This is the online privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") of www.smartshorties.com (the "Site"). The Site is committed to complying fully with the Child Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998. Our information collection practices are described below. We urge all children to check with their parent or guardian before entering any information on any website and we urge parents and guardians to discuss with their children restrictions regarding the online release of personal information to anyone they don't know. By accessing the Site, you agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy.
Spark the Mind: Smart Shorties
info@smartshorties.com
We respect the privacy of the visitors to our Site and do not collect information unless it is voluntarily provided to us. In regard to children under 13, we do not collect any more personal information than reasonably necessary to enable them to participate in the activities we offer at our Site. From time to time we may collect the following types of personally identifiable information directly from visitors to our Site, including children under 13: e-mail address, first and last name, home or physical address, including street name and name of a town, telephone number, other identifiers that permit physical or online contact, such as a customer number held in a cookie.
We may also collect the following types of information from visitors to our Site and associate this information with one or more of the above identifiers: information about hobbies, information about toys and information about parents or siblings.
When a child under 13 years of age registers on our Site or attempts to participate in an activity that requires the collection, use or disclosure of personally identifiable information, we will ask for a parent's e-mail address so that we can notify the parent and obtain their consent to do receive the information. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13 without notifying the parent via e-mail and giving the parent the option to remove their child's e-mail address from the applicable databases. Please note that parents may consent to the above collection and use without necessarily consenting to the disclosure of personal information to third parties.
Personally Identifiable Information collected under this Privacy Policy from visitors to our Site, including children under 13, is used for fulfillment of a requested transaction, for record keeping, to respond to a visitor's specific requests to participate in activities such as contests or sweepstakes, subscribing to an online newsletter, posting on a message board or otherwise expressing an opinion.
If you give us your permission, we may disclose information we collect about your child to other third party companies by way of sale, lease or rental agreement. The types of businesses in which such third parties are engaged include the following: manufacturing and retailing of toys, movie video and music products (CDs, tapes, cassettes, DVD discs, etc.), clothing, games, video games and equipment; magazine publishing and retailing; market analysis and development; and advertising. Such disclosure will only occur if you affirmatively consent to it by signing the "Third Party Disclosure for Purposes of Sale Rent or Lease" section in the Parental Consent form. If you do not wish to consent to use of your child's information for these purposes, leave that portion of the Parental Consent form blank and your child's personally identifiable information will be screened from use for purposes of sale, rent or lease.
Of course, online purchases require us to disclose necessary payment information to payment processors. We also may use third parties to send you the products you purchase, in which case we would provide them with your name, address, and other information necessary to complete your order.
Such third parties have access to the personally identifiable information as needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes. If you do not want your child to be contacted about these products and promotions, you can let us know at any time. See the "Can You Delete or Edit or Update Personally Identifiable Information?" section below.
Finally we may also disclose personally identifiable information to third parties in order to comply with law or requests by law enforcement agencies, to enforce out Terms and Conditions, or protect the rights, property or safety of our website, users of our website and others.
Parents can review the information that we have collected from their children on this Site, prevent the further use or maintenance of such information, correct factual errors in such information or direct the deletion of their children's personal information by calling, e-mailing or writing to us at the contact information provided above.
Aggregate Information is non-personally identifiable/anonymous information about you, such as age, gender, types of products purchased, frequency of Site visits, Site pages you access most frequently or search terms you enter. Aggregate Information is used in a collective manner, and no single person can be identified by that compiled information. We collect aggregate information on our Site.
Both during the registration process and from time-to-time thereafter, we may request information from visitors via contests and surveys, including asking new members to complete a survey containing profile information regarding their specific interests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the visitor has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Information requested typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code, age level). Information requested in surveys or polls may be related to other interests of the visitor. Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of our Web site. The survey information may also be used to determine which offers will be served to a particular member.
We may provide reports to a limited number of companies with which we do business. These reports include aggregate information about our visitors. The information in these reports does not include personal information of visitors to our Site. No information is contained in the reports that would allow outside companies to contact members directly.
A cookie is a small data file that a website may send to your browser and which may then be stored on your system. We use both session cookies and persistent cookies. For the session cookie, once you close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on your hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions.
We use cookie and web beacon technology to track which pages on our Web site our visitors view and which Web browsers our visitors use. We may also use cookies to help us provide personalized features and preferences to you in a way that may be linked to individual visitor information that you elect to share with us. We also use "action tags" to assist in delivering the cookie. These action tags allow us to compile statistics and other data about our visitors on an aggregate basis, by embedding a random identifying number on each visitor's browser.
We have implemented reasonable security measures in an effort to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of the information under our control. We use reasonable networking, server, database, and procedural mechanisms in an effort to safeguard the integrity and privacy of data. We also protect visitor information off-line. All of our visitors' information is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted passwords to access personal information. Furthermore, all employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Every quarter, as well as any time new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure that our customers' information is protected. Finally, the servers that we store personally identifiable information on are kept in a secure environment. The Site is committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors and we will continue to review and implement new technologies as necessary to maintain the security of our networks and servers. However, as effective as modern security practices are, no physical or electronic security system is impenetrable. We cannot guarantee the security of our database, nor can we guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the Internet. If you choose to visit our Site, your visit and any dispute over privacy is subject to this Privacy Policy, including but not limited to limitations of damages and application of the law of the State of California. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NEGLIGENCE, SHALL THE SITE OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF THE INFORMATION OR MATERIALS ON THE SITE, EVEN IF THE SITE OR AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SITE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Our Site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that the Site is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our visitors to be aware when they leave our Site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected through our Site.
Though we make every effort to preserve your privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a criminal investigation, a court order, or legal process served on our Site. We may also share your personal information if we believe it is necessary in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, or as otherwise required by law.
The laws of the State of California will govern this Privacy Policy without giving effect to any principles of conflict of law.
Customers may prevent their information from being used for purposes other than those for which it was originally collected by emailing us at [info@smartshorties.com]. Upon request, we provide visitors of the Site with access to their personal information disclosed to us during the registration process. Visitors can access this information by e-mailing us at [info@smartshorties.com]. If you feel that this Site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact us at the addresses or phone number set forth above.
We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy. When we do, we will endeavor to provide notice to users in the following ways: (1) we will update the “last updated” date at the bottom of the Privacy Policy; (2) we will post notice of the change as a news post on the Site; and (3) we may email notice of the change to all registered users. We will obtain your consent for any updates to this Privacy Policy that expand the sharing or use of your personal information in ways not disclosed in this Privacy Policy.
Last Updated: April 4, 2008