terms of services

Last Modified: 2012-03-22 Hi! You are now reading Tumblr's Terms of Service, meaning the contract between you and Tumblr when you use Tumblr's site, services, and products. You should read this carefully before you use Tumblr. We've tried to be fair and straightforward. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to email us. We've also included several annotations; these annotations aren't a part of the contract itself, but are intended to help you follow the text and emphasize key sections. 1. Accepting the Terms of Service Please read these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy, and our Community Guidelines (collectively, the "Agreement") carefully before using tumblr.com (the "Site") and/or the other domains, products, services, and/or content provided by Tumblr, Inc. (all of those collectively with the Site, the "Services") (Tumblr, Inc., a Delaware corporation, collectively with its agents, consultants, employees, officers and directors, "Tumblr," "we," or "us"). By using or accessing the Services, you ("Subscriber" or "you") agree to become bound by all the terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you shouldn't and aren't permitted to use the Services. 2. Modifications to this Agreement Tumblr reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify this Agreement at any time by posting a revised Agreement through the Services and by providing notice to you that this Agreement has changed, generally via e-mail where practicable, and otherwise through the Services (such as through a notification in your Tumblr Dashboard). You are responsible for reviewing and becoming familiar with any modifications to this Agreement. Modifications are effective when posted, and your use of the Services following any such posted modification and notice of same constitutes your acceptance of the terms and conditions of this Agreement as modified. Note that, if you have prepaid for any Paid Services (as defined below) prior to a modification of this Agreement, your use of such prepaid Paid Services is governed by the version of this Agreement in effect at the time Tumblr received your prepayment. As Tumblr grows and improves, we might have to make changes to the Terms of Service. When we do, we'll let you know. We're also going to make it a practice to post old versions so it's easy to see changes/additions/deletions. To see old versions, scroll down to the end of this document. 3. Use of the Services Eligibility: No individual under the age of thirteen (13) may use the Services or provide any information to Tumblr or otherwise through the Services (including, for example, a name, address, telephone number, or email address). You otherwise may only use the Services if you can form a binding contract with Tumblr and are not legally prohibited from using the Services. You have to be at least 13 years old to use Tumblr. We're serious: it's a hard rule, based on U.S. federal and state legislation, even if you're 12.9 years old. If you're younger than 13, don't use Tumblr. Ask your parents for an Xbox or try books. Service Changes and Limitations: The Services change frequently, and their form and functionality may change without prior notice to you. Tumblr retains the right to create limits on and related to use of the Services in its sole discretion at any time with or without notice. Tumblr may also impose limits on certain Services or aspects of those Services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Services without notice or liability. Tumblr may change, suspend, or discontinue any or all of the Services at any time, including the availability of any product, feature, database, or Content (as defined below). Tumblr may also suspend Accounts (as defined below) at any time, in its sole discretion. This section makes it clear that Tumblr is an ever-evolving platform. With new products, services, and features launching all the time, we need flexibility to make changes, impose limits, and occasionally suspend or terminate certain offerings (like features that flop). We can also suspend any individual account at any time. That sounds harsh, but we only use that power when we have a reason, as outlined in these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy, and our Community Guidelines. Limitations on Automated Use: You may not do any of the following while accessing or using the Services: (a) access, tamper with, or use non-public areas of the Services, or the computer or delivery systems of Tumblr and/or its service providers; (b) probe, scan, or test any system or network (particularly for vulnerabilities), or otherwise attempt to breach or circumvent any security or authentication measures; (c) access or search or attempt to access or search the Services by any means (automated or otherwise) other than through our currently available, published interfaces that are provided by Tumblr (and only pursuant to those terms and conditions), unless you have been specifically allowed to do so in a separate agreement with Tumblr, or unless permitted by Tumblr's robots.txt file or other robot exclusion mechanisms; (d) scrape the Services, and particularly scrape Content (as defined below) from the Services, without Tumblr's express prior written consent; (e) use the Services to send altered, deceptive, or false source-identifying information, including without limitation by forging TCP-IP packet headers or e-mail headers; or (f) interfere with, or disrupt, (or attempt to do so), the access of any Subscriber, host or network, including, without limitation, by sending a virus to, spamming, or overloading the Services, or by scripted use of the Services in such a manner as to interfere with or create an undue burden on the Services. Don't do bad things to Tumblr or other users. Some particularly egregious examples of automated "bad things" are listed in this section. 4. Registration, Tumblr URLs, and Security As a condition to using certain of the Services, you may be required to create an account (an "Account") and select a password and Tumblr username, which will serve as a default URL of the form [username].tumblr.com (a "Tumblr URL"). You may also select new Tumblr URLs for each blog you create. You should provide Tumblr with accurate, complete, and updated registration information, particularly your e-mail address, and failure to do so may result in suspension of your Account. It's really important that the email address associated with your Tumblr Account is accurate and up-to-date. If you ever forget your password – or worse, fall victim to a malicious phishing attack – a working email address is often the only way for us to recover your account. You agree that you shall not select or use as a Tumblr URL a name of another person or entity with the intent to impersonate that person or entity or with the intent to otherwise cause confusion as to the origin or provenance of your Account. Tumblr reserves the right to refuse registration of, cancel, or modify a Tumblr URL in its sole discretion. Don't choose a Tumblr URL with the intention of impersonating someone/something or otherwise causing confusion about who's behind your blog. Parody, criticism, and other fair uses of others' names are fine, so long as there's no intention to impersonate or confuse. You are also responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of of your Account password and for the security of your Account, and you will notify Tumblr immediately of any actual or suspected loss, theft, or unauthorized use of your Account or Account password. 