PRIVACY STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBLE ONLINE MARKETING
The Access Business Communications, Inc. (ABCI) Marketing
information usage practices are based on two beliefs: first,
that protecting user privacy is essential to the growth and
prosperity of the Internet; second, that a personalized web
experience can provide significant benefits to Internet end
users if done properly. In accordance with these beliefs, the
ABCI Network creates results for advertisers and publishers in
revolutionary ways without compromising individual privacy.
CONSUMER PRIVACY
I. INFORMATION WE COLLECT: INDIVIDUAL INTERNET CONSUMERS
A. Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
The ABCI Network sites are designed to promote and facilitate
the business of the ABCI companies with advertisers and
marketers. These sites are not directed towards individual
Internet consumers nor do they seek any PII from such consumers.
PII may be collected should a consumer contact a ABCI company on
his/her own initiative or respond to a ABCI advertisement and
provide any PII. Under no circumstances does the ABCI Network
request or collect sensitive PII such as an Internet user's
medical/health conditions; racial or ethnic origin; political,
religious or philosophical beliefs or affiliations; trade union
membership or sex life.
B. Non-Personally Identifiable Information (Non-PII).
When a consumer responds to or views an Internet advertisement
served by a ABCI company (such as through third-party Web sites
or email solicitation) or visits a ABCI Network site, we send a
cookie and/or gif file ("Cookies") to assign an anonymous,
unique identifier to the end user's Internet browser. Cookies
are small data files commonly used on the Internet to help
optimize and personalize the Internet end user experience and
identify repeat visitors to Web sites.
The function of these Cookies is to provide ABCI with
information for the purpose of paying third-parties commissions
when an Internet user clicks on a link, creates a lead, or makes
a purchase on an advertiser's Web site; and also to optimize and
personalize the Internet user's experience. If the Internet user
re-visits the advertiser's site directly, ABCI is able to
continue to track the user's activities on the advertiser's site
and reward the third-party Web site that referred the user. We
reserve the right to retain all ad delivery and reporting data
as long as may be reasonably necessary for accounting and audit
purposes.
Like most standard Web site servers, we use log files to collect
Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service
provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, and
date/time stamp. We use the information to analyze site usage,
administer the site, understand usage and navigation trends in
aggregate, and determine the relevance of content. This
information, however, is not linked to any personally
identifiable information.
We also may use Internet browsing and online purchase data
associated with an anonymous identifier to develop a predictive
statistical user profile of the end user's needs and interests.
ABCI does not use Cookies or log files to collect end users'
names, physical addresses, email addresses, phone numbers,
credit card numbers, social security numbers, or any other
information which can be used to identify a specific person. We
may match the IP address and user profile with email address
data obtained separately in order to better target campaigns to
meet user's interests, but will not share this information with
third parties.
For improved audience targeting, some ABCI Network sites use
marketing technology that allows advertisers to add
non-personally-identifying demographic information, such as age,
gender, area code, or ZIP code, to the non-identifiable profile
data. Thus, there is no direct connection between an end user's
online choices and his or her personal identity.
In some cases, ABCI receives and records partial email addresses
of Internet users, only in circumstances where the user
voluntarily provided its identity and contact information
through the Advertiser's site or third-party marketer's site.
This partial email address does not enable ABCI to personally
identify an Internet User.
II. INFORMATION SHARING
The ABCI Network may make any PII provided in responding to an
advertisement available to the company sponsoring the
advertisement, as well as to other trusted third parties in
accordance with the terms of this privacy policy. As a result,
you may receive information on additional products, services and
offers that may be of interest to you.
The ABCI Network and/or our marketing partners may enhance
and/or merge PII about consumers who have opted-in to receive
marketing communications with commercially-available third party
data collected from other sources in an effort to ensure that
the messages being sent to the consumer in online and/or offline
marketing programs are relevant to their interests. In the event
we enhance and/or merge such personally identifiable information
with data collected from other sources, we will take reasonable
steps to maintain the integrity and quality of that information.
The ABCI Network may share PII (including information that has
been enhanced with information from other sources) with
advertisers, third party marketers, our affiliated entities for
their online and/or offline marketing programs or in connection
with the sale, merger, consolidation, change in control,
transfer of substantial asset, reorganization or liquidation of
any of the ABCI Network companies. While ABCI strongly
encourages clients and partners to adopt responsible approaches
to online marketing, ABCI is not responsible for the information
practices of clients or their partners. The collection, use, and
disclosure of information by clients and partners are subject to
their respective privacy policies, which may differ from ABCI's
policy.
