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PRIVACY POLICY
Your privacy is very important to us. We want to make your experience
on the Internet as enjoyable and rewarding as possible, and we want you to
use the Internet's vast array of information, tools, and opportunities
with complete confidence.
We have created this Privacy Policy
to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy and security. This Privacy
Policy describes how our company collects information from all end users
of our Internet services (the "Services")-those who access some of our
Services but do not have accounts ("Visitors") as well as those who may
purchase Products and/or pay a monthly service fee to subscribe to the
Service ("Members")-what we do with the information we collect, and the
choices Visitors and Members have concerning the collection and use of
such information. We request that you read this Privacy Policy
carefully.
Personal Information Our Company Collects and
How It Is Used
Introduction. Our company collects information
in different ways from Visitors and Members who access the various parts
of our Services and the network of Web sites accessible through our
Service. We use this information primarily to provide a customized
experience as you use our Products and Services, and generally, do not
share this information with third parties. However, we may disclose
personal information collected if we have received your permission
beforehand or in very special circumstances, such as when we believe that
such disclosure is required by law or other special cases described
below.
Registration: Members may be asked to provide
certain personal information when they sign up for our Products or
Services including name, address, telephone number, billing information
(such as a credit card number), and the type of personal computer being
used to access the Services. The personal information collected from
Members during the registration process is used to manage each Member's
account (such as for billing purposes). This information is not shared
with third parties, unless specifically stated otherwise or in special
circumstances.
However, in instances where our company and a partner jointly
promote our Services, we may provide the partner certain personal
information, such as the name, address, and username of persons who
subscribed to the Services as a result of the joint promotion for the sole
purpose of allowing us and the partner to assess the results of the
promotion.
In this instance, personal information may not be used by the partner
for any other purpose. We may also generate non-identifying and aggregate
profiles from personal information Members provide during registration
(such as the total number, but not the names, of Members). As explained in
more detail below, we may use this aggregated and non-identifying
information to sell advertisements that appear on the
Services.
Our Company Partners and Sponsors: Some
products and services may be offered to Visitors and Members in
conjunction with an affiliate, independent contractor seller or
non-affiliated partner. To provide Visitors and Members some of these
products and services, the partner may need to collect and maintain
personal information. In these instances, you will be notified before any
such data is collected or transferred and may decide not to use that
particular service or feature.
Additionally, our partners may have advertisements or co-branded Web
Pages that are cosponsored by an affiliate, independent contractor seller,
or non-affiliated partner. Our company may share non-identifying and
aggregate information (except as described above), but not personal
information, with such partners in order to administer the co-branded
products or services offered.
Online Shopping: At some
Web sites, you can purchase products and services or register to receive
materials, such as a newsletter, catalog or new
product and service updates. In many cases, you may be asked to provide
contact information, such as your name, address, email address, phone
number, and credit/debit card information.
If you complete an order for someone else, such as an online gift order
sent directly to a recipient, you may be asked to provide information
about the recipient, such as the recipient's name, address, and phone
number. Our company has no control over the third parties' use of any
personal information you provide when placing such an order. Please
exercise care when doing so.
If you order services or
products directly from our company we will use the personal information
you provide only to process that order. We do not share this information
with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that
order.
Online Advertisements: Our company may display
our online advertisements. In those cases we share aggregated and
non-identifying information about our Visitors and Members collected
through the registration process as well as through online surveys and
promotions with these advertisers.
Additionally, in some instances, we use this aggregated and
non-identifying information to deliver tailored advertisements or joint
ventures. For instance, an advertiser or joint venture company tells us
the audience they want to reach and provides us an advertisement tailored
to the audience. Based upon the aggregated and non-identifying information
we have collected, we may then display or send the advertisement to the
intended audience. Our company does not share personal information about
its Visitors or Members with these advertisers or joint venture
companies.
Responses to Email Inquiries: When Visitors or Members
send email inquiries to our company, the return
email address is used to answer the email inquiry we receive. Our company
does not use the return email address for any other purpose and does not
share the return email address with any third
party.
Voluntary Customer Surveys: We may periodically
conduct both business and individual customer surveys. We encourage our
customers to participate in these surveys because they provide us with
important information that helps us to improve the types of products and
services we offer and how we provide them to you. Your personal
information and responses will remain strictly confidential, even if the
survey is conducted by a third party. Participation in our customer
surveys is voluntary.
We may take the information we receive
from individuals responding to our Customer Surveys and combine (or
aggregate) it with the responses of other customers we may have, to create
broader, generic responses to the survey questions (such as gender, age,
residence, hobbies, education, employment, industry sector, or other
demographic information). We then use the aggregated information to
improve the quality of our services to you, and to develop new services
and products. This aggregated, non-personally
identifying information may be shared with third parties.
Special
Cases: It is our company's policy not to use or share the personal
information about Visitors of Members in ways unrelated to the ones
described above without also providing you an opportunity to opt out or
otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.
However, we may disclose personal information about Visitors or
Members, or information regarding your use of the Services or Web sites
accessible through our Services, for any reason if, in our sole
discretion, we believe that it is reasonable to do so, including: credit
agencies, collection agencies, merchant database agencies, law
enforcement, or to satisfy laws, such as the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act, the Child Online Privacy Act, regulations, or governmental or
legal requests for such information; to disclose information that is
necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who
may be violating our Acceptable Use Policy or Terms Of Service, or other
user policies; to operate the Services properly; or to protect our company
and our Members.
"Cookies" and How Our Company Uses Them. A
"cookie" is a small data file that can be placed on your hard drive when
you visit certain Web sites. Our company may use cookies to collect,
store, and sometimes track information for statistical purposes to improve
the products and services we provide and to manage our telecommunications
networks.
If you are a Visitor or Member we may use a cookie to save your
settings and to provide customizable and personalized services. These
cookies do not enable third parties to access any of your customer
information. Additionally, be aware that if you visit other Web sites
where you are prompted to log in or that are customizable, you may be
required to accept cookies.
Advertisers and partners may also
use their own cookies. We do not control use of these cookies and
expressly disclaim responsibility for information collected through
them.
Our Company Commitment to Children's Privacy.
Protecting children's privacy is especially important to us. It is our
policy to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998
and all other applicable laws. Therefore we restrict our Web site to
persons eighteen years or older.
YOU MUST BE EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OR
OLDER TO ACCESS THIS WEB SITE. IF YOU ARE UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE, YOU
ARE NOT PERMITTED TO ACCESS THIS WEB SITE FOR ANY REASON. DUE TO THE AGE
RESTRICTIONS FOR USE OF THIS WEB SITE, NO INFORMATION OBTAINED BY THIS WEB
SITE, FALLS WITHIN THE CHILD ONLINE PRIVACY ACT (COPA) AND IS NOT
MONITORED AS DOING SO.
Public Forums: Please remember
that any information you may disclose in any Member Directory, or other
public areas of our Web sites or the Internet, becomes public information.
You should exercise caution when deciding to disclose personal information
in these public areas.
Our Company's Commitment to Data
Security: Services and Web sites we sponsor have security measures
in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information
under our control. While we make every effort to ensure the integrity and
security of our network and systems, we cannot guarantee that our security
measures will prevent third-party "hackers" from illegally obtaining this
information.
Where to Direct Questions About Our Privacy
Policy: If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the
practices described herein, you may contact us through the contact
information provided on this Web site.
Revisions to This
Policy: Our company reserves the right to revise, amend, or modify this
policy, our Terms Of Service agreement, and our other policies and
agreements at any time and in any manner, by updating this
posting.
Last Updated 1st
June 2004 |