5. Privacy Any information you provide to Tumblr is subject to Tumblr's Privacy Policy, which governs our collection and use of your information. You understand that through your use of the Services you consent to the collection and use (as set forth in the Privacy Policy) of this information. 6. Content and Subscriber Content Definitions: For purposes of this Agreement: (1) the term "Content" means a creative expression and includes, without limitation, video, audio, photographs, images, illustrations, animations, logos, tools, written posts, replies, and comments, information, data, text, software, scripts, executable files, graphics, Themes (as defined below), and interactive features, any of which may be generated, provided, or otherwise made accessible on or through the Services; (2) the term "Subscriber Content" is all Content that is posted or otherwise provided or transferred to the Services by a Subscriber (including, without limitation, by you); and Content also includes, without limitation, all Subscriber Content. Ownership: Subscribers retain ownership of all intellectual property rights in their Subscriber Content, and Tumblr and/or third parties retain ownership of all intellectual property rights in all Content other than Subscriber Content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property you post to Tumblr. Subscriber Content License to Tumblr: When you transfer Subscriber Content to Tumblr through the Services, you give Tumblr a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable right and license to use, host, store, cache, reproduce, publish, display (publicly or otherwise), perform (publicly or otherwise), distribute, transmit, modify, adapt (including, without limitation, in order to conform it to the requirements of any networks, devices, services, or media through which the Services are available), and create derivative works of (including, without limitation, by Reblogging, as defined below), such Subscriber Content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating the Services in accordance with their functionality, improving the Services, and allowing Tumblr to develop new Services. The reference in this license to "derivative works" is not intended to give Tumblr itself a right to make substantive editorial changes or derivations, but does enable Tumblr Subscribers to redistribute Subscriber Content from one Tumblr blog to another in a manner that allows Subscribers to, e.g., add their own text or other Content before or after your Subscriber Content ("Reblogging"). When you upload your creations to Tumblr, you grant us a license to make that content available in the ways you'd expect from using our services (for example, via your blog, RSS, the Tumblr Dashboard, etc.). We never want to do anything with your content that surprises you. Something else worth noting: Countless Tumblr blogs have gone on to spawn books, films, albums, brands, and more. We're thrilled to offer our support as a platform for our creators, and we'd never claim to be entitled to royalties or reimbursement for the success of what you've created. It's your work, and we're proud to be a part (however small) of what you accomplish. You also agree that this license includes the right for Tumblr to make all publicly-posted Content available to third parties selected by Tumblr, so that those third parties can distribute and/or analyze such Content on other media and services. An example of what it means to "make all publicly-posted Content available" to a Tumblr partner for distribution or analysis would be if we licensed a feed of already-publicly-available Content to a partner, similar to how Twitter makes feeds available through its Streaming API. Note also that this license to your Subscriber Content continues even if you stop using the Services, primarily because of the social nature of Content shared through the Services - when you post something publicly, others may choose to comment on it, making your Content part of a social conversation that cannot later be erased without retroactively censoring the speech of others. One thing you should consider before posting: When you make something publicly available on the Internet, it becomes practically impossible to take down all copies of it. You also agree that you will respect the intellectual property rights of others, and represent that you have all of the necessary rights to grant us this license for all Subscriber Content you submit to the Services. Content License to You: As a Subscriber of the Services, Tumblr grants you a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, and non-transferable license to download, store, view, display, perform, redistribute, and create derivative works of Content solely in connection with your use of, and in accordance with the functionality and restrictions of, the Services (including, without limitation, Paid Services, as defined below). This means, for example, that we license Content to you so that you can Reblog Content and add commentary to it. Compliance with Community Guidelines: You agree that you won't post Subscriber Content that violates, or otherwise use your Account in ways that violate, Tumblr's Community Guidelines. Termination and Deletion: On termination of your Account or upon your deletion of particular pieces of Subscriber Content from the Services, Tumblr shall make reasonable efforts to make such Subscriber Content inaccessible and cease use of it; however, you acknowledge and agree that: (a) caching of, copies of, or references to the Subscriber Content may not be immediately removed; (b) such removed Subscriber Content may persist in backups (not available to others) for a reasonable period of time; and (c) such removed Subscriber Content may be available (and stored on our servers) through the accounts of other Subscribers, such as because of Reblogging. 7. Special Provisions for Application Developers If you develop software or services based on the Services or any Content, whether using the Tumblr Application Programming Interface or not, you will agree to and comply with the Tumblr Application Developer and API License Agreement. 8. Use of Trademarks Any use of Tumblr's trademarks, branding, logos and other such assets in connection with the Services shall be in accordance with the Tumblr Trademark Guidelines. 9. Blog Themes Tumblr makes available specialized HTML and CSS code ("Tumblr Template Code") for the design and layout of blog pages available for use on some of the Services ("Themes"). Certain Themes are available for purchase as a Paid Service (as defined below) (such Themes, "Premium Themes"). Purchased Premium Themes may not be transferred between Accounts, between blogs, or between Services on a single Account and are subject to the payment terms herein. Tumblr grants you a license to customize the Tumblr Template Code to create your own Themes for use on your blog page (each a "Custom Theme"). If you choose, you may also contribute your Custom Themes for use by other Subscribers as Subscriber Content. However, as a condition of the license allowing you to create Custom Themes, you agree that you won't distribute such Custom Themes from locations other than Tumblr-owned or approved websites without our permission, as set out in our Community Guidelines. Note also that other Subscribers may use your Custom Themes after you have removed them from distribution, and you hereby grant those Subscribers an irrevocable license to use those Custom Themes as