Privacy Policy

This privacy policy ("Policy") explains how we, Joya Communications Inc. DBA Marco Polo ("Joya" or "we"), makers of the Marco Polo® video sharing app (the "Marco Polo App" or the "App") use and protect the personal information of people who use the App or who visit Marco Polo websites such as www.marcopolo.me (the "Marco Polo Website"). We will refer to the Marco Polo App and Marco Polo Website collectively as the "Service" or "Marco Polo."

Marco Polo is a communication service. To provide Marco Polo, we collect your "Personal Information," which is information that directly or indirectly relates to you. We store the Personal Information that we need to operate our Service so you can communicate and feel close with the people you choose.

This Policy applies to anyone who accesses the Service. By visiting the Website and/or using the App, you acknowledge that the collection, use, and sharing of your information will take place as described in this Policy.

Privacy Principles

We value your privacy. We are committed to giving you control over your content, limiting the information we collect, and providing a place where you and your friends and family can create, store, and revisit conversations that help you feel close.

We also won't try to profit from your privacy. We have two fundamental principles when it comes to Personal Information:

  1. We don't sell your Personal Information.
  2. We don't use your Personal Information to show you third-party ads.

What We Collect

To operate the Service, we may collect Personal Information.

Information We Collect About You

Basic Account Data

Marco Polo uses mobile phone numbers as unique identifiers so that it is easy for you to find and communicate with other people you know. To create a Marco Polo account ("Account"), you provide your mobile number, your name and your email address, and may choose to provide your photo, birth day and birth month. Only other registered Marco Polo users that:

  • already have your phone number in their phone's address book,
  • are in a group with you,
  • create a chat with you, or
  • you invited to Marco Polo

may see your name, photo, and birth day and month. Note that users who have you in their contacts will see you by the name they've saved and not by the name you provided to Marco Polo. For example, your spouse will still see you as "Love" when they use the App if that's how you appear in their phone's address book. If you choose to provide them, we collect your birth day and month so people you know get reminded when it's your birthday.

Content

Marco Polo is a cloud service. We may collect and store the content you create, including video, voice, photo, and note messages (collectively, "Polo Messages" or "Polos"), video reactions within a Polo ("Video Reactions"), short video clips you share with selected contacts ("Seconds"), and video responses to a Sharecast ("Private Messages"). If you submit responses to surveys we provide in the App or elsewhere, we may also collect and store your responses. We may also generate transcripts and closed captions of your Polos or receive summaries of your Polos (we’ll call transcripts, closed captions, and summaries, “Polo text features”) unless you opt out of those features.

We store this Personal Information on our servers so that you can access your data anytime from any of your devices that have the Marco Polo App without having to rely on third-party backups or use up your phone's memory. Our servers are located in the United States. Depending where you or people you are communicating with are located, data may travel through secure networks outside of the United States.

Polo Messages can be sent in one-on-one chats, groups, or Sharecasts.

Groups. Anyone can create or be added to a chat with more than two people ("Group") in the App. The creator of a Group automatically becomes the Group Admin and, by default, anyone in the Group can add or remove anyone else in the Group, or duplicate the Group. Learn more about Groups.

Sharecast. Sharecast is a feature of the App that allows a Sharecast owner to share Polo Messages with Sharecast participants. Sharecast participants cannot see who the other Sharecast participants are. Participants can respond to the Sharecast owner through Private Messages that cannot be seen by other participants. Learn more about Sharecast.

Contacts

You may choose to provide us with your friends' contact information as stored on your phone. We ask your permission before getting access to your contacts, and you can still use the App without giving it access to your contacts (though you will have a harder time finding people you know who also use Marco Polo).

If you grant us permission to access information about your contacts, which might include their name, profile picture, and phone number(s), we can notify you if any of your contacts are on Marco Polo and when one of your contacts creates a Marco Polo Account. We also notify your contacts on Marco Polo that you have joined.

We do not store this contact information on our servers. When you open the App, we check to see if any of your contacts are on Marco Polo by running the phone numbers in your contacts to match them with any registered Marco Polo accounts. On our servers, we only store (i) contact information of people you have chats with on Marco Polo and (ii) the phone number of people you have invited to join Marco Polo.

We run an algorithm that uses this contact information to suggest which of your contacts you might like to connect with on Marco Polo. We do not invite anyone in your contacts to join Marco Polo without your permission.

Customer Support

If you contact Marco Polo support, any Personal Information you may share with us is used only for the purposes of researching the issue and contacting you about your request. Depending on your request, we may need you to provide information to validate your Marco Polo account.

Information We Collect Automatically

Technical Information

We use some additional technical information, as described below, to analyze usage trends and give us more information about how people use the Service to personalize and better the user experience.

