to respond to inquiries, questions, and/or other requests. If you decide to opt-in to our mailing list, you will also receive emails that may include company news, newsletters, surveys, updates, related product or service information, and the like.
• For other purposes when we have your consent.

We may also use information in the aggregate to understand how our visitors and customers as a group use the resources provided on our Sites and improve our products. We may also share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information publicly and with our partners. We take steps to keep this non-personal information from being associated with you and we require our partners to do the same.

HOW TO OPT-OUT OF COMMUNICATIONS FROM HOUSE OPERATING SYSTEM (HOS)

At various locations on our Sites or social media pages, you have the option to opt-in to receiving general communications from House Operating System (HOS). If you opt-in, you may change your mind at any time and tell us that you do not wish to receive these general messages by (i) sending an email to [email protected], (ii) by clearly following the "unsubscribe" instructions at the bottom of any email you receive, or (iii) by contacting our privacy department at the address below to unsubscribe from specific mailing lists.

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Your personal information and data files are stored on House Operating System (HOS)’s servers and the servers of companies we hire to provide data storage services to us. House Operating System (HOS) takes precautions including industry standard administrative, technical, and physical measures that are designed to safeguard the personal information collected from visitors and customers against loss, theft, and misuse, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. When you enter personal information on our forms, we encrypt this data using SSL or other technologies. These technologies are designed to protect the confidentiality of your personal information when it's transmitted over the Internet. Notwithstanding all of our efforts, no security controls are 100% effective and House Operating System (HOS) cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will never be able to defeat our security measures or use your personal information for improper purposes. In the event that your personal information under our control is compromised as a result of a breach of security, we will take reasonable steps to investigate the situation and where appropriate, notify those individuals whose information may have been compromised and take other steps in accordance with any applicable laws and regulations.

WHEN WE DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Generally

Your personal information may be shared our subsidiaries and affiliates who are obligated to safeguard it in accordance with this Privacy Policy. There are also times when it may be advantageous for House Operating System (HOS) to make certain personal information about you available to companies with whom House Operating System (HOS) has a strategic relationship or that provide products and services to you on our behalf, including one or more independent dealers of House Operating System (HOS) products serving your geographical area. These companies may use your personal information only to assist us accomplish one or more of the purposes for which we collected the information as set forth herein. For example, these partners may help us process information, extend credit, sell and deliver products to you, fulfill orders, manage and enhance customer data, provide customer service, assess your interest in our products and services, or conduct customer research or satisfaction surveys. Be assured, however, that House Operating System (HOS) does not sell or rent your personal information to other third party marketers or spammers.

In Connection with an Acquisition

House Operating System (HOS) may transfer its database, including personal information contained therein, to a third party who acquires all or substantially all of the assets or stock of House Operating System (HOS) whether by merger, acquisition, reorganization or otherwise. If this occurs, we will request that the purchaser continue to abide by the principles of the Privacy Statement, with respect to any data we’ve collected hereunder.

In Connection with Legal Process or Investigation

House Operating System (HOS) may also disclose your personal information to a third party if required to do so by law or if, in good faith, House Operating System (HOS) believes that such action is necessary to: (i) comply with the law or with legal process; (ii) protect and defend House Operating System (HOS)'s rights and property or prevent fraud; (iii) protect House Operating System (HOS) against abuse, misuse or unauthorized use of House Operating System (HOS)'s products or services; or (iv) protect the personal safety or property of personnel, users or the public.

CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important to House Operating System (HOS). For that reason, and in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, we never collect or maintain information at the Sites from those we actually know are under 13, and no part of the Sites is structured to attract anyone under 13.

THIRD PARTY LINKED WEBSITES

The Site contains links to other websites. Please be aware that House Operating System (HOS) is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites. House Operating System (HOS) encourages you to be aware when you leave the Sites and to read the privacy statements of each website you visit. While House Operating System (HOS) carefully chooses the websites to which it agrees to link, this Privacy Policy applies only to information collected on our Sites, and we are not responsible for the privacy policies, practices or acts or omissions of any third party website.

ACCESSING AND UPDATING YOUR INFORMATION

House Operating System (HOS) takes reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information we process is accurate, complete and current by using the most recent information provided to us. As a visitor or consumer, you are always entitled to access and update your personal information or modify communication preferences by updating your account settings at www.houseoperatingsystem.com or by contacting:

House Operating System (HOS)
Attention: Privacy Request
Email: [email protected]

RESIDENTS OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area, you have certain rights and protections under the law regarding the processing of your personal data.

LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING

If you are a resident of the EEA, when we process your personal data we will only do so in the following situations:

• We have your consent to do so (e.g., sharing your data with others in the House Operating System (HOS) community).
• We need to use your personal data to perform our responsibilities under our contract with you (e.g., processing payments for and providing the House Operating System (HOS) Services you have requested).
• We have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data. For example, we may process your personal data to communicate with you about changes to our Services, and to provide, secure, and improve our Services.

DATA SUBJECT REQUESTS

If you are a resident of the EEA, you have the right to access personal data we hold about you and to ask that your personal data be corrected, erased, or transferred. You may also have the right to object to, or request that we restrict, certain processing. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, you can log into your account and edit your profile. Alternatively, you may contact us at [email protected]

CHANGES

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time, but we will not reduce the level of protection of your personal information collected pursuant to a previous version of this Privacy Policy without your consent. We will post any changes to our Privacy Policy on this page and we encourage you to periodically review our privacy policy for the latest information on our privacy practices. For new users, the changes or updates will become effective upon posting. For existing users, the changes or updates will become effective 15 days after posting.

QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS

If you have any questions or concerns about this policy or your information, please email us at [email protected].

 

Last updated: May 24, 2018