contributed by you. In other words, you can remove and stop distribution of your Custom Themes, but Subscribers who are already using them can keep using them. To develop and distribute Custom Themes that are Premium Themes, please email us. 10. Paid Services Some of the Services require payment of fees (the "Paid Services," including without limitation Premium Themes). All fees are stated in United States dollars. You shall pay all applicable fees, as described in the applicable Services, in connection with such Services, and any related taxes or additional charges. Paid Services are limited licenses for you to use particular for-pay aspects of the Services. Usage of terms like sell, sale, buy, purchase, or similar terms all refer to your acquisition of a license to use Paid Services, and do not represent any transfer of any right, title, or ownership interest of any kind. You may not relicense, resell, transfer, or exchange Paid Services within or outside of the Services, except as expressly allowed by the rules of the Services. Tumblr may, in its sole discretion, modify the functionality of, or eliminate, Paid Services, or the terms and conditions under which Paid Services are provided. Purchases of Paid Services are final and non-refundable (particularly those Paid Services that may be used immediately, such as Promotions, as defined below), except at Tumblr's sole discretion and in accordance with the rules governing each such Paid Service. Termination of your Account or your rights under this Agreement may result in forfeiture of existing Paid Services. For example, if your Account is suspended, you forfeit your license to any Premium Themes you have purchased. Tumblr may change its prices for Paid Services at any time. To the extent applicable, Tumblr will provide you reasonable notice of any such pricing changes by posting the new prices on or through the applicable Paid Service and/or by sending you email notification. If you do not wish to pay the new prices, you may choose not to purchase, or to cancel, the applicable Paid Service prior to the change going into effect. 11. Special Provisions for Promotions Some features of the Services may allow you to promote yourself to other Subscribers, and some of these features may be Paid Services ("Promotions"). For example, you can use Tumblr's Highlighted Post Paid Service to draw extra attention to your posts when they appear in the Dashboard feeds of your blog followers. This section covers the rules and sets some expectations around paid promotion features like Blog Promotion (from the old Directory, likely to make a return) and Highlighted Posts. The following additional terms apply to Promotions: * Things that you promote will comply with this Agreement; if they don't, Tumblr reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel a Promotion without refund or recourse to you. * Tumblr may remove or disable any Promotion for any reason in its sole discretion. * Tumblr does not guarantee any activity that Promotions may receive, including but not limited to clicks, Likes, and Reblogs. Tumblr cannot control how Subscribers interact with Promotions and is not responsible for "click fraud" or other fraudulent actions by third parties, including, without limitation, Subscribers. Tumblr doesn't guarantee that its reporting related to Promotions will be accurate or complete, nor does it guarantee that Promotions will behave in a particular manner, and Tumblr shall not be liable to you or responsible for any erroneous reporting about or errant behavior of or related to Promotions (e.g., any errors in how "likes" or Reblogs are counted). * Promotions may allow targeting to some Subscriber characteristics, such as by suggesting new blogs to follow based on currently followed blogs. Tumblr does not guarantee that any particular Promotion will reach a particular sort of individual in all cases. * You can cancel certain Promotions at any time (depending on their functionality), but are responsible for paying for Promotions at least to the extent they have already been distributed through the Services. * By submitting a Promotion, you license Tumblr to run that Promotion for as long as you have specified, which, depending on the Promotion, may be perpetually. This license ends when the Promotion has completed or been cancelled, but it may take up to twenty four (24) hours before a Promotion stops being reflected on the Services. 12. Warranty Disclaimer; Services Available on an "AS-IS" Basis Your access to and use of the Services or any Content is at your own risk. You understand and agree that the Services are provided to you on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis. Without limiting the foregoing, to the full extent permitted by law, Tumblr disclaims all warranties, express or implied, of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Tumblr makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the Services, including any representation or warranty that the use of the Services will (a) be timely, uninterrupted or error-free or operate in combination with any other hardware, software, system or data, (b) meet your requirements or expectations, (c) be free from errors or that defects will be corrected, or (d) be free of viruses or other harmful components. Tumblr also makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to Content; Subscriber Content, in particular, is provided by and is solely the responsibility of, the Subscribers providing that Content. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained from Tumblr or through the Services, will create any warranty not expressly made herein. 13. Release From Liability You release, to the fullest extent permitted by law, Tumblr, its directors, officers, shareholders, employees, representatives, consultants, agents, suppliers, and/or distributors from responsibility, liability, claims, demands, and/or damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with the following: * Disputes between Subscribers, including those between you and other Subscribers. * Third party sites and services, including content found on such sites and services. * Disputes concerning any use of or action taken using your Account by you or a third party. * Claims relating to the unauthorized access to any data communications or Content stored under or relating to your Account, including unauthorized use or alteration of such communications or your Content. * Claims relating to in any way to any face-to-face meetings in any way related to Tumblr at any venues ("Meetups"), including without limitation claims related to the actions or omissions of any Subscribers or third parties who organize, attend, or are otherwise involved in any Meetups; see our Meetups page for more information. Tumblr does not sponsor, oversee, or in any manner control Meetups. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code §1542, which says: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor." 14. Limitation of Liability To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Tumblr, its directors, officers, shareholders, employees, representatives, consultants, agents, suppliers, and/or distributors shall not be liable for: (a) any indirect, incidental, exemplary punitive, or consequential damages of any kind whatsoever; (b) loss of: profits, revenue, data, use, good-will, or other intangible losses; (c) damages relating to your access to, use of, or inability to access or use the Services; (d) damages relating to any conduct or Content of any third party or Subscriber using the Services, including without limitation, defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct or Content; and/or (e) damages in any manner relating to any Content. This limitation applies to all claims, whether based on warranty, contract, tort, or any other legal theory, whether or not Tumblr has been informed of the possibility of such damage, and further where a remedy set forth herein is found to have failed its essential purpose. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the total liability of Tumblr and its directors, officers, shareholders, employees, representatives, consultants, agents, suppliers, and/or distributors, for any claim under this Agreement, including for any implied warranties, is limited to the greater of fifty dollars (US$50.00) or the amount you paid us to use the applicable Service(s). 15. Exclusions to Warranties and Limitation of Liability Some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the exclusion/limitation of liability as set forth in Section 14, so the limitations above may not apply to you. 16. Termination Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time by notifying the other party. Tumblr may also terminate or suspend your access to or ability to use any and all Services immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason or no reason, including but not limited to if you breach any of the terms or conditions of this Agreement. In particular, Tumblr may immediately terminate or suspend Accounts that have been flagged for repeat copyright infringement. Upon termination of your access to or ability to use a Service, including but not limited to suspension of your Account on a Service, your right to use or access that Service and any Content will immediately cease. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, and limitations of liability. Termination of your access to and use of the Services shall not relieve you of any obligations arising or accruing prior to such termination or limit any liability which you otherwise may have to Tumblr or any third party. 17. Legal Disputes You and Tumblr agree that we will resolve any claim or controversy at law or equity that arises out of this Agreement or the Services in accordance with this Section or as you and Tumblr otherwise agree in writing. Before resorting to litigation, we strongly encourage you to contact us directly to seek a resolution. Law and Forum for Legal Disputes: This Agreement shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of New York as they apply to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within New York between New York residents, without regard to conflict of law provisions. You agree that any claim or dispute you may have against Tumblr must be resolved exclusively by a state or federal court located in New York County, New York, except as otherwise agreed by the parties. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within New York County, New York for the purpose of litigating all such claims or disputes. 18. Miscellaneous This Agreement, as modified from time to time, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Tumblr with respect to the subject matter hereof. This Agreement replaces all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding the subject matter hereof and constitutes the entire and exclusive agreement between the parties. The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that this Agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. This Agreement is not assignable, transferable, or sublicensable by you except with Tumblr's prior written consent. Tumblr may assign this Agreement in whole or in part at any time without your consent. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment is created as a result of this Agreement and you do not have any authority of any kind to bind Tumblr in any respect whatsoever. Any notice to Tumblr that is required or permitted by this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed effective upon receipt, when delivered in person by nationally recognized overnight courier or mailed by first class, registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, to Tumblr, Inc., 35 East 21st Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10010, Attn: Legal Department. 19. Special Provisions for Subscribers Located Outside of the United States Tumblr provides global products and services and enables a global community for individuals to share and follow the things they love. Tumblr's operations are, however, located in the United States, and Tumblr's policies and procedures are based on United States law. As such, the following provisions apply specifically to Subscribers located outside of the United States: (1) you consent to the transfer, storage, and processing of your information, including but not limited to Subscriber Content and any personal information, to and in the United States and/or other countries; and (2) if you are using the Services from a country embargoed by the United States, or are on the United States Treasury Department's list of "Specially Designated Nationals," you agree that you will not conduct any commercial activities using or through the Services (for example, purchasing Premium Themes). 20. DMCA Copyright Policy Tumblr has adopted the following policy toward copyright infringement on the Services in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (a copy of which is located at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf, the "DMCA"). The address of Tumblr's Designated Agent for copyright takedown notices ("Designated Agent") is listed below. Reporting Instances of Copyright Infringement: If you believe that Content residing or accessible on or through the Services infringes a copyright, please send a notice of copyright infringement containing the following information to the Designated Agent at the address below: 1. Identification of the work or material being infringed. 2. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing, including its location, with sufficient detail so that Tumblr is capable of finding it and verifying its existence. 3. Contact information for the notifying party (the "Notifying Party"), including name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. 4. A statement that the Notifying Party has a good faith belief that the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or law. 5. A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information provided in the notice is accurate and that the Notifying Party is authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the copyright owner. 6. