|
Introduction:
FreeSpeechStore.com provides posting/retrieving
environments on the Internet to enable members to express themselves
and share their ideas and interests by creating and participating
in speech oriented virtual communities.
FreeSpeechStore.com is a self- sufficient/user
funded site and receives no support from advertisers. This is a
company policy predicated on giving users unbiased free speech posting/retrieval
capabilities. We understand that our success to provide all of the
services and features we offer and will offer in the future is dependent
on the goodwill and loyalty of our members and visitors.
To promote trust and confidence in the Internet
and in FreeSpeechStore.com, we are providing a full disclosure of
our privacy practices and information uses.
One of our goals at FreeSpeechStore.com is
to respect the privacy rights of anyone who joins FreeSpeechStore.com
or visits any of our communities. Except as set forth within this
privacy statement and within the scope of our community and content
guidelines, we do not release personally identifiable information
about our individual members and visitors without their permission.
Our view is that our members and visitors
are the ones who should generally control whether or not they share
any personal information and how that information is used if it
is shared. Furthermore, we believe that it is our responsibility
to provide something of value in exchange for any information shared;
in our case, free speech forums and other free services.
We appreciate your interest in and support
of FreeSpeechStore.com and pledge to you our continued commitment
to make our services better and better while enabling you; our members
and visitors; to be comfortable with respect to your online privacy.
To contact FreeSpeechStore.com about technical
problems, to report a violation of our guidelines, addig a link
to our web site, or any other item of interest or concern, please
contact us by clicking
here.
FreeSpeechStore.com respects the privacy
of all those who spend any amount of time in our communities. We
do collect information from our members and visitors. This is a
statement of the use of the information that we collect, and if
or how any of it is disseminated.
If you have questions regarding this Statement
of Privacy or feel that FreeSpeechStore.com has violated it in any
way, please contact us by clicking
here, so that we may address this issue. |
|
What information
do we compile and use? And what methods do we use to collect information? |
| We give notice to everyone prior to collecting
any personally identifiable information. Such personally identifiable
information will be used only for the purposes stated at the time
of collection, and within this Statement on Privacy.
FreeSpeechStore.com does not share any personally
identifiable information with outside parties for commercial purposes,
unless stated at the time of collection. The option is given, at
the time of collection, not to allow FreeSpeechStore.com to share
such information with outside parties. If such an option is taken,
we will not share such information with outside parties; however,
we do reserve the right to release that information concerning a
member when the member partakes in an illegal activity, or for a
member who we believe is in violation of our content guidelines,
even without a subpoena, warrant, or other court order. FreeSpeechStore.com
hopes that all third parties involved adhere to our policies regarding
the privacy of our members; however, TheFreeSpeechStore.com does
not assume any responsibility for any actions of third parties.
For everyone who visits the FreeSpeechStore.com
domain, we log IP addresses, the type of operating system that the
visitor's computer uses, and the type of browser software used by
the visitor. From the IP address, we can determine the Internet
Service Provider and the geographic location of the visitor's point
of connectivity. If a visitor wants to simply use FreeSpeechStore.com
in a generic way (i.e. reading, but no personalization and no posting),
they are not required to register. However, if a visitor wants to
take advantage of the personalized products and services offered
at FreeSpeechStore.com (i.e. automatic login, subscriptions, posting,
etc.), we require that the visitor become a registered member by
providing us with their name, zip/postal code, username, password
and valid email address.
We use the aggregate data we collect to perform
statistical analyses of the collective characteristics and behavior
of our members and visitors, to measure overall patron demographics
and interests regarding specific areas of the FreeSpeechStore.com
domain and to analyze how and where to use our resources. We also
use the aggregate data collected to calculate and scrutinize the
number of people who have seen and clicked on our site. We also
use cookies to help us determine how long users view particular
content, which particular content (e.g. speeches) users view, which
content or sites users link to, and which FreeSpeechStore.com services
members and visitors use.
