Meetup can only issue a refund in certain situations, and only if a member has used our preferred payment processor, Stripe, to make the payment in question. Disputes regarding payments made off of Meetup, in cash, or using a third party payment processor cannot be mediated by Meetup.

To pursue a refund, locate the transaction in question and select ‘Contact organizer for refund’. For more specific information, see this article in the Help Center.

Annual Member Dues are refundable if:

• The group was closed (or a member was removed from the group) within 3 months of their payment, and the member account is in good standing.
• There have been no scheduled events since a member paid to join the group, and the member account is in good standing.

Monthly Member Dues are refundable if:

• The group was closed (or a member was removed from the group) within 1 week of their payment, and the member account is in good standing.

Ticketing fees for upcoming events are refundable if:

• The refund policies for that specific group state that a refund is an option.
• The group was closed, the event was rescheduled or canceled, or a member was removed from the group before the scheduled event, depending on the refund policies of that specific group as stated by its organizer, and the member account is in good standing.

Other situations:

• The Trust and Safety Team at Meetup HQ determines that the refund is in the best interest of maintaining the integrity of the Meetup platform, to moderate fraud, misuse, or risk.

What payments can’t be refunded?

Voluntary Member Dues payments

To pursue a refund, locate the transaction in question and select ‘Contact organizer for refund’. For more specific information, see this article in the Help Center.

Member Dues that automatically renew

Members agree to automatic renewal of Member Dues payments upon their initial payment to the group. Refunds will not be issued as a result of failure to turn off renewal. To pursue a refund, locate the transaction in question and select ‘Contact organizer for refund’. For more specific information, see this article in the Help Center.

Other than described events

If a member wishes to pursue a refund for an event that did not meet their expectations, locate the transaction in question and select ‘Contact organizer for refund’. For more specific information, see this article in the Help Center.

Travel getaways, travel packages or guided tours if they were other than described.

If a member wishes to pursue a refund for a event that did not meet their expectations, locate the transaction in question and select ‘Contact organizer for refund’. For more specific information, see this article in the Help Center.

Generally, Meetup is unable to mediate any disputes regarding processing fees or any other fee associated with the use of our payment processor to accept or refund payments.

The Meetup payment processors cannot be used to process payments of the following nature:

• Adult content, escort services, or sex solicitation
• Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, drug paraphernalia, or similar items
• Gambling or betting
• Weapons, ammunition, or weaponry accessories
• Multi-level marketing businesses, pyramid or Ponzi schemes
• Unlawful activities or items, or the promotion of unlawful activities or items

Back to Meetup

Terms of Service Overview

Below is an overview of our Terms of Service for our “Platform”, which means any website, application, or service we offer. You should read the complete Terms of Service because that document (and not this overview) is our legally binding agreement. The Terms of Service includes information about your legal rights and covers areas such as automatic subscription renewals, limitations of liability, resolution of disputes by mandatory arbitration rather than a judge or jury in a court of law, and a class action waiver.

Your Relationship with Meetup

• By using our Platform, you are agreeing to our Terms of Service. The Terms of Service are a legally binding agreement between you and Meetup.
• If you break the rules, we may suspend or terminate your account.
• We charge for certain aspects of our Platform, and some of these fees are billed on a regular and recurring basis (unless you disable auto-renewal or cancel your subscription).

Meetup Groups, Organizers and Members

• Organizers may establish membership criteria for their own Meetup groups. While there is probably a Meetup group out there for everyone, not every Meetup group is for you. If you can’t find the right group, you can easily start your own Meetup group.
• Organizers may charge fees for memberships or events.
• Using our Platform involves meeting real people and doing real things in the real world, which can sometimes lead to unexpected situations. We can’t control what happens in the real world, and we are not responsible for it. You should use common sense and good judgment when interacting with others.

Your Content and Content of Others

• You are responsible for your “Content”, which means any information, material, or other content posted to our Platform. Your Content must comply with our Terms of Service, which includes the Usage and Content Policies, Groups and Events Policies, Organizer and Leadership Standards, Member Restrictions, Payment Policies, Trademark Usage Guidelines, and API License Terms. Your Content is also subject to our Intellectual Property Dispute Policies.
• We do not own the Content that you post. However, we do require that you provide us a license to use this Content in order for us to operate, improve, promote, and protect Meetup and our Platform for the benefit of you and others.
• We are not responsible for Content that members post or the communications that members send using our Platform. We generally don’t review Content before it’s posted. If you see Content that violates our Terms of Service, you may report inappropriate Content to us.

Our Platform

• We try hard to make sure that our Platform is always available and working, but we cannot guarantee it will be. Occasionally things may not go exactly as planned. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.
• We are continually improving our Platform. This means that we may modify or discontinue portions of our Platform.
• By using our Platform, you agree to the limitations of liability and release in our Terms of Service. You also agree to resolve any disputes you may have with us in the manner described in the Terms of Service. Unless you are based in the European Union, you agree to mandatory arbitration and waive your right to seek relief from a judge or jury in a court of law. Claims can only be brought individually, and not as part of a class action.
• You may be based in a country where the laws that apply provide for different or additional rights and obligations. These Terms of Service will point out areas of difference.

Terms of Service

Last Updated: 6/1/19
(view previous version: 3/28/17)

Our Terms of Service contain important information about your legal rights. To make it easier to understand, we have provided summaries and tips in these gray boxes. These summaries are not part of the official terms, and it is important for you to read the language in each section carefully.

1. This Agreement

Summary: You agree to follow some basic rules when using Meetup’s Platform. These rules are described in these Terms of Service, including the related policies and guidelines discussed below. We may change these rules.

1.1 The Agreement. Meetup enables you and other members to arrange offline, real-world Meetup groups and Meetup events. The terms “Meetup,” “we,” “us,” and “our” include Meetup, Inc. and our corporate parent, affiliates, or subsidiaries. We use the terms “you” and “your” to mean any person using our Platform, and any organization or person using the Platform on an organization’s behalf. We use the word “Platform” to mean any website, application, or service offered by Meetup, including content we offer and electronic communications we send. We provide our Platform to you subject to these Terms of Service. We use the terms “Terms of Service” and “Agreement” interchangeably to mean this document together with our Usage and Content Policies, Groups and Events Policies, Organizer and Leadership Standards, Member Restrictions, Payment Policies, Trademark Usage Guidelines, and API License Terms. Your use of the Platform signifies that you agree to this Agreement. If you are using the Platform for an organization, you agree to this Agreement on behalf of that organization, and represent you have authority to bind that organization to the terms contained in this Agreement. If you do not or are unable to agree to this Agreement, do not use our Platform.

Tip: We have included summaries and tips to provide an overview of some legal concepts and answer common questions, but the text of these summaries and tips are for your convenience only and do not have a legal effect.

Tip: These Terms of Service are an agreement between you and Meetup and not between you and any other member. For more information, see our FAQ page explaining the parties to our Terms of Service.

1.2 Revisions to this Agreement. We may modify this Agreement from time to time. When we do, we will provide notice to you by publishing the most current version and revising the date at the top of this page. If we make any material change to this Agreement, we will provide additional notice to you, such as by sending you an email or displaying a prominent notice on our Platform. By continuing to use the Platform after any changes come into effect, you agree to the revised Agreement. If you do not wish to accept the revised Agreement, you can close your account.

2. Your Account and Membership

Summary: You need to be at least 18 years old to use our Platform. Meetup organizers control the Content and membership of their Meetup groups. However, we may remove any Content you post or terminate your account at any time.

2.1 Eligibility. Our Platform is available to anyone who is at least 18 years old. You represent that you are at least 18. Additional eligibility requirements for a particular portion of our Platform may be set by any member who has the ability to moderate or manage that portion of our Platform. For example, the eligibility requirements for a Meetup group or Meetup event may be set by the organizers of that group.

2.2 Modification, Suspension, and Termination of Your Account. We may modify, suspend, or terminate your account or access to the Platform if, in our sole discretion, we determine that you have violated this Agreement, including any of the policies or guidelines that are part of this Agreement, that it is in the best interest of the Meetup community, or to protect our brand or Platform. When this happens, we will notify you of the reasons for the modification, suspension, or termination. We also may remove accounts of members who are inactive for an extended period of time. Please email [email protected] if you believe the modification, suspension, or termination has occurred in error.

A member who has the ability to moderate or manage a particular portion of our Platform also has the ability, in his or her sole discretion, to modify, suspend, or terminate your access to that portion of the Platform.

2.3 Account Information and Security. When you register, you provide us with some basic information, including an email address and a password. Keep your email address and other account information current and accurate. Also, you agree to maintain the security and confidentiality of your password (or else we may need to disable your account). We strongly encourage you to choose a strong and unique password that is not shared with any other account or online service and practice other healthy password security habits to help avoid unauthorized access to your account. You alone are responsible for anything that happens from your failure to maintain that security and confidentiality, such as by sharing your account credentials with others. If someone is using your password or accessing your account without your permission, email us at [email protected].

2.4 License to the Meetup Platform and Services. Subject to your compliance with this Agreement, Meetup grants you a limited, non-exclusive, revocable, non-sublicensable, non-transferable right to use the Platform in order to access and use the services and features that we make available to you.

3. Fees, Payments, and Offers

Summary: We charge for certain features on our Platform. If you’re a Meetup group organizer, you’re responsible for paying for organizer subscription fees related to your Meetup group. These fees are billed on a regular and recurring basis (unless you disable auto-renewal or cancel your subscription), and may change in the future. Additionally, some organizers charge money for participation in a Meetup group or Meetup event.

3.1 Fees Charged by Meetup. Use of some of the features on our Platform is free, and we charge fees for other features. We may in the future implement a new fee, or modify an existing fee, for certain current or future features of our Platform. If we implement a new or modified fee, we will give you notice in advance such as by posting changes on our Platform or sending you an email. You agree to pay those fees and any associated taxes for your continued use of the applicable service. Unless otherwise stated, all fees and all transactions are in U.S. dollars. Organizer subscriptions are non-transferable. Members based in the European Union may cancel with a full refund within 14 days after signing up to our Platform. However, if you use the service, you may be charged for services provided during this 14-day period. Please note that this 14-day period begins when the service starts even if you are using a free trial. Users based in the European Union can exercise their cancellation right by emailing us at [email protected]. See the model cancellation form here.

3.2 Fees Charged by Organizers. Organizers may impose fees related to particular portions of the Platform, such as member dues for a Meetup group or an event fee for a Meetup event. We reserve the right to initiate refunds of fees paid to organizers, when appropriate, even in cases of fees paid through a third-party payment service. Refunds that we initiate, if any, will be governed by our Payment Policies. Organizers may also have their own refund policies, so long as they are consistent with and do not limit members’ ability to receive refunds under our Payment Policies. Payments made to organizers via the Platform are made through a third-party payment service provider. If a member pays a fee to an organizer via the Platform, the member authorizes the organizer (and the organizer’s applicable payment service provider) to charge the designated payment method for the total amount of the fees, including any applicable taxes and other charges. Certain types of fees charged by organizers may be billed on a recurring basis. If billed on a recurring basis, you authorize the organizer to charge the applicable fee to the designated payment method. You may cancel auto-renewal at any time.

Tip: You should use common sense in deciding whether to make a payment to any organizer. We cannot ensure that organizers will use payments as they promise or as you expect. You should check the refund policy of the Meetup group before making any payments to an organizer.

3.3 Payments to Meetup. Organizers are responsible for paying subscription and any other applicable fees to Meetup on time and through our approved payment methods. Organizers who allow their organizer subscription to lapse are subject to removal as the organizer of the Meetup groups associated with their account, and their Meetup group (along with all of the information and Content associated with or posted to that Meetup group) may be terminated or transferred to another member. You may only pay organizer fees to Meetup using a valid payment method acceptable to us, as specified via the Platform. If we terminate, suspend, or remove your account in connection with violation of this Agreement, we are not obligated to refund any organizer subscription fees paid to Meetup. In addition, if you paid your organizer fees through the Meetup app for iOS, your payment is subject to the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, and you will need to submit your request for a refund to Apple.    

You represent and warrant that you are authorized to use the payment method you designate via the Platform. You authorize us (and our designated third-party payment processors) to charge your designated payment method for the total amount of any fees you owe to Meetup, including any applicable taxes and other charges. If the payment method cannot be verified, is invalid, or is otherwise not acceptable to us, your payment may be suspended or cancelled. We reserve the right to adjust, or to instruct our payment processors to make adjustments to a payment that has already been requested or received, in order to correct errors or mistakes, or to issue refunds, in accordance with our Payment Policies.

Tip: To learn more about organizer subscriptions and what happens if they expire, see this FAQ on Expired Plans.

3.4 Automatic Subscription Renewals. Fees for certain aspects of our Platform may be billed on either a recurring basis or on a one-time basis. If billed on a recurring basis, the fees are payable in advance of the applicable period specified via the Platform with no refunds. We will automatically bill you for each renewal period until cancellation. By purchasing any feature or other aspect of our Platform for which we charge, you authorize us to keep your payment current by charging the applicable fee to your credit card account (or any other means of payment used by you). While you may cancel auto-renewal or cancel your subscription at any time, refunds will be issued solely pursuant to our Subscription Refund Policy.

Tip: To cancel your organizer subscription, see this FAQ on Modifying Subscriptions.

3.5 Free Trials. We may offer free trials of subscriptions and other products on our Platform. We will inform you of the length of the free trial, your renewal period, and the date and amount of your first payment. After your free trial ends, your paid subscription will begin and we will automatically bill you for each renewal period until cancellation. You can cancel automatic subscription renewals at any time according to the terms and procedures described above. Users based in the European Union are entitled to cancel with a full refund within 14 days after signing up to our Platform by emailing us at [email protected]. See the model cancellation form here. Please note that this 14-day period begins when the free trial starts.

3.6 Third Party Payment Processors. An organizer that uses the Platform to accept payments from other members must comply with the terms and conditions of the third party provider of the applicable payment service used to receive the payment. Meetup does not provide those payment services, is not a party to your agreement with the applicable third-party provider, and will not be liable or responsible for your use of those third-party payment services.

