Privacy Policy

Last Updated: November 20, 2024

PLEASE READ THIS POLICY CAREFULLY TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE TREAT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AS WELL AS YOUR CHOICES AND RIGHTS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS POLICY, YOU SHOULD NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SITE.

Introduction

SPHERE Investments (“we,” “us,” and “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal information that we collect, use, share, and otherwise process. We also believe in transparency, and we are committed to informing you about how we treat the personal information that we collect and process.

When does this Policy apply? This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) describes our practices for the personal information collected when you visit our website, www.sphereinvestments.com (the “Site”).

What personal information do we collect and process?

We collect the following types of personal data for the purposes listed below. For purposes of applicable law, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation, 2016/679 (the “GDPR”), we act as a data controller with respect to the personal information described below. You may choose not to provide us with any personal information, but you will not be able to access portions of the Site that require personal information.

Category	Description
Contact Information	When you visit our Site, complete a contact form, or otherwise contact us, we may receive your name, email address, phone number, or other contact details you choose to provide. We process Contact Information to operate our Site and business; to provide our services and support; to ensure the privacy and security of our Site and services; to respond to your request; to maintain our databases and back-ups; to manage our relationships with you; to communicate with you; and to keep records of our communications with you. The legal basis for this processing is consent or, where applicable, our legitimate interests in the proper administration of our Site and business, the proper management of our relationships, and the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
Communications	If you submit a question or comment or otherwise contact us, in addition to your Contact Information, we will receive any comments, content, questions, or other information that you choose to provide. You can decide how much information you want to share with us in those communications. We process Communications to operate our Site and business; to provide our services and support; to ensure the privacy and security of our Site and services; to respond to your request; to maintain our databases and back-ups; to manage our relationships with you; to communicate with you; and to keep records of our communications with you. The legal basis for this processing is consent or, where applicable, our legitimate interests in the proper administration of our Site and business, the proper management of our relationships, and the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
Job Applicant Information	You may share your résumé or Curriculum Vitae (CV) with us, which will include information about your educational history, work history, professional experience, competencies, certifications, and skills. When permitted by law, we may collect information about you from third parties, including references provided by you, former employers, and background check agencies. At various times, we may ask you to provide your full name, date of birth, residential address, government identification number, or other evidence of your right to work. Where permitted by applicable law, we will use Job Applicant Information for recruitment and human resources purposes; to assess and document your qualifications for the requirements of those jobs you apply for with us; to confirm your identity and your entitlement to work in the applicable country; for personnel and human resources management (including ordinary business practices related to the establishment, maintenance, and termination of relationships; personnel management and administration; business management and planning; administering benefits; conducting performance reviews and disciplinary proceedings; processing employee work-related claims; and addressing labor relations issues); for the management of our operations and organization (including the establishment, performance, and management of business activities of the organization; operation, evaluation, and improvement of our recruiting system; accounting and auditing; obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage; managing risks; or obtaining professional advice); for security management purposes (including ensuring the security of our premises and information held by us as well as the safety of our personnel; preventing fraud; and network and information security); and to comply with applicable laws (including obtaining and releasing personal information as required by law; maintaining records that can include personal information, such as government identifiers, information relating to sickness, maternity or parental leave, pension and retirement; and establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims, whether in court, administrative, or other proceedings). The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests in managing your employment or potential employment, in our ongoing assessment and verification of your suitability for working with us, and in keeping records of your employment, as well as the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
User Account Information	In order to access and use certain features of the Site, you must first complete a registration. When you create an account and register with us, we collect your Contact Information and the username and password that you create. We process User Account Information to operate our Site and business; to provide our services and support; to ensure the privacy and security of our Site and services; to respond to your request; to maintain our databases and back-ups; to manage our relationships with you; to communicate with you; and to keep records of our communications with you. The legal basis for this processing is consent or, where applicable, our legitimate interests in the proper administration of our Site and business, the proper management of our relationships, and the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
Investor Portal Information	If you are granted access to an investor account, we will collect your name, your address, email address, social security number, corporate information, including tax identification number, and certain financial information. We process Investor Portal Information to operate our Site and business; to provide our services and support; to ensure the privacy and security of our Site and services; to respond to your request; to maintain our databases and back-ups; to manage our relationships with you; to communicate with you; and to keep records of our communications with you. The legal basis for this processing is consent or, where applicable, our legitimate interests in the proper administration of our Site and business, the proper management of our relationships, and the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
Cookies and Similar Technologies	Our Site uses cookies and similar technologies. Please see the “Cookies and Similar Technologies” section of this Policy for more information. We process Cookies and Similar Technologies to operate the Site, to serve you the content and functionality you request, to ensure the privacy and security of our Site, to develop new services, to enhance your experience and provide you with a more personal and interactive experience, and for usage analytics purposes. Where required by law, we rely on your express opt-in consent for the use of marketing, performance, and analytic cookies and similar technologies. The legal basis for processing of strictly necessary cookies is our legitimate interests in the proper administration of our Site and business.
Usage Data	When you visit the Site, we automatically collect information from your browser and your device, including the date and time of your visit, data about which pages you visit, and Internet Protocol (IP) address, device identifier, device type, operating system, and browser type. We process Usage Data to operate the Site, to serve you the content and functionality you request, to ensure the privacy and security of our Site, to develop new services, to enhance your experience and provide you with a more personal and interactive experience, and for usage analytics purposes. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests in monitoring and improving our Site.

