Shop.org - Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Shop.org respects your privacy and takes the handling of your personal information seriously. This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) explains how we treat the information we collect when you use the website and register at www.shop.org (the ”Site”), as well as the personal activity that takes place within the community section of Shop.org. Whenever you submit information via the Site, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

From time to time, Shop.org may change this Privacy Policy. The updated Privacy Policy will be posted on the Site, so that you will always be aware of the information Shop.org collects and how it is used. You should review the Privacy Policy periodically to see if any changes have been made. This Privacy Policy was last modified on February 26, 2008.

1. Age Restrictions. This Site is not intended for children under the age of 18. We will not knowingly collect personally identifiable information through this Site from visitors under 18 years of age.

2. Access to Community Section (MY SHOP.ORG). The Site contains a professional networking community for ecommerce professionals (“My Shop.org”). In order to join the My Shop.org community, or use any of the community, interactive, or customized features of the Site, you must be a member of Shop.org and log on by submitting your email address and password.

If you choose to join the Shop.org online community, you will be able to create a SHOP.ORG PROFILE PAGE. This page contains your name and title, your company name and the city and state where you do business. All other information you add to this page is optional and at your own discretion, including the ability to share photos, selected site keywords, create a message board post, create a group, and/or set up a poll.

The Personal Information you enter into your SHOP.ORG PROFILE PAGE will be available to other members of the Site. You will have options that control sharing your Personal Information on your SHOP.ORG PROFILE PAGE. You can select/modify these options in MY ACCOUNT: MY PREFERENCES. You can choose to be seen by all others within the My Shop.org community, by or nobody. If you choose not to have your profile seen, you will still be able to view/use all parts of the Site and receive emails/action alerts unless you choose to unsubscribe from these communications.

3. Uses of Information. If you opt to receive future communication from Shop.org and/or our partners, your email address will be used to deliver electronic communication. Any demographic information you input is used to understand our member demographics, so that we can improve the Site for our members. Unless you opted to receive information from Shop.org’s partner sites, your information will not be shared with any organizations or companies under any circumstance, within the limits of the law.

If at any point you wish to not receive any emails or other communication from Shop.org, and/or its partners, you can change your PREFERENCES in MY ACCOUNT, or e-mail us at membership@shop.org with the subject line ‘REMOVE FROM COMMUNICATIONS LIST’.

4. Message Boards. You may opt to post messages on message boards. Be aware that other members of Shop.org can view this information. Any Personal Information that is posted on the message boards is your responsibility. You are encouraged to exercise discretion when providing Personal Information in and through the message boards. Shop.org takes no responsibility for any information posted on the message boards. If you find anything posted on the Site to be inappropriate, please send details about the posting, including the page on which you saw it and the URL in an e-mail us at membership@shop.org with the words “Inappropriate Web Content” in the subject line. Shop.org reserves the right to discontinue any person’s account if the account violates the terms & conditions (accessible via a link on the footer of this site).

5. Instant Messaging (aka Shop.org Chat) and Mail (aka Shop.org Mail). You may opt to use our instant messaging service (aka Shop.org Chat) or mail service (aka Shop.org Mail). Any Personal Information that is posted is your responsibility. You are encouraged to exercise discretion when providing Personal Information in and through Shop.org Mail and Shop.org Chat. Shop.org takes no responsibility for information posted onto the site; however, if you find any message on the website deemed to be inappropriate, please send details about the message, including, if possible, a screen grab of the page to membership@shop.org with the words “Inappropriate Web Content” in the subject line. Shop.org reserves the right to discontinue any person’s account if the account violates the terms & conditions (accessible via a link on the footer of this site).

6. Surveys. We may provide you the opportunity to participate in surveys on our site. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and you therefore have a choice whether or not to disclose any information requested within the survey. We will not share the information you provide through a survey with other third parties unless we give you prior notice and you consent to such use.

7. Polls. We may provide you the opportunity to participate in community or member polls on our site. If you participate in a community or member poll, you will not be transmitting any Personal Information to the Site. Each time you participate in a poll, the Site will note that you have voted and you will not be able to vote again.

8. Information Sharing and Disclosure. We share aggregated demographic information about our user base with our partners and/or advertisers and/or investors. This information does not identify individual users. We may use it learn about the geographic location of our users or other ways to make the experience better for you. We will also use it to report aggregate statistics on site utilization to the investors and/or partners and advertisers in order to improve the user experience and to better enable Shop.org to continue offering the Site.

9. Service Providers. We may use an outside company to maintain the back end of the Site. This company does not retain, share, store, or use Personal Information for any other purposes.

10. Log Files. As is true of most Web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and click stream data.

We use this information - which does not identify individual users - to analyze trends, to administer the Site, to track users’ movements around the Site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We do not link this automatically collected data to personally identifiable information. We use a third-party tracking service [Google Analytics] that uses cookies [log files] to track non-personally identifiable information about visitors to the Site in the aggregate (i.e. user paths, entrance pages, exit pages, most visited pages, most clicked links) to help us understand better visitor behavior on the Site so we can improve the Site’s user interface and provide additional content in content categories that are most popular amongst Site users.

11. Cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s computer for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies on this Site. We do not link the information we store in cookies to any Personal Information you submit while on the Site. We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. We use session cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our Site. A session ID cookie expires when you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time. We set a persistent cookie to store your passwords, so you don’t have to enter it more than once. Persistent cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Site. You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browser’s “help” file. For more information about cookies, visit Wikipedia: Cookies. If you reject cookies, you may still use the Site, but your ability to use some areas of our Site may be limited.

Some of our business partners (e.g., advertisers, content partners) may use cookies on the Site or on pages that we link to. We have no access to or control over these cookies. See “Third Party Advertisers.”

This privacy statement covers the use of cookies on the Site only and does not cover the use of cookies by other sites whose material is displayed on/or linked to this Site.

12. Third Party Advertisers. The Site may display various sized rotating advertising banners and/or buttons. We share aggregate information only with those organizations/companies to let them know if their advertisement is being “clicked.”

13. Links to Other Sites. This Site contains links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by Shop.org. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. Links to other sites do not signify our endorsing their information. Shop.org will not give any of your Personal Information to the owners / administrators of these linked sites. However, if you decide to give any identifying information to the sponsors of these sites (for example purchasing an item) be advised that Shop.org is not be responsible for the ways in which the owners / administrators of these linked sites use the information that you give to them. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information.

14. Legal Disclaimer. Though we make every effort to preserve your privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order, or legal process served on the Site.

15. Access to Personally Identifiable Information. If your Personal Information changes, or if you no longer desire to use our service or the Site, you may correct, update, delete or deactivate it by by emailing us at membership@shop.org with the subject line REQUEST FOR: CHANGE TO ACCOUNT.

16. Security. The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the Personal Information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. However, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

17. Business Transitions. In the event Shop.org goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your Personal Information will likely be among the assets transferred. You will be notified via email of any such change in ownership or control of your Personal Information.

Contact Us About This Privacy Policy
If you have any questions about security on the Site, contact us via e-mail to membership@shop.org.