NETSQUARED PRIVACY STATEMENT

Version 1.1, December 15, 2005

This statement discloses the privacy practices for NetSquared, a project of The CompuMentor Project (“CompuMentor”), as related to the netsquared.org Internet domain (the “WebSite”).

VISITOR CONSENT AND LAWS GOVERNING PRIVACY
GENERAL SECURITY
COOKIES
PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT
WEBSITE USER ACCOUNTS
USE OF IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION
USE OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION
USE OF OTHER ENTERED OR POSTED INFORMATION
USE OF OTHER COLLECTED INFORMATION
DISCLOSURE FOR LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
THIRD PARTIES
LINKS TO OUTSIDE WEB SITES
REGARDING MINORS
QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS
PRIVACY STATEMENT UPDATES

 

VISITOR CONSENT AND LAWS GOVERNING PRIVACY

By visiting the WebSite, visitors agree to the terms of this Privacy Statement. Visitors expressly consent to the handling of their Personal Information according to this Privacy Statement. Personal Information may be processed in the country where it was collected as well as other countries (including the United States and Canada) where laws regarding processing of Personal Information may be less stringent.

GENERAL SECURITY

CompuMentor takes reasonable precautions to prevent the loss, misuse, and unauthorized alteration of Personal Information under our control.  Even so, technical mistakes are possible. No company, including CompuMentor, can fully eliminate security risks associated with Personal Information.

Our servers are protected by a firewall.

COOKIES

The WebSite uses sessions. When you first arrive at the WebSite, the browser sets a cookie holding only the session key so that it can keep you logged in while you're on the WebSite. You may choose to disable or not accept cookies by changing the preferences in your Web browser.  However, if you opt to disable cookies, you will not be able to login and use the NetSquared features that require logging in.

CompuMentor sometimes contracts with advertising companies in order to promote our services on other Web sites and in e-mail newsletters. If a visitor clicks on one of our text ads that are placed on another website, s/he is directed to a WebSite page. This click-through data can be tracked to help us gauge the level of interest in particular services or site content and to measure the effectiveness of our visitor communications. These ads may place cookies that allow tracking of your response to our advertisements. These cookies do not identify visitors personally, but we may associate these cookies internally with Personal Information. As of December 8, 2005, we are not placing ads for NetSquared, but this paragraph describes our policy if we do start to place NetSquared ads.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

CompuMentor may collect Personal Information entered by visitors to the “WebSite”, including:

--Identification Information: any information that allows someone else to identify or contact another person, including, for example, name, address, telephone number, e-mail address,

--Financial Information: When the Website begins accepting donations or registrations for the TechSoup Net2 Conference, we will collect financial information, e.g., credit card numbers,

--Other Entered or Posted Information: e.g., information about that person's organization, work, interests, experiences, knowledge, preferences, IT environment, as well as text, images, and other content submitted by that person to the Website.

In addition, CompuMentor may automatically collect other Information about visitors to the “WebSite”, i.e.,

--Other Collected Information: data like IP address, browser used, click streams

The sections below describe how this information may be used.

WEBSITE USER ACCOUNTS

Certain WebSite features are only available to visitors who have registered to set up a User Account on the WebSite. Registered users may optionally fill in a User Profile, containing Personal Information. This profile may be updated by the user at any time.

If you want to delete your User Account, contact us at Net2@techsoup.org. CompuMentor will delete your account, and will no longer contact you.

USE OF IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION

For Registered Users, the Username is displayed on the WebSite, e.g., as the author of blog postings.

Identification Information for registered attendees of the TechSoup Net2 Conference will be shared with other registered attendees, as well as with our sponsors, partners, and donors.

With the exception described in DISCLOSURE FOR LEGAL PROCEEDINGS, Identification Information is not otherwise licensed, transmitted, sold, rented or otherwise distributed to third party individuals or organizations.

The NetSquared e-mail newsletter will be used to broadcast information that CompuMentor believes is of general interest to the NetSquared Community. Only those people who have subscribed to the NetSquared e-mail newsletter will receive that newsletter. You can unsubscribe from the e-mail newsletter on the WebSite.