3.7 Invoices from Third Parties. In line with the tax laws of the country where an organizer is using the Platform, an organizer may receive Meetup invoices from a third party provider. Such third party provider invoicing does not in any way impact the rights and obligations agreed to in this Agreement, nor does it impact the fee being charged for the use of the Platform.

4. Your Content and Privacy

Summary: You are responsible for the Content you post on our Platform or send to us. You give us a license to use this Content to operate, improve, promote, and protect Meetup and our Platform. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use information you provide about yourself and the information that may be associated with you, and explains the limited ways we may share this information.

4.1 Your Content. You are responsible for the Content that you post to the Platform or otherwise provide to Meetup. We use the word “Content” to mean the information, material, and any other content that you post to the Platform or otherwise send to us. Examples of your Content include:

• The material that organizers and members typically post to the Platform, such as information about Meetup groups and Meetup events, comments, and photos;
• All feedback, suggestions, and other communications that you send or direct to Meetup.

By being responsible for your Content, you agree, among other things, that:

• You have all the permissions, rights, and licenses needed (including under copyrights, trademarks, contract rights, privacy rights, or publicity rights) to provide the Content to the Platform and to Meetup;
• Your Content does not include personal, private or confidential information belonging to others; and
• Your Content does not otherwise violate the rights of any individual or entity.

You also agree that you and your Content comply with this Agreement, including our Usage and Content Policies, Groups and Events Policies, Organizer and Leadership Standards, Member Restrictions, Intellectual Property Policies, Trademark Usage Guidelines, and API License Terms. You also agree that we may remove the metadata associated with your Content.

Tip: Search engines can see public areas of the Platform. Your Content within these areas, such as the name and location that you provide during registration, and your membership in public Meetup groups, may appear in search results. Our Platform is designed so that search engines cannot see your Content that is within restricted areas of the Platform, such as private Meetup groups. You can find additional information on our FAQ about Search Engine Visibility.

4.2 Content License from You. We do not claim ownership of your Content. However, to enable us to operate, improve, promote, and protect Meetup and our Platform, and to ensure we do not violate any rights you may have in your Content, you hereby grant Meetup a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable right and license (including a waiver of any moral rights) to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, publish, publicly display, publicly perform, distribute, and create derivative works of, your Content and to commercialize and exploit the copyright, trademark, publicity, and database rights you have in your Content. This license would permit your Content to remain on the Platform, even after you cease to be a member of a Meetup group or of the Platform.

Tip: This license doesn’t give us ownership of any of your Content. It simply gives us and members the right to use it on or related to the Platform. This license continues even if you close your account, because it’s necessary for us to operate the Platform.

4.3 Privacy. Meetup collects registration and other information about you through our Platform. Please refer to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy for details on how we collect, use, and disclose this information. These policies do not govern use of information that you provide to third parties, such as to organizers and other members of Meetup’s Platform.

Tip: Meetup has no control over how other members may use information that you provide to them, so you should exercise common sense and good judgment when sharing information with others on our Platform.

5. Your Use of Our Platform

Summary: We require that you follow our policies and guidelines when using our Platform. We have no responsibility for Content that anyone posts to our Platform.

5.1 Our Policies, Guidelines and Applicable Laws. When you use our Platform, we require that you follow the Usage and Content Policies, Groups and Events Policies, Organizer and Leadership Standards, Member Restrictions, Payment Policies, Trademark Usage Guidelines, and API License Terms. You also agree to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, and to not violate or infringe the rights of any third party.

In addition, your access to and use of some areas or features of the Platform may be subject to additional terms, policies, standards or guidelines (“Additional Terms”). You may be required to accept these Additional Terms before you can access these Platform areas and features. If there is a conflict between the Terms of Service and the Additional Terms, those Additional Terms will govern your access to and use of that Platform area or feature, unless otherwise specified in the Additional Terms.

When the Platform uses third party services to provide certain features and services for our members, our members may be required to comply with the terms of service that apply to these features and services. For example, some areas of our Platform feature mapping services provided by Google Maps and Google Earth. When you use these mapping services on the Platform, you agree to be bound by the Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service.

If you do not comply, we may modify, suspend, or terminate your account or access to the Platform, in our sole discretion, and we will provide you with reasons for the modification, suspension, or termination. Please email [email protected] if you believe the modification, suspension, or termination has occurred in error.

5.2 Content of Others. Meetup does not control the Content of other members. When we become aware of inappropriate Content on our Platform, we reserve the right to investigate and take appropriate action, but we do not have any obligation to monitor, nor do we take responsibility for, the Content of other members.

5.3 Interactions with Others. Meetup is not a party to any offline arrangements made through our Platform. Meetup does not conduct or require background checks on members and does not attempt to verify the truth or accuracy of statements made by members. Meetup makes no representations or warranties concerning the conduct or Content of any members or their interactions with you.

Tip: Exercise common sense and good judgment when using our Platform and interacting with other members, both on our Platform and at Meetup events. If you have a concern regarding other members, you can report it to [email protected].

5.4 Prohibited Uses of the Platform. Our Platform contains proprietary and confidential information and is protected by intellectual property and other laws. Unless we expressly permit it through this Agreement, you agree that you will not, either directly or indirectly (a) use, host, store, reproduce, modify, publish, publicly display, publicly perform, distribute, or create derivative works of the Platform, or any portion of the Platform; (b) remove or alter the proprietary notices on the Platform; (c) reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile, or attempt to discover the source code or structure, sequence, and organization of the Platform; and (d) rent, lease, resell, distribute, or use the Platform for commercial purposes that are not contemplated by this Agreement. You also agree that you will not use the Platform to solicit or collect (i) personal data from others except as necessary for the administration of or participation in a group or event or (ii) sensitive personal data, as defined or treated as such under applicable law (including, by way of example only, health information and social security numbers and other government identifiers). In addition, you agree that you will comply with the export control laws of your local jurisdiction. You also represent and warrant that you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. government embargo or that has been designated by the U.S. government as a “terrorist supporting” country, and that you are not listed on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties. If you are a developer working with our API, you should review our API License Terms.

5.5 Platform Safety and Security. You agree that you will not, either directly or indirectly, (a) extract data from the Platform for a commercial purpose not permitted by these Terms of Service, whether through use of an automated system or software, and whether operated by a third party or otherwise (“screen scraping,” “data scraping,” or “web scraping”); (b) engage in any activity  that interferes with or disrupts, that is designed to interfere with or disrupt, or imposes undue burdens on the Platform or its systems.

You agree to use, retain, and otherwise process personal data collected from the Platform in accordance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations and solely for purposes of administering and participating in Meetup groups and Meetup events. Without limitation, you agree to provide notice to individuals about your processing of their personal data, to obtain any necessary consents, and to respond to requests made by individuals as required by applicable law. You also agree to safeguard such data from unauthorized access or processing. You must delete such personal data once it is no longer strictly necessary for the administration of a Meetup group or Meetup event or promptly following a request from Meetup, and you will promptly certify to such deletion. 

5.6 Platform Modifications. We work hard to continuously improve our Platform. This means that we may modify or discontinue portions or all of our Platform with or without notice and without liability to you or any third party.

5.7 Third Party Sites and Services. The Platform contains links to third party sites, and is integrated with various third party services, applications and sites that may make available to you their content and products. We don’t control these third parties and aren’t responsible for those sites or services or their content or products. These third parties may have their own terms and policies, and your use of them will be governed by those terms and policies. You do not have a license to use the intellectual property of third parties merely by way of your access to our Platform.

6. Release

Summary: To the full extent permitted by applicable law, you agree not to hold us responsible for anything that happens related to transactions with third parties, member interactions, or in connection with a Meetup group or Meetup event. You also agree not to hold organizers responsible for their negligence in connection with their Content, a Meetup group, or Meetup event.

To the full extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to release us and our officers, directors, shareholders, agents, employees, consultants, corporate parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, sponsors, and other third-party partners ( “Meetup Parties”) from claims, demands, and damages (direct and consequential) (“Claims”), arising out of or in any way connected with any transaction with a third party, your interactions with other members, or in connection with a Meetup group or a Meetup event. You also agree, to the full extent permitted by applicable law, to release organizers from Claims based on an organizer’s negligence arising out of or in any way connected with their Content, a Meetup group, or a Meetup event. The law in some countries and states do not allow the release, so these limits may not apply to you. You waive and relinquish all rights and benefits that you have or may have under Section 1542 of the California Civil Code or any similar provision of statutory or non-statutory law of any other jurisdiction to the fullest extent permitted by law.

You acknowledge that some Meetup events carry inherent dangers, such as the risk of illness, bodily injury, disability, or death. By participating in these events, you understand and agree that you have freely chosen to assume these risks.

7. Indemnification

Summary: To the full extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to reimburse us if we get sued in connection with your use of our Platform.

To the full extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold all Meetup Parties harmless from any Claims, made by any third party due to or arising out of (a) your violations of this Agreement, (b) your use, misuse, or abuse of our Platform, (c) your Content, (d) your violation of any law, statute, ordinance or regulation or the rights of a third party, or (e) your participation or conduct in a Meetup group or a Meetup event that violates this Agreement. You agree to promptly notify us of any third party Claims, cooperate with all Meetup Parties in defending such Claims, and pay all fees, costs and expenses associated with defending such Claims (including, but not limited to, attorneys’ fees). You agree not to settle any Claim without our prior written consent.

8. Warranty Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

Summary: Our Platform is provided to you “as is” and we make no warranties of any kind with respect to our Platform. Our liability in connection with the Platform is limited to the fees you paid to us in the 12 months preceding the claim or $100, whichever is greater.

8.1 Warranty Disclaimer. Our Platform is provided to you “as is” and on an “as available” basis. To the full extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim all warranties and conditions of any kind, including but not limited to statutory warranties, and the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We also disclaim any warranties regarding (a) the reliability, timeliness, accuracy, and performance of our Platform, (b) any information, advice, services, or goods obtained through or advertised on our Platform or by us, as well as for any information or advice received through any links to other websites or resources provided through our Platform, (c) the results that may be obtained from the Platform, and (d) the correction of any errors in the Platform, (e) any material or data obtained through the use of our Platform, and (f) dealings with or as the result of the presence of marketing partners or other third parties on or located through our Platform. You may have additional rights under the law of the country in which you are based. You agree that the duration of such additional rights will be limited to the full extent permitted by such law.

8.2 Limitation of Liability. To the full extent permitted by applicable law, you agree that in no event shall any Meetup Parties be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data, or other intangible losses (even if any Meetup Parties have been advised of the possibility of such damages) arising out of or in connection with (a) our Platform or this Agreement or the inability to use our Platform (however arising, including our negligence), (b) statements or conduct of or transactions with any member or third party on the Platform, (c) your use of our Platform or transportation to or from Meetup events, attendance at Meetup events, participation in or exclusion from Meetup groups or Meetup events and the actions of you or others at Meetup events, or (d) any other matter relating to the Platform. Our liability to you or any third parties in any circumstance is limited to the greater of $100 or the amount of fees, if any, you paid to us in the 12 months prior to the action that may give rise to liability. The limitations set forth above in this Section 8 will not limit or exclude liability for our gross negligence, fraud, or intentional, malicious, or reckless misconduct. Some laws do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability, so these limits may not apply to you. If you are a member based in the EU, you have legal remedies if we cause you loss by our breach or non-performance of our legal obligations, or by our negligence, and these terms do not affect those statutory remedies.

9. Dispute Resolution

Summary: If you have a dispute with Meetup, you agree to try to work it out directly with us first. If we can’t work it out, with limited exceptions, you must submit any dispute with us to a neutral arbitrator instead of taking the claim to a court of law. Claims can only be brought individually, and not as part of a class action. Members based in the European Union may have additional or different rights, as provided by applicable law. Meetup has no obligation to get involved with any disputes you have with other members, although we may try to facilitate a resolution.

9.1 Informal Resolution. Before making any claim, you and Meetup agree to try to resolve any disputes through good faith discussions. We use the term “claim” in this Section 9 to mean any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to your use of our Platform or this Agreement, including your participation in Meetup events. You or Meetup may initiate this process by sending written notice according to Section 11.2 describing the dispute and your proposed resolution. In the event that we cannot resolve the issue within 30 business days following receipt of the initial notice, you or Meetup may bring a claim in accordance with this Section 9. Members based in the European Union may have additional or different rights, as provided by applicable law.

9.2 Arbitration Agreement. The arbitration procedures described in this Section 9.2 applies to all members, except for members who are based in the European Union. Section 9.6 sets out the dispute resolution procedures that apply to members who are based in the European Union.

a. Mandatory Arbitration. Except as set forth in Section 9.3, you agree to submit any claim to JAMS, Inc., or its successor (“JAMS”) for final and binding arbitration. In arbitration, certain rights that you or we would have in court may not be available, such as discovery or appeal. You and Meetup are each expressly waiving any right to trial by judge or jury in a court of law. This agreement to arbitrate shall apply regardless of whether the claim arises during or after any termination of this Agreement or your relationship with Meetup.

b. Arbitration Time for Filing. Any claim subject to arbitration must be filed within one year after the date the party asserting the claim first knows or should know of the act, omission or default giving rise to the claim, or the shortest time period permitted by applicable law.

c. Arbitration Procedures. Either party may commence arbitration by filing a written demand for arbitration with JAMS, with a copy to the other party according to the notice procedures in Section 11.2. The arbitration will be conducted in accordance with JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures and any other applicable rules that JAMS requires (“JAMS Rules”) that are in effect as of the demand for arbitration. You agree that the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law govern the interpretation and enforcement of these arbitration provisions. Any arbitration hearings will take place in New York County, New York or elsewhere as required by JAMS Rules. Your responsibility to pay any filing, administrative and arbitrator fees will be solely as set forth in the JAMS Rules. The parties will cooperate with JAMS and each other in scheduling the arbitration proceedings, and in selecting one arbitrator from the appropriate JAMS list with substantial experience in resolving intellectual property and contract disputes. The arbitrator shall follow this Agreement and, to the extent permitted by JAMS Rules, can award costs, fees, and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, to the prevailing party, except that the arbitrator shall not award declaratory or injunctive relief benefiting anyone but the parties to the arbitration. Judgment upon the award rendered by such arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

9.3 Exceptions. You or Meetup may assert claims, if they qualify, in small claims court in New York County, New York or any U.S. county where you live or work. You or Meetup may seek injunctive relief from a court of competent jurisdiction in New York County, New York as necessary to protect the intellectual property rights of you or Meetup pending the completion of arbitration. Meetup may take action in court or arbitration to collect any fees or recover damages for, or to seek injunctive relief relating to, Platform operations, or unauthorized use of our Platform or intellectual property. Nothing in this Section 9 shall diminish Meetup’s right to modify, suspend or terminate your account or access to our Platform under Section 2.2.