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that has been allegedly infringed. After removing material pursuant to a valid DMCA notice, Tumblr will immediately notify the Subscriber responsible for the allegedly infringing material that it has removed or disabled access to the material. Tumblr reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to immediately terminate the account of any Subscriber who is the subject of repeated DMCA notifications. Submitting a DMCA Counter-Notification: If you believe you are the wrongful subject of a DMCA notification, you may file a counter-notification with Tumblr by providing the following information to the Designated Agent at the address below: * The specific URLs of material that Tumblr has removed or to which Tumblr has disabled access. * Your name, address, telephone number, and email address. * A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or the federal district courts located in New York County, New York if your address is outside of the United States), and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the original DMCA notification or an agent of such person. * The following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled." * Your signature. Upon receipt of a valid counter-notification, Tumblr will forward it to Notifying Party who submitted the original DMCA notification. The original Notifying Party (or the copyright holder he or she represents) will then have ten (10) days to notify us that he or she has filed legal action relating to the allegedly infringing material. If Tumblr does not receive any such notification within ten (10) days, we may restore the material to the Services. Designated Agent Tumblr, Inc. 35 East 21st Street, 6th Floor New York, NY 10010 Attn: Copyright Agent Fax: +1-646-475-2135 Email: dmca@tumblr.com Link to Prior Versions You will find a link to prior versions of our Terms of Service below. We have stored these versions on GitHub, which will also allow you to compare different versions and see what terms have changed: http://github.com/tumblr/policy/commits/master/terms-of-service.txt privacy policy Last Modified: 2012-03-22 Tumblr, Inc. ("Tumblr", "we", "us", or "our") takes the private nature of your personal information very seriously. This policy regarding our privacy practices (the "Privacy Policy") describes how we treat the information we collect when you visit and use the website available at tumblr.com (the "Site") and/or Tumblr's other domains, products, services, and/or content (collectively with the Site, the "Services"). When you use the Services, you are consenting to the collection, transfer, manipulation, storage, disclosure and other uses of your information as described in this Privacy Policy; please read it carefully. Also: This Privacy Policy doesn't govern what our users do on their own blogs and we aren't responsible for the information collection and use practices of our individual blogs and bloggers. One of the great features of Tumblr's products is customizability, and bloggers have a lot of flexibility in how their blogs behave. When you visit a blog in our network, that blog may collect more information than we do, and may provide information to third parties that we have no relationship with, including to advertisers. What This Privacy Policy Covers This Privacy Policy covers our treatment of information gathered when you are using or accessing the Services. This Privacy Policy also covers our treatment of any information that our partners share with us or that we share with our partners. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that we do not own or control, including but not limited to any third party websites, services and applications ("Third Party Services") that you elect to access through the Service or to individuals that we don't manage or employ. While we try to facilitate access only to those Third Party Services that share our respect for your privacy, we don't take responsibility for the content or privacy policies of those Third Party Services. We encourage you to carefully review the privacy policies of all Third Party Services you access. What Information We Collect and How We Use It Account Information: When you create an account on a Tumblr Service (an "Account"), you will provide information such as your username, password, and email address. You may also be required to provide us with your birthdate, which we use to verify your age and may use to personalize the Services for you (e.g., by presenting you with content relevant to your age group). This information may personally identify you. For example, if you use your full name as your username, you are disclosing your identity to the public. We also allow users to look for their friends by e-mail address; you can, however, opt out of this feature through your Account Settings page, and we do not expose your e-mail address to the public or third parties, except in the limited circumstances set forth in this Privacy Policy. Email Communications with Us: As part of the Services, you may occasionally receive email and other communications from us, such as administrative communications relating to your Account (e.g., for purposes of Account recovery or password reset). These communications are considered part of the Services and your Account, which you may not be able to opt-out from receiving. You can opt-out of most communications from Tumblr, such as new follower emails; please see your Account Settings page. Note that we will never email you to ask for your password or other Account information; if you receive such an email, forward it to us. Information about Your Accounts on Third Party Services: You can link your Account to certain Third Party Services. In order to do so, you will provide us with your username or other user ID on each of those Third Party Services. You may also be required to engage in an authorization process with each of those Third Party Services, where we receive a token that allows us to access those accounts so that we can, for example, when you choose, post your Tumblr content, or links to your Tumblr content, to those services. We do not receive or store your passwords for your Third Party Service accounts. Information Obtained from Third Party Services: In some cases, when you connect your Account with your accounts on Third Party Services, we may obtain information about you from those Third Party Services. Such information could include, for example, your gender, if you have disclosed that information to that third party and made it available for Tumblr to access. To the extent we obtain such information, we may use the information about you that we receive from Third Party Services to improve and personalize the Services. As a general practice, we strongly urge you to make careful judgments about any personal information you disclose to Internet services, including Tumblr and linked Third Party Services, regardless of whether you choose to link your accounts together. User Content: By default, all sharing through the Services is public, and when you provide us with content it is published so that anyone can view it. Although we do provide tools, like password-protected blogs, that let you publish content privately, you should assume that anything you publish is publicly accessible unless you have explicitly selected otherwise. Content published and shared publicly is accessible to everyone, including search engines, and you may lose any privacy rights you might have regarding that content. In addition, information shared publicly may be copied and shared throughout the Internet, including through features native to the Services, such as "Reblogging." While you are free to remove published pieces of content from or delete your Account, because of the nature of Internet sharing, the strong possibility of Reblogging of your content by others, and technological limitations inherent to the Services, copies of that content may exist elsewhere and be retained indefinitely, including in our systems. Information About User Content: In some cases, we may collect information about content you provide to the Services. For example, when it's included with your images, we may collect information describing your camera and camera settings. This information allows us to improve the Services and provide additional features and functionality. Financial Information: We will sometimes collect financial