Privacy Policy

 

BICYCLE TRANSIT SYSTEMS, INC.

PRIVACY POLICY

 

This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) governs your use of www.bikeshare.metro.net (the “Website“) and the other websites and mobile applications and technology operated by Bicycle Transit Systems, Inc. (collectively, the “Services”).. Bicycle Transit Systems, Inc. (“Bicycle Transit Systems,” “our” or “we”) has created this Privacy Policy to ensure that you understand our policies and procedures, what personal information you must provide if you wish to use our Services and, ultimately, how we use such personal information. This Privacy Policy is a part of and is incorporated into our Terms and Conditions of Use for any of the Services. You can access these documents at any time by clicking on the links at the bottom of any page on the Website. By accessing or using any of the Services, you accept, without limitation or qualification, the terms of this Privacy Policy. Capitalized terms used in this Privacy Policy but not otherwise defined are defined in the Terms and Conditions of Use for the Services.

 

1. Information We Collect. We collect two types of information from users of our Services: personal information described below; and non-personal data such as information about traffic patterns and usage statistics.

a.Personal Information. You may browse our Website without registering for the Website. However, to access certain features of our Website and the Services, we require you to register as a pass holder (“Pass Holder”) and select a user name and password. Some personal data is collected during the registration process. We may then ask for additional information, including personally identifiable and non-personally identifiable information. When you register as a Pass Holder of the Website, or when you enter a contest or other promotion, we may ask you for certain personal information such as your name, address, e-mail address, or credit card number, in order to process your order, administer the contest or send you promotional e-mails. We may also collect other personal information, such as your date of birth, gender, trip history and location information through your use of the Services. Providing personal information in these instances is solely your choice; you do not need to provide such information, register as a Pass Holder, or enter such contests to browse our Website. It may, however, limit your ability to utilize our Services.

i. How We Use Your Personal Information. We use the information collected through the Services for a variety of purposes, including, but not limited to, processing your registration as a Pass Holder, operating the Website and the Services, and contacting Pass Holders. We may use your information to communicate with you, to update you regarding features of any Services, to personalize the Services for you, to contact you for market research or to provide you with marketing information, newsletters or other information we think would be of interest to you with your express written consent. In addition, if you become a Pass Holder, we may send you an email confirming your membership details. You can request to remove your email address from our email list for marketing related email messages, or other emails which are not necessary to your participation as a Pass Holder by following the procedures set forth in the “Opt Out Procedures” section below. In addition, you can modify your information or change your preferences, as set forth in the “Reviewing or Changing Your Information” section below. We will strive to exclude you from future communications if you follow the procedures set forth in this section. Information obtained through our Services may be intermingled with and used in conjunction with information obtained through sources other than our Services, including both offline and online sources.

b.Non-Personal Data. In some cases, we may collect non-personal information. Examples of this type of information include internet browser you are using, the type of computer operating system application software, peripherals you are using and the domain name of the website from which you accessed our Website, and aggregated travel information from which personally identifiable information has been removed. We use your information to do such things as operate and enhance our Website, and sell and deliver advertising.

c.Cookies. Certain features on our Website utilize cookie technology. A cookie is a small data file that certain web sites write to your hard drive when you visit them. A cookie file can contain various types of information, including a user ID that the site uses to track the pages you’ve visited. We may use cookies to enhance your experience on our Website, to determine user traffic patterns and for other purposes. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies; however, you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or indicate when a cookie is being sent or you can flush your browser of cookies from time to time. If you choose to disable your cookies setting or refuse to accept a cookie, however, you may not be able to access all areas or features of our Website.

 

2. Opt Out Procedures. You have certain options to opt out of receiving promotional or commercial information from us during registration and through your Account settings. However, you may not opt out completely from receiving email communications necessary for the operation of your membership without terminating your Pass. If you no longer wish to use or visit any of the Services, or receive any form of direct contact from us, whether it is email, discounts, newsletters, or other promotional offers or materials, contact us at: support@bikeshare.metro.net.

 

3. Reviewing or Changing Your Information. In order to ensure that the information we maintain is accurate, we give Pass Holders the option to change or modify their information previously provided during registration. If you would like to change your information in our database, please log in to your Account and click the “My Profile” link or email us at support@bikeshare.metro.net.

 

4. Sharing of Your Information. Except as prohibited by law, we may share your personal information: (i) with the authorized partners and contractors for our Services and bicycle rental programs; (ii) third parties for back-end support (such as credit card processing), advertising or marketing purposes, (iii) if we are required by law to do so, (iv) in the event of a transfer of some or all of the assets or ownership of Bicycle Transit Systems, merger or other similar transaction, (v) in connection with any bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership or assignment for the benefit of creditors or (vi) as otherwise set forth in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy does not address the practices of third parties who may collect your personal information. You may visit other websites or apps, through links on the Services, which may collect, use and share your personal information in accordance with their own privacy policies. The information practices of those linked websites or apps are not covered by this Privacy Policy, and we encourage you to be very cautious before you disclose your personal information to others. We are not responsible or liable for how those companies use any personal information. We make no representation or warranty about the privacy or security policies of these third party companies. We may be obligated to cooperate with various law enforcement inquiries. We reserve the right to disclose or transfer personal information and non-personal information about you and your activities on the Services in order to comply with a legal requirement or request from law enforcement or other government officials, administrative agencies or third parties as we, in our sole discretion, determine necessary or appropriate for the administration of justice, or in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringements or violations of any other law, rule or regulation, our Terms and Conditions of Use or other rules or policies of our Services, the rights of third parties, or an investigation of any other activity that may expose us or you to legal liability, or to investigate any suspected conduct which we, in our sole discretion, deem improper.
Confidentiality of Information. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and any company that enters into a contract with Metro to operate a transit fare collection system (including BTS and subcontractors) is governed by and must conform to California Streets and Highways Code Section 31490 regarding users’ “personally identifiable information” which includes any information that identifies or describes a person including, but not limited to, travel pattern data, address, telephone number, email address, license plate number, photograph, bank account information, or credit card number.

