Privacy Notice

Effective Date: August, 2023

We have created this Notice to let you know what information we collect when you use our Services, how we use and share the information we collect associated with those Services, and how we protect your privacy when you use those Services. We know that your privacy is important to you.

If you have any questions about this Notice or our privacy practices, please contact us by e-mail at [email protected].

This Notice forms part of the terms of use for our Sites, our Services, and other agreement(s) into which this Notice is incorporated by reference. Please note that different privacy notices or in some cases, Supplemental Notices (Section 12 below) or other Additional Terms may be applicable to certain Services. This Notice does not apply to our intellectual property, including any data or content, that we own or license from third parties, nor does it apply to data which is publicly available, except as otherwise described herein.

1. DEFINITIONS

  • “Additional Terms” refers to the terms, conditions, and obligations of other agreements in which this Notice is incorporated by reference. Such agreements may include, but are not limited to, service agreements, terms-of-use documents, end-user license agreements, subaward agreements, or purchase terms, which govern the use of our Sites, use of our Services, or our other formal interactions.
  • “Affiliated Entity” refers to any entity that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with Noble, where “control” means beneficial ownership of more than fifty percent (50%) of the outstanding shares or securities or the ability otherwise to elect a majority of the board of directors or other managing authority.
  • “Noble,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Noble Research Institute, LLC.
  • “Notice” refers to this privacy notice.
  • “Personal Information” refers to information that can be used to identify you personally, alone or in combination with other information available to us. Examples of Personal Information include, but are not limited to, your name, physical address, and e-mail address and/or various other types of information we collect and process as described in Paragraph 4 below.
  • “Site” refers to any of our websites, including those on which this Notice is posted or linked.
  • “Services,” refers to, but is not limited to, our various Sites, mobile applications, agricultural technology tools, portals, platforms, programs, Noble programs (including educational events or products and/or research) and/or other services and activities. “Services” may further include Noble’s receipt and acceptance of charitable donations and contributions in exchange for timely acknowledgment of such donations or contributions in accordance with Internal Revenue Service requirements. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new features that augment or enhance the current Services shall be subject to this Notice.
  • “User-Generated Content” means any observations, commentary, dialogue, or information you create or own that you post or otherwise provide to us (i) regarding our Services or (ii) for the purpose of sharing such content, knowing that we may share it publicly through one of our Services or otherwise make such content publicly available.

You are the owner of the information that you or another authorized party provide(s) to us or that is collected from your ranch or other property. Noble recognizes that your ownership gives you the right to share, download, and restrict your information. By providing, uploading (or authorizing the upload), or sharing of information with Noble, you represent that you are the owner of such information (or otherwise authorized to upload or share the information with Noble). You shall not provide or share information with Noble unless you are (i) the owner or (ii) authorized by the owner to do so. Further, by using any of our Services, you are consenting to the collection, use, and disclosure of information as set forth in this Notice. If you do not agree to be bound by this Notice, you may not continue to access or use our Services.

3. CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT

The information we collect (and the sources from which we collect it) depends on what you do when using our Services. The following list includes, but is not limited to, the categories of information we collect, and the sources from which we collect such information. Some of these categories may include Personal Information.

When you use our Services, we, our third-party partners, or our third-party service providers may collect the following categories of information:

  • Audio/Visual data, including, but not limited to, recordings and images of you collected by our photographers when you visit our events, images of your property collected for consultation or in furtherance of research, as well as audio files and records, such as voice mails, recordings of our educational events, and the like;
  • Donor, Contributor or Philanthropic Partner data, including, but not limited to, giving history and preferences, estate planning information, real estate or other asset ownership, and connection or relationship to Noble;      
  • Employment data, such as information you provide in relation to your place of employment or, if applicable, related to your employees;
  • Event/Program registration information, such as information you provide when filling in e-registration forms or surveys related to our various Services;
  • Financial information, such as your credit card or other financial account information for the purpose of facilitating your purchase of Services, donation, or contribution;
  • Inference data, including, but not limited to, information used to create a profile about you reflecting your preferences, characteristics, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, market segments, likes, favorites and other data or analytics provided about you or your account by social media companies or data aggregators, including household data such as income, marital status, number of children, occupation, the Services you use or intend to participate in, use, or purchase, and your interests;
  • Identity data, such as your name, e-mail address, fax number, mailing address, physical address, or phone numbers;
  • Location data, such as data obtained from GPS when you have certain Services (e.g., mobile application) activated on your mobile device or data obtained from instrumentation taking ecological or weather data from your property in furtherance of research and/or monitoring activities;
  • Marketing and communications data, including, but not limited to, your marketing preferences and your subscriptions to or permissions to receive our publications, emails, and SMS messaging;
  • Ranch/Production/Ecosystem data, including, but not limited to, (i) ranch management data (such as data related to land boundaries, soil types, production and soil health, climate and weather data, wildlife activity, ecosystem data, animal health and herd data) and (ii) other related financial or production data (such as data related to your financial goals, agricultural and agronomic practices, production performance, revenue, pricing data, government program participation, expenses, profits, and related operational data);
  • Recruitment data, such as information you submit in connection with a job application or inquiry;
  • Registration data, such as information you provide when you register for an account to use one of our Services, including your encrypted account usernames and passwords (please note that if you permit a third party to create your account for you, we may collect the registration data from that third party);
  • Transaction data, including, but not limited to, your inquiries, your donations, and/or your orders for our Services and details of financial transactions to or from you; and
  • Your feedback, such as feedback from you about our Services.

In addition to the above, when you use any of our Services, we may automatically collect the following categories of information:

  • Usage data, including, but not limited to, information about how you participate in our Services, what pages you view, the number of bytes transferred, the links you click, the materials you access, the date and time you access the Services, the website from which you linked to one of our Sites and other actions taken within the Site(s) or Services; and
  • Technical data, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your device ID, your browser type, capabilities, language, and your operating system. An “IP address” is a unique identifier that is automatically assigned to your computer when you connect to the Internet. It is used to identify your computer’s “location” in cyberspace, so that the information you request can be delivered to you.

We may collect the above categories of information from any of the following sources:

  • Information You Volunteer. We collect information you and others knowingly and voluntarily provide when you use our Services or otherwise interact with us. For example, we collect the Personal Information you provide when you subscribe to one of our newsletters or alert services, review, or comment on one of our products, or contact us with questions. If you post any User-Generated Content to our Services, please note that it may be visible to other users of our Services, and it must comply with our terms outlined in Section 4 below, as well as any Additional Terms. We may also collect information you volunteer if you enter into an agreement with us, such as to provide us with products or services (e.g., if you have entered a contract to provide us with services or products, we would collect your tax ID number and bank account information to facilitate your payment).
  • Information Provided by Partners. In some circumstances, either you or Noble may have a relationship with a third party who provides us information about you. For example, if you are a ranch employee and your employer registers you for one of our Services, your employer may provide us information about you in connection with that Service.
  • Service Providers, Aggregators, and Advertisers. We may receive Personal Information and other data from various individuals or entities that provide services on our behalf, including but not limited to ad networks, behavioral advertising vendors, market research, and similar companies that provide us with additional Personal Information as well as Inference data.
  • Social Media Companies. We receive data from social media companies that may transfer Personal Information to us when you register for one of our Services or interact with that social media company on or in connection with our Services (e.g., events, products, or programs).
  • Data We Create and Infer. We, in combination with others operating on our behalf, create and infer Personal Information (such as Inference data) or aggregate data based on our observations or analysis of other Personal Information processed under this Notice or Supplemental Notices. We may correlate this data with other data we process from/about you. We may combine any Personal Information (or other information) about you that we receive from you, from any Affiliated Entity, and from third parties.
  • Information Sent to Us by Your Web Browser. We collect information that is sent to us automatically by your Web browser. Please check your browser if you want to learn what information your browser sends or how to change your settings.
  • Information Sent to Us by Mobile Applications. If you have one of our mobile applications installed on your mobile device, we will collect information regarding the mobile device on which you install the application, as well as your registration data if you register for the application. If necessary for the Services provided, we may, subject to notification or consent, if required by state or U.S. law, track the location of your device, and other data you may scan or log into the mobile application as well as information relating to your use of the mobile application.
  • Cookies and Other Technologies. We use “cookies” and other technologies to collect information and support certain features of our Services. For example, we may use cookies and other technologies to:
    • Collect information about the ways visitors use our Services, for example, which pages they visit, which links they use, and how long they stay on any given page;
    • Support the features and functionality of our Services, for example, to save you the trouble of reentering information already in our database or to prompt the settings you established on previous visits; and
    • Personalize your experience when you use our Services.

