Welcome to RateMyAgent.com ("RMA"), a website portal by which visitors to ratemyagent.com, and other related websites, social media web pages and software applications operated by RMA (with ratemyagent.com, each related website, and each software application to be known as the "Site") may provide feedback or commentary on individual real estate agents and real estate brokerages listed on the Site. The "Services" offered on the Site include the ability to access materials, content, and services delivered on or through the Site.
This Privacy Policy covers how we collect, use, disclose and store your personal information, and you should read it carefully prior to accessing or using the information and Services available through the Site. By providing us with your personal information for the provision of our Services to you, you agree to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.
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Our commitment to your privacy
RMA provides a Service which allows you to provide feedback or commentary on real estate agents and real estate brokerages listed on the Site, and for real estate agents and brokerages to manage and utilize their online profiles.
RMA takes your privacy seriously. We adhere to all applicable U.S. laws relating to privacy, and the collection, use and disclosure of personal information (together, the "Applicable Law").
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The information we collect
We will only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary for us to provide you with the Services, or which is directly related to our provision of the Services.
The personal information which RMA collects depends on the nature of your relationship with us.
If you are an agent, we collect information such as your name, the name of the brokerage you work for, your contact numbers and address, email address, profile photo, property listing details, images of properties you have sold, your sales history, credit card or direct debit details (if you purchase a subscription from us) and payment details.
If you post a review on the Site, we collect information such as your name, email address, username, password, property address, image of the property, and sale price.
RMA may collect personal information directly from you, from third parties you have authorized to provide us with such information, or whom provide services to us ("Service Providers"), or alternatively through publicly available sources. Where an agent provides us with information about their sellers for testimonial purposes, we will only use that information in the way authorized by the agent (who must have the seller‘s consent).
When you access a Site via a browser or application, our servers may record certain information, including your IP address, web request, GPS locations, session ID‘s of your interaction with a Service, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request, items you click on, pages you view, and the amount of time you spend on particular pages.
Personal information that you post to public areas of the Site or via your profile may become publicly available. For example, information you post in your profile or in agent reviews, public forums, or any other interactive areas of the Site may be made publicly available and can potentially be viewed by anyone. Your posting to such public areas of the Site constitutes consent to share such information publicly, and you should assume that such information will be widely disseminated, including via search engines and other tools to locate information online (e.g., internet archive).
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Anonymity
We will, if practicable, allow you to use a pseudonym or to not identify yourself unless this is impractical or against the Applicable Law).
In some instances, if you do not provide us with certain personal information we may not be able to provide you with our Services. This may have an effect on whether we can begin or continue a relationship with you or allow you to use our Services.
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How we use your information
We will only use your personal information for the provision of our Services to you in the ways set out in this privacy policy or in our standard terms and conditions, for any other purpose which we state at the time of the collection, as permitted by law, or as required to provide the Services.
We may also use your personal information to directly market to you. If we use data about agents or reviewers and how they use our Site to market the Site and Services to the public, we will only use aggregated information on a purely anonymous basis. You can opt out of marketing activities at any time by contacting us at help@ratemyagent.com.
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Cookies and Web beacons
We may also collect information about you and how you interact with our website, by using or storing "cookies" on your computer, phone, tablet or other device. Cookies are small data files that are stored on your computer or device at the request of a website to enable the website to recognize previous visitors and retain information such as user preferences and history. You can delete cookies from your computer or device at any time via your internet browser. However doing so may limit your use of some of the Site‘s features. Also, the Site may include web beacons or pixels, which are electronic files to count users who have visited that page, to track activity over time and across different web sites, to identify certain cookies on the computer or other electronic device accessing that page, or to collect other related information, and this information may be associated with your unique browser, device identifier, or IP address.
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Sharing your information
We will only disclose your personal information in the following circumstances:
- When we have your consent.
- To third parties and Service Providers where necessary for us to provide our Services to you, or where you have expressly asked us to disclose your personal information for the purposes of them or us providing further Services. We use a network of global third party Service Providers in order to ensure that the Services we provide to you are of the best possible standard. Some of our Service Providers, or the services they provide (like cloud-based storage solutions), may be based outside of the country in which you reside. This could include places like Australia, Europe, Asia and the US, and by using the Services you expressly consent to the transfer of your personal information to such locations subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy. In order to protect your information, we take care where possible to work with Service Providers who we consider maintain acceptable standards of data security compliance, and we do our part to meet those standards as they apply to RMA.