Currently, FreeSpeechStore.com is using cookies,
and, as with all online companies who do, we are continually evaluating
our use of this information. A "cookie" is a file transferred
from a web site to the hard drive of your computer so that the web
site may track your activities on the web site A cookie will not
let a web site know any personally identifying information about
you, such as your real name, address, etc., unless you previously
provided that information at the web site or have set your preferences
in your browser to provide that information. FreeSpeechStore.com
is not generally interested in any one individual and does not collect
personally identifiable information about any one person using cookies.
Cookies are a way for us to track who has seen what speech, etc.,
how often pages are visited, and what the most popular areas of
FreeSpeechStore.com are, so that we can improve our site and services
and can keep from showing you the same information too many times.
We do not monitor the use of free services,
unless prompted by a request from a legal authority or in instances
in which the activities of the user are interfering in the daily
operation of FreeSpeechStore.com. We do use the information provided
in the registration process as we have set forth within this Statement
on Privacy and within the scope of our community and content guidelines.
In our free speech forums, we do save all
posted messages. This speech content is kept for an indeterminate
amount of time and is accessible to all members and visitors at
FreeSpeechStore.com. All posted messages created by an individual
are accessible as a grouped listing via our author profile feature,
but this profile does not include personally identifiable information.
FreeSpeechStore.com may also choose to highlight some of the best
speeches offered on its web site If a member or visitor wishes to
remove one of his or her own posted messages from FreeSpeechStore.com,
he or she may do so by following our article nuking instructions.
We reserve the right to collect any and all
e-mail addresses of those who communicate with FreeSpeechStore.com
via e-mail. We use the information provided so that we may respond
to the e-mail and support our members and visitors. We do not allow
our members or visitors to use FreeSpeechStore.com for the purpose
of gathering personally identifiable information for commercial
or unlawful purposes.
FreeSpeechStore.com does not, however, control
the acts of its members and visitors. All members and visitors should
be aware that, when they disclose personal information such as their
actual name, member name, e-mail address, etc., the information
may be collected and used by others to send that person unsolicited
e-mail from other parties, outside FreeSpeechStore.com. In the event
that you encounter any FreeSpeechStore.com member who is improperly
collecting or using information about users, please contact us by
clicking
here. |
How
do we internally use the data about our members and visitors?
|
| We use the aggregate data we collect to
perform statistical analyses of the collective characteristics and
behavior of our members and visitors, to measure user demographics
and interests regarding specific areas of the FreeSpeechStore.com
domain and to analyze how and where to invest our resources. We
also use the aggregate data collected for scrutinization as to numbers
of people who have seen and "clicked" on the various areas
of our site. Without the data collected, we would not know what
the most popular regions of FreeSpeechStore.com are, we would not
be able to provide an effective forum for members and guests, nor
would we be able to measure which promotions work. |
| How
do we disseminate the information we collect? |
| During the registration process for FreeSpeechStore.com
membership, an individual is presented with the choice of whether
or not to receive regular communication and promotional information
from FreeSpeechStore.com or our affiliates. For those who elect
to receive these materials from FreeSpeechStore.com or third parties,
and who indicate that they do in their profile, we do release personally
identifiable information. Personally identifiable information released
includes: real name, zip code, and e-mail address supplied in the
FreeSpeechStore.com registration and personal profile.
FreeSpeechStore.com limits the sending of
e-mail solicitations to members who have requested this type of
information/communication. Such solicitations are limited in that
they, among other things, must clearly indicate who the originator
of the e-mail is, and provide the member with a method of opting
out from receiving future communications.
If you are receiving e-mail from a third
party who states that it is specifically associated with FreeSpeechStore.com,
yet you indicated on your registration or profile editor that you
did not want to receive promotional material from FreeSpeechStore.com
or its affiliates, please first attempt to follow the third party's
removal procedures. Then verify that your personal profile is correct.
If it is incorrect or does indeed indicate that you chose to not
receive the e-mail, please contact us by clicking
here, and we will promptly investigate why this
error occurred.
