Terms and Policies
Last revised: 02/04/2024
Terms
Dear user,
Here you’ll find the fine print about the use of our site, app, and other services. Apologies for all the dense legal jargon, but there are several things we need to explain in detail:
Empathy Project Inc. (and its affiliates) (“Empathy”, “us” or “we”) welcomes you (the “User(s)” or “you”) to our website at: www.empathy.com (and its subdomains) (the “Site”), which offers general information regarding Empathy and its Services, and to our mobile application (the “App”), which provides an online platform for dealing with aspects of loss (the “Services”, as further defined below). Each of the Site’s and the App’s Users may use it in accordance with the terms and conditions hereunder.
Please review Section 25 (“Dispute Resolution”) carefully. These Terms of Use require the use of arbitration on an individual basis to resolve disputes, rather than jury trials or class actions. These Terms of Use limit Empathy’s liability and the remedies available to you in the event of a dispute.
1. Acceptance of the Terms
By entering, connecting to, accessing or using the Site and by entering, connecting to, accessing, using, installing and/or downloading the App on your mobile phone, device or tablet that you own or control, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the following terms of use, including the terms of our Privacy Policy available at: empathy.com/legal/privacy (the “Privacy Policy”) (collectively, the “Terms”), and you agree to be bound by the Terms, to comply with all applicable laws and regulations regarding your use of the Site and/or the App, and you acknowledge that these Terms constitute a binding and enforceable legal contract between Empathy and you. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not enter, connect to, access or use the Site and/or the App in any manner, do not install the App and/or promptly uninstall the App from your mobile phone, device or tablet that you own or control.
Our App (and the related Services) are available only to individuals who (a) are at least eighteen (18) years old; and (b) possess the legal capacity to enter into these Terms and to form a binding agreement under any applicable law. Therefore, you hereby represent and warrant that you are of legal age in your jurisdiction to form a binding contract and that you possess the legal authority and capacity to enter into these Terms, to use the Services in accordance with these Terms, and to fully perform your obligations hereunder.
2. The Services
Empathy offers an online platform for dealing with loss, through which you can, among other things, receive guidance on what steps you should take and how to deal with the different tasks that are part of dealing with the loss of a loved one. Choosing to use the Services, you will receive consultation, recommendations, support and tools for performing such steps and receive comprehensive information related thereto (the “Platform”).
In addition, and as part of the Platform, the App provides (i) the option to scan and upload all relevant documents to your personal account (such service shall be referred to as the “Vault”); and (ii) support services through a live-chat or telephone call with Empathy’s representatives (such service shall be referred to as the “Helpline”).
The Site and the App also provide comprehensive information regarding Empathy including, but not limited to, an overview of, and news regarding, Empathy and the Services, blog, job opportunities, including any other content related thereto, such as contact information, videos, text, files, logos, button icons, images, data compilations, links, other specialized content, technical data, documentation, know-how, specifications materials, designs, data, the “look and feel” of the Site and the App, algorithms, source and object code, interface, GUI, interactive features and related graphics, illustrations, drawings, animations, and other features obtained from or through the Site and the App (collectively, the “Content”).
The Site and/or the App may include the sending of push notifications, messages, emails and alerts via various means of communication.
(Collectively: the “Service(s)”)
All rights in and to the Content available on the Site and/or the App are reserved to Empathy. To the extent legally permissible, the Site and/or the App and/or the Content and/or the User-Generated Content available therein are provided on an “as-is” and “as available” basis. Empathy will not be liable for any damages or loss incurred by you or any other person as a result of or in connection with your use of the Site and/or the App and/or the Services and/or the Content and/or the User-Generated Content available therein.
The Site and/or The App and/or the Services are provided for informational purposes only and are not intended to constitute professional advice, including without limitation legal, tax, financial or health advice. Your use of the Services (including the Site, the App, the Content and/or the User-Generated Content available therein) and your reliance on any information available to you as part of the Services (including any materials, advice or recommendations provided to you) is entirely at your own risk. For the avoidance of doubt, you agree that Empathy is not liable for any recommendations its representatives provide to the Users.
The Services are provided without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement or course of performance. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information provided via our Site, App or Services. We do not represent or warrant that we will maintain backups of any data processed by us as part of providing the Services, and as such, you are solely responsible for backing up such data (which includes any data you upload to the App and your account as part of the Vault service). We are not providing any archive services for storing such data. In addition, you agree that we shall not be responsible for any unauthorized access, use or other security intrusions, failure to store, and any other damage or loss to such data to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. We do not represent or warrant any information or data you submit to us will remain confidential.
All User-Generated Content is supplied to Empathy by the relevant User, is not verified by Empathy and does not bind Empathy in any form.
We reserve our right to refuse provision of the Services to anyone, for any reason or for no reason, all subject to applicable law.
You hereby acknowledge and agree that you may be charged for internet, maintenance of network connection and data usage charges made through use of the Site and/or the App, according with the applicable rates charged by your respective third-party internet and data usage service provider as may be from time to time.
3. Consent to receive promotional text messages and calls from Empathy
a. Consent. If you consent to receive promotional text messages and calls (using artificial or prerecorded voice, live operator, and/or autodialed) from Empathy, these messages will be sent to the telephone number provided during the time of your opt-in. Text message frequency varies based on your use of the Services and interaction with Empathy. Message and data rates may apply. You agree that Empathy and any third-party provider of text messaging services are not liable to you for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, or any related rules, regulations, or FCC Orders.
b. Empathy Opt-Out and Assistance. To opt-out of any future text messages, reply “STOP” to stop receiving text messages from Empathy. For further assistance, reply to any text message from us with the word “HELP” or email us at [email protected]. You may receive an additional mobile message confirming your decision to opt out. To opt-out of future calls, ask the prerecorded message or live agent to be added to the Do Not Call list. You understand and agree that the foregoing options are the only reasonable methods of opting out.
c. Update Mobile Telephone Number. You agree to provide Empathy with a valid mobile number. You agree to promptly update your mobile telephone number upon any change or deactivation of your telephone number and to opt-out of receiving text message communications using your previous phone number before changing your telephone number applicable to the services. To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree that Empathy will not be liable for failed, delayed, or misdirected delivery of any information sent through the text message program, any errors in such information, and/or any action you may or may not take in reliance on the information or service.
4. Registration and User Account
In order to use the App, you must download the App from the applicable mobile application marketplace.
In order to use the Services, you must register and create an account (the “Account“) using a mobile phone number, as further detailed in our Privacy Policy. When you create an Account with us, you represent and warrant that you are over the age of 18, that you are of legal age in your jurisdiction to form a binding contract, that you possess the legal authority and capacity to enter into these Terms and to form a binding agreement under any applicable law, to use the Services in accordance with these Terms, and to fully perform your obligations hereunder. You represent and warrant that the information you provide us is accurate, complete, and current at all times and that you are legally authorized to disclose such information to us. Inaccurate, incomplete, or obsolete information may result in the immediate termination of your Account.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password, including but not limited to the restriction of access to your computer, mobile device and/or Account. You agree to accept responsibility for any and all activities or actions that occur under your Account and/or password. You also agree to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. You should use particular caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information. You may not assign or transfer your rights or delegate your duties under the Account without the prior written consent of Empathy. You must notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your Account or any other breach of security, and in such event you must change your password immediately via the settings in the App. We cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from any failure of yours to comply with these Terms (e.g., if someone else accesses your Account through the registration information he/she has obtained from you or through a violation by you of these Terms, or for any unauthorized use of your password or Account or any other breach of security).
If you wish to cancel and remove your Account, please use the applicable functionality within the App or send us an email of your request to: [email protected]. Your Account will terminate within a reasonable time period following your request, and from that date of termination you will no longer be able to access your Account.
Canceling your account may cause the loss of certain information you provided to us (including documents you uploaded as part of your use of the Vault service) and/or the capacity of your account. You agree that Empathy is not liable for any loss of data due to the termination or cancelation of your Account.
