EU Privacy Policy

EU Privacy Notice

We at Cobalt Software, Inc. (“Company,” “we,” “us,” “our”) know that our users (“you,” “your”) care about how your Personal Data is used and shared, and we take your privacy seriously.

If you are a resident of the European Union (“EU”), United Kingdom, Lichtenstein, Norway, or Iceland, you may have additional rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) with respect to your Personal Data, as outlined below.  

For this EU Privacy Notice, we use the terms “Personal Data” and “processing” as they are defined in the GDPR, but “Personal Data” generally means information that can be used to individually identify a person, and “processing” generally covers actions that can be performed in connection with data such as collection, use, storage and disclosure.  Company will be the controller of your Personal Data processed in connection with the Services. Note that we may also process Personal Data of our customers’ end users or employees in connection with our provision of services to customers, in which case we are the processor of Personal Data. If we are the processor of your Personal Data (i.e., not the controller), please contact the controller party in the first instance to address your rights with respect to such data.

Where applicable, this EU Privacy Notice is intended to supplement, and not replace, the Company’s Privacy Policy at https://www.cobalt.pe/privacy-policy/ (the “Privacy Policy”).  If there are any conflicts between this EU Privacy Notice and the Company’s Privacy Policy, the policy or portion that is more protective of Personal Data shall control to the extent of such conflict.  If you have any questions about this notice or whether any of the following applies to you, please contact us at notice@cobaltgp.com.  

What Personal Data Do We Collect From You? 

We collect Personal Data about you when you provide such information directly to us, when third parties such as our business partners or service providers provide us with Personal Data about you, when we gather Personal Data from other publicly available sources or when Personal Data about you is automatically collected in connection with your use of our Services.

We have identified the following categories of Data Subjects for the purpose of processing Personal Data:

  • As an alternative assets industry individual who is a subject of our research (an “Individual”). 
  • As a subscriber or prospective subscriber to the Company’s Services, both existing and former, who accesses one of our software products or Services, our Website, online publications, or marketing newsletters (a “Subscriber”).

You may fall within either or both categories described above.

Individuals 

Information we collect about you from third parties:  We collect Personal Data about you from third parties, including publicly available sources, including without limitation the following: 

  • First and last name
  • Role and firm name
  • Email address
  • Business address 
  • Telephone number
  • Linkedin Profile URL

We may also receive such Personal Data directly from you if you provide us with such Personal Data.

How your Personal Data is collected: Our researchers collect relevant Personal Data from direct interactions or publicly available sources, such as, but not limited to, company corporate websites, LinkedIn, regulatory filings, and news alerts.  If you have attended an alternative asset industry event organized or sponsored by the Company, we will have collected Personal Data such as, but not limited to, your name, firm name, business address and other contact details.

Subscribers

Information we collect directly from you:  We receive Personal Data directly from you when you provide us with such Personal Data, including without limitation the following: 

  • First and last name
  • Email address
  • Mailing address 
  • Telephone number
  • Job title
  • Company or firm name (in connection with creating an account)
  • Billing, credit card, or payment information (in connection with purchase of Services or products)

Information we automatically collect when you use our Services:  Some Personal Data is automatically collected when you use our Services, such as the following: 

  • IP address
  • Device identifiers 
  • Web browser information
  • Page view statistics
  • Browsing history
  • Usage information
  • Cookies and other tracking technologies – For more information on Cookies and other tracking technologies and which ones we use, please review our Section entitled More About Cookies and E-mail and Other Communications.
  • Location information (e.g. IP address, geographical area) 
  • Log data (e.g. access times, hardware and software information)

Information we collect from third parties:  We collect Personal Data about you from third parties, including through publicly available sources, including without limitation the following: 

  • First and last name
  • Role and firm name
  • Email address
  • Business address 
  • Telephone number

More About Cookies

Cookies are pieces of text that may be provided to your computer through your web browser when you access a website. Your browser stores cookies in a manner associated with each website you visit. We use cookies to enable our servers to recognize your web browser and tell us how and when you visit the Site and otherwise use the Services through the Internet. Cookies can either be “session cookies” or “persistent cookies”.  Session cookies are temporary cookies that are stored on your device while you are visiting our Site or using our Services, whereas “persistent cookies” are stored on your device for a period of time after you leave a site.  For more information on cookies, including how to control your cookie settings and preferences, visit http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/basics/legal/cookies/index_en.htm, https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies/, and http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.

