Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 11, 2023

SmartDraw Software, LLC and SmartDraw, LLC (collectively the "Company") has updated this Privacy Policy (the "Privacy Policy") to reflect changes in data protection law. It applies to the Company's online application SmartDraw as well as all of the Company's legacy desktop diagramming applications including SmartDraw for Windows Desktop (collectively, "SmartDraw"), the Company's website www.smartdraw.com, its various smartdraw.com application and services sites and to other interactions (e.g., customer service inquiries, user conferences, etc.) you may have with the Company (all of which in this Privacy Policy will collectively be referred to as the "Services").

SmartDraw services

If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, do not access or use any of the Services or any other aspect of the Company's business. Separate agreements govern delivery, access and use of SmartDraw and the Services including the SmartDraw Terms of Service (the "Terms of Service") and SmartDraw for Windows Desktop License Agreement (the "Windows License").

Governing documents

This Privacy Policy does not apply to Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft One Drive, Box, or any third-party document storage service that integrates with SmartDraw. Further, this Privacy Policy does not apply to any third-party apps, add-ons and extensions you may choose to use with SmartDraw. Any use of third-party apps, add-ons and extensions will be subject to the privacy policy of those apps, add-ons and extensions.

The person or organization that purchased and entered into the Terms of Service and/or Windows License (the "Customer") controls access, rights and privileges for SmartDraw along with the disposition of all associated information, files or other content created and entered into SmartDraw and the services (the "Customer Information"). In some cases, the Customer may not be the individual actually using the Services. If you were granted access or otherwise authorized to use a license to SmartDraw not purchased and owned by you (e.g., by your employer or another entity or person) then you are not a Customer, but are an End User ("End User") of SmartDraw.

The term "you" as used in this Privacy Policy includes the Customer and each End User as applicable. The Company is sometimes referred to in this Privacy Policy as "we" or "us."

Roles

End Users of SmartDraw should direct their data privacy questions to the Customer as the End User's use of SmartDraw is subject to that Customer's privacy policies. The Company is not responsible for the privacy or security practices of a particular Customer which may differ from this Privacy Policy. If you as an End User have any questions about privacy practices, please contact the Customer whose license of SmartDraw you use. You may also contact the Company by submitting a request and the Company will help you identify a contact for the Customer to whom to direct your privacy concerns.

SmartDraw Privacy Policy

What Information the Company Collects About You

The Company collects information about you when you provide it to us, when you use the Services, and when other sources provide it to us, as further described below.

Information You Provide To Us Directly

We collect identifiers or other personal information categories, including the Cuwstomer's email address when it registers for a trial license and/or purchases a license for SmartDraw. At the time a license to SmartDraw is purchased, we may also collect employment-related information, including the Customer's name, job title, phone number, fax number, your billing and shipping address, a VAT or GST tax exemption ID number (if applicable) and payment card information it provides. We will also collect commercial information directly from the Customer, including the details about the license purchased such as the type and term of license, number of End Users, etc., along with any comments made in conjunction with your order. Similar information may be collected from each End User as they are authorized to use SmartDraw by the Customer.

We may also collect other commercial and summary information from customer support chat, support forum, phone, and email interactions you may have with our support and sales representatives, including additional information you may have provided during those interactions. In the online edition of SmartDraw, we also collect internet or other similar network activities and keep track of any preferences you set.

From time-to-time we may also collect information via surveys. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and you may choose whether or not to participate and disclose any information about you. Information requested on such surveys may include contact information (such as name and address), and demographic information (such as education level, and job function). Survey information will be used only for purposes of improving the use and customer satisfaction of the Company's products and website. As a condition to participating in a survey, you will be asked to consent to our collection and use of survey information you provide.

Information You Provide To Us Indirectly

If you use our website, we collect internet or other similar network activity, which is the same basic information that most websites collect. We use common internet technologies such as cookies, pixel tracking and web server log data. The information we collect about all visitors to our website may include the browser type, IP address, referring site, additional websites requested, and the date and time of each visitor request. We collect this information from all website visitors, whether they have an account or not. A cookie is a piece of data that our server sends to your browser. Your browser may then store the cookie on your computer and read it back to our server if you visit our site again. These cookies allow us to create a more personalized experience for you while visiting our website and using SmartDraw. If you’re concerned about cookies, you can have your browser notify you when it receives a cookie, giving you the choice to accept or decline it. Without cookies, however, you will not be able to log into your SmartDraw account or use the online edition of SmartDraw. Use of certain cookies is necessary to the performance of SmartDraw. You may opt out of unnecessary cookies.

The Company uses third-party tracking tools to improve the performance and features of the Services, and to provide a more customized and relevant experience as you use the Services. These third-party tracking tools are designed to collect information about your use of the Services.

The Company uses Enhanced Google Analytics Tools (the "Google Analytics Tools") including Google AdSense, Google Display Network Impression Reporting, Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting and YouTube embedded videos as well as integrated services that require Google Analytics to collect data via advertising cookies and identifiers. You can learn more about the Google Analytics Tools at: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/types/. Should you choose to no longer share your information with Google and no longer have your information collected by the Google Analytics Tools, you may opt-out by following the procedure outlined at: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

The Company uses Bing analytics. Should you choose to no longer share your information with Bing, you may opt-out from Bing ad tracking by following the procedure outlined here: https://account.microsoft.com/privacy.

When you communicate with the Company through social media, or provide a comment directed at us through social media, we may use social media and other communication mechanisms available to us to communicate with you. We may also promote content of interest to you through social media. You may opt out or configure your social media account settings to limit promotion of such content.

When you use the online edition of SmartDraw, in addition to the website information outlined above, we will also collect information about your activity when you use SmartDraw such as date and time of access, number of log-ins, UI elements clicked on, actions taken, data displayed, number of documents you created. We also store all the documents you create using the online edition of SmartDraw on our servers, unless you choose to use a third-party document storage service such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive or Box. Should you choose to use our integration with a third-party document storage service to store your SmartDraw documents, the user information provided to the Company from the third-party document storage service is your first name, last name, and email address. This will allow us to communicate with you (subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy). The documents you create and edit using SmartDraw and which are stored on one of the third-party document storage services will be uploaded to SmartDraw’s servers during the time they are being edited, and the changes you make will be downloaded back to the third-party document storage service. A temporary copy of the SmartDraw document will remain on SmartDraw's servers until such time as the editing session has been completed and browser closed.

If you use the online edition of SmartDraw with third-party apps and add-ons information from your documents will be shared with those apps.

If you use the SmartDraw for Windows Desktop Edition, a validation feature from time-to-time verifies that SmartDraw has been activated and is properly licensed. During such a validation check, the validation feature will send the version number and the unique License number to our servers to verify that the license remains valid. In previous editions of SmartDraw, when installing the SmartDraw for Windows Desktop Edition, a messaging system was installed to provide you with periodic licensing and updating reminders. You can disable the messaging system at any time by following this procedure: https://smartdraw.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052000312-How-do-I-remove-pop-up-messages-from-Windows. The documents you create with the SmartDraw for Windows Desktop Edition are typically stored on your own computers and /or servers (or your own third-party storage services). In some legacy editions of SmartDraw, you may, however, choose to access and use the storage capability of the online edition of SmartDraw (if you have a valid license) to store and interact with your documents using the SmartDraw for Windows Desktop Edition.

We do not knowingly collect information on children under the age of 18.

How We Use Information We Collect About You

The Company uses the information we collect to provide you with the Services, which includes using information to improve and personalize your experiences. We also use the information to communicate with you, for example, informing you about your account, new products or services available, security and other types of updates.

SmartDraw's use of information collected

Providing the Services to You

We use information we collect about you to provide, operate, support and improve the Services we offer to ensure our customers can use SmartDraw as effortlessly as possible. For example, information may be used to: (a) authenticate your identity when you register and each time you sign in; (b) notify you when subscriptions are due to expire, (c) to pre-populate forms, (d) integrate with third-party storage services, apps and add-ons that you use; and (e) otherwise as required by law. This processing is necessary for the performance of the agreements we have with you that permit you to use the Services.

Customer Support

We use information we collect about you to respond to customer inquiries, diagnose problems with SmartDraw, assist customers with their diagramming questions, and to provide other customer care and support services. This processing is necessary for the performance of the agreements we have with you that permit you to use the Services, as well as to serve our legitimate interest.

Product Improvement

We use information we collect about you for research purposes and to develop and improve our Services, including maintaining and improving the performance of SmartDraw, developing and adding new features or capabilities, such as using error reports to improve security features, and using search queries and clicks to improve the relevance of search results. This processing is necessary to serve our legitimate interest.