9.4 Arbitration Opt Out. You may decline to resolve disputes through arbitration by emailing us at [email protected] within 30 days of the date you first agree to this Agreement. Your email must include your full name, residential address, the email address registered to your Meetup account, and a clear statement that you want to opt out of arbitration. If you opt out according to this process, then Section 9.2 of this Agreement does not apply to you. This opt-out does not affect any other sections of this Agreement, such as Sections 9.3 (Exceptions), 9.5 (Class Action Waiver), 11.5 (Governing Law), 11.6 (Judicial Forum), and 11.7 (Time for Filing).

9.5 Class Action Waiver. You agree to resolve disputes with Meetup on an individual basis. You agree not to bring a claim as a plaintiff or a class member in a class, consolidated, or representative action. You are expressly waiving any right to participate in class actions, class arbitrations, private attorney general actions, and consolidation with other arbitrations.

9.6 Dispute Resolution Terms Applicable to Members Based in the EU. If you are a member based in the European Union, the mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which you are resident will apply. Nothing in this Agreement will affect your rights as a consumer to rely on the mandatory provisions of the local law that applies. If you are based in the European Union, the local laws in your European Union Member State may allow you to take legal action against Meetup in your Member State and to invoke certain local laws against Meetup. The European Commission provides for an online dispute resolution platform.

10. Intellectual Property

Summary: If you use Meetup’s trademark, be sure to follow our Trademark Usage Guidelines. Also, don’t infringe on anyone’s intellectual property. If you believe your intellectual property is being infringed somewhere on the Meetup Platform, please follow the procedures in our Intellectual Property Dispute Policies.

10.1 Intellectual Property of Meetup. Meetup trademarks, logos, service marks, and service names are the intellectual property of Meetup. Our Trademark Usage Guidelines explain how you may and may not use them. Our Platform, including our material on the Platform, are also our or our licensors’ intellectual property. Except as described in the Trademark Usage Guidelines, you agree not to use our intellectual property without our prior written consent.

10.2 Intellectual Property of Others. Meetup respects the intellectual property of others, and we expect our members to do the same. We may, in appropriate circumstances and in our discretion, remove or disable access to material that we believe may infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. We may also restrict or terminate access to our Platform to those who we believe to be repeat infringers. If you believe your intellectual property rights have been violated, please review our Intellectual Property Dispute Policies.

11. General Terms

Summary: This section contains terms we have added for miscellaneous purposes. Please continue to read this section carefully.

11.1 Translation. This Agreement was written in English. It was then translated into other languages. If there is any inconsistency between the English version and a translated version, the English language version controls. 

11.2 Notices. Except as otherwise stated in this Agreement or as expressly required by law, any notice to us shall be given by certified postal mail to Meetup, Inc., Attn: Legal Department, 632 Broadway, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10012, or by email to [email protected]. Any notice to you shall be given to the most current email address in your account.

11.3 Entire Agreement. This Agreement, including the Usage and Content Policies, Groups and Events Policies, Organizer and Leadership Standards, Member Restrictions, Intellectual Property Policies, Trademark Usage Guidelines, and API License Terms, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Meetup, superseding any prior agreements between you and Meetup on such subject matter.

11.4 No Agency. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship between you and Meetup is intended or created by this Agreement. A member of the Meetup Platform is not Meetup's representative or agent, and may not enter into an agreement on Meetup’s behalf.

11.5 Governing Law. This Agreement and the relationship between you and Meetup shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York without regard to its conflict of laws provisions, except as provided in Section 9.

11.6 Judicial Forum. If our agreement to arbitrate is found not to apply to you or your claim, or if you opt out of arbitration pursuant to Section 9.4, you and Meetup agree that any judicial proceedings (other than small claims actions) must be brought exclusively in the federal or state courts located in New York County, New York, and you and Meetup agree to venue and personal jurisdiction in those courts.

If you are a member based in the European Union, you may bring judicial proceedings against us arising from or in connection with this Agreement in your country of residence. In addition, for members based in the European Union, the European Commission provides for an online dispute resolution platform.

11.7 Time for Filing. Any claim not subject to arbitration must be commenced within one year after the date the party asserting the claim first knows or should know of the act, omission or default giving rise to the claim, or the shortest time period permitted by applicable law. This clause does not apply to you if you are based in the European Union.

11.8 Assignment. This Agreement is not assignable, transferable, or sublicensable by you except with Meetup’s prior written consent, but may be assigned or transferred by us to our corporate parent or any affiliate or subsidiary, or in connection with a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, sale of all or substantially all of Meetup’s assets, or similar transaction.

11.9 No Waiver. A party’s failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision and does not waive any right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches.

11.10 Severance. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, you and Meetup nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and that the other provisions of this Agreement will remain in full force and effect.

11.11 Thank you. Please accept our wholehearted thanks for reading our Terms of Service.

11.12 Termination. If we terminate your account or access to our Platform, this Agreement terminates with respect to the member account that has been terminated, provided that the provisions listed in Section 11.13 will survive such termination.

11.13 Survival. Sections 3 (Fees, Payments, and Offers), 4.2 (Content License from You), 4.3 (Privacy), 6 (Release), 7 (Indemnification), 8 (Warranty Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability), 9 (Dispute Resolution), and 11 (General Terms) of this Agreement, and any other provisions necessary to give effect to these provisions, shall survive any termination or expiration of this Agreement.

11.14 Titles. The section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. The information in “Terms of Service Overview” section and in the “Tips” and “Summary” sections is also for convenience only and has no legal or contractual effect.

11.15 Violations. Please report any violations of this Agreement by a member or third party by sending an email to [email protected].

This page is outdated. View the current version of the Terms of Service.

Meetup Terms of Service Agreement

Published: May 10, 2021 

Meetup offers an application programming interface (“Meetup API”). These Meetup API License Terms (“API License Terms”) govern the use of the Meetup API, and are in addition to the Meetup Terms of Service. Except as explicitly stated, the Meetup Terms of Service apply in full to all users of the Meetup API. In particular and for the avoidance of doubt, any terms herein are governed by the indemnification, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution terms set forth in Sections 7, 8, and 9 of the Meetup Terms of Service. All capitalized terms not defined herein have the meanings given to them in the Meetup Terms of Service. For more documentation on using our API see our API page.

1. These API License Terms

The terms “Meetup,” “we,” “us,” and “our” include Meetup, Inc. and our affiliates. We use the terms “you” and “your” to mean any individual or organization using the Meetup API. Your use of the Meetup API signifies that you agree to these API License Terms. If you are using the Meetup API for an organization, you agree to these API License Terms on behalf of that organization, and represent you have authority to bind that organization to the terms contained in these API License Terms. If you do not agree to these API License Terms, do not use the Meetup API.

2. Modification of these API License Terms

We may modify these API License Terms from time to time. When we do, we will provide notice to you by publishing the most current version and revising the date at the top of this page. If we make any material change to these API License Terms, we will provide additional notice to you, such as by sending you an email or displaying a prominent notice on the relevant portion of our Platform. By continuing to use the Meetup API after any changes come into effect, you agree to the revised API License Terms.

3. Registration and Meetup Pro Subscription

In order to use the Meetup API, you must have a Meetup Pro subscription and register to use the Meetup API here. You agree to provide accurate and truthful information in response to Meetup’s questions on the registration form. Meetup reserves the right to deny your use of the Meetup API for any reason, including but not limited to your failure to provide accurate and truthful responses to Meetup.

4. API License

Subject to Meetup’s authorization of your application to use the Meetup API and your compliance with these API License Terms, including the Meetup Terms of Service and the policies and guidelines that are part of the Meetup Terms of Service (such as our Trademark Usage Guidelines), Meetup grants to you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to use the Meetup API, including data or other Content made available via the Meetup API, solely to facilitate the development of applications related to Meetup events and groups using Platform data and developer tools. We refer to this license in these API License Terms as the “API License.”

5. Your Use

You agree to do the following in regard to your use of the Meetup API:

• Only use the Meetup API in accordance with the API documentation or other written instructions that we provide, and not attempt to circumvent any limitations or restrictions;
• Not create a security vulnerability for the Meetup Platform or systems, or for Meetup members, or otherwise test the vulnerability of Meetup’s Platform or systems, including by introducing any harmful, infringing, or unlawful data or material via the Meetup API, such as viruses or other malware;
• Not use the Meetup API for any commercial purpose without the express written consent of Meetup;
• Not undermine our commercial interests or make unreasonable commercial uses of the Meetup API, such as by substantially replicating our Platform or significant aspects of the Platform, to be determined in Meetup’s sole discretion;
• While you may charge for any application you develop (subject to Meetup’s consent), you may not sell, lease, or sublicense the Meetup API;
• If making an application available, provide and comply with a user agreement and a privacy policy that describes how you collect, share, use, and retain user information. Your privacy policy must be at least as protective of the personal information of Meetup’s members as is Meetup’s Privacy Policy;
• Protect any data you receive via the Meetup API against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, and immediately report security issues or any breach of your user agreement or privacy policy (to the extent it may affect Meetup members) to [email protected];
• Not abuse the availability of the Meetup API through excessive or unreasonable usage;
• Cache or store data you receive via the Meetup API consistent with, and only for the time permitted under, applicable laws, including data protection laws;
• Clearly indicate in the application that the application uses the Meetup API but is not verified by Meetup (note that you alone are responsible for your application); and
• Only use the most current version of the Meetup API. 

6. Availability and Changes to the API

Meetup makes no guarantees with respect to the availability or uptime of the Meetup API.  Meetup may conduct maintenance, make changes to the API, delete parts of the API, or stop providing the API at any time, with or without notice to you. Meetup may change the method of access to the API at any time.  

7. Reservation of Rights

Meetup reserves all rights not expressly granted under these API License Terms. While you retain your ownership rights in your application, we own the Meetup API, including all intellectual property rights associated with the Meetup API not otherwise granted to you under the API License.

8. Competitive Materials

You agree that Meetup may develop, acquire, or license materials that are competitive with, or similar to, your application or any other service or product that you provide.

9. Publicity

You grant us the right to use your company name, logo, and trademark for the purpose of publicizing your use of the Meetup API. You agree to obtain our written consent before publishing or using Meetup’s name, logo, or trademark.

10. Our Right to Monitor and Audit

You authorize us to monitor or audit your use of the Meetup API in order to verify your compliance with these API License Terms and to operate, improve, and protect the Platform. You agree to comply with any requests we make in the course of monitoring or auditing your use of the Meetup API.

11. Termination

We may terminate the Meetup API at any time for any reason. We may modify, suspend, or terminate your access to the Meetup API if we determine in our sole discretion that your use of the Meetup API undermines our commercial interests or for any other reason. This API License terminates automatically if (a) you violate any provision of these API License Terms, (b) we provide you with a written notice of termination, or (c) we discontinue your access to the Meetup API. You may terminate this API License by discontinuing your use of the Meetup API. If we provide you with any Meetup API information or documentation that is not generally available, you agree that those materials are confidential information that you must destroy following termination of the API License.

12. Severance

If any provision of these API License Terms is found to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, you and Meetup nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and that the other provisions of these API License Terms will remain in full force and effect.

13. Survival

All sections restricting your access to and use of any data you receive via the Meetup API will survive any termination of these API License Terms.

Last updated: July 22, 2019

These Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms of Service (“Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms”) are in addition to the Meetup Terms of Service, and except as explicitly stated, the Meetup Terms of Service apply in full to all organizers (“Sponsorship Program Organizers”) participating in the Sponsorship Program (“Program”). In particular and for the avoidance of doubt, any terms herein are governed by the indemnification, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution terms set forth in Sections 7, 8, and 9 of the Meetup Terms of Service. All capitalized terms not defined herein have the meanings given to them in the Meetup Terms of Service.

1. These Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms

1.1 The Program is a sponsorship program whereby Meetup pairs a sponsor (“Sponsor”) to a Meetup event hosted by a Sponsorship Program Organizer (“Sponsorship Program Events”). The terms “Meetup,” “we,” “us,” and “our” include Meetup, Inc. and our affiliates. We use the terms “you” and “your” to mean any Sponsorship Program Organizer participating in the Program. Your participation in the Program signifies that you agree to these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms. If you are participating in the Program for an organization, you agree to these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms on behalf of that organization, and represent you have authority to bind that organization to the terms contained in these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms. If you do not agree to these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms, do not participate in the Program.

1.2 We may modify these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms from time to time. When we do, we will publish the most current version and revise the date at the top of this page. By continuing to participate in the Program after any changes come into effect, you agree to the revised Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms.

2. Sponsorship Program Organizers’ Responsibilities

2.1 Sponsorship Program Organizers must host their Sponsorship Program Event on the date and at the time and place listed in their Sponsorship Program Event listing.  Sponsorship Program Organizers may not change the date, time, or place of their Sponsorship Program Event without prior consent from Meetup.

2.2 Sponsorship Program Organizers are solely responsible for their Sponsorship Program Events and for complying with all laws, rules, and regulations that apply to their Sponsorship Program Events. In the event that licenses, permits, or registrations are needed for a Sponsorship Program Event, Sponsorship Program Organizers are solely responsible for obtaining such licenses, permits, or registrations. Sponsorship Program Organizers must host the Sponsorship Program Event in person and may not allow any third party to serve as a substitute.

