The Sporting News Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

The Sporting News (“SN”) is a group of companies which own, operate (either for ourselves or on behalf of third-parties) or represent a number of free-to-use digital sports media properties, which are either websites or mobile applications. In this Privacy Policy (“Policy”), each of the properties is referred to as a “Platform.” When we refer to the “Service,” this means the content and features that we provide on our Platforms.

This Policy explains (i) why we collect information concerning users (each a “user,” “you,” or “your”) of the Platforms; (ii) what type of information we collect; and (iii) how we use that information. This Policy applies to any such information collected via any Platform which displays it (or a link to it).

Any references within this Policy to SN includes, but is not limited to, the following entities:

Sporting News Holdings Limited
Sporting News Enterprises UK Limited
Sporting Media USA Inc.
Sporting News Argentina S.A.
Sporting News Japan GK
Sporting News (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

When a user interacts with any of the Platforms, we may collect certain data about that user. This data falls into 2 broad categories: (i) data about a user themselves, which the user provides us; and (ii) data about the user or the way a user interacts with the Platforms or Services, which is collected by us electronically (collectively, “User Information”).

We collect the following User Information, in accordance with applicable law:

Information that users provide to us, directly or via a third-party registration service for the purpose of registering with us or our group companies;
A user’s entry details for a competition or promotion;
Information users provide to us when users interact with our customer service team;
Information users provide when they participate in our surveys or marketing promotions;
Information from a user’s social media profile to populate their profile on our Platforms, and where the user chooses to register with us using their social media login(s);
Information users provide relating to reviews or ratings, favorite sports tournaments, teams, events or personalities, and/or other subjects of interest to sports fans;
Information about user interactions with our Platforms, and any direct communication the user receives from us (such as emails);
Device IDs or unique identifies, location data, device and software characteristics (such as type and configuration), connection information, statistics on page views, referral URLs, ad data, website and app navigation, IP addresses, and standard web log information;
The language choices made by users in relation to their use of the Service, which may include information relating to their location when using the Service;
The details of any third-party digital property (such as a website) that referred or linked a user to the Platforms, together with information about how a user interacted with any online and email marketing campaigns related to the Service.

We may also collect personal information from a variety of third-party sources. These include social networks (subject to the user’s privacy settings and the privacy policy of the social network), service providers which allow us to verify, enhance or supplement the User Information collected on our Platforms, and business partners to whom we are offering a service.

We use the User Information for 3 main purposes:

To operate and improve the Platforms and to ensure that we can provide the necessary Services;
To optimize the content on the Platforms; and
To send marketing and show advertising to our users.

More specifically, we use the User Information to do one or more of the following things:

Administer our Platforms;
Provide the Service requested by the user;
Improve the browsing experience by personalizing the Service to the user;
Recommend goods, services or promotions which may be of interest to the user or contact users in order to conduct market research (with the consent of the user, where necessary). For these purposes, we create a profile about your interests and preferences which enable us to increase our advertising and communication relevance;
Prevent, detect and investigate potentially prohibited or illegal activities, including fraud, cheating, and money laundering and enforce our Terms;
To notify users about changes to our Service;
Send out email alerts, text message notifications or device notifications in relation to our Service;
Send users prizes won via the Platforms, and supply services purchased via our Platforms;
Send notices and invoices to users, and collect payments from them;
Provide third parties with statistical and other information about our users as required to operate the Platforms or Services;
Deal with inquiries and/or complaints;
Provide our commercial partners with information about users’ use of co-branded services, including historical data use;
Comply with any legal or regulatory requirements and otherwise respond to any relevant regulator or competent authority as required by law;
Understand user trends and patterns; and
Develop aggregate analysis in respect of our users and business intelligence that enables us to operate, protect, make informed decisions and report on the performance of the business.

More specifically, in relation to advertising:

We employ User Information to select and deliver advertising that appears on our Platforms, and to allow third parties (such as ad servers) to do this on our behalf;
We employ User Information to select and deliver advertising to users based on the way the user has interacted with our Platforms, and to share that information with third parties to allow them to do so;
We may pass User Information to service providers, such as Google, to allow them to provide services on our behalf or to partner with us in selecting and serving ads for our advertising partners; and
We may pass User Information to advertisers or third-party publishers to allow us to report on the advertising displayed to our users and how users interacted with it.

