Essex Privacy Policy

(effective December 16, 2014)

This is the privacy policy of Essex Property Trust, Inc., its subsidiaries and related entities (“Essex,” “we,” “our” or “us”).  Essex is committed to protecting your privacy.  This Privacy Policy describes our privacy practices with regard to information about you that could reasonably be used to identify you personally or that is associated with information that identifies you (“Personal Information”).


This web site (the “Web Site”) is provided by Essex.  Unless specifically stated otherwise, this Privacy Policy applies only to Personal Information that we gather or collect via the Web Site and any other Essex web site that posts a link to this Privacy Policy.  It does not apply to any Personal Information collected offline or otherwise outside of the Web Site.  Except as set forth in this Privacy Policy, Essex will never share, sell, or rent individual Personal Information with anyone without your advance permission or unless ordered by a court of law.


What Information Does Essex Gather About Me?

Information You Provide

We collect from you certain Personal Information you voluntarily provide in order to deliver the best possible service.  For example, you may be asked to provide Personal Information  when you fill out and submit forms (such as forms requesting information needed to consider you for apartment rentals or potential employment opportunities), when you initiate payments to us through the Web Site, when you participate in promotions, contests, or sweepstakes on the Web Site, when you post to any interactive forum, bulletin board, chat room that we may make available on the Web Site, when you register for email communications, and when you submit a survey response, question or request to the Web Site using a form or the email address links on the Web Site.  If you choose to schedule a tour, request more information or seek potential employment, we may ask you to provide us with information necessary to contact you or mail you information including without limitation your name, physical address, telephone number and email address.  We may collect your email address so that we can send you information you have requested. We may use your email address to inform you about current events or to send you updates regarding information that was previously sent to you.


Web Server Logs

When you visit our Web Site, we may track information to administer the Web Site and analyze its usage.


Examples of information we may track include:

·          Your Internet protocol address.

·          The kind of browser or computer you use.

·          Number of links you click within the site.

·          State or country from which you accessed the site.

·          Date and time of your visit.

·          Name of your Internet service provider.

·          Web page you linked to our site from.

·          Pages you viewed on the site.

Cookies

A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a users’ computer for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies on this Web Site. We may link the information we store in cookies to any Personal Information you submit while on our Web Site.


We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies.  We use session cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our Web Site. A session ID cookie expires when you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time.  You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browser’s help file.


We set a persistent cookie to store your passwords, so you don’t have to enter it more than once. Persistent cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Web Site and other Web sites.


If you reject cookies, you may still use our Web Site, but your ability to use some areas of our Web Site, such as saving properties, will be limited.


Some of our business partners (e.g., advertisers) may use cookies on our Web Site. We have no access to or control over these cookies.  This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by this Web Site only and does not cover the use of cookies by any business partners or advertisers on our Web Site or other Essex web sites.  See the “Third Party Advertisers” and “Links to Other Sites” sections of this Privacy Policy below for more information.


We use Google Analytics and Google AdWords on the Web Site to collect non-personally identifiable data, such as the data listed at the beginning on this section above, to analyze how users use the Web Site, and to provide targeted advertisements to you on our Web Site and other Web sites.  For more information about how to opt out of having your information used by Google Analytics and Google AdWords, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/ and http://www.google.com/settings/ads.


Clear Gifs (Web Beacons)

We may employ a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons), that help us better manage content on our Web Site by informing us what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user’s computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on Web pages and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. We may tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers’ Personal Information. We may use clear gifs in our HTML-based emails to let us know which emails have been opened by recipients. This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.


Third Party Advertisers

The ads appearing on this Web Site or other Essex web sites, if any, may be delivered to users by third-party advertising companies. Third-party advertising companies may use cookies and clear gifs on this Web Site, which allow it to recognize a user’s cookie when a user visits this Web Site and other Web sites. The companies serve their ads from their own web sites, independently from Essex. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, web browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to the Web Site and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of interest to you. The information that the third-party advertising companies collect and share through this technology is governed by the privacy policies of those third parties. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that you visit that collects personally identifiable information.


