The Greeting Company Privacy Policy
GENERAL MATTERS
Overview
At TheGreetingCompany.com ("TGC"), protecting our users' privacy and
security is a top priority. For this reason, we have adopted the following
policy to advise you of our use of your personal information online and your
choices regarding that use. This policy describes what types of information we
gather about you, how we use it, under what circumstances we disclose it to
third-parties, and your rights to update or correct it.
TRUSTe Licensee: Contact Information
TGC is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. If you have questions or
concerns regarding this Policy, you should first email TheGreetingCompany
Customer Service or contact us by mail at TheGreetingCompany,
423 Delaware St. Kansas City, MO 64105
. If you do not receive acknowledgment of your inquiry or your inquiry has not
been satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact TRUSTe
http://www.truste.org. TRUSTe will then serve as a liaison with the Site to
resolve your concerns.
Scope of Policy
This Policy applies to all TGC-branded sites, including the TGC organic sites
as well as our co-branded sites including. This Policy does not apply to other
companies’ or organizations’ web sites to which we link. You should
carefully review the privacy policies of those web sites in order to determine
how they treat your personal information.
INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
Information Gathered from All Visitors
TGC Aggregate Data
We gather certain generic information with respect to customers' use of our web
site, such as the number of unique visitors, the frequency with which they
visit, and the areas on the web site that they favor. These statistics are very
much like television ratings that tell the networks how many people tuned in to
a program. We only use this type of data in TGC aggregate - that is, we look at
the data on a collective basis, in summary form, rather than on an individual
basis. This data helps us determine the extent to which our customers use
certain parts of our web site, which, in turn, enables us to make it as
appealing as possible. We may also provide statistical "ratings"
about how our customers collectively use our web site to advertisers, sponsors,
and other companies with which we do business ("Business Partners").
We do this so they, too, can understand how often people use their areas of the
site in order for them to provide you with the best possible experience. These
statistical ratings do not contain any personally identifiable information
about you or any of our users.
Cookies
We use a technology nicknamed "cookies" on our web site. Cookies are
pieces of information or data sent to your browser from a web server and stored
on your computer's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies to
make your visit to our web site easier. For example, cookies allow us to
recognize you when you re-enter our web site so that you will not have to
sign-in each time you visit. Cookies also allow us to count the number of
unique and return visitors who use our site.
Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. If you prefer, you can
reset your browser to notify you when you've received a cookie or,
alternatively, to refuse to accept cookies. It is important to note that you
may not be able to use certain features on our web site if you choose not to
accept cookies, such as, My TGC, address book, favorites, and TGC Greeting
history. In addition, you will not be able to participate in any of our
sweepstakes, or contests. Cookies can also enable us to track and target the
interests of our users to enhance their experience on our site.
Third Party Advertiser Cookies
We use third-party advertising companies to serve our ads on the Internet.
These third-party advertising companies employ cookie and Clear Gif technology
(aka 1x1 Pixel .gifs, Web bugs) to measure and improve the effectiveness of ads
for their clients. To do so, these companies may use anonymous information
about your visits to our Web site and other Web sites. This information can
include: date/time of banner ad shown, the banner ad that was shown, their
cookie, the IP address. This information can also be used for online preference
marketing purposes. TGC does not use or have access to this information.
If you want to prevent a third-party advertiser from setting and/or reading
cookies on your computer, currently you may either visit each ad network's web
site individually and opt out or visit the web site of the National Advertising
Initiative ("NAI") to opt-out of all network advertising cookies.
Advertising Research Cookies
From time-to-time, outside third party research companies may set cookies on
your browser regarding exposure to certain ad placements. These cookies may be
used later for research purposes if you later opt-in to take a survey. If you
choose to take the survey, these companies may examine your browser to see if
one of their cookies has been set. If the company detects the cookie in your
browser, it will gather only 2 pieces of information from it: where you have
seen a particular ad and; how many times you have seen it.
