Shared Ground® and Shared Ground Online™ PRIVACY STATEMENT
1.0
Shared Ground® and Shared Ground On-Line™ is a product of FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE, LLC which owns and operates the Web sites www.sharedground.com and www.sharedgroundonline.com.The following statement describes and explains FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE’s consumer privacy practices for the Shared Ground Web Site. In this policy, we describe what personal information we collect on our site, how we use it, and your options regarding information we may collect about you. If you have questions about this policy, please feel free to contact us at:
FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE, LLC
6824 19th St. West #161
University Place, WA 98466
Phone: (253) 566-0155
Toll Free: (866) 468-6800
E-Mail: customercare@frontporchsoftware.com
We do update our policy from time to time, without notice, so please check back periodically. All updates will be published at this site.
As a leader in developing software designed to ease difficult life situations involving children, FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE understands your desire to protect your family’s personal information.
1.1
Our Privacy Policy
FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE recognizes the importance and responsibility of protecting the privacy of customers who use our products and services. The company maintains strict customer information privacy policies and uses state of the art technologies to safeguard customer information and communications from unauthorized intrusions.
FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE recognizes that the growth of online services, including Internet services, has created additional privacy concerns, particularly for consumers.
It is common practice and often a necessity for companies, governments, or other organizations to collect customer identifiable information in order to conduct business and offer services.
Some activities on the Internet follow very familiar patterns. Consumers signing up to buy a product, for example, are usually asked to provide name, address, telephone and credit card numbers and other information that is typical when a consumer orders a product or service. Similarly, business Web sites may ask visitors to supply information about themselves, particularly when information, services or merchandise are requested, but often simply to be able to better target the company's services to the customer's interests and requirements.
Disclosure: FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE, LLC will not sell, trade, or disclose to third parties any customer identifiable information derived from the registration for or use of a FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE online service -- including customer names and addresses -- without the consent of the customer (except as required by subpoena, search warrant, or other legal process or in the case of imminent physical harm to the customer or others). When FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE uses other agents, contractors or companies to perform services on its behalf, FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE will ensure that the company protects your customer identifiable information consistent with this Policy.
If you choose to e-mail us or call us and provide personally identifiable information about yourself, we will use this information only to respond to your inquiry. We will not sell, rent or otherwise disclose that information to third parties. If you have any questions about our privacy practices, please e-mail us at customercare@frontporchsoftware.com.
1.2
Information we collect and track - Volunteered Information
When you purchase something on our site, we collect personal information from you including your billing address, credit card number and the e-mail address to use for order confirmation. This information is collected on Web pages using encryption technology to help prevent any third party from intercepting the information. Your credit card information is only used for completing the purchase transaction and is retained only as necessary for administration purposes.
For example:
- If you submit an order on-line with us, we will ask you for information necessary to complete the transaction such as your name, billing address, and credit card number.
- If you request technical support online, we will ask you for information necessary to complete the transaction such as your name, address, telephone number and information about your computer hardware, software and the nature of the problem you are experiencing.
You make the decision whether to proceed with any activity that
requests personal information. If you do not wish to provide the requested information, however, you may not be able to complete the transaction.
We may request other personal information when you register a product, request a service, answer a survey, enter a contest, correspond with us or engage in certain other activities on our Web Site or via telephone. We use the information provided by our customers to analyze product trends based on, for example, geographic or demographic factors. This analysis helps us improve the quality of our Web Site and product mix.
1.3
How we use the information we collect and track
We use personally identifiable information in the following ways:
- To provide you with information about product upgrades, new products,
services, newsletters, informative emails, and research on future product
ideas or improvements;
- To assist us in creating content that is relevant to you;
- To provide you with special offers that may be of interest to you;
- To assist us in creating better products and services to meet your needs;
- To allow you to purchase and download products, obtain access to services or
otherwise engage in activities you select;
- To help you quickly find software, services or product information important to you.
1.4
With whom we may share your information
From time to time, FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE retains the services of
outside contractors to provide services for us. They may be
used to ship products, provide technical support, or handle
order processing. We require that these contractors keep the
personal information of customers secure and confidential.
We also require that these contractors use personal information
only on behalf of FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE and not share that
information with anyone at anytime.
Please be advised that in certain instances, it may be necessary
for FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE to disclose your personal information to
government officials or otherwise as required by our legal
obligations.
