TeamCringely:Privacy policy
From TeamCringely
Privacy Policy
TeamCringely is committed to safeguarding your privacy online. Please read the following policy to understand how your personal information will be treated as you make full use of our offerings. This policy may change from time to time so please check back periodically.
What personally identifiable information does TeamCringely collect from me?
TeamCringely collects information in several ways from different parts of our network of web sites.
Some personal information is gathered when you register. During registration, TeamCringely asks for your name, email address, nickname and personal interests. The more information you volunteer (and the more accurate it is), the better we are able to customize your experience. Once you register you are no longer anonymous to TeamCringely - you are given a TeamCringely ID and are able to take full advantage of TeamCringely's offerings.
In addition to registration we may ask you for personal information at other times, including (but not limited to) when you enter a promotion sponsored by TeamCringely and/or our partners; when you make a purchase; and when you report a problem with one of our sites or services. If you contact TeamCringely we may keep a record of that correspondence. TeamCringely also occasionally asks users to complete surveys that we use for research purposes. Wherever TeamCringely collects personal information we make an effort to include a link to this Privacy Policy on that page.
What are cookies and how does TeamCringely use them?
As part of offering and providing customizable and personalized services, TeamCringely uses cookies to store and sometimes track information about you. A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. All sites on TeamCringely where you are prompted to log-in or that are customizable require that you accept cookies. (See "What are my choices regarding collection, use and distribution of my information?" for more information on cookies.)
Generally, we use cookies to:
(1) Remind us of who you are and to access your account information (stored on our computers) in order to deliver to you a better and more personalized service. This cookie is set when you register or "Sign In" and is modified when you "Sign Out" of our services.
(2) Estimate our audience size. Each browser accessing TeamCringely is given a unique cookie which is then used to determine the extent of repeat usage, usage by a registered user versus by an unregistered user, and to help target advertisements based on user interests and behavior.
(3) Measure certain traffic patterns, which areas of TeamCringely 's network of web sites you have visited, and your visiting patterns in the aggregate. We use this research to understand how our users' habits are similar or different from one another so that we can make each new experience on TeamCringely a better one. We may use this information to better personalize the content, banners, and promotions that you and other users will see on our sites.
Advertising networks that serve ads onto TeamCringely may also use their own cookies.
TeamCringely also collects IP addresses for system administration and to report aggregate information to our advertisers. In addition, TeamCringely Mail includes IP addresses in outgoing mail message headers.
How does TeamCringely use my information?
TeamCringely's primary goal in collecting personal information is to provide you, the user, with information that is specific to you and your organization. By knowing a little about you, TeamCringely is able to deliver more relevant content, and hence better service, to you.
TeamCringely does research on our users' demographics, interests, and behavior based on the information provided to us upon registration, from our server log files or from surveys. We do this to better understand and serve our users. This research is compiled and analyzed on an aggregated basis. TeamCringely may share this aggregated data with advertisers or business partners.
Who is collecting information?
When you are on a TeamCringely site and are asked for personal information, you are sharing that information with TeamCringely alone, unless it is specifically stated otherwise. If data is being collected and/or maintained by any company other than TeamCringely, you will be notified prior to the time of the data collection or transfer. If you do not want your data to be shared, you can choose not to allow the transfer by not using that particular service.
Promotions that run on TeamCringely may be sponsored by companies other than TeamCringely or may be cosponsored by TeamCringely and another company. Some or all data collected during a promotion may be shared with the sponsor. If data will be shared, you will be notified prior to the time of data collection or transfer. You can decide not to participate in the promotion if you don't want your data to be shared. Currently, most TeamCringely promotions are limited to US or North American residents.
Please be aware that TeamCringely Internet access partners, advertisers, and web sites that have links on our site may collect personally identifiable information about you. The information practices of those Internet access partners, advertisers, and web sites linked to TeamCringely are not covered by this privacy statement.
With whom does TeamCringely share my information?
As a general rule, TeamCringely will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it or under the circumstances described below. Please see the Terms of Service or Use Agreements for each of our products and services for more detailed information about how your personal information may be shared. The following describes some of the ways that your information may be disclosed.
Business Partners & Sponsors: TeamCringely may disclose your personal information to business partners or sponsors, but this is specifically described to you prior to data collection or prior to transferring the data. Details of shared use can be found in specific Terms of Service or Use Agreements, and sweepstakes and promotions rules. Some or all data collected during a TeamCringely promotion may be shared with a sponsor. If personally identifying data about you will be shared, we will tell you before we collect or transfer the data.
