Effective
March 23, 2006.
PRIVACY
POLICY
Welcome to Bootstrap Online,
an online directory that connects graduate students through
social, academic, and professional networks. The Bootstrap Online service and network (collectively, "Bootstrap Online" or "the Service") are owned and
operated by Handsome Dan, LLC (collectively,
"us", "we" or "the Company").
Bootstrap Online’s Privacy Policy is
designed to help you understand how we collect and use the personal
information you decide to share, and help you make informed
decisions when using Bootstrap Online located at www.bootstrapnetwork.com ("Bootstrap Online" or "Web Site").
By using or accessing Bootstrap Online, you
are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
THE
INFORMATION WE COLLECT
When you visit Bootstrap Online
you provide us with two types of information: personal information
you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected by us and
Web Site use information collected by us as you interact with
our Web Site.
When you register with Bootstrap Online, you
provide us with certain personal information, such as your name,
your email address, your telephone number, your address, your
gender, schools attended and any other personal or preference
information that you provide to us.
When you enter Bootstrap Online, we collect
your browser type and IP address. This information is gathered
for all Bootstrap Online visitors. In addition,
we store certain information from your browser using "cookies."
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied
to information about the user. We use session ID cookies to
confirm that users are logged in. These cookies terminate once
the user closes the browser. By default, we use a persistent
cookie that stores your login ID (but not your password) to
make it easier for you to login when you come back to Bootstrap Online.
You can remove or block this cookie using the settings in your
browser if you want to disable this convenience feature.
When you use Bootstrap Online, you may form
relationships, send messages, perform searches and queries,
form groups, set up events, and transmit information through
various channels. We collect this information so that we can
provide you the service and offer personalized features. In
most cases, we retain it so that, for instance, you can return
to view prior messages you have sent or easily see your friend
list. When you update information, we usually keep a backup
copy of the prior version for a reasonable period of time to
enable reversion to the prior version of that information.
We may also collect information about you from other sources,
such as newspapers, blogs, instant
messaging services, and other users of the Service through the
operation of the Service in order to provide you with more useful
information and a more personalized experience.
By using Bootstrap Online, you are consenting
to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the
United States.
WE
DO NOT KNOWINGLY COLLECT INFORMATION FROM CHILDREN
We do not knowingly collect or
solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 18
or knowingly allow such persons to register. If you are under
18, do not send any information about yourself to us, including
your name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address. No
one under age 18 is allowed to provide any personal information
to us or on Bootstrap Online. In the event
that we learn that we have collected personal information from
anyone under the age of 18, we will delete that information
as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any
information from or anyone under the age of 18, please contact
us at privacy@bootstrapnetwork.com.
USE
OF INFORMATION OBTAINED BY GRADIFY
When you register with Bootstrap Online,
you create your own profile and privacy settings. Your profile
information is displayed to people in the networks specified
in your privacy settings to enable you to connect with people
on Bootstrap Online. We may occasionally use
your name and email address to send you notifications regarding
new services offered by Bootstrap Online that
we think you may find valuable.
Profile information is used by us primarily to be presented
back to and edited by you when you access the Service and to
be presented to others permitted to view that information by
your privacy settings. In some cases where your privacy settings
permit it (e.g., posting to your Comments), other Bootstrap Online
users may be able to supplement your profile. You can delete
these comments if you wish.
We may use information in your profile without identifying you
as an individual to third parties. We do this for purposes such
as aggregating how many people at a school like a band or movie
and personalizing advertisements and promotions so that we can
provide you Bootstrap Online. We believe this
benefits you. You can know more about the world around you and,
where there are advertisements, they're more likely to be interesting
to you. For example, if you put a favorite movie in your profile,
we might serve you an advertisement highlighting a screening
of a similar one in your town. But we don't tell the movie company
who you are.
SHARING
YOUR INFORMATION WITH THIRD PARTIES
We do not provide contact information
to third party marketers without your permission. We share your
information with third parties only in limited circumstances
where we believe such sharing is 1) reasonably necessary to
offer the service, 2) legally required or, 3) permitted by you.
