Related articles

Meetup Privacy Policy for People Data

Last Updated:  December 20, 2022

OVERVIEW

Meetup LLC and our affiliates (referred to together as “Meetup”, “we”, “our” or “us”) respect individual privacy and take the privacy of your Personal Information very seriously.  As the data controller, Meetup collects, uses, and discloses your Personal Information in connection with your working relationship with us, or with your application for a working relationship with us, in a manner consistent with the laws of the states and countries in which we do business.  We use your Personal Information in a manner that is consistent with the uses described in this Privacy Policy (the “Policy”), which covers the treatment of the Personal Information we receive or maintain about you.  This Policy is intended to cover our collection and use of data that we obtain in the course of your relationship with us.

When we refer to “Personal Information,” we mean any information that relates to you as a particular individual.  This includes information that directly identifies you (e.g., your name, Social Security number or other government-issued identifier, or employee ID number), but also includes information which we have linked to those identifiers (e.g., your date of birth, telephone number, and information about your performance, all of which are linked to your name).  This can also include information about devices that you use where we have linked the information collected from those devices back to you.

This Policy applies to the Personal Information Meetup receives or maintains regarding all current and former employees; dependents and beneficiaries of an employee or former employee; contractors who are natural persons (referred to in this Policy as “contractors”); contingent workers; and job applicants (collectively referred to in this Policy as “you”).

1. TRANSPARENCY/NOTICE

1.1. WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT OR PROCESS?

We collect the types of Personal Information that we require in order to manage our relationship with you, from the point at which you make an application to work with us (e.g., in your application) and throughout your employment or work engagement with us (e.g., through on-boarding, using our systems, and signing up for benefits).

The Personal Information that we collect and use about you includes:

  • Application information (e.g., your CV, application form, references supplied by your former employer).  If you do not provide this information, we will not be able to process your application properly;
  • Right to work information (e.g., work permit / visa application information).  If you do not provide this information, we may not be able to offer you a position with us;
  • Government-issued identification information (e.g., Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number) for tax, payroll, background check, and identity confirmation purposes.  If you do not provide this information, we may not be able to offer you a position with us;
  • Basic personal details (e.g., name, date of birth).  If you are a family member of an employee, former employee, contractor or contingent worker, we may collect this information from the relevant individual to whom you are related;
  • Contact details (e.g., telephone number, email address, postal address).  If you are a family member of an employee, former employee, contractor or contingent worker, we may collect this information from the relevant individual to whom you are related;
  • Information required for payroll purposes (e.g., bank account details, tax information);
  • Information related to benefit entitlements and schemes (e.g., details of participation, contributions made);
  • Information related to gender, race, or ethnic origin for purposes of complying with applicable anti-discrimination or diversity legislation (where applicable);
  • Medical information, if necessary to comply with applicable laws, or in order to provide medical care to you (such as through workplace assessments and for the other purposes described below);
  • Performance related data (e.g., information about and assessments of your performance collected as part of the appraisal process);
  • Location information, including precise geolocation through GPS tracking technology on Meetup-owned devices (e.g., use of Airwatch on Meetup-owned laptops to locate and/or wipe lost or stolen laptops), or other devices owned by you which you use in connection with your services to Meetup;
  • Information which we need to process in connection with disciplinary action or investigations;
  • Information about your use of our systems (e.g., information from your company email account, information posted on our website, information you submit through applications or software made available to you).  This also includes information collected using various technologies, such as cookies and pixel tags (which are also called clear GIFs, web beacons, or pixels), when you visit any website, application, or services we offer (our “Platform”), or communicate with us.  Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us improve our Platform and your experience, and track usage of our Platform.  Pixel tags are electronic images that may be used in our Platform or emails, and track usage of our Platform and effectiveness of communications. You can learn more about the types of cookies we and our service providers use by reading our Cookie Policy;
  • Payment information you provide for goods, services, and other transactions authorized by you; and 
  • Any other information that you provide directly to us.

1.2. WHAT DO WE DO WITH YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AND WHY IS IT PROCESSED?

We use your Personal Information primarily to manage our relationship with you by providing services that help you carry out your work with us.  We also use your Personal Information to help us manage our business, including management of resources and to carry out marketing, and keep our systems secure. 

The purposes for which we use Personal Information include:

  • Recruitment;
  • Providing you with equipment, training, and support so that you can carry out your role.  We do this in order to meet applicable contractual and/or employment related obligations to you;
  • Providing staff training, feedback, and appraisals, in order to meet our contractual and/or employment obligations to you, and where not strictly required by a contract, to meet our legitimate interests in ensuring our staff are best able to carry out their roles.  This may involve maintaining a personnel or service record, and may involve carrying out investigations or disciplinary procedures to protect our interests;
  • Compensation and benefits management, to ensure that you are paid and can take advantage of benefits offered by Meetup and its partners.  Optional benefits require your opt-in consent;
  • Organization management and administration, including management of staffing resources, financial planning, corporate compliance, internal audits, and other administration.  We process Personal Information in this way to meet our legitimate interests in running our business effectively, and we also use Personal Information for your benefit by taking efforts to ensure that projects are appropriately staffed;
  • Administration of absences in accordance with company and statutory leave programs, to ensure that we comply with any legal obligations (for statutory programs) or any contractual obligations to you, where either exists.  We also use Personal Information for this purpose in order to meet our legitimate interests in running and managing our business effectively, which includes ensuring appropriate staffing;
  • Communications.  This may include facilitating communications to and between employees and contractors, and communications with other bodies (e.g., works councils where these exist, and regulatory authorities).  We use Personal Information for this purpose in order to meet our legitimate interests in managing our business, which includes ensuring that our staff are able to communicate with one another, and that we are able to communicate with our staff;
  • Meetup marketing activities, including marketing photos, brochures, website content, videos, social media posts, and other related marketing activities;
  • Compliance with legal obligations, including health and safety requirements, requests for information from government agencies, and security investigations;
  • Provision of employment references if requested by a potential employer;
  • Administering our applications, software, and systems.  This is necessary to meet our legitimate interests in ensuring that our systems are secure and are fit for use;
  • Statistical and analytical purposes to understand and improve worker satisfaction and performance;
  • With respect to your use of our Platform, the delivery of advertising on and off the Platform and to monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Platform; and
  • Such other purposes as we may disclose to you from time to time.

1.3. WHAT DO WE DO WITH YOUR SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION AND WHY IS IT PROCESSED?

Some types of Personal Information are particularly sensitive, for example, information about your health, medical history, race, or ethnicity (together, these are referred to as categories of “Sensitive Personal Information”).  We collect and use these types of information in some limited circumstances where it is necessary for us to protect your interests (e.g., to provide healthcare), where we need to do so to comply with specific legal obligations (e.g., equal opportunity or anti-discrimination legislation or employment law), or where we have your explicit consent to use it.  

The purposes for which Sensitive Personal Information may be used include the following:

  • To provide occupational health assessments and determine, in limited cases, if you are able to work.  If we do this, we will make sure any health information collected is collected by a qualified medical professional and kept under their control;
  • To manage sickness absences and family/parental leave (where applicable) to meet obligations under applicable laws, for example, to ensure that we pay statutory sickness pay or maternity pay correctly;
  • Compliance with equal opportunity or anti-discrimination legislation or regulations (where applicable);
  • In connection with benefits, including retirement-related benefits, private healthcare, and life insurance.  We will use this information with your explicit consent where necessary;
  • Background checks for employment or client engagement purposes, where permitted by applicable laws; and
  • In the course of legal proceedings (including prospective legal proceedings), obtaining legal advice, establishing or defending legal claims, or otherwise where strictly necessary for the administration of justice in accordance with applicable laws.

1.4. WHAT DO WE DO WITH AGGREGATED DATA AND WHY IS IT PROCESSED?

We may also collect and/or generate anonymized and aggregated information from your use of Wi-Fi, applications, systems, and websites.  Anonymized or aggregated information is not Personal Information since we are not able to re-identify you using any means available to us from that anonymized or aggregated information.  Anonymized and aggregated information is used for a variety of functions, including to help us identify and remediate any bugs, and to improve the performance of our Platform.  Meetup may use such information in a number of ways, including internal analysis, analytics, and research.  We may share this information with third parties for our or their purposes in an anonymized or aggregated form that is designed to prevent anyone from identifying you.

2. HOW DO WE SHARE INFORMATION WITH THIRD PARTIES?

2.1. IS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION SHARED WITH THIRD PARTIES?

We share Personal Information with certain third parties, such as suppliers, clients, and advisers that perform certain services on our behalf or that receive services from us.  Sometimes sharing your Personal Information with these third parties is necessary for them to perform their services or for us to provide our services to them.

We will only share your Personal Information with third parties for the purposes identified above in accordance with the Policy or with your consent.  We will endeavor to obtain assurances from each third party with whom we share your Personal Information for purposes of maintaining our relationship with you (e.g., benefits providers) that it will safeguard your Personal Information consistently with this Policy and will notify Meetup if it makes a determination that it can no longer meet this obligation.  If we have knowledge that a third party is using or disclosing Personal Information in a manner contrary to this Policy, we will take reasonable steps to prevent or stop the use or disclosure. 

Your Personal Information may be also disclosed or transferred to a third party in the event of any proposed or actual reorganization, sale, merger, joint venture, assignment, amalgamation, or any other type of acquisition, disposal, or financing of all or any portion of our company or of any company assets (including should Meetup become insolvent, enter into receivership, or any similar event occur).  Should such an event take place, we will endeavor to direct the transferee to use Personal Information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy.

We may also disclose your Personal Information to third parties if necessary to comply with legal obligations, for example, to cooperate with regulatory authorities, law enforcement bodies, or courts, or if we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or those of a third party.