In order to use the Services, you acknowledge and agree that you will be required to provide Empathy with certain information, including personally identifiable information. You expressly acknowledge and agree that in order for Empathy to provide the Services, Empathy may have to access and/or use the information you provided to Empathy. A comprehensive explanation regarding the information that we collect from our Users appears in our Privacy Policy.
We have the right to disable any Account access credentials, whether chosen by you or provided by us, at any time in our sole discretion for any or no reason, including if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of these Terms.
5. Consideration
The use of our Site is currently offered free of charge, while our App (and the related Services) is provided solely to Users who have signed up for an Account subscription, which may be subject to fees (after any free trial period). The payment for use of our App will be covered by either the Users themselves or by Empathy’s Partners (e.g., your employer). The following payment terms shall apply while you subscribe to the Account:
The payment is made via the App. We may (but are not obligated to) provide a free trial subscription or other benefits from time to time, at our sole discretion.
The subscription is billed after the trial period ends. To the extent applicable, if you do not provide your credit card or other payment information before the expiration of any free trial period, access to your Account will be limited (at our’s sole discretion) until payment information and charge authorization are provided. Thereafter, your Account access will update automatically. You will receive a receipt upon the payment received.
Unless otherwise stated, our charges do not include any taxes, levies, duties or similar governmental assessments, including VAT, sales, use or withholding taxes assessable by any local, state, provincial or foreign jurisdiction (collectively “Taxes”). You are responsible for paying Taxes except those assessable against Empathy based on its revenue. We will invoice you for such Taxes if we believe we have a legal obligation to do so.
We reserve the right to charge fees for certain features or services available via our Site and/or App in the future and to modify the fees and prices for our Services at any time, at our discretion. Such pricing modifications will not affect your already paid subscription. We will notify you in advance, by placing a notice on our Site and/or App, before any charges or fees relating to such use come into effect.
Payments for your subscription will be processed through the Platform Provider (as defined below), such as Google Play or Apple App Store, from which you originally downloaded the App (an “In-App Purchase”). If you make such an In-App Purchase, then the Platform Providers’ terms and conditions will also apply. If you have any payment-related issues with In-App Purchases, then you need to contact the Platform Provider directly. More information about managing the In-App Purchases by using your device may be set out in the Platform Provider’s terms and conditions. It is your responsibility to abide by all the terms specified by the Platform Providers in their terms of use and privacy policies, and you acknowledge and agree that all payment processes are handled by the Platform Provider and are governed by such terms and policy.
6. Use Restrictions
There are certain activities and kinds of conduct that are strictly prohibited when using the Services. Please read the following restrictions carefully. Failure to comply with any of the provisions set forth herein may result (at Empathy’s sole discretion) in the termination of your use of the Services and may also expose you to civil and/or criminal liability.
You may not (and you may not permit any third-party to) unless otherwise explicitly permitted under these Terms: (a) use the Site and/or the App and/or the Content and/or the User-Generated Content for any illegal, immoral, unlawful and/or unauthorized purposes (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries); (b) use the Site and/or the App and/or the Content and/or the User-Generated Content for non-personal or commercial purposes without Empathy’s express prior written consent; (c) frame or utilize framing techniques or caches to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) on the Site or App or remove or disassociate, from the Content and/or the Site and/or the App and/or the User-Generated Content any restrictions and signs indicating proprietary rights of Empathy or its licensors, including but not limited to any proprietary notices contained in such materials (such as ©,™, or ®), and you represent and warrant that you will abide by all applicable laws in this respect; (d) interfere with or violate Users’ rights to privacy and other rights, or harvest or collect personally identifiable information about Users without their express consent, whether manually or with the use of any robot, spider or crawler, or any search or retrieval application, or use other manual or automatic device, process or method to access the Site and/or the App and retrieve, index and/or data-mine information; (e) interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Site and/or the App or the servers or networks that host the Site and/or the App, or disobey any laws, regulations, requirements, procedures or policies of such servers or networks; (f) impersonate or attempt to impersonate, falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity, or express or imply that Empathy endorses you, your site, your business or any statement you make, or present false or inaccurate information about the Services; (g) take any action that imposes, or may impose, an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our platform infrastructure, as determined by us; (h) bypass any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Site and/or the App or the server on which the Site or App is stored, or any server, computer, or database connected to the Site or the App; (i) copy, modify, alter, adapt, replicate, make available, translate, port, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any portion of the Content made available by Empathy on or through the Site and/or the App, or publicly display, reproduce, create derivative works from, perform, distribute, or otherwise use such Content and/or User-Generated Content; (j) copy, distribute, display, execute publicly, make available to the public, reduce to human readable form, decompile, disassemble, adapt, sublicense, make any commercial use of, sell, rent, transfer, lend, process, compile, reverse engineer, combine with other software, translate, modify or create derivative works of any material that is subject to Empathy’s proprietary rights, including Empathy’s Intellectual Property (as such term is defined below), in any way or by any means, unless expressly permitted in the Terms and/or under any applicable laws which expressly permits such actions; (k) make any use of the Content and/or use-generated Content on any other site or networked computer environment for any purpose without Empathy’s prior written consent; (l) create a browser or border environment around Empathy’s Content (no frames or inline linking is allowed); (m) sell, license or exploit for any commercial purposes any use of or access to the Site and/or the App and/or the Content and/or the User-Generated Content; (n) frame or mirror any part of the Site and/or the App without Empathy’s prior express written authorization; (o) create a database by systematically downloading and storing all or any of the Content and/or User-Generated Content from the Site and/or the App; (p) transmit or otherwise make available in connection with the Site and/or the App any virus, worm, trojan horse, time bomb, web bug, spyware, or any other computer code, file or program that may or is intended to damage or hijack the operation of any hardware, software or telecommunications equipment, or any other actually or potentially harmful, disruptive or invasive code or component; (q) use the Services for any purpose for which the Site and/or the App and/or the Services are not intended; (r) infringe and/or violate any of the Terms; (s) transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material without our prior written consent, including any "junk mail," "chain letter," "spam," or any other similar solicitation ; and/or (t) engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone's use or enjoyment of the Site, the App, and/or the Services, or which, as determined by us, may harm us or users of the Site, App and/or Services or expose them to liability.
7. Privacy Policy
We believe that you have a right to know our practices regarding the information we collect when you connect to, access or use the Site and/or the App. Our policy and practices and the type of information collected are described in detail in our Privacy Policy, which is provided hereinafter and also at: www.empathy.com/legal/privacy. If you intend to connect to, access or use the Site and/or the App, you must first read and understand to the Privacy Policy.
8. User-Generated Content
The App may allow you to upload, post, publish and make available through it your own copyrightable materials such as images, literary works, text material and any other proprietary materials (the “User-Generated Content”). Please be sure that while you use the App you respect the proprietary rights, including any intellectual property and privacy rights, of third parties who have any rights with respect to the User-Generated Content you uploaded to the App. You agree that Empathy will not bear any liability for any loss, damage, cost or expense that you may suffer or incur as a result of or in connection with uploading any User-Generated Content.
As long as the User-Generated Content is subject to the applicable copyright law, such User-Generated Content shall remain, at all times and to the extent permitted by law, the sole and exclusive property of the User.
You understand and agree that you are solely responsible for your User-Generated Content and the consequences of posting or publishing such material on the App in any way.
You represent and warrant that you are the rightful owner of the User-Generated Content you upload to the App or that you have (and will continue to have) all the necessary licenses, rights, consents and permissions from the rightful owners of such User-Generated Content and that such User-Generated Content does not infringe any third party’s intellectual property rights or other rights (including, without limitation, any privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, or any other intellectual property rights).
It is your responsibility to obtain any and all forms of consent required under any applicable laws regarding the posting of any personal information of others that is part of the User-Generated Content, and to adhere to any applicable laws regarding such information.
Except as expressly permitted herein, you expressly agree that the User-Generated Content will not include any unsolicited promotions, advertising, contests or raffles.