Identification Information is collected for WebSite visitors who establish a User Account, and in certain cases in which the visitor expresses a specific interest, e.g., in sponsorships or volunteering. CompuMentor will contact you only in reference to a specific interest that you have indicated, using the Identification Information you entered for that interest, or the Identification Information in your User Account.

USE OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Financial information is only used for the purpose of taking a donation or payment. The WebSite collects standard Credit Card Information required for credit card payment, i.e., credit card number, expiration date, name on account, and billing address. We use a secure website form with SSL encryption for transmission of any Credit Card Information. A secure online processing system is used to actually process credit card transactions. As of December 12, 2005, our online processing service provider is Verisign, but we may change our service provider at any time without notice to Net2 users. Once we receive a credit card transaction authorization code, we discard all but the last 4 digits of the credit card number. Other Credit Card Information is maintained in our secure database.

Financial Information is never licensed, transmitted, sold, rented or otherwise distributed to third party individuals or organizations.

USE OF OTHER ENTERED OR POSTED INFORMATION

One of the core assumptions of NetSquared is that its Community members will share information and knowledge. Therefore, users of the WebSite should assume that any information they enter or post on the WebSite, with the exception of Identification Information and Financial Information, may be openly shared on the WebSite, including blog entries, images, information entered into forms, responses to surveys, etc.

With the exception described in DISCLOSURE FOR LEGAL PROCEEDINGS, Other Entered Or Posted Information for an individual is not licensed, transmitted, sold, rented or otherwise distributed to third party individuals or organizations, other than through the WebSite, but aggregated information about WebSite users may be shared with our partners, sponsors, and donors.

USE OF OTHER COLLECTED INFORMATION

CompuMentor may analyze this data in aggregate, not individually, to better understand the usability of the WebSite and to better characterize the WebSite’s Community, e.g., their backgrounds and interests

With the exception described in DISCLOSURE FOR LEGAL PROCEEDINGS, Other Collected Information will not be licensed, transmitted, sold, rented or otherwise distributed to third party individuals or organizations.  

DISCLOSURE FOR LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We may disclose Personal Information we collect if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to (a) comply with relevant laws or to respond to subpoenas or warrants served on CompuMentor; or (b) protect and defend the rights or property of CompuMentor or visitors to the WebSite.

THIRD PARTIES

CompuMentor contracts with individuals and companies to assist in and support the NetSquared project. These contractors may have access to the Personal Information of WebSite visitors. These contractors are required to abide by the terms of this Privacy Statement, and not allowed to access or use the Personal Information, except in support of the NetSquared project.

Although we currently do not have a parent organization, any subsidiaries, joint ventures, or other organizations under a common control (collectively, “affiliates”), we may in the future. We may share some or all of Personal Information we collect with these affiliates, in which case we will require our affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. If our organization or our assets are acquired by another organization, that organization will possess the Personal Information collected by us and it will assume the rights and obligations regarding your Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy.

LINKS TO OUTSIDE WEB SITES

The WebSite contains links to outside Web sites.  Please be aware that CompuMentor does not claim any responsibility for the privacy practices of 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 statement applies solely to information collected through the WebSite.

REGARDING MINORS

The WebSite is not designed for minors under the age of 13. We do not intentionally gather Personal Information about visitors who are under the age of 13.

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

At CompuMentor, we understand the importance of exercising caution when sharing Personal Information about yourself or information your organization via the Internet.  Please be assured that we are committed to maintaining your privacy and protecting the information that you submit on our Website.

If you have any questions regarding this privacy statement or CompuMentor’s site practices, please do not hesitate to contact us:

    CompuMentor
    Attention: NetSquared
    435 Brannan Street, Suite 100
    San Francisco, CA 94107
    e-mail: Net2@techsoup.org

PRIVACY STATEMENT UPDATES

This Privacy Statement is subject to occasional revision, and any substantial changes to the Statement will be posted on the WebSite.  Any visitor who objects to changes in the Statement must cease using the WebSite. Continued use of the WebSite following notice of any such changes shall indicate acknowledgement of such changes and agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of such changes.

Version 1.1, with additional information in Use of Financial Information. Dec 15, 2005.

Version 1.0 was written in December 2005.