Privacy Policy

last updated: 01/04/2020

Introduction

This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes the collection of personal information by The Monica Foster Team/RealtyByMonica LLC (“Company,” “we,” “us”, or “our”) from users (“you”, “your”) when using the services available on this and other websites we operate, and when using our mobile and desktop applications (collectively, the “Service” and “Services”). This Privacy Policy also describes our use and disclosure of such information.

What is the purpose of this Privacy Policy?

This Privacy Policy discloses our personal information gathering and dissemination practices with respect to the Services. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal information and how we will treat it. By visiting and/or using the Services, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Services.

Contacting us

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, you may contact us by email at [email protected] or by mail at:

The Monica Foster Team of eXp Realty
2600 South Shore Blvd #300
League City, TX, 77573
USA

What information do we collect?

This section describes the types of personal information we may collect about you. We use the personal information we collect to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us and to provide you with the Services that you request from us.

Information you provide us directly

Contact and account information. We may collect personal information, such as your name, phone number, address, company, and e-mail address when you request our services, sign up for our mailing lists, or otherwise communicate with us.  Any information provided by you will only be used for communication between you and The Monica Foster Team and selected third party platforms used by the team such as our newsletter, market snapshots, MLS and property info, etc.  Specifically:

– for buyers, your email address may be used to send market, community, and school information concerning the areas you are interested in.  You also may receive emails describing properties that meet your search criteria.

– for sellers, your email address may be used to send market information about properties on the market or that have sold in your neighborhood or to send you a full competitive market analysis (CMA) for your home.

Automatically collected information

URL, IP addresses, Device Information and Frequency of Use. Like many other online service providers, we collect and analyze information about our users’ utilization and navigation of our Services. This information helps us to design our Services to better suit our users’ needs. This information is collected automatically and  may include the URL you came from prior to using the Services, the Internet Protocol address (IP address) of your computer or mobile device, the type, and version of the internet browser you are using, the make, OS model and unique identifier of your computer or mobile device, and your usage patterns associated with the Services.

Collection and processing of sensitive information

The Service does not collect or process ‘sensitive information’, defined as data consisting of racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation. As such, you should not provide any such information as part of any correspondence.

How do we use personal information?

Contact and account information. We use your contact and account information to enable us to provide improved functionality by analyzing analytics.  We use also use this tracking information with no personal identifying information for re-targeting of information from us via the web and facebook.  See online analytics and tailored online marketing below.

Online Inquiries and Correspondence. We use the personal information you provide so we may communicate with you regarding your inquiry and to satisfy other requests. If you provide your phone number, we may use that information to make direct dial calls and to send text messages, from us relating to our services. If you correspond with us via email or by written mail, we may store the information you submit in a manner specific to you, for example in an electronic file indicating you are the sender.

URL, IP addresses, Device Information and Frequency of Use. We use this personal information to better understand how frequently you use the Services, the time you spend actively using the Services, and the pattern of actions you take in using the Services, We also track the URL that you visited before you came to our Services, the URL to which you next go to, information about the browser through which you are accessing the Services, and your Internet Protocol (IP) address. We use this information to administer and improve our Services, help diagnose problems with our Services, and to better understand your use of the Services. Your IP address may also be used to help identify you and to gather broad location and demographic information.

Direct marketing

From time to time, we may contact you with information about our products and services. Most marketing messages we send will be by email. For some marketing messages, we may use personal information we collect about you to help us determine the most relevant marketing information to share with you. In most cases our processing of your personal data for marketing purposes is based on our legitimate interest to provide you information about our current and future services and events.

If you do not want to receive marketing messages from us  you may unsubscribe at any time by following the instructions contained within the email. You may also opt-out from receiving marketing email from us, and any other promotional communications that we may send to you from time to time (e.g., by postal mail) by sending your request to us by email at [email protected] or by writing to us at the address given in the ‘Contacting us’ section of this Privacy Policy.

How do we use online analytics services and tailored online marketing?

In our Services, we use Google Analytics and other third-party web analytics services. These third-party services use the kinds of technology described in the preceding sections to help us analyze how users use the Services, including by noting the URL that users visited before they came to our Services. These service providers will receive or directly collect the information collected by the technology, which they will use to evaluate your use of the Services. As described in the following paragraphs, we also use Google Analytics with the Services for certain purposes related to online marketing. You may wish to install the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on, available at: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout,  to prevent Google Analytics from using your information for analytics.