2.3 Except for the sponsorship of Sponsorship Program Events made in accordance with these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms, Sponsorship Program Organizers agree to refrain from directly or indirectly entering into any agreement or arrangement to receive any sponsorship for any group or event organized on or off the Platform by the Sponsors introduced to you through the Program. These obligations survive the termination or expiration of these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms.

3. Meetup’s Right to Cancel the Sponsorship of Sponsorship Program Events

3.1 We may cancel the sponsorship of any pending Sponsorship Program Events if, in our sole discretion, we determine that you have violated these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms, including any of the policies or guidelines that are part of these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms, that it is in the best interest of the Meetup community, or to protect our brand or Platform. Furthermore, we may cancel the sponsorship of any pending Sponsorship Program Events if, in our sole discretion, we determine that (i) you have provided inaccurate or fraudulent information to Meetup or on the Platform regarding your Sponsorship Program Event, (ii) you fail to meet our applicable quality or eligibility criteria, or (iii) we receive complaints about your performance or conduct. When this happens, we will notify you of the reasons for the cancellation. If we cancel a pending Sponsorship Program Event, you will not be entitled to any compensation for the Sponsorship Program Event that was cancelled.

4. Severance

4.1 If any provision of these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms is found to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, you and Meetup nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and that the other provisions of these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms will remain in full force and effect.

5. Survival

5.1 All provisions in these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms that by their nature should survive termination of these Sponsorship Program Organizer Terms will survive.

Effective: October 1, 2021

(View previous versions: 4/19/21, 6/12/20)

Our Privacy Policy explains how Meetup collects, uses, and discloses information about you. The terms “Meetup,” “we,” “us,” and “our” include Meetup LLC and our affiliates. We use the terms “member,” “you,” and “your” to mean any person using our Platform or attending related events, including any organization or person using the Platform on an organization’s behalf. This Privacy Policy applies to the processing of information about members and other individuals that we collect when you use our “Platform,” which means any website, application, or services we offer, or when you communicate with us. For information about choices you may have under this policy, please see “Your Choices” below. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the information that you may provide to third parties, such as members, and others with whom you may share information about yourself. For more information about the scope of our Privacy Policy, please see Section 4.5. 

To make this Privacy Policy easier to understand, we have provided summaries below. These summaries are not part of the official policy. Even though we have provided summaries, it is important for you to read the entire policy carefully. If you wish to access any particular section of this Privacy Policy, use the list below to jump to that section.

1. Collection Of Information
2. Use Of Information
3. Sharing Of Information
4. Additional Details
5. Your Choices
6. Data Rights
7. California Privacy Rights
8. Contact Us 

1. Collection Of Information

Summary: We collect information about you when you:

1. Create an account;
2. Use the Platform;
3. Attend an event;
4. Visit our website; and
5. Communicate with us.

We also collect information, such as usage statistics, by using cookies, server logs, and similar technologies.

If you elect to use certain features, we also collect information through other sources, such as social media services, invitations, and imported contacts.

1.1 Information You Provide to Us

We collect information that you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information that you provide when you create an account, choose interests or groups, fill out a form, or communicate with us. The types of information that we may collect include identifiers, such as your name, username, password, email address, postal address, and phone number; payment and commercial information, such as payment method data and purchases, if any; demographic information and any other personal information that you choose to provide, such as photos, choices of interests, groups, and professional or employment-related information, including your role, company, and years of experience. Certain information about yourself is optional to provide. Your choice of groups is also optional, but we are required to process this information in order to administer your account, and to indicate that you are a member of the groups that you join. See Section 2 to learn how we will use the information that you provide to personalize our recommendations and other content to you.

On occasion, the information that you give us when you join a group may imply information about your beliefs, political views, health conditions, or your sexual identity. This, and other kinds of sensitive information, is given special protection in accordance with applicable law. Posting personal or sensitive information about others without their permission is against our Community Guidelines.

1.2 Information We Collect Automatically When You Use the Platform

When you use our Platform, we automatically collect internet and other electronic network activity information about you and other information, including:

1. Log Information: We collect log information about your use of the Platform, including the type of browser that you use; the time, duration, and frequency of your access; Platform pages viewed; your IP address; and the page you visited before visiting our Platform.
2. Device Information: We collect information about the computer or mobile device that you use to access our Platform, including the hardware model, operating system and version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information.
3. Geolocation Information: We may collect information about the location of your device each time you use our Platform based on your consent to the collection of this information, such as when you enable location services.  For further information see Section 5.2.  We may also collect information, such as your IP address, that can sometimes be used to approximate your location based on your device settings.
4. Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies: We and our service providers collect information using various technologies, including cookies and pixel tags (which are also called clear GIFs, web beacons, or pixels). 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.
5. Other Information: Based on your consent, we may collect other information from your device, such as photos from your camera roll or calendar information you want to manage via the Platform.

1.3 Information We Collect From Other Sources

We may collect information about you from other sources, such as through certain features on the Platform you elect to use. We rely on these third parties to either have your consent or ensure that they are otherwise legally permitted or required to disclose your information to us. Examples include:

1. Social Media Services. If you register or log into your account through a third-party social media service, we will have access to some of your third-party account information from that service, including identifiers, such as your name and other information in that account, and used for purposes such as improving your Meetup recommendations. We may also have access to third-party account information if you use the Platform feature to share a link. See this article for more information on how to enable or disable the connection between our Platform and your third-party account.
2. Member Content. We may receive information about you when you or another member uploads photos or posts other content to the Platform. For further details about the rights over this information available to individuals, see Section 6.
3. Current or Future Corporate Affiliates. We may receive information about you from our current or future corporate parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates.
4. Information From Other Third-Party Sources. In order to provide you with more tailored recommendations, we may obtain information about you from publicly and commercially available sources, such as third-party publishers, advertising networks, and service providers that we use to manage our ads on other sites, and other third parties as permitted by law. For more information about the data that we obtain from these providers, please contact us at [email protected].

We may analyze and make inferences from the information we collect.

2. Use Of Information

Summary: We use information about you to: 

1. Operate, improve, promote, and protect Meetup and our Platform;
2. Communicate with you; and
3. Personalize content. 

2.1 Operating our Platform

We may use information about you described above for various business purposes related to operating our Platform, including to: 

1. Provide, maintain, and improve our Platform, including to process transactions, develop new products and services (for example, including you in tests or pilots of new or revised Platform functions, such as messaging or search functionality or using information about your usage of the Platform to develop new or revised messaging or search functionality), and manage the performance of our Platform;
2. Display information about you, for instance, your list of interests, which will be visible on your profile;
3. Personalize the Platform, for example, to suggest content in which we think you may be interested;
4. Allow you to share information about your use of the Platform through a third-party social media service, if you connect your account through that service (which you can turn off at any time) and to provide you with better recommendations;
5. Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Platform;
6. Detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent transactions, abuse, and other illegal activities; to protect the rights, property, or safety of Meetup and others; to enforce compliance with our policies; and to comply with applicable law and government requests; and
7. Perform accounting and administrative tasks, and enforce or manage legal claims.

2.2 Communicating With You

We may use information about you for various business purposes related to communicating with you, including to:

1. Respond to your comments, questions, and requests, and provide customer service;
2. Communicate with you, in accordance with your account settings, about products, services, and events offered by us and others, to provide news and information that we think will be of interest to you, to conduct online surveys, to contact you about events on our Platform that are being held near your location, and to otherwise communicate with you in accordance with Section 2.3;
3. Notify you about communications of other members, in accordance with the communication preferences that you indicate in your account; and
4. Send you technical notices, updates, security alerts and support, and administrative messages.

2.3 Advertising And Other Uses

We may use information about you for various other business purposes, including to:

1. Provide content, features, or sponsorships that match member profiles or interests;
2. Facilitate contests and other promotions;
3. Send you marketing communications, subject to applicable law;
4. Combine with information that we collect for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy; and
5. Carry out any other purposes described to you at the time that we collected the information.

2.4 Legal Basis for Processing

If you are in a jurisdiction that requires a specific legal basis for processing personal data, our legal basis for collecting and using the information described above will depend on the type of information and the specific context in which we collect it.

1. We process information about you in order to provide our services in accordance with our Terms of Service, for example, to allow you to join groups or to display your profile to other members; to allow us to send you important service updates; and to perform a contract.
2. We also process information about you where it is in our legitimate interests to do so and not overridden by your rights (for example, in some cases for direct marketing, fraud prevention, network and information systems security, responding to your communications, the operation of networks of groups by the network administrators, and improving our Platform).
3. Sometimes you provide us with sensitive information about you; for instance, the mere fact of joining a certain group may indicate information about your health, religion, political views, or sexual identity. Joining such groups or posting information on the Platform about these topics is entirely voluntary and, depending on the settings of the group and your profile (e.g., public or private), our legal basis for processing any sensitive information is either that you manifestly make it public or your explicit consent.
4. In some cases, we may also have a legal obligation to process information about you, or may otherwise need the information to protect your vital interests or those of another person. For example, we may process information, if we believe doing so is required by, or in accordance with, applicable law, regulation, legal process, or audits.

3. Sharing Of Information

Summary: We do not share information about you except as described in this Privacy Policy. We may disclose personal information about you, including:

1. to members or social media services, depending on how you engage with the Platform.  Information that is public on our platform is accessible to others both on and off the Platform;
2. to our third-party service providers who help us to operate or improve our Platform;
3. to authorities to comply with legal obligations or requests and to protect and defend our rights and property; 
4. to an affiliate or successor entity or otherwise as part of a corporate transaction; 
5. among our businesses and affiliated companies; and
6. when you direct us to share your information.  

We may also share information in a manner that does not identify you, such as de-identified or aggregated information. Such information is not subject to this Privacy Policy.

3.1 Through Our Platform

We share some of the information that we collect by displaying it on our Platform according to your member profile and account settings. Some information, such as username, is always public. Some information, such as interests, is public by default, but can be hidden on our Platform. Some information, such as group memberships, will always be visible to other members of that Meetup group, and may be public, depending on the settings of that group. We recommend that you check the group settings and what information will be available before joining the group to ensure that you are happy with the information that is visible to others. For more information, see this article on Account Privacy and Visibility and this article on Group Content Visibility. 

Information that is public on our Platform is visible to others on and off the Platform.

3.2 Group Networks

If you are a member of a group, this group may now or in the future become part of a network of groups known as a “Meetup Pro” network. Members who administer a Meetup Pro network, known as “network administrators” have access to the content within their groups, including information about group participants. Network administrators find it helpful to have access to the email addresses of organizers and other members of groups within their networks, to easily communicate with and administer the groups. Therefore, we will provide ways for you to share your email address with your group’s network administrator. See this article for more information about Network Administrators, Organizers, and their Members.

3.3 With Our Service Providers

We may use service providers in connection with operating and improving the Platform to assist with certain business purposes, such as payment processing, email transmission, conducting surveys or contests, data hosting, managing our ads, and some aspects of our technical and customer support. These service providers, which include data analytics providers, may access, process, and store information about you on our behalf for the purposes we authorize, subject to confidentiality obligations.

3.4 Following The Law And Protecting Meetup

We may access, preserve, and disclose information about you to government entities and other third parties, including the content of messages, if we believe disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, applicable law, regulation, legal process, or audits. We may also disclose information about you if we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our Terms of Service or related guidelines and policies, or if necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of, or prevent fraud or abuse of, Meetup or others. 

3.5 Social Sharing And Other Tools

The Platform may offer social sharing features and other integrated tools which let you share actions that you take on our Platform with third-party services, and vice versa. Such features let you share information with your friends or the public, depending on the settings you have chosen with the service. For more information, see this article on Sharing Meetup events on Social Media and this article on Connecting your Social Media Account. The third-party services' use of the information will be governed by the third parties’ privacy policies, and we do not control the third parties’ use of the shared data. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, please review the privacy policies of the services that provide these features.

3.6 Affiliate Sharing And Merger, Sale, Or Other Asset Transfers

If Meetup is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of our assets, information about you may be shared, sold, or transferred as part of that transaction. We may also share information about you with current or future corporate parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates.

3.7 Other Situations

We may de-identify or aggregate information about you and share it freely, so that you can no longer be identified. Such information is not subject to this Privacy Policy.

We may also share information about you with your consent or at your direction or where we are legally entitled to do so. For example, your information may be shared with event sponsors and others as described to you when you RSVP to an event.  Your information also is made available to other group members and event organizers when you RSVP for and participate in an event. 

4. Additional Details

Summary:

1. We may allow others to use technologies that collect information about you to provide analytic services and to serve ads for Meetup. You may be able to disable the collection or use of this information.
2. Meetup is based in and governed by U.S. law and we will be processing, transferring, and storing information in and to the U.S. and other countries.
3. We have implemented technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information. We cannot guarantee these controls will provide absolute security.
4. This Privacy Policy is periodically updated, and does not apply to third parties.

4.1 Analytics and Advertising Services Provided by Others

We and others may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Platform and other websites and online services. 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.

4.2 Transfer Of Information To The U.S. And Other Countries

Meetup is based in the United States. Information about you will be transferred to, and processed in, the U.S. and countries other than the country in which you are resident. These countries may have data protection laws that are different to the laws of your country and, in some cases, may not be as protective. We have taken appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, to require that your information will remain protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

4.3 Security

We employ technical and organizational measures designed to protect your information that is under our control and that we process on your behalf from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, or disposal, both during transmission and once we receive it. For example, we store all information that you provide to us on servers on which security controls are used. We train employees regarding our data privacy policies and procedures, and authorize employees to access personal information as required for their role. We use firewalls designed to protect against intruders and test for network vulnerabilities. However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure.

Where you have a password, which enables you to use our services, you are responsible for keeping this password complex, secure, and confidential. If you would like to update or change your password, you may select the “Forgot your password?” link on the login page. You will be sent an email that allows you to reset your password.

