Primedia
and its family of
consumer publications
are strongly committed
to protecting your
privacy and providing
a safe online experience
for all of our users
and subscribers while
offering the highest
quality publications
and services to them.
Because we gather
certain types of
information about
and from users and
subscribers so that
we can fulfill your
requests and better
serve your needs,
we feel you should
fully understand
the terms and conditions
surrounding the collection
and use of this information.
This privacy statement
discloses what information
we gather, how we
use it, how to correct
or change it, and
what steps we take
to safeguard personal
information provided
to us both online
and offline. Please
note that some of
our websites are
subject to separate
privacy policies.
We encourage you
to always check the
privacy policy on
each website you
visit to be sure
you understand the
privacy policy governing
that site. Please
read the complete
Online Privacy Policy
below, as well as
our Terms and Conditions
of Use, and contact
us if you have any
questions.
- What
Information Do We
Collect About You?
- Information
Users Volunteer
- Subscriptions
and Orders
- Information
Collected Automatically
- Other
Information
- What
Do We Do with Information
We Collect?
- How
Do We Share Personal
Information?
- Primedia
and Its Agents
- Participating
Vendors
- Credit
Card Companies
- Advertisers,
Sponsors and Promotional
and Business Partners
- Important
Note
- How
Do We Use Cookies?
- How
Do We Use Web Beacons?
- What
About Third Party
Advertisers?
- How
Can You Control
Your Personal Information?
- Security
of Your Personal
Information
- Children's
Privacy
- Links
- Changes
in Corporate Structure
- Visitors
Outside the United
States
- Changes
to Our Privacy Policy
- Contact
Information
WHAT
INFORMATION DO WE
COLLECT ABOUT YOU?
You
can visit our websites,
read articles and
other materials,
and check on offerings
without giving us
any personally identifiable
information. So that
we can provide our
users and subscribers
with the most efficient
and enhanced, personalized
service, we request
information about
you in certain circumstances,
and also collect
certain information
automatically. We
also use contact
lists and other information
we may obtain from
third parties. For
the convenience of
our customers and
to better serve you,
a customer account
includes all the
collected personal
information we may
have, but you can
update or correct
your contact information
or change your preferences
about receiving offers
and information from
third parties or
us at any time.
Information
Users Volunteer
We
collect personally
identifiable information,
such as names, mailing
addresses, and/or
e-mail addresses,
when you subscribe
to one of our magazines
or place an order
(see the section
below for more information
on subscriptions
and orders), or through
optional, voluntary
registration atone
of our web sites.
Occasionally, we
may also request
demographic information,
such as age, gender,
hobbies or interests.
Often this additional
information is optional
or requested anonymously
in connection with
a survey. Website
visitors may register
to receive one of
our e-mail updates,
or to enter online
contests and sweepstakes,
and we may offer
offline contests
and sweepstakes as
well. Registration
may also be required
to participate in
message boards, bulletin
boards, or chat rooms
at our websites,
and may be requested
in connection with
certain surveys.
Sometimes registration
can be accomplished
by submitting only
a user name and password.
Other types of offerings
require submission
of additional information.
The information we
collect may include
your e-mail address,
name, address, phone
number, age, gender,
hobbies, family information,
and similar demographic
information or information
related to your interests.
For example, our
automotive publications
and websites may
ask about the type
of car you drive.
Registration forms
will indicate what
information is required
and what information
(if any) is optional.
This information
may be collected
during registration
on a site or in connection
with specific activities,
for example, signing
up for a newsletter,
entering a sweepstakes
or contest, or answering
a survey.
Subscriptions
and Orders
If
you wish to subscribe
to one of our publications
or place an order
for products or services
online, you must
generally establish
a credit card account
with our vendors
or us. In addition
to the customary
information needed
to fill your order
(full name, address,
ship-to name and
address, gift information,
etc.), subscriptions
and orders necessitate
collection of additional
personal information,
such as your credit
card number and credit
card expiration date.
Most of our websites
allow visitors to
subscribe to our
publications online,
and some sites also
offer areas where
you may purchase
items online. We
offer online and
offline subscribers
a "bill me"
option if they do
not wish to use a
credit card, but
visitors should check
online stores to
see if other payment
options are permitted
for online store
purchases apart from
credit cards.
Information
Collected Automatically
We
also may collect
your IP address,
browser type, domain
name, access times
and referring website
address. This helps
facilitate your online
experience at our
websites. In addition,
we use cookies to
track usage patterns
at our site and to
control the display
of ads, as well as
to offer other functionalities
(such as screening
for age, helping
to track items in
your shopping basket
at sites which offer
online shopping opportunities,
and "recognizing"
you to speed up your
log-in when you visit
our sites). See below
for more detail on
cookies.