information, such as information related to your payment method (valid credit card number, type, expiration date or other financial information), for example when you decide to purchase a paid Service. We do not, however, store that financial information; such information is stored by our third party payment processor (the "Payment Processor"), and use and storage of that information is governed by the Payment Processor’s applicable terms of service and privacy policy (the Payment Processor may also have other terms, and you are responsible for locating and familiarizing yourself with those terms, as applicable). We do receive certain information from our Payment Processor: (1) a unique token that we connect with your Account to enable you to make further purchases using the information stored by our Payment Processor and (2) in certain cases, the last four digits of the credit card number associated with that token, so that we can prevent fraudulent transactions and identity theft. Information Related to Use of the Services: We collect information about how people use the Services, including those with an Account. This information includes general usage information, and may include information such as the number and frequency of our visitors, which pages or features of the Services they have visited, which links on the Services they have clicked on, and the length of those visits. We may also use third party applications and services, such as Google Analytics and Quantcast, to collect and analyze this information. This information enables us and third parties authorized by us to figure out how often individuals use the Services so that we can analyze and improve them. Some of this information may be associated with the IP Address (as defined below) used to access the Services, and some may be associated with your Account, such as the topics you search for and the help pages that you visit. We may also use some of this information in aggregate form, that is, as a statistical measure related to all of our users that would not identify you personally. We use information about your use of the Services to improve and enhance your experience on the Services. Information Related to Your Web Browser: We automatically receive and record information from your web browser when you interact with the Services, such as your browser type and version, what sort of device you are using, your operating system and version, your language preference, the website or service that referred you to the Services, the date and time of each web request you make, your screen display information, and information from any cookies we have placed on your web browser (as described below). We also sometimes detect whether you are using certain web browser extensions and store that information in a manner associated with your Account. Web browser-related information is used to enhance your experience with the Services (for example, by personalization) and to allow us to improve the Services; it is not, however, used in a manner that would identify you personally. IP Address Information: Under certain circumstances, such as when you log into the Services, load a web page from the Services, or send an "Ask" message anonymously, we may collect and store your Internet Protocol Address ("IP Address"). We generally use IP Address information to fight spam, malware, and identity theft; we also may use it, in the future, to personalize the Services for you. IP Address information is also used by us to generate aggregate, non-identifying, information about use of the Services. Location Information: In some cases we collect and store information about where you are located, such as by converting your IP Address into a rough geolocation. We may use location information to improve and personalize the Services for you. Information Related to Your Mobile Device: We may collect and store information related to your mobile device, such as your phone number. You will have a choice as to whether we collect and store this information. We may use this information to improve the Services, such as by allowing you to verify your account by text message. Information Collected Using Cookies: Cookies are pieces of text that may be sent to and saved by your web browser when you access a website; your web browser stores these cookies in a way associated with each website you visit, and you can see your cookies through your browser settings. We use cookies to enable our servers to recognize your web browser and tell us how and when you use the Services. Our cookies do not, by themselves, contain information that personally identifies you, and we don't combine the general information collected through cookies with other such information to tell us who you are. However, we do use cookies to identify that you have logged in and that your web browser has accessed aspects of the Services, and we may associate that information with your Account if you have one. This information, in turn, is sometimes used to personalize your experiences on the Services, such as by presenting you with a different iFrame (allowing you to follow a blog) when you are logged in and visit a blog hosted by Tumblr. Most web browsers have an option for turning off the cookie feature, which will prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, as well as (depending on the sophistication of your web browser software) allowing you to decide on acceptance of each new cookie in a variety of ways. If you disable cookies, you won't be able to log into your Account, and so will not be able to use the vast majority of our Services; as such, we don't recommend disabling your cookies when using the Services. Some third-party services that we use, such as Google Analytics and Quantcast, may also place their own cookies on your browser, and individual blogs on our network may contain code that places their own cookies. Note that this Privacy Policy covers our use of cookies only and does not cover the use of cookies by third parties. Information About Your Contacts: Certain features of the Services allow you to provide us with your contact lists stored on other services, so that we can connect you with people in our Services that are also on those contact lists. For example, you can temporarily connect your e-mail contact information to your Tumblr.com account, so that we can provide you with a list of your e-mail contacts that use Tumblr.com. As another example, you can send us your mobile phone contact e-mails through our mobile applications, which then allows us to provide you with a list of those contacts that use Tumblr.com. We will give you an explicit choice as to whether or not you provide us such information, and we will disclose fully, within the appropriate feature, how we use, and whether we will store, that information. Derived Information: We analyze your actions on the Services in order to derive or infer characteristics that may be descriptive of you (for example, what kinds of blogs you like to follow). These characteristics are used to improve and personalize the Services. Email Tracking: We may place information in our emails to you (such as a web beacon) that allows us to measure our email deliverability. With Whom Your Information Is Shared We never share information we receive from you unless: (a) we have your permission to share that information; (b) we have given you prior notice that the information will be shared, and with whom; or (c) that information is aggregate information or other information that does not identify