We use third-party analytics Service Providers (as more fully described below, and including Google Analytics and Amplitude) to automatically log information about you and your computer or mobile device, and how you interact with the Service. For example, when you access the Service, we may log your operating system type, browser type and language, the pages you viewed, how long you spent on a page, access times, Internet protocol (IP) address, your mobile device ID, unique user ID, wireless carrier, and information about your use of and actions on the Service.

Cookies. The only cookies we use are those to operate and provide our Service on the web. We do not use cookies for profiling or advertising. The cookies we use are small text files that allow us to provide and customize our Service, and in doing so, provide you with a better user experience.

Web beacons. We may log information using digital images called web beacons on our Service or in our emails. We use web beacons to manage cookies, count visits, and to learn which emails are read and acted on, and which are not.

Adjusting your settings/tracking options. You are welcome to adjust your browser or operating system settings to limit certain tracking or to decline cookies. Doing so will not change your experience in the Marco Polo App, but may affect certain functionality on the Website.

Use of Personal Information

We use and process your Personal Information to operate and provide Marco Polo in accordance with our Terms of Service and to further our legitimate interests in providing an effective and innovative Service to our customers and to detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, safety, or security issues.

We may use the Personal Information we collect from and about you to:

  • Operate, maintain, and improve Marco Polo;
  • Allow you to find and connect with your friends (if you share access to Contacts);
  • Let people you are connected with on the App know about your activity on Marco Polo;
  • Analyze usage and trends and personalize and improve Marco Polo and your experience using the Service;
  • Respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service;
  • Send information including confirmations, invoices, technical notices, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
  • Send marketing emails that promote the use of Marco Polo from which you can opt-out as described below;
  • Protect, investigate, and deter against fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activity; and
  • Provide and deliver products and services that you request.

Our marketing emails tell you how to unsubscribe. If you unsubscribe from marketing emails, we may still send you non-marketing emails and notifications, which may include information about your account, our business dealings with you, and updates regarding our policies.

Sharing of Personal Information

We may share the Personal Information we collect from and about you

  • with other App users, according to your account preferences and consistent with our Terms of Service;
  • for legal, protection, and safety purposes;
  • in response to a request for information if we believe disclosure is required by law;
  • to protect the rights and property of Joya Communications Inc., our agents, customers, and others, including by enforcing our agreements, policies, and Terms of Service;
  • with those who need it to do work for us (our Service Providers, as defined below); and
  • if Marco Polo or substantially all of our assets are acquired by a third party. If we are acquired, that third party will be required to treat Personal Information in a manner consistent with this Policy.

We do not sell your personal information and we do not share your personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.

Other Marco Polo Users

Other users of Marco Polo with whom you choose to communicate on the App will be given some of your Personal Information. These other users may be located anywhere in the world. Note that by entering into the Terms of Service and choosing to communicate with such other users of the App, you are instructing us, as part of our contract with you, to transfer your Personal Information, on your behalf, to those users in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You may also choose to invite people to Marco Polo, such as to join your Seconds, a Sharecast, or a Group, by sending them a unique link.

Service Providers

We work with third parties to provide some of our Service ("Service Providers"). Service Providers will have access to your Personal Information needed to perform their business functions, but may not use or share that Personal Information for purposes outside the scope of their functions related to the Service. This includes Service Providers who help with technical and hosting support; security and fraud management; payment processing; sending SMS, email, and in-app notifications; supporting features of the Service; user analytics; and customer feedback and support. Depending on the Service Provider, we may share information you provide, including your contact information and content, and technical information we automatically collect from your devices, such as information about your usage of our Service.

If you are outside the United States, we share your Personal Information with certain third-party providers in the United States, and such transfers are subject to appropriate safeguards.

Our Commitment to Children's Privacy

We do not direct the Service to, nor do we knowingly collect any Personal Information from, children under 13. Children under 13 are not eligible to use the Service. If we learn that a user is under 13 years of age, we will take steps to remove that user's Personal Information from our databases and to prevent that user from utilizing the Service.

Managing Your Information & Notification Choices

You can manage your Personal Information in the Apps' Settings. This includes updating information about you, changing your phone number, and deleting your Account.

If you allow, push notifications will be sent to you regarding activities on the Service. You may choose to receive fewer push notifications by going to Settings and selecting the "Send Me Fewer Notifications" option, or to stop receiving such notifications by selecting the "Do Not Disturb" option.

We may also communicate with you via informational, transactional, or marketing emails and/or text messages.

By default, Marco Polo sends you informational, transactional, and marketing emails, including regarding activities on the Service, like when you receive a Polo from one of your contacts. You may choose to unsubscribe from emails by clicking "Unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. If you unsubscribe, we may still need to send you non-marketing emails about your account, our business dealings with you (e.g., emails regarding AppStore or Google Play subscriptions you have with us), or updates to our policies.