4.4 Data Retention

We may temporarily de-activate your account if you have not logged in for six months or more. You may contact us if you wish to reactivate your account.

We retain certain information that we collect from you while you visit or are a member of the Platform, and in certain cases where you have deleted your account, for the following business purposes:

1. So you can use our Platform;
2. To ensure that we do not communicate with you if you have asked us not to;
3. To provide you with a refund, if entitled;
4. To provide accurate accounting information to other members about the groups that they organize or administer, and associated memberships;
5. To better understand the traffic to our Platform so that we can provide all members with the best possible experience;
6. To detect and prevent abuse of our Platform, illegal activities and breaches of our Terms of Service; and
7. To comply with applicable legal, tax or accounting requirements.

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your information, we will either delete it or take steps to de-identify or anonymize it in accordance with applicable law.

4.5 Policy Scope

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information that you have provided or made accessible to third parties, such as other members, including group organizers and network administrators, and others with whom you may share information about yourself. Our Platform may direct you to a third-party service, such as social media services, or a portion of our Platform may be controlled by a third party (typically through the use of a frame or pop-up window separate from other content on our Platform). Disclosure of information to these third parties is subject to the relevant third party’s privacy policy. We are not responsible for the third-party privacy policy or content, even if we link to those services from our Platform or if we share information with these third parties.

Members, including group organizers and network administrators, are directly responsible for complying with all requirements of applicable privacy laws in connection with the information that they obtain and process for the purposes of managing their contacts, organizing and communicating with groups, or administering networks.

4.6 Revisions To This Policy

We may modify this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will provide notice to you by publishing the most current version and revising the date at the top of this page. If we make any material change to this policy, we will provide additional notice to you, such as by sending you an email or displaying a prominent notice on our Platform.

5. Your Choices

Summary:

1. You can review and change information about you or deactivate your account in your account settings, but we may retain certain information.
2. You can remove photo tags if you wish.
3. Consult your device settings for information about how to deactivate location-based features at any time.
4. You have the right to opt out of receiving Meetup’s promotional messages, but you may still receive other non-promotional communications.

5.1 Your Choices: Account Information

You may update or correct your account information by editing your account settings or by sending a request to [email protected] as described in Section 6 and Section 7. You may deactivate your account by editing your account settings. You may also request deletion of your information as described in Section 6 and Section 7.  You will also be able to choose what information others see about you and who may contact you by using the Privacy Settings section in your Account.

5.2 Your Choices: Location Information

When you first access the Platform, depending on your device settings, we will collect information about your location, which we use to make better recommendations for groups and events in your area, and to improve our Platform. If you do not want us to collect information about your location, then you can prevent this by taking the following steps:

1. If using a mobile app, by changing the settings on your device.
2. If using our website, your approximate location information will be obtained via a cookie. Please refer to our Cookie Policy for additional information on how to manage our use of cookies.

Note that our Platform or its features may no longer function properly if you change your settings.

Your mobile device settings may also give you the option to choose whether to allow us to view your geolocation on a continuous basis, only when using the app, or never. Allowing us to view your geolocation when you are not using the app allows us to provide you with recommendations on a regular basis. Please refer to your device’s guide for additional information on how to adjust location services.

5.3 Your Choices: Cookies

We may use and allow others to use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Platform and other websites and online services. 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.

5.4 Your Choices: Promotional Communications

You can control some of the messages that you receive from Meetup and other members by selecting the unsubscribe link in the message that you receive, or by adjusting the communication preferences in your account settings. We will also send you a link to these settings when you first sign up and in subsequent messages. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional messages, such as those about your account or our ongoing business relations. In addition, please consult the privacy policies of other members for information about how to control or opt out of promotional messages from them off the Platform.

5.5 Your Choices: Photo Tagging

You can tag photos of yourself and others. When a photo has been tagged it means that the name of that person will appear alongside the photo, and the tagged photo will appear on the tagged member’s group profile.

 We will notify you when another member has tagged your account in a photo or when additional comments are added to such photos. You can remove tags by selecting the “untag” option next to your name. You can also report inappropriate content to Meetup. You are responsible for obtaining permission from non-members to post a photo of them on the Platform.  

6. Data Rights

Summary:

1. You may have the right to exercise data protection rights, including to request that Meetup deletes, amends, or provides you access to your information.
2. You have the right to opt out of receiving Meetup’s promotional messages, but you may still receive other communications.
3. You can complain to your local data protection authority about the use of your information.

We respond to all requests that we receive from individuals who wish to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws. You can contact us with your request by sending an email to [email protected]. You can also request deletion of your account and personal information by filling out the form available in this Help Center article: "Request permanent deletion of your data." You must be logged in to your Meetup account to view this article and access the form.

.

Rights that you may have, depending on the jurisdiction in which you live, may include:

1. Accessing, correcting, updating, or requesting deletion of your information.
2. Objecting to processing of your information, asking us to restrict processing of your information, or requesting the portability of your information.
3. Opting out from receiving marketing communications that we send you at any time. You can exercise this right by selecting the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” link in the marketing emails we send you. Additionally, you may update your email preferences by changing the settings in your account.
4. Withdrawing your consent at any time if we have collected and processed your information with your consent. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing that we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect processing of your information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.
5. Complaining to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your information. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority. Contact details for data protection authorities in the European Union are available here.

Note that Meetup is a controller of your information. Other members, such as group organizers and network administrators, may also act as controllers of your information. You should contact these members if you have any questions about how they use information that you have provided to them.

7. California Privacy Rights

During the preceding 12 months, Meetup has collected, used, and shared the categories of personal information described above in this Privacy Policy. We do not consider the ways we share your information as a “sale” for purposes of California law. California residents have certain rights to access and delete their personal information and to request transparency about our privacy practices.  If you would like to access or delete your information, or otherwise exercise your rights under the CCPA, please see Section 6. Once we receive your request, we may verify it by requesting information sufficient to confirm your identity, including by asking you for additional information. Consistent with California law, if you choose to exercise your rights, we will not charge you different prices or provide different quality of services for exercising your rights unless those differences are permitted by law. If you would like to use an agent registered with the California Secretary of State to exercise your rights, we may request evidence that you have provided such agent with power of attorney or that the agent otherwise has valid written authority to submit requests to exercise rights on your behalf.  

8. Contact Us

Summary:

1. If you have any questions, you can contact us at [email protected].

Under European data protection law, the controller of your information is Meetup LLC.

If you have any questions or complaints about this Privacy Policy or how we use your information, please contact [email protected].

If you are located in the European Economic Area, you can also contact Meetup’s GDPR representative:

Meetup MHC GDPR Representative
Mason Hayes and Curran Professional Services Limited
South Bank House
Barrow Street
Dublin 4
Ireland
[email protected]

If you are located in the United Kingdom, you can also contact Meetup’s UK GDPR representative:

Meetup MHC UK GDPR Representative
Mason Hayes and Curran LLP
1 Cornhill
London
EC3V 3ND
England
[email protected]

Last Updated: March 28, 2017

As described in our Privacy Policy, we and our service providers use cookies and other technologies to provide our Platform and to enhance your experience. This Cookie Policy sets out some further detail on how and why we use these technologies on our Platform, which includes any website, application, or service we offer. The terms "Meetup," "we," "us," and "our" include Meetup Inc. and our affiliates. By using our Platform, you consent to storage and access to cookies and other technologies on your device, in accordance with this Cookie Policy.

Cookies

What Cookies Are. Cookies are small data files which are downloaded to your device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognizes that cookie. Cookies are useful because they allow us to recognize your device.

How We Use Cookies. Cookies serve a variety of functions, like enabling us to remember certain information you provide to us as you navigate between pages on the Platform. We use cookies for the following purposes:

• Authentication: We use cookies to recognize you if you are logged in to our Platform. This lets us personalize your experience on or with the Platform in the ways described below. In addition, we may employ third-party services that may use cookies to help you sign into their services from our Platform.

• Security: We use cookies to support or enable security features we have deployed, and to help us detect malicious activity and violations of our Terms of Service. These cookies help us prevent fraudulent use of login credentials.

• Services, features, and preferences: We use cookies to provide functionality and help us deliver our products and services according to your preferences. For example, we use cookies to know which language you prefer, what your communications preferences are, to show you personalized views related to your interests and groups, and in order to help you fill out forms on the Platform.

• Performance, Analytics and Research: We use cookies to help us analyze how the Platform is being accessed and used, and enable us to track performance of the Platform. This helps us to understand, improve, and research features and content on the Platform. We may also use other services, such as Google Analytics or other third-party cookies, to assist with analyzing performance on our Platform. As part of providing these services, these service providers may use cookies and the technologies described below to collect and store information about your device, such as time of visit, pages visited, time spent on each page of the Platform, links clicked and conversion information, IP address, browser, mobile network information, and type of operating system used.

• Meetup ads: We partner with third party publishers, advertising networks and service providers to manage our ads on other sites. Our third party partners may set cookies on your device or use the technologies described below to gather information about your activities on the Platform and other sites and online services you use, in order to provide you with Meetup ads that match member profiles or interests. For example, if you visit our Platform and also use a social media platform, you may see a Meetup ad on those social media platforms.

• Third party advertisers: We may work with advertisers, and advertising service providers to serve ads that may be relevant to you based on your inferred interests, location or other information collected about you, which may use a cookie or the technologies described below, placed by Meetup or the third party (although we would not share any other information that identifies you with an advertiser) on our Platform, or on a third party website or online service. The placing of these technologies on your device may enable you to be identified across multiple websites and online services.

Duration of Cookies. Some cookies, known as "session cookies", will stay on your device only for as long as you are accessing our Platform. Others, known as "persistent cookies", are stored on your device for longer periods.

Other Technologies

Use of Other Technologies. We may allow others to provide analytics services and serve advertisements on our behalf. In addition to the uses of cookies described above, these entities may use other methods, such as the technologies described below, to collect information about your use of the Platform and other websites and online services.

Pixels tags. Pixel tags (which are also called clear GIFs, web beacons, or pixels), are small pieces of code that can be embedded on websites and emails. Pixels tags may be used to learn how you interact with our site pages and emails, and this information helps us and our partners provide you with a more tailored experience.

Device Identifiers. A device identifier is a unique label can be used to identify a mobile device. Device identifiers may be used to track, analyze and improve the performance of the Platform and ads delivered.

Local storage. Local storage is an industry-standard technology that enables the storage and retrieval of data on a computer, mobile phone or other device. Local storage may be used to store member preferences on devices.

Opting Out

Cookies. Most devices and web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you may be able to remove or reject cookies. You can learn more about how to block cookies by visiting allaboutcookies.org. Please note that if you choose to remove or reject cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of our Platform.

Targeted Advertising. Third parties that use cookies and other tracking technologies to deliver targeted advertisements on third party websites may offer you a way to prevent such targeted advertisements by opting out at the websites of industry groups such as the Digital Advertising Alliance, or if located in the European Union, the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance. You may also be able to control advertising cookies provided by publishers, for example Google's Ad Preference Manager. Your device may also include a feature that allows you to opt out of having certain information collected through apps used for behavioral advertising purposes. Note that even if you choose to opt out of receiving targeted advertising, you may still receive advertising, although it should not be tailored to your interests or activities.

Revisions to this Policy

We may modify this Cookie Policy from time to time. When we do, we will provide notice to you by publishing the most current version and revising the date at the top of this page. If we make any material change to this Cookie Policy, we will provide additional notice to you, such as by sending you an email, or displaying a prominent notice on our Platform. By continuing to use the Platform after any changes come into effect, you agree to the revised Cookie Policy.

This page is outdated. View the current version of the Privacy Policy.

Revision date: June 12, 2020

Our Privacy Policy explains how Meetup collects, uses, and discloses information about you. The terms “Meetup,” “we,” “us,” and “our” include Meetup LLC and our affiliates. We use the terms “member,” “you,” and “your” to mean any person using our Platform or attending related events, including any organization or person using the Platform on an organization’s behalf. This Privacy Policy applies to the processing of information about members and other individuals that we collect when you use our “Platform,” which means any website, application, or services we offer, or when you communicate with us. For information about choices you may have under this policy, please see “Your Choices” below. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the information that you may provide to third parties, such as members, and others with whom you may share information about yourself. For more information about the scope of our Privacy Policy, please see Section 4.5. 

To make this Privacy Policy easier to understand, we have provided summaries below. These summaries are not part of the official policy. Even though we have provided summaries, it is important for you to read the entire policy carefully. If you wish to access any particular section of this Privacy Policy, use the list below to jump to that section.

1. Collection Of Information
2. Use Of Information
3. Sharing Of Information
4. Additional Details
5. Your Choices
6. Data Rights
7. California Privacy Rights
8. Contact Us 

1. Collection Of Information

Summary: We collect information about you when you:

1. Create an account;
2. Use the Platform;
3. Attend an event;
4. Visit our website; and
5. Communicate with us.

We also collect information, such as usage statistics, by using cookies, server logs, and similar technologies.

If you elect to use certain features, we also collect information through other sources, such as social media services, invitations, and imported contacts.

1.1 Information You Provide to Us

We collect information that you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information that you provide when you create an account, choose interests or groups, fill out a form, or communicate with us. The types of information that we may collect include identifiers, such as your name, username, password, email address, postal address, and phone number; payment and commercial information, such as payment method data and purchases, if any; demographic information and any other personal information that you choose to provide, such as photos, choices of interests, groups, and professional or employment-related information, including your role, company, and years of experience. Certain information about yourself is optional to provide. Your choice of groups is also optional, but we are required to process this information in order to administer your account, and to indicate that you are a member of the groups that you join. See Section 2 to learn how we will use the information that you provide to personalize our recommendations and other content to you.

On occasion, the information that you give us when you join a group may imply information about your beliefs, political views, health conditions, or your sexual identity. This, and other kinds of sensitive information, is given special protection in accordance with applicable law. Posting personal or sensitive information about others without their permission is against our Community Guidelines.

