Privacy Policy

1. Personal Information We Collect

The items listed below are the California statutory categories of personal information we may have collected in the preceding 12 months. We collect it directly from you, automatically from your browser and device, and from our service providers and advertising partners. They are as follows:

• Identifiers: Name, username, email, telephone number, mailing or shipping address, IP address, account identifiers, and account credentials;
• Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80 records: Contact information;
• Commercial information: Records of interactions with advertisements;
• Internet or network activity: Browser and device data, referring and viewed pages, access times, searches, links clicked, and cookie or advertising identifiers;
• Geolocation data: Approximate location inferred from an IP address. We do not collect precise geolocation unless separately disclosed and consented to;
• Inferences: Preferences or interests inferred from activity, survey responses, and interactions with content or advertisements; and
• Sensitive personal information: Account log-in credentials (such as a username and password) used to access an account.

Sensitive personal information. Account login credentials may qualify as sensitive personal information. We use them only to authenticate users, secure accounts, prevent fraud, and provide requested services. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about users or for purposes that would require a separate right to limit under California law.

Information posted publicly may be viewed, copied, or used by others. Do not post information you do not want made public.

2. How We Use Personal Information

We may use personal information to operate and improve the Services; provide interactive features; send requested newsletters; respond to users; analyze traffic and audience interests; personalize and measure content and advertising; prevent fraud or misuse; enforce our terms; and comply with law.

If you use an "email this to a friend" feature, we use the sender’s and recipient’s email addresses only to complete the requested transmission, identify the sender, and address delivery errors. We do not use the recipient’s address for unrelated marketing unless the recipient separately subscribes.

We may provide contact information that you have given us, such as your email address or telephone number, to Google in hashed or otherwise protected form so that Google can determine whether it corresponds to a Google account and help us deliver, exclude, or measure advertising. Google processes this information in accordance with its applicable terms and privacy practices. Where required by law, we obtain consent before using personal information for Customer Match advertising. You may opt out through WorldBids’s privacy controls.

3. Newsletters, Polls and Surveys

You may unsubscribe from promotional newsletters through the link in each email. We may use a cookie or similar identifier to prevent duplicate voting. Poll and survey results may be used or shared in aggregated or deidentified form. We do not identify an individual respondent to sponsors, advertisers, or partners unless we disclose that practice when collecting the response or obtain consent.

4. Cookies and Google Advertising

We and third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies and similar technologies to operate the Services, understand site use, prevent fraud, and serve and measure advertisements. Third parties may place and read cookies on your browser, or use web beacons, IP addresses, or similar technologies to collect information as a result of ad serving on the Services.

Google uses advertising cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to the Services or other websites. Google and its partners may use those cookies to serve personalized ads. You may opt out of personalized advertising through Google Ads Settings at https://adssettings.google.com/. You may opt out of some other vendors’ personalized advertising at https://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or https://optout.networkadvertising.org/. Learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

You may control cookies through your browser and through WorldBids’s privacy controls at worldbids.net/privacy-choices. Where consent is required, we request it through our consent platform before using advertising cookies or personalized advertising.

If you consent to personalized advertising, we and our advertising partners may use cookies, device identifiers, and activity over time and across websites to personalize ads, measure performance, develop audience insights, and improve advertising services. Where required, we obtain consent before Google or other partners store or access advertising cookies or collect, share, or use personal information for these purposes. You may withdraw consent or change your choices through WorldBids’s privacy controls.

5. California Disclosure Information

During the preceding 12 months, we may have disclosed the following categories for a business purpose or sold or shared them for cross-context behavioral advertising. "Sale" and "sharing" have the meanings provided by California law; we do not sell personal information for money or sell newsletter lists. Our disclosures were as follows:

• Identifiers: Disclosed to hosting, security, email, payment, analytics, and customer-service providers for business purposes. If WorldBids uses Google Customer Match, contact information such as email addresses or telephone numbers may also be disclosed to Google in hashed or otherwise protected form to match users with Google accounts and provide advertising and measurement services. Identifiers are shared with Google and other advertising and analytics partners for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Personal information described in California Civil Code section 1798.80: Disclosed to payment, hosting, security, and customer-service providers for business purposes. If WorldBids uses Google Customer Match, contact information falling within this category may also be disclosed to Google for advertising and measurement. Such information may be shared with Google for cross-context behavioral advertising but is not sold for money.
• Commercial information: Disclosed to payment, analytics, and customer-service providers for business purposes. If WorldBids uses purchase, transaction, or customer-relationship information to create or measure Customer Match audiences, that information may also be disclosed to Google for advertising and measurement. Commercial information is shared with Google and other advertising and analytics partners for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Internet or other electronic network activity: Disclosed to hosting, security, analytics, and technical-service providers for business purposes. Shared with third-party advertising and analytics partners for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Approximate geolocation: Disclosed to hosting, security, and analytics providers for business purposes. Shared with third-party advertising and analytics partners for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Inferences: Disclosed to analytics and technical-service providers for business purposes. Inferences, audience classifications, or interest segments may also be shared with Google and other advertising and analytics partners for Customer Match and other cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Sensitive personal information: Disclosed to hosting and security providers for business purposes. Not sold or shared.

We may also disclose personal information when required by law, to protect rights or safety, in connection with a business transaction, at a user’s direction, or with the user’s consent. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16.

6. Privacy Choices and California Rights

You may unsubscribe from marketing emails, change available account settings, manage cookies through your browser or our privacy controls, and use the advertising opt-out tools above. We do not currently respond to browser "Do Not Track" settings because there is no uniform standard. Where required, we recognize legally valid opt-out preference signals, such as Global Privacy Control.

California residents have the right to opt out of WorldBids’s sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Exercise this right through the "Your Privacy Choices" link at worldbids.net/privacy-choices or by enabling a legally recognized opt-out preference signal, such as Global Privacy Control. We will honor an opt-out request unless you later authorize the sharing. Subject to applicable law and exceptions, California residents may also have the right to know or access personal information, request deletion or correction, limit certain uses of sensitive personal information, and exercise these rights without discrimination. Submit those requests through worldbids.net/privacy-request, by emailing contact@worldbids.net, or by calling (925) 407-0886. We may verify requests and an authorized agent’s authority.

7. Retention

WorldBids retains each category of personal information only for the period described below, subject to longer retention when reasonably necessary to comply with law, preserve evidence, resolve disputes, or enforce agreements.

• Account identifiers, credentials, and contact information: Retained while the account remains active and for up to two years after closure. Credentials are deleted or deidentified when no longer needed for account security.
• Newsletter subscription records: Retained until the user unsubscribes. WorldBids may retain a suppression record as needed to honor the opt-out request and demonstrate compliance.
• Forwarding-feature email addresses: Retained for up to 30 days after transmission, unless needed longer to investigate a delivery failure, fraud, or abuse.
• Forum content and other user submissions: Retained while the content remains published or the account remains active, and for up to two years after removal or account closure in backup and enforcement records.
• Identifiable poll and survey responses: Retained for up to two years after collection. Aggregated or deidentified results may be retained indefinitely.
• Server logs, network activity, and approximate location information: Retained for up to 12 months, unless a longer period is reasonably necessary for security, fraud prevention, or legal compliance.
• Cookie and advertising data: Retained for the period specified in the applicable cookie or third-party vendor settings. WorldBids’s cookie controls identify the available choices.
• Google Customer Match information: The underlying contact, account, and transaction information used for Customer Match is retained for the applicable period described above. Customer Match audience membership may remain active for up to 540 days after a user is added or the information is last refreshed, unless WorldBids removes it sooner. WorldBids will remove information from active Customer Match audiences when reasonably necessary to honor an applicable deletion, advertising opt-out, or consent-withdrawal request. Google processes and retains information submitted through Customer Match in accordance with its applicable terms and policies.

8. Security and Children

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards, but no transmission or storage method is completely secure. The Services are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. Contact us if you believe a child under 13 provided information so we can review and, where appropriate, delete it.

9. Changes and Contact Information

We may update this Privacy Policy by posting the revised version and changing the "Last Updated" date. If required by law, we will provide additional notice or obtain consent.

Questions and privacy requests may be directed to: