Privacy Policy

Lycos is updating our Privacy Notice(s) to comply with the GDPR, ensuring that all individuals whose personal information we process have been informed of why we need it, how it is used, what their rights are, who the information is disclosed to, and what safeguarding measures are in place to protect their information. We are revising our consent mechanisms for obtaining personal data, ensuring that individuals understand what they are providing, why and how we use it and giving clear, defined ways to consent to us processing their information. We have developed stringent processes for recording consent, making sure that we can evidence an affirmative opt-in along with time and date records, and an easy to see and access way to withdraw consent at any time. To find out more please contact our DPO at: privacy@lycos.com.

Welcome to the Lycos Network, owned and operated by Lycos, Inc. and its subsidiary and affiliate corporations, successors, and assigns (collectively referred to as "Lycos"). All Products and Services on the following web sites are made available subject to this Privacy Policy: www.lycos.com, www.tripod.com, www.angelfire.com, www.hotbot.com, www.whowhere.com, and www.htmlgear.com. By using our Products and Services, you agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by this Privacy Policy or any other privacy or data collection policy applicable to any individual Lycos Network Web site and to receive any required legal notices regarding our privacy practices through the continuous posting of a clear and conspicuous link to the current version of this Privacy Policy throughout the Lycos Network near the bottom of most pages. If you become an inactive user, we will adhere to the policies and practices as described in this Privacy Policy, which may be revised from time to time.

Please note that the Lycos Network contains links to other sites and occasionally allows other sites to be co-branded with the Lycos name. Web sites that are linked to Lycos Network sites or carry the Lycos brand for co-branding or marketing purposes may have privacy policies which differ from that of the Lycos Network.

The Lycos Network Privacy Policy discloses our privacy practices and contains detailed information about the following:

  1. What information of yours does the Lycos Network collect?
  2. What organization is collecting the information?
  3. What are "cookies" and "Web beacons" and how does Lycos use them?
  4. How does the Lycos Network use the information?
  5. With whom does the Lycos Network share the information that is collected?
  6. How can you access or edit your information?
  7. What are the policies concerning advertising on the Lycos Network?
  8. What is the opt-out policy for the Lycos Network?
  9. What types of security procedures are in place to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of your information?
  10. How does the Lycos Network comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)?
  11. What are the policies concerning software downloads?
  12. Where is personally-identifiable information stored and processed?
  13. What you can do to better protect yourself on the Internet?

  1. What information of yours does the Lycos Network collect?

    Our goal is to become your favorite Internet destination by providing the information, services, and product offerings that are most relevant to you. To achieve this goal, the Lycos Network must collect information so we can understand what makes you different from its millions of other unique users. While you are not required to register for any services on the Lycos Network, some Products and Services may not function properly or may not be accessible unless you do.

    Information collected online is usually defined as being either anonymous or personally identifiable.

    • Lycos collects anonymous information, which refers to data that cannot be tied back to a specific individual. For example, Lycos collects some information each time a visitor comes to a Lycos Network site so we can improve the overall quality of the visitor's online experience. Lycos collects the visitor's IP address, referral data (e.g., the Internet address of the last Web page visited by a user before clicking over to a Lycos Network site), and browser and platform type (e.g., an Explorer browser on a Microsoft platform). Lycos also collects aggregate search terms from its HotBot and Lycos search services. Lycos collects this user information for purposes of internal reporting, product monitoring, product improvement, and targeted advertising. In addition, Lycos collects your responses to online surveys displayed on the Lycos Network; these anonymous and optional surveys will seek your opinions about the Products and Services or the advertisements displayed on the Lycos Network. You do not have to register with the Lycos Network before we can collect this anonymous information.
    • Personally identifiable information refers to data that tells us specifically who you are, such as your name and postal address. Lycos collects personally identifiable information in the following ways from different parts of its network of Web sites:
      1. Lycos Network Registration: When you register to use one or more Products or Services on the Lycos Network, you may provide Lycos with such information as your name, postal address, ZIP Code, email address, birth date, gender, telephone number, occupation, marital status or other information. While not all of this data is required for our services to function, we are better able to customize your experience if you volunteer complete and accurate information. Users who complete the registration process are given a Lycos Network ID and can take full advantage of the many offerings across the Lycos Network.
      2. Other Registration: In addition to registration for various Products or Services on the Lycos Network, we may ask you for personally identifiable information at other times, including when you enter a sweepstakes, contest or promotion sponsored by the Lycos Network. As described below, our co-brand partners also may ask for personally identifiable information. If you register for premium or subscription services, we will ask for a valid credit card number. If you choose not to provide the requested information, the Lycos Network may not be able to offer you some of the personalized services that depend on this type of information to function.
      3. Correspondence: If you contact the Lycos Network, we may keep a record of that correspondence. We do not collect any email addresses of those who communicate with the Lycos Network via email. We use the information provided so that we may respond to the email.

