Ask the Ref is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology
that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy
applies to the Ask the Ref site and governs data collection and usage.
By using the Ask the Ref site, you consent to the data practices described
in this statement.
Collection of your Personal Information
Ask the Ref collects personally identifiable information, such as your email
address, name, home or work address or telephone number. Ask the Ref also
collects anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as
your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites.
There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically
collected by Ask the Ref. This information can include: your IP address,
browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. This
information is used by Ask the Ref for the operation of the service, to
maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use
of the Ask the Ref site.
Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information
or personally sensitive data through Ask the Ref public message boards,
this information may be collected and used by others. Note: Ask the Ref
does not read any of your private online communications.
Ask the Ref encourages you to review the privacy statements of Web sites
you choose to link to from Ask the Ref so that you can understand how those
Web sites collect, use and share your information. Ask the Ref is not responsible
for the privacy statements or other content on Web sites outside of the Ask the Ref
and Ask the Ref family of Web sites.
Use of your Personal Information
Ask the Ref collects and uses your personal information to operate the Ask the Ref
Web site and deliver the services you have requested. Ask the Ref also uses
your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services
available from Ask the Ref and its affiliates. Ask the Ref may also
contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services
or of potential new services that may be offered.
Ask the Ref does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties.
Ask the Ref may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business
partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases,
your unique personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone
number) is not transferred to the third party. In addition, Ask the Ref
may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send
you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All
such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to
provide these services to Ask the Ref, and they are required to maintain
the confidentiality of your information.
Ask the Ref does not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such
as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent.
Ask the Ref keeps track of the Web sites and pages our customers visit within
Ask the Ref, in order to determine what Ask the Ref services are
the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising
within Ask the Ref to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested
in a particular subject area.
Ask the Ref Web sites will disclose your personal information, without notice,
only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is
necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process
served on Ask the Ref or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or
property of Ask the Ref; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect
the personal safety of users of Ask the Ref, or the public.
Use of Cookies
The Ask the Ref Web site use "cookies" to help you personalize your online
experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page
server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer.
Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the
domain that issued the cookie to you.
One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save
you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned
to a specific page. For example, if you personalize Ask the Ref pages, or
register with Ask the Ref site or services, a cookie helps Ask the Ref
to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process
of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses,
and so on. When you return to the same Ask the Ref Web site, the information
you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the Ask the Ref
features that you customized.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically
accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies
if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience
the interactive features of the Ask the Ref services or Web sites you visit.
Security of your Personal Information
Ask the Ref secures your personal information from unauthorized access,
use or disclosure. Ask the Ref secures the personally identifiable information
you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from
unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit
card number) is transmitted to other Web sites, it is protected through the use
of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
Changes to this Statement
Ask the Ref will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect
company and customer feedback. Ask the Ref encourages you to periodically
review this Statement to be informed of how Ask the Ref is protecting your
information.
Contact Information
Ask the Ref welcomes your comments regarding this Statement of Privacy.
If you believe that Ask the Ref has not adhered to this Statement, please
contact Ask the Ref at noreply@foundationccc.org.
We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the
problem.