3 Ways to Contact Us About Your Privacy

  1. Fill out form
  2. Email us
  3. Call us: 1-800-635-4772(MELISSA) ext. 4

Updated November 2023

  1. About Our Privacy Policy

    2. This Privacy Policy explains how Melissa Data Corporation (“Melissa”) collects, uses, and discloses your personal information. This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect when you use our website, mobile application, social media pages, and other online products and services or when you otherwise interact with us, including when you contact us for customer support (collectively, the “Services”). For additional information about your use of this website, please see our Terms of Use.

    Please note that some states have enacted consumer privacy laws that require us to share additional details about the collection, disclosure, use, and sale of personal information. If you are a resident of California, please refer to the Privacy Notice for Residents of California. Residents of other states should refer to the State Law Privacy Notice to determine if their state has enacted state-specific data privacy laws.

    We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of the policy. We encourage you to review the Privacy Policy whenever you access the Services to stay informed about our information practices and the ways you can manage your privacy.

  2. What Kinds of Personal Information Do We Collect?

    3. We collect the following categories of personal information:

    1. Contact and demographic data. We may collect your first and last name, email address, postal address, phone number, and other similar contact data. We also may collect data about you such as your age, country, and preferred language.
    2. Account credentials. We collect passwords and similar security information used for authentication and account access.
    3. Usage data. We collect usage and behavioral data about how you use our products and services. This includes, but is not limited to, data such as the search terms you enter, the pages you visit, the links you hover over and click on, and the items you purchase. We may also collect information about browsing history and websites visited prior to, and subsequent to, our websites. We may also collect data about your device such as IP address, device identifiers, and data about the network, operating system, browser, and software you use to connect to our products and services.
    4. Location data. We may collect location data derived from your IP address.
    5. Payment data. If you make a purchase, we collect data necessary to process your payment, such as your name, credit card number, and security code.
    6. Support data. If you contact Melissa customer support, we may collect the content of your communications with Melissa. Phone conversations or correspondence with our representatives may be monitored and recorded.
    7. Directory and public record data. Melissa also collects and licenses data from third parties and publicly available sources to provide its Lookups and list services. This data includes name, current and former address, phone number, possible aliases, marital status, date of birth, email address, property records, traffic and criminal records, public records, licenses records, and permit records.

  3. How Do We Collect Personal Information?

    4. The data we collect directly from you as a website user, application user, or business customer is used specifically for business-related purposes and is never integrated into or used for unrelated purposes such as our products or services.

    The data we collect depends on the services and features of our products that you use. You provide some data directly, such as when you create an account, submit a search query, or contact us for support. Our servers collect information known as “log data,” that includes your IP address, the time your computer or device visited the site, the URL of the website you arrived from, and the type of device or browser you used to access the site. We also get information by recording how you use our services and whether you navigate between our services and other sites. For example, we use cookies (small text files placed on your device) and web beacons (small graphic images contained in a Web page or email) and may receive usage data from software running on your device. For more information about our use of cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.

    We also obtain information about consumers from third party sources, such as data licensors and public records. We use this information to validate and enrich information in our databases so that we can provide and improve our products.

  4. How Do We Use the Personal Information We Collect?

    5. Melissa collects and uses personal information in order to provide useful products and services to you and others. We also use this data to improve the quality of those products and services, to process payments, for fraud prevention, for advertising purposes, to comply with legal requirements, and to provide customer support to our users. We also use data to verify information we have received from other sources, to help us analyze the usage and effectiveness of our products and services, and to improve our products and services. We may use data to resolve disputes and enforce our agreements, and to protect our users against fraud and abuse. We may also use data to send you communications, including promotional communications, or to serve advertising to you.

  5. What is Our Legal Basis for Processing Personal Information?

    6. When we process this personal data, we will only do so in the following situations:

    • We have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data. For example, we process the personal data we collect from you to send you marketing communications, to communicate with you about changes to our Services, to enhance the safety and security of our Facilities, and to help provide, secure, and improve our Services.
    • If we request your consent to a specific processing activity, and you provide your consent in the manner indicated.
    • In some cases, processing will be necessary for compliance with a legal obligation. Legal obligations for which Melissa may process personal data are responding to legal process, processing data subject rights requests, and complying with export and sanctions laws.