Other
Information
We conduct market
research in an effort
to continually improve
our publications
and websites and
may purchase lists
of potential subscribers
or customers from
third parties. Those
lists may include
information on current
subscribers or customers.
This information
is included in our
database. That helps
us, for example,
minimize multiple
mailings and e-mailings,
and provide information
tailored to your
interests.
WHAT
DO WE DO WITH COLLECTED
INFORMATION?
We
use information you
provide to fulfill
your requests and
improve our publications,
products and services.
We may, from time
to time, produce
reports for advertisers,
sponsors and vendors
containing anonymous,
aggregate information
about our users and
subscribers, such
as demographic, age
and online usage
information. This
allows us to provide
content and offers
that are most relevant
to our subscribers
and users and to
work more closely
with advertisers.
We do not include
any personally identifiable
information of our
users in these reports.
We
use personal information
so that we may display
or send custom, personalized
content to our website
visitors and to send
newsletters, mail,
e-mails, features,
promotional material,
surveys and other
updates, information
or offers to our
users and subscribers.
A user may, at any
time, opt out of
receiving such information.
We also use collected
information to evaluate
and administer our
products and services,
fulfill customer
requests, like subscription
and other orders,
respond to any problems
that may arise, such
as magazine delivery
failures, difficulties
in navigating our
sites or accessing
certain features,
as well as to gauge
user trends to determine
what products and
services are most
popular with users.
We
allow users of our
website to send articles
or links by email
to other parties
who may be interested
in them. We do not
retain any email
addresses (unless
you are a member
who already has voluntarily
provided your email
address) of either
the sender or recipient
of such articles
or links after they
are sent, and do
not share "send
a friend" e-mail
addresses with third
parties. Of course,
we use personal information
to allow you to subscribe
online or to make
product purchases
at certain of our
websites. Rest assured
that we and our technical
and fulfillment agents
and consultants follow
careful procedures
to safeguard credit
card data in connection
with your transactions.
HOW
DO WE SHARE PERSONAL
INFORMATION?
Personal
information is available
to Primedia and its
technical and fulfillment
agents and consultants
who make this site
and our publications,
products and services
available to you.
Anonymous information
is available to our
advertisers, sponsors
and promotional and
business partners.
We share your personal
information with
third parties only
as described below.
Primedia
and Its Agents.
Primedia
may access both anonymous,
aggregate demographic
data and any personal
information you provide
for internal marketing
purposes, including
sending you notices
of subscription renewal
deadlines, new publications,
services or products
we offer likely to
be of interest, and
filling subscription
and other orders.
To facilitate subscriptions
and orders, Primedia
will cache your order
information, and
create an authorization
with a merchant account
(i.e., your credit
card company). There
are many companies
who may be required
to assist Primedia
in making its publications,
products and web
sites available to
you. Web host firms,
technical and database
consultants, advertising
agencies, and fulfillment
firms, including
firms assisting us
in offering contests
and promotions, may
have access to personally
identifiable information
in the course of
making our products
and services available.
All companies working
for Primedia must
comply with our information
collection, use and
disclosure policies,
and are not permitted
to sell your information
to third parties
or to use it except
as authorized by
us and you, or as
permitted or required
by law.
Participating
Vendors.
Some
of our sites offer
opportunities to
make purchases online
from special participating
vendors. On sites
with online purchase
opportunities for
products and merchandise,
we will also give
participating manufacturers,
retailers, wholesalers
or distributors the
order information
and authorization
for the merchant
bank. Any time you
order from a participating
vendor, that vendor
will automatically
have all the information
related to the order.
Participating vendors
may use that information
to advise you directly
of other products
and offerings that
they provide. Primedia
is not responsible
for their privacy
policies, and urges
you to inquire about
their information
practices. In addition,
all vendors will
receive the same
anonymous, aggregate
data that our advertisers
do.
Credit
Card Companies.
As
in any transaction,
your credit card
company will have
all relevant information
about the name of
the vendor, item(s)
purchased, and date
and total cost. Primedia
will not otherwise
provide any personal
data to your credit
card company.
Advertisers,
Sponsors and Promotional
and Business Partners.
We
share anonymous,
aggregate demographic
information (such
as gender, age, income,
hobbies, interests,
etc.), and anonymous
information obtained
from cookies and
similar technologies,
with our advertisers,
sponsors, promotional
and business partners,
and with participating
vendors at sites
offering online sales
opportunities. No
personally identifiable
information is disclosed
to any of these third
parties in providing
these reports. Credit
card numbers, bank
account numbers,
and passwords are
not shared with advertisers,
sponsors or promotional
partners, and are
only shared with
specific vendors
with whom you place
an online order.
Offline
and online contact
information is handled
differently. As is
customary in the
publications business,
offline contact information
is shared with third
parties who may send
you offers or information
about their products
or services. You
must opt-out if you
do not wish to receive
information from
third parties or
us by mail.
