Bellevue.com Web Site Privacy Policy
Bellevue.com is dedicated to making your online experience as interesting, relevant and enjoyable as possible. We truly appreciate your presence on our site and at all times understand that you are our guest and should be treated accordingly. To ensure this, we have listed the components of our Privacy Policy below. This Privacy Policy governs your use of this web site and any content made available from or through this web site located at www.bellevue.com.com, including any subdomains thereof (the "Web Site"). The Web Site is made available by Bellevue.com LLC, d/b/a Bellevue.com.com ("we" or "us").
A. Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Terms
Bellevue.com is committed to protecting the privacy of our users. This privacy policy explains our current privacy practices with regard to the information we collect with respect to our web site. By visiting this Web Site or using the services offered on or through this Web Site, you acknowledge, understand and consent to terms of this Privacy Policy, as they may be amended from time to time. Please carefully review this policy so you understand our data privacy practices.
This Privacy Policy is incorporated into, and part of, the Bellevue.com Web Site Terms and Conditions of Use located at http://www.bellevue.com/terms.php (the "Terms of Use"), which governs your use of this Web Site in general. This Web Site is intended for users who are located in the United States of America. This Privacy Policy shall be interpreted under the laws of the United States.
B. What Information is Collected on this Web Site?
In order to make your visits to our Web Site and use of the services available on or through our Web Site as worthwhile as possible, we may ask you for Personal Information and we may collect certain information from your computer each time you visit us. "Personal Information" includes, for example, your name; gender; education; home address; business address; e-mail address; telephone, wireless or fax number; short message service or text message address or other wireless device address; instant messaging address; credit card and other payment information; demographic information and other information that may identify you as an individual or allow online or offline contact with you as an individual. This Privacy Policy explains, in general, what Personal Information and other information is collected on our Web Site and how the information is used, and with whom we may share such information. Please take a few minutes to read our Privacy Policy so that you understand how we treat your information.
B.1 User-Provided Information. We collect two types of personally identifying information from users: personal data (such as names and contact details) and aggregated data (such as information about traffic patterns on the Web Site, for example, how many users log onto the Web Site on a daily basis). We collect personal information from users of our Web Site, for example, through such users' registrations, activities, transactions and completion of online forms on our Web Site. Such information is collected, for example, when users register or subscribe for accounts or features on our Web Site, complete online forms, update member profiles, make online purchases, enter sweepstakes and contests, complete surveys, submit reviews, contribute to a chat room, bulletin board, list serve, blog, wiki or other open forum that we may make available on or through our Web Site, submit a comment or question to us using a "contact us" or similar feature on our Web Site, send us an e-mail, or in any other way submit personal information to us via our Web Site.
You may be able to send information about our products and services to your friends and family members through our Web Site by clicking on an "E-mail to Friend" or similar button on our Web Site or in an e-mail that we have sent you. In some of these cases (unless you simply forward our e-mail on your own), you may provide the name and e-mail address of your friend or family member to us. Such information will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.
You may also be able to send an online card to a friend or family member, or send them a gift or gift certificate. If so, you may be required to provide us with your friend's or family member's Personal Information. Such information will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.Premium Products and Services: While the majority of our website or services are offered free of charge, we may make available on or through the Web Site fee-based select premium products and services. We may collect and store billing and credit card information where required for select premium products and services and for certain purchase transactions (such as paying for premium products and services, display or classified advertisement). This information will only be shared with third parties who perform tasks required to complete the purchase transaction and agree to otherwise keep the information confidential. Examples of this include fulfilling orders and processing credit card payments.
B.2 Web Site Usage Information
a. Automatically Collected Information: The only information we automatically collect is that related to the use of the Site. This aggregated information is anonymous and is gathered through our servers' log files. These log files record generic, standard information, such as the number of visits our Web Site receives, the types of web browsers used, entry and exit points for the Web Site, IP address information, page views, and other web usage activity and data logged by our web servers. We use this information for internal system administration, to help diagnose problems with our server, to administer our Web Site, and to create better content aimed at our viewer's preferences.
b. Some of our Web site pages use a feature of your browser called a "cookie." Cookies, by themselves, are not able to extract any personal information from you. This cookie automatically identifies your computer - but not you - to our servers when you visit our site. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. We may use cookies to personalize or enhance your user experience. Most browsers automatically accept cookies as the default setting. You can modify the setting to reject cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the sites you visit by editing browser options. If you reject cookies by changing your browser settings then be aware that this may , preclude you from using, or negatively impact the display or function of, the Web Site or certain areas or features of the Web Site.
C. How is the Personal Information Used?
C.1 We use both personal and aggregated information we collect for multiple purposes. The Personal Information may be used to improve the content of the Web Site, to customize the content and/or layout of the Web Site for each individual user, and to notify users about updates to the Web Site or promotional offers or opportunities that we believe will be of interest to you. We will use the Personal Information you provide to our Web Site, for example, to respond to your requests and to provide you with our product and service offerings. For example, we will respond to your requests and inquiries and provide you with the services and features offered on or through our Web Site. We may also use your Personal Information to maintain our internal record keeping. In addition, we may send you notices (for example, in the form of e-mails, mailings, and the like), and otherwise correspond with you, about products, services, companies and events, sponsored by us and others, that we think might interest you.