      Lycos reserves the right to collect certain information and store it in connection with your account. This information includes information about the different sites that you visit within the Lycos Network as well as the time and frequency at which you visit them. This information also includes the content that you transmit or post on the Lycos Network. For further information about Lycos's policy on maintaining transmitted or posted content, please see the Lycos Network Terms and Conditions.

  2. What organization is collecting the information?

    When you register for a service within the Lycos Network, that information is generally collected and maintained solely by Lycos unless specifically stated otherwise at the point of collection. If data is collected and/or maintained by any company other than Lycos, we will tell you at the point of collection. If you do not want to share your information with that company, you can choose not to use that service.

    Lycos runs many promotions and sweepstakes across its Network. These promotions may be sponsored or co-sponsored by third-party companies. Data collected during a promotion is typically shared with the sponsor or co-sponsor. Lycos will inform you at the point of collection whether or not we are sharing your personal data as a result of your participation in a promotion or sweepstakes. If you do not want to have the Lycos Network share your data, you can choose not to participate in the promotion or sweepstakes.

    Be aware that Lycos Network sponsors and other advertisers have links on the Network that take you to external sites. Some of these sites may collect personally identifiable information from you, and third-party advertising networks for Lycos may use cookies and Web beacons in their advertisements to collect certain information from you. Please see Section 7 of this policy for more information about advertising on the Lycos Network. While Lycos hopes that all third parties involved adhere to our policies regarding the privacy of our users, the Lycos Network Privacy Policy does not cover third-party data collection practices and the Lycos Network does not assume any responsibility for any actions of third parties.

  3. What are "cookies", "Web beacons" and "Social Media Widgets" and how does Lycos use them?

    In addition to the personally identifiable information that Lycos actively collects when you register, we also collect anonymous information passively using cookies and Web beacons. This technology plays an important role in making the Internet work, but there is much confusion among Internet users about what cookies and Web beacons are and how they are used.

    A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that is transferred from a Web site to the hard drive of your computer so that the site administrator may identify your computer and passively track its activities on the Web site. This unique number identifies your Web browser to our computer system whenever you visit one of the sites in the Lycos Network. A cookie will not allow a Web site to learn any personally identifiable information (such as your real name and address) that you have not otherwise disclosed.

    Cookies allow Lycos to automatically remember your Web browser when you visit our Network of Web sites. To help serve you better, Lycos generally uses cookies to:

    • Allow us to deliver products and services more efficiently. By storing certain registration and preference information on cookies or associating cookies with registration, preference or profile information stored on our computers, we can deliver products and services that use such information more quickly and efficiently for more users. This information is normally saved in an encrypted form that only Lycos can interpret.
    • Prevent others from using your account. On some Lycos Network sites, cookies help us efficiently determine that only one user is logged on under the same member name at a time.
    • Measure statistics such as audience size and traffic patterns. This information is only collected in aggregate form and will not be linked to your personally identifiable information.
    • Display advertisements. Cookies let us know whether a Web browser has seen a particular advertisement (so we can show you a variety of material) and count the number of advertisements displayed to a particular browser. We also use cookies to customize the advertising you see based on non-personally identifiable demographic information that you provide when you register. Third-party advertising networks for Lycos may issue cookies on the Lycos Network and other sites when serving advertisements.