Your
e-mail address is
not shared with third
parties unless you
opt-in to receiving
information from
third parties. In
other words, we may
extend e-mail offers
to users or subscribers
on behalf of our
business partners
about a particular
product or service
that may be of interest
to you, but only
if you have indicated
that you would like
to receive those
offers. If you wish
to receive such offers,
we do not share or
disclose your name
or e-mail address
to those business
partners, but will
send you the information
or offers on their
behalf. As result,
although Primedia
may receive a fee
from our business
partners for this
service, Primedia
sends all the offers
so that your personal
information is never
shared with any outside
third party. Of course,
you may opt out of
receiving those offers
at any time.
Sometimes
we will give you
the opportunity to
opt in to receive
e-mail offers from
third parties not
affiliated with Primedia.
If you decide to
accept these offers,
we will provide,
with your consent,
your contact information
to the third party.
At our websites,
visitors will also
have opportunities
to sign up directly
with certain advertisers
and sponsors to enter
contests or sweepstakes,
receive e-mail updates,
or to receive information
directly from them.
Third party vendors
and advertisers will
also use technical
and other consultants.
We urge visitors
to carefully review
the privacy policies
of these firms. Primedia
is not responsible
for the privacy policies
and procedures of
any third party.
You
should be aware that
if you voluntarily
disclose information,
personal or otherwise,
online in any community
area (whether through
Primedia?s websites
or any other service
available online),
that information
can be collected
and used by others.
For example, if you
use chat, forums,
bulletin boards or
message boards, or
if you post personal
information online
(such as your e-mail
address), you may
receive unsolicited
messages from others.
Primedia has no control
over this use of
your personal information.
Important
Note
We
reserve the right
to use or disclose
any information without
notice or consent
as needed to satisfy
any law, regulation
or legal request;
to conduct investigations
of consumer complaints
or possible breaches
of law; to protect
the integrity of
our site and our
property; to protect
the safety of our
visitors or others;
to fulfill your requests;
or to cooperate in
any legal investigation.
HOW
DO WE USE COOKIES?
Your
Web browser offers
so-called "cookies"
which, if you allow
their use, store
small amounts of
data on your computer
when you visit a
website. Cookies
do not contain any
personally identifiable
information about
you and therefore
cannot be used to
identify you personally.
Cookies assist us
in tracking which
of our features you
like best. Cookies
also enable us to
customize our content
according to your
preferences. You
have the ability
to accept or decline
cookies by modifying
your browser and
our websites are
viewable even if
you disable the cookie
function on your
browser. However,
if you disable cookies,
some advanced and
customized features
or offerings will
not be available
to you. Our third
party advertisers
may also use cookies.
HOW
DO WE USE WEB BEACONS?
Some
of our Web pages
may contain electronic
images known as Web
beacons, which are
also called single-pixel
gifs. These images
allow us to count
users who have visited
those pages and to
deliver co-branded
services. We also
may include Web beacons
in promotional e-mail
messages or newsletters
in order to count
how many messages
have been opened
and acted upon. Web
beacons are not used
to access your personally
identifiable information
but they are a technique
we use to compile
aggregated statistics
about our website
usage. Web beacons
collect only a limited
set of information
including a cookie
number, time and
date of a page view,
and a description
of the page on which
the Web beacon resides.
Some of our Web pages
may also contain
Web beacons placed
there by our advertising
partners to help
us determine the
effectiveness of
our advertising campaigns.
WHAT
ABOUT THIRD PARTY
ADVERTISERS?
Some
of the banner ads
displayed in our
websites are provided
by outside companies.
These ads contain
cookies and may also
contain Web beacons.
Unlike cookies and
Web beacons used
by Primedia in content
it controls at its
Web sites, cookies
or Web beacons received
with banner ads are
collected by our
advertisers and we
do not have access
to this information.
We use reputable
third parties to
serve some or all
of the advertisements
that are placed within
our sites and they
may use information
(not including personally
identifiable information)
about your visits
to our sites and
other sites to assist
in serving advertisements
to you. They may
share anonymous information
with their clients
such as date/time
of the banner ad
shown, the specific
ad shown, the IP
address, etc. Double-Click
is our third party
ad server. If you
would like to know
more about their
information gathering
practices and "opt-out"
procedures, please
see http://www.doubleclick.com/us/corporate/privacy.
HOW
CAN YOU CONTROL YOUR
PERSONAL INFORMATION?
We
believe that choice
in how and when you
are contacted is
key to customer satisfaction,
so we offer several
ways for you to update
your contact information
or change your preferences.
- 1.
If you have an online
account at one of
our websites, you
may be able to log
on and update or
change your contact
or account information.
Check the site for
further information.
- 2.
You may unsubscribe
to any of our online
e-mail updates by
following the unsubscribe
instructions in
the body of any
message.