IP Addresses
We collect and analyze traffic on our web site by keeping track of the IP
addresses of our visitors. IP addresses are unique numeric identifiers that are
assigned to each computer browser accessing the Internet. An IP address, by
itself, cannot identify you personally. However, when combined with other
information provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), your IP address
can be used to identify the computer originating a message.
TGC INCLUDES THE SENDER IP ADDRESS IN THE HEADER INFORMATION OF EACH GREETING
NOTIFICATION E-MAIL IT SENDS. IT IS AVAILABLE TO THE GREETING RECIPIENT AND
ANYONE ELSE WHO IS FORWARDED THE NOTIFICATION E-MAIL. THIS LIMITS YOUR ABILITY
TO COMMUNICATE ANONYMOUSLY USING GREETINGS. GREETINGS ARE NEITHER INTENDED NOR
APPROPRIATE FOR ANONYMOUS COMMUNICATIONS, AND SUCH ACTIVITY IS EXPRESSLY
PROHIBITED BY THE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY IN OUR Terms of Service.
When You Send A Greeting If you use our web site to send
telephony Greeting or any other content, we collect your e-mail address and can
collect your recipient's e-mail address. This information is necessary to send
the content and provide confirmation that it has been received. We may also use
your e-mail address to contact you if you have chosen to receive communications
from TGC or its Partners. (See Opt-Out/Changing Your Status, below).
Personalizing Your Experience on the Web Site
We try to personalize your experience on our web sites by tracking Greetings
and other content you have sent and gifts you have purchased in order to shape
our recommendations about the telephony Greeting(s), and gifts that might be of
interest to you. We also examine customer traffic patterns and web site usage
to help us enhance the design and layout of the site and make it easier to
navigate.
From time to time, we may send you surveys or solicit your feedback. We use
surveys to gauge user interest in new products and premiums we may offer. We
will ask for your feedback on Greetings and other site features. We will use
the information we gather to improve our sites and provide a more meaningful
experience for our users. We may also use the information to alert you to
offers and products in which you have expressed an interest.
Communications From TGC
We send to all of our users our exclusive TGC Newsletter, which alerts you to
new features, content, and services, premiums available on our site. From time
to time, we will also send you invitations to enhance your TGC free membership,
offers for new products and services from TGC, special "Member's
Only" premiums, or special offers from our affiliates and our sponsors.
These communications are sent to you directly by TGC. We do not share your
personally identifiable information with any third parties in connection with
the Newsletter.
You can always decline the Newsletter by un-checking the opt-out box. If you
are already receiving the Newsletter and you want to unsubscribe, you can
simply follow the "unsubscribe" links at the bottom of each edition.
Communications From Our Business Partners
TGC also offers you the opportunity to receive money-saving offers, discounts,
and promotions from our Business Partners. These communications may come from
TGC or directly from the Partners themselves. We may also share with them
certain demographic, geographic, preference, and other personally identifiable
information we have gathered about you. This will help them in directing to you
offers that are more likely to be of interest.
This program is conducted strictly on an opt-in basis. In order to receive the
offers, you must affirmatively check the clearly marked box on our
"Personalize Your Greeting" pages and registration pages on our site.
If you leave the box unchecked, you will not receive any offers. If you do sign
up for the program but later change your mind, you are free at any time to
opt-out by following the procedures outlined in Opt-Out/Changing Your Status,
below.
Mandatory Communications
TGC reserves the right to communicate with you from time to time about
important administrative, policy, legal, credit card, and billing matters,
which will affect your use of our web sites, including without limitation any
alleged violations of our Terms of Service. These communications are
mandatory.
Information Gathered From Members
If you elect to sign up for a free Membership on TGC, you will be required to
provide us with certain personal information, including your name, e-mail
address, credit card number, expiration date, and billing address (this
required information is subject to change from time to time). There will also
be opportunities for you to provide us with additional information regarding
your preferences and interests. This information, however, is not required and
is completely optional on your part.