We also allow other third parties, such as Google Analytics, Facebook and other ad networks and ad servers, to access their own cookies or other tracking technologies on your computer, mobile phone, or other device you use the Services. These tracking technologies enable these third parties to serve our tailored marketing to you while viewing other areas of the Internet, based on anonymous information collected while you are using the Services. We have implemented the following Google Analytics advertising features based on interests and location for the purposes of remarketing: retargeting and enhanced demographic tracking, including affinity audiences, custom affinity audiences, in-market audiences, similar audiences, demographic and location targeting, and demographics and interest reports. The parties that provide these technologies may offer you a way to opt out of targeted marketing as described below. Click the following link for more information on how Google uses data when you use the Site: https://policies.google.com/privacy

You may visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s Consumer Opt-Out Link and/or the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Consumer Opt-Out Link to opt-out of receiving tailored marketing from companies that participate in those programs, and if you are interested in learning about tailored browser marketing and how you can generally control cookies from being put on your computer to deliver tailored marketing (i.e., not just for our Site). You may also visit the Google Ads Settings page to opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising or customize Google Display Network ads. Please also see additional information here about Google Ad Settings for mobile apps. Be aware that you may still receive marketing content that is not tailored to your interests, even if you opt-out of tailored marketing, to the extent marketing technology is integrated into our Site. In addition, we are not responsible for any choices you make using any of the above opt-out links, and we do not control these opt-out methods or their continued availability or accuracy.

You may also receive tailored in-application marketing content when using an application on a mobile device. Each mobile operating system provides its own instructions on how to prevent or opt-out of the delivery of tailored in-application marketing content.

California privacy disclosures

The following California privacy disclosures supplement the information contained in this Privacy Policy and apply solely to individual residents of the State of California (“California Residents” or “consumers” or “you”).

The California Consumer Privacy Act

We are required disclose the information we collect, our uses of that information, and your rights with regard to that information as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”), California Civil Code Sec. 1798.100 et seq.

When you use the Services, we collect personal information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with you or your device.

Personal information does not include information publicly available from government records, de-identified or aggregated consumer information, information relating to our employees, contractors, and other personnel, and information excluded from the CCPA’s scope such as personal information covered by certain sector-specific privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) or California Financial Information Privacy Act (FIPA), and the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994.

The categories of information we collect

Specifically, we have collected the following categories of personal information from you within the last twelve (12) months:

Category Examples Collected?
Category A: Identifiers First and last name, email address, IP address, or similar identifiers. Yes
Category B: Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)) A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver’s license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information. Some personal information included in this category may overlap with other categories. Yes
Category C: Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law Age (40 years or older), race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or childbirth and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, veteran or military status, genetic information (including familial genetic information). No
Category D: Commercial information Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. No
Category E: Biometric information Genetic, physiological, behavioral, and biological characteristics, or activity patterns used to extract a template or other identifier or identifying information, such as fingerprints, faceprints, and voiceprints, iris or retina scans, keystroke, gait, or other physical patterns, and sleep, health, or exercise data. No
Category F: Internet or other similar network activity Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application, or advertisement. Yes
Category G: Geolocation data Physical location or movements. Yes
Category H: Sensory data Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information. No
Category I: Professional or employment-related information Current or past job history or performance evaluations. No
Category J: Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99) Education records directly related to a student maintained by an educational institution or party acting on its behalf, such as grades, transcripts, class lists, student schedules, student identification codes, student financial information, or student disciplinary records. No
Category: K. Inferences drawn from other personal information Profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes. No

We collect the categories of personal information listed above from the following categories of sources:

  • Directly from you, for example when you sign up for the Service.
  • Indirectly from you, for example by observing or analysing your use of the Service via our websites and mobile applications.

Please review the section ‘What information do we collect?’ in this Privacy Policy for more information regarding the specific personal information we collect.

Use of personal information for California Residents
Please review the section ‘How do we use personal information?’ in this Privacy Policy for the ways we may use or disclose the personal information of California Residents.

Sharing personal information for California Residents
We may disclose your personal information to third-parties for business purposes. In the preceding twelve (12) month we have disclosed the following categories of personal information for business purposes:

  • Category A: Identifiers
  • Category B: Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute
  • Category F: Internet or other similar network activity
  • Category G: Geolocation data

Right and choices for California Residents

The CCPA provides California Residents with specific rights regarding their personal information. This section describes your rights and how to exercise them.

Access to your information and data portability rights.  You have the right to request information about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months. You also have the right to receive a copy of your personal information in a portable format to enable you to better understand our use of your personal information and to allow you to transfer your personal information to an alternative service provider of your choice.

Deletion request rights. You have the right to request that we delete your personal information that we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions. We may deny your deletion request if retaining your information is necessary for us or one of our service providers to, for example:

  • Complete a transaction with you
  • Detect security incidents to protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity
  • Debug the Service and to identify and repair errors
  • Exercise free speech or to exercise another right provided by law
  • Use the personal information solely for internal uses that are reasonably aligned with your expectation based on your relationship with us
  • Comply with a legal obligation
  • Make other internal and lawful uses of your personal information that are compatible with the context with which you provided it

Non-discrimination right. You have the right not to be discriminated against when you exercise any of the rights under the CCPA. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:

  • Deny you goods or services
  • Actually charge, or suggest we charge you different prices or rates, or provide different levels of quality for goods and services.

However, please note that if the exercise of these rights limits our ability to process personal information (such as in the case of a deletion request), we may no longer be able to provide you our products and services or engage with you in the same manner.

We may, where permitted by the CCPA, offer certain financial incentives related to the personal information you provide that can result in different prices, rates and quality levels. Such financial incentives will be reasonably related to the value of the personal information that you have provided, and in such cases, we will provide written terms that describes such an incentive programs material aspects.

Exercising access, data portability and deletion rights

To exercise the access and deletion rights described above, you should submit a verifiable consumer request to us using the information in the ‘Contacting us’ section of this Privacy Policy. Only you, or a person registered with the California Secretary of State that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make such requests.

You may only make a verifiable consumer request to exercise your access or data portability rights or your deletion right once free-of-charge within a 12-month period, and such requests must provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably identify you, or identify you as an authorized representative. We will need to verify your identity before processing your request, which may require us to request additional personal information from you or require you to log into your account, if you have one. You must also provide sufficient detail in your request such that we can properly understand, evaluate and respond to it.

In certain circumstances, we may decline a request to exercise the rights described above, particularly where we are unable to verify your identity or locate your information in our systems. If we are unable to comply with all or a portion of your request, we will provide a brief explanation.

We endeavor to respond to verifiable consumer requests within forty-five (45) days of receipt. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and extension period. We will deliver our written responses to these requests either by mail or electronically, at your option. The response may also explain the reason we cannot comply with the request.

Additional California disclosures

California law requires us to let you know how we respond to web browser Do Not Track (DNT) signals. Because there currently isn’t an industry or legal standard for recognizing or honoring DNT signals, we don’t respond to them at this time. We await the result of work by the privacy community and industry to determine when such a response is appropriate and what form it should take.

A California resident who has provided personal information to a business with whom he/she has established a business relationship for personal, family, or household purposes (“California Customer”) is entitled to request information about whether the business has disclosed personal information to any third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes, subject to certain exceptions, as defined in California Civil Code Sec. 1798.83. In general, subject to certain exceptions, if the business has made such a disclosure of personal information, upon receipt of a request by a California Customer, the business is required to provide, free of charge, a list of all third parties to whom personal information was disclosed in the preceding calendar year, as well as a list of the categories of personal information that were disclosed. California Customers may request further information about our compliance with this law using the contact details at the end of this Privacy Policy.

How do we secure your personal information?

We take steps to help protect your data, including your personal information. The steps include protecting this data against accidental loss, unauthorized use, disclosure, and restricting access to personal information by our staff. The Service is hosted by a third-party hosting company that we have determined maintains various security controls and utilizes TLS encryption for all internet communication with the Service. We also require all staff that administer and develop the service follow a series of controls, including strong passwords, the use of anti-virus and anti-malware software, disk encryption and other practices.

You should keep in mind, however, that the Service utilizes software, hardware, and networks, which from time to time require maintenance and experience problems beyond our control. Note that no data transmission over the public internet or encryption method can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information that you provide to us. You transmit information to us at your own risk.

How long do you retain personal information?

Unless otherwise specifically stated elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, we will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

Rights to access

You may correct or update information collected about you by contacting us at the email or mailing address noted below. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to correct or update our records. For our records, we may retain original and updated information for reasons such as technical constraints, dispute resolution, troubleshooting, and agreement enforcement.

You have the right to access personal information about you. We may request a fee to meet our costs in providing you with details of the information we hold about you, as permitted by law. We may decline to process requests that are frivolous, vexatious, jeopardize the privacy of others, are extremely impractical, or not otherwise required by local law.

Links to third-party websites, apps or services?

This Privacy Policy only addresses the use and disclosure of personal information collected from you by us. You should be aware that when you are using the Services, you may also use or be directed to other websites, applications or services of third parties that are beyond our control, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties or the content of their websites, applications or services. We encourage you to read the posted privacy policy whenever interacting with any third party website, application or service.

Updates to this Policy

We may occasionally update this Policy. When we do, we will also revise the “last updated” date at the beginning of the Policy. Your continued use of our Service after such changes will be subject to the then-current policy. If we change this Policy in a manner that is material, we will use reasonable efforts to notify you via the contact methods you have provided of the change prior to applying the change to any personal information that we collected from you prior to the date the change becomes effective. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed about how we collect, use, and disclose personal information.

What is our policy on children users of the Services?

We do not knowingly collect or maintain personal information from persons under 16 years old. Our Services are intended for use by a general audience, and no part of our Services is directed to children under 16. If we learn that personal information of children less than 16 years old has been collected without verifiable parental consent, then we will take the appropriate steps to delete this information. If you are a parent or guardian and discover that your child under the age of 16 has obtained an account on the Services or otherwise provided us with personal information without your consent, then you may alert us at our contact address and request that we delete that child’s personal information from our systems.

When do we share your personal information?

We never sell any information to third parties or give any information to any third party not associated specifically with us and our business.  By submitting any form on this site you are agreeing to these terms.

Thank You.

Monica M. Foster, REALTOR®