- To banks, payment processors or other payment service providers.
- To our affiliates, parent companies, subsidiaries, successors, and assigns, and their respective directors, officers, agents, and employees for the purpose of providing the Services and for our internal business purposes.
- As required or permitted by law.
- Where we consider disclosure is necessary for the protection and wellbeing of a person.
If you opt in to receive marketing email communications from us, these will be sent to you directly by RMA or by third parties on our behalf. We will only send communications to people who have opted to receive them. You can unsubscribe from receiving these communications at any time by contacting us at help@ratemyagent.com. We do not disclose, rent, sell or otherwise make available your personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes without your consent. Data obtained through the short code program will not be shared with any third-parties for their marketing reasons/purposes.
If RMA goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your personal information may be among the assets transferred.
If you use any social networking connection functions offered through the Services, we may access your social network profile information that you have made available to be shared and to use it in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Please refer to the instructions governing your social network account to manage the information that is shared through your account.
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How you may access your information
You may ask us to provide a summary of the personal information we hold about you, subject to certain limitations under Applicable Law. For your protection, we may require you to confirm your identity before access to your personal information is granted. In most cases, we can provide you with a summary of your personal information free of charge. However, in some circumstances, reasonable costs may be charged to you in accessing your personal information, subject always to Applicable Law.
If you have a question or want to make a complaint about how we handle your personal information, please contact us using the details below. We will review your complaint, and will respond to you after we have carefully considered it. We may require further information from you in order to resolve any complaints.
If you no longer wish to receive email communications from us, you can unsubscribe at any time by using the link on the emails we send you, or informing us via help@ratemyagent.com and we will do it for you.
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Links to other websites
The Site may contain links to other websites. Unless the other website is one of our websites, we are not responsible for the privacy practices of the owners of those websites. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of any website that asks you to provide your personal information.
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How we protect your information
We take reasonable precautions to protect the personal information we hold about you from misuse, loss and unauthorized access or disclosure.
WHILE WE TAKE ALL DUE CARE IN ENSURING THE PRIVACY AND SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION, THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS THAT THIS INFORMATION COULD BE UNLAWFULLY INTERCEPTED WHILE IN TRANSIT OVER THE INTERNET OR WHILE STORED ON OUR SYSTEMS OR ON OUR WEBSITE. WE DISCLAIM ALL LIABILITY TO YOU TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW SHOULD THIS OCCUR.
We will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information which is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.
To protect the confidentiality of your personal information, you must keep your password confidential and not disclose it to any other person. You are responsible for all use of the Services by any person using your password. Please advise us immediately by emailing us at help@ratemyagent.com if you believe your password has been misused.
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Contacting us about privacy
It is your responsibility to advise us of any changes to your personal information to ensure that it is up to date, relevant and of an appropriate quality to enable us to provide our Services to you. If you have registered an account via the Site, you can update your personal information via your account‘s profile settings.
If you do not have a registered account, or would like our assistance to update your personal information, please contact us using the details below.
If you cease to use our Services, RMA may retain your personal information to comply with its record keeping obligations under Applicable Law. We will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information which is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.
You may ask us to provide a summary of the personal information we hold about you, subject to certain limitations under Applicable Law. For your protection, we may require you to confirm your identity before access to your personal information is granted. In most cases, we can provide you with a summary of your personal information free of charge. However, in some circumstances, reasonable costs may be charged to you in accessing your personal information, subject always to Applicable Law.
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Request of data deletion
If you have a question or want to make a complaint about how we handle your personal information; or if you want to request that we delete your data, please contact us at help@ratemyagent.com. Your queries, requests and/or complaints will be dealt with as soon as possible by our privacy officer (in most cases within 14 business days).
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Children
The Site and Services are not intended for use by children under the age of 13, and such use is prohibited by our terms and conditions. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us as set forth in this Privacy Policy.
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Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time as required. You should periodically visit this page to review the current Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to any of the terms of the current Privacy Policy, you should stop accessing the Site and Services.
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy the words "RMA", "we", "our" and "us" refer to Ratemyagent.com Pty Ltd (ACN 169 103 299) trading as ratemyagent.com.