Additional data may be collected from Members based upon certain services they
elect to utilize on our web site. For example, we may track the categories of
Greetings you send in order to make appropriate recommendations for products or
services available on our site or those of our Business Partners. Members may
register for TGC Reminders, which are e-mail alerts to track important dates
and occasions they specify. TGC Membership allows you to store Greetings for
future delivery, bookmark favorite Greetings, and save Greetings received in an
online scrapbook. By obtaining this information, we can provide our Members
with specific content and advertising in which they might be interested. None
of this information is required to use our service or to become a Member;
however, the omission of certain types of data may limit the
“perks” of your membership.
If you become a Member of TGC from one of our co-branded sites, we may share
your registration information with the co-branded partner. In such instances,
the site will be clearly labeled with the branding information of our partner
and links to its privacy policy will be conspicuously posted. We may also
disclose your offline address to postal advertisers and catalogue marketers. If
you do not wish to receive such communications, you can send an e-mail to
Customer Service and you will be removed from the list.
TGC's USES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
If you have provided TGC your consent, we will use the information we have
collected about you in five ways:
-
To send personalized, targeted information that we think our users will find
relevant, either from TGC or directly from its Business Partners;
-
To include targeted advertising within such messages;
-
To send promotions and coupons based on the user's interests;
-
To contact the user for feedback and surveys; and
-
To send the user other information about TGC.
On-Site Advertising
TGC may also use information about you to target advertising while you are
visiting our site. For example, we may serve ads from toy companies to users
searching the Kids Birthday Greeting pages. We may also use geographic or other
information we have collected from you to make sure that the ads you see are
for goods and services that are actually of interest to you or are available in
your area. We may use cookie files to assure that you will not be served the
same ads repeatedly.
Information Sharing Between Affiliates
TGC reserves the right to share your personally identifiable information with
any of its subsidiary/affiliated companies, including your e-mail, postal
address, phone number, and purchase history. We may use that information to
conduct joint promotions, offer you special premiums, and to share databases
and equipment. We also reserve the right to share your personal information
with other companies that TGC may subsequently acquire. We will only share your
credit card information among our affiliates if you expressly give us
permission to do so.
Order Fulfillment
From time to time, you may be given the opportunity to order products and
services directly on the TGC site, the Newsletters, or in other communications
you may receive from TGC. These orders are typically fulfilled by TGC's
Business Partners directly. To process your order, TGC may provide these
Partners with your name, street address, e-mail address, phone number, and
credit card information. TGC will limit the types of information shared to the
minimum necessary to efficiently process your order. However, in accepting
these offers, you become a customer of the Business Partner and therefore are
subject to its privacy policy. TGC will alert users whenever a Business Partner
will be fulfilling an order for products or services ordered on our site. We
encourage you to review these companies' privacy policies and to only do
business with those who adhere to personal information practices with which you
are comfortable.
Privacy of on-line telephony Greeting Information
We treat all of our telephony Greeting products as private correspondence between
the sender and the recipient and will not disclose the contents of any
telephony Greeting other than to the intended recipient, except under the
specific situations outlined in Disclosure Exceptions, below.
This policy applies to all aspects of our Greetings, under normal
circumstances; we will not monitor or edit the contents of the online telephony
Greetings you send. On occasion, however, we may need to view your message in
connection with the technical processing of your Greeting or the maintenance of
our network. Also, if you ask one of our customer service representatives to
help you send a “personalized telephony” Greeting or to verify that
a Greeting was sent, that representative will be able to access all information
about the inputted text to the telephony greeting/call, including the
recipient's e-mail address and the message.
TGC guarantee’s it will not sell any computer or member’s personal
information for any reason(s).
Disclosure Exceptions
Notwithstanding the above policies, we reserve the right to disclose your
personal information to appropriate third-parties if we are required to do so
by law or we believe that such action is necessary:
-
To comply with legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order;
-
To protect the company's rights and property;
-
To investigate reports of users sending material using a false e-mail address
or users sending harassing, threatening, or abusive messages;
-
To protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our web site and/or the
TheGreetingCompany.com service; or
During emergencies, such as when we believe someone's physical safety is at
risk.