1.2 Information We Collect Automatically When You Use the Platform

When you use our Platform, we automatically collect internet and other electronic network activity information about you and other information, including:

1. Log Information: We collect log information about your use of the Platform, including the type of browser that you use; the time, duration, and frequency of your access; Platform pages viewed; your IP address; and the page you visited before visiting our Platform.
2. Device Information: We collect information about the computer or mobile device that you use to access our Platform, including the hardware model, operating system and version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information.
3. Geolocation Information: We may collect information about the location of your device each time you use our Platform based on your consent to the collection of this information, such as when you enable location services.  For further information see Section 5.2.  We may also collect information, such as your IP address, that can sometimes be used to approximate your location based on your device settings.
4. Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies: We and our service providers collect information using various technologies, including cookies and pixel tags (which are also called clear GIFs, web beacons, or pixels). 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.
5. Other Information: Based on your consent, we may collect other information from your device, such as photos from your camera roll or calendar information you want to manage via the Platform.

1.3 Information We Collect From Other Sources

We may collect information about you from other sources, such as through certain features on the Platform you elect to use. We rely on these third parties to either have your consent or ensure that they are otherwise legally permitted or required to disclose your information to us. Examples include:

1. Social Media Services. If you register or log into your account through a third-party social media service, we will have access to some of your third-party account information from that service, including identifiers, such as your name and other information in that account, and used for purposes such as improving your Meetup recommendations. We may also have access to third-party account information if you use the Platform feature to share a link. See this article for more information on how to enable or disable the connection between our Platform and your third-party account.
2. Member Content. We may receive information about you when you or another member uploads photos or posts other content to the Platform. For further details about the rights over this information available to individuals, see Section 6.
3. Current or Future Corporate Affiliates. We may receive information about you from our current or future corporate parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates.
4. Information From Other Third-Party Sources. In order to provide you with more tailored recommendations, we may obtain information about you from publicly and commercially available sources, such as third-party publishers, advertising networks, and service providers that we use to manage our ads on other sites, and other third parties as permitted by law. For more information about the data that we obtain from these providers, please contact us at [email protected].

We may analyze and make inferences from the information we collect.

2. Use Of Information

Summary: We use information about you to: 

1. Operate, improve, promote, and protect Meetup and our Platform;
2. Communicate with you; and
3. Personalize content. 

2.1 Operating our Platform

We may use information about you described above for various business purposes related to operating our Platform, including to: 

1. Provide, maintain, and improve our Platform, including to process transactions, develop new products and services (for example, including you in tests or pilots of new or revised Platform functions, such as messaging or search functionality or using information about your usage of the Platform to develop new or revised messaging or search functionality), and manage the performance of our Platform;
2. Display information about you, for instance, your list of interests, which will be visible on your profile;
3. Personalize the Platform, for example, to suggest content in which we think you may be interested;
4. Allow you to share information about your use of the Platform through a third-party social media service, if you connect your account through that service (which you can turn off at any time) and to provide you with better recommendations;
5. Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Platform;
6. Detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent transactions, abuse, and other illegal activities; to protect the rights, property, or safety of Meetup and others; to enforce compliance with our policies; and to comply with applicable law and government requests; and
7. Perform accounting and administrative tasks, and enforce or manage legal claims.

2.2 Communicating With You

We may use information about you for various business purposes related to communicating with you, including to:

1. Respond to your comments, questions, and requests, and provide customer service;
2. Communicate with you, in accordance with your account settings, about products, services, and events offered by us and others, to provide news and information that we think will be of interest to you, to conduct online surveys, to contact you about events on our Platform that are being held near your location, and to otherwise communicate with you in accordance with Section 2.3;
3. Notify you about communications of other members, in accordance with the communication preferences that you indicate in your account; and
4. Send you technical notices, updates, security alerts and support, and administrative messages.

2.3 Advertising And Other Uses

We may use information about you for various other business purposes, including to:

1. Provide content, features, or sponsorships that match member profiles or interests;
2. Facilitate contests and other promotions;
3. Send you marketing communications, subject to applicable law;
4. Combine with information that we collect for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy; and
5. Carry out any other purposes described to you at the time that we collected the information.

2.4 Legal Basis for Processing

If you are in a jurisdiction that requires a specific legal basis for processing personal data, our legal basis for collecting and using the information described above will depend on the type of information and the specific context in which we collect it.

1. We process information about you in order to provide our services in accordance with our Terms of Service, for example, to allow you to join groups or to display your profile to other members; to allow us to send you important service updates; and to perform a contract.
2. We also process information about you where it is in our legitimate interests to do so and not overridden by your rights (for example, in some cases for direct marketing, fraud prevention, network and information systems security, responding to your communications, the operation of networks of groups by the network administrators, and improving our Platform).
3. Sometimes you provide us with sensitive information about you; for instance, the mere fact of joining a certain group may indicate information about your health, religion, political views, or sexual identity. Joining such groups or posting information on the Platform about these topics is entirely voluntary and, depending on the settings of the group and your profile (e.g., public or private), our legal basis for processing any sensitive information is either that you manifestly make it public or your explicit consent.
4. In some cases, we may also have a legal obligation to process information about you, or may otherwise need the information to protect your vital interests or those of another person. For example, we may process information, if we believe doing so is required by, or in accordance with, applicable law, regulation, legal process, or audits.

3. Sharing Of Information

Summary: We may disclose personal information about you, including:

1. to members or social media services, depending on how you engage with the Platform.  Information that is public on our platform is accessible to others both on and off the Platform;
2. to our third-party service providers who help us to operate or improve our Platform;
3. to authorities to comply with legal obligations or requests and to protect and defend our rights and property; 
4. to an affiliate or successor entity or otherwise as part of a corporate transaction; 
5. among our businesses and affiliated companies; and
6. when you direct us to share your information.  

We may also share information in a manner that does not identify you, such as de-identified or aggregated information. Such information is not subject to this Privacy Policy.

We do not sell or share information about you except as described in this Privacy Policy. 

3.1 Through Our Platform

We share some of the information that we collect by displaying it on our Platform according to your member profile and account settings. Some information, such as username, is always public. Some information, such as interests, is public by default, but can be hidden on our Platform. Some information, such as group memberships, will always be visible to other members of that Meetup group, and may be public, depending on the settings of that group. We recommend that you check the group settings and what information will be available before joining the group to ensure that you are happy with the information that is visible to others. For more information, see this article on Account Privacy and Visibility and this article on Group Content Visibility. 

Information that is public on our Platform is visible to others on and off the Platform.

3.2 Group Networks

If you are a member of a group, this group may now or in the future become part of a network of groups known as a “Meetup Pro” network. Members who administer a Meetup Pro network, known as “network administrators” have access to the content within their groups, including information about group participants. Network administrators find it helpful to have access to the email addresses of organizers and other members of groups within their networks, to easily communicate with and administer the groups. Therefore, we will provide ways for you to share your email address with your group’s network administrator. See this article for more information about Network Administrators, Organizers, and their Members.

3.3 With Our Service Providers

We may use service providers in connection with operating and improving the Platform to assist with certain business purposes, such as payment processing, email transmission, conducting surveys or contests, data hosting, managing our ads, and some aspects of our technical and customer support. These service providers, which include data analytics providers, may access, process, and store information about you on our behalf for the purposes we authorize, subject to confidentiality obligations.

3.4 Following The Law And Protecting Meetup

We may access, preserve, and disclose information about you to government entities and other third parties, including the content of messages, if we believe disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, applicable law, regulation, legal process, or audits. We may also disclose information about you if we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our Terms of Service or related guidelines and policies, or if necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of, or prevent fraud or abuse of, Meetup or others. 

3.5 Social Sharing And Other Tools

The Platform may offer social sharing features and other integrated tools which let you share actions that you take on our Platform with third-party services, and vice versa. Such features let you share information with your friends or the public, depending on the settings you have chosen with the service. For more information, see this article on Sharing Meetup events on Social Media and this article on Connecting your Social Media Account. The third-party services' use of the information will be governed by the third parties’ privacy policies, and we do not control the third parties’ use of the shared data. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, please review the privacy policies of the services that provide these features.

3.6 Affiliate Sharing And Merger, Sale, Or Other Asset Transfers

If Meetup is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of our assets, information about you may be shared, sold, or transferred as part of that transaction. We may also share information about you with current or future corporate parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates.

3.7 Other Situations

We may de-identify or aggregate information about you and share it freely, so that you can no longer be identified. Such information is not subject to this Privacy Policy.

We may also share information about you with your consent or at your direction or where we are legally entitled to do so. For example, your information may be shared with event sponsors and others as described to you when you RSVP to an event.  Your information also is made available to other group members and event organizers when you RSVP for and participate in an event. 

4. Additional Details

Summary:

1. We may allow others to use technologies that collect information about you to provide analytic services and to serve ads for Meetup. You may be able to disable the collection or use of this information.
2. Meetup is based in and governed by U.S. law and we will be processing, transferring, and storing information in and to the U.S. and other countries.
3. We have implemented technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information. We cannot guarantee these controls will provide absolute security.
4. This Privacy Policy is periodically updated, and does not apply to third parties.

4.1 Analytics and Advertising Services Provided by Others

We and others may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Platform and other websites and online services. 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.

4.2 Transfer Of Information To The U.S. And Other Countries

Meetup is based in the United States. Information about you will be transferred to, and processed in, the U.S. and countries other than the country in which you are resident. These countries may have data protection laws that are different to the laws of your country and, in some cases, may not be as protective. We have taken appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, to require that your information will remain protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

4.3 Security

We employ technical and organizational measures designed to protect your information that is under our control and that we process on your behalf from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, or disposal, both during transmission and once we receive it. For example, we store all information that you provide to us on servers on which security controls are used. We train employees regarding our data privacy policies and procedures, and authorize employees to access personal information as required for their role. We use firewalls designed to protect against intruders and test for network vulnerabilities. However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure.

Where you have a password, which enables you to use our services, you are responsible for keeping this password complex, secure, and confidential. If you would like to update or change your password, you may select the “Forgot your password?” link on the login page. You will be sent an email that allows you to reset your password.

4.4 Data Retention

We may temporarily de-activate your account if you have not logged in for six months or more. You may contact us if you wish to reactivate your account.

We retain certain information that we collect from you while you visit or are a member of the Platform, and in certain cases where you have deleted your account, for the following business purposes:

1. So you can use our Platform;
2. To ensure that we do not communicate with you if you have asked us not to;
3. To provide you with a refund, if entitled;
4. To provide accurate accounting information to other members about the groups that they organize or administer, and associated memberships;
5. To better understand the traffic to our Platform so that we can provide all members with the best possible experience;
6. To detect and prevent abuse of our Platform, illegal activities and breaches of our Terms of Service; and
7. To comply with applicable legal, tax or accounting requirements.

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your information, we will either delete it or take steps to de-identify or anonymize it in accordance with applicable law.

4.5 Policy Scope

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information that you have provided or made accessible to third parties, such as other members, including group organizers and network administrators, and others with whom you may share information about yourself. Our Platform may direct you to a third-party service, such as social media services, or a portion of our Platform may be controlled by a third party (typically through the use of a frame or pop-up window separate from other content on our Platform). Disclosure of information to these third parties is subject to the relevant third party’s privacy policy. We are not responsible for the third-party privacy policy or content, even if we link to those services from our Platform or if we share information with these third parties.

Members, including group organizers and network administrators, are directly responsible for complying with all requirements of applicable privacy laws in connection with the information that they obtain and process for the purposes of managing their contacts, organizing and communicating with groups, or administering networks.

4.6 Revisions To This Policy

We may modify this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will provide notice to you by publishing the most current version and revising the date at the top of this page. If we make any material change to this policy, we will provide additional notice to you, such as by sending you an email or displaying a prominent notice on our Platform.

5. Your Choices

Summary:

1. You can review and change information about you or deactivate your account in your account settings, but we may retain certain information.
2. You can remove photo tags if you wish.
3. Consult your device settings for information about how to deactivate location-based features at any time.
4. You have the right to opt out of receiving Meetup’s promotional messages, but you may still receive other non-promotional communications.

5.1 Your Choices: Account Information

You may update or correct your account information by editing your account settings or by sending a request to [email protected] as described in Section 6 and Section 7. You may deactivate your account by editing your account settings. You may also request deletion of your information as described in Section 6 and Section 7.  You will also be able to choose what information others see about you and who may contact you by using the Privacy Settings section in your Account.

5.2 Your Choices: Location Information

When you first access the Platform, depending on your device settings, we will collect information about your location, which we use to make better recommendations for groups and events in your area, and to improve our Platform. If you do not want us to collect information about your location, then you can prevent this by taking the following steps:

1. If using a mobile app, by changing the settings on your device.
2. If using our website, your approximate location information will be obtained via a cookie. Please refer to our Cookie Policy for additional information on how to manage our use of cookies.

Note that our Platform or its features may no longer function properly if you change your settings.

Your mobile device settings may also give you the option to choose whether to allow us to view your geolocation on a continuous basis, only when using the app, or never. Allowing us to view your geolocation when you are not using the app allows us to provide you with recommendations on a regular basis. Please refer to your device’s guide for additional information on how to adjust location services.

5.3 Your Choices: Cookies

We may use and allow others to use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Platform and other websites and online services. 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.

5.4 Your Choices: Promotional Communications

You can control some of the messages that you receive from Meetup and other members by selecting the unsubscribe link in the message that you receive, or by adjusting the communication preferences in your account settings. We will also send you a link to these settings when you first sign up and in subsequent messages. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional messages, such as those about your account or our ongoing business relations. In addition, please consult the privacy policies of other members for information about how to control or opt out of promotional messages from them off the Platform.

5.5 Your Choices: Photo Tagging

You can tag photos of yourself and others. When a photo has been tagged it means that the name of that person will appear alongside the photo, and the tagged photo will appear on the tagged member’s group profile.

 We will notify you when another member has tagged your account in a photo or when additional comments are added to such photos. You can remove tags by selecting the “untag” option next to your name. You can also report inappropriate content to Meetup. You are responsible for obtaining permission from non-members to post a photo of them on the Platform.  