You agree that you will not post or upload any User-Generated Content containing content that is unlawful for you to possess, post or upload in the country in which you reside, or that would be unlawful for Empathy to use or possess in connection with the Site and/or the App (including but not limited to any content that is defamatory, libelous, pornographic, indecent, harassing, threatening, discriminatory, abusive or fraudulent).
Although Empathy has no obligation to screen, edit or monitor any of the User-Generated Content, Empathy explicitly reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to remove or edit, without giving any prior notice, any User-Generated Content available on the App at any time and for any reason, and you are solely responsible for creating backup copies of and replacing any User-Generated Content you post or store on the App at your sole expense.
When you upload, post, publish or make available any User-Generated Content on the App, you grant to Empathy and our affiliates and service providers, and each of their and our respective licensees, successors, and assigns an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, assignable, fully sub-licensable and worldwide license to use, reproduce, distribute, transmit, create derivative works of, display, copy and perform that User-Generated Content, along with the name that you submit in connection with such User-Generated Content, in connection with the Site and/or the App and/or the Services, whether through the internet, mobile devices or otherwise, in any media formats and through any media channels known today and developed in the future; Empathy may publish and use any User-Generated Content without the User’s prior consent. You hereby agree and understand that you will not be entitled to prevent any transfer of User-Generated Content to any third party. Empathy shall not bear any liability for any use by any third party of the User-Generated Content. In addition, you hereby explicitly waive any moral right you may have in and to the User-Generated Content and forever waive and agree not to claim or assert any entitlement to any and all moral rights in any of the User-Generated Content.
Empathy takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User-Generated Content uploaded, posted, published or made available by you or any third party in the App, or for any loss or damage thereto, nor is Empathy liable for any mistakes, defamation, libel, falsehoods, obscenities or pornography you or any other third party may encounter via the Site and/or the App.
9. Misconduct and Copyright Violation
Empathy respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or if you believe that any Content in the Site and/or the App (including User-Generated Content) is violating your privacy rights and/or is inappropriate, offensive or contains pornography, please send us a notification of such infringement containing the following information: (i) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright; (ii) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (iii) a description of the material that you claim to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity, and information sufficient to permit Empathy to locate the material; (iv) information that will allow Empathy to contact you, including your address, telephone number, or email address; (v) A statement that you believe that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (vi) A statement by you at the bottom of your notification exactly as follows: “I hereby declare, under penalty of perjury, that the above information is accurate and that I am the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on behalf of the copyright or intellectual property owner.
Please send us the notification as follows:
Empathy Inc.
163 W 23RD ST, 4TH FLOOR
NEW YORK
NY 10011.
Email: [email protected].
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other applicable laws, we have adopted a policy of terminating accounts and/or pursuing other remedies, at our sole discretion, if we suspect that the account holder has infringed our intellectual property rights or any third party.
10. Intellectual Property Rights
Subject to the terms hereof, Empathy hereby grants to you, and you accept, a personal, nonexclusive, non-commercial, non-transferable, non-sublicensable and fully revocable limited license (i) to download and use the App on your authorized mobile phone, device or tablet that you own or control, solely for the limited purpose of using the App for your internal non-commercial use and for no other purpose, strictly in accordance with the Terms, the applicable Usage Rules (defined below) and applicable law; and (ii) to use the Services and the Content provided on the Site and/or the App in accordance with the terms contained in this Agreement.
The Site and/or the App and the Content and Empathy’s proprietary assets and any and all intellectual property rights pertaining thereto, including, but not limited to, inventions, patents and patent applications, trademarks, trade names, service marks, copyrightable materials and trade secrets, whether or not registered or capable of being registered (collectively, “Intellectual Property”), are owned by and/or licensed to Empathy and are protected by applicable copyright and other intellectual property laws and international conventions and treaties. All rights not expressly granted to you hereunder are reserved by Empathy and its licensors.
These Terms do not convey to you an interest in or to Empathy’s Intellectual Property, but only a limited revocable right of use in accordance with the Terms. Nothing in the Terms constitutes a waiver of Empathy’s Intellectual Property under any law.
To the extent you provide any feedback, comments or suggestions to Empathy regarding the Site and/or the App and/or the Services (the “Feedback“), Empathy shall have an exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid up, worldwide, perpetual and irrevocable license to incorporate the Feedback into any of Empathy’s current or future products, technologies or services and to use such Feedback for any purpose, all without further compensation to you and without your approval. You agree that all such Feedback shall be deemed non-confidential. Further, you warrant that your Feedback is not subject to any license terms that would purport to require Empathy to comply with any additional obligations with respect to any of Empathy’s current or future products, technologies or services that incorporate any Feedback.
Empathy has no obligation to provide upgrades or new releases of the Site and/or the App under these Terms.
11. Trademarks and Trade names
Empathy’s marks and logos and all other proprietary identifiers used by Empathy in connection with the Services (“Empathy Trademarks”) are all trademarks and/or trade names of Empathy, whether or not registered. All other trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos that may appear on the Site and/or the App belong to their respective owners (“Third-Party Marks”). No right, license, or interest to Empathy Trademarks and the Third-Party Marks is granted hereunder, and you agree that no such right, license or interest shall be asserted by you with respect to Empathy Trademarks or Third-Party Marks and therefore you will avoid using any of those marks. In addition, the look and feel of the Site and the App including all page headers, custom graphics, button icons and scripts, is the service mark, trademark and/or trade dress of ours and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without our prior written permission. Reference to any products, services, processes or other information, by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, supplier or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof by us or affiliation with us.
12. Linking to the Empathy Site and Links to Third-Party Sites
We welcome links to any page on our Site. You are free to establish a hypertext link to the Site, so long as the link does not state or imply any connection or approval of your website, products and/or services by Empathy and does not portray Empathy in a false or otherwise offensive manner. You may not link to our Site from a site that you do not own or have permission to use. In the event that you link to the Empathy Site, you represent that your site does not contain content that is unlawful or offensive or that infringes third-party rights. However, we do not permit framing or inline linking.
Certain links provided within the Site and/or the App permit our Users to leave the Site and/or the App and enter non-Empathy sites or services. These linked sites and services are provided solely as a convenience to you. These linked sites and services are not under the control of Empathy, and you agree that Empathy is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or services. Empathy does not endorse, and you agree that Empathy is not responsible or liable for, any content, including but not limited to content advertising, products or other information, on or available from such linked sites and services or any link contained in such linked sites or services. In addition, you agree that Empathy is not responsible or liable for such linked sites and services’ privacy practices and/or any other practices. Your access to, use of and reliance upon any such sites, services and content and your dealings with such third parties are at your sole risk and expense. Empathy reserves the right to terminate any link at any time. You further acknowledge and agree that Empathy shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused, or alleged to be caused, by or in connection with use of or reliance on any services, content, products or other materials available on or through such linked sites or resources. Most of these linked sites and services provide their own legal documents, including terms of use and privacy policies, governing the use thereof. It is always advisable, and we encourage you, to read such documents carefully before using those sites and services, among other reasons, in order to know what kind of information about you is being collected.
13. Usage Rules
Since you are downloading the App from a third-party platform, service provider or distributor (“Platform Provider”), your use of the App may also be governed by usage rules that the Platform Provider may have established and that relate to your use of the App (“Usage Rules”). Certain Usage Rules are described below, but other Usage Rules may apply, and it is your responsibility to determine what other Usage Rules are applicable to your use of the App. You undertake to comply with all the applicable Platform Provider’s Usage Rules, and the Usage Rules applicable to your use of the App are incorporated herein by reference. In the event of a conflict between the Terms and the terms of any applicable Usage Rules that relates solely to the Platform Provider’s representations, warranties, restrictions on use of the App, obligations, limitation of liability (to the extent applicable to the Platform Provider) or other provisions that impose any responsibility on the Platform Provider, the terms of the applicable Platform Provider’s Usage Rules shall prevail. You represent that you are not prohibited by any applicable laws or Usage Rules from downloading and/or using the App. Any download and/or use of the App by anyone prohibited by any applicable laws or Usage Rules from downloading and/or using the App is expressly prohibited.