The ABCI Network may release account and any other personal
information when we believe release is appropriate to respond to
a subpoena or otherwise comply with the law; enforce or apply
our
Terms and Conditions
and other agreements; or protect the rights, property, or safety
of ABCI or others. This includes exchanging information with
other companies and organizations for fraud protection.
III. CONSUMER CHOICE AND ACCESS
A. Opting Out.
Some ABCI Cookies have an "opt-out" option. This process does
not remove the ABCI Cookie from your system; it simply replaces
it with an opt-out Cookie that does not contain any unique
identifiers. If this site provides such a process it is detailed
below.
Some of ABCI's Cookies do not have an "opt-out" option, yet you
still have the option of blocking the use of Cookies by changing
a setting in your Internet browser. Please see your browser
supplier's Web site for details on how to do this.
This site does not maintain a process for an individual consumer
to opt-out of a ABCI ad serving Cookie.
B. Accessing Consumer Information.
Because they are not directed towards individual Internet users,
most ABCI Network sites do not maintain a process for an
individual consumer to review and/or request changes to any PII
collected.
Except as provided below, this site does not maintain a process
for an individual consumer to access his/her PII.
IV. SECURITY
The ABCI Network employs industry standard security measures to
ensure the security of all data. Any data that is stored on
ABCI's servers is treated as proprietary and confidential and is
not available to the public. ABCI has an internal security
policy with respect to the confidentiality of customer and other
data, allowing access only to those employees or third parties
who have a need to know such information for the purpose of
effectively delivering ABCI products and services by means of
user login and password requirements. The ABCI Network routinely
evaluates its data security practices to identify security
threats or opportunities for improvement.
No transmission of data over the Internet is guaranteed to be
completely secure. It may be possible for third parties not
under the control of ABCI to intercept or access transmissions
or private communications unlawfully. While we strive to protect
your PII, ABCI cannot ensure or warrant the security of any
information you transmit to us. You acknowledge and assume this
risk when communicating with a ABCI Network company.
V. CONSENT AND CHANGES
The ABCI Network may find it necessary or be legally obligated
to update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we
will post those changes on this page and update the effective
date so that you are always aware of the information we collect,
how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it.
Except as otherwise required by law, modifications to this
Privacy Policy will not affect the privacy of data collected by
ABCI prior to the effective date of the policy change.
VI. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY AND SPAM
The ABCI Network is very sensitive to the issue of children's
privacy and makes every effort to protect the privacy of
children using the Internet. ABCI's Web site, products, and
services are not developed for or directed at children. Children
(persons under the age of 18) are not eligible to do business
with us and we do not collect personal information from any
person we actually know is under the age of 13.
The
ABCI Network is committed to proper Internet practices and full
compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. § 7701). It
is our policy to prohibit the sending of unsolicited or "Spam"
e-mail by ABCI or any of its marketing partners.
Please note that under the CAN-SPAM Act, an advertiser is
required to provide an opt-out mechanism for consumers to
unsubscribe from future emails about the advertiser. Although
not required to by law, many email marketers also include an
opt-out mechanism to enable consumers to be removed from their
mailing list. This has caused some confusion for consumers in
opting out. The table below clarifies which opt-out mechanism
you should use for commercial emails.
|
To receive no further emails . . . |
Opt-Out Mechanism to Use |
|
about the advertiser |
Advertiser's |
|
from the email marketing company |
Opt-Out Mechanism to Use |
|
from the advertiser or email marketing company |
Both |
VII. DATA
PROCESSING/SAFE HARBOR
The European Union ("EU") maintains strict privacy laws. These
rules differ significantly from US laws. To reconcile these
differences, the US and the EU have created a Safe Harbor that
defines mutually acceptable privacy operations. ABCI, Inc.
adheres to the Safe Harbor principals. For more information see
www.export.gov/safeharbor.
By providing information to ABCI Network sites, you acknowledge
that they operate in the United States and agree to (i) permit
ABCI to transmit and use your User information anywhere
necessary, including across international boundaries, to affect
the services and transactions provided by this Site; and (ii)
that such use by ABCI shall be subject to the terms and
conditions stated in this Privacy Statement and our
Terms and
Conditions.