6. Data Rights

Summary:

1. You may have the right to exercise data protection rights, including to request that Meetup deletes, amends, or provides you access to your information.
2. You have the right to opt out of receiving Meetup’s promotional messages, but you may still receive other communications.
3. You can complain to your local data protection authority about the use of your information.

We respond to all requests that we receive from individuals who wish to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws. You can contact us with your request by sending an email to [email protected]. You can also request deletion of your account and personal information by filling out the form available in this Help Center article: "Request permanent deletion of your data." You must be logged in to your Meetup account to view this article and access the form.

.

Rights that you may have, depending on the jurisdiction in which you live, may include:

1. Accessing, correcting, updating, or requesting deletion of your information.
2. Objecting to processing of your information, asking us to restrict processing of your information, or requesting the portability of your information.
3. Opting out from receiving marketing communications that we send you at any time. You can exercise this right by selecting the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” link in the marketing emails we send you. Additionally, you may update your email preferences by changing the settings in your account.
4. Withdrawing your consent at any time if we have collected and processed your information with your consent. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing that we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect processing of your information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.
5. Complaining to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your information. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority. Contact details for data protection authorities in the European Union are available here.

Note that Meetup is a controller of your information. Other members, such as group organizers and network administrators, may also act as controllers of your information. You should contact these members if you have any questions about how they use information that you have provided to them.

7. California Privacy Rights

During the preceding 12 months, Meetup has collected, used, and shared the categories of personal information described above in this Privacy Policy. California residents have certain rights to access and delete their personal information and to request transparency about our privacy practices.  If you would like to access or delete your information, or otherwise exercise your rights under the CCPA, please see Section 6. Once we receive your request, we may verify it by requesting information sufficient to confirm your identity, including by asking you for additional information. Consistent with California law, if you choose to exercise your rights, we will not charge you different prices or provide different quality of services for exercising your rights unless those differences are permitted by law. If you would like to use an agent registered with the California Secretary of State to exercise your rights, we may request evidence that you have provided such agent with power of attorney or that the agent otherwise has valid written authority to submit requests to exercise rights on your behalf.  

8. Contact Us

Summary:

1. If you have any questions, you can contact us at [email protected].

Under European data protection law, the controller of your information is Meetup LLC.

If you have any questions or complaints about this Privacy Policy or how we use your information, please contact [email protected].

Terms and Conditions

NO PURCHASE REQUIRED TO QUALIFY FOR GIVEAWAY. 

1. Eligibility: Meetup Share Your Story Giveaway (the “Promotion”) is a promotion open only to legal residents of the 50 United States (and the District of Columbia), 18 years or older at time of entry, who currently have an active (non-blocked, non-deactivated, and non-erased) account on the Meetup platform. Employees, officers, and representatives of Meetup LLC and its parent and affiliates, as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, and children) and household members of each such employee, officer, or representative are not eligible to participate. The Promotion is subject to all federal, state, provincial, and local laws and regulations. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
2. Sponsor: Meetup LLC, 12 E. 49th St., New York, NY 10017 (“Meetup” or “Sponsor”).
3. Agreement to Terms and Conditions: By participating in the Promotion, you fully and unconditionally agree to and accept these Terms and Conditions and the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding. Failure to comply with any of these Terms and Conditions may result in disqualification from the Promotion and render you ineligible to receive the Giveaway (defined below).
4. Timing: The Promotion begins on July 15, 2021 at 9:00am EDT and ends on July 17, 2021 at 11:59pm EDT.
5. How to Qualify: By using your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn account (which you can create for free), like the @meetup Promotion post and add a comment tagging one friend and containing an original story written by you about getting back together in person after the 2020/2021 global pandemic. Do not submit a story written by or about someone else. Your entry must comply with Meetup’s social media community standards. Sponsor reserves the right to remove any posts, and disqualify any entries, that violate these standards or that are otherwise offensive or inappropriate. No purchase, entry fee, or payment is necessary to participate in the Promotion. No mechanically reproduced entries will be accepted. Entries must be submitted no later than July 17, 2021 at 11:59pm EDT. Entries are limited to individuals only; commercial enterprises and business entities are not eligible. Limit of one entry across all social media channels per active Meetup account. Sponsor is not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry of information by entrants; lost entries or transmissions; interrupted or unavailable network, server, or other connections; scrambled transmissions or other errors or problems of any kind whether mechanical, human, or electronic, technical malfunctions of the computer hardware, software, or any combination thereof; or problems associated with any virus or any other damage caused to entrants’ systems. Incomplete entries will be voided. Entries using false or another person’s contact information, using another person’s social media account, or otherwise submitted in violation of these Terms and Conditions, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, will be disqualified.
6. Promotion Giveaway: Qualifying entrants will receive one (1) IRL essentials gift pack, containing items such as Sponsor-branded buttons and stickers, hand sanitizer, and sunscreen, to be selected at Sponsor’s sole discretion (the “Giveaway”). Approximate retail value: $5. Sponsor may also feature qualifying entrants’ stories on Sponsor’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn accounts. No cash or other substitution, assignment, or transfer of Giveaway permitted except by Sponsor, which reserves the right to substitute the Giveaway or a Giveaway component with another of comparable or greater value. Giveaway recipient is solely responsible for any taxes or similar charges associated with Giveaway receipt and/or use. 
7. Contacting Qualifying Entrants: Sponsor will notify qualifying entrants of eligibility for the Giveaway via the social media platform used to submit the entry. If a qualifying entrant cannot be reached or does not acknowledge notification within two (2) days of the first notification attempt, the Giveaway will be forfeited.
8. General Conditions: Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify the Promotion if fraud, technical failures, or any other factor beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control impairs the integrity of the Promotion, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. In such event, Sponsor reserves the right to provide the Giveaway only to eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Promotion or to be acting in violation of these Terms and Conditions. Any attempt by any person to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Promotion may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Terms and Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. This Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram, Inc. or Facebook, Inc.
9. Content Ownership and Indemnification: By submitting a Promotion entry, entrant represents and warrants that entrant owns all right, title, and interest in the submitted story content and that Sponsor’s posting, distribution, publication, or other use of the story content does not violate the publicity rights, contract rights, copyrights, other intellectual property rights, or any other rights of any third party (“Third-Party Rights”). Entrant will, at entrant’s sole expense, indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Sponsor, its parent and affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, or agents from and against all damages, costs, losses, liabilities, obligations, claims, demands, suits, actions, investigations, proceedings, causes of action, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs) arising out of or relating to a claim that entrant’s story content or Sponsor’s posting, distribution, publication, or other use of entrant’s story content infringes Third-Party Rights.
10. Publicity and Licenses: Except where prohibited, acceptance of the Giveaway constitutes entrant’s consent to Sponsor’s use of entrant’s name, likeness, voice, opinions, biographical information, hometown, and state for promotional purposes in any media without further notice, right of approval, payment, or consideration. By accepting the Giveaway, entrant also grants Sponsor a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable right and license (including a waiver of any moral rights) to use host, store, reproduce, modify, publish, publicly display, publicly perform, distribute, and create derivative works of entrant’s story content.
11. Release: By entering the Promotion, entrant agrees to release and hold harmless, Sponsor, Instagram, Inc., Facebook, Inc., each of their parents and affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Promotion or receipt or use of any Giveaway.
12. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: IN NO EVENT SHALL SPONSOR OR ITS PARENT AND AFFILIATES, OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR: (I) TECHNICAL FAILURES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE MALFUNCTIONING OF ANY COMPUTER, CABLE, NETWORK, HARDWARE, OR SOFTWARE; (II) THE UNAVAILABILITY OR INACCESSIBILITY OF ANY TRANSMISSIONS OR TELEPHONE OR INTERNET SERVICE; (III) UNAUTHORIZED HUMAN INTERVENTION IN ANY PART OF THE ENTRY PROCESS OR THE PROMOTION; (IV) ELECTRONIC OR HUMAN ERROR WHICH MAY OCCUR IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROMOTION OR THE PROCESSING OF ENTRIES; (V) ANY INJURY, LOSS, CLAIM, DAMAGE, OR SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOST PROFITS OR LOST SAVINGS), WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ENTRANT’S COMPUTER, HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE, WHICH MAY BE CAUSED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, FROM ENTRANT’S PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION OR THAT ARISE OUT OF OR ARE IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE MEETUP.COM WEBSITE OR MEETUP MOBILE APPLICATIONS OR THE SERVICES OR MATERIALS ON THAT SITE OR THOSE APPLICATIONS. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOUR USE OF THE MEETUP WEBSITE AND APPLICATIONS SHALL BE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
13. Disputes: Entrant agrees that: (i) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Promotion, or the Giveaway, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the courts of the State of New York and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in respect of any controversy which may arise out of or in relation to this Agreement or its performance, and entrant hereby waives any objections to such jurisdiction and venue; and (ii) any and all claims, judgments, and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Promotion, but in no event attorneys’ fees or more than $150. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Terms and Conditions, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and Sponsor in connection with the Promotion, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of New York or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of New York.
14. Entrant’s Personal Information: Excluding the terms of Section 10 (Publicity and Licenses) above, all other personally identifiable information collected from entrants is subject to Meetup’s Privacy Policy located at https://help.meetup.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044422391-Privacy-Policy.

Effective: April 19, 2021

This page is outdated. View the current version of the Privacy Policy.

(View previous version: 6/12/20)

Our Privacy Policy explains how Meetup collects, uses, and discloses information about you. The terms “Meetup,” “we,” “us,” and “our” include Meetup LLC and our affiliates. We use the terms “member,” “you,” and “your” to mean any person using our Platform or attending related events, including any organization or person using the Platform on an organization’s behalf. This Privacy Policy applies to the processing of information about members and other individuals that we collect when you use our “Platform,” which means any website, application, or services we offer, or when you communicate with us. For information about choices you may have under this policy, please see “Your Choices” below. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the information that you may provide to third parties, such as members, and others with whom you may share information about yourself. For more information about the scope of our Privacy Policy, please see Section 4.5. 

To make this Privacy Policy easier to understand, we have provided summaries below. These summaries are not part of the official policy. Even though we have provided summaries, it is important for you to read the entire policy carefully. If you wish to access any particular section of this Privacy Policy, use the list below to jump to that section.

1. Collection Of Information
2. Use Of Information
3. Sharing Of Information
4. Additional Details
5. Your Choices
6. Data Rights
7. California Privacy Rights
8. Contact Us 

1. Collection Of Information

Summary: We collect information about you when you:

1. Create an account;
2. Use the Platform;
3. Attend an event;
4. Visit our website; and
5. Communicate with us.

We also collect information, such as usage statistics, by using cookies, server logs, and similar technologies.

If you elect to use certain features, we also collect information through other sources, such as social media services, invitations, and imported contacts.

1.1 Information You Provide to Us

We collect information that you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information that you provide when you create an account, choose interests or groups, fill out a form, or communicate with us. The types of information that we may collect include identifiers, such as your name, username, password, email address, postal address, and phone number; payment and commercial information, such as payment method data and purchases, if any; demographic information and any other personal information that you choose to provide, such as photos, choices of interests, groups, and professional or employment-related information, including your role, company, and years of experience. Certain information about yourself is optional to provide. Your choice of groups is also optional, but we are required to process this information in order to administer your account, and to indicate that you are a member of the groups that you join. See Section 2 to learn how we will use the information that you provide to personalize our recommendations and other content to you.

On occasion, the information that you give us when you join a group may imply information about your beliefs, political views, health conditions, or your sexual identity. This, and other kinds of sensitive information, is given special protection in accordance with applicable law. Posting personal or sensitive information about others without their permission is against our Community Guidelines.

1.2 Information We Collect Automatically When You Use the Platform

When you use our Platform, we automatically collect internet and other electronic network activity information about you and other information, including:

1. Log Information: We collect log information about your use of the Platform, including the type of browser that you use; the time, duration, and frequency of your access; Platform pages viewed; your IP address; and the page you visited before visiting our Platform.
2. Device Information: We collect information about the computer or mobile device that you use to access our Platform, including the hardware model, operating system and version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information.
3. Geolocation Information: We may collect information about the location of your device each time you use our Platform based on your consent to the collection of this information, such as when you enable location services.  For further information see Section 5.2.  We may also collect information, such as your IP address, that can sometimes be used to approximate your location based on your device settings.
4. Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies: We and our service providers collect information using various technologies, including cookies and pixel tags (which are also called clear GIFs, web beacons, or pixels). 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.
5. Other Information: Based on your consent, we may collect other information from your device, such as photos from your camera roll or calendar information you want to manage via the Platform.

1.3 Information We Collect From Other Sources

We may collect information about you from other sources, such as through certain features on the Platform you elect to use. We rely on these third parties to either have your consent or ensure that they are otherwise legally permitted or required to disclose your information to us. Examples include:

1. Social Media Services. If you register or log into your account through a third-party social media service, we will have access to some of your third-party account information from that service, including identifiers, such as your name and other information in that account, and used for purposes such as improving your Meetup recommendations. We may also have access to third-party account information if you use the Platform feature to share a link. See this article for more information on how to enable or disable the connection between our Platform and your third-party account.
2. Member Content. We may receive information about you when you or another member uploads photos or posts other content to the Platform. For further details about the rights over this information available to individuals, see Section 6.
3. Current or Future Corporate Affiliates. We may receive information about you from our current or future corporate parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates.
4. Information From Other Third-Party Sources. In order to provide you with more tailored recommendations, we may obtain information about you from publicly and commercially available sources, such as third-party publishers, advertising networks, and service providers that we use to manage our ads on other sites, and other third parties as permitted by law. For more information about the data that we obtain from these providers, please contact us at [email protected].

We may analyze and make inferences from the information we collect.