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Notices for California Residents
The following notices apply only to residents of California:
Shine the Light Disclosures
Under California Civil Code Section 1798.83 (the “Shine the Light” law), California residents who provide certain Personal Information in connection with obtaining products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain the following from us: (i) a list of the categories of Personal Information (such as name, address, email address, and the type of services provided to the User) that we have disclosed to third parties during the immediately preceding calendar year for the third parties‘ direct marketing purposes, and (b) the names and addresses of all such third parties.
In the previous calendar year, RMA has not disclosed Personal Information to third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes. If that changes in the future, we will notify you and update this section to include instructions on how you may request the above information.
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Disclosures
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) (Cal. Civ. Code §1798.100 et seq.) requires that we inform you of your rights and make certain disclosures to you, including categories of Personal Information we have collected, sold, and disclosed for a business purpose.
Personal Information Collection and Disclosure
The CCPA requires that we disclose to you whether we have collected or disclosed, in the previous twelve (12) month period, the following California-defined categories of Personal Information:
Categories Examples Types of Third Parties to whom we have disclosed Identifiers Name, address, email address, IP address, account username Users; service providers; third-party integrators; affiliates Commercial Information Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies Service providers; third-party integrators; affiliates Internet Information Browsing history, search history, or other information about a consumer’s interaction with our Website or Services Service providers; third-party integrators; affiliates Geolocation Data We do not collect or track your precise geolocation but may infer your location from your IP address or mailing address Service providers; third-party integrators; affiliates Audio/Visual Information Audio, electronic, or visual information Users; Service providers; third-party integrators; affiliates Professional Information Employment-related information and history Users; Service providers; third-party integrators; affiliates Use of Personal Information
We have used the above Personal Information for purposes described in Section 4 of this Policy.
Personal Information Sale
RMA has not sold any Personal Information of any California residents within the past twelve (12) months.
Your Rights
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Right to Know
Pursuant to the CCPA, California residents have the right to request from us, for the preceding twelve (12) month period: (1) the categories of Personal Information and the specific pieces of Personal Information that we have collected about the resident, (2) the categories of sources from whom the Personal Information was collected, (3) our purposes for collecting the Personal Information, (4) the categories of third parties with whom we have disclosed the Personal Information, and (5) the categories of Personal Information that we have sold or disclosed to third parties.
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Right to Delete
You also have the right to request that we delete any Personal Information we have collected from you. Once we verify your request, we will delete any Personal Information from our records, unless retaining your Personal Information is necessary for us to:
- complete the transaction for which we have collected the Personal Information or provide you with the Services;
- detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for that activity;
- identify and repair errors;
- exercise a legal right;
- comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et seq.);
- comply with a legal obligation; or
- fulfill other internal and lawful uses of your Personal Information that are compatible with the context in which you provided your Personal Information.
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Right Opt-Out of Sale
You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your Personal Information. RMA does not currently sell Personal Information. Should that change in the future, this Policy will be updated to describe how you may opt-out of the sale of your Personal Information.
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Right to Non-Discrimination
We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights under this section. Discrimination would include:
- denying you goods or services,
- charging you a different price or rate for goods or services,
- providing you a different level or quality of goods or services, or
- suggesting that we will do any of the foregoing.
Exercising your Rights
To exercise your right to know or delete your Personal Information, send a request to:
Mail: Ratemyagent, Inc. Privacy Officer. 2110 South Coast Highway, Suite L Oceanside, CA 92054
Email: privacy@ratemyagent.com with “CCPA Request” in the subject line.
When you contact us, you will need to provide us with sufficient information to verify you are the person about whom we have collected Personal Information or his/her authorized representative, and a description of what right you want to exercise and the information to which your request relates.
We will confirm receipt of right to know and deletion requests within ten (10) business days of receiving such requests and will provide information as to how we will process such requests. We will respond to verified requests within forty-five (45) days of receipt. Please note that we are only required to respond to each requester twice per twelve (12) month period.
We are not obligated to comply with a request if we cannot verify that the person making the request is the person about whom we collected Personal Information or is someone authorized to act on such person’s behalf. We may collect additional information from you to verify your identity, which will be used exclusively for purposes of verification.
Upon verification, we will provide the requested information to you at your email address within the time period noted above. The information will be provided to you free of charge.
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Right to Know
