Last updated: January 11, 2021
Buffer provides this Privacy Policy to inform you of our policies and procedures regarding the collection, use, protection, and disclosure of Personal Information received from your use of this website, located at https://buffer.com (“Site”), as well as all related websites including our subdomains at https://reply.buffer.com and https://analyze.buffer.com, applications, browser extensions, and other services provided by us (collectively, together with the Site, our “Service”), and in connection with our customer, vendor, and partner relationships. This Privacy Policy also tells you about your rights and choices with respect to your Personal Information, and how you can reach us to update your contact information or get answers to questions you may have about our privacy practices.
In addition to the activities described in this Privacy Policy, we may process Personal Information on behalf of our commercial customers when they use the Service. We process such Personal Information as a data processor of our commercial customers, which are the entities responsible for the data processing. To understand how a commercial customer processes your Personal Information, please refer to that customer's privacy policy.
If you are a California resident, our Privacy Notice for California Residents includes additional information about your rights and how we collect, use, and share information.
Registration with, use of, and access to the Service is subject to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use located at https://buffer.com/legal#terms. All terms not defined in this Privacy Policy will have the meanings set forth in the Buffer Terms of Use.
Click on one of the links below to obtain more information in the listed section:
- Personal Information We May Collect
- Personal Information Provided by You
Personal Information Collected from Connected Social Media Accounts
Personal Information Automatically Obtained from Your Interactions with the Service - How We May Use Your Personal Information
- How We Share Your Personal Information
- How We Protect Your Personal Information
- Your Rights and Choices
- Data Transfers
- Children's Privacy
- Updates to this Privacy Policy
- Your California Privacy Rights
- How to Contact Us
1. Personal information we may collect
For the purpose of this Privacy Policy, “Personal Information” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. We obtain Personal Information relating to you from various sources described below.
Where applicable, we indicate whether and why you must provide us with your Personal Information, as well as the consequences of failing to do so. If you do not provide Personal Information when requested, you may not be able to benefit from our Service if that information is necessary to provide you with the service or if we are legally required to collect it.
2. Personal information provided by you
Registration
If you desire to have access to certain restricted sections of the Site or request to receive marketing materials, you may be required to become a registered user, and to submit the following types of Personal Information to Buffer: your name, email address, phone number, full user name, password, city, and time zone.
Customer Support
We may collect information through your communications with our customer support team or other communications that you may send us and their contents.
Making a Purchase
When you make payments through the Service, you will need to provide Personal Information such as your credit card number and billing address.
Social Media
In order to allow you to post to your social media platforms, we may ask you to provide your username, account ids, social handle, timezones, and email address.
Other
We may also collect your contact details when you provide them in the context of our customer, vendor, and partner relationships.
2a. Personal Information Collected from Connected Social Media Accounts
If you connect your third party social media account to your Buffer account, we may collect certain information stored in your social media account such as:
Facebook
Buffer may allow you to connect a Facebook page or profile to your Buffer account, in which case we will access certain information from Facebook regarding your account. In particular, we may collect profile image, display name, username / page ID or profile ID, access tokens, sent posts. This includes the content of your post and engagement data (such as click rates, likes, re-shares, impressions, as well as general engagement counts), to the extent permitted by applicable law. This data will only be used by Buffer to provide you with the Service you expect and will not be shared with any third parties.
Twitter
Buffer may allow you to connect a Twitter profile to your Buffer account, in which case we will access certain information from Twitter regarding your account. In particular, we may collect profile image, display name, username / profile ID, access tokens, and sent posts. This includes the content of your post and engagement data (such as click rates, likes, retweets, re-shares, impressions, as well as general engagement counts), to the extent permitted by applicable law. This data will only be used by Buffer to provide you with the Service you expect and will not be shared with any third parties.
Instagram
Buffer may allow you to connect an Instagram profile to your Buffer account, in which case we will access certain information from Instagram regarding your account. In particular, we may collect profile image, display name, username / profile ID, access tokens, and sent posts. This includes the content of your post and engagement data (such as click rates, likes, re-shares, impressions, as well as general engagement counts), to the extent permitted by applicable law. This data will only be used by Buffer to provide you with the Service you expect and will not be shared with any third parties.
Pinterest
Buffer may allow you to connect a Pinterest page or profile to your Buffer account, in which case we will access certain information from Pinterest regarding your account. In particular, we may collect profile image, display name, username / profile ID, access tokens, sent posts, and profile boards. This includes the content of your post and engagement data (such as click rates, likes, re-shares, re-pins, impressions, as well as general engagement counts), to the extent permitted by applicable law. This data will only be used by Buffer to provide you with the Service you expect and will not be shared with any third parties.