2. Use Of Information

Summary: We use information about you to: 

1. Operate, improve, promote, and protect Meetup and our Platform;
2. Communicate with you; and
3. Personalize content. 

2.1 Operating our Platform

We may use information about you described above for various business purposes related to operating our Platform, including to: 

1. Provide, maintain, and improve our Platform, including to process transactions, develop new products and services (for example, including you in tests or pilots of new or revised Platform functions, such as messaging or search functionality or using information about your usage of the Platform to develop new or revised messaging or search functionality), and manage the performance of our Platform;
2. Display information about you, for instance, your list of interests, which will be visible on your profile;
3. Personalize the Platform, for example, to suggest content in which we think you may be interested;
4. Allow you to share information about your use of the Platform through a third-party social media service, if you connect your account through that service (which you can turn off at any time) and to provide you with better recommendations;
5. Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Platform;
6. Detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent transactions, abuse, and other illegal activities; to protect the rights, property, or safety of Meetup and others; to enforce compliance with our policies; and to comply with applicable law and government requests; and
7. Perform accounting and administrative tasks, and enforce or manage legal claims.

2.2 Communicating With You

We may use information about you for various business purposes related to communicating with you, including to:

1. Respond to your comments, questions, and requests, and provide customer service;
2. Communicate with you, in accordance with your account settings, about products, services, and events offered by us and others, to provide news and information that we think will be of interest to you, to conduct online surveys, to contact you about events on our Platform that are being held near your location, and to otherwise communicate with you in accordance with Section 2.3;
3. Notify you about communications of other members, in accordance with the communication preferences that you indicate in your account; and
4. Send you technical notices, updates, security alerts and support, and administrative messages.

2.3 Advertising And Other Uses

We may use information about you for various other business purposes, including to:

1. Provide content, features, or sponsorships that match member profiles or interests;
2. Facilitate contests and other promotions;
3. Send you marketing communications, subject to applicable law;
4. Combine with information that we collect for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy; and
5. Carry out any other purposes described to you at the time that we collected the information.

2.4 Legal Basis for Processing

If you are in a jurisdiction that requires a specific legal basis for processing personal data, our legal basis for collecting and using the information described above will depend on the type of information and the specific context in which we collect it.

1. We process information about you in order to provide our services in accordance with our Terms of Service, for example, to allow you to join groups or to display your profile to other members; to allow us to send you important service updates; and to perform a contract.
2. We also process information about you where it is in our legitimate interests to do so and not overridden by your rights (for example, in some cases for direct marketing, fraud prevention, network and information systems security, responding to your communications, the operation of networks of groups by the network administrators, and improving our Platform).
3. Sometimes you provide us with sensitive information about you; for instance, the mere fact of joining a certain group may indicate information about your health, religion, political views, or sexual identity. Joining such groups or posting information on the Platform about these topics is entirely voluntary and, depending on the settings of the group and your profile (e.g., public or private), our legal basis for processing any sensitive information is either that you manifestly make it public or your explicit consent.
4. In some cases, we may also have a legal obligation to process information about you, or may otherwise need the information to protect your vital interests or those of another person. For example, we may process information, if we believe doing so is required by, or in accordance with, applicable law, regulation, legal process, or audits.

3. Sharing Of Information

Summary: We do not share information about you except as described in this Privacy Policy. We may disclose personal information about you, including:

1. to members or social media services, depending on how you engage with the Platform.  Information that is public on our platform is accessible to others both on and off the Platform;
2. to our third-party service providers who help us to operate or improve our Platform;
3. to authorities to comply with legal obligations or requests and to protect and defend our rights and property; 
4. to an affiliate or successor entity or otherwise as part of a corporate transaction; 
5. among our businesses and affiliated companies; and
6. when you direct us to share your information.  

We may also share information in a manner that does not identify you, such as de-identified or aggregated information. Such information is not subject to this Privacy Policy.

3.1 Through Our Platform

We share some of the information that we collect by displaying it on our Platform according to your member profile and account settings. Some information, such as username, is always public. Some information, such as interests, is public by default, but can be hidden on our Platform. Some information, such as group memberships, will always be visible to other members of that Meetup group, and may be public, depending on the settings of that group. We recommend that you check the group settings and what information will be available before joining the group to ensure that you are happy with the information that is visible to others. For more information, see this article on Account Privacy and Visibility and this article on Group Content Visibility. 

Information that is public on our Platform is visible to others on and off the Platform.

3.2 Group Networks

If you are a member of a group, this group may now or in the future become part of a network of groups known as a “Meetup Pro” network. Members who administer a Meetup Pro network, known as “network administrators” have access to the content within their groups, including information about group participants. Network administrators find it helpful to have access to the email addresses of organizers and other members of groups within their networks, to easily communicate with and administer the groups. Therefore, we will provide ways for you to share your email address with your group’s network administrator. See this article for more information about Network Administrators, Organizers, and their Members.

3.3 With Our Service Providers

We may use service providers in connection with operating and improving the Platform to assist with certain business purposes, such as payment processing, email transmission, conducting surveys or contests, data hosting, managing our ads, and some aspects of our technical and customer support. These service providers, which include data analytics providers, may access, process, and store information about you on our behalf for the purposes we authorize, subject to confidentiality obligations.

3.4 Following The Law And Protecting Meetup

We may access, preserve, and disclose information about you to government entities and other third parties, including the content of messages, if we believe disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, applicable law, regulation, legal process, or audits. We may also disclose information about you if we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our Terms of Service or related guidelines and policies, or if necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of, or prevent fraud or abuse of, Meetup or others. 

3.5 Social Sharing And Other Tools

The Platform may offer social sharing features and other integrated tools which let you share actions that you take on our Platform with third-party services, and vice versa. Such features let you share information with your friends or the public, depending on the settings you have chosen with the service. For more information, see this article on Sharing Meetup events on Social Media and this article on Connecting your Social Media Account. The third-party services' use of the information will be governed by the third parties’ privacy policies, and we do not control the third parties’ use of the shared data. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, please review the privacy policies of the services that provide these features.

3.6 Affiliate Sharing And Merger, Sale, Or Other Asset Transfers

If Meetup is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of our assets, information about you may be shared, sold, or transferred as part of that transaction. We may also share information about you with current or future corporate parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates.

3.7 Other Situations

We may de-identify or aggregate information about you and share it freely, so that you can no longer be identified. Such information is not subject to this Privacy Policy.

We may also share information about you with your consent or at your direction or where we are legally entitled to do so. For example, your information may be shared with event sponsors and others as described to you when you RSVP to an event.  Your information also is made available to other group members and event organizers when you RSVP for and participate in an event. 

4. Additional Details

Summary:

1. We may allow others to use technologies that collect information about you to provide analytic services and to serve ads for Meetup. You may be able to disable the collection or use of this information.
2. Meetup is based in and governed by U.S. law and we will be processing, transferring, and storing information in and to the U.S. and other countries.
3. We have implemented technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information. We cannot guarantee these controls will provide absolute security.
4. This Privacy Policy is periodically updated, and does not apply to third parties.

4.1 Analytics and Advertising Services Provided by Others

We and others may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Platform and other websites and online services. 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.

4.2 Transfer Of Information To The U.S. And Other Countries

Meetup is based in the United States. Information about you will be transferred to, and processed in, the U.S. and countries other than the country in which you are resident. These countries may have data protection laws that are different to the laws of your country and, in some cases, may not be as protective. We have taken appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, to require that your information will remain protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

4.3 Security

We employ technical and organizational measures designed to protect your information that is under our control and that we process on your behalf from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, or disposal, both during transmission and once we receive it. For example, we store all information that you provide to us on servers on which security controls are used. We train employees regarding our data privacy policies and procedures, and authorize employees to access personal information as required for their role. We use firewalls designed to protect against intruders and test for network vulnerabilities. However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure.

Where you have a password, which enables you to use our services, you are responsible for keeping this password complex, secure, and confidential. If you would like to update or change your password, you may select the “Forgot your password?” link on the login page. You will be sent an email that allows you to reset your password.

4.4 Data Retention

We may temporarily de-activate your account if you have not logged in for six months or more. You may contact us if you wish to reactivate your account.

We retain certain information that we collect from you while you visit or are a member of the Platform, and in certain cases where you have deleted your account, for the following business purposes:

1. So you can use our Platform;
2. To ensure that we do not communicate with you if you have asked us not to;
3. To provide you with a refund, if entitled;
4. To provide accurate accounting information to other members about the groups that they organize or administer, and associated memberships;
5. To better understand the traffic to our Platform so that we can provide all members with the best possible experience;
6. To detect and prevent abuse of our Platform, illegal activities and breaches of our Terms of Service; and
7. To comply with applicable legal, tax or accounting requirements.

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your information, we will either delete it or take steps to de-identify or anonymize it in accordance with applicable law.

4.5 Policy Scope

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information that you have provided or made accessible to third parties, such as other members, including group organizers and network administrators, and others with whom you may share information about yourself. Our Platform may direct you to a third-party service, such as social media services, or a portion of our Platform may be controlled by a third party (typically through the use of a frame or pop-up window separate from other content on our Platform). Disclosure of information to these third parties is subject to the relevant third party’s privacy policy. We are not responsible for the third-party privacy policy or content, even if we link to those services from our Platform or if we share information with these third parties.

Members, including group organizers and network administrators, are directly responsible for complying with all requirements of applicable privacy laws in connection with the information that they obtain and process for the purposes of managing their contacts, organizing and communicating with groups, or administering networks.

4.6 Revisions To This Policy

We may modify this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will provide notice to you by publishing the most current version and revising the date at the top of this page. If we make any material change to this policy, we will provide additional notice to you, such as by sending you an email or displaying a prominent notice on our Platform.

5. Your Choices

Summary:

1. You can review and change information about you or deactivate your account in your account settings, but we may retain certain information.
2. You can remove photo tags if you wish.
3. Consult your device settings for information about how to deactivate location-based features at any time.
4. You have the right to opt out of receiving Meetup’s promotional messages, but you may still receive other non-promotional communications.

5.1 Your Choices: Account Information

You may update or correct your account information by editing your account settings or by sending a request to [email protected] as described in Section 6 and Section 7. You may deactivate your account by editing your account settings. You may also request deletion of your information as described in Section 6 and Section 7.  You will also be able to choose what information others see about you and who may contact you by using the Privacy Settings section in your Account.

5.2 Your Choices: Location Information

When you first access the Platform, depending on your device settings, we will collect information about your location, which we use to make better recommendations for groups and events in your area, and to improve our Platform. If you do not want us to collect information about your location, then you can prevent this by taking the following steps:

1. If using a mobile app, by changing the settings on your device.
2. If using our website, your approximate location information will be obtained via a cookie. Please refer to our Cookie Policy for additional information on how to manage our use of cookies.

Note that our Platform or its features may no longer function properly if you change your settings.

Your mobile device settings may also give you the option to choose whether to allow us to view your geolocation on a continuous basis, only when using the app, or never. Allowing us to view your geolocation when you are not using the app allows us to provide you with recommendations on a regular basis. Please refer to your device’s guide for additional information on how to adjust location services.

5.3 Your Choices: Cookies

We may use and allow others to use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Platform and other websites and online services. 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.

5.4 Your Choices: Promotional Communications

You can control some of the messages that you receive from Meetup and other members by selecting the unsubscribe link in the message that you receive, or by adjusting the communication preferences in your account settings. We will also send you a link to these settings when you first sign up and in subsequent messages. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional messages, such as those about your account or our ongoing business relations. In addition, please consult the privacy policies of other members for information about how to control or opt out of promotional messages from them off the Platform.

5.5 Your Choices: Photo Tagging

You can tag photos of yourself and others. When a photo has been tagged it means that the name of that person will appear alongside the photo, and the tagged photo will appear on the tagged member’s group profile.

 We will notify you when another member has tagged your account in a photo or when additional comments are added to such photos. You can remove tags by selecting the “untag” option next to your name. You can also report inappropriate content to Meetup. You are responsible for obtaining permission from non-members to post a photo of them on the Platform.  

6. Data Rights

Summary:

1. You may have the right to exercise data protection rights, including to request that Meetup deletes, amends, or provides you access to your information.
2. You have the right to opt out of receiving Meetup’s promotional messages, but you may still receive other communications.
3. You can complain to your local data protection authority about the use of your information.

We respond to all requests that we receive from individuals who wish to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws. You can contact us with your request by sending an email to [email protected]. You can also request deletion of your account and personal information by filling out the form available in this Help Center article: "Request permanent deletion of your data." You must be logged in to your Meetup account to view this article and access the form.

.

Rights that you may have, depending on the jurisdiction in which you live, may include:

1. Accessing, correcting, updating, or requesting deletion of your information.
2. Objecting to processing of your information, asking us to restrict processing of your information, or requesting the portability of your information.
3. Opting out from receiving marketing communications that we send you at any time. You can exercise this right by selecting the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” link in the marketing emails we send you. Additionally, you may update your email preferences by changing the settings in your account.
4. Withdrawing your consent at any time if we have collected and processed your information with your consent. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing that we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect processing of your information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.
5. Complaining to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your information. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority. Contact details for data protection authorities in the European Union are available here.

Note that Meetup is a controller of your information. Other members, such as group organizers and network administrators, may also act as controllers of your information. You should contact these members if you have any questions about how they use information that you have provided to them.

7. California Privacy Rights

During the preceding 12 months, Meetup has collected, used, and shared the categories of personal information described above in this Privacy Policy. We do not consider the ways we share your information as a “sale” for purposes of California law. California residents have certain rights to access and delete their personal information and to request transparency about our privacy practices.  If you would like to access or delete your information, or otherwise exercise your rights under the CCPA, please see Section 6. Once we receive your request, we may verify it by requesting information sufficient to confirm your identity, including by asking you for additional information. Consistent with California law, if you choose to exercise your rights, we will not charge you different prices or provide different quality of services for exercising your rights unless those differences are permitted by law. If you would like to use an agent registered with the California Secretary of State to exercise your rights, we may request evidence that you have provided such agent with power of attorney or that the agent otherwise has valid written authority to submit requests to exercise rights on your behalf.  

8. Contact Us

Summary:

1. If you have any questions, you can contact us at [email protected].

Under European data protection law, the controller of your information is Meetup LLC.

If you have any questions or complaints about this Privacy Policy or how we use your information, please contact [email protected].