    The use of cookies by our partners is not covered by our privacy policy. We do not have access or control over these cookies. The use of cookies is an industry standard, and they are currently used on most major Web sites. It is possible to adjust your Web browser preferences to alert you when a cookie is sent to your hard drive, or to refuse cookies altogether. While Lycos does not require you to use cookies, keep in mind that certain sites and services will not function properly if you set your browser to refuse all cookies.

    Web beacons, also known as clear GIFs or single-pixel GIFs, are small image files that Lycos may place on Web pages and within Web-based email newsletters that we send. Working in conjunction with cookies, Web beacons allow Lycos to accurately count the number of unique users who have visited a specific page on the Lycos Network and the number of times those pages are displayed. We can also use Web beacons to let us know how many people opened a Web-based email newsletter. This information is only collected in aggregate form and will not be linked to your personally identifiable information.

    Without cookies and Web beacons, it would be difficult for Lycos to know which services have a larger audience than others. Tracking audience size helps us to better understand when to launch new services and enhance the current offerings. Keep in mind that any image file on a Web page can act as a Web beacon. Third-party advertising networks for Lycos may use Web beacons in their advertisements.

    Because Web beacons work in conjunction with cookies, you can prevent our Web beacon from collecting anonymous information by setting your Web browser to refuse all cookies or the Lycos Network cookie in particular. Web beacons are built into our Web pages, so non-functional Web beacons will continue to appear even if you refuse the Lycos Network cookie.

    Third parties use flash cookies, also known as "local shared objects," on our sites that employ Flash technology. Flash cookies are small files similar to browser cookies and are used to remember the site's settings to personalize the look and feel of the site. Like normal cookies, Flash cookies are represented as small files on your computer. One method of preventing Flash cookies from being placed is to adjust your preferences in the Macromedia Website Privacy Settings Panel at macromedia.com.

    Our Web site also includes Social Media Widgets, such as the Facebook Like button and Widgets, such as the Share this button or interactive mini-programs that run on our site. These Features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the Feature to function properly. Social Media Features and Widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Site. Your interactions with these Features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.

  4. How does the Lycos Network use the information it collects?

    Any personally identifiable information you share with Lycos when registering for Products and Services at any of our Network sites is maintained and accessible only by Lycos unless specifically stated otherwise. Lycos requests information from its users so that users can enjoy customized experiences across the Lycos Network, including personalization services, interactive communications, online games and much more. Most of these Products and Services are available to you at no cost, and Lycos displays advertisements so we can continue to provide great content and services free of charge. We can also better prepare future content based on your interests.

    The following are examples of how the Lycos Network may use the information it collects:

    • Lycos uses the information collected (both anonymous and personal) to personalize and enhance the content you see on the Lycos Network, such as news, stock portfolios, weather reports, sports scores, horoscopes, advertisements and more. In some cases, our Products and Services cannot work unless you have volunteered accurate information (for example, we need your valid ZIP Code to display weather conditions in your local area).
    • Lycos collects anonymous data and shares it with third-party advertisers in an aggregate form. We will disclose to those advertisers the numbers of Lycos users who have certain demographic characteristics and the number of those people who have seen and "clicked" on a particular display. We will also disclose to those advertisers the overall demographics available regarding who saw and "clicked" on their advertisement. In addition, we may disclose anonymous results from online surveys to third-party advertisers or to Lycos's product and service providers. No personally identifiable information will be disclosed as part of this process.
    • Lycos also uses the aggregate data to perform statistical analyses of the collective characteristics and behavior of our registered users and visitors, to measure user demographics and interests regarding specific areas of the Lycos Network, and to analyze how and where best to use our resources. Without such data, we would not know which parts of the Lycos Network are the most popular, and we would not be able to change and update the content and services appropriately. Please note that we may share this aggregate information with third-party companies.
    • Lycos collects an aggregate list of search terms from its HotBot and Lycos search services. This information is collected anonymously and used primarily for the purposes of product development, monitoring, and improvement, as well as targeted advertising. Please note, however, that we may share this anonymous information with third-party companies.
    • Lycos sometimes uses an individual registered user's data to "pre-populate" online forms that are displayed for the purpose of collecting additional individual data by the Lycos Network, selected third-party sites, and/or sponsors and advertisers.
    • Lycos may, from time to time, use your information to contact you about changes or enhancements to Products and Services on the Lycos Network, issues regarding your account, or Lycos Network Terms and Conditions violations or suspensions.
    • If you enter a sweepstakes or a contest on the Lycos Network, we will use the information you provided to contact you in the event you win.
    • If you told Lycos that you were interested in receiving special offers from select Lycos clients, Lycos or third parties on Lycos's behalf (i) will send you email and postal mail about products and services that we feel may be of interest to you, and (ii) may combine information we have about you with information we obtain about you from third parties for the purpose of providing you with more appropriate products, services, and offerings. If you do not wish to participate in this program, please follow the opt-out instructions set forth in Section 8 of this policy.
    • Subscription Customers: Your credit card information is used to collect your recurrent subscription fees for subscription services.

  5. With whom does the Lycos Network share the information that is collected?

    We will share your information with third parties only in the ways that are described in this privacy policy. We do not sell your personal information to third parties. Whenever you provide registration information on co-branded or private label sites, that data may be shared with the third-party company providing the service. You should make every effort to read the individual privacy policies of such third parties and make an informed decision on your own whether to continue based upon these sites' privacy practices and your own discretion. You may opt-out of sharing your information with such providers by choosing not to use that service or content.

    When you find goods or services through Lycos Shopping, you submit data directly to the individual merchants from whom you order goods or services. Please review carefully the privacy policies of particular merchants that you access through Lycos Shopping.

    In addition to finding co-branded and private label sites, you will find direct links on our site to sites offered by third parties. Some of these sites are authorized to use the Lycos Network brands and/or logos. No third-party sites are covered by this Privacy Policy. If you feel that a site using a Lycos Network brand and/or logo does not follow an acceptable privacy policy, please contact the Lycos Privacy Site Coordinator by email at privacy@lycos.com.

    Lycos may disclose information about individual users to third parties who agree to provide services to Lycos and who agree to maintain the confidentiality of such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. These third parties may provide a variety of services to Lycos, including, without limitation, processing and storing user information, helping to create new content and promotions for the Lycos Network, sending or coordinating the sending of marketing communications that users have consented to receive, and targeted advertising. These third party service providers are authorized to use your personal information only as necessary to provide these services to us. Lycos will disclose information about individual users to governmental or judicial authorities or law enforcement agencies, or to other individuals or entities in response to subpoena, court order, or other legal process. In matters involving a danger to personal or public safety, Lycos may voluntarily provide information to appropriate governmental authorities.

    Lycos may share non-personally identifiable information about individual users with its parent company, Ybrant Digital Ltd., for purposes of providing targeted advertising both within and outside the Lycos Network. To review Ybrant's privacy policy, please click on the following link: http://www.ybrantdigital.com/privacy-policy.

    If you elect to receive Lycos Registration Offers during registration for the Lycos Network, Lycos will release personally identifiable information to the applicable sponsor or advertiser. Information released may include name, email address, postal address and other information supplied in the Lycos Network registration process. Please note that the sponsor or advertiser will not be bound by this Lycos Network Privacy Policy.

