Earl Taylor and www.RealEstateinStThomas.com (“Earl
Taylor” “realestateinstthomas.com”, "we",
"us", or "our") recognizes the importance of
protecting the privacy of individual_specific information (referred
to as "Information") collected about our customers, prospective
customers, or anyone else who is interested in visiting our website
(referred to as "Customers", "you" or "your")
located at www.realestateinstthomas.com (referred to as "our
website"). This Privacy Policy discloses the type of Information
we may gather about you, how we may use it, and how you may correct
or change it if you believe it is inaccurate. It is our intention
to give you as much control as possible over your privacy in regard
to your Information and the use we make of it in the course of your
visit to and any interaction with our website.
1.
Types of Information
We
receive two types of information from Customers who visit our website:
(1) data that Customers provide through registration or other communication
on our website; and (2) data we gather through aggregated tracking
procedures, such as tallying the number of page views throughout
our website over a given period of time. This Information enables
us to tailor our website content to better meet the needs of our
Customers. However, we assure you that we will not disclose your
personal Information to third parties without first obtaining your
consent, except in conjunction with your participation in any online
transaction we may offer from time to time.
2.
How Do We Collect Information?
(a)
Registration: Information
may be collected by specifically requesting it from you on our website.
Generally, this occurs when you register at our website or otherwise
request information or a service from us. Usually, our website and
its necessary service partners collect your Information in order
to facilitate the operation of our website and to deliver the services
it offers. Our website also uses your Information to inform you
of other products or services available from us or our affiliates.
(b)
Usage tracking:
(i)
Use of IP Addresses: An IP address is a number that
is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you're surfing
the Internet. Web servers automatically identify your computer by
its IP address. We and/or our affiliates collect IP addresses for
the purposes of system administration, to report aggregated information
to our advertisers, and to audit the use of our website. When Customers
request pages from our website, our servers log the requesting Customers'
IP addresses. Except where you participate in any online transaction
we may offer from time to time, we normally will not link IP addresses
to anything personally identifiable, which means that Customers'
sessions will be logged, but Customer identity remains anonymous
to us. We can and will use IP addresses to identify a Customer when
we feel it is necessary to enforce compliance with our rules or
terms of service or to protect our service, website, or any person,
or where it is otherwise permitted by law.
(ii)
Use Of Cookies: Cookies are bits of information
that a website transfers to an individual's hard drive for record
keeping purposes. Cookies make Web surfing easier for you by saving
your preferences while you visit our website. We never save passwords
or credit card information in cookies. The use of cookies is an
industry standard, and, as such, you'll encounter them at most major
website’s.
By showing how and when Customers use our website,
cookies help us see which areas are popular and which are not. Many
improvements and updates to our website are based on data collected
using cookies, such as the total number of visitors and pages viewed
in a given period of time. This kind of information is most easily
tracked using cookies.
We
have two primary uses for cookies. First, we use them to specify
preferences. For example, Customers can specify keywords across
several categories or markets so you don't have to tell us over
and over again about the kinds of homes you are interested in obtaining
information about. Secondly, we use cookies to track Customer trends
and patterns. This helps us to better understand our Customers'
needs and to improve areas of our services that our Customers may
find valuable. Sometimes, Information from cookies is attached to
messages sent to our Customer Service department. While all of these
situations depend on the use of a cookie, you always have the option
of disabling the receipt of cookies on your computer by adjusting
the cookies setting in you Web browser preferences.
Most
browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can reset your
Web browser to either refuse all cookies or indicate when a cookie
is being sent, with a concurrent option to accept or receive the
cookie. However, note that some of the services offered on our website
will not function properly or may be considerably slower if you
refuse to receive cookies. For example, without cookies, you will
not be able to set personalized preferences. You might also encounter
difficulties participating in online transactions offered on our
website from time to time.
Occasionally,
you may receive cookies from our advertisers. We and/or our affiliates
do not control these cookies. The use of advertising cookies sent
by third party servers is standard in the Internet industry.
3.
With Whom Do We Share Your Information?