you. Information Shared with the Public Through the Services: As noted above, by default, content published through the Services is shared with the public, and this is an important feature of the Services. Such information includes, but isn't limited to, anything you choose to post on or submit to a public blog, including "About" information that may describe you and anything apparent in a posted photograph. Because this kind of information can be seen by anyone and may be indexed by search engines (like Google Search), you should be careful in what you choose to disclose publicly and make sure it is information you want to share with everyone. Information Shared Between the Services: We may, if possible, aggregate information about your use of multiple Services and use that consolidated information to improve how the Services operate, and to develop new Services. Information You Share with Third Party Services: You may access Third Party Services through the Services, for example by clicking on externally-pointing links. You may also choose to share information that you provide to us, like blog posts, with those Third Party Services (for example, by syndicating posts to Twitter or Facebook). This Privacy Policy only governs information we collect and you are responsible for reading and understanding those Third Party Services' privacy policies. Information Shared with Our Agents in Order to Operate and Improve the Services: In some cases, we share information that we store (such as IP Addresses) with third parties, such as our service providers, consultants and other agents ("Agents"), for the purposes of operating and improving the Services. For example, we may share information with service providers in order to fight spam, and third-party consultants may have access to information in the process of improving our processes and technology. Agents with whom we share such information for these reasons are generally bound by confidentiality obligations and, unless we tell you differently, our Agents do not have any right to use Personal Information or other information we share with them beyond the scope and duration of what is necessary to assist us. You hereby consent to our sharing of Personal Information with our Agents. Information Shared with Third Parties: We may share or disclose non-private information, Aggregate Information, or other non-Personal Information with people and entities that we do business with. Information Disclosed Pursuant to Business Transfers: In some cases, we may choose to buy or sell business assets. In these transactions, user information is typically one of the transferred business assets. Moreover, if we, or substantially all of our assets, were acquired, or if we go out of business or enter bankruptcy, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of us or our assets may continue to use your Personal Information as set forth in this policy. Information Disclosed for Our Protection and the Protection of Others: We believe in freedom of expression, and, to the extent reasonable, we try to protect our community from baseless legal demands. That said, we also reserve the right to access, preserve, and disclose any information as we reasonably believe is necessary, in our sole discretion, to (i) satisfy any law, regulation, legal process, governmental request, or governmental order, (ii) enforce this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations hereof, (iii) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues (including exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection and spam/malware prevention), (iv) respond to user support requests, or (v) protect the rights, property, health or safety of us, our users, any third parties or the public in general, including but not limited to situations involving possible violence, suicide, or self-harm. Information We Share with Your Consent or at Your Request: If you ask us to release information that we have about your Account, we will do so if reasonable and not unduly burdensome. The Security of Your Information Your Account information is protected by a password for your privacy and security. You need to prevent unauthorized access to your Account and Personal Information by selecting and protecting your password appropriately and limiting access to your computer and browser by signing off after you have finished accessing your Account on the Services. We seek to protect your information (including your Account information) to ensure that it is kept private; however, we can't guarantee the security of any information. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors, may compromise the security of user information at any time. What Information You Can Access If you are a registered user, you can access and delete most information associated with your Account by logging into the Services and checking your Account Settings page. Registered and unregistered users can access and delete cookies through their web browser settings. Your California Privacy Rights: Under California Civil Code sections 1798.83-1798.84, California residents are entitled to ask us for a notice identifying the categories of personal customer information that we share with our affiliates and/or third parties for marketing purposes, and providing contact information for such affiliates and/or third parties. If you are a California resident and would like a copy of this notice, please submit a written request to the following address: 35 East 21st Street, 6th Floor, New York NY 10010. How to Delete Your Account and What Happens When You Delete Your Account If you want to delete your Account, you can do so from your Preferences page or by emailing us and providing proof of authority over the Account. What constitutes "proof of authority" will vary depending on the circumstances, but generally will require sufficient identifying information so that we can be confident you are the Account owner. Deleting your Account may not fully remove the content you have published from our systems, as caching of, backups of, copies of, or references to your Account information may not be immediately removed. In addition, given the nature of sharing on the Services, some of the public activity on your Account prior to deletion (such as Reblogs of your blog posts) may remain stored on our servers and accessible to the public. Changes to This Privacy Policy We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time, using the process for modifications set forth in our Terms of Service. Use of information we collect now is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such information is used. Where to Direct Questions or Concerns If you have any questions or concerns regarding privacy using the Services, please send us a detailed message. Link to Prior Versions You will find a link to prior versions of our Privacy Policy below. We have stored these versions on GitHub, which will also allow you to compare different versions and see what terms have changed: http://github.com/tumblr/policy/commits/master/privacy-policy.txt community guidelines Last Modified: 2012-03-22 As a global platform for creativity and self-expression, Tumblr is deeply committed to supporting and protecting freedom of speech. At the same time, we draw lines around a few narrowly-defined but deeply important categories of content and behavior that jeopardize our users, threaten our infrastructure, or damage our community. What Tumblr is for: Tumblr celebrates creativity. We want you to express yourself