Apple Inc.
The following applies to you if you download or have downloaded the App from the Apple App Store (“Licensed Application“): You acknowledge and agree that (i) the license granted herein is limited to a non-transferable license to use the Licensed Application on an Apple-branded device that you own or control, (ii) these Terms are solely between you and Empathy, not Apple Inc. (“Apple“), and that Apple has no responsibility for the Licensed Application or content thereof, (iii) your use of the Licensed Application must comply with Usage Rules established by Apple, as set forth in the App Store Terms of Service effective as of the date you enter into these Terms, except that such Licensed Application may be accessed and used by other accounts associated with you via Apple’s Family Sharing or volume purchasing; and (iv) Apple has no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance and support services with respect to the Licensed Application.
In the event of any failure of the Licensed Application to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund you the purchase price you paid, if any, for the Licensed Application. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple will have no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the Licensed Application, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs or expenses attributable to any failure to conform to any warranty will be solely governed by these Terms of Use and any law applicable to Empathy as provider of the App.
Empathy and you acknowledge that Empathy, and not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claims relating to the Licensed Application or your possession and/or use thereof, including, but not limited to: (i) product liability claims; (ii) any claim that the Licensed Application fails to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement; and (iii) claims arising under consumer protection, privacy or similar legislation.
You acknowledge that, in the event of any third-party claim that the Licensed Application or your possession and use thereof infringes that third party’s intellectual property rights, Empathy, not Apple, will be solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement and discharge of any such intellectual property infringement claim. You acknowledge and agree that Apple, and Apple’s subsidiaries, are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms of Use, and that, upon your acceptance of these Terms of Use, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms of Use against you as a third-party beneficiary thereof.
14. Social Media Features
The Services may include social sharing and posting features and other integrated tools (for example the Facebook “Like” and “Share” buttons, sharing and posting content via Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Google+ and email, etc.) (the “Social Features”).
The Social Features are operated by or allow for social integration with certain third-party social networks or third-party platforms (“Social Network” or “Social Network Platform”). These are created and maintained by third parties that are not affiliated with and/or controlled by Empathy. If you enable this integration, your use of the Social Features is subject to the applicable third-party Social Network or Social Network Platform’s terms of use and privacy policies. If you do not agree to the practices described in such terms, you should disable the App’s integration with such Social Networks or Social Network Platforms; however, you may find that you are not able to enjoy all of the features available on our Services. Empathy is not responsible and has no liability for your use of such Social Networks or Social Network Platforms.
15. Special provisions relating to Third-Party Components
The Site and/or the App may use or include third-party software, files and components that are subject to open source and third-party license terms (“Third Party Components”). Your right to use such Third-Party Components as part of, or in connection with, the Site and/or the App is subject to any applicable acknowledgements and license terms accompanying such Third-Party Components, contained therein or related thereto. If there is a conflict between the licensing terms of such Third-Party Components and these Terms, the licensing terms of the Third-Party Components shall prevail in connection with the related Third-Party Components. These Terms do not apply to any Third-Party Components accompanying or contained in the Site and/or the App, and Empathy disclaims all liability related thereto. You acknowledge that Empathy is not the author, owner or licensor of any Third-Party Components, and that Empathy makes no warranties or representations, express or implied, as to the quality, capabilities, operations, performance or suitability of Third-Party Components. Under no circumstances shall the Site and/or the App or any portion thereof (except for the Third-Party Components contained therein) be deemed to be “open source“ or “publicly available“ software.
16. Availability
The Services’ availability and functionality depends on various factors, such as communication networks. Empathy does not warrant or guarantee that the Services will operate and/or be available at all times without disruption or interruption, nor that it will be immune from unauthorized access or error-free.
17. Changes to the Site and/or the App
Empathy reserves the right to modify, correct, amend, enhance, improve, make any other changes to, or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Site and/or the App (or any part thereof, including but not limited to the Services provided and the Content) without notice, at any time. In addition, you hereby acknowledge that the Content provided on the Site and/or the App may be changed, extended in content or form, or removed at any time without any notice to you. You agree that Empathy shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of the Site and/or the App or the Content included therein. You hereby agree that Empathy is not responsible for any errors or malfunctions that may occur in connection with performing such changes.
If Empathy supplies to you any updates, upgrades or new versions of the App (“Updates“) according to its then-current policies, it may include automatic updating or upgrading of the App with or without any additional notice to you, and the Terms will govern any such Updates, unless these are accompanied by a separate license agreement, which will prevail, and all references herein to the App shall include such Updates. For clarity, Empathy has no obligation to provide Updates.
18. Disclaimer of Warranties
To the fullest extent legally permissible, the Site and/or the App and/or the Content and/or the User-Generated Content and/or the Services are provided on an “as-is” and “as available” basis, and Empathy, including its vendors, officers, shareholders, sub-contractors, directors, employees, affiliates, subsidiaries, licensors, agents and suppliers (collectively, “Empathy’s representatives”), disclaim all warranties of any kind, express, implied or statutory, relating to the Site and/or the App and/or the Services, including but not limited to , warranties of title, implied warranties of use, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement or course of performance. You may have additional consumer rights under your local laws that this agreement cannot change.
The Site and/or the App and/or the Services are provided for informational purposes only and should never be construed or be used as a substitute for legal, tax, financial, health or other professional advice. Laws differ by state and country and we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information for your particular situation. You should consult an experienced attorney, tax professional, financial advisor or health professional concerning your specific situation. Empathy and Empathy’s representatives do not, either expressly or implicitly in any manner, assume any responsibility for any loss or damages incurred as a result of, or in connection with, the use of the Site and/or the App and/or the Services or any decision made or action taken or not taken in reliance on the Site and/or the App and/or the use of the Services (including, without limitation, the Helpline service). Empathy does not guarantee that any of the User’s needs will be fulfilled.
All User-Generated Content, including, but not limited to, descriptions, deals and commodities offered via the App, is supplied to Empathy by the relevant User, is not verified by Empathy and does not bind Empathy in any form. In any case where such User-Generated Content contradicts or is inconsistent with information provided to you by another User of the App directly, only information supplied by such User directly shall prevail.
We do not warrant that (I) the use and operation of the Site and/or the App is or will be secure, timely, accurate, complete, uninterrupted, without errors, or free of viruses, defects, worms, other harmful components or other program limitations, (ii) Empathy will correct any errors or defects in the Site and/or the App, (iii) the Site and/or the App will be interoperable or compatible with your device, other software, hardware, or any equipment, and Empathy’s representatives are not responsible for any losses suffered resulting from interoperability or compatibility problems. We do not make any representation regarding the use, inability to use or operate, or the results of the use of the Site and/or the App and/or Content and/or User-Generated Content available thereon or through the App (including that the results of using the Site and/or the App will meet your requirements).
Empathy and Empathy’s representatives disclaim all warranties and conditions with regard to the use of the Site and/or the App, including but not limited to the availability, reliability or quality of the Site and/or the App, and are not and shall not be responsible for any error, fault or mistake related to any Content or information displayed within the Site and/or the App.
We are not responsible and have no liability for any item or service provided by any person or entity other than Empathy.
We are not responsible for any consequences to you or others that may result from technical problems (including without limitation in connection with the internet, such as slow connections, traffic congestion, overload of servers, delays or interruptions) or any telecommunications or internet providers.
You agree that the use of the Site and/or the App and/or the Content and/or the User-Generated Content is entirely at your own risk.
Inasmuch as some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusions or limitations set forth herein, the full extent of the above exclusions and limitations may not apply.
19. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent legally permissible, in no event shall Empathy, including Empathy’s representatives, be liable for any damages whatsoever, including but not limited to: direct, indirect, special, punitive, exemplary, incidental or consequential damages of any kind, under any legal theory (including without limitation contract, negligence, tort or strict liability), including without limitation loss of goodwill, profits, or data and business interruption resulting from or arising out of (i) the use or inability to use the Site and/or the App and/or the Services and/or the Content, (ii) the failure of the Site and/or the App to perform as described or expected, (iii) any unauthorized access to, use of or other security intrusions regarding the data processed by us as part of providing the Services, (iv) the performance or failure of Empathy to perform its duties under these Terms (including by breach of warranty, guarantee or condition), and/or (v) any other act or omission of Empathy or Empathy’s representatives by any other cause whatsoever, regardless of whether Empathy (or Empathy’s representatives) has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
In any case, without limiting the generality of the foregoing and to the maximum extent legally permissible, Empathy and Empathy’s representatives’ total aggregate liability for all damages or losses whatsoever arising hereunder or in connection with your use or inability to use the Site and/or the App and/or the Services or the Content shall be limited to the amount actually paid by you, if any, to Empathy for use of the Site and/or the App or US $100.00, whichever is greater. The limitation of liability provisions that apply to any responsibilities of the applicable platform provider are set forth in their applicable usage rules. You will not, and waive any right to, seek to recover any other damages, including consequential, lost profits, special, indirect or incidental damages from us or from Empathy’s representatives.
Inasmuch as some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusions or limitations as set forth herein, the full extent of the above exclusions and limitations may not apply.
20. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Empathy and Empathy’s affiliates, licensors, and service providers, and its and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, attorneys, licensors, suppliers, successors, and assigns from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, debts and expenses (including but not limited to attorneys’ fees) arising from: (i) your use, misuse of, inability to use and/or activities in connection with the Site and/or the App and/or the Content and/or the User-Generated Content and/or the Services; (ii) your violation of any of these Terms; (iii) your violation of any third-party rights, including without limitation any intellectual property rights or privacy rights of such third parties with respect to your use of the Services; and (iv) any damage of any sort, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, that you may cause to any third party with relation to the Site and/or the App. It is hereby clarified that this defense and indemnification obligation will survive these Terms.
Without derogating from the foregoing, we reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter that is subject to indemnification by you, which will not excuse your indemnity obligations hereunder and in which event you will fully cooperate with us in asserting any available defense. You agree not to settle any matter subject to an indemnification by you without first obtaining our prior express written approval.
21. Termination or Suspension
These Terms shall remain in effect until terminated as set forth herein.
Your failure to comply with the provisions of these Terms shall terminate your license and these Terms. In the event of your failure to comply with these Terms, Empathy may immediately temporarily or permanently limit, suspend or terminate your Account. If you object to any term hereof, as may be amended from time to time, or become dissatisfied with the Services, you may terminate these Terms at any time by uninstalling our App and stopping your use thereof, and this will be your sole remedy in such circumstances. Upon termination of these Terms: (i) the license and all other rights granted to you hereunder will automatically terminate, (ii) you must immediately cease all use of the Services, delete and destroy all copies of the App in your possession or control and so certify to Empathy if required by it, and (iii) the provisions of these Terms that, by their nature and content, must survive the termination of these Terms in order to achieve the fundamental purposes of these Terms shall so survive. Without limiting the generality of the forgoing, the Intellectual Property, Disclaimer of Warranties, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification and General sections will survive the termination of the Terms.
Additionally, Empathy may at any time, at its sole discretion, cease the operation of the Services or any part thereof temporarily or permanently, delete any information from the Site and/or the App, or correct, modify, amend, enhance, improve and make any other changes thereto or discontinue displaying or providing any information, content or features therein, without giving any prior notice. You agree and acknowledge that Empathy does not assume any responsibility with respect to or in connection with the termination of the Site’s and/or the App’s operation and loss of any data.
We note that we can suspend access to your Account if we believe, at our sole discretion, that one (or more) of the following events has occurred: (a) there is a risk to the security or privacy of your Account; (b) there is a threat to the security or integrity of our network or our servers; (c) suspension is needed to protect the rights, property or safety of Empathy, its Users or the public; (d) there is a basis for termination of your Account; (e) you have violated these Terms; and/or (f) we are required to by law. We may provide you a notice in the event of any such suspension. During such suspension, you will not have the ability to use or access your Account. In the event that we will determine, at our sole discretion, that the reason for the suspension of access to your Account has been resolved, we will restore access to your Account.
22. Export and the Location of the User
The App may be subject to export control laws of the State of Israel and/or may be subject to additional export control laws applicable to the User or in the User’s jurisdiction, including, without limitation, the United States. The User agrees that he/she will not ship, transfer or export the App into any country, or make available or use the App in any manner, prohibited by applicable laws.
In addition, the User represents and warrants that (i) he/she is not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist-supporting“ country; and (ii) that the User is not named on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
23. Minors
To use the App (and the related Services) you must be over the age of eighteen(18). We reserve the right to request proof of age at any stage so that we can verify that minors under the age of eighteen (18) are not using the App (and the related Services). In the event that it comes to our knowledge that a person under the age of eighteen (18) is using the App (and the related Services), we will prohibit and block that User from accessing the App and will make all efforts to promptly delete any Personal Information (as such term is defined in our Privacy Policy) with regard to such User.
24. Dispute Resolution
PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY, AS IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS.
Arbitration. The parties shall use their best efforts to settle any dispute, claim, question, or disagreement directly through good-faith negotiations, which shall be a precondition to either party initiating a lawsuit or arbitration. All claims arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use and your use of the Service shall be finally settled by binding arbitration administered by the JAMS Alternative Dispute Resolution (“JAMS”) in accordance with the provisions of its Commercial Arbitration Rules and of its supplementary procedures for consumer-related disputes, excluding any rules or procedures governing or permitting class actions. The arbitrator, and not any court or agency, shall have exclusive authority to resolve all disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use, including, but not limited to, any claim that all or any part of these Terms of Use is void or voidable. The arbitrator shall be empowered to grant whatever relief would be available in a court. The arbitrator’s award shall be binding on the parties and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. To the extent the filing fee for the arbitration exceeds the cost of filing a lawsuit, Empathy will pay the additional cost. The arbitration will be held in the United States county where you live or work, New York, or any other location as to which we may then mutually agree. A party seeking arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written notice of dispute.
Any notice to Empathy should be addressed to The Empathy Project, Inc. 163 W 23RD ST, 4TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10011, Attention: General Counsel. Any notice to you shall be sent to your address as set forth in your Empathy account or such other legal address as Empathy is able to identify.
The parties understand that, absent this mandatory provision, they would have the right to sue in court and have a jury trial. They further understand that, in some instances, the costs of arbitration could exceed the costs of litigation and that the right to discovery may be more limited in arbitration than in court.
Class-Action Waiver. The parties further agree that any arbitration shall be conducted in their individual capacities only, and not as a class action or other representative action. If any court or arbitrator determines that the class-action waiver set forth in this section is void or unenforceable for any reason, or that an arbitration can proceed on a class basis, then the arbitration provision set forth above shall be deemed null and void in its entirety and the parties shall be deemed to have not agreed to arbitrate disputes.
Exceptions. Without first engaging in arbitration or the informal dispute-resolution process described above, either you or Empathy may assert claims, if they qualify, in small claims court in New York or any United States county where you live or work; and Empathy may bring a lawsuit against you in any court of competent jurisdiction solely for injunctive relief to stop any unauthorized use or abuse of the Services or intellectual property infringement.
Thirty-Day Right to Opt Out. You have the right to opt out and not be bound by the arbitration- and class-action-waiver provisions set forth in this section by sending written notice of your decision to opt out to the following address: The Empathy Project, Inc. 163 W 23RD ST, 4TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10011. The notice must be sent within 30 days of registering to use the Services; otherwise, you shall be bound to arbitrate disputes in accordance with these Terms of Use. If you opt out of these arbitration provisions, Empathy also will not be bound by them. If you opt out, all other parts of these Terms of Use will continue to apply to you.