In addition to the cookies and similar technologies we use, our partners or third-party service providers may also use cookies and similar technologies. For example, our partners may deliver cookies through our Services that allow them to recognize you in future Web sessions as someone who has expressed an interest in that Service or in our other Services. Likewise, links in e-mails sent to you by our partners or third-party service providers may be designed so that we can identify recipients who click on them and/or measure the effectiveness of an e-mail campaign.

Generally, if you do not wish to receive cookies, you may set your browser to reject cookies or to alert you when a cookie is placed on your computer. Although you are not required to accept cookies when you visit our Site(s), you may be unable to use all of the functionality of our Site(s) (or some of our other Services) if your browser rejects our cookies.

We may use the following categories of cookies in our Services:

  • Strictly Necessary Cookies. These cookies are essential to enable you to move around our online Services and use their features. Without these cookies, certain functionality such as maintaining a record of your pre-purchased, selected items (e.g., a shopping cart) cannot be provided.
  • Performance Cookies. These cookies collect anonymous information on how you use our Services, to help us understand, for example, how you arrive at one of our Sites, how you may browse, or use our Sites. This information reveals where we can improve your experience, such as navigation.
  • Functionality Cookies. These cookies remember certain choices you make when you use one of our Services. This information can then be used to provide you with an experience more tailored to your prior selections and to make your visits to our Services more efficient. The information in these cookies may be anonymized. These cookies cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
  • Targeting Cookies or Advertising Cookies. These cookies collect information about your browsing habits to make advertising, if any, more relevant to you and your interests. These cookies are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. These cookies are usually placed by third-party advertising networks. These cookies further remember the websites you visit and such data are sharable with other parties, such as advertisers.

We may also use other tracking technologies, for example, Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, web beacons, or embedded web links, on or in connection with our Services.

4. USER-GENERATED CONTENT

User-Generated Content you submit on or through our Services may be available to others who visit our Services and/or to the public. In addition, we may use User-Generated Content you submit on or through our Services in advertising campaigns, donor solicitations, and other promotions. We may or may not use your name (or an abbreviation of your name) in connection with such use, and we may or may not seek your consent before using the User-Generated Content for such purposes. Therefore, you should have no expectation of privacy with respect to User-Generated Content you submit to us or on or through our Services. You should not submit any User-Generated Content you do not wish to make available to the public, and you must take special care to make sure your submissions comply with any Additional Terms. All terms and conditions of applicable Additional Terms apply to User-Generated Content submitted to us, including submitted on or through our Services. Your submissions must not violate the privacy or other rights of others. Users submitting User-Generated Content are responsible for the content of the same. Noble has no responsibility for the User-Generated Content posted by users. Noble retains the right, which it may or may not exercise, to review, edit, or delete any such submissions that Noble deems, in its sole discretion, to be illegal, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate.

5. USE OF INFORMATION COLLECTED

We may use the information (including your Personal Information) that we collect through our Services, or which is otherwise provided to us as described within this Notice to accomplish any and all of the following purposes:

  • verify your identify;
  • provide the Services you request;
  • for security, credit, or fraud prevention;
  • provide you with an effective customer experience, including provide you with a personalized experience when you use our Services;
  • help inform your decisions or the decisions of those assisting you;
  • send you statements and invoices;
  • contact you with special offers and other information we believe may be of interest to you (for example, research participation solicitations, fundraising solicitations) in accordance with any privacy preferences you have expressed to us;
  • offer you philanthropic giving opportunities to further the mission, purpose, and activities of Noble;
  • contact you with information and notices related to your use of our Services;
  • invite you to participate in programs or surveys and provide feedback to us (in accordance with any privacy preferences you have expressed to us);
  • better understand your (and your company’s or your ranch’s, or your customers’ companies’ or ranches’) needs and interests;
  • test, populate, improve, or enhance the content, functionality, usability, efficiency, or other aspects of our Services or our operations;
  • generate and review reports and data about candidates for and participants in our various Services, or to analyze the accuracy, effectiveness, usability, or popularity of our Services;
  • improve our Services and/or to shape and better define our agricultural research, demonstration, education, and advancement activities;
  • improve our marketing and promotional activities, including selecting preferred communications channels, refining messages, and to facilitate marketing related to our partners and/or third-party service or technology providers;
  • in collaboration with you, collect data from your property or your operation for the purpose of scientific research involving you and/or your operations;
  • comply with legal or regulatory obligations; or
  • for any other purpose identified in an applicable privacy notice, click-through agreement or other agreement between you and us, including but not limited to any Supplemental Notices or Additional Terms.