In addition, we may use information you provide us through e-mails, Q & A, and in response to polls and surveys for editorial purposes, and may use your name and any stories you provide us in articles published online. Please be advised that any such submissions may be used by us for any lawful purpose. If you provide us with personal anecdotes, they may be attributed to you and we may include your user name and any personal information that you provide in an open forum on this Web Site, as provided in Section D.1 below, to facilitate such attribution. We can edit, rewrite, use, and reuse the content, including your name, likeness, photograph, and biographical information you provide, in any way and any media whether now known or invented in the future, with or without attribution. You agree that any content you send will comply with the Terms of Use.
C.2 Bellevue.com E-Mail Newsletters: During the Bellevue.com registration process, you will have the opportunity to subscribe to periodic e-mail newsletters. You may also sign up to receive e-mails at any time by accessing your profile in the Bellevue.com Member Center section. We send both editorial e-mail newsletters and messages about services offered by Bellevue.com.
If you would like to opt-out of these emails, you may manage your subscriptions and preferences in the Bellevue.com Member Center section. If you experience difficulty with the unsubscribe process, feel free to contact us at info@bellevue.com and provide all possible e-mail addresses along with the name of the newsletter from which you would like to unsubscribe.
C.3 Other Communications from Bellevue.com: We may use the e-mail address provided by you at registration to contact you regarding (1) account status (including confirmation of registration), (2) major changes to the Web Site or Services and or to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and (3) participation in user surveys, asking for feedback about the Web Site and existing or prospective products and services, as well as information to better understand our users and (4) information regarding products and services that may be of interest. You may opt-out at any time from any primarily commercial messages and user surveys by following the opt-out instructions in the e-mail.
C.4 User Generated Content (including comments, profiles, and photo uploads): We offer opportunities for you to engage in public activities on Bellevue.com, including submitting comments and photos in a number of areas throughout the Web Site and Services. Any information you disclose in your submissions, along with your screen name or ID, or any image or photo, becomes public and may be used by Bellevue.com for online and offline promotional or commercial uses in any and all media.
If you choose to engage in public activities on the site, you should be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users of these areas, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these forums.
Except as may be expressly permitted in connection with one of the Web Site's services, you also may not offer to buy or sell any product or service on or through your Submitted Materials. We will not accept responsibility for any information included in any Submitted Materials created or posted by users. You alone are responsible for the content and consequences of any and all of your activities and you submit Submitted Materials at your own risk.
If you choose to engage in public activities on Bellevue.com, we may track and aggregate these public activities on your profile page. "Public activities" are actions you take on Bellevue.com that are designed to be visible to other users, including but not limited to comments on articles or blogs, discussion groups, personal blogs and photo uploads. We may also feature, either through automation or by editor selection, specific user profiles or public activities to be promoted anywhere on the Web Site or Services.
D. Do We Share Personal Information and Web Site Usage Information with Others? If you have registered to our Web Site, we will not sell, rent, swap or authorize any third party to use your e-mail address or any information that personally identifies you for marketing purposes without your permission.
D.1 Public Forums. When you contribute to a public area or feature of our Web Site, such as a chat room, bulletin board, garage sale listings, submit reviews or comments, list serve, blog, wiki or other open forum that we may make available on or through our Web Site, the information that you submit will be made available to the general public and will not be considered "Personal Information" for purposes of this Privacy Policy.
D.2 Co-sponsored Contests, Sweepstakes and Offerings. Some of our contests, sweepstakes and other offerings may be co-sponsored by another company. In those situations, the information we obtain from you in connection with such contest, sweepstakes or offering may be shared with our co-sponsor. In those situations, our co-sponsors will have the right to use your information for their own purposes, in accordance with their own policies. If you do not wish for the information we obtain from you to be shared with our co-sponsor, then do not enter such contest, sweepstake or other offering or otherwise provide to us any Personal Information in connection with such contest, sweepstake or other offering. We are not responsible for how our co-sponsors may use your information.
D.3 Compliance with Legal Process. We may disclose Personal Information if we are required to do so by law or we in good faith believe that such action is necessary to (1) comply with the law or with legal process, including but not limited to in response to court orders and subpoenas; (2) protect and defend our rights and property; (3) protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our websites; or (4) protect the personal safety or property of our users or the public (among other things, this means that if you provide false information or attempt to pose as someone else, information about you may be disclosed as part of any investigation into your actions). In some situations, we may share your Personal Information, on a confidential basis, with third parties who perform a particular service on our behalf, such as sending e-mails.
E. Security. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information and email addresses submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. We will have no liability for disclosure of your information due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties during or after transmission. In the unlikely event that we believe that the security of your Personal Information in our possession or control may have been compromised, we may seek to notify you of that development. If a notification is appropriate, we would endeavor to do so as promptly as possible under the circumstances, and, to the extent we have your e-mail address, we may notify you by e-mail or by other means as required by law. You consent to our use of e-mail as a means of such notification.
F. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We know that your privacy is very important to you. We welcome questions and comments regarding this Privacy Policy, so feel free to contact us at info [at] bellevue.com. We reserve the right to change or update this Privacy Policy, or any other of our policies or practices, at any time, and will notify users of this Web Site by posting such changed or updated Privacy Policy on this page. Any changes or updates will be effective immediately upon posting to this Web Site. Under certain circumstances, we may also elect to notify you of changes or updates to our Privacy Policy by additional means, such as posting a notice on the front page of our Web Site or sending you an e-mail. We encourage you to check back at our Web Site periodically if you are concerned about how your information is used. Your continued use of the Web Site constitutes your agreement to our privacy policy and any updates.
Effective date: May 1, 2009.