ADVANCE Newsmagazines Privacy Policy
This
Privacy Statement discloses the information gathering and dissemination
practices of Merion Publications, Inc. in connection with
www.advanceweb.com and all other Web sites owned and operated by Merion
Publications, Inc. Merion Publications, Inc. can be contacted by mail
at 2900 Horizon Drive, King of Prussia, PA 19406, attention Manager,
Public Relations, by phone at 610-278-1400, or by e-mail at advance@merion.com.
1. Collection of Personal Information from Site Visitors
Merion Publications, Inc. may collect and/or track (1) the home server
domain names, e-mail addresses, type of client computer, files
downloaded, search engine used, operating system, and type of Web
browser of visitors to Merion Publications, Inc.' Web site, (2) the
e-mail addresses of visitors that communicate with Merion Publications,
Inc. via e-mail, (3) information knowingly provided by the visitor in
online forms, registration forms, surveys, e-mail, contest entries, and
other online avenues (including demographic and personal profile data),
and (4) aggregate and user-specific information on which pages visitors
access.
Merion Publications, Inc. may place Internet "cookies" on
visitors' hard drives. Internet cookies save data about individual
visitors, such as the visitor's name, password, user-name, shopping
cart, screen preferences, and the pages of a site viewed by the
visitor. When the visitor revisits Merion Publications, Inc.' Web site,
Merion Publications, Inc. may recognize the visitor by the Internet
cookie and customize the visitor's experience accordingly. Visitors may
decline Internet cookies, if any, by using the appropriate feature of
their Web client software, if available.
When a visitor performs a
search within Merion
Publications, Inc.' Web site, Merion Publications, Inc. may record
information identifying the visitor or linking the visitor to the
search performed. Merion Publications, Inc. may also record limited
information for every search request and uses that information only to
solve technical problems with the service and to calculate overall
usage statistics.
2. Use of Personal Data Collected
Personal data collected by Merion Publications, Inc. may be used by
Merion Publications, Inc. for many reasons, for example, for editorial
and feedback purposes, for marketing and promotional purposes, for a
statistical analysis of users' behavior, for product development, for
content improvement, or to customize the content and layout of Merion
Publications, Inc.' site. Aggregate data on visitors' home servers may
be used for internal purposes or provided to third parties such as
marketing firms. Individually identifying information, such as names,
postal and e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and other personal
information which visitors voluntarily provide to Merion Publications,
Inc. may be (i) added to Merion Publications, Inc.' databases and used
for future calls and mailings regarding site updates, new products and
services, and upcoming events, or (ii) provided to reputable third
parties who provide products and services which Merion Publications,
Inc. believes that visitors may be interested in purchasing or
obtaining.
3. Disclosure of Personal Data to Third Parties
Any third party to which Merion Publications, Inc. shares, rents,
sells, or otherwise discloses personal data for marketing purposes will
be under a contractual obligation to use the personal data solely for
marketing products and services which Merion Publications, Inc.
determines, in its sole judgment, that visitors might find of interest.
Merion Publications, Inc. will use its reasonable efforts to identify
whether such third parties may have products or services of interest to
visitors to Merion Publications, Inc.' site. However, such parties are
independent third parties over which Merion Publications, Inc.
exercises no control, and therefore Merion Publications, Inc. is not
responsible for their conduct, products, or services, and will not be
liable therefore. Merion Publications, Inc. will only disclose to third
parties information in aggregate form, that is publicly available,
and/or that is knowingly and voluntarily disclosed by visitors.
4. Security Measures
Merion Publications,
Inc. has implemented numerous security features to prevent the
unauthorized release of or access to personal information. For example,
all Merion Publications, Inc. employees are required to certify their
understanding that personal information is considered confidential,
that it is important to safeguard personal information, and that Merion
Publications, Inc. will take appropriate action against any employee
who fails to acknowledge these facts or adhere to the requisite
standards of conduct. Please be advised, however, that the
confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to/from
Merion Publications, Inc. via this site or e-mail cannot be guaranteed.
Accordingly, Merion Publications, Inc. is not responsible for the
security of information transmitted via the Internet. For more private
communication, visitors can contact Merion Publications, Inc. by
telephone at 610-278-1400.
5. Opt-Out Right
Merion Publications,
Inc. will retain personal information from visitors that subscribe to
our print/online publications as well as those who choose to
participate in services/programs offered by Merion Publications, Inc.
Visitors may opt out of having their personally identifiable
information used by Merion Publications, Inc. for secondary purposes,
disclosed to third parties, or used by Merion Publications, Inc. or
third parties to send promotional correspondence to the visitor by
contacting Merion Publications, Inc. via postal mail, e-mail, or
telephone at the addresses above. This does not apply to collection of
certain technical information about your use of our Web site(s).
6. Collection of Personal Data from Children
To the extent that Merion Publications, Inc. is able to determine the
age of users by their submissions to or communications with Merion
Publications, Inc.' Web site, Merion Publications, Inc. will not
knowingly (a) collect or post information from individuals under the
age of sixteen ("children") without their parent's or guardian's
consent, or (b) provide any personally identifying information
collected from children, regardless of its source, to any third party
for any purpose whatever.
If registration is required for any services
on the
Merion Publications, Inc. Site, and a user submits information to
Merion Publications, Inc.' Web site through such a registration process
that indicates that such user is a child, the child's parent or
guardian will be alerted to the child's registration and will be
provided instructions on how the parent or guardian can delete the
child's registration, if so desired. No information collected through
Merion Publications, Inc.' Web site from users self-identified as
children will knowingly be used for any direct marketing or promotional
purposes. If there are no age restrictions on a contest which requires
registration, and if a child wins, notification and prizes will be sent
to the parent(s) or guardian(s) identified in the initial registration
process.
7. Right to Contact User
Merion
Publications, Inc. reserves the right to contact site visitors
regarding account status and changes to the subscriber agreement,
privacy statement, or any other policies or agreements relevant to site
visitors.
8. Right to Change Privacy Statement
Merion Publications, Inc. reserves the right to change this Privacy
Statement at any time by notifying visitors of the existence and
location of the new or revised privacy statement. Any change to this
Privacy Statement shall be effective as to any visitor that has
accepted the Merion Publications, Inc. Web Site Terms and Conditions
before the change was made.