Other Processing Activities. We may also process personal information when necessary for the following:

The establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims, whether in court, administrative, or other proceedings. (The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interest in the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights, and the legal rights of others.)
Obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, or obtaining professional advice (The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interest in the proper protection of our business.)
Purposes that are consistent with, related to and/or ancillary to the purposes and uses described in this Policy for which your personal information was provided to us.

We may process your personal information in connection with any of the purposes and uses described in this Policy on one or more of the following legal grounds:

Because it is necessary to perform the services you have requested or to comply with your instructions or other contractual obligations between you and us;
To comply with our legal obligations as well as to keep records of our compliance processes;
Because our legitimate interests, or those of a third-party recipient of your personal information, make the processing necessary, provided those interests are not overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms;
Because you have chosen to publish or display your personal information on a public area of the Site, such as a comment area;
Because it is necessary to protect your vital interests;
Because it is necessary in the public interest; or
Because you have expressly given us your consent to process your personal information in a particular manner.

We do not use personal information for making any automated decisions affecting or creating profiles other than as described herein.

Location of Processing. We have operations in the United States, and personal information is transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States as well as other countries in which we or our, affiliates, partners, service providers, or agents maintain facilities. By sending us personal information or using the Site, you agree and consent to the processing of your personal information in locations such as the United States, which may not offer the levels of protection required in other countries. We rely on recognized legal bases to lawfully conduct cross-border/international transfers of personal information, such as express consent, when transfer is necessary for us to deliver services pursuant to an agreement, or when the transfer is subject to safeguards that assure the protection of the personal information.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

What are First- and Third-Party Cookies? A “cookie” is a small file created by a web server that can be stored on your device (if you allow) for use either during a particular browsing session (a “session” cookie) or a future browsing session (a “persistent” cookie). “Session” cookies are temporarily stored on your device and remain there until they expire at the end of your browsing session. “Persistent” cookies remain stored on your device until they expire or are deleted by you. Local shared objects (or “flash” cookies) are used to collect and store information about your preferences and navigation to, from, and on a website. First-party cookies are set by the website you are visiting, and they can only be read by that site. Third-party cookies are set by a party other than that website.

What are “Similar Technologies”? In addition to cookies, there are other data collection technologies, such as Internet tags, web beacons, pixels (clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs), and navigational data collection (log files, server logs, etc.) that can be used to collect data as you navigate through and interact with a website. For example, web beacons are tiny graphics with unique identifiers that are used to understand browsing activity. UTM codes are strings that can appear in a URL when you move from one web page or website to another. The string can represent information about your browsing, such as which advertisement, page, or publisher sent you to the receiving website.

What Cookies and Similar Technologies Are in Use and Why Do We Use Them?

Google Analytics. The Site uses Google Analytics to collect and process statistical data about the number of people using the Site and to better understand how they find and use the Site. The data collected includes data related to your device/browser, your IP address, and on-site activities to measure and report statistics about user interactions. The information stored is reduced to a random identifier. Any data collected is used in accordance with this Policy and Google’s privacy policy. You may learn more about Google Analytics by visiting https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/ and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245. You can learn more about Google’s restrictions on data use by visiting the Google Privacy Policy at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy. To opt-out of Google Analytics, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout and install the opt-out browser add-on feature. For more details, visit the “Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on” page located at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/181881?hl=en.

