Many of the websites, applications and services offered by Genius do not require children under the age of 13 to submit any Personal Information to participate in or enjoy the usage of such services. This Policy addresses the limited situations in which it is necessary to collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13 in order for them to participate and enjoy such websites, applications and services
Children: You should get a parent’s or legal guardian’s permission before giving Personal Information about yourself to Genius or anyone else.
Parents & Guardians: Please help us protect the privacy rights of your children by instructing them never to provide Personal Information without your permission.
Please note that should your Child access a website, application or service operated by a third party via a link from a Genius website, application or service, then any information provided to such third-party or on such third-party website, application or service shall be subject to the privacy policy and practices of such third party, and shall not be subject to this Children’s Privacy Policy or Genius’s general Privacy Policy, unless noted.
This Children’s Privacy Policy (this “Policy”) explains how Genius Brands International, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies (collectively, “Genius”, “we”, “our” or “us”) that operate websites, applications or services within the United States that are directed at Children (collectively, “Genius Services”) collect, use and disclose Personal Information (as defined below) collected Online (as defined below) relating to children who are under thirteen (13) years of age. The provisions of this Policy relate only to the Online collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information directly from children who are under thirteen (13) years of age on Genius Services operated within the United States that are directed at Children.
The provisions of this Children’s Privacy Policy are NOT applicable to:
However, any Personal Information (i) collected directly from a Parent, or (ii) collected from a person thirteen (13) years of age or older, or (iii) not collected Online, or (iv) not collected on any Genius Services operated within the United States, or (v) collected on any Genius Services not directed at Children, may be subject to the provisions of Genius’ general Privacy Policy.
Genius is committed to protecting the privacy rights of children and takes additional steps to protect the privacy rights of children who are under thirteen (13) years of age. Accordingly, Genius therefore handles the online collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information from children who are under thirteen (13) years of age differently than Personal Information collected Online from adults or children who are 13 years of age or older. As a result, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Genius’ general Privacy Policy or in any Terms of Service related to a Genius Service (as defined below), Genius’ policy regarding the Online collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information from children who are under thirteen (13) years of age is set forth in this Children’s Privacy Policy. While the terms of this Children’s Privacy Policy are incorporated within Genius’ general Privacy Policy, and the terms of such general Privacy Policy are applicable to children as well, in the event of any conflict between the provisions of this Children’s Privacy Policy and the provisions of the general Privacy Policy or any Terms of Service related to Genius with respect to the Online collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information from children who are under thirteen (13) years of age, the provisions of this Children’s Privacy Policy shall prevail.
Click on each header below for more information or scroll down to read the entire Children’s Privacy Policy:
For purposes of this Policy, the following definitions are applicable:
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) is intended to protect the privacy rights of children under 13 years of age with respect to the online collection of Personal Information from such children. Genius fully complies with the provisions of COPPA and this Policy fully complies with COPPA. For further information about COPPA, please click the link above. Please note that COPPA does not apply to Personal Information collected directly from a child’s parent or guardian, or Personal Information that is not collected online e.g., via the mail or a phone call, or Personal Information that is collected from a person thirteen (13) years of age or older.
Under this Policy, it is our intent to:
As a general matter of policy:
In the event Genius wishes to collect Personal Information from a Child, it is Genius’ policy, and COPPA requires, that we first seek Parental Consent, except in limited circumstances. Accordingly, in any instance where we ask for the age of a user and determine that the user is under 13 years of age, then we may sometimes need to collect a Parent’s email address, and/or a Child’s first name, email address, screen name or user name. We may ask a Child for their Parent’s email address so that we can notify the Parent of their Child’s interest in Genius Services and ask for the Parent’s consent before collecting any Personal Information from the Child.
In most instances Parental Consent will be sought via an email sent to the Parent. In the email we will explain what information we are collecting, how we plan to use it, how the Parent can provide consent, how the Parent can revoke consent, how the Parent can review the Child’s information and ask us to delete the information. If we do not receive Parental Consent within a reasonable time, we will delete the Parent contact information and any other information collected from the Child in connection with that activity. With the Parent’s consent, we may collect other Personal Information from a Child such as a last name or home address when the information is necessary for a particular activity. We will not use Parent emails provided for Parental Consent purposes to market to the Parent, unless the Parent has expressly opted-in to email marketing or has separately participated in an activity that allows for such email contact.
In the event Genius collects Personal Information from a Child that will be posted publicly or in other circumstances justifying heightened scrutiny, we may utilize an enhanced method in order to obtain Parental Consent. Such enhanced methods of consent may include, but are not limited to, asking for a credit card or other payment method for verification, speaking to a trained customer service representative by telephone or video chat, or requiring a signed consent form sent via mail, email attachment, or fax. After providing consent using an enhanced method of consent, a Parent may have the opportunity to use a pin or password in future communications as a way to confirm the Parent’s identity.