For example:
| •
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We
may provide information to service providers to help us
bring you the services we offer. Specifically, we may
use third parties to facilitate our business, such as
to host the service at a co-location facility for servers,
to send out email updates about Bootstrap Online,
to remove repetitive information from our user lists,
to process payments for products or services, or to provide
search results or links (including sponsored links). In
connection with these offerings and business operations,
our service providers may have access to your personal
information for use for a limited time in connection with
these business activities. Where we utilize third parties
for the processing of any personal information, we implement
reasonable contractual and technical protections limiting
the use of that information to the Bootstrap Online
-specified purposes. |
| •
|
We
occasionally provide demonstration accounts that allow
non-users a glimpse into the Bootstrap Online world. Such accounts have passwords that are changed
regularly to limit possible misuse. |
| •
|
We
may be required to disclose user information pursuant
to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders,
or in compliance with applicable laws. We do not reveal
information until we have a good faith belief that an
information request by law enforcement or private litigants
meets applicable legal standards. Additionally, we may
share account or other information when we believe it
is necessary to comply with law, to protect our interests
or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity
perpetrated through the Service or using the Bootstrap Online
name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This may include
sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents
or government agencies. |
| •
|
We
let you choose to share information with marketers or
electronic commerce providers through sponsored groups
or other on-site offers. |
| •
|
We
may offer stores or provide services jointly with other
companies on Bootstrap Online. You can
tell when another company is involved in any store or
service provided on Bootstrap Online,
and we may share customer information with that company
in connection with your use of that store or service. |
| •
|
If
the ownership of the Web site, Service, or individual
business units owned by Handsome Dan Networks, LLC were
to change, your user information may be transferred to
the new owner so the service can continue operations.
In any such transfer of information, your user information
would remain subject to the promises made in any pre-existing
Privacy Policy. |
LINKS
Bootstrap Online may contain links to other websites. We are of course
not responsible for the privacy practices of other web sites.
We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site
to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that
collects personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy
applies solely to information collected on the Bootstrap Online
Web site.
THIRD
PARTY ADVERTISING
Advertisements that appear on
Bootstrap Online are sometimes delivered (or "served")
directly to users by third party advertisers. They automatically
receive your IP address when this happens. These third party
advertisers may also download cookies to your computer, or use
other technologies such as JavaScript and "web beacons"
(also known as "1x1 gifs") to measure the effectiveness
of their ads and to personalize advertising content. Doing this
allows the advertising network to recognize your computer each
time they send you an advertisement in order to measure the
effectiveness of their ads and to personalize advertising content.
In this way, they may compile information about where individuals
using your computer or browser saw their advertisements and
determine which advertisements are clicked. We do not have access
to or control of the cookies that may be placed by the third
party advertisers. Third party advertisers have no access to
your contact information stored on Bootstrap Online
unless you choose to share it with them.
This privacy policy covers the use of cookies by us and does
not cover the use of cookies or other tracking technologies
by any of its advertisers.
CHANGING
OR REMOVING INFORMATION
Access and control over most
personal information on Bootstrap Online is
readily available through the profile editing tools. Bootstrap Online
users may modify or remove their profile information at any
time by logging into their account. Information will be updated
immediately. Individuals who wish to deactivate their Bootstrap Online
account may do by sending an email to remove@bootstrapnetwork.com
and writing their request for removal in the email. Removed
information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period
of time but will not be generally available to members of Bootstrap Online.
SECURITY
Bootstrap Online member accounts are secured by member-created
passwords. We take precautions to insure that member account
information is kept private. We use reasonable measures to protect
member information that is stored within our database, and we
restrict access to member information to those employees who
need access to perform their job functions, such as our technical
staff. Please note that we cannot guarantee the security of
member account information. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware
or software failure, and other factors may compromise the security
of member information at any time. For any additional information
about the security measures we use on Bootstrap Online,
please contact us a privacy@bootstrapnetwork.com.
TERMS
OF USE, NOTICES AND REVISIONS
If you choose to visit Bootstrap Online, your visit and any dispute over privacy
is subject to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use, including
limitations on damages, arbitration of, and application of law
of the state of Texas.
We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy and our Terms
of Use at any time. Non-material changes and clarifications
will take effect immediately, and material changes will take
effect within 30 days of their posting on this site. If we make
changes, we will post them and will indicate at the top of this
page the policy's effective date. We therefore encourage you
to refer to this policy on an ongoing basis so that you understand
our current privacy policy. Unless stated otherwise, our current
privacy policy applies to all information that we have about
you and your account.
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions about
this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@bootstrapnetwork.com. |