In addition to the uses described above, we may de-identify or otherwise anonymize your Personal Information; in such de-identified/anonymized form, it shall no longer be considered “Personal Information” as it cannot be used to identify you. We may use the de-identified/anonymized data, whether alone or aggregated with other data, for the purposes listed above or for other business and analytical purposes, including creating reports, predictive models and benchmarks, deriving insights, and conducting market research. Noble owns any and all such de-identified/anonymized and/or aggregated information and any derivatives thereof.

Some of the information we collect using cookies and other Web technologies include Personal Information (such as your IP address) and other information that may be linked to your IP address. For example, if you have registered with one of our Services, we may link the Personal Information you have provided with information we collect using cookies and other Web technologies to determine whether you have visited the Site before and, if so, to improve your experience during future visits to the Site.

Some of our Services may track users over time and across third-party websites, typically with regard to marketing. Our Services do not currently respond to web-browser Do Not Track (“DNT”) signals. However, you can exercise other choices related to marketing as further described below.

6. SHARING OF INFORMATION

Noble will not sell your information, including Personal Information, to third parties. In the following limited instances, we may share all or some of the Personal Information or other information you provide, we collect or which is otherwise provided to us for the purposes described above (Section 5):

  • Our Affiliated Entities. We may share information, including Personal Information, with Affiliated Entities, if any, to accomplish our business purposes.
  • Third-Party Service Providers. We may share information, including Personal Information, with third-party vendors who act for or on behalf of Noble or our customers. For example, we use third-party vendors to design and operate our Site(s); to process payments when you make purchases on our Sites; to conduct surveys; to host collected data or applications that use such data; to perform audits (including to confirm information required in connection with participation in certain Services); to develop and facilitate various programs for us (including facilitating scientific research), including but not limited to Services, for us; and to help us with our promotional efforts (which may include social media companies). We may also use third-party service providers to perform data collection, social sharing, marketing, site analytics, relationship management, confirming your information is accurate, soil sampling, imaging, verification, functions related to analyzing and improving the usefulness, reliability, user experience, and operation of our Services, storing data, and as otherwise described in this Notice. Understandably, these third-party vendors may need information about you to perform their activities for Noble.
  • We may share certain information, including Personal Information, with third parties with whom we have various types of written agreements or relationships. We may also share certain information with third party programs or service providers who are integrated with, or with whom we collaborate in the provision of our Services, or with whom we otherwise do business, for example, to generate information from products and services offered by such third-party service providers. For certain Services, we may share information with registries in connection with tracking, verification, and certification of our Services.
  • Compliance with Laws and Protection of Our Rights and the Rights of Others. We may disclose the information we collect when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law, a court order, or a subpoena. We may also disclose the information we collect to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft, to protect the security of our Services, to enforce or apply any Additional Terms or other agreements, or to protect our own rights or property or the rights, property or safety of our users or others.
  • As Described in a Supplemental Notice. We reserve the right to disclose the information we collect as described in any Supplemental Notice or other privacy notice posted on or in connection with our Services where you provide that information. By providing the information, for example, on a web page, you will be consenting to the disclosure of the information as described in that privacy notice, if any.
  • As Described in an Agreement. We reserve the right to disclose the information we collect as described in any agreement or Additional Terms.

7. YOUR CHOICES

You have the right to make choices about the ways we collect, use, and share the information we collect. In some cases, we will ask you to indicate your choices at the time we collect the information. For example, if you sign up for any of our email notices, or register for certain Services, we provide you with an opportunity to select those specific communications you will receive from us. In addition, we will include an opt-out link in each electronic newsletter or other promotional e-mail we send you, so that you can inform us that you do not wish to receive such communications from us in the future. You may discontinue receiving our email alerts by taking the steps indicated in the email alert you received, by following instructions on our Service related to the specific campaign, or by using our data request form located here.

8. HOW TO ACCESS, UPDATE, RESTRICT, OR CORRECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

If you wish to access, update, restrict, or correct certain Personal Information, please contact us via the link above to access our data request form. We will respond to you within 5 business days and, in any case, within the time limits established by applicable law. We may ask you for additional information to verify your identity. In most cases, we will provide access, correct, or restrict any Personal Information. In some cases, however, we may limit or deny your request if the law permits or requires us to do so or if we are unable to verify your identify.