Cookie	Description	Type	Duration
_ga	Used to distinguish users	Analytics	2 years

Google Tag Manager. The Site uses Google Tag Manager, which allows marketed website tags to be managed using an interface. The tool itself (which implements the tags) does not use cookies and does not register identifiable data. The tool causes other tags to be activated which may, for their part, register personal data under certain circumstances. Google Tag Manager does not access this information. Google Tag Manager is subject to the Google Privacy Policy located at https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy.

YouTube Services. We may use tracking technologies provided by YouTube as part of the Site and/or embed YouTube videos on our Site. These tracking technologies enable us to understand and improve our marketing efforts, track the performance of any video content we have, and provide you with a more personalized experience. YouTube may collect information relating to your visit to our Site, including the referring IP address, device type, and pages you accessed on our Site. Additional information regarding the purpose and scope of data collection and processing by YouTube can be found in YouTube/Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=de. By viewing any videos embedded on our website or as part of our Services, you consent to the disclosure of information to YouTube through its tracking technologies.

Cookie	Description	Type	Duration
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE	Used to maintain user preferences and other information	Functional	6 months
__Secure-YEC	Used to maintain user preferences and other information	Functional	13 months
PREF	Stores information such as your preferred page configuration and playback preferences like explicit autoplay choices, shuffle content, and player size	Functional	8 months

Cloudflare Insights. We use Cloudflare Insights to track website traffic, including the timing of user visits and website performance. You may learn more about Cloudflare’s privacy policy at https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/.

UserWay. Our Site uses UserWay to increase accessibility. UswerWay collects metrics on the number of times the widget or its individual features were activated on a website. For more information about UserWay and its privacy practices, please visit https://userway.org/privacy/.

Google Maps. We may share your information with certain Google Maps interfaces, and certain of these interfaces store and access cookies and other information on end users’ devices. You can review Google’s Privacy Policy at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy.

Other Third-Party Technologies. Some third parties may use data collection technologies to collect information about you when you browse the Internet. We do not control these third parties’ technologies or how they may be used. If you have questions about targeted content, you should contact the responsible party directly or consult their privacy policies.

Choices About Cookies and Similar Technologies. Most web browsers are set by default to accept cookies. If you do not wish to receive cookies, you may set your browser to refuse all or some types of cookies or to alert you when cookies are being stored. These settings may affect your enjoyment of the Site’s functionality. In addition, adjusting the cookie settings may not fully delete all of the cookies that have already been created. To delete them, you should review your web browser settings after you have changed your cookie settings. The links below provide additional information about how to disable cookies or manage the cookie settings:

You can learn more about internet advertising practices and related consumer resources at https://youradchoices.com/control, https://thenai.org/about-online-advertising/faq, and http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices.

How do we share your personal information?

How Do We Share Your Personal Information? To the extent permitted by applicable law, we may share your personal information for the purposes described below:

Category	Description
Affiliates	We may share personal information with our subsidiaries and affiliates and with their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents.
Corporate Transactions	We may disclose information in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of our organization or some or all of our assets. If we are acquired by or merged with another entity, your information may be transferred to the new owners.
Legal Obligations	We will disclose information in response to subpoenas, warrants, court orders or other legal process, or to comply with relevant laws. We may also share information in order to establish or exercise our legal rights; to pursue claims; to defend against a legal claim; and to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding possible illegal activities, suspected fraud, safety of person or property, or a violation of contract.
Service Providers and Advisors	We share information with our contractors, service providers, insurers, and professional advisors (including attorneys, accountants, consultants, and auditors) that need access to the information to provide services on our behalf or perform functions for us. Among other things, the recipients help us administer the Site; support our provision of services; send communications; provide technical support; and assist with other legitimate purposes permitted by law. For example, information submitted via a form on the website will be disclosed to our hosting vendor.
Disclosures with Your Consent	We may ask if you would like us to share your information with third parties who are not described elsewhere in this Policy. We will only disclose your personal information in this context with your consent.
De-Identified and Aggregated Data	We may share with third parties aggregated information and anonymous or de-identified data that does not identify any specific individual, such as groupings of demographic data or user preferences.

