Privacy Policy

Welcome! We are the Canine Kennel Club (CKC), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the study, breeding, exhibiting, and maintenance of purebred dogs. This Privacy Notice explains how the Canine Kennel Club, Inc. (“CKC”, “we”, “us” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, and otherwise processes personal information in connection with our websites (the “Sites”) and other websites we own and operate that link to this Privacy Notice, our mobile applications (the “Apps”), and the related content, platform, services, products, and other functionality offered on or through our online services (collectively, the “Services”). This notice does not address our privacy practices related to CKC employees and other personnel. 

What is Personal Information? 

In this Privacy Notice, the term “personal information” refers to information that identifies, relates to, describes, or can be reasonably associated with or linked, either directly or indirectly, to an individual. This definition excludes aggregated or de-identified information that is maintained in a manner that cannot be reasonably connected to or associated with any specific individual.

Our Collection of Personal Information 

We may collect personal information automatically when you interact with our Services, as well as directly from you. Additionally, we may obtain personal information about you from other sources and third parties, even prior to our first direct interaction. 

NFT Program Participants:  Participants in the NFT Program should be aware that the public nature of the blockchain, including the Ethereum Blockchain, means that the holdings and transactions linked to your cryptocurrency wallet address used in AKC’s NFT Program will be publicly accessible to third parties. This includes your public sending address, any cryptographically secure non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the public address of the recipient, the amounts sent or received, and any other data you have chosen to include in a specific transaction. Due to the immutable nature of the blockchain, information stored on it may not be modified or deleted. Transactions and addresses can potentially disclose details about your identity, and this information could be correlated by any party now or in the future. We encourage you to understand how privacy and transparency function on the blockchain.

Personal Information Collected from Individuals 

We may collect the following personal information submitted to us by individuals through our Services:

• Contact Information: This includes first and last name, middle initial, suffixes and prefixes, email address, mailing address, employer, job title, company name, phone number, and communication preferences.
• Inquiry and Communications Information: Information provided through custom messages sent via forms, email, or phone, which includes online registrations (e.g., event planning details), chat function inputs, and order information from the CKC Shop. This also encompasses details provided for subscribing to newsletters or magazines and contact information shared through our Services.
• Account Information: This consists of first and last name, middle initial, suffixes and prefixes, company name, employer, job title, email address, username, profile information, club affiliation, CKC registration number(s), dog breed(s), names and details, litter information, medallions (including NFT medallions), account balances, payment and purchase history, awards, and any other information you provide. Note that we use a third-party provider to process payments and do not accept payments directly through our Services.
• Online Marketplace or Shopping Information: Includes first and last name, middle initial, suffixes and prefixes, email address, mailing information, location, payment history, and products and services considered or purchased. If you offer products or services for sale through our Services, we may collect personal information such as your name, organization, email address, postal address, location, billing information, and details about the products and services you provide.
• NFT and Crypto Information: This may include your name, contact details, account information, NFT ownership data (e.g., digital assets and tokens), and other NFT-related information, such as transfers between accounts, smart contracts, amounts paid, and metadata describing each NFT. We may also collect crypto information, including your username and public blockchain address linked to your self-hosted crypto wallet, wallet types, amounts of digital assets, and account balances. Please be aware that we use third-party providers to process payments and do not accept payments directly.
• Groomer, Trainer, and Breeder Information: This includes your name, contact details (email, mailing address, phone number), organization name, specialty, location, registration and subscription details, certification and licensing information, personal avatar, billing information, profile statistics, photos, videos, and any additional information you choose to share in your public bio, as well as details about the products and services you offer.
• Community-Related Information: Includes first and last name, middle initial, suffixes and prefixes, company, mailing address, videos watched, comments on blog posts, likes on blog posts, messages related to various programs through our Services (e.g., the CKC GR Legislative Action Center), search queries, information entered into forms, and contact information.
• CKC Canine College Information: This includes your first and last name, middle initial, suffixes and prefixes, company, mailing address, profile details, registration information, contact information, certification details, billing information, products and services purchased or considered, and any information submitted in our online forms, including evaluation forms.
• Club Information: Contains club member details such as first name, last name, middle initial, suffixes and prefixes, mailing address, email address, phone number, member roles (e.g., breeder, exhibitor, judge, or club officer), and years of experience for each member.
• Contest, Sweepstakes, and Survey Information: This includes information provided when entering contests or sweepstakes, or responses to survey questions and testimonials.
• Donation Information: Comprises first and last name, club affiliation, type and amount of donation, phone number, email address, billing information, and payment history.
• Event Information: Includes seminar details, registration information, club name, judge number, attendee badge information, awards, and contact details.
• Dog and Litter Registration Information: This includes first name, last name, middle initial, suffixes and prefixes, mailing address, email address, phone number, dam registration number, sire registration number, litter number, certificate issue date, litter compliment, names and addresses of individuals to whom you have transferred a dog or litter, dam lease information, and any information provided during the registration process or through CKC’s online recordkeeping services.
• Employment Application Information: This comprises your contact and demographic details, educational and work history, employment interests, information gathered during interviews, and any other information you provide if you apply for employment.