Security, Safety and Dispute Resolution

We use information we collect about you to protect the security and safety of our Services and our customers, to detect and prevent fraud, to resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. This processing is necessary to serve our legitimate interest.

Communication, Marketing and Advertising

We use the information we collect about you to deliver and personalize our communications with you. For example, we may contact you by email or other means of electronic communication (including Single Sign-On) to inform you about available updates to SmartDraw including security or software upgrades. This processing is necessary to serve our legitimate interest.

The Legal Bases for Using Personal Information

There are different legal bases that we rely on to use your personal information.

First, we use information we collect about you to enable us to perform the agreements we have with you that permit you to use the Services. For example, to complete your purchase of a license to SmartDraw, to register and maintain your account, to provide support, to handle refunds, to ensure that SmartDraw performs its basic functions in a secure way, or to respond to your requests. Without the use of this information, it would be difficult and in some cases impossible to make the Services available to you in a functional manner.

Next, we may use your information for our legitimate interests. For example, we rely on our legitimate interest to analyze and improve the Services and our content on the Services, to send you notifications about software updates or information about SmartDraw or to use your personal information for administrative, fraud detection or legal purposes.

How To Access and Control Information We Collect About You

You can request that the Company update your information, request a copy of your information or request the deletion of your information. You can exercise some of your choices by logging into SmartDraw, going to "Account" and using the settings available there. If you are an End User, you may need to contact the Customer to assist with your requests first.

Your requests and choices may be limited in certain cases. For example, if fulfilling your request would reveal information about another person, or if you ask to delete information which the Company or the Customer are permitted by law or have compelling legitimate interests to keep, your choices may be constrained. Where you have asked us to share data with third parties, for example, by using a third-party document storage service or by using third-party apps and extensions that work with SmartDraw, you may need to contact those third-party service providers directly to have your information deleted or otherwise restricted.

The Company maintains archives to back-up its data. We will delete backup copies of that personal data from our archives as soon as is practically possible, to the extent allowed by our other data retention obligations (e.g., to protect other data stored in the same backup archives, or meet other regulatory or legal requirements). As soon as those obligations have been fulfilled, we will permanently delete those archives as quickly as possible.

You may opt out of receiving marketing communications from us by using the unsubscribe link within each email or by submitting a request to have your contact information removed from our marketing email list. Even after you opt out from receiving marketing messages from us, you will continue to receive transactional messages from us regarding SmartDraw.

Even if SmartDraw is not currently provided to you by an organization, if you use an email address provided to you by an organization (such as your work email address) to access SmartDraw, then the owner of the domain associated with your email address (e.g. your employer) may assert administrative control over your account and use of SmartDraw at a later date. If you do not want an administrator to be able to assert control over your account or use of the SmartDraw, use a personal email address to register for a trial and/or to purchase SmartDraw. Please contact your organization or refer to your administrator's organizational policies for more information.

If you are a California resident, please refer to the section below Additional Information for California Consumers for additional information on how to exercise your privacy rights.

How We Store and Secure Information We Collect About You

We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect against loss, misuse or unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction of personal information you provide to SmartDraw. We control employee and contractor access to encrypted materials, and we also employ secure transmission protocols in sending you emails and other electronic communications. SmartDraw engages an outside auditing firm to conduct a Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 Type II audit each year to ensure we have the proper controls in place to protect your information.

SOC2 Audit

If you choose to purchase our products and/or services, your credit card number will be encrypted and may be stored for up to 4 days while the transaction is posted by our secure payment processing services. You can verify encryption by looking for a closed lock icon in your web browser, or looking for "https" at the beginning of the address of the web page. If you have questions, comments or complaints regarding our security practices, please contact us at security@smartdraw.com. We will respond to your request as soon as possible.

How We Share Information We Collect About You

We do not share, sell, rent, or trade personal information with third parties for their commercial purposes.

We share information with a limited number of third-party vendors who process it on our behalf to provide or improve our services, and who have agreed to privacy restrictions similar to our own Privacy Policy. Our vendors perform services such as payment processing, network data transmission, content delivery networks, and other services. You may also choose to use third-party document storage services, and third-party apps and extensions where information may be shared. If you are a California resident, please refer to the section below, Additional Information for California Consumers, for additional information on how your personal information may be shared.

