 |
|
||
|
|||
| disclaimer | |||||
Welcome to the Courier Life News and its subsidiary and affiliate corporations, successors, and assigns (collectively referred to as "Courier Life News"). All Products and Services on the Courier Life News (as defined in our Terms and Conditions) are made available subject to this Privacy Policy. By using our Products and Services, you agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by this Privacy Policy or any other privacy or data collection policy applicable to any individual Courier Life News Web site and to receive any required legal notices regarding our privacy practices through the continuous posting of a clear and conspicuous link to the current version of this Privacy Policy throughout the Courier Life News near the bottom of most pages. If you become an inactive user, we will adhere to the policies and practices as described in this Privacy Policy, which may be revised from time to time. Please note that the Courier Life News contains links to other sites and occasionally allows other sites to be co-branded with the Courier Life News name. Web sites that are linked to Courier Life News sites or carry the Courier Life News brand for co-branding or marketing purposes may have privacy policies which differ from that of the Courier Life News. The Courier Life News Privacy Policy discloses our privacy practices and contains detailed information about the following:
1. What information of yours does the Courier Life News collect? Our goal is to become your favorite Internet destination by providing the information, services, and product offerings that are most relevant to you. To achieve this goal, the Courier Life News must collect information so we can understand what makes you different from its millions of other unique users. While you are not required to register for any services on the Courier Life News, some Products and Services may not function properly or may not be accessible unless you do. Information collected online is usually defined as being either anonymous or personally identifiable. Anonymous information refers to data that cannot be tied back to a specific individual. For example, Courier Life News collects some information each time a visitor comes to a Courier Life News site so we can improve the overall quality of the visitor's online experience. Courier Life News collects the visitor's IP address (e.g., whether the user is logged on from ibm.com or aol.com), referral data (e.g., the Internet address of the last Web page visited by a user before clicking over to a Courier Life News site), and browser and platform type (e.g., a Netscape browser on a Macintosh platform). Courier Life News also collects aggregate search terms from its HotBot and Courier Life News search services for internal reporting and targeted advertising. Courier Life News collects this user information for purposes of product monitoring, product improvement, and targeted advertising. You do not have to register with the Courier Life News before we can collect this anonymous information. Personally identifiable information refers to data that tells us specifically who you are, such as your name and postal address, which may be collected in addition to the anonymous data described above. Courier Life News collects personal information in the following ways from different parts of its network of Web sites: Courier Life News Registration: When you register to use one or more sites on the Courier Life News, you provide Courier Life News with your name, postal address, ZIP Code, email address, birth date, gender, telephone number, occupation, marital status and other information. While not all of this data is required for our services to function, we are better able to customize your experience if you volunteer complete and accurate information. Users who complete the registration process are given a Courier Life News ID and can take full advantage of the many offerings across the Courier Life News. Other Registration: In addition to registration for various services on the Courier Life News, we may ask you for personal information at other times, including when you enter a sweepstakes, contest or promotion sponsored by the Courier Life News Network. As described below, our co-brand partners also ask for personal information. If you choose not to provide the requested information, the Courier Life News may not be able to offer you some of the personalized services that depend on this type of information to function Correspondence: If you contact the Courier Life News, we may keep a record of that correspondence. We do not collect any email addresses of those who communicate with the Courier Life News via email. We use the information provided so that we may respond to the email. When you use Products and Services designed to post or transmit content, that content is necessarily stored in our computers for varying periods of time and associated with the registration information for your account. Courier Life News will not use or disclose such content except as described in this Privacy Policy. 2. What organization is collecting the information? When you register for a service within the Courier Life News, that information is generally collected and maintained solely by the Courier Life News unless specifically stated otherwise at the point of collection. If data is collected and/or maintained by any company other than Courier Life News, we will tell you at the point of collection. If you do not want to share your information with that company, you can choose not to use that service. Courier Life News runs many promotions and sweepstakes across its Network. These promotions may be sponsored or co-sponsored by third-party companies. Data collected during a promotion is typically shared with the sponsor or co-sponsor. Courier Life News will inform you at the point of collection whether or not we are sharing your personal data as a result of your participation in a promotion or sweepstakes. If you do not want to have the Courier Life News share your data, you can choose not to participate in the promotion or sweepstakes. Be aware that Courier Life News sponsors and other advertisers have links on the Network that take you to external sites. Some of these sites may collect personally identifiable information from you, and third-party advertising networks for Courier Life News may use cookies and Web beacons in their advertisements to collect certain information from you. While Courier Life News hopes that all third parties involved adhere to our policies regarding the privacy of our users, the Courier Life News Privacy Policy does not cover third-party data collection practices and the Courier Life News does not assume any responsibility for any actions of third parties. 3. What are "cookies" and "Web beacons" and how does Courier Life News use them? In addition to the personally identifiable information that Courier Life News actively collects when you register, we also collect anonymous information passively using cookies and Web beacons. This technology plays an important role in making the Internet work, but there is much confusion among Internet users about what cookies and Web beacons are and how they are used. A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that is transferred from a Web site to the hard drive of your computer so that the site administrator may identify your computer and passively track its activities on the Web site. This unique number identifies your Web browser to our computer system whenever you visit one of the sites in the Courier Life News. A cookie will not allow a Web site to learn any personally identifiable information (such as your real name and address) that you have not otherwise disclosed. Cookies allow Courier Life News to automatically remember your Web browser when you visit our Network of Web sites. To help serve you better, Courier Life News generally uses cookies to allow us to deliver products and services more efficiently. By storing certain registration and preference information on cookies or associating cookies with registration, preference or profile information stored on our computers, we can deliver products and services that use such information more quickly and efficiently for more users. This information is normally saved in an encrypted form that only Courier Life News can interpret. Prevent others from using your account. On some Courier Life News sites, cookies help us efficiently determine that only one user is logged on under the same member name at a time. Measure statistics such as audience size and traffic patterns. This information is only collected in aggregate form and will not be linked to your personally identifiable information. Display advertisements. Cookies let us know whether or not a Web browser has seen a particular advertisement (so we can show you a variety of material) and count the number of advertisements displayed to a particular browser. We also use cookies to customize the advertising you see based on non-personally identifiable demographic information that you provide when you register. Third-party advertising networks for Courier Life News may issue cookies on the Courier Life News and other sites when serving advertisements. The use of cookies is an industry standard, and they are currently used on most major Web sites. It is possible to adjust your Web browser preferences to alert you when a cookie is sent to your hard drive, or to refuse cookies altogether. While Courier Life News does not require you to use cookies, keep in mind that certain sites and services will not function properly if you set your browser to refuse all cookies. Web beacons, also known as clear GIFs or single-pixel GIFs, are small image files that Courier Life News may place on Web pages and within Web-based email newsletters that we send. Working in conjunction with cookies, Web beacons allow Courier Life News to accurately count the number of unique users who have visited a specific page on the Courier Life News and the number of times those pages are displayed. We can also use Web beacons to let us know how many people opened a Web-based email newsletter. This information is only collected in aggregate form and will not be linked to your personally identifiable information. Without cookies and Web beacons, it would be difficult for Courier Life News to know which services have a larger audience than others. Tracking audience size helps us to better understand when to launch new services and enhance the current offerings. Keep in mind that any image file on a Web page can act as a Web beacon. Third-party advertising networks for Courier Life News may use Web beacons in their advertisements. Because Web beacons work in conjunction with cookies, you can prevent our Web beacon from collecting anonymous information by setting your Web browser to refuse all cookies or the Courier Life News cookie in particular. Web beacons are built into our Web pages, so non-functional Web beacons will continue to appear even if you refuse the Courier Life News cookie. 4. How does the Courier Life News use the information it collects? Any personally identifiable information you share with Courier Life News when registering for Products and Services at any of our Network sites is maintained and accessible only by Courier Life News unless specifically stated otherwise. Courier Life News requests information from its users so that users can enjoy customized experiences across the Courier Life News, including personalization services, interactive communications, online games and much more. Most of these Products and Services are available to you at no cost, and Courier Life News displays advertisements so we can continue to provide great content and services free of charge. We can also better prepare future content based on your interests. The following are examples of how the Courier Life News may use the information it collects: Courier Life News uses the information collected (both anonymous and personal) to personalize and enhance the content you see on the Courier Life News, such as news, stock portfolios, weather reports, sports scores, horoscopes, advertisements and more. In some cases, our Products and Services cannot work unless you have volunteered accurate information (for example, we need your valid ZIP Code to display weather conditions in your local area). Courier Life News collects anonymous data and shares it with third-party advertisers in an aggregate form. We will disclose to those advertisers the numbers of Courier Life News users who have certain demographic characteristics and the number of those people who have seen and "clicked" on a particular display. We will also disclose to those advertisers the overall demographics available regarding who saw and "clicked" on their advertisement. No personally identifiable information will be disclosed as part of this process. Courier Life News also uses the aggregate data to perform statistical analyses of the collective characteristics and behavior of our registered users and visitors, to measure user demographics and interests regarding specific areas of the Courier Life News Network, and to analyze how and where best to use our resources. We do not track what pages individual users are browsing, but rather how well each page performs overall. Without such data, we would not know which parts of the Courier Life News are the most popular, and we would not be able to change and update the content and services appropriately. Courier Life News sometimes uses an individual registered user's data to "pre-populate" online forms that are displayed for the purpose of collecting additional individual data by the Courier Life News, selected third-party sites, and/or sponsors and advertisers. Courier Life News may, from time to time, use your information to contact you about changes or enhancements to Products and Services on the Courier Life News, issues regarding your account, or Courier Life News Terms and Conditions violations or suspensions. If you enter a sweepstakes or a contest on the Courier Life News, we will use the information you provided to contact you in the event you win. If you told Courier Life News that you were interested in receiving offers or information from selected sponsors and advertisers, Courier Life News will send you email about products and services that we feel may be of interest to you. For those who elect to receive such materials from Courier Life News or third parties, and who indicate that they do in their profile, Courier Life News will release personally identifiable information to the applicable third party. Information released includes name, email address and other information supplied in the Courier Life News registration process. 5. With whom does the Courier Life News share the information that is collected? As described below, the Courier Life News will sometimes share personally identifiable information with third-party companies and organizations. In most cases, you agree to share your information when you choose to register at a co-branded Web site. Co-branded sites are operated by third-party companies and offer a particular service or product to Courier Life News members. We may also maintain private label relationships where a third-party company provides Courier Life News with technology, services and/or content under Courier Life News branding. Whenever you provide registration information on co-branded or private label sites, that data may be shared with the third-party company providing the service. You should make every effort to read the individual privacy policies of such third parties and make an informed decision on your own whether or not to continue based upon these sites' privacy practices and your own discretion. You may opt-out of sharing your information with such providers by choosing not to use that service or content. When you find goods or services through Courier Life News Shopping, you submit data directly to the individual merchants from whom you order goods or services. Please review carefully the privacy policies of particular merchants that you access through Courier Life News Shopping. In addition to finding co-branded and private label sites, you will find direct links on our site to sites offered by third parties. Some of these sites are authorized to use the Courier Life News brands and/or logos. No third-party sites are covered by this Privacy Policy. If you feel that a site using a Courier Life News Network brand and/or logo does not follow an acceptable privacy policy, please contact the Courier Life News Privacy Site Coordinator by email at privacy@Courier Life News.com. Also, Courier Life News will disclose information about individual users to governmental or judicial authorities or law enforcement agencies, or to other individuals or entities in response to subpoena, court order, or other legal process. In matters involving a danger to personal or public safety, Courier Life News may voluntarily provide information to appropriate governmental authorities. 6. What is the opt-out policy for the Courier Life News? You can opt out of sharing your personally identifiable information with any third-party service or content providers in any areas of the Courier Life News by choosing not to use such areas. In addition, all Courier Life News newsletters and direct email communications have easy-to-follow unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email. If you have a question about the Courier Life News opt-out process that is not answered here, please send an email to webmaster@couleenews.com. 7. What kinds of security procedures are in place to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of your information? The Courier Life News has security measures in place to attempt to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of your user data under our control. Courier Life News uses physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect any personally identifiable data stored on its computers. Only authorized employees have access to the information you provide us. Any particularly sensitive information, such as a credit card number used to purchase premium services, is encrypted prior to transmission. While we cannot guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration to data will not occur, we take many precautions to prevent such unfortunate occurrences. You are ultimately responsible for the security of your Courier Life News ID and password. Please take care when using and storing them. Courier Life News recommends that you do not divulge your password to anyone. You should log out of your browser at the end of each computer session to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence, especially if several people have access to your personal computer or you are using a computer in a public place like a library or Internet cafe. 8. How does the Courier Life News comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)? The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 provides safeguards to protect children who use the Internet by regulating the online collection of personal information from children under the age of 13. Because of these safeguards, children under 13 are not able to access or use all Products and Services on the Courier Life News. Parents of children under 13 can authorize their children to use some of our services by signing up for a Courier Life News memberhsip using their own registration information. 9. What you can do to better protect yourself on the Internet? Know the risks. Meeting new people in an online community (chat room, forum, newsgroup, message board, Web page, etc.) is one of the best things about the Internet, but you should always be careful about disclosing personal information such as an actual name, member name, email address, and so on. This information may be collected and used by others within the online community to send unsolicited email messages from other parties, outside the Courier Life News. Some of the messages you receive may be useful to you, but some may not. In an effort to curtail unsolicited email, Courier Life News blocks certain email addresses and domains from sending messages to email addresses at our domains. Educate yourself. Search the Web for as much information as you can about how to protect your privacy. Look for a privacy policy on the Web sites you visit. A good place to start is TRUSTe -- an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to build trust and confidence in the Internet. The Federal Trade Commission has a great Web site with useful information on being a Savvy Internet Traveler along with other privacy initiatives. Tell your children: "Never talk to strangers!" While Courier Life News works hard to protect children on the sites within the Courier Life News, we cannot protect their privacy once they leave. Please teach children that they should not reveal their names or other personal information to anyone they encounter on the Internet. They should also be instructed not to fill out any forms or register at any Web site without your knowledge and consent. Parents can also prevent or limit a child's access to inappropriate material on the Web by using commercially available parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filtering services). Use PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) http://www.pgp.com or another encryption program. Contact Us Questions regarding this statement should be directed to: The Courier Life News will update this policy from time to time so please check back periodically. |