freely and use Tumblr to reflect who you are, and what you love, think, witness, and believe. What Tumblr is not for: * Malicious Bigotry. Don't actively promote violence or extreme hatred against individuals or groups, on the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation. While we firmly believe that the best response to hateful speech is not censorship but more speech, we will take down malicious bigotry, as defined here. * Harm to Minors. Be thoughtful when posting anything involving a minor. Don't post anything relating to minors that is sexually suggestive or violent. Don't bully minors, even if you are one. Life as a teenager is hard enough without the fear, anguish, and isolation caused by online bullying. * Promotion and Glorification of Self-Harm. Don't post content that actively promotes or glorifies self-harm. This includes content that urges or encourages readers to cut or injure themselves; embrace anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders; or commit suicide rather than, e.g., seeking counseling or treatment, or joining together in supportive conversation with those suffering or recovering from depression or other conditions. Dialogue about these behaviors is incredibly important and online communities can be extraordinarily helpful to people struggling with these difficult conditions. We aim to sustain Tumblr as a place that facilitates awareness, support and recovery, and to remove only those blogs that cross the line into active promotion or glorification of self-harm. * Gore and Mutilation Content. Don't post gore just to be shocking. Don't showcase the mutilation or torture of human beings, animals, or their remains. * Unflagged NSFW Blogs. Tumblr is home to millions of readers and bloggers from a variety of locations, cultures, and backgrounds with different points of view concerning adult-oriented content. If you regularly post sexual or adult-oriented content, respect the choices of people in our community who would rather not see such content by flagging your blog (which you can do from the Settings page of each blog) as Not Suitable for Work ("NSFW"). This action does not prevent you and your readers from using any of Tumblr's social features, but rather allows Tumblr users who don't want to see NSFW content to avoid seeing it. * Uploading Sexually Explicit Video. You can embed anything as long as it follows the other guidelines on this page. But please don't use Tumblr's Upload Video feature to host any sexually explicit videos. We're not in the business of profiting from adult-oriented videos and hosting this stuff is fucking expensive. You can use services like xHamster to host those instead. * Non-Genuine Social Gesture Schemes. Don't participate in schemes to gain non-genuine gestures like follows or reblogs. Don't orchestrate or engage in "follow trains," where users are encouraged to follow lists of other users to gain more followers for themselves. Don't scatter deceptive links to your blog or Follow pages. Don't make bulk or indiscriminate use of messaging features like Fan Mail or Asks to bait followers. * Username and URL Abuse. Tumblr's URLs (usernames) are for the use and enjoyment of our users. Don't squat, hoard, collect, trade, or sell Tumblr URLs, and don't register a URL for the purpose of impersonating an individual, organization, or brand. * Spam. Don't abuse social gestures, send unwanted messages, or aggregate content in a less-than-meaningful way. Don't put tags on your posts that will mislead or deceive searchers (for example, tagging a photo of your car with "#lady gaga" and "#britney spears"); of course, meaningful uses are always fine (for example, ironic "punchline" tags that add to or playfully subvert a post itself). Don't put deceptive links or dubious code in your posts. That includes using Javascript to inject unwanted ads in blogs, or embedding links to interstitial or pop-up ad services. Don't use deceptive means to generate revenue or traffic, or create blogs with the primary purpose of affiliate marketing. Spam doesn't belong on Tumblr. * Mass Registration and Automation. Don't register accounts or post content automatically, systematically, or programmatically. * Unauthorized Contests, Sweepstakes, or Giveaways. Take a look at our guidelines for contests, sweepstakes, and giveaways, which are incorporated here by reference, for more information. * Third-Party Theme Distribution. To manage the safety and stability of blog themes, the vast majority of which are contributed by the Tumblr community, it's important that themes are distributed through our centralized Theme Garden. Third-party theme directories are often used to inject nefarious code that results in spam, ads, or phishing attacks. Since anyone can host and promote their themes in the Theme Garden, don't create or use third-party services to distribute source code for Tumblr themes. Creating blogs or directories that curate themes in the Theme Garden is a-okay. * Copyright and Trademark Infringement. Respect the copyrights and trademarks of others. If you aren't authorized to use someone else's copyrighted or trademarked work (either expressly or by legal exceptions and limitations like fair use), don't. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement as per our Terms of Service and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. * Impersonation, Stalking, or Harassment. Treat the community the way you'd like to be treated. Don't attempt to circumvent the Block feature. If you want to parody or ridicule a public figure (and who doesn't?), don't try to trick readers into thinking you are actually that public figure. * Privacy Violations. Don't use Tumblr to deceptively obtain personal information. Don't post content that violates anyone's privacy, including personally identifying or confidential information like credit card numbers, social security numbers, unlisted contact information, or private photos of your ex's junk (no matter how attractive). * Disruptions, Exploits, and Resource Abuse. Our servers and the valiant engineers that support them work hard for you. Don't attempt unauthorized use, disruption, or exploitation of Tumblr.com or our other products and services, or otherwise abuse Tumblr's resources. * Unlawful Uses and Content. This one's pretty obvious, but Tumblr is not a place for illegal behavior, including fraud, phishing, or illegally inciting violence. And now, some words from our lawyers: If we conclude you are violating these policies, you may receive a notice via email. If you don't explain or correct your behavior, your account may be suspended and/or your IP address may be blocked. We do our best to ensure fair outcomes, but in all cases we reserve the right to suspend accounts or remove content, without notice, for any reason, but particularly to protect our services, infrastructure, users, or community. We reserve the right to enforce, or not enforce, these policies in our sole discretion, and these policies don't create a duty or contractual obligation for us to act in any particular manner. We also reserve the right to amend these policies using the procedures set forth in our Terms of Service. If you have questions or feedback, don't hesitate to let us know. Link to Prior Versions You will find a link to prior versions of our Community Guidelines below. We have stored these versions on GitHub, which will also allow you to compare different versions and see what terms have changed: http://github.com/tumblr/policy/commits/master/community-guidelines.txt