Privacy Policy

Updated: February 13, 2025

WBND-TV Limited Partnership and its affiliates (collectively, “WBND”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) take your electronic privacy seriously. This policy (“Privacy Policy”) applies to visitors and users (individually, “you”) and describes our practices regarding personal information we collect, use, share, and otherwise process in connection with our websites, systems, applications, and other services that include an authorized link or reference to this privacy policy (collectively, the “Services”). Your use of our Services is also subject to the WBND Terms of Use.

Contact Us

Questions regarding this statement or our practices should be directed to the ABC57.com Privacy Coordinator by email at [email protected]. You may also send inquiries by mail to:

We reserve the right to change our policy from time to time as we deem appropriate in our sole discretion. We encourage you to review this privacy policy on a regular basis for any changes, as indicated by the “Updated” date above.

KINDS OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We may collect information from and about you, including information that you provide directly to us, information from other sources, and automatically collected information, including:

• Identity information, which includes name or other similar identifiers;
• Contact information, which includes address, email address, and telephone number;
• Profile information, which includes your username, password, zip code, gender, age, and MVPD provider;
• Commercial information, including products or services purchased;
• Financial information, including payment card information for purchases;
• Geolocation information, including through our app in order to identify your designated market area in order to display you the correct content;
• Marketing and communications information, which includes your preferences in receiving marketing emails; and
• Internet or other electronic network activity information, which includes internet protocol (IP) address, device and browser information, and webpage and app interactions.
• Correspondence you send to us, which includes when you message us through the Contact Us page on the Services, photo and audition submissions, survey responses, sweepstakes entries, and other information you provide to us.

Without this information, we may not be able to provide you with all requested Services. We may aggregate or de-identify the information described above. Aggregated or de-identified data is not subject to this Privacy Policy.

HOW WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION

We collect the above categories of information when you provide information directly to us, such as when you:

• create an account with us;
• sign up for our newsletters;
• respond to surveys and registration forms;
• enter contests or sweepstakes;
• submit auditions, feedback, or other content to us;
• contact us on behalf of your employer;
• use our Services, including browsing our website; and
• give us feedback or communicate with us.

We may also collect some of the above categories of information automatically from the devices and browsers you use, including through cookies and similar technologies (“Cookies”). For example, as described further in the sections below, we and our service providers and partners may use Cookies on the Services to recognize repeat users, obtain analytics, deliver advertising to you, and to improve your experience.

We also receive the categories of information described above from other sources, including from other users of our Services, our service providers, and other third-party services and organizations.

When you use our Services, you may be directed to other third-party sites and services. For example, if you click on a banner advertisement on our website, you may leave our website and be directed to a third-party website, such as sites operated by advertisers, sponsors, and partners that may use our logo as part of an agreement with us. These other sites may be able to collect data about you, such as through their own Cookies, in accordance with their own privacy policies. These other sites are not subject to this Privacy Policy and we are not responsible for the privacy policies for these other sites, nor for the use of any information that these sites may collect.

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We use each of the categories of information identified above in order to:

• manage our relationship with you and to communicate with you, including providing you with the information, products, and services you requested from us and notifying you about contests and sweepstakes you enter;
• send you promotional materials, advertisements, or information about the WBND network and the Services
• to customize the advertisements you see both on and off the Services;
• improve our Services, including customizing the articles and information you see, troubleshooting, data analytics, and statistical purposes;
• review any submissions you make to us, such as audition content;
• keep our Services safe and secure;
• detect abuse, fraud, and illegal activity on the Services;
• enforce our Terms of Use and other conditions and policies;
• fulfill requests for products and services;
• comply with applicable laws and regulations; and
• protect or exercise our legal rights against legal claims; and
• for any other purposes disclosed to you at the time we collect your information or pursuant to your consent.
  

HOW WE DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION

We may share the categories of information described above as follows:

• Third-party vendors and service providers: We may disclose information to parties that provide services to us for a variety of business purposes, including billing, payment processing, email deployment, data hosting, data analytics, or for advertising purposes.
• Corporate affiliates: we may share the categories of information described above with our corporate affiliates.
• Other parties in connection with transactions: We may disclose your information to a third party as part of an actual or planned merger or transfer, acquisition or sale, or in the event of bankruptcy.
• Other parties when required by law or as necessary to protect our Services: There may be instances when we disclose your information to other parties, including to comply with the law or respond to compulsory legal process (such as a search warrant or other court order); to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing our Services; and to protect our rights, property, or safety.
• Disclosures at your direction: We may disclose your information to a third party at your direction, such as when you use our Services to interact with other parties or when you provide us your consent. For example, as discussed further in the Community and Public Areas section below, you may choose to engage in public activities on the Services, where any information you share may be read, collected, or used by other users. If you win one of our contests or sweepstakes, we will not publish your name, hometown, or other personally identifiable information on the Services unless you give us your permission.

We do not sell your personal information for money. However, as described above, we and our third party analytics and advertising partners may use Cookies that collect Internet or other electronic network activity information, including to serve you advertisements that are relevant to you based on your activity across our services and other sites (“targeted advertising”), both over the past 12 months and currently. However, our practices may vary for different jurisdictions and by Service.

On relevant online Services, WBND offers choices to opt-out of processing for targeted advertising that can be accessed via the Services, such as through links in the footer of applicable websites, as described further below. WBND honors these choices for residents of jurisdictions in which consumers have a right to opt-out of sale or sharing or processing for targeted advertising. We do not knowingly sell or process the personal information of consumers under 16 for targeted advertising without consent.