We use cookies to identify that your web browser has accessed aspects of the Services and may associate that information with your Account if you have one. The Services use the following cookies: 

Essential Cookies.  Essential cookies are required for providing you features or services that you have requested. For example, certain cookies enable you to log into secure areas of our Website. Disabling these cookies may make certain features and services unavailable.

Functionality Cookies.  Functional cookies are used to record your choices and settings regarding our Services, maintain your preferences over time, and recognize you when you return to our Services. These cookies help us to personalize our content for you and remember your preferences.

Performance/Analytical Cookies.  Performance/analytical cookies allow us to understand how visitors use our Website and Services such as by collecting information about the number of visitors to the Website, what pages visitors view on our Website, and how long visitors are viewing pages on the Website. Performance/analytical cookies also help us measure the performance of our advertising campaigns in order to help us improve our campaigns and the Services’ content for those who engage with our advertising.

You may be able to change the preferences on your browser or mobile device to prevent or limit your computer or device’s acceptance of cookies, but this may prevent you from taking advantage of some of our Website’s features. If you click on a link to a third party website, such third party may also transmit cookies to you. This Privacy Notice does not cover the use of cookies by any third parties

E-mail and Other Communications:

We may contact you, by email or other means; for example, we may communicate with you about your use of the Website or any of the Services or send to you general industry newsletters or emails with personalized news updates. Also, we may receive a confirmation and/or other information when you open an email from us. This confirmation and/or other information helps us make emails more interesting and improve our service. If you do not want to receive email or other mail from us, you may opt-out at any time.  You may click the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any marketing email and follow the instructions found on the page to which the link takes you.  You cannot opt out of receiving transactional emails related to your account or use of the Services. Please note that if you do not want to receive legal notices from us by email, those legal notices will still govern your use of the Website or any of the other Services, and you are responsible for reviewing such legal notices for changes.

How Do We Use Your Personal Data?  

Individuals: 

We process your Personal Data to research key current and historical financing, performance, and investment trends in the alternative asset industry and to provide data and information on firms active in this industry. Your Personal Data, as outlined earlier in the Notice, will be displayed into our products made available to Subscribers.

Subscribers: 

We process Personal Data to operate, improve, understand and personalize our Services.  For example, we use Personal Data to:

  • Create and manage user profiles and accounts
  • Communicate with you about the Services
  • Contact you about Service announcements, updates or offers
  • Provide support and assistance for the Services
  • Personalize website content and communications based on your preferences
  • Meet contract or legal obligations
  • Respond to user inquiries
  • Fulfill user requests 
  • Resolve disputes
  • Protect against or deter fraudulent, illegal or harmful actions
  • Enforce our Terms of Service

We will only process your Personal Data if we have a lawful basis for doing so. Lawful bases for processing include consent, contractual necessity and our “legitimate interests” or the legitimate interest of others, as further described below.

  • Contractual Necessity:  We process the following categories of Personal Data as a matter of “contractual necessity”, meaning that we need to process the data to perform under our Terms of Service with you, which enables us to provide you with the Services.  When we process data due to contractual necessity, failure to provide such Personal Data will result in your inability to use some or all portions of the Services that require such data. 
    • Contact information 
    • Billing, credit card, or payment information 
    • Navigational data, including usage information
  • Legitimate Interest:  We process the following categories of Personal Data when we believe it furthers the legitimate interest of us, our business, or third parties.  
    • Contact information (including, without limitation, your name, role, business or mailing addresses, email address, job title and company or firm name)
    • Navigational data 

Examples of these legitimate interests include:

  • Provision of our platform services to our customers
  • Operation and improvement of our business, products and services
  • Marketing of our products and services 
  • Provision of customer support
  • Protection from fraud or security threats
  • Compliance with legal obligations
  • Human Resources (solely for employment application purposes)
  • Consent:   In some cases, we process Personal Data based on the consent you expressly grant to us at the time we collect such data.  When we process Personal Data based on your consent, it will be expressly indicated to you at the point and time of collection. 
  • Other Processing Grounds:  From time to time we may also need to process Personal Data to comply with a legal obligation, if it is necessary to protect the vital interests of you or other data subjects, or if it is necessary for a task carried out in the public interest.