LinkedIn
Buffer may allow you to connect a LinkedIn profile to your Buffer account, in which case we will access certain information from LinkedIn regarding your account. In particular,
we may collect profile image, display name, username / profile ID, access tokens, and sent posts. This includes the content of your post and engagement data (such as click rates, likes, re-shares, impressions, as well as general engagement counts), to the extent permitted by applicable law. This data will only be used by Buffer to provide you with the Service you expect and will not be shared with any third parties.
Additionally, if you connect Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram when utilizing Buffer Reply we may collect: profile image, display name, username / page ID, access tokens, sent or received comment text and sent or received private message text.
Additionally, if you connect Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram when utilizing Buffer Analyze we may collect: profile image, display name, username / handle, access tokens, social channels insights data and social accounts demographic data, sent tweets, social account's followers count, social account's insights data and social account's audience data.
2b. Personal Information Automatically Obtained from Your Interactions with the Service
Log Data
When you use our Service, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website (“Log Data”). This Log Data may include information such as your IP address, browser type or the domain from which you are visiting, the web-pages you visit, the search terms you use, and any advertisements on which you click.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
Like many websites, we also use “cookie” technology to collect additional website usage data and to improve the Site and our Service. A cookie is a small data file that we transfer to your computer's hard disk. A session cookie enables certain features of the Site and our service and is deleted from your computer when you disconnect from or leave the Site. A persistent cookie remains after you close your browser and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Site. Persistent cookies can be removed by following your web browser help file directions. Most Internet browsers automatically accept cookies. Buffer may use both session cookies and persistent cookies to better understand how you interact with the Site and our Service, to monitor aggregate usage by our users and web traffic routing on the Site, and to improve the Site and our Service.
We may also automatically record certain information from your device by using various types of technology, including “clear gifs” or “web beacons.” This automatically collected information may include your IP address or other device address or ID, web browser and/or device type, the web pages or sites that you visit just before or just after you use the Service, the pages or other content you view or otherwise interact with on the Service, and the dates and times that you visit, access, or use the Service. We also may use these technologies to collect information regarding your interaction with email messages, such as whether you opened, clicked on, or forwarded a message, to the extent permitted under applicable law.
You can instruct your browser, by editing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. Please note that if you delete, or choose not to accept, cookies from the Service, you may not be able to utilize the features of the Service to their fullest potential.
Third Party Web Beacons and Third Party Buttons
We may display third-party content on the Service, including third-party advertising. Third-party content may use cookies, web beacons, or other mechanisms for obtaining data in connection with your viewing of the third party content on the Service. Additionally, we may implement third party buttons, such as Facebook “share” buttons, that may function as web beacons even when you do not interact with the button. Information collected through third-party web beacons and buttons is collected directly by these third parties, not by Buffer. Please consult such third party's data collection, use, and disclosure policies for more information.
Links to Other Websites
Our Site contains links to other websites. The fact that we link to a website is not an endorsement, authorization or representation of our affiliation with that third party. We do not exercise control over third party websites. These other websites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit Personal Information from you. Other sites follow different rules regarding the use or disclosure of the Personal Information you submit to them. We are not responsible for the content, privacy and security practices, and policies of third-party sites or services to which links or access are provided through the Service. We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of the other websites you visit.
3. How we may use your personal information
We may use the Personal Information we obtain about you to:
- create and manage your account, provide our Service, process payments, and respond to your inquiries;
- manage account authentication such as two-factor authentication
- communicate with you to verify your account and for informational and operational purposes, such as account management, customer service, or system maintenance, including by periodically emailing you service-related announcements;
- tailor our Service (e.g., we may use cookies and similar technologies to remember your preferences);
- publish your content, comments or messages on social media platforms;
- provide tailored advertising, for Buffer services, via Google AdWords;
- aggregate your Personal Information for analytical purposes;
- provide customer support;
- operate, evaluate and improve our business (including by developing new products and services; managing our communications; determining the effectiveness of our advertising; analyzing how the Service is being accessed and used; tracking performance of the Service; debugging the Service; facilitating the use of our Service);
- send you marketing communications about products, services, offers, programs and promotions of Buffer, and affiliated companies;
- ensure the security of our Service;
- manage our customer, service provider and partner relationships;
- enforce our agreements related to our Service and our other legal rights; and
- comply with applicable legal requirements, industry standards and our policies.