Our systems do not recognize browser “Do Not Track” signals, but several of our business partners who utilize cookies, Web Beacons, or other tracking technologies on the Web Site enable you to opt out of certain of their cookies, Web Beacons, and other tracking technologies and the tailoring of advertisements to your interests.  To learn more about cookies, Web Beacons, and other tracking technologies or to opt-out of advertising using these technologies, you can visit www.networkadvertising.org or www.aboutads.info/choices/.  We also provide you with additional tools to opt out of certain communications from us.  You can learn about this in the “Your Choices” section of this Privacy Policy.


Facebook Connect or other OpenID provider

We may offer you the ability to log in to our Web Site using sign-in services such as Facebook Connect or an Open ID provider. These services will authenticate your identity and provide you the option to share certain Personal Information with us such as your name and email address to pre-populate our sign up form. Services like Facebook Connect give you the option to post information about your activities on this Web Site to your profile page to share with others within your network. Any posting outside of the Web Site is governed by the privacy policies of the posting service and we encourage you to read the privacy statements of each and every posting service that collects personally identifiable information.


Links to Other Sites

This privacy statement applies only to Personal Information collected by this Web Site.  This Web Site contains links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by Essex. Please be aware that Essex is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites.  We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information.


Framing

This Web Site may utilize framing techniques to make it appear that the user is still on the Web Site when the user is actually on a third party Web site.  For example, if you are on a page that has the look and feel of www.essexapartmenthomes.com, but the URL listed in your browser is a different URL than www. essexapartmenthomes.com, then know that any information you provide is being collected by this third party and not governed by this Privacy Policy.  We encourage you to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information.


Share This

When you use “Share This” to bookmark and share our products and Web Site, you will be taken to a third party site.  Please note that these third party sites’ privacy policies govern the collection and use of the information collected on those sites.


Child Protection and Privacy

Essex does not knowingly seek to collect via the Web Site or maintain any Personal Information or other information from children under the age of 13.  We will delete any Personal Information or other information later determined to be provided by a child under the age of 13.  Use of the Web Site by children under the age of 13 is not permitted.  By using the Web Site to provide Personal Information to Essex, you represent that you are not under the age of 13.


Your Choices

Depending on the functionality associated with the Web Site feature you are using, you may be able to update certain of your Personal Information on the Web Site. If you no longer wish to receive marketing emails from us, you can opt out of these communications by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link included in those emails. Please see the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy for information about how to contact us with questions.


How does Essex use Personal Information?

Business Purposes

We retain and use Personal Information for the following business purposes: (1) to provide you with services or process transactions that you have requested; (2) to communicate with you regarding information, features or offers that we believe will be of interest to you; (3) to respond to your questions or other requests; (4) to contact you with regard to the Web Site; (5) to process any applications, payments or changes to your account information; (6) to process other information or Personal Information that you submit through the Web Site; (7) to conduct user surveys; (8) to contact you regarding a sweepstakes, contest or promotion in which you have participated, (9) to evaluate your application for employment and (10) to fulfill other purposes disclosed at the time you provide your Personal Information. We may also use the information you provide to improve the Web Site or Essex’s services, to customize your experience on the Web Site, to serve you specific content, or for other business purposes.


If you are purchasing a service, we will request financial information. Any financial information we collect is used only to bill you for the services you purchased. If you purchase by credit card, this information may be forwarded to your credit card provider. For other types of registrations, we will ask for the relevant information. You may also be asked to disclose Personal Information to us so that we may provide assistance and information to you. For example, such data may be warranted in order to provide online technical support and troubleshooting.


Third Parties

You agree that we may retain details of transactions you make on our Web Site for the following uses: 1) we may share certain aggregated demographic information with our business partners regarding the users of our websites; 2) we may share certain Personal Information with our business partners regarding applicants and other consumers; and 3) we may from time to time communicate service offerings to applicants and other consumers via our co-marketing partners.


