Textio Privacy Policy
Effective December 10, 2019
Last updated November 21, 2022
Our Privacy Principles

Textio’s Privacy Policy stems from three critical principles. The data we collect and how we use it stems from these principles, so if you read nothing else, please read this:

  1. We only collect data that can be directly used to improve your product experience. Every piece of data we collect, from your company name to the number of adjectives you use, is collected with specific intentions. We use data to improve our predictive models, so that the more you use Textio’s products, the better results you get. We aggregate data into patterns to provide smarter writing guidance over time.
  2. We don’t sell your data. We are committed to helping our customers evolve their company communication culture to include inclusivity and remove unwanted bias, making Textio an indispensable tool to operationalize DEI programs. We store your document text in order to understand company and industry language patterns, but we will not share your data with anyone outside your company or ours, except for trusted approved third-party services providers that are required to provide the services to you.
  3. We are committed to the protection of your private data. Privacy and data protection go hand in hand. Our commitment to your privacy means that we take the protection of your data seriously. We take steps to ensure that your Personal Information is protected and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

In this document, Textio refers to the products and services that we offer at https://textio.com/ (“Service” or “Services”). It also refers to our company, Textio, Inc., as “Textio,” “we,” “our,” or “us.”

Data We Collect

We collect data at different points during your use of Textio according to data minimization principle. We strive to be transparent about the Personal Identifiable Information (PII) we collect about you and how it’s processed. When you purchase our Services, we require you to provide the following PII:

For Textio for recruiting

  • Full name
  • Business contact information (email address, job title, and IP Address)

For Textio for performance management

  • Full name
  • Business contact information (email address and IP Address)
  • Demographics (Gender, Race/Ethnicity)

We want Textio to be easy to use, so in addition to Personal Information, we collect data about your document source and format as you write within or import documents into the platform. We also collect data about how you engage with Textio’s phrase highlights, tooltips, charts, text formatting, and other product options. That helps us know which areas of the product are most useful to you.

As you are using the platform, we also collect information about the text you are optimizing, including the text, scores, metadata, and editorial changes that you make in response to Textio’s suggestions.

We also automatically collect some log data from actions you take while using the platform. This may include your IP address, as well as your web browser, operating system, and other attributes of your system that are captured by Google Analytics. As you navigate our web sites and use our Services, we may collect information such as session duration through cookies, pixel tags, local storage, web beacons, or other technologies (“Technologies”).

If you would like to opt-out of the Technologies we employ on our web sites or Services, you may do so by blocking, deleting, or disabling them as your web browser or device permits.

What We Do with Data

Data we collect is used to improve all aspects of our product experience and to provide you services based on our contractual agreement. For example:

  • We use engagement data to improve our in-product experience, including the quality of our recommendations, our predictive models, and the options that we offer for usage. We want our user experience to delight you.
  • We use log and engagement data to keep our service secure and reliable, and to quickly investigate failures and disruptive patterns. We want our customer experience to be reliable and trustworthy.
  • We use your account and engagement information to communicate with you better. We want all our customer communication, whether email, in-product, or other channels, to be relevant and helpful.
  • Some companies choose to share outcomes data with Textio in order to get a customized predictive model that is exactly tailored for their purposes. For companies that share this data, in addition to including it in Textio’s de-identified and aggregate models, we will store this and use it to build a model specifically for your company. We use this data to drive continuous improvements to our models.
  • We use Technologies for interest-based advertising, website enhancements, and to engage with you regarding your product inquiries.

Additionally, we pursue our legitimate interests and process Personal Information to:

  • Send you the information you requested
  • Respond to your customer service requests
  • Send newsletters or marketing communications
  • Respond to questions and concerns
  • Improve our web site and marketing efforts
  • Conduct research and analysis
  • Communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues, including system outages or breaches
  • Respond to inquiries regarding career opportunities

We store PII collected anywhere in the world, including but not limited to the United States (“US”), the European Union (“EU”), in the cloud, on our servers, or the servers of our service providers. Your PII may be accessible to law enforcement or other authorities pursuant to a lawful request. PII we collect from you is transferred to the United States to fulfill our contractual obligations and to provide the Services based on legitimate business interest for the PII. These PII transfers are done in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) International Data Transfer exception.

Data We Share

We may share your PII as described in this Privacy Policy with our approved third-party service providers (e.g., Subprocessors) or with your permission.

We will not sell your PII or broadly disclose any data about your personal usage patterns. We reserve the right to share non-identifiable aggregated data to improve the service and provide insights to customers. If your employer is a Textio corporate subscriber, we will share aggregated usage data with your employer.

