WhitePages.com Privacy Overview

WhitePages.com is one of the internet's largest sources of people information. Our goal is to bring you the most comprehensive, relevant people search experience possible. We believe that privacy is a key component of providing you with a great service. As a result, we created a variety of resources to share our perspectives regarding privacy. We also provide various tools and services that you may find useful in protecting the privacy of your personal information. These resources and information include:

Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy (below) is provided to help you understand how we collect and use the different types of information you may choose to provide to us when using the Offerings (defined below).

Privacy Central. Privacy Central provides detailed information about how you can control the information that may be published about you. It also includes details on how you can request that information be removed from or edited in the Offerings.

Our Privacy Policy

LAST REVISION: July 31, 2008

This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected through websites (“Sites”), products, and services offered by Whitepages.com, Inc. or its subsidiaries (“Offerings”). This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and subject to the terms of the Terms of Service. By using the Offerings, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this policy. This Privacy Policy does not apply to sites, products, or services that are not owned or operated by WhitePages.com, or to information we may receive from other sources such as directory listing information, whether or not it is made available through the Offerings.

If you have any questions about this Policy, please feel free to contact us through the Sites or write to us at Privacy, c/o WhitePages.com Inc., 1301 5th Ave., Suite 1600, Seattle, Washington 98101. We may change or update this policy from time to time. Any changed or revised policy shall be effective immediately after it is posted on this Web page. We will provide notice of any material changes to this policy by posting a notice on the Sites or by some other reasonable means. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, you must discontinue using the Offerings


  1. The Information that you provide for the purpose of publication. Information that you provide for the purpose of publication in connection with the Offerings is referred to as “User-Contributed Information”. You acknowledge that we may use your User-Contributed Information for the purpose of which it was provided, and in accordance with any terms and conditions which apply to such User-Contributed Information. By way of example, if you submit your name, phone number and address to us for purposes of publishing such information, you agree that (i) we can publish such User-Contributed Information and (ii) we can use such User-Contributed Information in accordance with any terms and conditions which you agreed to upon submitting the User-Contributed Information. If you would like to remove User-Contributed Information at a later date, you can request that this information be removed from the Offerings by following the online removal process available on the Sites. Please note that although we may remove User-Contributed Information from the Offerings, it may remain on our servers and systems.
  2. The information that you provide using the Offerings (not for the purpose of display): Information that you provide when using the Offerings which is not provided for publication or display in connection with the Offerings but which identifies you by full name, full postal address, phone number, email address or includes information necessary to process payment for the service, such as a credit card number, expiration date and billing address, is referred to as “Private Information." You may provide Private Information to us in various circumstances including registration based services, user panels and surveys, and communications to us. We will use the Private Information for the purposes for which it was collected and to provide you with the Offerings you have requested. We do not collect any Private Information about you through the Offerings unless you choose to provide it. This means that you can use most functions of the Offerings without providing us any Private Information.
  3. Other types of information we may collect when you use the Offerings.

    Information such as browser type, operating system, searches, Web pages visited, age, gender, locality and other information that is not Private Information is referred to as "General Information." We may collect General Information in the following circumstances:

    • Server log information.. As you browse the Sites, our servers collect information about your visit. Such information may include your browser type, Internet Protocol (IP) address, the date and time of your browsing sessions, which Web pages you viewed, searches and other communications with the Offerings and the IP address of the Web page you visited immediately prior to visiting the Sites.
    • Information collected by cookies, Web beacons and similar technologies. When you use the Sites, we may send your computer a "cookie" to identify your Web browser. A cookie is a small file that our servers send to your computer and which uniquely identifies your browser. We may use cookies to track and compile your browsing habits on the Sites, to keep you logged in to your Account (if applicable), to prevent you from having to enter the same information repeatedly and to help us provide you with targeted advertising. For example, if you provide age, gender and ZIP code information, we may send your computer a cookie to provide custom advertising for your age, gender and locality. We may also use "Web beacons," which are small graphic files that may be included in or attached to an email message or Web page, to track your browsing habits on the Sites and to know whether you have opened an email from us. We use the information we obtain from cookies and Web beacons for purposes such as verifying whether you have an account with us, tracking your visits to the Sites, customizing advertising content and counting the unique visitors to the Sites. Most browsers allow you to disable cookies (i.e., not allow our servers to send cookies to your browser); however, some of the Offerings may not function properly if you disable cookies. Additionally, if you use an Offering that does not involve Web browsing (such as a downloadable application) we may place tracking technology similar to a cookie or Web beacon in the user interface to allow us to collect General Information about you and your usage.
    • GPS information.If you use an Offering on a GPS-enabled mobile device, our servers collect city and state information in order to facilitate the transaction you are requesting (e.g., if you are conducting a person search, the query will automatically populate with the city and state you are located in).