Please note that we will not employ User Information to make qualitative judgments about individual users, nor make automated decisions in relation to users which could have a significant legal effect on them, nor will we knowingly engage any third party to do so either.

Much of the User Information that we collect and most of the information that we employ in connection with advertising is obtained via the use of cookies and similar technologies.

Cookies are usually a string of numbers and/or letters that a Platform transfers to a user’s hard drive. Similar technologies include pixel tags and web storage and other technologies, and we refer to all these things as “cookies” in this Policy. The cookies enable the Platforms to “remember” you either for the duration of your visit (session cookies) or for repeat visits (persistent cookies).

To learn more about how we and our partners use tracking technologies, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

We may share User Information with any member of SN where it is necessary for business administration purposes in accordance with applicable law. We may also allow other members of SN to contact users with relevant offers, competition and latest news (where users have consented, if required by applicable law).

We may also share User Information with selected third parties, including:

Business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors in connection with providing Services to our users;
Advertisers and advertising networks that require the data to select and serve relevant adverts to the user;
Analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of the Platforms;
If we decide to sell the business operating the Service or it is integrated with another business, we may disclose User Information to our advertisers and any prospected buyer's advisers as well as to the new owners of the business;
If we are under a duty to disclose or share a user's personal information in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our Terms; and
In order to prevent fraud, cheating and money laundering we may disclose User Information and betting and gaming history to third parties including, but not limited to, any relevant regulator, gaming and sporting bodies, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies or any other body that deals with the investigation of alleged offences.

Where relevant, we will disclose User Information and anonymized information associated with a user’s use of and interaction with the Platforms to the partner on whose behalf we operate the Platform, for the purposes of marketing and advertising and to promote their own products and services.

If you would like us to stop sending you marketing communications, you may use the unsubscribe link in our marketing communications. You can also send us an email at marketingoptout@tsn.com.

If you, or another user of your device, wishes to withdraw your cookies consent, you have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying your browser setting. You may also go to www.allaboutcookies.org or www.youronlinechoices.eu if you are in Europe, or to www.aboutads.info/choices if you are anywhere else for instructions on how to disable cookies.

You may opt-out from Google Analytics by going to tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. In some cases, when you opt-out, a new cookie (Opt-Out-Cookie) is placed on your web browser. This tells the third party provider to cease data collection from your browser and prevents advertisements from being delivered to you.

Affiliate Program Participation
The Website may engage in affiliate marketing, which is done by embedding tracking links into the Website. If you click on a link for affiliate partnership, a cookie will be placed on your browser to track any sales for purposes of commission. When our editorial or commerce teams have manually added affiliate links to our articles, we will include a disclosure within the content.

The affiliate partner may post customized links to track the referrals to their website. This program utilizes cookies to track visits for the purposes of assigning commission on these sales.

Further, SN is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and links to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, we earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

SN is home to editorial and commercial partnership networks. In no case, however, do these partnerships interfere with the independence and integrity of our editorial teams or the content that they create. Content published to SN is approved following our best practice guidelines.

We understand that the security of your User Information is important to you. When handling User Information, security is paramount, and we seek to ensure that User Information is protected through appropriate technical and organizational measures.

We use reasonable administrative, logical and physical controls, including password protection, to safeguard your User Information against loss, theft, unauthorized access, use or modification. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your User Information in accordance with applicable law, we cannot guarantee the security of your User Information.

Information that we collect may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this Policy.

Information which you provide may be transferred to our group companies, commercial partners, suppliers, or agents located outside your country as set out in Section 5 above. We ensure adequate protection of personal data transferred outside of your country as required under applicable laws. You may contact us for a copy of the safeguards which we have put in place to protect your personal data in these circumstances.

In addition, personal information that you submit for publication on the Platforms will be published on the internet and may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use or misuse of such information by others.

