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GirlFriendCircles.com (the domain of GirlFriendCircles LLC, referenced herein as
“GirlFriendCircles”) respects the privacy of our users and has created this statement
to demonstrate that commitment. This Privacy Policy describes the information we
collect, how that information may be used and with whom it may be shared. It is
our hope that you feel safe and respected by the choices we make in our information
gathering and dissemination practices for this website: GirlFriendCircles.com
By using this site, you acknowledge that you have read, understand, and agree to
all terms and conditions stated both in our Privacy Policy and in our
Terms of Use (referenced in this document, available at www.GirlFriendCircles.com)
Age & Gender Restrictions
GirlFriendCircles is intended for women 21 and over as set forth in the
Terms of Use. If it comes to our attention
that a member has revealed that they are under 21 or a male, a member of GirlFriendCircles’
staff will close their account immediately. Additionally, GirlFriendCircles will
not knowingly collect any information from children under 13. In compliance with
the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, any information we may receive from
users we believe to be under the age of 13 will be purged from our database.
Protecting your Information
We want you to feel confident using our website to transact business. However,
no system can be completely secure. Although we take steps to secure your information,
we cannot promise, that your personal information, searches, or other communications
will always remain secure. Users should also take care with how they handle and
disclose their personal information and should avoid sending personal information
through insecure email. Please refer to the Federal Trade Commission's website at
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/data.shtm for information about how to protect
yourself against identity theft.
Credit Card Information
We place a high degree of importance on the privacy of your personal information.
As such, please be aware that all confidential credit card information required
by the site is processed by Authorize.net. For more information on Authorize.Net’s
security policies, please visit http://www.authorize.net. Financial information
that is collected is used to bill the user for products and services.
We use 128-Bit SSL encryption to ensure your credit card information
is safe.
Community Forums
GirlFriendCircles invites only members into our website. Therefore if we make chat
rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups, those features are available
to GirlFriendCircles members, not the public. Please remember, however,
that you should always exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal
information. GirlFriendCircles expressly disclaims any liability that may arise
from the provision of any User of any information whatsoever to these forums. You,
the User, do hereby agree to hold GirlFriendCircles harmless from any liability
that may arise from the provision of any information to these forums.
Cookies and the Collection of Information
GirlFriendCircles wants to streamline your online experience. To do this,
GiflFriendCircles.com collects anonymous information through cookies. A cookie is
a small piece of data containing a unique identification number that is sent to
your browser from a Web server, and is stored on your computer's hard drive. The
unique ID number identifies your computer to GirlFriendCircles computers whenever
you visit. Cookies only allow GirlFriendCircles to access your information, and
the only information GirlFriendCircles is able to obtain is information that you
have already given us. GirlFriendCircles primarily uses cookies to connect members
with account information stored on GirlFriendCircles computers. In sum, these cookies
help GirlFriendCircles deliver better and more personalized service.
GirlFriendCircles also uses cookies to estimate GirlFriendCircles audience size
for advertisers; to assist in processing items in your shopping basket; to track
the number of entries in GirlFriendCircles promotions, sweepstakes, and contests;
to identify the areas of the site you visit; to hold session information; and to
track user preferences. Cookies are part of the technology implemented by your browser.
GirlFriendCircles relies on cookies to preserve the GirlFriendCircles identity you
have created while logged on. If you choose to not accept cookies, you cannot participate
as a registered, signed-in member.
Only authorized GirlFriendCircles screened and trained staff will have access to
your information in its entirety. Other employees may have access to limited information
if it pertains to their job duties.
Use of member information
GirlFriendCircles recognizes the honor we have of storing and using personal information
collected in ways that enhance our relationship. We use collected information
primarily to deliver the products and services that you have requested and to manage
your account and provide you with customer support. Other uses could include, but
are not limited to: Performing research and analysis about your use of, or interest
in, our products, services, or content, or products, services or content offered
by others; communicating with you by e-mail about products or services that may
interest you; developing and display content and advertising tailored to your interests
on our site, enforcing our terms and conditions; and other aspects of managing our
business.
Sharing of collected information
GirlFriendCircles chooses to work with upstanding companies that will treat your
information responsibly. When you submit information to GirlFriendCircles,
it is generally collected, processed and maintained solely by us. Sometimes we may
allow partner companies to collect information about members from us or directly
from you (through their Web site). When GirlFriendCircles is the source, it is usually
so that we can provide a service with an outstanding partner. GirlFriendCircles
will do due diligence on the partner companies to a greater extent than the average
user. But, since we don't own these partner companies, we cannot be liable for their
privacy policies or breaches thereto. Before telling them about yourself, please
review the other website privacy statements, as you would for any site. If you are
not satisfied with their information practices, simply choose to not use their service.
