Privacy & Website Usage Policy

Franchise Ventures, LLC (“Franchise Ventures”, “we”, or “us”) owns and/or operates a number of business-for-sale marketplaces (each, a “marketplace”), provided online through various websites and mobile apps, that connect franchise development professionals and business sellers with prospective franchisees and buyers. We believe that when you visit our marketplaces, you should know what personal information we collect from or about you and how we use it. To further that purpose, we provide this Privacy Policy to explain what information we collect from or about visitors to our marketplaces, how we use it, and who we share it with, along with the rights and choices you may have with respect to your information.

This Privacy Policy applies to visitors and users of www.franchiseventures.com and any other website or app owned or operated by Franchise Ventures that links to this Privacy Policy. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. This Privacy Policy, together with our Terms of Use, forms an integral and binding part of our relationship with you. By using our website or app, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use. If you object to our data collection practices or any of the provisions in this Privacy Policy, your choice is to stop using our website.

From time to time, we may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the function of our websites or apps or changes in our technology and use of data. If we make a change to this Privacy Policy that materially reduces your rights or significantly changes the way we use or share your personal information, we will notify you via a banner or similar display on our websites and apps, and/or direct communication via email. If you object to any of the changes we make, your choice is to stop using our websites or apps. By continuing to use our services following the effective date of such changes, you agree to our Privacy Policy as modified.

When you visit our website or use our app, we collect a variety of information from and about you and your device, including information that identifies you directly. This section describes what information we collect in connection with your use of our services.

1. Information You Provide

   You can generally browse our marketplaces without creating an account or providing your personal information. However, in order to access or utilize some features of our marketplaces, you will be required to provide certain information. Below is a summary of when you may need to share your personal information with us and what kinds of information you may be required to share.

   1. Prospective Franchisee/Buyer

      The primary purpose of our marketplaces is to connect qualified prospects with franchise development professionals and other business sellers. If you are interested in buying a business or franchise, you can request more information regarding a specific opportunity by submitting a request or inquiry form, which will ask for your contact information, such as name, email address, and phone number. Each inquiry form that you complete is only forwarded to the specific franchise or business opportunity for which you have requested additional information.

      You may also choose to create an account on our marketplaces, receive our e-mail newsletters, or participate in contests or surveys on our websites. If you elect to engage in any of these activities, you will be asked to provide certain personal information, such as name, email address, phone number, and account login credentials.

   2. Franchise Professionals/Business Sellers

      We provide current and prospective business customers (e.g., franchise development professionals and other business sellers) and other advertisers with several tools to identify and connect with prospective buyers, which may involve the collection of information from current or prospective business customers and advertisers that visit our website or download our app. If you are a business customer or advertiser of Franchise Ventures, please note that your contract with us generally governs your use and participation in our marketplaces. In the event of any conflict between this Privacy Policy and your advertising agreement with Franchise Ventures, the advertising agreement will control.

2. Automatic Collection

   In addition to the information you give us directly, we collect certain information automatically as you use our services.

   1. Activity Information

      We collect information about how you use our websites and mobile apps, such as your search history, business opportunities you view, what pages you've clicked on and other uses of our features, and the amount of time you spend looking at different parts of our website or app.

   2. Device Information

      We collect data about the browsers and devices you use to access our websites and apps. The data we collect includes browser or device model and settings, operating system, unique identifiers (including device ID), and, for app users, the version of the app you're using. We also collect data about how your browsers and devices interact with our services, including IP address, crash reports, system activity, and the date, time, and the URL of the site you visited before our website.

      You can control our collection of certain mobile data, such as your mobile device model or the language your mobile device uses, by adjusting the privacy and security settings on your mobile device.

   3. Location Information

      For app users, if you enable location services on your mobile device, we may collect the location of your device. We use your location information to track app usage, send any mobile alerts that you ask to receive, and provide services like localized search results. If you don't want to use these features, you can turn off location services on your device.

      For website visitors, we also collect location information for similar purposes from your browser. You can disable browser location services through your browser settings.

   4. Cookies and Other Tracking Tech

      We may use various tools, including cookies, pixel tags, web beacons and other similar technologies, to gather behavioral analytics, including information about how you view and use our sites and apps, and to enhance your experience with our services. For example, many of our web pages use cookies to help us understand site usage and browsing patterns, improve the content and offerings on our websites and apps, or personalize your experience. This information helps us to provide you with a better user experience by enabling us to compile statistics and measures of user satisfaction, and to continually improve our websites and apps. Some of this information is collected and compiled by third-party service providers. However, the use of cookies and other tracking technologies by our partners and third-party service providers is not covered by this Privacy Policy, as we do not have access or control over these tracking technologies.

      In addition to cookies and other similar technology, we also use Google Analytics to help us understand how individuals use our website. Specifically, Google Analytics collects statistics on our website visitors, such as where visitors have come to our website from, how long a visitor spends on our site and the pages they visited, and other related information. As part of this service, your web browser will automatically send certain information to Google. Please see Google's Privacy Policy, currently available at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites, for more information on how Google collects and uses such information. If you would like to opt-out of having your site activity available to Google Analytics, you can download the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On.