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and BTS may not sell or otherwise provide to any other person or entity personally identifiable information of any person who subscribes to Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bike Share with the following exceptions and conditions:

1. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and BTS may, within practical business and cost constraints, store only personally identifiable information of a person such as, to the extent applicable, the account name, credit card number, billing address, vehicle information, and other basic account information required to perform account functions such as billing, account settlement, or enforcement activities. All other information shall be discarded no more than four years and six months after the billing cycle has concluded, the bill has been paid, and all toll or fare violations, if applicable, have been resolved. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and BTS shall make every effort, within practical business and cost constraints, to purge the personal account information of an account that is closed or terminated. In no case shall a transportation agency maintain personal information more than four years and six months after the date an account is closed or terminated.

2. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and BTS may make personally identifiable information of a person available to a law enforcement agency only pursuant to a search warrant. Absent a provision in the search warrant to the contrary, the law enforcement agency shall immediately, but in any event within no more than five days, notify the person that his or her records have been obtained and shall provide the person with a copy of the search warrant and the identity of the law enforcement agency or peace officer to whom the records were provided.

3. A peace officer, as defined in Section 830.1 or 830.2 of the Penal Code, when conducting a criminal or traffic collision investigation, may obtain personally identifiable information of a person if the officer has good cause to believe that a delay in obtaining this information by seeking a search warrant would cause an adverse result, as defined in subparagraphs (A) to (E), inclusive, of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1524.2 of the California Penal Code.

4. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and BTS may publically release aggregated traveler information derived from collective data that relates to a group or category of persons from which personally identifiable information has been removed.

5. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and BTS, may utilize personal information when performing financial and accounting functions such as billing, account settlement, enforcement, or other financial activities required to operate and manage the system. This section, with respect to electronic transit fare collection systems, does not prohibit the sharing of data between transportation agencies for the purpose of interoperability between those agencies. A third-party vendor may not use personally identifiable information obtained under this subdivision for a purpose other than as described in this subdivision.

6. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and BTS may communicate, either directly or through a contracted third-party vendor, to subscribers about products and services offered by, the agency, a business partner, or the entity with which it contracts for the system, using personally identifiable information limited to the subscriber’s name, address, and electronic mail address, provided that the transportation agency has received the subscriber’s express written consent to receive the communications.

7. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and BTS may not use a nonsubscriber’s personally identifiable information to market products or services to that nonsubscriber.

 

5.Security. We have installed encryption software conforming to the Secure Socket Layers (SSL) protocol to safeguard the information you send to us. It is important for you to protect against unauthorized access to your password and to your computer. If your bikeshare.metro.net password is compromised, notify Customer Service at once at support@bikeshare.metro.net.

 

6.Protection for Children. Our Services are not intended for users under the age of 16. Furthermore, we do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children (i.e., individuals under the age of 13). If you believe that a child has provided information to us through the Services, please contact us by email at support@bikeshare.metro.net. We will use our best efforts to remove all of the information provided by the child from our system.

 

7.Privacy Precaution Warning. Please note that no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. As a result, we cannot guarantee the security of the information that you transmit via our Services.

 

8.Your Consent. You may have certain rights under various state and federal statutes that may apply to the personal and non-personal information we collect in connection with the Services. By accepting the terms of this Privacy Policy and using our Services, you are waiving all of such rights as to collection, use, disclosure and storage of your personally identifiable and non-personal information as described herein. You recognize that we are able to offer our Services to you solely based upon these terms, which are an integral part of our contract for the provision of services. This Privacy Policy and our legal obligations are subject to the laws of the State of California and the United States, regardless of the location of any user.

 

9.Limitation of Liability. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE OVER PRIVACY IS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND THE TERMS OF USE FOR ANY OF OUR SERVICES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LIMITATIONS ON DAMAGES AND MANDATORY MEDIATION OF DISPUTES. YOU AGREE THAT OUR LIABILITY FOR ANY BREACH OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY IS LIMITED TO THE SUM OF $100, BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH CLAIM IS NOT OTHERWISE BARRED BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW FOR LIMITED LIABILITY OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, THEN SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MIGHT NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

 

10.Updates and Changes to Privacy Policy. At any time and from time to time, and without your consent, we may unilaterally amend, modify, or change this Privacy Policy, in our sole discretion and without any notice or cause. By continuing to use our website or any of our services after any amendment, modification, or change, you have agreed to be bound by all such amendments, modifications, and changes. Please carefully review this Privacy Policy on a regular basis to maintain awareness of all amendments, modifications, and changes. If you choose to visit our website, your visit and any dispute over privacy is subject to this Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions of Use.

 

11.Contact Us. For more information or if you have questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Policy, please email us at: support@bikeshare.metro.net.