2.2. TRANSFER OF PERSONAL INFORMATION ACROSS BORDERS

Meetup is based in the United States and has current and former employees, dependents and beneficiaries of employees or former employees, contractors, contingent works, and job applicants located throughout the world.  As a result, your Personal Information will be processed in, and transferred to (if you are outside the U.S.), the U.S.  Any such transfer shall take place only in accordance with and as permitted by the law of your jurisdiction, but please be aware that the laws and practices relating to the protection of Personal Information are likely to be different and, in some cases, may be weaker than those within your home jurisdiction.  Regardless, in all events, we shall apply the provisions of this Policy to your Personal Information wherever it is located.

We have taken appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, to require that your information will remain protected in accordance with this Policy.

2.3. NON-EMPLOYMENT RELATED PURPOSES

We may also share information we have collected about you, through your use of our Platform, with others or allow others to use technologies (like cookies, web beacons, and device identifiers) that collect information about your use of the Platform and other websites and online services, to provide analytic services and to serve ads for Meetup.  See our Cookie Policy for details about these technologies and the information that they collect, use, or share, including how you may be able to control or disable these services. 

Meetup may also inform you of and provide you with the option to contact providers of non-employment related benefits or opportunities.  If you choose to contact these providers and provide them with Personal Information, that Personal Information will be used in accordance with the privacy policies of those third parties.

3. WHAT RIGHTS DO YOU HAVE OVER THE PERSONAL INFORMATION WE HOLD ABOUT YOU?

Depending on the jurisdiction in which you live, you may have the following rights to:

  • Request that we delete the Personal Information we have collected from you.
  • Object to our Processing of your Personal Information in some of the circumstances described above.  In particular, if you have given your consent to any use of Personal Information, you can withdraw this at any time.  If you withdraw your consent, however, in certain circumstances Meetup may not be able to fulfill our contractual and employment-related obligations to you;
  • Request to access your Personal Information in portable format, or other information about our data processing activities.
  • Update, correct, amend, or delete Personal Information that is demonstrated to be inaccurate, incomplete, or processed in violation of applicable law;
  • Restrict our use of your Personal information in certain circumstances; and
  • Request that we transmit Personal Information you have provided to us to a third party (known as the right to “data portability”).

You may be able to effectuate some of these rights using “self-service” features available on TriNet, where you can view, and in some cases update and delete, much of the Personal Information we maintain about you.  Further, please see Section 7 for more information on how you can otherwise exercise these rights. Once we receive your request, we may verify it by asking you for additional information. You may also use an authorized agent to exercise these rights, in which case we may request evidence that the agent has valid authority to act on your behalf.  If you or your authorized agent chooses to exercise these rights, we will not discriminate or retaliate against you.

We do not sell your Personal Information, but as described above, our Platform may use technologies that allow third parties to collect Personal Information for targeted advertising.  If you are in a jurisdiction that entitles you to opt out of the sharing or processing of your Personal Information for purposes of targeted advertising, you may click the Cookie Settings link at the footer of our website or in your Platform account settings to select cookies you would like to opt opt-out of, including those used for targeted advertising purposes.

4. SECURITY – IS YOUR INFORMATION SECURE?

We will take reasonable precautions designed to protect Personal Information in our possession from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.  Access to our systems that store your Personal Information is restricted by means of one or more user IDs and passwords that are issued only to authorized personnel.  In turn, you need to prevent unauthorized access to your Personal Information by selecting and protecting your password(s) appropriately and limiting access to your computer and browser by signing off after you have accessed your Personal Information.

5. RETENTION – HOW LONG DO WE RETAIN YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

The length of time we retain your Personal Information depends on the status of our relationship with you and the requirements of applicable law.  We will retain your Personal Information for as long as your employment or work engagement with us lasts, and for a certain period after your employment or work engagement with us has ended.  To determine that period, we take into account certain criteria, such as our legal and regulatory obligations (such as financial reporting obligations and equal opportunity or anti-discrimination reporting obligations) and whether we may need to retain personal information to resolve disputes, make and defend legal claims, conduct audits, pursue legitimate business purposes, and/or enforce our agreements.

6. CHANGES – WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE ARE CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY?

We may amend this Policy from time to time.  If we make any material changes in the way we collect or use your Personal Information, we will notify you by posting an announcement on one or more systems used by Meetup, or by sending you an email and, where required by applicable law, afford you the opportunity to consent or to opt out of any new use or disclosure.

7. REDRESS – COMPLIANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY – WHO CAN YOU CONTACT IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS?

If you have an inquiry or complaint regarding this Policy or the collection or use of your Personal Information, including any rights of access, ability to limit the use or disclosure of Personal Information, or to correct or delete inaccurate Personal Information, please email peoplepartners@meetup.com or contact a member of Meetup’s People team by phone or individual email (if you are a current or former Meetup employee, dependent or beneficiary of an employee or former employee, or job applicant) or contact your business point of contact at Meetup by phone or email (if you are a contractor or contingent worker).  For citizens of the EEA, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Supervisory Authority located in the country in which you live.

Follow