    If Lycos is acquired by or merged with another company, Lycos may transfer personally-identifiable information about you to that company. Lycos will notify you in the event that your personally-identifiable information is transferred under these circumstances and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

    If a third party acquires, or otherwise receives in a transaction with Lycos, one or more of the Lycos Products and Services, then Lycos will transfer personally-identifiable information about users of those Products and Services to the third party. The third party will handle the Products and Services in accordance with its own policies and procedures and not in accordance with Lycos policies and procedures. You will be notified if your personally-identifiable information is transferred under these circumstances by an email sent to the email address you provided or by a posting on the site that offers the relevant Products or Services.

    Lycos Domains Customers: Users of Lycos Domains will be required to designate an administrative contact and, in some instances, a technical contact for the domain names they register. Lycos will assume that the Lycos member who registers for the Lycos Domains service will serve as these contacts, although users will have the ability to designate other contacts. Lycos will disclose the name, address, phone number, fax number, and email address of the administrative and technical contacts to Lycos's domain name provider, which in turn will make such information publicly available through an online WHOIS database.

  6. How can you access or edit your information?

    The Lycos Network provides its registered users the ability to access and edit or delete the personal information in their user profiles. You can access your user profile by following these steps:

    • Go directly to this page. You will receive a prompt to log in to the Network with your Lycos Network Member Name and password.
    • After you log in, you will be taken to the Membership Information page, which contains your user profile. If you see a field that needs to be updated, click the appropriate Edit button.
    • Make the necessary changes and click the Update button to save your changes.

      • We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

  7. What are the policies concerning advertising on the Lycos Network?

    We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads and collect information when you visit the Lycos Network. These companies may use information (not including your name, address email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. Third party advertisers' use of cookies is subject to their own privacy policies. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here

    Lycos works with third-party ad serving companies, including but not limited to, Right Media, Inc. ("Right Media"), OpenX Technologies, Inc. ("OpenX"), LiveRail, and Adap.tv. For more information about the privacy practices and policies of Right Media, OpenX, LiveRail, or Adap.tv, please click on the following links: http://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/biz/rightmedia/details.html, http://www.openx.org/about/privacy-policy, http://www.liverail.com/privacy-policy/, http://adap.tv/policy.html

  8. What is the opt-out policy for the Lycos Network?

    You can opt out of sharing your personally identifiable information with any third-party service or content providers in any areas of the Lycos Network by choosing not to use such areas.

    In addition, you may opt-opt of sharing your personally identifiable information with third-party service providers and sponsors by clearing the appropriate checkboxes at the point of initial collection. You will see these checkboxes near the bottom of the registration page.

    After the point of initial collection, we offer you the ability to opt-out of receiving updates and information about new Lycos products and services, as well as direct mail offers from selected service providers and sponsors. The instructions to opt out of most Lycos Network email newsletters and direct mail communications are the same as the instructions for editing user information profiles. Simply follow these steps:

    • Go directly to this page. You will receive a prompt to log in to the Network with your Lycos Network Member Name and password.
    • After you log in, you will be taken to the Membership Information page, which contains your email subscriptions. Click the Edit button under the Email Subscriptions banner.
    • Make the necessary changes and click the Update button to save your changes.

    In addition, all Lycos Network newsletters and direct email communications have easy-to-follow unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email.

    To remove your listing from Lycos or WhoWhere people search, please send a request to Lycos Customer Service via the feedback form here. Please provide the exact name, address and telephone number of the listing you wish to be removed. Lycos obtains listing information from Yellowbook. To remove your listing from the Yellowbook database, and to help prevent your listing from reappearing in Lycos or WhoWhere people search, please contact Yellowbook directly and request removal of your information.

    If you have a question about the Lycos opt-out process that is not answered here, please send an email to privacy@lycos.com.

  9. What kinds of security procedures are in place to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of your information?

    The Lycos Network has security measures in place to attempt to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of your user data under our control. Lycos uses physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect any personally identifiable data stored on its computers. Only authorized employees have access to the information you provide us. Credit card numbers used to purchase premium services are encrypted prior to transmission.

