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Privacy Policy

This document explains what information we collect from you, why we collect it, and what we will and will not do with it. It also explains certain issues involved with advertising that appears on our site, and how that relates to privacy concerns that you may have. Please note: We reserve the right to change the policies documented here without notice.

Last Updated: December 31, 2019



Our Philosophy Regarding Your Information

This site is operated by movie enthusiasts, for movie enthusiasts. We are not in business to harvest your information and sell it off to the highest bidder. There are practical necessities that result in some information being shared with third parties (if you purchase tickets, for example, the ticketing provider is going to know what browser you are using, but they are not going to know what your name or E-Mail address is from us; you'll have to tell them), but you can be confident that we are not selling the information that you've provided to us.

What Information We Collect When You Visit This Site

In order to provide you with certain features on this site, it is necessary for us to collect certain items of information about you. Some of this is determined automatically, while most of it is requested from you.

  • Your ZIP Code and/or Geolocation
  • Identifiers (such as an online identifier and/or IP address)
  • Saved Theaters and Movies

What Information We Collect When You Create an Account

In order to provide you with a more customized experience when you create an account on our site, we ask you for the following additional items of information:

  • Your Name
  • Your E-Mail Address and a Passcode
  • Saved Theaters and Movies

How We Connect You With That Information (Cookies)

We use a technology available in every current browser, called Cookies. When we ask for your information, we store it in our records, and assign you a unique session ID. This ID is stored on your browser using a cookie, so that while you use this site, we can use the information you have provided to deliver the information you are looking for. That cookie is temporary and expires as soon as your browser is closed. Our server also conducts periodic house-cleaning, in which idle sessions are cleared to keep things running smoothly. When that session cookie is either cleared or becomes out of date, the site will not remember anything about you or the information that you have entered and you will be asked for that information again.

If you create an account on our site, we connect your saved account to you via a more persistent cookie so that when you return to this site each day, we can retrieve your settings and use them to provide you with a customized experience. The only information that is stored in your browser is the ID code associated with your account, and that cookie is only accessible by this site. If you choose to logoff this site, that cookie is cleared, and you will be asked for your login information again to retrieve your saved settings.

If you would like to read more about cookies, and what they can and cannot do, check out the Wikipedia entry for HTTP cookies.

We also utilize third-party advertising solutions and work with third-party vendors for the sale of movie tickets, merchandise, and other products. Some of these services use cookies of their own to determine which ad to display or which showtime you are attempting to purchase a ticket for, if applicable. The ads that you are shown are not tied in any way to your custom account information on this site, as we do not share that information without your permission.

Why We Collect That Information and What We Do With It

Your ZIP Code and/or Geolocation

Because one of the primary features of our site is to deliver showtimes playing at movie theaters, one of the most important pieces of information that we can get from you is your location. We ask for your ZIP code to determine which theaters are closest to your location, so that you can select nearby theaters easily. In addition to using your ZIP code as a means to show nearby theaters, we also have the ability to detect your current location using geolocation technology. Your browser can be configured to share your location automatically, only with your permission, or not at all. If you wish to check and/or change that setting, please refer to the privacy and other settings for your browser and/or device. If your browser declines our request for your location, we do not make other attempts to determine your location. You have the option of saving your ZIP code and/or geolocation if you have created an account on this site. That information can be found on the Your Account page.

Your IP Address

Your IP address is stored on our site to provide troubleshooting information and to detect fraudulent accesses to the various features of this site. When you submit a movie review (for example), your IP address is stored so that we can see if someone is spamming the system. If you submit a comment via one of our feedback forms or contest entries (for example), we store your IP address in case we need to troubleshoot a problem with the web site and how it connects to the network you are using.

Your Name

We ask for your name so that we can welcome you by name when you return to the site. If you submit a Reader Review, a comment to a Journal article or about a movie theater, your name is used to identify you on your submission. Take a look at our Reader Reviews, Journal, and Theater Comments for examples of how we do this. If you don't want to provide us with your name, you can leave it set to "BigScreen Reader," which is what comes up by default. You also use a nickname if you wish, we don't mind as long as you are nice about the name you choose...

Your E-Mail Address and a Passcode

Your E-Mail address is needed so that we can contact you if we need to. If you forget your passcode, we give you the option of having your password E-Mailed to the address you gave us. If we have questions about a review you submitted, we will contact you at that address so that we can post your review as soon as possible. We will not publish your E-Mail address anywhere on the site, nor do we share your E-Mail address with any third party, unless required to do so by law enforcement personnel. One exception to this is if you submit a Theater Comment card, as your name, E-Mail address, and comments are sent to the theater involved.

To keep others from accessing your custom settings, your settings are protected with a passcode that you choose (or one can be chosen automatically for you). Keep this passcode private and don't use the same passcode on multiple sites. You only need to login to access your custom settings once, as we store a cookie on your browser that connects your browser to your settings.

We may use your E-Mail address to send you messages. If you have signed up for a newsletter or chosen to receive other E-Mails from us, you will be able to modify that choice through the Your Account page. There may be certain messages that we send that you do not have the option of not receiving. Example of this are (but are not limited to) messages that confirm an action that you have taken on the site, special announcements regarding the site, and so on. We keep such messages to a minimum, as we respect your inbox as much as we respect our own.

Saved Theaters and Movies

When you have an account on this site, you have the ability to save lists of your favorite movies and theaters. This is an optional feature, but very handy. When you choose to save a movie or theater, we keep a list of those movies/theaters for you. You can change them at any time by visiting the Your Favorite Movies and Your Favorite Theaters pages, respectively. That information is not shared publicly on our site, but it is used to provide you with support should questions arise, and we do aggregate the numbers of our readers who have saved which movies and which theaters as their favorites. At no time is your specific list of movies/theaters shared with any third party.

What We Will Not Do With Your Information

We will not willingly share your personal information with any third party. We believe that your personal information is yours to share with us, and no one else needs to have access to it. We will not willingly or knowingly sell, trade, or otherwise share the information you provide to us with anyone not directly associated with The BigScreen Cinema Guide, unless required to do so by law.

Deleting Your Personal Information

If at any time, you decide that you do not want to have the information that has been saved in your account on this site, you can contact us and we will remove your name, E-Mail address, and location information. Any content that you may have submitted (e.g. Reader Reviews, Theater Comments, Journal Comments, etc.) will remain, but will be disassociated from your personal account information.

To Request Deletion of Your Personal Information

To request to have your personal information deleted, please contact us via the Feedback Form while logged into the site so that we can verify your request.

A Special Note About the Third Party Advertising on Our Site

We use Google AdSense and other third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements on this site.

Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on this site. Google's use of a browser cookie enables it to serve ads to you based on your visit here and other sites on the Internet. You may opt out of the use of the cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

In order to provide access to this web site for free, we have to display advertising to offset our costs. This is a fact of life and is part of the agreement you make when you visit web sites without paying for access. You can control some third party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance's WebChoices tool, where you can see which advertising systems are delivering customized ads, and choose how you want your browser to be tracked.

Regarding Google Advertising If You Are In California

We have notified Google that it should restrict data processing for eligible users in California, which means that it will only show non-personalized ads to those users. The relevant policies regarding Restricted Data Processing can be found on the Google AdSense page: Helping publishers comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

Don't Like Advertising?

If you don't like the idea of advertising and that advertisers might be gathering information about your browsing, we recommend signing up for our VIP Service, which blocks all the third-party advertising on our site. It makes using the site a lot better without the ads, and we also provide you with extra features as a way of saying thank-you for supporting us directly! We would much prefer to have all our readers be VIP's, because it would allow us to focus completely on delivering the best content we possibly can, without having to be concerned about placing ads on our pages to pay the bills. We do understand, however, that not everyone would like to become a VIP Member, so that's why we offer the choice!

Related Web Sites

Use of Google Analytics

This site uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. This analytical tool uses cookies and other technologies to help analyze how our readers use this site. In order to create reports and provide us with usage information, data including site usage, including visitor IP address, is transmitted to Google. This information is then used to evaluate visitors' use of the website, compile statistical reports on site activity, and other services relating to site activity and internet usage. Google offers the ability to opt out from tracking through Google Analytics cookies; for more information, visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Google now offers controls for us to determine how long to keep analytics information. We have set that timeframe to 26 months. That provides us with the ability to look back more than two years to determine trends to help us create a better web site for our readers.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time. Please reference this page to see those updates often.

Do You Have Questions?

Unlike most other sites, we actually want to communicate with our readers. If you have a concern, or if you have questions about anything in this Privacy Policy, please feel free to contact us via the Feedback Form and let us know what you need!



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