   5. Do-Not-Track Signals/Global Privacy Control

      Certain websites and other technology can track their users over time to, for instance, provide targeted advertising. Do Not Track mechanisms and Global Opt Out/Global Privacy Control options allow Internet users to control, and where desired, prevent, the tracking of their online activities across such websites and technology. Our services currently do not support the Do Not Track browser or any Global Opt Out/Global Privacy Control option. Please see the “Privacy Choices” section of this Privacy Policy for more information on how you can manage how your data can be used by us and/or third-party service providers.

Our marketplaces may contain links to other sites not owned or operated by Franchise Ventures, including websites that provide tools and resources for business funding. Because we cannot and do not control how such third party sites collect or use your personal information, such sites are not governed by this Privacy Policy and we encourage you to review the applicable privacy policy provided by each third party website before you submit your personal information.

Our website and apps may also include social media features, such as the Facebook react button and widgets or interactive mini-programs that run on our site. These features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie or web beacon to function properly. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the social media company providing such feature.

Finally, we sometimes partner with third party ad networks or use third party vendor re-marketing tracking cookies to display advertising on our website or to manage our advertising on other sites. Our third party partners may use cookies or similar technologies in order to provide you advertising based upon your browsing activities and interests. If you wish to opt out of interest-based advertising, please follow the instructions provided in the “Privacy Choices” section of this Privacy Policy.

1. General

   We primarily use your information to respond to your request or otherwise fulfill or meet the reason for which the information is provided to us. For example, if you request to be connected with a business opportunity, we will use the information you provide to connect you with the party that listed such business opportunity. Please note that the use of your information by the seller, franchisor, or other party with whom you are connected is not governed by this Privacy Policy.

2. Providing & Improving Our Services

   We also may use information collected from or about any website visitor or app user to provide and improve our website or app, including to analyze website traffic, app usage, and troubleshoot technical issues.

3. Other Uses
   • To contact you about our services that may be of interest to you;
   • To manage our relationship with you, such as asking you to take a survey or provide feedback on our services;
   • To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us;
   • To notify you about changes to our services or new services we offer;
   • To administer and protect our business and our websites and mobile apps, including data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data;
   • To enforce our legal rights and to protect the rights, property, or safety of Franchise Ventures, our clients, or others; and/or
   • For any other purposes with your consent.

We disclose your information to third parties when you request or instruct us to do so. For example, after you submit an inquiry form regarding a business opportunity, we will share your information with the party that listed such business opportunity on our marketplace.

We also may disclose information that we collect about you or that you provide us, including any personal information, as follows:

• To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business and who are bound by contractual obligations to use personal information only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them (e.g., companies that analyze data and provide search results and links);
• In connection with a reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any portion of our business for the purpose of evaluating and/or performing the proposed transaction (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings). These purposes may include, as examples, permitting such parties to determine whether to proceed or continue with the transaction, fulfilling any reporting or audit requirements to such parties, and/or disclosing personal information as part of concluding a sale or transfer of assets. Our successors and assigns may collect, use and disclose your personal information for substantially the same purposes as those set out in this Privacy Policy. In the event the transaction does not go through, we will require, by contract, the other party or parties to the transaction not to use or disclose your personal information in any manner whatsoever for any purpose, and to return or destroy such personal information;
• To unaffiliated third parties when we believe its release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce or apply our Terms of Use and other agreements, or protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users or others. This includes exchanging information with other unaffiliated third parties in connection with fraud protection;
• To comply with a legal process, such as a court order, subpoena, search warrant, or law enforcement request.

We may also disclose or share without restriction any publicly-available information or aggregated and/or de-identified information.

1. Cookies and Other Tracking Tech

   If you are using our website, you can limit certain automatic data collection processes, including by setting your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some of the parts of our websites and mobile apps may be inaccessible or not function properly.

   As noted above, our websites may use Google Analytics. If you would like to opt-out of having your site activity available to Google Analytics, you can download the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On.

2. Advertising

   If you would like to opt out of interest-based advertising, you can use the DAA's consumer choice tool. You can also visit the Network Advertising Initiative's Opt Out page for more information about your privacy options for interest-based ads.

3. Communications

   If you no longer wish to receive communications from Franchise Ventures, you have a number of options. If we contact you by email, you can use the unsubscribe mechanism provided in the email. If we call you, you can let us know that you do not want us to contact you in the future. If we send you a text message, you can text us back and indicate that you do not want to receive additional text messages. (Please note that we do not use an automatic telephone dialing system to place calls or send texts.) You can also email us at info@franchiseventures.com to indicate that you do not want to receive any further communications from us.

We have in place what we believe to be reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access of, maintain data security for, and correctly use the personal information you have provided. While such efforts are intended to ensure the confidentiality of your personal information available to us as a result of your use of our website, we cannot and do not warrant or guarantee the absolute safety and security of your personal information.

Our services and our website are not intended for (and we do not knowingly collect data from or about) minors under the age of 13. Our websites and mobile apps are directed to individuals who are permitted to share their personal information without parental consent. If you believe we might have information from a child under the age of 13, please contact us as directed below in the “Contact Us” section.

If you are a California resident, you may have the right to request and receive information about disclosure of your personally identifiable information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. Because it is our policy not to share your personally identifiable information with third parties for third party direct marketing purposes without your consent, we are exempt from the requirement to respond to such requests. If you have any questions about our compliance with this requirement, please contact us as directed below in the “Contact Us” section.

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at Franchise Ventures, LLC, 150 Granby St., Norfolk, VA 23501 or info@franchiseventures.com or 888-363-3390.