Personal Information Automatically Collected 

As is common with many digital platforms, we and our third-party providers may automatically collect personal information from an individual’s device, including browsing actions and usage patterns, when visiting or interacting with our Services. This data collection may encompass log data (such as internet protocol (IP) address, operating system, browser type, browser ID, the URL entered, referring page/campaign, date/time of visit, time spent on our Services, and any errors encountered during the visit), analytics data (including the electronic path taken to access our Services, through our Services, and when exiting), and location data (general geographic location inferred from log data collected by us or our third-party providers). It’s important to note that our systems may also capture personal information you type into our Sites and other online services, even if you do not submit it.

We and our third-party providers may employ (i) cookies, which are small data files stored on an individual’s computer, and (ii) related technologies, such as web beacons, pixels, embedded scripts, location-identifying technologies, and logging technologies (collectively referred to as “cookies”) to automatically gather this personal information. For instance, our Sites utilize Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, to collect and analyze traffic data. For more details on Google Analytics’ use for analytical and non-advertising purposes, please refer to Google’s privacy policy and available opt-out options.

Individuals can manage cookies by adjusting their browser settings to: (i) receive notifications when cookies are sent, allowing them to decide whether to accept them; (ii) disable existing cookies; or (iii) automatically reject cookies. However, please be aware that such actions may impair the user experience on our Services, as certain features may not function properly or at all. Depending on the device and operating system, individuals may not be able to delete or block all cookies. Additionally, to reject cookies across all browsers and devices, individuals must adjust settings on each browser for every device they use. Email settings can also be configured to prevent the automatic downloading of images that may include technologies enabling us to track whether the email has been accessed and what actions were taken.

For further information regarding our and our third-party partners’ data collection practices and online advertising policies, please refer to the Third Party Data Collection and Online Advertising section of this Privacy Notice.

Personal Information from Third Parties 

We also acquire personal information from third parties, which we often merge with the personal information we collect either automatically or directly from individuals.

We may receive the same categories of personal information as outlined above from the following third parties:

Club Affiliates: If you are affiliated with a club, that club may share your contact information and certain other details you choose to share with them.

Event Information Providers: Typically, we gather information about events and their results from individuals, organizations, or clubs that organize those events, such as superintendents or club secretaries.

Other Customers or Individuals Interacting with Our Services: We may receive your information from other CKC customers or individuals who use our Services. For example, if someone judges alongside a provisional judge, they might provide the provisional judge's information through the Tracking Judge Evaluation Form.

Your Employer / Company: If you engage with our Services through your employer or company, we may obtain your information from them or from another representative within the organization.

Business Relationships: We may receive your information from our business partners, such as companies that offer products and/or services through our Services.

Social Media: When you interact with our Services via social media networks—such as logging in through a social network, liking our page on Facebook, or sharing content on platforms like Google, Facebook, Twitter, or others—we may obtain certain information that you permit the social network to share with third parties. The data we receive will depend on your privacy settings on the social network and may include your profile information, profile picture, gender, username, user ID linked to your social media account, age range, language, country, and any other details you allow the social network to disclose. We recommend reviewing and adjusting your privacy settings on third-party websites and social media networks before sharing information or connecting with other services.

Service Providers: Our service providers, who perform services solely on our behalf (such as survey and marketing providers and payment processors), collect personal information and often share some or all of this data with us. To facilitate NFT purchases, resales, and ownership changes, cryptocurrency wallets may provide us with your blockchain or Ethereum address and any other information you choose to share.