Subject to the above paragraph, we will not disclose Personal Information we collect from you to third parties without your permission except to the extent necessary including:

·          To fulfill your service requests for services,

·          To protect ourselves from liability,

·          To respond to legal process or comply with law, or

·          In connection with a merger, acquisition, or liquidation of our company.

Third Party Service Providers

We may share your Personal Information with third parties who perform services on our behalf or on behalf of the owner of one of our properties and who may use this information for their own purposes, including sending advertising to you.  This includes, without limitation, third parties that send communications, process payments, analyze data, assist with utility billing or renters insurance, provide credit checks, resident screening, or collection services, provide marketing assistance, or create, host and/or provide customer service on our behalf. These third parties may have access to Personal Information in order to provide these services to us or on our behalf.


For more information about a third party service provider, please contact us via e-mail at privacy@essexpropertytrust.com.


Affiliated or Subsidiary Companies

We may share Personal Information with our affiliated or subsidiary companies who require access to Personal Information for business purposes related to your tenancy or to process any application, request, inquiry, or other information or Personal Information you submit via the Web Site. This includes the owner of any community where you submit an application or where you lease, as well as the management company for such community.


Legal Requirements and Law Enforcement.

We may disclose Personal Information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it; at the request of governmental authorities conducting an audit or investigation; pursuant to a court order, subpoena, or discovery request in litigation; to verify or enforce compliance with our Terms of Use or other agreements or policies governing the Web Site and applicable laws, rules, and regulations; or whenever we believe disclosure is necessary to limit our legal liability or to protect or enforce the rights, interests, or safety of the Web Site, its users or other third parties. We also reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we, in good faith, believe to be unlawful.


Sweepstakes and Promotions.

If you choose to enter a sweepstakes, contest or other promotion, your personal information may be disclosed to third parties in connection with the administration of such promotion, including, without limitation, in connection with winner selection, prize fulfillment, and as required by law, such as on a winners list. Also, by entering a promotion, you are agreeing to the official rules that govern that promotion, which may contain specific requirements of you, including, except where prohibited by law, allowing the sponsor(s) of the promotion to use your name, voice and/or likeness in advertising or marketing associated with the promotion.


Notice to California Residents/Your California Privacy Rights

To opt out of sharing your Personal Information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes, please e-mail Essex at  marketingandcommunications@essexpropertytrust.com and clearly state your request, including your name, mailing address, e- mail address and phone number.  Please see the “Your Choices” section of this Privacy Policy for additional information.


Security

Essex will take reasonable steps to secure the Personal Information you agree to provide via the Web Site.  Please note that no transmission of Personal Information over the Internet or the subsequent electronic storage of this information can be absolutely guaranteed.  Before submitting any Personal Information via the Web Site, please be aware of these inherent risks and know that you do so at your own risk.


Information Retention

Please note that in accordance with our routine corporate record-keeping practices, we may store, transfer or delete records that contain your Personal Information. We are under no obligation to store such information indefinitely and disclaim any liability arising out of, or related to, the destruction of such information.


Changes in this Privacy Statement

We reserve the right to alter, modify, update, add to, subtract from or otherwise change this Privacy Policy at any time, which will become effective as of posting on the Web Site.  We encourage you to periodically review this privacy statement to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the Personal Information we collect.



Compliance with Law

Essex intends to implement and update this Privacy Policy in a manner consistent with all applicable laws.  Please contact us at privacy@essexpropertytrust.com if you have any questions or concerns about the Privacy Policy legal compliance.


Jurisdiction

The Web Site is operated in the United States of America.  If you are located in another jurisdiction, then please be aware that any Personal Information you elect to supply will be transferred to the United States of America and be subject to its laws regarding data privacy and collection.  By using this Web Site, you expressly agree to any such transfer.


Contact Us

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@essexpropertytrust.com.


Essex Property Trust, Inc. | 925 East Meadow Drive | Palo Alto, CA 94303