Our Platforms are not directly intended for children and should not be used by them unless supervised by a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under the age of 13, and we do not share or sell information about anyone under 13 without affirmative information. If we have learned that we have collected information from a child under age 13, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you are a parent or guardian of a child under 13, and you believe that your child has provided us with information, please contact us.

Questions, comments and requests regarding this Privacy are welcomed and should be addressed to:
The Sporting News
436 E 36th Street
Charlotte, NC 28205
legal@tsn.com

We reserve the right to change the practices described in this Policy at any time by posting an updated Policy. If we modify this Policy, your continued use of the Platforms will amount to your acknowledgment of the modified Policy. Anytime we modify this Policy, we will post a revised version on the Platform and update the “Last Updated” above.

UNITED STATES SUPPLEMENT

Certain U.S. state laws provide residents with specific rights regarding their personal information. This Supplement applies to residents of California, Connecticut, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. The following supplements the Policy above and explains your rights and how to exercise them.

1. Consumer Privacy Rights by State

Depending on your state of residence, you may have some or all of the following rights under state privacy laws:

Right to Know: You may request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information that we collect, use, and disclose;
Right to Delete: You may request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal exceptions;
Right to Access: You may request access to your personal information that we maintain about you;
Right to Correct: You may request correction of inaccurate personal information that we maintain about you;
Right to Opt-Out: You may opt-out of (i) the sale of your personal data; (ii) the sharing of your personal data for targeted advertising; and/or (iii) the profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effect;
Right to limit use of Sensitive Personal Information: This is applicable in certain states (e.g., California) and allows you to limit how we use sensitive personal information.
Right on Data Portability: You may request your personal information in a portable and readily usable format.

2. Grouped States Right Overview

For residents of Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, you have the following rights:

To access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of your personal data;
To opt-out of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, and profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects;
To appeal a denial of your privacy request;

We note that for CO, CT, and OR residents, we will conduct data protection assessments (DPAs) if we engage in high-risk data processing activities.

For residents of Nevada, you have the following rights:

To opt-out of the sale of certain covered personal information. This right is narrower than the rights under other state privacy laws and does not include all personal data or targeted advertising.

3. How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise your rights to delete, access, or correct your personal information/data, please send us an email at datarequests@tsn.com. To prevent fraud and verify your identity, we usually ask you to provide an email address when you submit a request. You may also designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf. Depending on the nature of your request, we may ask that you verify that the request comes from you, such as by requiring a signed written permission from you that authorizes the agent to act on your behalf. A valid power of attorney will constitute signed written permission, but you are not required to obtain a power of attorney to use an authorized agent.

If we deny your request or cannot fulfill it, you may appeal our decision by contacting us via datarequests@tsn.com to ask us to review your request again. Your email should include “Appeal” in the subject line. You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment if you exercise any of the rights explained in this Supplement.

4. California

California residents should review the below California-specific disclosure in accordance with the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).

In the preceding 12 months, we may have collected the following categories of information:

Personal and online identifiers, such as full name, email address, postal address, and account name;
Internet or other electronic network activity information, such as browsing history, search history, and/or interactions with our website;
Geolocation information; and
Inferences (e.g., preferences or interests from activity).

We collect personal information from you and from the following categories of services:

Our affiliates and partners;
Advertising networks;
Data analytics providers;
ID companies;
Data segmentation providers; and
Cloud services.

Children Under 16
We do not “share” or “sell” (as defined under California law) personal information of children we know are under 16 years of age.

Sensitive Personal Information
We do not use or disclose “sensitive personal information” (as defined under California law) such as race, health information, or precise geolocation in any way that would require us to provide an opt-out opportunity under California law.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPLEMENT

This International Supplement provides information for residents of certain countries outside the United States which have data protection laws with specific requirements, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, the United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland, and the European Economic Area (EEA). The following supplements the Policy above and explains your rights and how to exercise them.

1. What is Personal Data

“Personal Data” is information about you (a “Data Subject”), the use of which is governed by applicable data protection laws. It will include any information from which you can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as your name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier, or other information about your identity. Most User Information will constitute Personal Data.

2. Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data

Consent: We process your Personal Data with your consent. For example, when you agree to participate in surveys and other activities or when you give us consent to send you marketing communications (adopting a “double-opt-in” where required) or to deal with your inquiries, as set out in Section 3(d) in the Policy above.
Contractual Necessity: We process your Personal Data when we need to do this in order to fulfill a contract with you. For example, (i) to make available to you content that you requested; (ii) for billing purposes; or (iii) for verifying your information in order to take steps prior to entering into a contract, as set out in Section 3(a), (b), (c), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), and (k) in the Policy above.
Legitimate Interest: We process your Personal Data when it is in our legitimate interests to do so, and when these interests are not overridden by your data protection rights, as set out in Section 3(c), (e), (j), (k), (l), (n), and (o) in the Policy above. For example, we may process your Personal Data in our legitimate interests to ensure that the Platforms and Services are provided efficiently and in a user-friendly and personalised manner taking into account user feedback, data and profiles, unless consent is required for any such processing under applicable law.
Legal Obligation: We will process your Personal Data where we are required to do so by law. For example, where we have to fulfil anti-money laundering requirements or disclose information under a court order, as set out in Section 3(f), (g), (k), and (m) in the Policy above.

3. How Long Do We Keep Data

We keep your data for only as long as required to provide you with the necessary Services and to carry out the processing set forth in this Policy, and in line with its obligations under applicable law. This means that we will not generally keep your personal information for longer than six years following your last interaction with us, and the retention period will often be shorter. For example, we may keep your information for marketing purposes for a period of 3 years following the termination or expiration of our relationship, or your last contact with us.

4. Data Subject Rights by Region

The following rights may be available to Data Subjects depending on their jurisdiction. These rights are defined as follows:

Access: The right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to obtain a copy of that data;
Rectification: The right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data that we hold about you;
Deletion: The right to request deletion of your personal data, subject to certain exceptions;
Restriction: The right to request the limitation of processing your personal data under specific circumstances;
Objection: The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, direct marketing, or profiling; and
Data Portability: The right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another controller.

Users in the EEA, United Kingdom, and Switzerland have the right to:

Access, rectification, and deletion;
Restriction and objection to processing;
Data Portability; and
Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

We note that transfers are protected by Standard Contractual Clauses or adequacy decisions.

Data Protection Officer Contact
In accordance with Article 37 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have designated a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to oversee compliance and serve as a point of contact for privacy-related concerns.
You may contact our DPO at legal@tsn.com.

Users in Canada have the right to:

Access and correct personal information;
Withdraw consent for certain uses; and
File a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC).

We note that we comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Users in Brazil have the right to:

Access, correction, deletion, and anonymization;
Data Portability; and
Revoke consent.

We note that we will inform users on data sharing under the Le Geral de Protecao de Dados (LGPD).

Data Protection Officer Contact
Under the LGPD, you may contact our DPO for questions or concerns about your personal data.
You may contact our DPO at legal@tsn.com.

Users in the Asia-Pacific Region (Australia, Japan, India, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam) have the right to:

Access, correction, deletion, or objection (as provided by local law);
Right to withdraw consent;
Right to be informed of the purposes of processing; and
Restrictions or conditions on international data transfers.

We note that we comply with applicable national privacy laws, including the PDPA, PIPA, DPDP, and APPI.

Data Protection Officer Contact
Under the PDPA and PIPA, you may contact our DPO at legal@tsn.com.

Users in Argentina and Mexico have the right to:

Access, correction, and deletion of your personal information; and
Right to revoke consent.

We note that we comply with local privacy frameworks such as ARCO rights (Mexico) and the Argentine Data Protection Law.

5. International Data Transfers

We may transfer your personal data to the United States or other countries that may not have the same level of data protection laws as your jurisdiction. When we do so, we use approved mechanisms such as Standard Contractual Clauses, adequacy decisions, or other legally approved transfer safeguards.

6. Contact Information

If you are a resident of any of the jurisdictions listed in this Supplement and wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at:

The Sporting News
436 E 36th Street
Charlotte, NC 28205
legal@tsn.com