Last Updated Date: November 23, 2010
Introduction
This Privacy Policy applies to information that visitors transmit to iShares through the iShares website, accessible at http://ishares.com (the “Site”), and through the iShares blog website, accessible at www.keepevolving.com and http://isharesblog.com(collectively, the “Blog Site”).
iShares is committed to your privacy. This Privacy Policy is designed to inform you of what information we collect from you on the Site and the Blog Site and how we and our affiliates handle that information.
To put it simply: We will not sell to a third party any non-public, personally identifiable information that we collect about you on the Site or the Blog Sites. We will give you the ability to opt out of our use of the information to send you separate online marketing and advertising.
Please direct any questions to isharesetfs@blackrock.com or call 1-800-iShares.
U.S. Only
This Privacy Policy explains the Site’s and Blog Site’s processing and storage practices in the United States for personal information transmitted through the Site and the Blog Site. Visitors subject to the jurisdiction of other countries must not submit information through the Site or the Blog Site and by doing so waive any and all liability iShares or BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. and its affiliates (“BlackRock”) may have to them in connection with such information. By browsing the Site and the Blog Site and communicating electronically with us, Site and Blog Site visitors acknowledge that we are processing and storing their personal information in the United States under U.S. privacy standards.
What We Collect and When
Personally Identifiable Information
When you register with the Site, we collect your name, company address, email address, telephone number and additional contact information. We also ask whether you are an individual or a financial professional and for related information. We collect a website username and password.
When you send email through the Site, we collect your screen name and email address, as well as any additional information you include in the message.
When you are navigating the Site and the Blog Site, we record your IP address.
When you post a comment on the Blog Site, we collect your name and email address, as well as the content of your comment.
When you request to receive updates of new posts on the Blog Site, we collect your email address.
We consider each of the above pieces of information to be “Personally Identifiable Information” because it is individually identifiable information about you.
Other Information Associable with You
When you answer our online surveys we collect your responses.
When you are navigating the Site and Blog Site we log certain information to help manage and improve the Site, Blog Site, services, and marketing, in general and for you in particular. For example, we identify items such as domains, pages viewed, ads clicked on and browser types to understand how our Site and Blog Site are used and to report these statistics in the aggregate to the vendors that manage the technology of our websites. We also record any information you enter, such as search terms, and input to the tools such as hypothetical portfolio information.
Cookies, etc.
Like many websites, the Site and Blog Site use “cookies” to collect information. A cookie is a small data file that we transfer to your computer’s hard disk for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies for two purposes. First, the Site utilizes persistent cookies to save your login information for future logins to the Site. Second, the Site and Blog Site utilize session ID cookies to enable certain features of the Site and Blog Site, to better understand how you interact with the Site and Blog Site and to monitor aggregate usage by visitors to the Site and Blog Site and web traffic routing on the Site and Blog Site. Unlike persistent cookies, session cookies are deleted from your computer when you log off from the Site or Blog Site and then close your browser. You can instruct your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. If you do not accept cookies, however, you may not be able to use all portions of the Site or Blog Site. The Site and Blog Site also utilize “web beacons,” “pixel tags,” “clear GIFs” or similar means (individually or collectively “Web Beacons”). A Web Beacon is an electronic image, often a single pixel, embedded on web pages. Web Beacons are ordinarily not visible to users. Web Beacons enable iShares to count the number of users who have visited certain pages of the Site and Blog Site, to deliver branded services and to generate statistics about how our Site and Blog Site are used. Although iShares contracts with third parties to manage the use of these technologies, the information is used only to help manage iShares’ marketing materials and websites. Our contracts with third parties require that they keep your information confidential and prohibit them from using it for any other purpose.
