Loki Privacy Policy
Effective Date: October, 2008
This Privacy Policy is issued, and practiced, by Skyhook Wireless, Inc. ("Skyhook") in support of the Loki product and service. Skyhook takes your personal privacy quite seriously and is committed to maintaining that privacy and your trust in us.
Overview
Loki works by 'listening' for Wi-Fi access points visible to your computer and then using those access points as reference points to triangulate your position.
Loki does not collect any information about you, your name, contact information or any other data that personally identifies you. When you install and use Loki for the first time, a unique and random key is generated. This key is used between your instance of Loki and the central server to ensure the accurate transmission of data. This key contains no identifying data.
Location Information
Skyhook Wireless and Loki CAN NOT, DOES NOT and WILL NOT track your location. Any queries to determine location are made in the blind and are not paired with any personally identifiable information.
The only time your location and identity are paired is when you voluntarily elect to enter the username/password for a 'location broker' service (such as MyLoki). Loki passes that information directly to the service provider - it is NOT posted to Skyhook Wireless server so it is never logged or tracked by us.
Loki is only operational when your computer has an active connection to the Internet and your browser is open and running.
When you or a site requests your location, Loki scans for Wi-Fi access points and collects relevant information about the access points it can 'hear'. This includes certain identifying information such as the access points' MAC address (an alphanumeric code that is unique to that hardware device) and signal strength. Loki will always prompt you when a site or service requests your location to allow or deny the request.
Loki will also identify the Internet Protocol or IP address (a unique identifier assigned to any device accessing the Internet) of your computer. The identification of your IP address is a standard, commonly accepted practice used by a majority of the websites and services on the Internet.
You can also elect to identify or fine-tune your location by entering your current street address with the Location Tuner functionality. When you elect to identify your location using this method the central server will capture the location you entered and the identity of the WiFi access points within range and post the location and access point data to the central server. Until the location of the identified access points is independently verified, this user-entered location is only available for location-determination purposes to the user that entered the information.
No other information, to include any personal information about you or your computer, is collected.
Transmission of Information
When you initiate or instruct Loki to conduct a location-based function (either manually, automatically or as part of the tuning it performs in the background), Loki transmits all of the collected information via a standard HTTPS connection to a central server maintained and managed by Skyhook.
The central server uses this information to then perform algorithmic functions that determine the location of your computer by triangulating its position in relation to the known access points in the database. The server will then return, via HTTPS transmission, the calculated approximate location of your computer in the form of a latitude and longitude or some other geocoded location-determination parameter (e.g. City, state).
If the central server cannot determine your location using this method, it will then default to using your IP address to approximate your location. The server will then return, via HTTPS transmission, this approximated location to your computer in the form of a latitude or longitude or some other geocoded location-determination parameter (e.g. City, state).
You, the user, can also elect to identify or fine-tune your exact current location using our Location Tuner functionality. When you elect to identify your location using this method the central server will capture the location you entered and the identity of the WiFi access points within range and post the location and access point data to the central server.
Loki may periodically contact the central server, or the central server may post to your instance of Loki, that a new version, update or upgrade to Loki is available. Loki will then notify you of an available update and offer you the option to install to the update. If you elect to install the update, it will be downloaded and installed. Additional instructions may also be delivered to you.
Storage of Information
All data transmitted by Loki to the central server is stored in a transaction log. This log is used to improve the quality, accuracy and efficacy of the location-determination capabilities of Loki and other Skyhook Wireless products or services. This includes the location of new Wi-Fi access points, updating or modifying the location of previously recorded Wi-Fi access points and refining the location of IP addresses.
It also includes the user-entered street address information submitted using the Location Tuner.
The information collected may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country where Skyhook has, either directly or through a partner, vendor or affiliate, facilities and/or operations.
Use of Information
The information sent to Skyhook is used to operate the product and to provide the service(s) or carry out the transaction(s) you have requested or authorized, such as determining your location. Skyhook may use the information collected to improve the quality, accuracy and efficacy of the location-determination capabilities of Loki and other Skyhook Wireless products or services.
Disclosure of Information
Skyhook will NOT sell, rent, lease, trade, barter or disclose any personal user information except as otherwise stated in this policy.
Access to information is limited to only those employees, contractors, agents and affiliates of Skyhook who have a reasonable need to access such information in the official performance of their duties.
Skyhook may disclose or transfer the information upon the closing of a definitive agreement under which a majority of the outstanding stock or assets of Skyhook are acquired by a third party.
Skyhook may disclose location information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to a legal order or comply with legal process served on Skyhook; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Skyhook; or (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect the health and safety of any persons.
You will be notified of any act of disclosure, where not prevented by law, court order, contractual agreement or obligation of confidentiality, by prominent notice on the website www.loki.com
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Skyhook reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time effective upon its posting at http://loki.com/privacy-policy. Since Skyhook does not collect any personal information about you, to include your contact information, we cannot and will not notify you personally of any changes to this policy. It is therefore your obligation to periodically review this policy at http://loki.com/privacy-policy
The current effective date of the Privacy Policy will be stated at the top of this document.
Your continued use of the product and services constitutes your acceptance of the current version of the Privacy Policy.
Questions and Comments
If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, Contact Us
