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Faith Online Inc ("FOL, Inc."), is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to enable individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers the Faith Online, Inc network of websites. Because we want to demonstrate our commitment to our users' privacy, we have agreed to disclose our information practices and have our privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe. This policy covers:
- What personally identifiable information FOL, Inc. collects.
- What personally identifiable information third parties collect through the Web site.
- What organization collects the information.
- How FOL, Inc. uses the information.
- With whom FOL, Inc. may share user information.
- What choices are available to users regarding collection, use and distribution of the information.
- What types of security procedures are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under FOL, Incs control.
- How users can correct any inaccuracies in the information.
The TRUSTe program covers only information that is collected through this Web site, and
does not cover information that may be collected through software downloaded from the
site. Questions regarding the above statement should be directed to Faith Online Inc.,
or TRUSTe. If you do not receive acknowledgment of your inquiry or it is not
satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact TRUSTe at
http://www.truste.org/watchdog.html for clarification. By displaying the TRUSTe
trustmark, FOL Inc. has agreed to notify users of:
Information Collection and Use
Information Collection FOL Inc. is the sole owner of the information collected on the network of FOL Inc. websites. FOL Inc. collects information from our users at several different points on our Web site.
Registration In order to receive updates, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user gives contact information (such as name and email address). We use this information to contact the user about future services and information on our site for which he or she has expressed interest. It is optional for the user to provide demographic information (such as faith and gender), and unique identifiers (such as, username and password), but encouraged so we can provide a more personalized experience on our site.
We also provide the opportunity to register houses of worship and web sites on our sites which we maintain in a directory and verify for accuracy before including.
OrderWe request information from the user on our order forms. A user must provide contact information (such as name, email, and shipping address) and financial information (such as credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill customer’s orders. If we have trouble processing an order, the information is used to contact the user.
Cookies A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer tied to information about the user. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information, such as name or address, while on our site. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user’s hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions. If you want to learn more about cookies, click http://www.truste.org/consumers/users_faqs.html#cookies.
Some of our business partners use cookies on our site (for example, advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies, once we have given permission for them to set cookies for advertising.
Third Party Advertising The ads that may appear on this Web site from time to time are delivered to users by a number of third party companies, our Web advertising partners. Information about users’ visits to this site, such as number of times they have viewed an ad (but not user name, address, or other personal information), is used to serve ads to users on this site.
This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by FOL Inc. sites only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.
Log Files Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.
Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)We employ a software technology called clear gifs, that helps us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. The main difference between the two is that clear gifs are invisible on the page and are much smaller, about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Clear gifs on the site are not tied to users’ personally identifiable information.
In addition, we may in the future, use clear gifs in our HTML-based emails to let us know which emails have been opened by the recipients. This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.
Communications from the Site
Special Offers and Updates We may send all new members a welcoming email to verify password and username. Established members will occasionally receive information on products, services, special deals, and a newsletter. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the option to not receive these types of communications. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.
Service Announcements On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.
Customer ServiceWe communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via email. Sharing
Legal DisclaimerThough we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.
Aggregate Information We share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. This is for the purpose of making sure you only receive information relevant to your interests.
Third Party AdvertisersFOL Inc. shares site usage information about users with a reputable third party advertising company for the purpose of targeting our Internet banner advertisements on this site and other sites. For example, FOL Inc. use cookies and clear GIFs on this site, which allow them to recognize a user's cookie when a user visits this site. The information they might collect and share through this technology is not personally identifiable.
Third Party IntermediariesWe use an outside shipping company to ship orders, and a credit card processing company to bill users for goods and services on a co-branded and outsourced website. To make their site have the look and feel of our site, you may see our website address in your browser window when submitting your purchase information . For more information on their policies click http://cafepress.com/cp/info/help/privacy.aspx.
Service ProvidersWe partner with other third parties to provide specific services. When the user signs up for these particular services, we share names, or other contact information that is necessary for the third party to provide these services. These third parties are not allowed to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing these services.
Business Transitions In the event FOL Inc. goes through a business transition, such as a merger, being acquired by another company, or selling a portion of its assets, users’ personal information will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred. If as a result of the business transition, the users’ personally identifiable information will be used in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection they will be given choice consistent with our notification of changes section.
Choice/Opt-out Our users are given the opportunity to ‘opt-out’ of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site.
Users who no longer wish to receive our newsletter or promotional communications may opt-out of receiving these communications by emailing Admin@faith.com and putting “opt-out” in the subject line of the email.
LinksThis Web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we, FOL Inc., are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.
Surveys &ContestsFrom time-to-time our site requests information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code). Contact information may be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests, they may not use users’ personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.
Send A CardIf a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about our site, we might ask them for the friend’s name and email address. FOL Inc. might send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the site. FOL Inc. stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email and tracking the success of our referral program. The friend may contact FOL Inc. to request the removal of this information from our database, as described above.
Chat Rooms, Message Boards, and Public Forums Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online - for example on message boards, through e-mail, or in chat areas - that information can be collected and used by others. In short, by posting personal information online that is publicly accessible, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.
Security This Web site takes every precaution to protect our users’ information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is protected both online and off-line.
When our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number), that information is stored in a secure, protected fashion.
We also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users’ information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Our employees must use password-protected screen-savers when they leave their desk, if they are working on anything that contains confidential information. When they return, they must re-enter their password to re-gain access to user information in these instances. Furthermore, ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Every quarter, as well as any time new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our users’ information is protected. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are in an extremely secure environment, behind a locked cage in a locked facility.
Supplementation of Information In order for this Web site to properly fulfill its obligation to users it is necessary for us to supplement the information we receive with information from 3rd party sources.
Credit Check For example, in the future we may host credit card processing ourselves, and to determine if users qualify for use of one of their credit cards, we will use their name and credit card number to request a credit authorization. Once we determine a user’s credit-worthiness, this document is destroyed.
ID Address Verification We use Authorize.net software and other third party services to verify a user’s address to make sure we can process orders accurately.
Screening Houses of Worship Before including houses of worship in our directory, we verify the accuracy of submitted information.
Enhancement of Marketing Profile We may in the future purchase third party marketing data and add it to our existing user database to better target our advertising and provide pertinent offers we think our users would be interested in. We use this information to enhance our ability to provide users with relevant information. This aggregate data may be tied to the users’ personally identifiable information.
Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information If a user’s personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service, we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users’ personally identifiable information. This can usually be done at the “contact us” page or by emailing our Customer Support at admin@faith.com with “address update” in the subject field.
Notification of Changes If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement as we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will try to do this on a timely basis and to place the notice in a place on our website where users can access it and be informed of any changes to the way information is collected that may be different.
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