How We Use Your Personally Identifiable Information
We use your personally identifiable information (and at times other information we collect) to: (i) authenticate your visits; send you our newsletter and product fact sheets; (ii) send you updates to the Blog Site; (iii) enable you to participate in conferences or events; (iv) post your comments to the Blog Site; (v) enable us to respond to email inquiries and questions to our call center; and (vi) help us better market and provide our and our affiliates’ products and services. We also use the information to manage and improve the content of the Site and Blog Site content and to notify you about changes or improvements to our Site or Blog Site.
Unless you have opted out of receiving marketing information on the Site, we may use any non-public, personally identifiable information that we collect about you from your use of the Site to customize and deliver that information to you.
We also combine personally identifiable information collected from the Site with data from third parties in order to better market our products and services and serve your needs.
We use the search terms you enter to help us refine our search functionality and to improve how we appear on external search engines such as Google and Yahoo!.
Limited Disclosure of Your Personal Information to Third Parties
We do share non-public, personally identifiable information with entities with which we are related, including but not limited to BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. We disclose non-public, personally identifiable information to unaffiliated third parties only as follows.
- To advertising and marketing agencies to help sell and market our own products and services.
- To technology and other service providers (such as those that provide portfolio tools) to provide technology and services to us.
- To vendors that help us fulfill requests to deliver product information, publications, or reference materials or that facilitate use of third party tools provided by or through our Site or Blog Site.
The above unaffiliated third parties are all contractually obligated to keep the information confidential and not to use the information for any purpose other than providing services to us and to you under our direction.
We also disclose such information as permitted or required by law or as required by subpoena, search warrant or other legal process.
As our business evolves, we may sell, transfer, or otherwise share some or all of our assets, including information provided by you, in connection with a merger, reorganization, or sale of some or all of our assets, or in the event of bankruptcy. In any such event, personally identifiable and other information may be one of the assets transferred.
Choice
Choosing NOT to disclose personal information
You are not required to register to gain access to many areas of the Site and Blog Site. In order to use all of the Site’s services, however, we require registration for a username and password for authentication and for secure access to personalized Site information or services. In order to post a comment on the Blog Site, we require you to provide your name and email address.
Opting out
You can opt out of our use of non-public, personally identifiable information that we collect on the Site or Blog Site to send you separate online marketing and advertising materials by updating your Profile on the Site (see below), by contacting us at the below phone number or email, or by clicking on an “unsubscribe” link in our marketing emails.
Reviewing your information and requesting changes to your Profile
You should identify and correct any inaccuracies in the information you submit via the Site. To update information previously submitted, please sign in and click on the “My Profile” link located at the top of every web page of the Site. Please direct inquiries about the accuracy of information previously submitted through the Site, or requests to update information, to: isharesetfs@blackrock.com or call 1-800-iShares. iShares will not be responsible for outdated information or for verifying personal information.
More on Privacy
Children’s online privacy protection
iShares understands the importance of protecting children’s privacy, especially in an online environment. The Site and Blog Site are not designed for or directed at children. It is our policy not to knowingly collect or maintain information about anyone under the age of 13.
Links to third party sites
The Site and Blog Site contain links to third party websites. We assume no responsibility for the information practices of those websites. We encourage visitors to review each site’s privacy policy before disclosing any personal information on that site.
Phishing
We do not and will not, at any time, request personal information in a non-secure or unsolicited email or telephone communication. Identity theft and the practice known as “phishing” are of great concern to us. Safeguarding information to help protect you from identity theft is our priority. For more information about phishing, visit the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt127.htm.
Security
The Site and Blog Site use generally accepted standards of technology and operational security to protect personal information. We will store the information using generally accepted general data storage techniques.
Changes to this Policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time as our services change and grow. We will indicate any such changes at the privacy link at the bottom of the home page of the Site and Blog Site, and your continued use of the Site and Blog Site will signify your acknowledgement of any new terms.
Contact
We welcome inquiries or comments about our Privacy Policy and any queries or concerns about the iShares Site and Blog Site at isharesetfs@blackrock.com or 1-800-iShares.