Below is a summary of some of the situations in which GirlFriendCircles might share
information:
Co-Branding Some of our services might be offered in conjunction with partner
companies. In order to provide these services, GirlFriendCircles may choose to share
some of your user data (e.g., including, but not limited to, user name and email
address).
Content Partners Some GirlFriendCircles content is "sponsored by" or "presented
by" other companies. GirlFriendCircles typically shares market research data (how
the sponsorship performed, names of contest winners, etc.) collected on the site
or via email surveys with these partners. This information is typically aggregate
and not linked to specific users.
Partner Sponsorships Partners may sponsor promotions, contests, and sweepstakes
that require you to reveal details such as your name, address or phone number. Always
check their privacy policy before revealing information about yourself. If you don't
want these sponsors to have your personal information, you can choose to not participate.
When visitors come to GirlFriendCircles, they may receive cookies from GirlFriendCircles’
sponsors; this information is typically not shared with GirlFriendCircles. This
privacy statement does not address the information practices of our advertisers.
You should read the privacy statements of all third-party sites, as their privacy
policies may differ from GirlFriendCircles’.
Finally, GirlFriendCircles reserves the right to disclose user information from
both private and public areas of the site at our discretion to anyone or no one
at all, if required by law or if given reason to believe, in our sole discretion,
that someone is causing injury to or interference with the rights of GirlFriendCircles
members or the general public, or with GirlFriendCircles’ rights of property. Please
be advised, however, that all information submitted by you to GirlFriendCircles
becomes the property of GirlFriendCircles. By submitting this information, you do
hereby agree to allow GirlFriendCircles to use such information at its sole discretion
pursuant to Terms of Use. Specifically, we may also
share certain information about you with those of our vendors who are responsible
for handling your account or performing other necessary services that you require.
Although we may share sensitive financial information (i.e., credit card numbers,
banking information), security information (e.g., account passwords) and personal
communications (e.g., personal e-mail messages or message board postings) with such
vendors where necessary and appropriate, we will not share such information with
other third parties, except in response to formal requests (e.g., subpoena or court
order) made in connection with litigation or arbitration proceedings directly relating
to a domain name registration or other services we provide. Additionally, we may
share the information stored on that database, as well as other information that
is not of a sensitive nature, with carefully selected business partners, including
those who offer services that complement those provided by us or which may otherwise
be of interest to you. If you do not want us to share information about you with
our business partners, you may send us an
e-mail to service@GirlFriendCircles.com. Include the word "privacy"
in the subject line of the e-mail and all your registration information in the body
of the e-mail. Finally, GirlFriendCircles reserves the right to transfer, sell and/or
distribute all information collected on its site for any purpose, including, but
not limited to, for satisfaction of any debt or upon liquidation of the company
should such a situation arise.
Information Retention policy
To preserve the integrity of our databases, standard procedure calls for us to retain
information submitted by members for an indefinite length of time. GirlFriendCircles
understands your submissions as consent to store all your information in one place
for this indefinite length of time, if we so wish. If required by law, as is the
case to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we will
nullify member information by erasing it from our database. We will also respond
to written member requests to nullify account information. If you wish to make such
a request, which requires that we verify your identity, or if you have any questions
regarding this policy, please contact us. Also,
by using this site, you do hereby represent and warrant that you understand and
agree that all information submitted by you to GirlFriendCircles becomes the property
of GirlFriendCircles and may be used in the sole discretion of GirlFriendCircles
in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use
Security of collected information
Your GirlFriendCircles Profile is password-protected so that only you and
authorized GirlFriendCircles employees have access to your account information.
In order to maintain this protection, do not give your password to anyone. Also,
if you share a computer, you should sign out of your GirlFriendCircles account and
close the browser window before someone else logs on. This will protect your information
on public terminals. GirlFriendCircles makes every effort to ensure that your information
is secure on its system. Extremely sensitive information, like credit card numbers,
is always transmitted encrypted. Only certain authorized GirlFriendCircles employees
can access this information if it's relevant to their job duties. GirlFriendCircles
has a staff dedicated to maintaining this Privacy Policy and other privacy initiatives.