We may also send you text notifications. You may opt out of receiving text messages by replying "stop" to the last message received.

You may also send requests to privacy@marcopolo.me about your Personal Information and to update your Personal Information.

The Service may contain links to other third-party websites or applications. Any information you provide on those sites is subject to that third party's privacy policy. Our Policy does not apply to such sites, and we are not responsible for the privacy and security practices and policies of those third-party sites or applications.

Security of Your Personal Information

We are committed to protecting the security of your Personal Information. We have taken certain physical, administrative, and technical steps to help safeguard the information we collect from and about you. While we take steps to help ensure the integrity and security of our network and systems, we cannot guarantee our security measures.

Your Data Privacy Rights and How to Exercise Them

Certain privacy laws, like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), provide rights to individuals located in certain areas about their Personal Information. We apply these privacy rights to all of our customers, including the following:

  • Right to access: You can access certain personal information associated with your account. You have a right to know what data we have about you and can request a copy of your Polos in an easily accessible format.
  • Right to deletion: You can request that we delete certain personal information we have about you, including your account information as described further below and your content.
  • Right to correction: You can request that we correct the personal information we have about you if inaccurate.
  • Right to File a Complaint: If you are a resident in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, you can lodge a complaint about our practices regarding your personal information with the supervisory authority of your country.
  • Right not to be discriminated against: You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.

How to Exercise Your Privacy Rights

If you would like to get more information about access, correction, or deletion of the Personal Information that we have about you, you can do so by contacting us at privacy@marcopolo.me. You can manage, change, delete, and access certain information through the App. Specifically, you can access your Polos and individually delete them in your storyline and chat archive. You can also correct Personal Information, manage notifications, and restrict people from downloading or forwarding Polos in Settings. For any requests that you are unable to accomplish in the App, including deletion of all your sent Polos; deletion of all your sent Polos in a particular chat; erasure of your Personal Information including your content; getting information about, accessing, or deleting your sent Polos that exist in the App but are no longer available to you; or to exercise any other data rights, please contact our customer support team at privacy@marcopolo.me. We will need to verify your account before processing your request.

Polo Storage and Retention

The amount of time Polos are accessible in your account and how long we store them depends on whether you, or someone you are in a conversation with, are a Subscriber.

Generally, we store Polos and they are accessible for approximately 13 months (the “Storage Period”); if there is a Subscriber in a conversation, we store Polos and they are accessible to Subscribers beyond the Storage Period for as long as there is a Subscriber in that conversation. However, if the sender chooses to delete their Polo/s, such Polos will be permanently deleted and no longer accessible. Polos that exceed the Storage Period and are not in a conversation that includes a Subscriber will be permanently deleted from our servers.

You have the ability to manage your content on the App. For Polos you have sent, this includes permanently deleting your Polos, downloading and forwarding your Polos, and restricting others from downloading and forwarding your Polos. For Polos you have received, you have the ability to remove them from your account and to download and forward them (if the sender has not restricted their sent Polo settings). Learn more about Polo Storage.

Deletion of Accounts and Personal Information Including Content

We may retain the Personal Information you provide as long as you have an Account as further described here. We may also delete your Account if it is inactive for two years.

If you or we delete your Account, your last name, profile picture, email, birth day and birth month, and any Seconds or Sharecast Private Messages you recorded will be deleted, plus you will be removed from any Marco Polo Groups you were part of and any Sharecasts you were a participant in. Since we do not store your contacts on our servers, we do not retain your contacts' information upon account deletion. Polos, Polo thumbnails, Video Reactions, Sharecasts, and Polo text features may remain accessible to other people you shared them with through Marco Polo as described in this Policy and the Terms of Service, and may remain on our servers. We retain your phone number and a hash of your email in order to respond to any data requests you might have after your Account has been deleted. Note that if a customer has been reported and verified as deceased, we will not treat their account as inactive.

In the App from the storyline or the chat archive, you may permanently delete Polos you sent that are still available to you in the App. These Polos are deleted from all accounts in the chat and our servers.

In the App, a Sharecast owner can delete their Sharecast from all accounts with access to the Sharecast and from our servers.

You may also request deletion of the content you have shared on Marco Polo by emailing privacy@marcopolo.me. Please note that such deletion permanently deletes the content from our servers and from the Marco Polo accounts of whomever you sent it to. If you request that we delete your account or content, it may take up to 60 days to delete your information after we begin the account deletion process or receive a content deletion request. After the information is deleted, it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery.

Contact Information

We welcome your comments or questions about this Policy. You may contact us at privacy@marcopolo.me.

Changes to Privacy Policy

We may modify this Policy from time to time. If we make any changes, we will change the effective date below. We also may provide additional notice, as applicable, depending on the type of change.

Effective date: August 14, 2024.