Information may also be transferred in connection with a business transition such as a merger, acquisition, restructuring, spin-off or other divestiture, insolvency, or asset sale involving SmartDraw and its company affiliates.

SmartDraw gives you the option to share documents. You may share these files privately with others that you specifically select, or make them public and post them on social media sites. The choice to keep files private, to share files with others, or to make them public is entirely yours.

EU-U.S., Swiss-U.S., and the UK Extension to the Data Privacy Framework and Dispute Resolution for Customers in the EU, UK and Switzerland

As pertains to the Company's processing of personal data it receives from the EU, UK and Switzerland ("EU Data"), the Company complies with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF), the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (Swiss-U.S. DPF) as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Company has certified to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it adheres to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles (EU-U.S. DPF Principles) with regard to the processing of personal data received from the European Union in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF and from the United Kingdom (and Gibraltar) in reliance on the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF. The Company has certified to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles (Swiss-U.S. DPF Principles) with regard to the processing of personal data received from Switzerland in reliance on the Swiss-U.S. DPF. If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy and the EU-U.S. DPF Principles and/or the Swiss-U.S. DPF Principles, the Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Data Privacy Framework (DPF) program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/.

In compliance with the EU-U.S. DPF, the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, the Company commits to resolve DPF Principles-related complaints about our collection and use of your personal information. EU, UK and Swiss individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding our handling of personal data received in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF, the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF and the Swiss-U.S. DPF should first contact the Company at privacy@smartdraw.com. The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction over the Company's compliance with the EU-U.S. DPF, the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF.

In compliance with the EU-U.S. DPF, the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, the Company commits to refer unresolved complaints concerning our handling of personal data received in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF, the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF to Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services ("JAMS"), an alternative dispute resolution provider based in the United States. If you do not receive timely acknowledgement of your DPF Principles-related complaint to your satisfaction, please visit https://www.jamsadr.com/eu-us-data-privacy-framework for more information or to file a complaint, please visit https://www.jamsadr.com/file-a-dpf-claim. The services of JAMS are provided at no cost to you.

If the Company shares EU-UK-Swiss Data with a third-party service provider that processes the data solely on the Company's behalf, then the Company will be liable for that third party's processing of EU-UK-Swiss Data in violation of the Principles, unless the Company can prove that it is not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.

Under the Principles, you have the right to access your information that the Company has collected from you. You may do so by contacting the Company by submitting a request. You have the right to limit the use and disclosure of your personal data by not providing said information to the Company or by not using SmartDraw. The Company may be required to disclose personal information in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.

You may request that the Company correct, amend, or delete your information where it is inaccurate, or has been processed in violation of the Principles, except where the burden or expense of providing access would be disproportionate to the risks to your privacy in the case in question, or where the rights of persons other than the individual would be violated.

STATE-SPECIFIC DISCLOSURES

End users from certain states may have additional rights over their personal information. This section is intended to apply to residents of those states.


The Personal Information Collected

The California Consumer Privacy Act (the "CCPA") identifies specific categories of personal information. As described elsewhere in this policy, the Company collects the following categories of personal information under the CCPA:

  • Category A: Identifiers, such as a real name, alias, postal address, IP address, email address, or other similar identifiers.
  • Category B: Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)), such as a name, signature, address, telephone number, employment, employment history, or bank account numbers.
  • Category C: Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law, which includes age and citizenship.
  • Category D: Internet or other similar network activity, such as browsing history, online transactions and interactions with our products and services, information on a consumer's interaction with a website, application, or advertisment.
  • Category E: Professional or employment-related information, including current or past job history.
  • Category F: Sensitive personal information, which is account log-in information. The Company collects and uses this information consistent with the permissable uses under the CCPA. The Company does not collect other sensitive personal information.

The Personal Information Disclosed to Third Parties

The Company may disclose your personal information to a third party for a business purpose as follows:

  • Category A: Identifiers may be disclosed to third party payment processors, network data transmission providers, content delivery networks, document storage services, professional service providers, including attorneys and accountants, government agencies.
  • Category B: Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)), may be disclosed to third party payment processors, network data transmission providers, content delivery networks, document storage services, professional service providers, including attorneys and accountants, government agencies.
  • Category C: Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law, may be disclosed to third party payment processors, network data transmission providers, content delivery networks, document storage services, professional service providers, including attorneys and accountants, government agencies.
  • Category D: Internet or other similar network activity, may be disclosed to network data transmission providers, content delivery networks, document storage services, cyber and other security vendors.
  • Category E: Professional or employment-related information, may be disclosed to network data transmission providers, content delivery networks, document storage services.
  • Category F: Sensitive personal information, this information is not shared with any third parties.