Periodically GirlFriendCircles reviews Web security and makes sure that every GirlFriendCircles
employee is aware of our security practices. Unfortunately, no data transmission
over the Internet can be guaranteed 100% secure. As a result, GirlFriendCircles
cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do
so at your own risk. If you have any further questions on this issue, refer to the
site Terms of Use. GirlFriendCircles expressly disclaims
any liability that may arise should any other individuals obtain the information
you submit to this site.
We use 128-Bit SSL encryption to ensure your information is safe.
Opt-in/Out Policy
GirlFriendCircles easily provides you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving unwanted
communications. Users have the option to remove their information from our
database, to not receive future communications, and/or to no longer receive our
service. Under “My Account,” you, the user, choose whether to receive correspondence
from either GirlFriendCircles or its partners and whether you want to participate
in a variety of GirlFriendCircles programs. This information remains on your Profile
where you can, at any time, easily edit it to indicate that you have changed your
mind. If you purchase anything through GirlFriendCircles, we may occasionally contact
you with information about special events, sales, and activities. You always have
the option to ask GirlFriendCircles not to contact you with this information again.
If you receive unsolicited email from a GirlFriendCircles domain, please
contact us.
Editing of Your Information
GirlFriendCircles believes strongly in giving you the ability to access and edit
your personal information. To update your personal info, click on the "Edit
Sign-Up" link on the left after you log in. There you can view, update and correct
your account information. You may edit your profile at any time -- all you need
is your username and password. Please contact us
if you run into any difficulty in making profile changes. Our databases automatically
update any personal information you edit in your profile, or that you request we
edit. Information transmitted through boards, chats, polls or through any other
means remain in our databases and become the property of GirlFriendCircles upon
submission.
Links and Information
GirlFriendCircles features links to many other websites. We not only feature
some helpful sites, but we actually invite all members to list some of their favorite
links in their profiles. So you will see a variety of other websites accessible
from GirlFriendCircles. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the
content of such websites.
From time to time, Members will have the opportunity to participate in special programs
and will be able to opt in to programs that will transfer their information to other
third parties. This will occur only with prior permission from the User. We collect
visitor's unique identifiers and financial information (such as account or credit
card numbers). Financial information that is collected is used to bill the user
for products and services. Unique identifiers are collected from Web site visitors
to verify the user's identity and for use as account numbers in our record system.
GirlFriendCircles expressly disclaims any liability that may arise from the provision
of any User of any information whatsoever to this site. You, the User, agree to
hold GirlFriendCircles harmless from any liability that may arise from the provision
of any information to this site. Pursuant to the Terms of
Use, you agree that all information provided to GirlFriendCircles shall
become the property of GirlFriendCircles for the specific purpose of providing you
and other users with the best service possible, subject to any exclusions so stated
herein.
Notification of Changes
GirlFriendCircles’ security and Privacy Policy are periodically reviewed and enhanced
as necessary. This policy might change as GirlFriendCircles updates and
expands its services. GirlFriendCircles post notification if there are any material
changes in its privacy practices, or email you at our discretion. GirlFriendCircles
recommends that you check the privacy policy periodically, for your convenience
we post the revision date at the top of the Policy. By using the site, you do hereby
represent and warrant that you have read, understand, and agree to all terms of
this Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Each time you
use the site, you agree to all updated terms set forth by GirlFriendCircles in both
its Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and any other
policies published by GirlFriendCircles on the site. If you do not understand any
of the terms or conditions of any of GirlFriendCircles policies, you may inquire
via electronic correspondence.
Contacting the web site
If you have technical problems, questions or other issues related to your use of
GirlFriendCircles, please click the link “Contact Us” on the home page of the site.
You can also contact us via email at service@GirlFriendCircles.com Our staff will
respond to all requests sent through mail or email from members interested in knowing
more about what personal information is stored on the GirlFriendCircles database,
or if they want their personal information purged, or have additional questions
regarding privacy. If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices
of this site, or your dealings with this Web site, you may contact us via
email.
Acceptance of Privacy Statement
Your use of our website(s), including any dispute concerning privacy, is subject
to this privacy statement and the applicable Terms of Use.
BY USING OUR WEBSITE, YOU ARE ACCEPTING THE PRACTICES SET OUT IN THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT
AND THE APPLICABLE TERMS OF USE.
Effective Date
This privacy statement was last revised on September 23, 2008
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