25. Changes to the Terms
Empathy may, at its sole discretion, change these Terms from time to time, including any other policies incorporated thereto, so please revisit this page frequently. In case of any material change, we will make reasonable efforts to post a clear notice on the Site and/or the App, and/or we will send you an email (to the extent that you provided us with your email address) regarding such change. Such material changes will take effect seven (7) days after such notice is provided on the Site and/or the App or sent via email, whichever is earlier. Otherwise, all other changes to these Terms are effective as of the stated “Last Revised” date, and your continued use of the Site and/or the App on or after the Last Revised date will constitute acceptance of, and agreement to be bound by, those changes. In the event that the Terms should be amended to comply with any legal requirements, the amendments may take effect immediately, or as required by the law and without any prior notice.
26. General
(a) These Terms constitute the entire terms and conditions between you and Empathy relating to the subject matter herein and supersede any and all prior or contemporaneous written or oral agreements or understandings between you and Empathy. (b) Any claim relating to the Site and/or the App or the Content contained therein will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Israel without reference to its conflict-of-laws principles and the United Nations Convention Relating to a Uniform Law on the International Sale of Goods may not be applied. (c) Any dispute arising out of or related to the Site and/or the App will be brought in, and you hereby consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in, the competent courts of the Tel-Aviv District, Israel. You agree to waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non-conveniens and agree that process may be served in a manner authorized by applicable law or court rule. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Empathy may seek injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction. (d) These Terms do not, and shall not, be construed to create any relationship, partnership, joint venture, or employer-employee, agency, or franchisor-franchisee relationship between the parties hereto. (e) No waiver by either party of any breach or default hereunder will be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. Any heading, caption or section title contained herein is inserted only as a matter of convenience, and in no way defines or explains any section or provision hereof. (f) You acknowledge and agree that any cause of action that you may have arising out of or related to the Site and/or the App or the Services must commence within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues. Otherwise, such cause of action is permanently barred. (g) If any provision hereof is adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that these Terms shall otherwise remain in full force and effect while most nearly adhering to the intent expressed herein. (h) You may not assign or transfer these Terms (including all rights and obligations hereunder) without our prior written consent, and any attempt to do so in violation of the foregoing shall be void. We may assign or transfer these Terms without restriction or notification. (i) No amendment hereof will be binding unless in writing and signed by Empathy. (j) The parties agree that all correspondence relating to these Terms shall be written in the English language.
For information, questions or notification of errors, please contact:
If you have any questions (or comments) concerning the Terms, send us an email at this address.
Terms of Use Last Revised: 12/12/2022
Privacy Policy
The Empathy Project Inc. and its affiliates (“Empathy”, “we,” “our” or “us”) respects the privacy of Visitors to our website www.empathy.com (the “Site”) as well as the privacy of Users of our mobile application (the “App”), the services provided by Empathy, and any other or subsequent product, process, development, tangible embodiment, or service provided by Empathy (collectively, the “Empathy Solution”).
We are committed to protecting the personal data (defined below) that is made available to us.
This Privacy Policy describes how Empathy collects, stores, uses and discloses the following categories of personal data as a “Controller” or “Business” to the extent applicable under data protection laws:
Partner Data: personal data relating to current and prospective business customers who are life insurance carriers, employers, care facilities, health plans, etc. (“Partner”) as a part of the delivery of the Empathy Solution or any other service, product or solution described in one or more applicable order forms or commercial agreements with the Partner.
User Data: personal data relating to individuals who have engaged the Empathy Solution to support them as they navigate the challenges following the loss of a loved one (collectively, “Users”).
Loved Ones Data: personal data relating to a loved one who has passed and on whose behalf an Empathy User has engaged the Empathy Solution or an individual who has engaged the Empathy Solution for the purposes of pre-planning.
Visitors’ Data: personal data relating to visitors of our Site, participants at our events, prospective customers, users or partners (collectively, “Visitors”) who visit or otherwise interact with our Site, online ads and content, emails or communications under our control (collectively with the Empathy Solution, the “Services”).
Specifically, this Policy describes our practices regarding:
Data Collection & Processing
Data Uses
Data Location
Data Retention
Data Disclosure
Cookies and Data Collection Technologies
Communications
Data Security
Data Subject Rights
Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing/Targeted Advertising
Additional Notices and Contact Details
If you are a Partner, User, or Visitor, please read this Privacy Policy carefully and make sure that you fully understand it.
You are not legally required to provide us with any personal data. If you do not wish to provide us with your personal data, or to have it processed by us or any of our Service Providers (as defined below), please do not provide it to us - avoid interaction with us and our Site, and do not use our Services.
1. Data Collection & Processing
When we use the terms “personal data” or “personal information” in this Privacy Policy, we mean information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to an individual. It does not include aggregated or deidentified information that is maintained in a form that is not reasonably capable of being associated with or linked to an individual.
Types of personal data collected. We may collect or generate the following types of personal data about individuals through the Services:
Usage, login credentials, and device information concerning Partners, Users Visitors and Loved Ones
Connectivity, technical and aggregated usage data, such as user agent, IP addresses and approximate location based upon such IP addresses, digital identifiers, device data (like type, OS, device id, browser version, locale and language settings used), activity logs, session recordings, log-in credentials to the Services, the cookies and pixels installed or utilized on their device (which collect data such as how often Visitors visit or use the Sites, which pages they visit and when, and which website ad or email message brought them there), and inferred or presumed data on or generated from their use of the Services.
Information concerning our Partners and Visitors
Contact details such as name, email address,phone number, position, workplace, contractual and financial documents, and billing details, as well as any expressed, presumed or identified needs, preferences, attributes and insights relevant to our potential or existing engagement.
Information concerning Users of the Empathy Solution
Contact details such as name, email address, and phone number; relationship to a Loved One; address or geolocation; any expressed, presumed, or identified needs, preferences, attributes, and insights relevant to Users.
Information concerning Loved Ones
Details such as name, email address, phone number, address , state of residence, date of birth, date of death, drivers’ license number(s) or national ID number; documentation uploaded through use of the Vault feature, including, but not limited to, personal photos, content of personal communications, and legal, financial, and health documents, which may include, at your discretion, certain sensitive information; additional background including gender, age, religion, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin, professional experience, as well as any expressed, presumed, or identified needs, preferences, attributes, and insights relevant Loved Ones.
For the purposes of the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"), in the last 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information, as defined in the CCPA: Identifiers; Geolocation data; Customer records information; Characteristics of protected classifications; Commercial information; Internet or other electronic network activity information; Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information; Professional or employment related information; Inferences; and Sensitive Personal Information (as described above).
Categories of sources from which personal data is collected. We obtain personal data from the following categories of sources:
Data collected directly from you. You may voluntarily provide us with your personal data, e.g., when you use the Empathy Solution through our App; submit a form on our website; communicate with our dedicated team of experienced professionals with backgrounds in a variety of fields, including social workers, funeral directors, hospice nurses, psychologists, chaplains, and more (“Care Team”) or other customer or support services; during an event, conference, or webinar you have participated in; register to our mailing list, or communicate with us in any other manner during our engagement with you. You may also provide us with your personal data when you upload, post, generate or publish on our Site or through the Empathy Solution or use the Vault feature.
Data collected from third parties. We obtain personal data from third parties, such as our Partners or Service Providers. For example, we may obtain your details from your insurance carrier (our Partner) as a part of our commercial engagement with them if you request use of our Services. In addition, upon your request and to the extent that you provide us with applicable power of attorney and/or consent (as the case may be) we may also approach third parties (such as government agencies) on your behalf and collect personal data that is held by them, all in order to provide you with the Services. We may also obtain personal data from our Service Providers or Vendors e.g., payment processors (for in-app purchases), marketing and sales tools, data enrichment services, our sales and marketing partners, or distributors.
Data collected from publicly available sources. We may obtain personal data from publicly available sources in order to provide you with our Services (such as published obituaries in local newspapers, social media accounts, etc.).