1.5
Choice/opt-out
FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE provides a number of ways for you to ‘opt-out’ of receiving additional information from us. We may offer you these choices at the time you give us your information.
If you are on a Shared Ground/ FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE Web page that requires personal information but does not offer communication choices, or if you are registering a version of a product or would like to change your preferences for information that you have previously provided, please use one of the communication channels at the bottom of this statement to notify us.
If you do not wish to continue receiving our email newsletters or bulletins you can opt-out of receiving these communications by replying to the e-mail and placing the word “unsubscribe” in the subject line in the email.
1.6
International Information Practices
We have taken security measures, consistent with international information practices, to protect your personal information. These measures include technical and procedural steps to protect your data from misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, loss, alteration, or destruction. Credit card information is transmitted using secure socket layer (SSL) encryption.
Security: FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE has
implemented technology and security features and strict
policy guidelines to safeguard the privacy of your customer
identifiable information from unauthorized access or
improper use, and we will continue to enhance our
security procedures as new technology becomes available.
E-mail Contents: The company will not read
or disclose to third parties private e-mail communications
that are transmitted using FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE services
except as required to operate the service or as otherwise
authorized by law.
Improper Conduct: FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE may
also use customer identifiable information to investigate
and help prevent potentially unlawful activity or activity
that threatens the network or otherwise violates the
customer agreement for that service.
1.7
Cookies
FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE may use cookies from time to time. A cookie is a unique text file that a Web site can send to your browser software. Cookies enable a Web site to tailor information presented to you based on your browsing preferences. FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE may use cookies to personalize your web pages, or to remember you when you register for products or services. If you do not want FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE to deploy cookies in your browser, you can set your browser to reject cookies or to notify you when a Web site tries to put a cookie in your browser software. Rejecting cookies may affect your ability to use of some of the products and/or services at our Web site.
FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE may also use cookies to track your visit to our Web site. While our Web servers may automatically log your IP address, this information does not identify you and you remain anonymous. We use this information only internally- we never give away information about our users- to deliver the most effective content to our visitors. Information from the cookies is used to gauge page popularity, analyze traffic patterns on our site and guide development of other improvements to our site.
In addition, on some Web sites, FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE and its advertisers may use small bits of code called "one-pixel gifs," or "clear gifs" embedded in some Web pages, to make cookies more effective. FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE will not associate the information these software devices collect with your name or email address.
1.8
Domain Names, IP Addresses, and Browser Types
We may track domain names, IP addresses, and browser types from people who visit our site. We use this information to track aggregate traffic patterns throughout the Shared Ground Web Site. Such information is not correlated with any personal information.
1.9
Business Partners
At the Shared Ground Web Site, there may be a number of links to companies with whom we have a relationship. FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE is not responsible for the privacy practices of our business partners. We encourage you to read their privacy statements, as they may differ from ours.
2.0
Updates to This Policy
As our Web site evolves over time or our data handling policies change, we will update this privacy policy. Changes made to this policy will be effective ten days following the posting of the new policy on the Web site. If we make significant changes to our data handling practices, we will make efforts to notify our active customers in other reasonable ways that may include an administrative email or other notice. This privacy policy will be governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Washington.
© 2004 FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: November 20, 2004
Additional Privacy Protections:
Children Using the Internet
FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE recognizes that children, including young teens, may not be able to make informed choices about personal information requested online.
Accordingly, FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE does not target children or teenagers (younger than eighteen years of age) for collection of information online. FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE does not solicit or collect customer identifiable information targeted at children and teenagers under eighteen and does not allow anyone else to do so on any FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE Web Site. In addition, the editorial content of FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE Web Sites designed for children will not knowingly promote or link to any third party Web site that collects customer identifiable information unless that Web site publishes a privacy policy that is easily accessible.
In addition, on all of its FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE Web Sites, FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE will encourage children to seek the consent of their parents before providing any information about themselves or their households to anyone on the Internet.
FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE encourages parents to take an active role to protect the privacy and security of their children and to prevent the inappropriate use of information about their children. FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE supports the development of technologies that help parents to control the collection and use of personal information from children who use online services in their households.
Finally, FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE complies with all Federal laws and regulations, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which requires the consent of a parent or guardian for the collection of personally identifiable information from children under 13.
© 2004-2009 FRONT PORCH SOFTWARE, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: August 18, 2009
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