Information Providers: Occasionally, we may obtain information from third-party providers to correct or enhance the personal information we collect. For example, we might receive updated contact details from third-party providers to reconnect with individuals.

Third Parties Related to Employment Applications: If you apply for a job with CKC, we may obtain information from your current or past employers, recruiters, third-party social media platforms, and other sources we use to gather information about job applicants.

Information from Other Sources: We may also collect personal information about individuals from publicly available sources, third-party data providers, customers, or through transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. This information may include contact details, employment-related information, and interest-related information. We combine this data with the information we collect directly from individuals to contact them, process employment applications, conduct job applicant screenings, send advertising or promotional materials, personalize our Services, and gain a better understanding of the demographics of the individuals we engage with.

Our Use of Personal Information

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:

• To fulfill or meet the reason the information was provided, such as fulfilling our contractual obligations, delivering the Services you requested, and processing transactions, including facilitating your online shopping transactions, NFT purchases and resales, and applications for groomers, trainers, breeders, club memberships, registrations, and evaluations.
• To manage our organization and its daily operations.
• To communicate with individuals through email, text message, social media, and telephone calls.
• To request individuals to complete surveys regarding our organization, partner organizations, and Services.
• For marketing and advertising purposes, including sending you information and updates about products or services that we believe may interest you via email, direct mail, phone, or text message.
• To administer, enhance, and personalize our Services by recognizing individuals and remembering their information upon their return.
• To process payments for our Services.
• To facilitate customer benefits and services, including providing customer support through our command center services.
• To identify and analyze how individuals use our Services.
• To conduct research and analytics on our customer base and our Services.
• To improve and customize our Services to better meet the needs and interests of our customers and other individuals we engage with.
• To test, enhance, update, and monitor our Services, and to diagnose or resolve technology issues.
• To help maintain the safety, security, and integrity of our property, Services, technology assets, and business.
• To evaluate your candidacy for employment, communicate with you throughout the application process, and facilitate the onboarding process if you are applying for a position.
• To enforce our Terms of Use, resolve disputes, fulfill our obligations, protect our rights, and safeguard our business interests as well as those of third parties.
• To prevent, investigate, or notify about fraud or unlawful or criminal activity.
• To comply with contractual and legal obligations and requirements.
• To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide personal information.
• For any other lawful purpose, or for any purpose to which you consent.

If you choose to contact us, we may require additional information to fulfill your request or respond to your inquiries. In such cases, we may provide you with additional privacy-related information if the scope of the inquiry/request or the personal information we require falls outside the parameters of this Privacy Notice. In those instances, the additional privacy notice will dictate how we may process the information provided at that time. 

Our Disclosure of Personal Information 

We disclose personal information in the following ways:

• Affiliates: We may share personal information with other companies owned or controlled by CKC, including our subsidiaries and any CKC affiliates, particularly when collaborating to provide our Services.
• Club Affiliates: If you are affiliated with a club, we may share your information with your club affiliates.
• Online Marketplace and Community Members: If you participate in our online communities or purchase goods or services through our Services, we may disclose your public profile information to other online community members, as well as any other information you choose to provide or make public.
• Contests, Sweepstakes, and Survey Providers: We share personal information with third parties that assist us in delivering our contests, sweepstakes, or survey offerings and processing responses.
• Marketing Providers: We coordinate and share personal information with our marketing providers to communicate with individuals about the Services we offer.
• Customer Service and Communication Providers: We share personal information with third parties who assist us in providing customer service and facilitating communications with individuals who submit inquiries.
• Other Service Providers: In addition to the third parties identified above, we engage other third-party service providers to perform business or operational services on our behalf, such as website hosting, infrastructure provisioning, IT services, analytics, cryptocurrency and blockchain transactions, employment application-related services, payment processing, and administrative services. We may also share your information with third parties that assist with NFT presales, purchases, resales, and changes in ownership.
• Blockchain Participants: If you participate in our Services that involve the blockchain, please note that the public nature of the blockchain, including the Ethereum Blockchain, makes your holdings and transactions associated with your crypto wallet address publicly available and accessible to blockchain participants and other third parties, as well as any other information you choose to provide or make public.
• Ad Networks and Advertising Relationships: We collaborate with third-party ad networks and advertising organizations to deliver advertising and personalized content on our Services and across other websites and services. These parties may collect information directly from a browser or device when you visit our Services through cookies or other data collection technologies. This information is used for targeted advertising and related services, including reporting, attribution, analytics, and market research. Please refer to the section on Third Party Data Collection and Online Advertising for more information.
• Business Relationships: We enter into select marketing relationships with advertisers, sponsors, and other companies providing products or services we believe may interest our users. We will share personal information, or any information collected through our Services, with those marketing organizations to help them send you relevant information.
• Your Employer / Company: If you interact with our Services through your employer or company, we may disclose your information to your employer or company, including another representative.
• Dog Owners or Prospective Dog Owners: We provide registration information for a dog or litter primarily to confirm that the puppy acquired or being acquired is eligible for registration.
• Event Results Information: We publish event results information on our Sites, which may include the names of breeders, registered owners of dogs, event details, judges’ names, and the host of the event (e.g., a club or CKC). Generally, we obtain this information from individuals, organizations, or clubs that run the events, such as superintendents or club secretaries.
• Business Transaction or Reorganization: We may be involved in corporate business transactions, such as mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, or the financing or sale of company assets. Personal information may be disclosed to a third party during negotiations or as an asset in such transactions. Additionally, personal information may be disclosed in the event of insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership.
• Legal Obligations and Rights: We may disclose personal information to third parties, such as legal advisors and law enforcement, in connection with the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims; to comply with laws or respond to lawful requests and legal processes; to protect our rights and property and those of others; to detect, suppress, or prevent fraud; to protect health and safety; or as otherwise required by applicable law.
• With Your Consent: We may disclose personal information about an individual to certain other third parties or publicly with their consent or direction. For example, with an individual’s consent, we may post their testimonial on our Sites or in service-related publications.

Third-Party Data Collection and Online Advertising 

We engage in interest-based advertising and collaborate with third-party advertising companies to deliver targeted advertisements based on your browsing history. We allow third-party online advertising networks, social media companies, and other services to collect information about your use of our online services over time. This information enables them to display ads on our Services, on other websites, and across various devices you may use. Typically, the data used for interest-based advertising is gathered through tracking technologies, including cookies, web beacons, embedded scripts, and location-identifying technologies. These technologies recognize your device and collect information such as click stream details, browser type, visit timestamps, precise geolocation, and other relevant data. We may share a common account identifier, like a hashed user ID, with our advertising partners to help identify you across devices. We and our partners utilize this information to enhance the relevance of the advertisements you see online and to provide advertising-related services, including reporting, attribution, analytics, and market research. Additionally, we may leverage services from third parties, such as social media platforms, to serve targeted ads to you and others, which may involve sharing a hashed version of your information with the platform provider. Please refer to the Control Over Your Information section for details on how to opt out of interest-based advertising.

Social Media Widgets and Advertising: Our Services may incorporate social media features, such as buttons for platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. These companies may recognize you and gather information about your interactions with our Services, possibly setting cookies or employing other tracking technologies. Your interactions with these features are subject to the privacy policies of those companies.

We deliver targeted advertising through social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. These platforms have interest-based advertising programs that allow us to direct advertisements to users who have expressed interest in our services or to groups of users sharing similar characteristics, such as commercial interests and demographics. We may share unique identifiers, like a user ID or hashed email address, with these platform providers, or they may collect information through tracking technologies to target advertising to you or a custom audience. The advertisements served are governed by the privacy policies of the respective social media companies. If you wish to stop receiving targeted ads on these networks, you can adjust your advertising preferences through your settings.

Third-Party Relationships: We collaborate with various third-party organizations to provide advertising services. For instance, we use Google Analytics to recognize you and link the devices you use when interacting with our Services. We share unique identifiers with Google to facilitate the service, allowing us to understand user interactions better and tailor our advertisements and content accordingly. For more information on how Google Analytics collects and processes data, as well as how you can control information sent to Google, please review Google’s privacy policy at www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners. You can learn about Google Analytics’ currently available opt-outs, including the Google Analytics Browser Ad-On, at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

We also use Microsoft to analyze user activity and characteristics, capturing data about user interactions with our Services. Microsoft may collect personal data from users or receive it from us, offering opt-out choices as required by applicable data privacy laws. For more information, please visit https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement.