Many promotions offer opportunities to request additional information from sponsors. By requesting more information, you give TeamCringely permission to transfer your personal information to the sponsor so they can fulfill your request. In many instances, only your email address will be shared. If more information will be shared with the sponsor, you will be notified prior to the transfer.
From time to time, you may be offered the opportunity to receive materials or special offers from third parties. If you opt-in to receive information from these third parties, TeamCringely will (with your permission) share your name and email address with them
Third Party Data & Data in the Aggregate: Under confidentiality agreements, TeamCringely may match user information with third party data. Also, TeamCringely discloses aggregated user statistics (for example, 45% of our users are female) in order to describe our services to current and prospective partners, advertisers, and other third parties, and for other lawful purposes.
Other: TeamCringely may also disclose account information in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating TeamCringely's Terms of Service or may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) TeamCringely's rights or property, other TeamCringely users, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities. TeamCringely may disclose or access account information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it and for administrative and other purposes that we deem necessary to maintain, service, and improve our products and services.
What are my choices regarding collection, use, and distribution of my information?
TeamCringely may, from time to time, send you email regarding our products and services. In addition, if you indicated upon registration that you are interested in receiving offers or information from TeamCringely and our partners, we may occasionally send you direct mail about products and services that we feel may be of interest to you. Only TeamCringely (or agents working on behalf of TeamCringely and under confidentiality agreements) will send you these direct mailings and only if you indicated that you do not object to these offers. If you do not want to receive such mailings, simply tell us when you give us your personal information. Or, at any time you can easily edit your TeamCringely Account Information to no longer receive such offers and mailings. You will need your TeamCringely ID and Password in order to access your TeamCringely Account Information.
On some types of TeamCringely promotions, we will ask for your email address in order to update you on your score, entries, and status in prize drawings. When you participate in these types of promotions, you automatically receive promotion-related email, unless you choose the no-email option that some promotions offer. Occasionally these promotion-related email messages may include targeted advertisements.
You also have choices with respect to cookies. By modifying your browser preferences, you have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies. If you choose to reject all cookies you will be unable to use those TeamCringely services that require registration in order to participate. You can still use the TeamCringely sites even if you do not accept cookies.
TeamCringely does not sell or rent user information to anyone. We will notify you at the time of data collection or transfer if your data will be shared with a third party and you will always have the option of not permitting the transfer. If you do not wish to allow your data to be shared, you can choose not to use a particular service or not to participate in certain promotions or contests.
What is TeamCringely's policy on allowing me to update, correct, or delete my personally identifiable information?
You may edit your TeamCringely Account Information and your public TeamCringely Profile at any time by using your TeamCringely ID and password.
Your TeamCringely account can be deleted or deactivated, but doing so will result in not being able to access any members-only area of the TeamCringely network. If you saved the confirmation email you received when you first created your TeamCringely account, you can use the URL provided in that message to delete your account at any time. Please contact privacypolicy@teamcringely.org for further instructions about deleting or deactivating your TeamCringely account. Residual information will remain within our archive records.
Knowing that you use certain services or features may help us to offer you better and more relevant content and advertisements. But as with all personally identifiable information, we do not make this available to any third parties without your permission. Any user statistics that we may provide to prospective advertisers or partners regarding financial product or service usage on TeamCringely are provided in the aggregate only and do not include any personally identifiable information about any individual user.
Please note that there are several places on the TeamCringely Web site where you can transmit credit card information in order to complete a purchase transaction or for verification purposes. Any time we ask for a credit card number we transmit that credit card number in an encrypted format. We use industry-standard, SSL (secure socket layer) encryption.
What security precautions are in place to protect the loss, misuse, or alteration of my information?
Your TeamCringely Account Information and TeamCringely Profile are password-protected so that you and only you have access to this personal information. When it becomes available, you may edit your TeamCringely Account Information and TeamCringely Profile by using your TeamCringely ID and password.
We recommend that you do not divulge your password to anyone. TeamCringely will never ask you for your password in an unsolicited phone call or in an unsolicited email. Also remember to sign out of your TeamCringely account and close your browser window when you have finished your work. This is to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence if you share a computer with someone else or are using a computer in a public place like a library or Internet cafe.
Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, TeamCringely cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or from our online products or services, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems.
What else should I know about my privacy?
Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online - for example on message boards, through email, or in chat areas - that information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.
Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and/or any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you're online.