VIII. DIGITAL POLICY FORUM
ABCI, Inc. is a member of the Digital Policy Forum ("DPF"). The
DPF is made up of online marketing, analytics, advertising,
publishing, and email companies that are committed to examining
and developing responses to important privacy and consumer
protection issues in emerging media.
IX. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, THIRD PARTY INFORMATION &
LANGUAGE
YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE OVER PRIVACY IS
SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND
OUR
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
(INCLUDING LIMITATIONS ON DAMAGES, AND ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES).
YOU AGREE THAT ABCI'S LIABILITY FOR ANY BREACH OF THIS PRIVACY
POLICY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF THE VALUE OF THE
TRANSACTIONS OR SERVICES PROVIDED TO YOU BY ABCI OR $250 TO THE
EXTENT SUCH CLAIM IS NOT OTHERWISE BARRED BY OUR TERMS AND
CONDITIONS. You also agree that you have provided notice to, and
obtained consent from, any third party individuals whose
personal data you supply to ABCI with regard to: (a) the
purposes for which such third party's personal data has been
collected; (b) the intended recipients or categories of
recipients of the third party's personal data; (c) which of the
third party's data are obligatory and which data, if any, are
voluntary; and (d) how the third party can access and, if
necessary, rectify the data held about them. It is the express
will of the parties that this agreement and all related
documents have been drawn up in English.
CLIENT
PRIVACY
I. INFORMATION WE COLLECT: ADVERTISERS AND PUBLISHERS
A. Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
The ABCI Network collects personally identifiable information
from all Advertisers and Publishers (collectively "Clients")
wishing to work with any ABCI company. The collection of this
information is a part of our normal business practices.
Advertisers or their representatives will be asked to provide
personally identifiable data through the host sign up and
registration process. Examples of personally identifiable data
that may be requested include name, address, phone number, email
address, and social security number, tax ID number, etc. The
ABCI Network will never request or collect data from a Client on
subject areas including medical/health conditions; racial or
ethnic origin; political, religious or philosophical beliefs or
affiliations; trade union membership or sex life.
B. Non-Personally Identifiable Information (Non-PII).
The ABCI Network may use cookies and log files to optimize and
personalize the Clients' experience and allow ABCI to monitor
site traffic patterns.
II. INFORMATION SHARING
The ABCI Network does not use any personally identifiable data
about a Client for profiling purposes. All PII that ABCI
collects from Clients is principally intended for administrative
needs (e.g., accounting and pay-out and performance reporting),
for which purpose such data are required.
The ABCI Network may provide email address and basic account
data to an Advertiser or Publisher to facilitate a potential or
continued working relationship between the Advertiser and
Publisher. Once an affiliation is established, Advertiser and
Publisher (or their agents or other third parties as designated
by a Client) are privy to their respective campaign information
and PII, including anonymous Internet user transaction data for
Internet users referred by Publisher and any other information
that a Client may instruct ABCI to disclose. While ABCI strongly
encourages Clients to adopt responsible approaches to online
marketing, ABCI is not responsible for the information practices
of Clients or their partners. The collection, use, and
disclosure of information by clients and partners are subject to
their respective privacy policies, which may differ from ABCI's
policy.
Periodically ABCI Network sites may use Clients' PII in order to
communicate with our network of hosts via email newsletters or
other avenues to offer strategic marketing information and other
communications to assist in business related activities. In the
event that a Client of the ABCI Network wishes not to have their
PII used for these purposes, they may elect to opt-out from
future communications. For more information on opting-out please
see the "Client Choice Concerning Data Collection" section
below.
Except as may be agreed between a ABCI company and a Client, all
PII data provided by individual Clients will be kept in strict
confidence by ABCI Network companies and will be treated with
the same level of respect and care that they treat other
proprietary information and trade secrets. ABCI will never sell,
rent, exchange or barter any personally identifiable Client
information to or with any third party for financial gain or
marketing purposes. The ABCI Network may, from time to time,
provide such information to certain third-party administrative
vendors for efficiency purposes in providing administrative or
program management services such as billing, delivery and
payouts. Any third-party vendor so used has agreed to protect
the confidentiality of information provided by ABCI.
The ABCI Network may share PII in connection with our affiliated
entities or in connection with the sale, merger, consolidation,
change in control, transfer of substantial asset, or
reorganization or liquidation of any of the ABCI Network
companies. The ABCI Network may release account and any other
personal information when we believe release is appropriate to
respond to a subpoena or otherwise comply with the law; enforce
or apply our
Advertiser Terms of Use*,
Publisher Terms of Use*
and other agreements; or protect the rights, property, or safety
of ABCI or others. This includes exchanging information with
other companies and organizations for fraud protection.