In addition, we may employ advanced features through Google Analytics that allow us to use first-party and third-party cookies together to optimize and display ads based on your previous visits. You may control your advertising preferences or opt-out of certain Google advertising products by visiting the Google Ads Preferences Manager at https://google.com/ads/preferences, or by visiting NAI’s online resources at http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices.

Control Over Your Information 

You may control your information in the following ways:

Access to Your Device Information: You can manage the Services’ access to your device information through the “Settings” app on your device. For example, you can revoke permission for the Services to access your network devices and geolocation, as well as to integrate with your other applications.

Email Communications Preferences: You can opt out of receiving promotional email communications from us by clicking the “unsubscribe” link included in such emails. However, you may not opt out of service-related communications, such as account verification, transactional communications, changes or updates to features of the Services, and technical or security notices.

Push Notifications: You can stop receiving push notifications by adjusting your preferences in the iOS or Android notifications settings menu.

Modifying or Deleting Your Information: If you have questions about reviewing, modifying, or deleting your information, please contact us directly. Note that we may not be able to modify or delete your information in all situations, particularly concerning CKC’s NFT Program, due to the immutable nature of information stored on the blockchain.

Cookies: For details regarding our use of cookies and similar technologies to automatically collect information, and for choices related to cookies, please refer to the Information We Collect Automatically section above.

Online Ads: To learn more about interest-based advertising and how to opt out of some of this advertising, you may wish to visit the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) resources or the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) online resources at www.aboutads.info/choices or http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/. You can also opt out of receiving some interest-based advertisements on mobile apps by visiting http://www.aboutads.info/appchoices. Additionally, you can limit interest-based advertising through your mobile device’s settings by selecting “limit ad tracking” (iOS) or “opt-out of interest-based ads” (Android). For opting out of some interest-based advertising served by mobile ad networks, visit http://youradchoices.com/appchoices and download the mobile App Choices app.

Please note that opting out of interest-based advertisements does not mean you will no longer see ads from us or on our online services. It means that the ads you do see from DAA program participants should not be based on your interests. We are not responsible for the effectiveness or compliance of any third-party opt-out options or programs, nor the accuracy of their statements regarding their programs. Additionally, third parties may still use cookies to gather information about your use of our online services for analytics, fraud prevention, or other purposes permitted under the DAA’s Principles.

Children’s Personal Information 

Our Services are not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not intend to, nor do we knowingly collect or solicit personal information from such individuals. If a child under the age of 13 is using our Services or has provided us with any personal information, we strongly encourage their parent or guardian to contact us to request the removal of that information from our systems. Should we discover that any personal information we have collected has been provided by a child under the age of 13, we will promptly delete that information. 

Links to Third-Party Websites or Services 

Our Services may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins, and applications. Except where we explicitly link to or adopt this Privacy Notice, it does not apply to, and we are not responsible for, the personal information practices of third-party websites and online services, or the practices of other third parties. To understand the personal information practices of these third parties, please refer to their respective privacy notices. 

State-Specific Disclosures 

California – Your California Privacy Rights: If you are a California resident, California Civil Code Section 1798.83 – also known as California’s “Shine the Light” – permits you to request information regarding the disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year. To opt out of having your information shared in this manner, please refer to our designated contact for privacy inquiries.

Nevada: If you are a resident of the State of Nevada, Chapter 603A of the Nevada Revised Statutes allows a Nevada resident to opt out of future sales of certain covered information that a website operator has collected or will collect about the resident. Although we do not currently sell covered information, please refer to our designated contact for privacy inquiries to submit such a request.

Colorado: If you are a resident of the State of Colorado, Colorado Revised Statutes §§ 6-1-1301 (effective 7/1/2023) – also known as the Colorado Privacy Act – provides you the right to access, correct, and delete your personal data, and the right to opt out of the sale, collection, and use of your personal data. To request access, correction, or deletion of your personal data, or to opt out of the sale, collection, and use of your personal data, please refer to our designated contact for privacy inquiries.

Updates to This Privacy Notice 

We will update this Privacy Notice from time to time. When we make changes to this Privacy Notice, we will change the date at the beginning of the document. If we make material changes, we will notify individuals through prominent postings on our Services or other appropriate communication channels. All changes will be effective from the date of publication unless otherwise stated.