How and With Whom Do We Share Your Data?  

Individuals:

We share your Personal Data with Subscribers who agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policies. Our Subscribers include, but are not limited to, investors, fund managers, service providers and advisors in the alternative assets industry.

Individuals and Subscribers:

We share Personal Data with vendors, third party service providers and agents who work on our behalf and provide us with services related to the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or our Terms of Service. These parties include:

  • Researchers 
  • Analytics service providers
  • Hosting service providers
  • Telecommunications and storage service providers
  • Marketing service providers

We share Personal Data with our affiliates or other members of our corporate family. Furthermore, if we choose to buy or sell assets, user information is typically one of the transferred business assets. Moreover, if we, or substantially all of our assets, were acquired, or if we go out of business or enter bankruptcy, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party and we would share Personal Data with the party that is acquiring our assets. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of us or our assets may continue to use your Personal Data as set forth in this policy.

Subscribers:

We also share Personal Data when necessary to complete a transaction initiated or authorized by you or provide you with a product or service you have requested.  In addition to those set forth above, these parties also include:

  • Other users (where you post information publicly or as otherwise necessary to effect a transaction initiated or authorized by you through the Services) 
  • Other parties authorized by you

We also share Personal Data when we believe it is necessary to:

  • Comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal process, including from law enforcement or other government agencies
  • Protect us, our business or our users, for example to enforce our terms of service, prevent spam or other unwanted communications and investigate or protect against fraud
  • Maintain the security of our products and services

We also share Personal Data with third parties when you give us consent to do so.

How Long Do We Retain Your Personal Data?  We retain Personal Data about you for as long as you have an open account with us and for four (4) months after you close your account.  In some cases we retain Personal Data for longer, if doing so is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes or collect fees owed, to support business operations and to continue to develop and improve our Services, or is otherwise permitted or required by applicable law, rule or regulation. 

What Security Measures Do We Use?  We seek to protect Personal Data using appropriate technical and organizational measures based on the type of Personal Data and applicable processing activity. 

Personal Data of Children:  We do not knowingly collect or solicit Personal Data from anyone under the age of 16. If you are under 16, please do not attempt to register for the Services or send any Personal Data about yourself to us.  If we learn that we have collected Personal Data from a child under age 16, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that a child under 16 may have provided us Personal Data, please contact us at notice@cobaltgp.com. 

What Rights Do You Have Regarding Your Personal Data?  You have certain rights with respect to your Personal Data, including those set forth below.  For more information about these rights, or to submit a request, please email notice@cobaltgp.com.  Please note that in some circumstances, we may not be able to fully comply with your request, such as if it is frivolous or extremely impractical, if it jeopardizes the rights of others, or if it is not required by law, but in those circumstances, we will still respond to notify you of such a decision.  In some cases, we may also need to you to provide us with additional information, which may include Personal Data, if necessary to verify your identity and the nature of your request.  

  • Access:  You can request more information about the Personal Data we hold about you and request a copy of such Personal Data.  You can also access certain of your Personal Data through your account settings.  
  • Rectification: If you believe that any Personal Data we are holding about you is incorrect or incomplete, you can request that we correct or supplement such data. 
  • Erasure: You can request that we erase some or all of your Personal Data from our systems.  
  • Withdrawal of Consent: If we are processing your Personal Data based on your consent (as indicated at the time of collection of such data), you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Please note, however, that if you exercise this right, you may have to then provide express consent on a case-by-case basis for the use or disclosure of certain of your Personal Data, if such use or disclosure is necessary to enable you to utilize some or all of our Services. 
  • Portability:  You can ask for a copy of your Personal Data in a machine-readable format.  You can also request that we transmit the data to another controller where technically feasible. 
  • Objection: You can contact us to let us know that you object to the further use or disclosure of your Personal Data for certain purposes, such as for direct marketing purposes. 
  • Restriction of Processing:  You can ask us to restrict further processing of your Personal Data.
  • Right to File Complaint:  You have the right to lodge a complaint about Company’s practices with respect to your Personal Data with the supervisory authority of your country or EU Member State. A list of Supervisory Authorities is available here:  http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm.  

Transfers of Personal Data: The Services are hosted and operated in the United States (“U.S.”) through Company and its service providers, and if you do not reside in the U.S., laws in the U.S. may differ from the laws where you reside. By using the Services, you acknowledge that any Personal Data about you, regardless of whether provided by you or obtained from a third party, is being provided to Company in the U.S. and will be hosted on U.S. servers, and you authorize Company to transfer, store and process your information to and in the U.S., and possibly other countries.  You hereby consent to the transfer of your data to the U.S. pursuant to a data processing agreement incorporating standard data protection clauses promulgated by the EC, a copy of which can be obtained at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32010D0087. 

Privacy Shield Notice for Personal Data Transfers to the United States

Company and the following subsidiary: Visent Technology AB comply with the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of Personal Data transferred from the EU and Switzerland, respectively, to the U.S. Company has certified that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles with respect to such data. If there is any conflict between the policies in this policy and data subject rights under the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. For more information about the Privacy Shield Program, and to view our certification page, please visit www.privacyshield.gov.

Company is committed to the Privacy Shield Principles of (1) notice, (2) consent, (3) accountability for onward transfer, (4) security, (5) data integrity and purpose limitation, (6) access and (7) recourse, enforcement and liability with respect to all Personal Data received from within the EU and Switzerland in reliance on the Privacy Shield. 

The Privacy Shield Principles require that we remain potentially liable if any third party processing Personal Data on our behalf fails to comply with these Privacy Shield Principles (except to the extent we are not responsible for the event giving rise to any alleged damage). Company’s compliance with the Privacy Shield is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. 

Pursuant to the Privacy Shield Framework, EU residents have the right to obtain our confirmation of whether we maintain Personal Data relating to you in the United States.  Upon request, we will provide you with access to the Personal Data that we hold about you.  You may also correct, amend, or delete the Personal Data we hold about you.  An EU resident who seeks access, or who seeks to correct, amend, or delete inaccurate Personal Data transferred to the United States under Privacy Shield, should direct their query to notice@cobaltgp.com.  If requested to remove Personal Data, we will respond within a reasonable timeframe.

We will provide an individual opt-out choice, or opt-in for sensitive data, before we share your Personal Data with third parties other than our agents, or before we use it for a purpose other than which it was originally collected or subsequently authorized.  To request to limit the use and disclosure of your Personal Data, please submit a written request to notice@cobaltgp.com.

In certain situations, we may be required to disclose Personal Data in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.

Please contact us at notice@cobaltgp.com with any questions or concerns relating to our Privacy Shield Certification. In compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles, Company commits to resolve complaints about your privacy and our collection or use of your Personal Data transferred to the United States pursuant to Privacy Shield. If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your Privacy Shield-related complaint from us, or if we have not resolved your complaint, you may also resolve a Privacy Shield-related complaint through BBB EU Privacy Shield, an independent dispute resolution mechanism operated by the Council of Better Business Bureaus in the United States. You can visit https://www.bbb.org/EU-privacy-shield/for-eu-consumers for more information or to file a complaint, at no cost to you. 

If your Privacy Shield complaint cannot be resolved through the above channels, under certain conditions, you may invoke binding arbitration for some residual claims not resolved by other redress mechanisms.  See Privacy Shield Annex 1 at https://www.privacyshield.gov/article?id=ANNEX-I-introduction

What If You Have Questions Regarding Your Personal Data?  If you have any questions about this EU Privacy Notice or our data practices generally, please contact us at notice@cobaltgp.com.

 Last Updated: February 25, 2020