When asked to restrict our use of your data, we have the option to delete your Personal Data from our system or to designate your data as no longer usable in the context of Section 5 (or other like use). Notwithstanding Noble’s election, which is in Noble’s sole discretion, your information does not have to be deleted or removed from Noble-produced de-identified/anonymized and/or aggregated information and/or from research data sets that may take years to analyze or to publish; provided, such specific research data is not identifiable to you when published. Additionally, if we create archived backup copies of your information during the normal course of our operations, we may retain such copies in our archives until such time as our internal document retention policies require record destruction. You may also have additional rights related to your Personal Information depending on the state or country you live in. To exercise such rights, please identify your specific request in the applicable section of the data request form in the link above.

9. VERIFYING DATA REQUESTS

Any request relating to your Personal Information must: 

  • Provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected Personal Information or an authorized representative thereof.
  • Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

If we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the Personal Information relates to you, we will not be able to process your request or provide you with any Personal Information. We will only use Personal Information provided in a verifiable request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.

We may decline to process requests that are frivolous, jeopardize the privacy of others, are impractical, or for which access is not otherwise required by local law. We may also decline aspects of restriction or access requests if we believe doing so would undermine our legitimate use of the Personal Information for anti-fraud and security purposes as described earlier, or for other reasons as permitted by applicable law. Once a request is either confirmed or denied, an email notification will be sent to the email submitted as part of the request.

10. STEPS WE TAKE TO SAFEGUARD INFORMATION

We maintain reasonable administrative, physical, and technological measures to protect the confidentiality and security of Personal Information you submit on or through our Services. Unfortunately, no website, server or database is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that your Personal Information or other information will not be disclosed, misused or lost by accident or by the unauthorized acts of others.

11. CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN

Our Services are not intended for anyone under 18 years of age. No one under age 18 may provide any Personal Information on our Services. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from anyone under 18 years of age. If you are under 18 years of age, do not use or provide any information on our Services. If we learn that we have collected or received Personal Information from a person under 18 years of age without verification of parental consent and supervision, we will delete such Personal Information. If you believe that a person under 18 years of age has submitted Personal Information on or through any of our Services without the consent and supervision of a parent or guardian, please contact us at [email protected].   

12. SUPPLEMENTAL PRIVACY NOTICES

This Notice may be supplemented from time to time by additional “Supplemental Notices” posted on or in connection with any of our Services. These Supplemental Notices provide a level of detail applicable to specific Services that we cannot provide in this more general notice of our privacy practices. For example, certain pages of a Site may contain privacy notices providing details about the Personal Information we collect on those pages, why we need that Personal Information, and choices you may have about the ways we use and disclose that Personal Information, if different from what we have stated in this more general Notice.

13. OTHER SITES

Our Services may contain links to websites operated by other organizations, including but not limited to websites operated by our third-party service providers and other third parties. For example, if you click on a link on a Site, you may be taken to a website that we do not control. We may also host or operate websites as a service for others. If you visit a third-party website from the Services, you do so at your sole risk. We do not endorse any third-party website or their goods or services. We shall not be liable, directly, or indirectly, to you for any loss or damage arising from use of a third-party website or third-party service. This Notice does not apply to information collected on any of these third-party websites. When you access third-party websites through a link on our Services, please take a few minutes to review the privacy policy posted on that website.

14. THIS NOTICE MAY CHANGE

This Notice describes our current policies and practices regarding the information we collect through our Services.

We are continually improving and adding to the features and functionality of our Services. As a result of these changes, changes in the Services, or changes in the law, we may need to update or revise this Notice. Accordingly, we reserve the right to update or modify this Notice at any time, without prior notice, by posting the revised version of this Notice behind the link marked “Privacy Notice” at the bottom of each applicable page of our Services. Your continued use of any of our Services after we have posted the revised Notice constitutes your agreement to be bound by the revised Notice. However, when required by applicable law, we will provide you with notice of proposed new uses of collected information. For your convenience, whenever this Notice is changed, we will also alert you by posting a notice on our home page. We will also update the “Effective Date” at the top of this page. If significant time has elapsed since your last visit to our Services, be sure you check the Effective Date to see if this Notice has been revised since your last visit.