As a
general rule, we will not disclose any of your Information except
when we have your permission or under special circumstances, such
as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it or under
other specified circumstances, including those described below:
(a)
Business Partners & Sponsors:
We may disclose some or all your Information to business partners
or sponsors, but this use will be specifically described to you
prior to either the collection or transfer of the data.
Many promotions offer opportunities to request additional Information
from sponsors. By requesting more information, you give us permission
to transfer your information to the sponsor so they can fulfill
your request. In many instances, only your e mail address will be
shared with the sponsor. If we intend on sharing more information
with the sponsor than your e mail, you will be notified prior to
the transfer.
(b)
Third Party Data and Data in the Aggregate:
From time to time, you may be offered the opportunity to receive
material or special offers from third parties. If you opt to receive
information from these third parties, we will (with your permission)
share your name and e mail address with such third parties. Under
confidentiality agreements, we may match Customer Information with
third party data. Also, we may disclose aggregated Customer statistics
(i.e., where we disclose a characteristic of our customers as a
group and not as individuals) in order to describe our services
to prospective partners, advertisers, and other third parties, and
for other lawful purposes.
(c)
Other:
We may disclose account Information in special cases when we have
reason to believe that disclosing this Information is necessary
to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may
be violating our Terms of Conditions and Use or may be causing (either
intentionally or unintentionally) injury to or interference with
our rights or property, other our customers, or anyone else that
could be harmed by such activities. We may disclose or access account
Information when we believe in good faith that the law requires
it and for administrative and other purposes that we deem necessary
to maintain, service, and improve our products and services.
4.
How Can You Control the Use of Your Information?
In
case you change your mind or some Information changes (such as your
postal/zip code or e mail address), we will endeavour to provide
a way to correct, update or remove the personal data you give us.
Additionally, to keep you in control of the communications directed
to you, we offer Customers the opportunity to "opt out"
of having information shared with parties outside of our affiliated
companies. If you wish, for any reason, to update your information
or if you object to any use of your information described in this
privacy policy, you may e mail your requested change or objection
to us. You may also contact us with any questions or enquiries you
may have concerning this Policy or about our privacy practices in
general.
5.
What Happens When You Link to a Third Party Site?
You should be aware that when you are on our website you could be
directed to other sites that are beyond our control. There may,
from time to time, be links to other sites from our web pages that
take you outside our service areas. For example, if you "click"
on a banner advertisement on our webpage, the "click"
typically takes you off our website. These other sites may include
sites of advertisers, sponsors and partners that may use our or
our affililiates' logos as part of a co branding agreement.
These other sites may send their own cookies to Customers, or otherwise
collect data or solicit Information.
We
do not control such sites, and, therefore, are not responsible for
their content. Our provision of hyperlinks to these sites does not
imply any endorsement of the material on such sites or any association
with their operators. Our Privacy Policy does not extend to anything
that is inherent in the operation of the Internet and which is beyond
the control of us and our affiliates.
Please
keep in mind that whenever you give out Information online (for
example, via message boards or chat lines), that Information can
be collected and used by people you don't know. While we strive
to protect their Customers' Information and privacy, we cannot guarantee
the security of any Information you disclose online and so you disclose
such Information at your own risk.
6.
Is your Information Secure from Others using Our Website?
The
importance of securing your Information is of the utmost concern
to us. We exercise great care in providing secure transmission of
your Information from your PC to our servers. Unfortunately, no
data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100%
secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your Information,
we cannot promise or warrant the security of any Information you
transmit to us, including through the use of our online products
or services. Any such transmission is done so at your own risk.
Once we receive your transmission, we use industry standard efforts
to safeguard the confidentiality of your Information, such as firewalls
and Secure Socket Layers. However, ironclad security does not yet
exist on the Internet.
7.
Your Acceptance of This Policy
By
using our website, you signify your agreement with and acceptance
of our Privacy Policy. If you do not accept this Privacy Policy,
please do not use our website in any way. Your continued use of
our and/or our affiliates' sites following the posting of changes
to these terms will mean you are deemed to have accepted such changes,
regardless of whether we provide you with additional notice of such
changes. Accordingly, you should periodically review this Privacy
Policy.