There are a number of situations in which Personal Information may be collected from a Child and used or disclosed without Parental Consent. These include:
a. Generally
We use Personal Information collected through our Genius Services for the purposes described in this Policy or as otherwise disclosed on or in connection with our Genius Services. For example, we may use a Child’s Personal Information to:
We store Personal Information collected from Children for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was originally collected, and in accordance with applicable laws. We may also retain such Personal Information as long as is required by law
b. Registration
To view content, participate in clubs, sweepstakes, contests or games, or otherwise engage in special activities and promotions on our Genius Services, we may ask for a Child to register. During the registration process, we may ask the Child to provide certain information for notification and security purposes, including a parent or guardian’s email address, the Child’s first name and gender, the Child’s member, account, user or screen name, and password. We also may ask for birth dates from Children to validate their ages for age screening purposes. If required under the terms of this Policy or by law, Parental Consent will be sought. We advise Children never to provide any Personal Information in their user or screen names. Please note that Children can choose whether to share their information with us, but certain features cannot function without it. As a result, Children may not be able to access certain features if required information has not been provided. We will not require a child to provide more information than is reasonably necessary in order to participate in an Online activity. Once registered, we use technology, like cookies, to recognize visitors by their user name when they use or revisit Genius Services, and to provide functionality on the Genius Services for the user. In addition, such information helps us understand which features and areas of the Genius Services are of most interest to users. We also may use these technologies to screen for age.
c. Content Generated By A Child
Certain activities offered by Genius Services allow Children to create or manipulate content and save it with Genius, or otherwise make it available for others to see or hear. Some of these activities do not require Children to provide any Personal Information and therefore may not result in notice to a Parent or require Parental Consent. If an activity potentially allows a Child to insert Personal Information in their created content, we will either prescreen the submission to delete any Personal Information, or we will seek Parental Consent for the collection. Examples of created content that may include Personal Information are stories or other open-text fields, and drawings that allow text or free-hand entry of information. If the content includes the collection of Personal Information, including but not limited to photographs, videos, recordings or depictions of the Child, then we will obtain Parental Consent for the collection of the content.
d. Sweepstakes, Contests, Games and Promotions
For sweepstakes, contests, games and promotions, we only require the information necessary for a Child to participate. Depending upon the circumstances, this could include the Child’s first name only, date of birth (to determine if Parental Consent is required), a screen name or user name, an email address, and/or the Parent’s email address (to notify the Parent when required by this Policy and by law). Where required by this Policy or by law, Parental Consent will be sought for the Child to participate in the sweepstakes, contest, game or promotion. If Parental Consent is not required in order for the Child to participate, we only contact the Parent for more personalized information for prize-fulfillment purposes if the Child wins the sweepstakes, contest, game or promotion. Some sweepstakes, contests, games and promotions ask the Child to submit their own created content in order to enter or participate. In those instances, we may require Parental Consent prior to submission. Please see the Content Generated by a Child section above for more information.
e. Persistent Identifiers / Cookies
When Children interact with Genius Services, certain information may automatically be collected using device-based tracking technologies, both to make our sites and applications more interesting and useful to Children, and for various purposes related to our business. Examples include the type of computer operating system, the Child’s IP address or mobile device identifier, the web browser, the frequency with which the Child visits various parts of our sites or applications, and information regarding the online or mobile service provider. This information is collected using technologies such as cookies, flash cookies, web beacons, and other unique identifiers. Please read more about our cookies and technologies, and our third-party technology partners, in the general Genius Privacy Policy. This information may be collected by Genius or by a third party. This data is principally used for internal purposes only, in order to: (a) provide children with access to features and activities on our sites and applications; (b) customize content and improve our sites and applications; (c) conduct research and analysis to address the performance of our sites and applications; and (d) generate anonymous reporting for use by Genius. In the event we collect (or allow others to collect) such information from Children on our sites and applications for other purposes, we will notify Parents and obtain consent prior to such collection. Visit the Genius Privacy Policy to see the list of third-party operators who collect persistent identifiers on our sites and applications.
As a general rule, Genius does not share Personal Information regarding Children with anyone and we do not sell or rent such information. However, there are exceptions to this general rule, namely when:
We may freely share information about a Child that does not contain Personal Information i.e., aggregated information or information that we have collected from Children through the Genius Services where we have anonymized the resulting data or information
At any time, a Parent can review the Personal Information we have collected from their Child, refuse to permit us to collect further Personal Information from their Child, and/or can request that we change or delete from our records the Personal Information we have collected in connection with their Child. Please keep in mind that a request to delete records may lead to a termination of an account, membership, or other service. If you have any questions regarding our privacy policies or would like to request access to, change, or delete your Child’s Personal Information, please contact us via email at [email protected]. A valid inquiry, or request to access, change or delete your Child’s Personal Information, will be responded to within a reasonable time. You may also contact us by mail at:
Genius Brands International, Inc.
Attn: Privacy Policy Team
190 N. Canon Drive, 4th floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
In any correspondence such as e-mail or mail, please include the Child’s name, username or email address (as applicable) and the Parent’s name, email address and telephone number, as well as the applicable Genius website, application or service (if known). To protect Children’s privacy and security, we will take reasonable steps to help verify a Parent’s identity before granting access to any Personal Information of the Child.
For additional information regarding Genius’ general Privacy Policy and information regarding your rights under the California Consumer Privacy Protection Act (if applicable), please visit Privacy Policy.
This Children’s Privacy Policy is subject to change in the same manner as the general Genius Privacy Policy. In the event of any material change in the collection, use or disclosure practices herein, we will provide notice, and, if required by law, will obtain Parental Consent. Notice may be made by posting notice of such changes on our websites, applications or services, or by other means allowed by law.