Fax911 Privacy Policy
Fax911 is dedicated to establishing a trusting relationship with its users, based on respect for personal identity and information, by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers all Web properties owned and maintained by Fax911, including but not limited to http://www.fax911.com. Because Fax911 wants to demonstrate its commitment to our users' privacy, we are disclosing:
- What personally identifiable information Fax911 collects.
- How Fax911 uses the information.
- With whom Fax911 may share user information.
- Your choices about collection, use and distribution of the information.
- The safeguarding procedures are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under Fax911 control.
- How users can correct any inaccuracies in the information.
If users have questions or concerns regarding this statement, they should contact Fax911 Customer Support by email at support@fax911.com.
Information Collection and Use
Information Collection
Fax911 is the sole owner of the information collected on its web properties, including http://www.fax911.com. Fax911 collects information from its users at several different points on our Web sites.
Consent
User knowledge and consent are required before we may collect, use or disclose personal information, except in exceptional circumstances such as an investigation by police or other situations permitted by law. We accept any of the following as your consent for Fax911's existing use and future collection, use and disclosure of your personal information for the identified purposes:
- Your receipt of this Privacy Policy, unless you advise Fax911, either orally or in writing, that you do not agree with the terms stated in this Policy, and that you wish to opt out of all or portions of it;
- Your unrestricted provision of information to Fax911 upon registration or to Fax911 Service representatives; or
- Your expressed written or oral consent as obtained through the registration process.
Registration
In order to use Fax911 services at any level, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user is required to give contact information (such as name and email address), and a unique identifier. We use this information to contact the user about services on our site for which the user has expressed interest. It is optional for customers to provide demographic information (such as income level and gender), but encouraged so we can provide a more personalized experience on our sites.
Order
When a user purchases a paying service, we request information from the user on our order form. A user must provide contact information (such as name, email, and billing address) and financial information (such as credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill customer's orders. If we have trouble processing an order, the information is used to contact the user.
Information Use
Fax911 acts as a passive conduit for the distribution and receipt of its user's fax, voice and e-mail communications and therefore will not monitor, edit, or disclose the contents of a user's private communications unless Fax911 in good faith believes that such action is necessary to: (1) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Fax911; (2) protect and defend the rights or property of Fax911; or (3) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of its users or the public. Users should also be aware (and hereby agree) that certain technical processing of and access to fax, voice and email messages and their content may be required to: (a) route the messages; (b) conform to connecting networks' technical requirements; (c) prevent or minimize disruptions to Fax911' services; or (d) conform to other similar requirements.
Subject to the legal exceptions listed in the Privacy Policy, Fax911 will not disclose to third parties the fax numbers uploaded to our Web sites by our users for the purpose of using Fax911 products or services.
Profile
We store information that we collect through cookies and log files to create a profile of our users. A profile is stored information that we keep on individual users that details their viewing preferences. Consequently, collected information is tied to the user's personally identifiable information to provide offers and improve the content of the site for the user. This profile is used to tailor a user's visit to our Web sites, and to direct pertinent marketing promotions to them. We do not share personally identifiable elements of your profile with other third parties. Your profile is shared in aggregate form only.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information while on our site. We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user's hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions.
By setting a cookie on our site, users would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If users reject the cookie, they may still use our site. The only drawback to this is that the user will be limited in some areas of our site. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. See the "Profile" section, above.
Log Files
Like most Web sites, our servers use log files to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movements in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.
Clear Gifs
Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. The main difference between the two is that clear gifs are invisible on the page and are much smaller, about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Clear gifs are not tied to users' personally identifiable information.
We also use clear gifs in our HTML-based emails to let us know which emails the recipients have opened. This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. If users would like to opt-out of these emails, please see the Opt-out section.
Communications from the Site
Special Offers and Updates
We send all new customers a welcoming email to introduce their new services. Established users will occasionally receive emails containing information about us, updates on new service features, service usage tips, information about third party services that are likely to be of interest to our members, and member satisfaction questions. Fax911 users may opt-out of such notices. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.
Invoices and Account Statements
We send all customers regular emails summarizing usage and credit card charges. These emails are a part of the Fax911 service, and users cannot opt-out of receiving them, though they can deactivate their account. Information identifying the credit card is not included in these communications.
Service Announcements
On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.
Customer Service
We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and regarding issues relating to their accounts. We reply via email or phone, in accordance with the users wishes.
Spam and Junk Faxes
While Fax911 does not share your fax number or email address externally, we we cannot be responsible for external communications received through Fax911 services.
Sharing
Legal Disclaimer
Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site. For example, Fax911 may disclose personal information to law enforcement, other government officials, or third parties in response to criminal or civil subpoenas.
Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable)
We may share aggregated demographic information with our partners. This is not linked to any personally identifiable information.
Third Party Intermediaries
We use an outside credit card processing company to bill users for goods and services. These companies do not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.
Business Transitions
In the event Fax911 goes through a business transition, such as a merger, or acquisition by another company, or selling a portion of its assets, users' personal information will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred. Users will be notified prior to a change of ownership or control of their personal information. If as a result of the business transition, the users' personally identifiable information will be used in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection they will be given a choice not to have their information used in this different manner, as described in the notification of changes section, below.
Choice/Opt-out
Fax911 users who do not wish to receive our promotional communications may opt-out from receiving these communications by clicking the opt-out link included at the bottom of every promotional message.
Fax911 users may not opt-out of receiving invoices and usage information, service announcements, and customer service communications, although they can deactivate their account.
Links
Fax911's Web sites contain links to other sites. Please be aware that Fax911 is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our sites 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 by Fax911's Web sites. Fax911 has advertising and affiliate relationships with dozens of third party sites that drive interested parties to our sites. Information that is collected on these sites does not fall within the auspices of this policy. Fax911 has Co-Brand relationships with some websites. A site is a Co-Brand of Fax911 if it offers Fax911 technology or services to its users under a different brand. The Co-Branded sites will have their own privacy policies specific to each site, and the user should read them carefully before registration.
Surveys
Periodically, our site requests information from users via surveys. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and address), and demographic information (such as zip code). Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of Fax911's services. Users' personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties unless we give prior notice and a choice to opt-out. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys, they may not use customers' personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.
Referral Programs
Periodically, Fax911 offers referral services, asking a user to inform a friend about our service. We collect the name and email address of the friend, and will automatically send an email invitation to the friend. Fax911 stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this email and tracking success of the programs.
Safeguards
Fax911 takes every precaution to protect its user's information. When users submit sensitive information via Fax911's Web sites, their information is protected both online and off-line.
When our registration/order forms ask users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL. While on a secure page, such as our paid order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just 'surfing'.
While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also employ security measures to protect user-information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerks or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure environment.
Supplementation of Information
In order for Fax911 to properly fulfill its obligations to users it is necessary for us to supplement the information we receive with information from 3rd party sources. Fax911 verifies the billing address on all credit card transactions and may obtain credit reports for some corporate customers. The information obtained from these third party sources is maintained in a manner consistent with Fax911's Privacy Policy.
Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service, we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users' personally identifiable information by contacting Fax911 Customer Service.
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes in this privacy statement, and other places we deem appropriate, so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.
If, however, we are going to use users' personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify users via email. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. However, if users have opted out of all communication with the site, or deleted/deactivated their account, then they will not be contacted, nor will their personal information be used in this new manner. In addition, if we make any material changes in our privacy practices that do not affect user information already stored in our database, we will post a prominent notice on our Web site notifying users of the change. In some cases where we post a notice we will also email users, who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices.
Contact Information
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please email support@fax911.com.