Data that is automatically generated. Some personal data is automatically generated when you visit our website and engage its features (such as your online activity, clicks, web-pages visits, etc.) by using Cookies and the data collection technologies described in Section 6 below. We may also collect aggregated or technical data generated when you use our Services, relating to how you use them, so we can learn how Users use our Services and improve them and our Users’ experience.
2. Data Uses
We use personal data for the following business and commercial purposes (and in reliance on the legal bases for processing noted next to them, as appropriate):
Partner, User and Loved One personal data
To facilitate, operate, enhance, and provide our Services, and process new product and service orders (Performance of Contract, to the extent applicable; Legitimate Interests to provide and improve our Services);
To provide assistance and support (including crisis or emergency assistance), to test and monitor the Services, or diagnose or fix technology problems (Performance of Contract, to the extent applicable; Legitimate Interests to ensure the ongoing availability of our Services);
To personalize our Services, including by recognizing an individual and remembering their information when they return to our Services, and to provide further localization and personalization capabilities, (Performance of Contract, to the extent applicable; Legitimate Interests to provide a better user experience).
User, Partner, Visitor and Loved One personal data
To gain a better understanding of how individuals use and interact with our Services (including through online, in-app and personal surveys), which content and data they have processed through our Services, and how we may improve their and others’ user experience and the value they can generate from using the Services, so we can continue improving our products, offerings and the overall performance of our Services (Legitimate Interests to improve the user experience and performance of our Services; Consent to provide survey responses);
To contact our Partners, Users and Visitors with general or personalized service-related messages, as well as promotional messages that may be of specific interest to them (Performance of Contract, to the extent applicable; Legitimate Interests to send service-related messages; Consent to receive marketing messages);
To support and enhance our data security measures, including for the purposes of preventing and mitigating the risks of fraud, error or any illegal, criminal or prohibited activity (Performance of Contract, to the extent applicable; Legitimate Interests to secure our services; Legal Obligation to implement appropriate security measures);
To create aggregated statistical data, inferred non-personal data, or anonymized or pseudonymized data (rendered non-personal and non-identifiable), which we or our business partners may use to provide and improve our respective services, or for any other purpose (Legitimate Interests to improve and enhance our Services);
To facilitate and optimize our marketing campaigns, ad management and sales operations, and to manage and deliver advertisements for our products and services more effectively, including to provide personalized ads and share data with our authorized service providers to support such activity. (Legitimate Interests to enhance engagement with our Services and promote them; Consent (including by using Cookies) to use and share personal data with specific third-party service providers to provide personalization of ads);
To facilitate, sponsor and offer certain events, contests and promotions (Legitimate Interests to enhance engagement with our Services);
To enforce our commercial agreements, to resolve disputes, to carry out our obligations and enforce our rights, and to protect our business interests and the interests and rights of third parties (Legitimate Interests to resolve disputes);
To comply with our contractual and legal obligations and requirements, and maintain our compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards (Performance of Contract, to the extent applicable; Legitimate Interests to maintain and improve our compliance; Legal Obligation, to the extent applicable).
If you reside or are using the Services in a territory governed by privacy laws under which “consent” is the only or most appropriate legal basis for the processing of personal data as described herein (in general, or specifically with respect to the types of personal data you expect or elect to be processed by or via the Services, or due to nature of such processing), your acceptance of our Terms of Use (available at www.empathy.com/legal/terms ) (and/or the terms that govern your use of the Empathy Solution) (collectively, the “Terms”) and this Privacy Policy will be deemed as your consent to the processing of your personal data for all purposes detailed herein. If you wish to revoke such consent, please contact us at [email protected].
3. Data Location and Transfers
We and our authorized Service Providers maintain, store and process personal data in the United States, Israel and in other locations as reasonably necessary for the proper delivery and performance of our Services, or as may be required by law.
Since we operate globally and may use service providers worldwide, including in the United States, Israel and other locations as reasonably necessary for the proper performance of our Services, or as may be required by law, we may transfer your personal data outside your country of residence.
While privacy laws may vary between jurisdictions, Empathy is committed to protecting personal data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and customary industry standards, and such appropriate lawful mechanisms and contractual terms requiring adequate data protection, regardless of any lesser legal requirements that may apply in the jurisdiction to which such personal data is transferred.
For data transfers from the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, we will transfer your personal data only to such countries approved by the European Commission, FDPIC and UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) respectively, as providing adequate level of data protection, or enter into Standard Contractual Clauses as approved by the relevant data protection authority. You can obtain a copy of these clauses by contacting us as indicated in Section 11 below.
4. Data Retention
We retain personal data for as long as we deem it as reasonably necessary to maintain and expand our relationship and provide you with our Services and offerings; to comply with our contractual obligations; or to protect ourselves from any potential disputes (i.e., as required by laws applicable to log-keeping, records and bookkeeping, and in order to have proof and evidence concerning our relationship, should any legal issues arise following your discontinuance of use), all in accordance with our data retention policy.
To determine the appropriate period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and the applicable legal requirements.
If you have any questions regarding our data retention practices, please contact us by email at [email protected].
5. Data Disclosure
We disclose personal data in the following ways:
Service Providers: We engage selected third-party companies and individuals to perform services on our behalf or complementary to our own. Such service providers may include commercial software providers, hosting and server co-location services, communications and content delivery networks (CDNs), data security services, billing and payment processing services, fraud detection and prevention services, web and product analytics, e-mail distribution and monitoring services, session or activity recording services, remote access services, content transcription and analysis services, performance measurement, data optimization and marketing services, social and advertising networks, content and data enrichment providers, event production and hosting services, e-mail, voicemails, support, enablement and customer relation management systems, and our legal, financial and compliance advisors. Service Providers may have access to personal data, depending on each of their specific roles and purposes in facilitating and enhancing our Services, and may only use the data as determined in our agreements with them.
Vendors: Empathy engages with providers of professional services related to our Services, in order to enable them to contact you, upon your specific request, for the purpose of providing their services. Examples of such services may be assistance with memorial arrangements (including planning a funeral), arranging for house cleaning, handling your loved one’s personal belongings, finding an estate attorney, etc. In such instances, we may share relevant contact details with the respective Vendor. If you directly engage with any such Vendors, please note that any aspect of that engagement which is not directly related to the Services and directed by Empathy is beyond the scope of our Terms and Privacy Policy and may therefore be covered by the Vendor’s terms and privacy policy.
Sharing Personal Data with our Partners: We may disclose aggregated information about our Users' usage of our Services to our Partners for the purpose of learning and improving our services. We may also, at the request of the User or Loved One, disclose personal data to Partners in order to facilitate additional support for that User or Loved One. We will not share the contents of any communications nor any documents uploaded to our Vault feature with Partners.
Legal Compliance: We may disclose or allow government and law enforcement officials access to your personal data in response to a legal request, such as a subpoena, search warrant or court order (or similar requirement), or in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, with or without notice to you. Such disclosure or access may occur if we believe in good faith that: (a) we are legally compelled to do so; (b) disclosure is appropriate in connection with efforts to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding actual or suspected illegal activity, fraud, or other wrongdoing; or (c) such disclosure is required to protect our legitimate business interest, including the security or integrity of our products and Services.
Protecting Rights and Safety: We may share your personal data with others, if we believe in good faith that this will help protect the rights, property or personal safety of Empathy, any of our Visitors, Partners, Users, or any members of the general public.
Empathy Affiliated Companies: We may share personal data internally with our affiliated companies, for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. In addition, should Empathy or any of its affiliates undergo any change in control, including by means of merger, acquisition or purchase of substantially all of its assets, your personal data may be shared with the parties involved in such event.
Additional Sharing: Empathy may share your personal data in additional manners, pursuant to your explicit approval, or if we are legally obligated to do so, or if we have successfully rendered such data non-personal and anonymous. Additionally, we may transfer, share or otherwise use non-personal data at our sole discretion and without the need for further approval.