    While we cannot guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration to data will not occur, we take many precautions to prevent such unfortunate occurrences.

    You are ultimately responsible for the security of your Lycos Network ID and password. Please take care when using and storing them. Lycos recommends that you do not divulge your password to anyone. You should log out of your browser at the end of each computer session to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence, especially if several people have access to your personal computer or you are using a computer in a public place like a library or Internet cafe.

  10. How does the Lycos Network comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)?

    The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 provides safeguards to protect children who use the Internet by regulating the online collection of personal information from children under the age of 13. Because of these safeguards, children under 13 are not able to access or use all Products and Services on the Lycos Network. Parents of children under 13 can authorize their children to use some of our services by signing up for a Lycos Family Membership.

    Parents can learn more about the Lycos Family Membership and obtain detailed answers about our compliance with COPPA by clicking here.

  11. What are the policies concerning software downloads?

    Lycos may make certain software available for download. This software may be created by Lycos or by third party licensors. The software may be programmed to access our servers and/or third party servers in order for the software to operate and in order to check for program upgrades or enhancements. From time to time, new files may be added to your computer in order to upgrade the software or add new functionality to it. These changes may occur without notice to you. If at any time you wish to uninstall the software program, you may do so by following the instructions that accompany the software. Use of the software will be governed by a separate license agreement.

  12. Where is personally-identifiable information stored and processed?

    Personal information collected by Lycos may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Lycos or its agents maintain facilities. By using the Lycos Network, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country.

  13. What you can do to better protect yourself on the Internet?

    Know the risks.

    Meeting new people in an online community (chat room, forum, newsgroup, message board, Web page, etc.) is one of the best things about the Internet, but you should always be careful about disclosing personal information such as an actual name, member name, email address, and so on. This information may be collected and used by others within the online community to send unsolicited email messages from other parties, outside the Lycos Network. Some of the messages you receive may be useful to you, but some may not. In an effort to curtail unsolicited email, Lycos blocks certain email addresses and domains from sending messages to email addresses at our domains. To request removal of your personal information from our online community, contact us at privacy@lycos.com. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why.

    Educate yourself.

    Search the Web for as much information as you can about how to protect your privacy. Look for a privacy policy on the Web sites you visit. The Federal Trade Commission has a great Web site with useful information on being a Savvy Internet Traveler along with other privacy initiatives. Additional privacy resources can be found at by clicking on any of the following links

    Department of Education: Parents Guide to the Internet
    http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/internet/

    Better Business Bureau (BBB)
    http://www.bbbonline.com

    Center for Democracy and Technology
    http://www.cdt.org/privacy/ - Data Privacy
    http://www.cdt.org/privacy/guide/ - Guide to Online Privacy

    Direct Marketing Association (DMA)
    http://www.the-dma.org/

    Electronic Frontier Foundation - non-profit dedicated to protecting public interest in online privacy.
    http://www.eff.org

    Net Nanny - child safety software that filters potentially harmful Web sites
    http://www.netnanny.com/

    NetCoalition.com
    http://www.netcoalition.com

    Network Advertising Initiative
    http://www.networkadvertising.org/

    DAA Opt-out
    http://www.aboutads.info/choices

    Online Privacy Alliance
    http://www.privacyalliance.org/

    The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
    http://www.privacyrights.org/

    Contact Us

    Questions regarding this policy should be directed to:

    Lycos Privacy Site Coordinator
    Lycos, Inc.
    177 Huntington Ave Ste 1703 #60001
    Boston, MA 02115-3151
    (617) 331-1647
    privacy@lycos.com

    Updates

    The Lycos Network will update this policy from time to time so please check back periodically. When such changes occur, you will see the word "Updated" next to the Privacy Policy link on the front page of each site on the Lycos Network. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will prominently post such changes prior to implementing them.

Last updated May 8, 2018.