How long do we keep your information?

We will keep your information for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, to comply with our business requirements and legal obligations, to resolve disputes, to protect our assets, to operate our business, and to enforce our agreements.

We take reasonable steps to delete the personal information we collect when (1) we have a legal obligation to do so, (2) we no longer have a purpose for retaining the information, and (3) if you ask us to delete your information, unless we determine that doing so would violate our existing, legitimate legal, regulatory, dispute resolution, contractual, or similar obligations. We may delete your information if we believe it is incomplete, inaccurate, or that our continued storage of it is contrary to our objectives or legal obligations. When we delete data, it will be removed from our active servers and databases, but it may remain in our archives when it is not practical or possible to delete it.

We may retain and use anonymous, de-identified, or aggregated information for as long as is permitted under applicable law.

How do we protect your information?

We have adopted security measures that are designed to protect the personal information under our control. From time to time, we review our security procedures and consider new technologies and methods.

But, no security system is perfect, and no data transmission is 100% secure. Although we strive to protect personal information, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information transmitted to or from the Site. Your use of the Site is at your own risk. We cannot guarantee that your data will remain secure in all circumstances.

If a data breach compromises your personal information, we will notify you and any applicable regulator when we are required to do so by applicable law.

Your rights and choices

Please use the “Contact Us” details provided at the end of this Policy to exercise your rights and choices under this Policy. We honor requests when we are required to do so under applicable law.

Email Preferences. We may send you emails about our Site and services. If you do not want to continue receiving emails from us, you may opt-out by clicking the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of our emails or by contacting us at privacy@sphereinvestments.com. Please provide your name and contact information in your request, and we will respond to your request in accordance with applicable law.

Update Your Information. Our goal is to keep your information accurate, current, and complete. If any of your information changes, please let us know via the “Contact Us” details at the end of this Policy.

Complaints. If you believe your rights relating to your personal information have been violated, please contact us via the “Contact Us” details provided at the end of this Policy.

Individual Rights. You may have certain rights relating to your personal data under local data protection laws, and we discuss the rights provided in various jurisdictions below. We honor individuals’ rights where required under applicable law, and, depending on the applicable laws, these rights may include the right to:

Access your personal information;
Know more about how we process your personal information;
Rectify inaccurate personal information and, taking into account the purpose of processing the personal information, ensure it is complete;
Erase or delete your personal information;
Restrict our processing of your personal information;
Transfer your personal information to another controller, to the extent possible;
Object to certain processing of your personal information;
Opt-out of certain disclosures of your personal information to third parties;
If you’re under the age of 16, or such other applicable age of consent, opt-in to certain disclosures of your personal information to third parties;
Not be discriminated against for exercising your rights described above;
Not be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects; and
Withdraw your consent at any time (to the extent we base processing on consent), without affecting the lawfulness of the processing based on such consent before its withdrawal.

All requests should be sent to the contact details noted in the “Contact Us” section of this Policy. Your personal information may be processed in responding to these rights. If you are exercising a right that is the responsibility of a third party, including one of our customers, we will direct you to contact the appropriate data controller who is responsible for responding to your request.

EU/EEA/UK Residents

Right of Access. To the extent required by law, you have the right to receive confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning you are being processed, and, where that is the case, access to the personal data and the following information: the purposes of the processing; the categories of personal data concerned; and the recipients or categories of recipient to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed. We will provide a copy of your personal information in compliance with applicable law.

Right of Rectification. Our goal is to keep your personal information accurate, current, and complete. Please contact us if you believe your information is not accurate or if it changes.

Right to Erasure. In some cases, you have a legal right to request that we delete your personal information when (1) it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, (2) consent has been withdrawn in certain instances, (3) you have objected to the processing in certain instances, (4) the personal information has been unlawfully processed, (5) the personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation; and (6) the personal data were collected in relation to the offer of information society services. However, the right is not absolute. When we delete personal information, it will be removed from our active servers and databases; but, it may remain in our archives when it is not practical or possible to delete it. We may also retain your personal information as needed to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce any agreements.