  4. Information other companies and advertisers collect:
    • Sites we do not own or operate. The Offerings may contain or link to features and content on Web sites we do not own or operate. These Web sites may collect information about you, but we do not have control over their collection practices. In particular, please note that even if a third-party Web site indicates that it is "powered by WhitePages.com," that does not mean that we have control over the information collection practices of that Web site (or any Web site other than the Sites). If you are visiting a third-party Web site, please read its privacy policy to understand its policies regarding information collection, usage and disclosure.
    • Advertisers. We may host (or contract with third parties to host) advertising through the Offerings. If you visit a Web site depicted in an advertisement, any information you provide while on such site may be provided to the advertiser. The advertiser's privacy policies and practices may differ from ours, so you should check the advertiser's privacy policy before supplying information on the advertiser's site. Third-party advertisers may also use cookies, Web beacons and similar technologies in connection with the Offerings. These technologies allow the advertiser to recognize a cookie or similar tracking technology when you use the Offerings. The information that these advertisers collect through these technologies is not Private Information.
    • Advertising networks. We may allow third-party advertising companies and networks to serve cookies and similar technologies in connection with the Offerings and to serve ads to you when you visit the Sites or other Web sites. These companies and networks may use General Information about your use of the Offerings in order to provide advertisements about goods and services that they believe may be of interest to you. If you would like more information about these practices and to understand your choices regarding use of this information by these companies, you may visit http://www.networkadvertising.org/optout_nonppii.asp.
    • Site usage. We may use third-party marketing companies to help us measure the effectiveness of our advertising and to analyze how users utilize the Offerings. To do this, we may use cookies, Web beacons and other technologies provided by these companies to collect information. This information helps us learn things like the pages that are most often viewed by our users and the kinds of offers that our user most often select. Although these third-party companies log the information coming from the Offerings on our behalf, we place restrictions on those third parties' use of such information. You may learn how to "opt out" of our ability to analyze such data by visiting http://www.omniture.com/privacy/policy#optout.
  5. How we may use and share information: We use the information we collect through the Offerings for the purpose for which it was provided. We may use all the information described in this policy in combination with other information about you received from cookies and third-parties in order to provide you with a better user experience, develop new offerings, deliver targeted advertising, improve the quality of our existing Offerings, and for internal business purposes.

    We are not in the business of selling or disclosing your Private Information. However, we may disclose your Private Information for the following reasons:

    • Internal business purposes. We may share Private Information with third parties to complete transactions you have requested and to perform services on our behalf. When these third parties perform services on our behalf, they are obligated to keep such information confidential and to only use the information for the purpose it was provided.
    • You authorize it. We may disclose your Private Information if you authorize it. Sometimes, your authorization may be implicit. For example, if you use our "Send Listing to Email" or SMS message service, information you provide which may include your name, email address and phone number, as well as any message content is sent to the recipient.
    • To protect ourselves or others. We disclose Private Information when we believe it is appropriate to comply with the law (e.g., a lawful subpoena, warrant or court order); to enforce or apply this policy, or our other policies or agreements; to initiate, render, bill and collect for amounts owed to us; to protect our or our users' rights, property or safety; to protect our users from fraudulent, abusive or unlawful use of the Offerings; or if we reasonably believe that an emergency situation requires or justifies disclosure of communications or Private Information without delay.
    • Certain business transfers. Information about you, including Private Information, may be disclosed as part of any merger, acquisition, debt financing or sale of company assets, as well as in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy or receivership in which Private Information could be transferred to third parties as one of our business assets.
  6. Opting out of marketing communications: Regardless of how you have registered with us or otherwise set up your Account, you can elect not to receive any marketing messages from us. You may either follow the opt-out instructions provided in the email, sms or other message we send to you, or log in to your Account and de-select the box indicating that you would like to receive those communications. We honor opt-out requests within 10 business days. Please be advised that if you choose not to receive marketing communications, you will continue to receive standard business communications regarding your transactions and Account with us (e.g., registration and purchase confirmation emails, and information about your Account, if applicable).
  7. Security of your Personally Identifiable Information: We use reasonable security measures to protect your Private Information from unauthorized use and disclosure while in our control. We use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to protect highly confidential Private Information, such as credit card information, that is transmitted over the Internet. Despite our best efforts, however, no security measures are perfect, and we cannot guarantee that your information will be secure from unauthorized access, use or disclosure.
  8. Children's privacy: The Offerings are not intended for and may not be used by children under the age of 13. WhitePages.com does not target the Offerings to, or knowingly request, collect, use or share information from, children under the age of 13. As a result of fraud, error or action by others, it is possible that we may receive information given to us or pertaining to children under the age of 13. If we are notified of this, as soon as we verify the information, we will promptly delete the information from our servers. Questions regarding children's privacy should be directed to: Privacy, c/o WhitePages.com, Inc., 1301 5th Avenue, Suite 1600, Seattle, Washington 98101. Email: childrensprivacy@whitepages.com