Privacy Policy for AskHeartBeat.Com
Our
privacy is important to us, and we imagine that you feel the same
way! This privacy statement discloses the online privacy policies
adopted by AskHeartBeat.Com’s Love and Relationships Advice web
site. This policy is effective as of March 1, 2010.
Information Collection and Use
AskHeartBeat.Com
is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. We
will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways that
differ from what is disclosed in this Statement. AskHeartBeat.Com
collects information voluntarily supplied by our users at several
different points on our web site.
Registration
In
order to use this web site’s message boards and advice column services,
a user must first complete the associated registration forms.
During registration a user is required to give their contact
information (such as name and E-mail address). This information
is used to register and contact the user about the services on our site
for which they have expressed interest. It is optional for the
user to provide demographic information (such as income level and
gender), and unique identifiers such as given name, but encouraged so
we can provide a more personalized experience on our site and meet the
expectations of visitors as the site is further developed.
Cookies
A
cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s hard drive containing
information about the user. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked
to any personally identifiable information while on our site.
Once the user closes their browser, the cookie simply terminates.
For instance, by setting a cookie on our site, the user would not have
to log in a password more than once per session, thereby saving time
while on our site. You have the option of turning off cookies via
your web browser, and if a user rejects the cookie, they may still use
our site. The only drawback to this is that the user will be
limited in some areas of our site.
For example,
the user will not be able to participate in any of our surveys. Cookies
can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to
enhance the experience on our site.
A few of our business partners and advertisers use cookies on our site; we have no access to or control over those cookies.
Log Files
We
use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s
movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate
use. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable
information on anywhere but the message boards. We do this to
encourage proper use of the boards and to block the IP addresses of
those breaking Federal hate crime statutes or harassment laws, or that
repeatedly violate the posting polices of this web site.
Sharing
We
will share aggregated demographic information with our partners and
advertisers. Again, this is not linked to any personal information that
can identify any individual person.
Users of our site are
always notified when their information is being collected by any
outside parties. We do this so our users can make an informed
choice as to whether they should proceed with services that require an
outside party, or not.
We may partner now or in the
future with other parties to provide specific services. When the user
signs up for these services, we will share names, or other contact
information that is necessary for said third party to provide these
services. These parties are not allowed to use personally identifiable
information except for the purpose of providing these services.
Advertisers
AskHeartBeat.Com uses third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web site. These companies may use aggregated information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.
Links
This
web site contains many links to other sites. Please be aware that
AskHeartBeat.Com is 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 the
AskHeartBeat.Com website.
Newsletter
Our
newsletter (should we elect to publish it) is sent out approximately
every 30-45 days. It is of the opt-in variety. If a user
wishes to subscribe to our newsletter, personal information used for
demographic reporting and advertising targeting is collected.
Surveys & Contests
From
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. Information requested may include
contact information (such as name and mailing address), and other
demographic information (such as zip code, age and educational
level). Contact information will 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.
Tell-A-Friend
If
a user elects to use the referral service for informing a friend about
our site or any of the content within, the form shall ask them for the
friend’s name and E-mail address. The friend will be sent a
one-time E-mail inviting them to visit AskHeartBeat.Com. No
record is kept of this email’s contents, the recipient nor the sender.
Security
This
web site takes every precaution to protect our users’
information. When users submit sensitive information via the web
site, your information is protected both online and off-line.
All
of our users’ information, not just the sensitive information mentioned
above, is restricted in our personnel. Only employees who need the
information to perform a specific job (for example, our board monitors
and administrative staff) are granted access to personally identifiable
information supplied on your registration forms.
Notification of Changes
If
we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post notification of
such changes on our Home page so our users are always aware of what
information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if
any, we disclose it.
If at any point we decide to
use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that
stated at the time it was collected, we would notify users by way of an
E-mail. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use
their information in this different manner. We will use information in
accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was
collected.
If you have any questions about the security
at our web site or this Privacy Policy, please contact web site
administration by clicking the Contact Us link.
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