Additionally, we share PII as follows:

  • Subprocessor: We share PII with vendors and service providers to provide the Services in the agreement. We execute contracts with vendors and service providers to explicitly require them to adhere to our privacy and customer data handling policies. To see a list of our sub-processors, please find them on our website.
  • As Required by Law: We may access, preserve, and disclose your PII as required by law. In addition, from time to time, server logs may be reviewed for data protection purposes—e.g. to monitor and detect unauthorized activity on the Services. In such cases, server log data containing IP addresses may be shared with law enforcement bodies in connection with their investigation of the unauthorized activity.
  • Merger, Sale, or Other Asset Transfers: If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or other financial restructuring, your PII may be sold or transferred as part of the transaction as permitted by law and/or contract.
Your Personal Information Rights
Right to Opt Out

You have the right to opt out of certain uses and disclosures of your PII. Where you have consented to our processing of your Personal Information, you may withdraw that consent at any time and opt-out to further processing by contacting privacy@textio.com.

If you receive an unwanted email from us, you can use the unsubscribe link found at the bottom of the email to opt-out of receiving future emails. We will process your request within a reasonable time after receipt. Note that you will continue to receive transaction-related emails regarding products or services you have requested. We may also send you certain non-promotional communications regarding Textio and our Services and you will not be able to opt out of those communications.

We maintain telephone “do-not-call” and “do-not-mail” lists as mandated by law. We process requests to be placed on do-not-mail, do-not-phone and do-not-contact lists within 60 days after receipt, or such shorter time as may be required by law.

Rights of Access, Rectification, Erasure, and Restriction

You may ask whether we are processing PII about you, request access to your PII, and ask that we correct, amend, or delete your Personal Information where it is inaccurate. To do this, please send an email request to privacy@textio.com. Please include your full name, the email address associated with your account, and a detailed description of your data request. Such requests will be processed in line with local laws.

If you are an employee of one of our customers and would like to access, correct, amend, or delete your PII from our service, please contact your employer directly. If a customer (i.e. your employer) requests our assistance in responding to their employees’ requests, we will respond to such requests within 20 business days.

We will make good faith efforts to provide you with access to your PII, but there may be circumstances in which we are unable to do so. If we determine that access may not be granted, we will provide you with an explanation of why that determination has been made and a contact point for any further inquiries. To protect the privacy of your data, we will take commercially reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access to or making any changes to your Personal Information.

Other Terms
Privacy Policy Changes

This Privacy Policy is subject to the terms in our Terms of Service, available for review at https://textio.com/terms-of-service/. In some cases, our customers have signed a Services Agreement with us. Our Terms of Service, or a signed Services Agreement, take precedence over any conflicting provision in this Privacy Policy.

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy and will post any revisions on our web site.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes. Your continued use of our web site or Services after any changes have been made acts as your consent to the changes. If there are any material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you as required by applicable law and will post any adjustments to the Privacy Policy on this web page. The revised version will be effective immediately when it is posted.

Additionally, before we use PII for any new purpose not originally authorized by you, we will provide information regarding the new purpose and give you the opportunity to opt-out.

If at any point you do not agree to any portion of the Privacy Policy then in effect, you must immediately stop using the Services.

Data Retention

We will retain PII (including business data we collect on behalf of our customers) as described in this Privacy Policy for as long as is needed to provide the Services, and as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, establish legal defenses, conduct audits, pursue legitimate business purposes, enforce our agreements, or to comply with applicable law.

Jurisdiction

By using the web site, we will transfer data to the United States, a jurisdiction outside of the EU. By choosing to visit the web site, utilize the Services, or otherwise provide data to us, you agree that any dispute over privacy or the terms contained in this Privacy Policy will be governed by the laws of the state of Washington in the US and the adjudication of any disputes arising in connection with us or the web site will be in accordance with the Terms.

Children’s Privacy

Services are not directed to nor does Textio knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13 years of age. If you learn that your child has provided us with Personal Information without your consent, you may alert us at privacy@textio.com. If we learn that we have collected any Personal Information from children under 13, we will promptly take steps to delete such Personal Information and terminate the child’s account.

Do Not Track

Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. Please note that we do not respond to or honor DNT signals or similar mechanisms transmitted by web browsers.

California Privacy Rights

California law permits users who are California residents to request and obtain once a year, free of charge, a list of the third parties to whom we have disclosed their PII (if any) for their direct marketing purposes in the prior calendar year, as well as the type of PII disclosed to those parties. We do not share PII with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

Redress, Compliance, Accountability, or Questions

If you have any questions about our privacy practices, please feel free to contact us at privacy@textio.com or write to:

Textio Privacy Team
113 Cherry St, Suite 72670
Seattle, WA 98104