Right to Restrict Processing. You have the right to restrict the processing of your data when (1) the accuracy of the personal data is contested, for a period enabling the controller to verify the accuracy of the personal data; (2) the processing is unlawful and you oppose erasure and request a restriction instead; (3) we no longer need the personal data, but you need us to keep it for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims; or (4) you have objected to us processing the personal information, pending resolution of the objection.

Right to Object. In certain circumstances, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal information where the processing is necessary for performance of a task carried out in the public interest, for our legitimate interests, or for the legitimate interests of others. You also have the right to object where personal data are processed for direct marketing purposes or for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes.

Right to Withdraw Consent. If you have provided your consent to the collection, processing, and transfer of your personal information, you may have the right to fully or partially withdraw your consent. Once we have received notice that you have withdrawn your consent, in whole or in part, we will no longer process your information for the purpose(s) to which you originally consented and have since withdrawn unless there are compelling legitimate grounds for further processing that override your interests, rights and freedoms or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims. Withdrawal of consent to receive marketing communications will not affect the processing of personal information for the provision of our services.

Right to Complain. If you believe we have not processed your personal information in accordance with applicable law, we encourage you to contact us at privacy@sphereinvestments.com. You may also have the right to make a complaint to an applicable Supervisory Authority or seek a remedy through the courts. A list of Supervisory Authorities for residents of the EU or EEA is available at: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en. UK residents may contact the UK Supervisory Authority here: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/data-protection-complaints/. If you need further assistance regarding your rights, please contact us using the contact information provided below and we will consider your request in accordance with applicable law.

US Residents

California. Under California Civil Code § 1798.83, California residents who provide personal information in obtaining products or services for personal, family, or household use may be entitled to request and obtain from us, once each calendar year, information about the information we shared (if any) with other businesses for direct marketing uses. We do not currently share your personal information with third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes. Please be aware that not all information sharing is covered by the California’s “Shine the Light” requirements, and only information regarding covered sharing (if any) will be included in our response. As a part of the California Online Privacy Protection Act, all users of our Site may make any changes to their information at any time by contacting us at privacy@sphereinvestments.com.

Nevada. Nevada residents may submit a verified request to us at privacy@sphereinvestments.com to request that we not make any sale (as defined under Nevada law) of any covered information (as defined under Nevada law) that we have collected or will collect about you. Please provide your name and contact information in your request, and we will respond to your request in accordance with Nevada law.

Third party sites and services

This Policy only applies to the Site. It does not apply to any websites, applications, or services provided by third parties.

The Site may include links to and content from third parties. These links are to external resources and third parties that have their own privacy policies. It may not always be clear to you which links are to external, third-party resources. If you click on a third-party link, you will be redirected away from the Site. You can check the URL to confirm whether you have left the Site.

We cannot and do not (1) guarantee the privacy or security practices of third parties or any content provided by third parties; (2) control third parties’ independent collection or use or your information; or (3) endorse any third-party information, products, services, applications, or websites.

Any information provided by you or collected from you by a third party will be governed by that party’s privacy policy and terms of use. You should review their privacy policy and terms of use carefully.

Children

Our Site and services are not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect information online from children under the age of 13. No one under the age of 13 may access, browse, or use the Site or provide any information to us online. If we learn that we have collected or received personal information from a child under the age of 13 online without a parent’s or legal guardian’s consent, we will take steps to stop collecting that information and to delete it. If you believe we have received any information from a child under the age of 13 online, please contact us using the “Contact Us” details provided at the end of this Policy.

For information about the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, please visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

Updates and changes to this policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. If we change this Policy, we will post the revised version on our Site. Any changes, updates, and modifications will be effective immediately upon posting. If we make material changes, we may also notify you through a notice on the Site’s homepage, and/or we may send you an email regarding the updates.

You should read this Policy carefully before using the Site, and you should review it from time to time so that you are aware of its current terms. Your continued use of the Site after the “Last Updated” date will constitute your acceptance of and agreement to any changes and to our collection, use, and sharing of your information according to the then-current Policy. If you do not agree with this Policy, you should not use the Site.

Contact Us

For more information or if you have questions about this Policy, you may contact us using the information below:

Mail: SPHERE Investments Holdings

One Biscayne Tower
Two South Biscayne Blvd. Suite 2000
Miami, FL 33131 USA

Phone: +1 (305) 371-0333

Email: privacy@sphereinvestments.com