Privacy Statement
Last Updated September 13, 2007
We at Lootist respect that you care about how your personal information is used and shared, and we take your privacy seriously. We are committed to protecting your privacy. Please read the following to learn more about our privacy policy.
This Privacy Statement sets forth our current privacy practices with regard to the information we collect when you or your computer interact with our Website.
1. Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Terms
By visiting the Lootist Website, you are accepting the practices outlined in this Privacy Policy. You further acknowledge and agree that you are at least 13 years old. If you are under 13 years old, you do not have permission to access this site.If you do not agree to these terms, please do not access or use this site.
2. Participating Third Party Policies
The Site may contain links to related services and offerings, including vendor sites. This policy does not apply to the practices or content of third parties that Lootist does not own or control, or to individuals that Lootist does not employ or manage. These third parties may have their own privacy statements that can be viewed on their websites or by contacting these third parties directly. We recommend and encourage that you always review the privacy policies of these third parties before you provide any personal information or complete any transaction with such parties.3. Information We Collect And How We Use It
Our primary goal in collecting personal information is to provide you with a friendly, personalized and useful experience. We only collect personal information that is relevant to the purpose of our Website. We do not process this information in a way that is incompatible with the purpose for which it has been collected or subsequently authorized by you.Lootist may display on any page various metrics such as number of products, number of times you have been endorsed, or other related metrics. This includes member profile pages and the homepage.
We collect certain information from and about our users three ways: (1) directly from our web server logs, (2) with Cookies, and (3) from you, the user. We do not collect information about the specifics of who you are ("Personally Identifiable Information") unless you specifically provide it to us.
a. Web Server Logs
We receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with us. Lootist automatically receives and records certain "traffic data" on our server logs from your browser including, but not limited to:- Your Internet protocol address.
- The kind of browser or computer you use.
- Number of links you click within the site.
- State or country from which you access the site.
- Date and time of your visit.
- Name of your Internet service provider.
- Web pages from which you link to our site.
- Web pages you go to from our site.
- Pages you view on our site.
b. Use Of Cookies
A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.We use cookies to personalize or enhance your user experience. For example, if you personalize a web page, or navigate within a site, a cookie helps the site to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. Hence, this simplifies the process of delivering relevant content and eases site navigation by providing and saving your preferences and login information as well as providing personalized functionality.
The type of information that may be stored in a cookie includes non-Personally Identifiable Information about you, such as a randomly assigned user or session identification number, the country where you are located, and your first name to welcome you back to the site.
We reserve the right to share aggregated site statistics with third parties, but will not allow other companies to place cookies on our Website unless there is a temporary, overriding customer value (such as merging into our Site another site that relies on third-party cookies). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies.
Most web browsers automatically accept cookies. The "help" section of the toolbar on the majority of browsers will direct you on how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, have the browser to tell you when you receive a new cookie, or fully disable cookies. We strongly recommend that you leave the cookies activated, however, because cookies enable you to take advantage of some of Lootist's most attractive features.
c. Personal Information You Provide To Us
You provide certain Personally Identifiable Information to us when you register with us, send us e-mail messages, submit forms to us, edit your Lootist profile, or provide information to us by any means. We receive and store any information you enter on our Website or provide to us in any other way. You can choose not to provide us with certain information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of various features. The personal information you provide is used for such purposes as:Registration: In order for you to use Lootist services, such as submitting new products to the Website or declaring an interest, you must complete a registration form. As part of this registration form, we require your email address.
We may also collect other information as part of the registration and personalization process (e.g., zip code and individual preferences). Certain non-identifying information would be considered a part of your personal information if it were combined with other identifiers (e.g., combining your zip code with your street address) in a way that enables you to be identified. However, the same pieces of information are considered non-identifying information when they are taken alone or combined only with other non-identifying information (e.g., your viewing preferences). We may combine your personal information with non-identifying information and aggregate it with information collected from other users to attempt to provide you with a better experience, to improve the quality and value of the Website and to analyze and understand how the Website is used.
Support: You may also be asked to disclose personal information to us so that we can provide assistance and information to you. For example, such data may be warranted in order to provide online technical support and troubleshooting.
You may also provide certain Personally Identifiable Information to us regarding third parties. For instance, when you send Lootist product links to others, you provide and we collect the email addresses of the people with whom you want to share.
We will not sell, trade, or rent Personally Identifiable Information to others. Furthermore, we will not disclose Personally Identifiable Information we collect from you to third parties without your permission, except to the extent necessary:
- To fulfill your service request,
- To maintain, support and operate the Website and to perform Website-related services (e.g., maintenance services, database management, web analytics and improvement of the Website`s features) and to assist us in analyzing how our Website is used.