YOUR CHOICES

• Opt-Out of Promotional Email: To opt out of future promotional email messages from us, you can opt-out based on the instructions provided in the promotional message that was sent to you, or send an opt-out request to us at [email protected].
• Cookies and Advertising: We and our third party partners may use Cookies on some of the Services to serve you targeted advertising. You have a number of advertising and cookie-related choices available to you, including those described in this section and in the Jurisdiction-Specific Rights section below. Some of these opt-out mechanisms must be exercised on each device and browser that you wish to have opted out.
  • You may be able to use your device browser settings to refuse or disable Cookies, including Cookies used for advertising purposes. If you choose to refuse, disable, or delete Cookies, some of the functionality on the Services may no longer be available to you.
  • Depending on the Service, WBND may work the vendors below, which each provide additional choices via their privacy policies:
    • Google Ads: https://support.google.com/ads/answer/2662922?hl=en and https://adssettings.google.com
  • You may be able to opt-out of the delivery of targeted advertising from participating companies via the Network Advertising Initiative and Digital Advertising Alliance. Please note that, if you choose to exercise these opt-outs, you may continue to receive ads that are less relevant to your interests/browsing behavior.
    

SUBPOENAS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

We reserve the right to cooperate with government and law enforcement agencies engaged in investigations of activities that are, or are believed to be, illegal. Further, we may share your personal information with such agencies if we believe that a crime or any act that endangers the health and safety of others may have been or may be committed. We may also share your personal information in response to an appropriate subpoena.

COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC AREAS

Information posted to message boards or chat areas is available to the general public. Please use caution when posting any such information. We reserve the right to, but are not obligated to, refuse or delete any content that in our sole discretion is considered inappropriate. Please see our Terms of Use for additional information.

DATA RETENTION AND SECURITY OF PRIVATE INFORMATION

We keep your personal information for as long as needed or permitted for the purpose(s) described in this policy and consistent with applicable law. In addition, we might keep the information for longer based on criteria such as any legal requirements to retain your personal information in light of compliance obligations or the duration of your use of our website and receipt of our services.

We maintain reasonable security measures to safeguard information from loss, theft interference, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. We also maintain reasonable procedures to help ensure that such data is reliable for its intended use and is accurate, complete, and current. You should understand that no data storage system or transmission of data over the Internet or any other public network can be guaranteed to be 100 percent secure, accurate, complete, or current. Please note that information collected by third parties may not have the same security protections as information you submit to us, and we are not responsible for protecting the security of such information.

CHILDREN

We do not knowingly collect any information from children, as defined by applicable law, without parental consent or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.

JURISDICTION-SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS

Depending on where you live, you may have certain rights, including:

• Access to your personal information in a portable format, or other information about our data processing practices.
• Deletion of the personal information we have collected from you.
• Correction of the personal information we have collected about you.
• Opt-out of the sharing of your personal information for targeted advertising.

These rights are not absolute and are subject to limitations, such as when we are retaining personal information to comply with our legal obligations. You will not be discriminated against as a result of your choice to exercise these rights, although some account and personalization functionality may be lost when you exercise certain rights.

We do not process sensitive personal information for purposes for which you have a right to limit under the California Consumer Privacy Act or to revoke consent under other applicable laws, and we do not knowingly share personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes without your consent.

You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We may request that you provide your authorized agent with signed, written permission demonstrating that they have been authorized by you to act on your behalf.

You or your authorized agent may exercise your access, deletion, and correction rights by using one of the following options:

1. By Completing the form below:
   Name:

   Email:

   Request Type: ---Select---- Delete my Information Modify my Information Access my Information Opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information

   Modification Request:
2. By sending inquiries by mail to:
    Privacy Coordinator
    WBND-TV Limited Partnership
    26 N Halsted
    Chicago, IL 60661
   
   
3. By calling our toll free number: 1-833-367-6388
   

We may ask you to provide information that will enable us to verify your identity in order to comply with your request. We will attempt to do so based on your account information (where applicable) and the information you provide when submitting the request. However, there may be instances where we will require additional information from you in order to verify your identity.

To request to opt out of the sale or sharing or processing for targeted advertising, you may either click the “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” link in the footer of applicable websites or use the webform above. Where relevant given the nature of Cookies on a particular website, our websites will also seek to support browser-based opt-out preference signals that can communicate your privacy opt-out preferences to the website, such as the Global Privacy Control (“GPC”), in accordance with relevant laws. You can learn more about the GPC here. Because the GPC is a browser-based signal, you may have to enable the signal on each browser or device from which you would like to be opted out, and it may not be relevant for certain Services. Our websites do not support "do-not-track" signals. Because of differences in how web browsers incorporate and activate this feature, it is not always clear whether users intend for these signals to be transmitted, or whether they even are aware of them.

If you live in a jurisdiction where you have the right to appeal any denials of your requests, you may exercise this right by emailing the handitv.com Privacy Coordinator at [email protected] or through the mailing address or toll free number listed above.

UPDATES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time as we deem appropriate in our sole discretion. When we update the Privacy Policy, we will revise the “Effective Date” date above and post the new Privacy Policy. We recommend that you review the Privacy Policy each time you visit the Services to stay informed of our privacy practices.