For the purposes of the CCPA, in the past 12 months, we may have disclosed: Identifiers; Geolocation data; Customer records information; Characteristics of protected classifications; Commercial information; Internet or other electronic network activity information; Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information; Professional or employment related information; Inferences; and Sensitive Personal Information to Service Providers and to Empathy Affiliated Companies or for Legal Compliance or to Protect Rights and Safety. We may have disclosed Identifiers and identified needs to Vendors or to Partners. We did so in pursuit of the business and commercial purposes described in Section 2 above. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information outside of purposes permitted under the CCPA.
6. Cookies and Data Collection Technologies
We and our Service Providers use cookies and other similar technologies to enable and improve the Services we provide, to track the performance of our Sites, perform analytics and gain insights on the use of our Services and the performance of our activities, and for personalization purposes including personalization of ads if we have obtained your consent. For more information on our cookie and data collection technologies practices, please visit our Cookie Policy.
Cookies are packets of information sent to your web browser and then sent back by the browser each time it accesses the server that sent the cookie. Some cookies are removed when you close your browser session. These are the “Session Cookies”. Some last for longer periods and are called “Persistent Cookies”. We use both types.
Some cookies are necessary for the Services to function properly, and cannot be declined or disabled unless you delete and block them through your web browser settings. Other cookies, which are used for functional, performance, analytics and marketing purposes, are optional. You may opt-in to or opt-out from the use of optional cookies through the “Your Privacy Choices” feature available on our website, depending on your location and activity on our Services, as applicable. If you choose to opt-out of certain cookies, this will typically generate a new cookie which will preserve your choice, and indicate it to our Services in your next visits so that the cookies you opted-out of will not be utilized. You can also manage your cookies preferences, and accept, remove or entirely block cookies, through your browser settings.
Please note that certain web browsers may transmit “Do Not Track” signals to websites with which the browser communicates, telling the website not to follow its online movements. Because of differences in how web browsers interpret this feature and send those signals, and lack of standardization, we currently do not respond to such “Do Not Track” signals.
We also use the web analytics tool Google Analytics. This tool helps us understand users’ behavior on our Services, including by tracking page content, and click/touch, movements, scrolls and keystroke activities. Further information about the privacy practices of our analytics service provider is available at: www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners. Further information about your option to opt-out of this analytics service is available at: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Please note that if you get a new device, install a new browser, erase or otherwise alter your browser’s cookie file (including upgrading certain browsers), you may also clear the opt-out cookies installed once you opt-out, so an additional opt-out will be necessary to prevent additional tracking.
7. Communications
Service Communications: Empathy may contact you with important information regarding our Services. For example, we may notify you (through any of the means available to us) of changes or updates to our Services, service maintenance or changes, or password retrieval notices. You will not be able to opt out of receiving such service communications while using our Services, as they are integral to such use.
Notifications and Promotional Communications: We may send you notifications concerning new features, offerings, events, and special opportunities or any other information we think you will find valuable. We may provide such notices through any of the contact means available to us (e.g., phone, mobile or email), through the Services, or through our marketing campaigns on any other websites or platforms.
If you do not wish to receive such promotional communications, you may notify us at any time by sending an email to [email protected] or by following the "unsubscribe", "stop" or "change email preferences" instructions contained in the promotional communications you receive.
8. Data Security
Empathy and its Service Providers implement systems, applications, and procedures to secure your personal data, to minimize the risks of theft, damage, loss of information, or unauthorized access or use of information. These measures provide sound industry-standard security. However, please be aware that regardless of any security measures used or implemented, we cannot and do not guarantee the absolute protection and security of any personal data stored with us or with any third parties.
9. Data Subject Rights
Individuals have rights concerning their personal data. Please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected] if you wish to exercise your privacy rights under any applicable law, including the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or US State Privacy laws, including the CCPA, as amended from time to time. Such rights may include, to the extent applicable, the right to know/request access to (specific pieces of personal data collected; categories of personal data collected; categories of sources from whom the personal data was collected; purpose of collecting personal data; categories of third parties with whom we have shared personal data), to request rectification or erasure of your personal data held with Empathy, or to restrict or object to such personal data’s processing (including the right to direct us not to sell or share your personal data to third parties now or in the future, or the right to opt-out of processing personal data for the purposes of targeted advertising, as described below), or to port such personal data, or the right to equal services and prices (e.g., freedom from discrimination) (each to the extent available to you under the laws which apply to you). If you are a GDPR-protected individual, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority in the EU or the UK, as applicable.
To the extent applicable to you, you may also designate an authorized agent, in writing or through a power of attorney, to request to exercise your privacy rights on your behalf. The authorized agent may submit a request to exercise these rights by emailing us.
When you or an authorized agent ask us to exercise any of your rights, we may need to ask you to provide us certain credentials to make sure that you are who you claim you are, to avoid disclosure to you of personal data related to others and to ask you to provide further information to better understand the nature and scope of data that you request to access. We may not be able to fulfil your request unless you have provided sufficient information that enables us to reasonably verify that you are the individual about whom we collected the personal data. We may then request additional information for legal purposes (e.g., as proof of the identity of the person submitting the request, or proof of request fulfillment).
We may redact from the data which we will make available to you, any personal data or confidential information related to others.
If you are a resident of Virginia, Colorado or Connecticut, you may also have the right to appeal if we decline to take action regarding your request. We will notify you providing our reasons and instructions for how you can appeal the decision. If you are a Colorado resident, you may also have the right to contact the Colorado Attorney General if you have concerns about the result of the appeal.
10. Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing/Targeted Advertising
Under some US data protection laws such as the CCPA, our disclosure of certain internet activity and device information to third parties through cookies may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information or processing for purposes of “targeted advertising” as such terms are defined under US data protection laws. We do so in pursuit of the business and commercial purposes described in Section 2 above.
In the last 12 months we have "sold" or "shared" Internet or other electronic network activity information, Geolocation data, and Commercial information with our analytics and advertising partners and service providers. Empathy has not knowingly sold or shared the personal information of individuals under the age of 18.
You may opt out of all cookies that may result in a “sale” and/or “sharing” of your personal information or processing for purposes of targeted advertising in the following ways:
Click the “Your Privacy Choices” button (available in our website’s footer), and select, “Do Not Sell or Share my Personal Information” or “Opt-Out of Sale or Processing my Personal Data for Targeted Advertising.”
Please note: If you visit us from a different device or browser, or clear cookies, then you need to return to this screen to re-select your preferences.
Set the Global Privacy Control (GPC) for each participating browser system that you use to opt out of the use of third-party Advertising cookies (instructions on how to download and use GPC are available here).
11. Additional Notices and Contact Details
Updates and Amendments: We may update and amend this Privacy Policy from time to time by posting an amended version on our Services. We will make reasonable efforts to post a clear notice on our Services and/or we send you an email (to the extent that you provided us with your email address) regarding the change if we believe any substantial changes are involved. Such changes will take effect four (4) days after the notice is posted on the Services or sent via email, whichever is earlier. After such notice period, all amendments to this Privacy Policy shall be deemed accepted by you.
External Links: While our Services may contain links or integrations to other websites, social networks or services, we are not responsible for their privacy practices, and encourage you to pay attention when you leave our Services for the website or services of such third parties, or interact with social network integrations. We recommend you read the privacy policies of each and every website and service you visit. This Privacy Policy only applies to our Services.
Children’s Privacy: Our Services are not intended for use by children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors under the age of 18 and do not wish to do so. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 18 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 18, please contact us at [email protected].
EU Representative: Empathy has designated Prighter Group as its representative in the European Union, for data protection matters pursuant to Article 27 of the GDPR. Prighter Group may be contacted only on matters related to the processing of personal data. To make such an inquiry, please visit Prighter | Compliance Landing Page of The Empathy Project Inc.
UK Representative: Empathy has designated Prighter Group as its representative in the United Kingdom for data protection matters pursuant to Article 27 of the UK GDPR. For all inquiries regarding our UK privacy practices, please visit Prighter | Compliance Landing Page of The Empathy Project Inc.
Contacting Us: If you have any comments or questions about this Privacy Policy or if you have any concerns regarding your personal data held with us, please contact us at [email protected].