- To protect ourselves from liability,
- To respond to a court order or subpoena, to comply with an investigation, or to comply with applicable laws or rules, or
- In connection with a merger, acquisition, or liquidation of the company.
For terms relating to areas of this Site that allow you to communicate and/or submit information on or through the Site, such as bulletin board postings, e-mail, messages, suggestions, ideas, fictional work, non-fiction material, photographs, drawings, or concepts, please refer to our Terms Of Use.
4. Social Sharing Of Data
Lootist allows other users to browse products that you have bookmarked. This information is made available via your member profile (www.lootist.com/profile/loot/username) or on the Lootist blog. Lootist may choose to post this data on other site features in the future.Profile information: Lootist allows other users to browse your first name and last name initial, birthdate and other profile details should you provide this optional information.
5. Use Of Web Beacons Or GIF files
We reserve the right to include on our Site electronic images known as web beacons--sometimes also called single-pixel gifs--that allow us to count users who have visited those pages and to deliver co-branded services. We reserve the right to include web beacons in promotional e-mail messages or newsletters in order to determine whether messages have been opened and acted upon.If included on our site, web beacons may be placed by third party service providers to help determine the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns or e-mail communications. You should visit those service provider's web pages to review their privacy policies. We prohibit web beacons from being used by third parties to collect or access your Personally Identifiable Information.
6. Accessing Web Account Information
We will provide you with the means to ensure that Personally Identifiable Information that we have on file for you is correct and current. You must update your Personally Identifiable Information promptly after it changes. You may ask to have the information on your account deleted or removed at any time. We will use reasonable efforts to delete your information; however, because we and our web hosting company have backup systems and keep track of past transactions and/or activities, it may be impossible to completely delete your information.You can access your personal information on our Website and correct, amend or delete information that is inaccurate. Upon logging in visit your user profile setting page located at: http://www.lootist.com/editprofile.htm
7. User Communication
We may, from time to time, send you e-mail regarding our services. In addition, if you indicate upon registration that you are interested in receiving offers or information from us, we may occasionally send you direct mail about products and services that may be of interest to you. Only Lootist will send you these direct mailings, and only if you indicated that you are interested in receiving these offers. If you do not want these mailings, you can tell us via the Settings tab in your Lootist Inbox on the site.8. Security Of Information
We will keep your Personally Identifiable Information secure consistent with current industry standards. Security of your Personally Identifiable Information is of utmost concern to us. Personally Identifiable Information, once transmitted to us, will be stored on computers that only selected personnel and contractors have access to via password, and/or on web hosting servers maintained by our 3rd-party hosting company, which employs its own physical and network security measures.Only employees who need personal information to perform a specific job (for example, a customer service representative) are granted access to your Personally Identifiable Information. All of our employees are kept up to date on our privacy and security practices.
Your Lootist account information is protected by a password for your privacy and security. You need to work to protect against unauthorized access to your password and to your computer by logging off once you have finished using a shared computer.
9. Your Choices
As stated previously, you can always opt not to disclose information, but then you may be unable to use certain features on our Website, such as adding new products.As explained earlier, you can access your personal information on our Website and correct, amend or delete information that is inaccurate. When you update information, however, we may maintain a copy of the unrevised information in our records.
As explained earlier, the "help" section of the toolbar on the majority of browsers will direct you on how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, have the browser to tell you when you receive a new cookie, or fully disable cookies. We strongly recommend that you leave the cookies activated, however, because cookies enable you to take advantage of some of Lootist's most attractive features.
10. Changes To This Statement
Lootist has the discretion to update this Statement at any time. When we do, we will also revise the "updated" date at the top of this Privacy page. We encourage you to periodically review this Statement to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to review this Statement periodically and become aware of modifications. Your continued use of this site constitutes your agreement to this Statement and any updates.11. International Transfer
Your information may be transferred to and maintained on computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, Lootist transfers personal information to the United States for processing. Your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.12. Conditions of Use
If you decide to visit the Lootist Website, your visit and any possible dispute over privacy is subject to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use, including limitations on damages, arbitration of disputes and application of California state law. This Website is not directed to children under the age of 13. If a parent becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with personal information without parental consent, he or she should contact us at info@lootist.com. If we become aware that a child under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete such information from our files.13. Contacting Us
If you have questions regarding our Privacy Statement, its implementation, failure to adhere to this Privacy Statement and/or our general practices, please contact us at info@lootist.com.We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly respond and resolve any problem or question.