    If you have consented to our use of your personal data for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent, but this will not affect the data processing that has already happened. Where we are using your information because we have a legitimate interest to do so, you have the right to object to that use, but in some cases, this may mean no longer being able to use the Services.

  6. Do We Share or Sell Personal Information?

    7. As a general rule, Melissa does not rent, sell, or share personal information that you have provided to us when using this website or our mobile apps. The only circumstances under which we would share your personal information are when Melissa has obtained your explicit permission, or under the following circumstances:

    • If required by applicable law, regulation or legal process, including in connection with lawful requests by law enforcement, national security, or other public authorities; or
    • In connection with the merger or sale of all or a portion of our business to another company.

    Separate from your use of our website and Services, we do share, rent, and sell personal information that we have collected through third-party licenses, data brokers, or publicly available sources. The types of personal information that we sell include personal name, alias, home address, email address, telephone number, age, date of birth, and income. We share, rent, and sell this information to our customers as useful products for the purpose of address validation, identity verification, and marketing and CRM (customer relationship management) purposes.

  7. How Do We Store Personal Information?

    8. We store the personal data we collect about you for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which we originally collected it. We may retain certain information for legitimate business purposes, as required by law, or where necessary to preserve it in contemplation of litigation, legal proceedings or an investigation. The storage periods are determined on a case-by-case basis that depends on factors like the nature of the information, why it is collected and processed, relevant legal or operational retention needs, and legal obligations.

  8. How Can You Control and Access Your Personal Information?

    9. Removal Requests

    Melissa aims to extend consumer data privacy protections to all individuals. Regardless of your state or country of residence, you can request to have your personal information removed from our Melissa Lookups and other database products. To make this request, you have 3 options: use our Consumer Privacy Request Form, email us, or call us at 1-800-635-4772(MELISSA) ext. 4.

    State-Specific Consumer Requests

    A limited number of U.S. States, including California, have enacted data privacy laws that give residents of that state enhanced rights regarding their personal information. Check our State Law Privacy Notice to see if your state has enacted data privacy laws and to learn more about your state-specific consumer privacy rights.

    European Union Consumer Requests

    If you are a resident of the European Union, you can learn more about your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on our page relating to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

    Unsubscribe from Melissa Email & Direct Mail Advertising

    You may also request to unsubscribe from Melissa’s targeted email and direct mail (i.e., paper mail) advertising by sending an email to unsubscribe@melissa.com with the following information: your complete name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. Please clearly state in your email if you wish to be removed from our direct mail list, email list, or both. If you move or change your name, you will need to contact us again with your new address or name.

    Alternatively, you can request to unsubscribe from Melissa’s direct mail and/or email advertising by contacting us at 1-800-635-4772(MELISSA), or by sending a note with your complete name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address to the postal address below.

    Melissa Corporation

    Attn: Unsubscribe Services

    22382 Avenida Empresa

    Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688-2112

    If you are an existing customer, you may unsubscribe from or change your newsletter subscription preferences by visiting https://apps.melissa.com/user/subscription.aspx.

    Please note, the Direct Marketing Association’s DMAChoice mail preference service allows you to unsubscribe from receiving unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies. When you register with this service, your name will be put on a “delete” file and made available to direct-mail marketers and organizations. This will reduce most of your unsolicited mail. If you would like to unsubscribe from direct mail advertising, please visit www.dmachoice.org.

    Responsible marketing companies respect your choice to not receive direct mail advertising. DMA members, as a condition of membership, are required to suppress the names and addresses of individuals who have notified the DMA that they do not want to receive advertising by mail. As a DMA member, Melissa subscribes to and suppresses any name and address on the DMAChoice mail preference service file from its direct mail marketing efforts.

  9. Do We Collect Information About Children?

    10. No. Our Services are directed to and intended for use by individuals who are 18 years of age or older. We do not target or market to children nor knowingly collect any information from or about anyone under 18 years of age. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have inadvertently received your child’s data and/or have included it in one of our database products, please email us or call us at 1-800-635-4772(MELISSA) ext. 4.