III. CLIENT CHOICE AND ACCESS
When a Client registers for services with a ABCI Network
company, PII is required as a part of doing business. ABCI's
primary intent in collecting personally identifiable information
is for administrative purposes including accounting and payouts.
However, the ABCI Network may periodically use personally
identifiable information for marketing and communication
purposes targeted to our Clients. Clients wishing not to receive
such communications from a ABCI Network company may do so by
"opting-out" during the registration and application procedure
process. A Client may change their "opt" status at anytime
during their tenure with ABCI by accessing their online account.
When a Client logs on any browser-based ABCI Network reporting
system, a "Cookie" is placed within their computer. The purpose
of the Cookie is to allow ABCI to validate the identity of the
Client and maintain the security and privacy of the Client's
account data. This Cookie is required to log into ABCI's
reporting systems and there is no method to opt-out of this
Cookie.
IV. SECURITY
The ABCI Network employs industry standard security measures to
ensure the security of all data. Any data that is stored on
ABCI's servers is treated as proprietary and confidential and is
not available to the public. ABCI has an internal security
policy with respect to the confidentiality of customer and other
data, allowing access only to those employees or third parties
who have a need to know such information for the purpose of
effectively delivering ABCI products and services by means of
user login and password requirements. The ABCI Network routinely
evaluates its data security practices to identify security
threats or opportunities for improvement.
No transmission of data over the Internet is guaranteed to be
completely secure. It may be possible for third parties not
under the control of ABCI to intercept or access transmissions
or private communications unlawfully. While we strive to protect
your PII, ABCI cannot ensure or warrant the security of any
information you transmit to us. You acknowledge and assume this
risk when communicating with a ABCI Network company.
V. CONSENT AND CHANGES
The ABCI Network may find it necessary or be legally obligated
to update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we
will post those changes on this page and update the effective
date so that you are always aware of the information we collect,
how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it.
Except as otherwise required by law, modifications to this
Privacy Policy will not affect the privacy of data collected by
ABCI prior to the effective date of the policy change.
VI. DATA PROCESSING/SAFE HARBOR
The European Union ("EU") maintains strict privacy laws. These
rules differ significantly from US laws. To reconcile these
differences, the US and the EU have created a Safe Harbor that
defines mutually acceptable privacy operations. ABCI, Inc.
adheres to the Safe Harbor principals. For more information see
www.export.gov/safeharbor.
By providing information to ABCI Network sites, you acknowledge
that they operate in the United States and agree to (i) permit
ABCI to transmit and use your User information anywhere
necessary, including across international boundaries, to effect
the services and transactions provided by this Site; and (ii)
that such use by ABCI shall be subject to the terms and
conditions stated in this Privacy Statement and our
Advertiser
Terms of Use*
and
Publisher Terms of Use*.
VII. DIGITAL POLICY FORUM
ABCI, Inc. is a member of the Digital Policy Forum ("DPF"). The
DPF is made up of online marketing, analytics, advertising,
publishing, and email companies that are committed to examining
and developing responses to important privacy and consumer
protection issues in emerging media.
VIII. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, THIRD PARTY INFORMATION &
LANGUAGE
YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE OVER PRIVACY IS
SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND
OUR
ADVERTISER TERMS OF USE*
and
PUBLISHER TERMS OF USE*
(INCLUDING LIMITATIONS ON DAMAGES, AND ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES).
YOU AGREE THAT ABCI'S LIABILITY FOR ANY BREACH OF THIS PRIVACY
POLICY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE VALUE OF THE TRANSACTIONS OR
SERVICES PROVIDED TO YOU BY ABCI TO THE EXTENT SUCH CLAIM IS NOT
OTHERWISE BARRED BY OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS. You also agree
that you have provided notice to, and obtained consent from, any
third party individuals whose personal data you supply to ABCI
with regard to: (a) the purposes for which such third party's
personal data has been collected; (b) the intended recipients or
categories of recipients of the third party's personal data; (c)
which of the third party's data are obligatory and which data,
if any, are voluntary; and (d) how the third party can access
and, if necessary, rectify the data held about them. It is the
express will of the parties that this agreement and all related
documents have been drawn up in English.