FreeSpeechStore.com does not share personally
identifiable information regarding FreeSpeechStore.com members who
elect in their registration form or on their personal profile not
to receive promotional communication.
FreeSpeechStore.com encourages all third
parties involved to adhere to our policies regarding the privacy
of our members, but FreeSpeechStore.com does not assume any responsibility
for any actions of third parties.
We respond to subpoenas, warrants, or other
court orders regarding information that is contained within our
access logs concerning any member or visitor. We also reserve the
right to release that information concerning a member who we believe
is in violation of our content guidelines, even without a subpoena,
warrant, or other court order. We cooperate with law enforcement
agencies in identifying those who use our servers for illegal activities.
We also reserve the right to report any illegal activity to law
enforcement for prosecution. |
| Do
we allow an opt-out from the collection of data on an individual? |
| During the registration process for FreeSpeechStore.com
membership, we do require that individuals supply personal information.
The fields that we require to be completed include first name, last
name, zip code, email address, username and password. We also ask
if that individual would like to receive service update information
from FreeSpeechStore.com and its affiliates/links, great offers
from our affiliates, and notification, via email, of speeches involving
"key Words" identified by the member.
If, at any time, you decide that you would
like to discontinue receiving promotional/informative communications
from FreeSpeechStore.com or its affiliates, please indicate your
new choice by using the Contact
Us Email page. |
| What
is our policy on removing information about a person? |
| We keep all general information for an
indeterminate amount of time. All personal information of our members
may be changed at any time by using the Edit
Login Preferences page.
If a member ceases to use FreeSpeechStore.com,
there will be residual information which will remain within the
FreeSpeechStore.com database and records. The residual information
will not be used for commercial purposes; however, from time to
time, we may contact non-active members.
We do not collect information from people under the age of 18 years
of age.
FreeSpeechStore.com believes that it is particularly
important to protect the privacy of children online. Note: FreeSpeechtore.com
currently defines children as minors under the age of 13 years old. |
| In
which ways may I protect my privacy on the Internet and within FreeSpeechStore.com? |
| Know the risks. When you communicate
with others online, you should be aware that, when disclosing personal
information such as one's actual name, member name, e-mail address,
etc., on a web page, in a speech forum, or in any area of our site,
that information may be collected and used by others to send a person
unsolicited e-mail from other parties, outside FreeSpeechstore.com
Some of the e-mail you receive may be useful to you, but some may
not be. TheFreeSpeechStore.com cannot prevent information gathering
robots called "harvesters" from traversing our domain, but
in an effort to curtail unsolicited e-mail, we do our best to block
these harvesters. You should also be aware that, although FreeSpeechStore.com
respects the privacy of your e-mail messages, it makes no representation,
warranties or commitments concerning our ability to keep your e-mail
messages private.
Educate yourself. Search the Web for as much
information as you can about how to protect your privacy. Look for
a privacy statement in the sites you visit. One good place to start
is at TRUSTe -- an independent, non-profit privacy initiative dedicated
to building users' trust and confidence in the Internet.
Tell your children: "Never talk to strangers!"
Tell them to not give out their names or other personal information.
They should also be instructed not to fill out any forms or register
at any domain without your knowledge and consent.
Use PGP (Pretty Good Privacy at www.pgp.com)
or another encryption program.
Understand the relative ease involved in
cracking a password. Recognize, too, the necessity of inconvenience
when passwords are involved, such as when you have to enter passwords
with weird characters with those very long and awkward keystroke
combinations. We only give member account passwords to the e-mail
address that a given member account is registered to. To prevent
access to your FreeSpeechStore.com account by anyone who should
not have access, never give your password out to anyone, and always
log out when working at a public computer. If someone claims to
represent FreeSpeechStore.com in an e-mail or a forum and asks for
your FreeSpeechStore.com password, do not honor the request. We
never ask for passwords, except on our site in the places you need
to access our system.
|
|