The Sales and Sharing of Personal Information

In the preceding twelve (12) months, the Company has not "sold" personal information as that term is defined under the CCPA and other similar laws.

In the preceding twelve (12) months, the Company has not "shared" your personal information for purposes of cross-contextual behavorial (targeted) advertising.

The Right to Request Disclosure or Deletion of Personal Information

In addition to the other rights of Customers and End Users set forth in this Privacy Policy, Customers and End Users may have additional rights as follows:

Right to Know and Data Portabliity Rights

Each Customer and End User may, in certain circumstances, have the right to request that the Company disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months.

Right to Delete

Each Customer and End User may have the right to request that the Company delete all personal information that the Company has collected about such consumer, subject to certain exceptions.

Right to Correct

Each Customer and End User may have the right to request that the Company correct any inaccurate personal information the Company may hold about such consumer. The Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to correct inaccurate personal information, taking into the account the nature of the personal information and the purpose for the processing.

The right of a consumer to request disclosure of, correction of, or deletion of, personal information is subject to certain limitations, including the limitations described in How to Access and Control Information We Collect About You elsewhere in this Privacy Policy. All requests for disclosure or deletion of information are subject to verification procedures utilized by the Company to ensure that the consumer making the request is the same consumer about whom the business has collected personal information. In order to validate a request, we may ask for the following information: name and ways for us to understand previous interaction history with the Company, e.g., the name of your agency or company, your corporate email address, or the name of your Company contact. Only the consumer or an authorized agent may make a request related to such consumer’s personal information. To designate an authorized agent to make a request, please provide us with a power of attorney or other legally binding written document signed by the consumer and identifying the agent. The Company may also verify the identity of the designated agent.

About Cookies

As described under Information You Provide to Us Indirectly elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, cookies used by the Company identify you as a unique user of SmartDraw. The cookie itself is anonymous and does not contain any personal data, except when such information has been supplied by you, such as when you provide your name and email address when signing up for a trial license or purchasing a license. Generally, if any cookie can uniquely identify you or the device you are using via an IP address or other online identifier, this is considered personal information.

Without cookies, however, you will not be able to log into your SmartDraw account or use the online edition of SmartDraw. Use of cookies are necessary to the performance of SmartDraw. See Information You Provide to Us Indirectly elsewhere in this Privacy Policy.

Exercising Rights

Requests for disclosure of, correction of, or deletion of personal information can be made by logging into SmartDraw, going to "Account" and using the settings available there.

If you do not have an account or if you need additional assistance, requests for disclosure of, correction of, or deletion of personal information can also be made by visiting https://smartdraw.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360029652211.

The Company will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your rights.

You may appeal a refusal to act on a request by contacting us at privacy@smartdraw.com.

The Retention of Personal Information

The Company will retain personal information, including sensitive personal information, for no longer than is reasonably necessary for its disclosed business purposes. Specifically, the Company will retain personal information as follows:

  • Category A: Identifiers, 5 years after the termination of the business relationship.
  • Category B: Personal Information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)), 5 years after the termination of the business relationship.
  • Category C: Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law, 5 years after the termination of the business relationship.
  • Category D: Internet or other similar network activity, 3 years after the termination of the business relationship.
  • Category E: Professional or employment-related information, 5 years after the termination of the business relationship.
  • Category F: Sensitive personal information, 5 years after the termination of the business relationship.

Updates to Privacy Policy

We will occasionally update this privacy policy to reflect changes in our services and customer feedback. When we post changes to this policy, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of this policy. If there are material updates to this policy or in how the Company will use your personal information, we will notify you by posting a notice of such an update on the privacy policy link and/or emailing you when implementing the change. We encourage you to periodically review this privacy policy to be informed of how the Company is protecting your information.

If you have questions, comments or complaints regarding this privacy policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at privacy@smartdraw.com or reach out directly to our designated Privacy Shield official at chiefprivacyofficer@smartdraw.com.

Physical Address

SmartDraw Software, LLC
1780 Hughes Landing Blvd. Suite 1100
The Woodlands, TX 77380

By continuing to use the website, you consent to the use of cookies.   Read More