- 3.
You may write to
us and update your
contact information
or ask that we not
share your personal
contact information
with third parties
at: Primedia, Inc.,
c/o Privacy Coordinator,
745 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10151.
In those instances,
we will retain your
information in a
"do not promote"
file in our database.
- 4.
You may also contact
us at privacypolicy@primedia.com.
We
will take commercially
reasonable steps
to implement your
opt-out requests
promptly; but you
may still receive
promotional information
from us by mail for
up to 60 days due
to printing and mailing
schedules, and up
to 10 days for e-mail.
SECURITY OF
YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We
use Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) technology
to encrypt important
information, such
as your credit card
data, in an effort
to prevent unauthorized
access during transmission
of your orders over
the Internet. We
incorporate standard
industry practices
internally and with
our service providers
suitable to the degree
of sensitivity of
the information involved
to maintain the security
of your personal
information and to
avoid its disclosure
except as described
in this policy. Your
personal information
may also be protected
by the password you
created when you
registered at one
of our websites where
this feature is offered.
The confidentiality
of any password is
yours to protect.
You may change it
anytime by following
the instructions
at the website where
you registered.
Although
we use our best efforts
to assure that your
data remains secure
when maintained by
us, security during
Internet transmissions
cannot be assured.
Primedia employees
are made aware of
its privacy practices
through periodic
communications and
training. We limit
access to personal
data only to those
Primedia employees
or agents with a
specific need to
access or retrieve
this information.
We store data on
multiple service
systems, in controlled,
secure environments.
To maintain the highest
level of security,
we conduct internal
reviews of our security
measures on a regular
basis. Remember,
however, that any
personal information
you post in chat
rooms or message
boards is available
to anyone.
CHILDREN'S
PRIVACY
Most
of our publications
and web sites are
intended for adults.
Some web sites and
publications, however,
are intended for
teens 13 and older
but may include features
or material that
may be appealing
to children under
the age of 13. Primedia
is strongly committed
to protecting the
safety and privacy
of children who visit
our Web sites. We
do not knowingly
collect personal
information online
from children under
13 and have adopted
techniques to age-screen
users on our teen-oriented
sites to ensure compliance
with this Privacy
Policy and the Children's
Online Privacy Protection
Act of 1998 (COPPA).
COPPA and its accompanying
regulations establish
United States federal
law that protects
the privacy of children
using the Internet.
Many of our sites
include chat rooms,
bulletin boards and
other features that
we believe are unsuitable
for children under
13 and which are
not necessarily monitored.
We encourage all
parents to talk to
their kids about
online safety and
to monitor their
children?s use of
the Internet.
LINKS
Primedia
may offer links to
or from Web sites
it controls to other
sites within the
Primedia family as
well as to sites
operated by third
parties. We offer
links to third party
sites so that you
can conveniently
visit our vendors
and advertisers or
locate other content
likely to be of interest.
We are not responsible
for the content;
practices or policies
of sites operated
by third parties
and urge you to inquire
about them before
providing any personally
identifiable information.
CHANGES IN CORPORATE
STRUCTURE
In
developing our business,
we might sell certain
assets, or the company,
or parts of it, may
be sold, merged or
otherwise transferred.
In such transactions,
user information,
whether personally
identifiable or otherwise,
may be one of the
transferred assets.
VISITORS AND
SUBSCRIBERS OUTSIDE
THE UNITED STATES
Our
websites and the
servers that make
these sites available
worldwide are located
in the United States.
The laws of the State
of New York in the
United States govern
all matters relating
to these sites. Any
information you provide
in subscribing to
one of our publications
or registering or
ordering at one of
our web sites will
be transferred to
the United States.
By visiting our sites
and submitting information,
you authorize this
transfer, processing
and use.
CHANGES TO OUR
PRIVACY POLICY
We
will occasionally
update this Privacy
Policy as necessary
to protect our users
and to comply with
a changing environment.
We recommend that
you check the policy
when you visit our
site to be sure you
are aware of and
understand our current
policy. If we make
material changes
to this policy or
in how we will use
or collect your personally
identifiable information,
we will prominently
post such changes
prior to implementing
the change. We will
not make material
changes in how we
handle previously
collected personal
information that
have retroactive
effect unless legally
required to do so,
and we will e-mail
registered website
visitors information
on material changes
to this policy.
CONTACT
INFORMATION
If you have any questions
about this Privacy
Policy or our privacy
practices, please
e-mail us at privacypolicy@primedia.com.
Please include the
URL of the Web site
and/or name of the
publication involved
in your request.
- Or
you can contact
us by mail at:
- Privacy
Coordinator
- Primedia,
Inc.
- 745
5 th Ave.
- New
York, NY 10151
- Or
you can fax us at
(212) 745-0131,
Att: Privacy Coordinator
- Updated
July 30, 2002