Effective Date:
December 1, 2006
This website (the “Site”) is hosted
by HiWired, Inc. (“HiWired”). HiWired has implemented generally accepted
standards of technology and operational security in order to protect your
personally identifiable information (“PII” as defined more specifically below)
from loss, misuse, alteration, or destruction. Only authorized HiWired
personnel are provided access to your PII, and these employees and
representatives are required to treat this information as confidential. Despite
these precautions, however, HiWired cannot guarantee that unauthorized persons
will not obtain access to your PII. While HiWired is able to protect personal
information that is provided during the course of business, HiWired cannot take
responsibility for data loss on the products or systems serviced. You will need
to ensure your data has been removed or backed-up in order to safeguard this
information.
If you use a chat room or post to the HiWired
blog, you should be aware that any information you share is visible to other
users. Personally identifiable information you submit to one of these forums
can be read, collected, or used by other individuals to send you unsolicited
messages. HiWired is not responsible for the personally identifiable
information you choose to submit in these forums.
Information Gathering & Updating
Information on general usage and
personal details that you provide to HiWired will be used to provide you with
enhanced Site features such as customized content, access to special Site
sections, and so on. Because we would like to keep your personal information
accurate, you may correct or change PII by email (see “Contact Us”).
Anonymous Information
When you visit the Site, our web
servers automatically collect Site usage information, which is anonymous
information that describes how our visitors use and navigate the Site. It
includes the number and frequency of visitors to each web page and the length
of their stays. We collect the anonymous information automatically sent to us
by your web browser, such as browser type, referrer data that identifies the
web page visited prior and subsequent to visiting our Site, and IP address. We
also may determine what technology is available through your browser in order
to serve you the most appropriate version of a web page. For example, we may
determine that you have installed a version of Flash, and we will then send you
the appropriate Flash version of the web page rather than an HTML page.
Personally Identifiable Information
PII is information that could
reasonably be used to identify you personally (such as your name, address,
birth date, credit card numbers, other billing information and e-mail address).
Generally, you may browse the Site without providing any PII. However, we may
ask you to provide us with certain PII when you choose to register with our
Site and provide your PII in order to receive support services, receive copies
of publications and newsletters, choose to participate in an online forum or
survey, engage in Site-sponsored training, seek information about employment
opportunities, or register for other HiWired-sponsored events. We may also ask
you to provide us with demographic information or information regarding your
interests, background, or similar information. We reserve the right, at any
time, to add features to our Site that require you to register or otherwise to
provide PII or to require registration to access our Site. You can choose not
to provide certain information, but then you may not be able to take advantage
of or participate in certain Site features and receive support services. We may
combine both anonymous information and PII that we collect with information
available from other sources, including information received from collaborators
or other third parties.
Disclosure of Personal Information
HiWired uses the information you
provide in order to fulfill requests for services or information, provide
customer services, administer promotions or surveys, offer new products or
services, improve effectiveness of HiWired’s endeavors, conduct research and
analysis, send marketing communications or perform other business activities. HiWired does not sell or rent your contact information to
unrelated third parties. HiWired may need to share your PII with certain
third parties such as our services providers, including, but not limited to,
data storage providers, business partners and other representatives. These companies are also obligated to protect your personal
information in accordance with HiWired’s policies From time to time,
HiWired may also disclose your PII if required to do so by law or in the good
faith belief that such action is necessary to: (1) comply with law or comply
with legal process served upon us or our agents, representatives and
affiliates, (2) protect and defend our rights or property or those of our
users, (3) protect the personal safety of our users or the public, or (4)
respond to inquiries by bona fide owners of intellectual property rights in
connection with allegations of copyright or other proprietary or intellectual
property rights infringement(s) arising from data or other information posted
by users on the Site or otherwise provided to HiWired. HiWired may also transfer personal
information in the event of a corporate sale, merger, acquisition, dissolution
or similar event.
Remote Access and Collection of
Information
HiWired
offers remote access services to assist in diagnosing and resolving issues (the
“Services”). This process allows a HiWired technician to remotely access your
computer to determine the problem and either repair it or provide advice on
what options are available to remedy the issue. By taking advantage of the
Services, you are giving permission to a HiWired technician to log into your
computer which may contain a wide range of PII. A HiWired technician will only
search your computer to determine the cause of the problem and will attempt to
limit to a minimum their interaction with your files. It is your responsibility
to ensure all of your files especially those containing PII are secure to
prevent any type of data loss or corruption.
By downloading the PC Check & Connect Client (the “HiWired Software”) in
connection with the Services, you agree that HiWired may collect and use
technical and related information, including but not limited to technical
information about your computer, operating system and application software, and
peripherals, that is gathered periodically by the HiWired Software to facilitate
the provision of software updates, product support and other services to you
related to the HiWired Software and Services.
HiWired may use this information in accordance with the terms of this
Privacy Policy, as long as it is in a form that does not personally identify
you. We may
share aggregated demographic and technical information and/or customer profile
data with our business partners, advertisers and others. This is not linked to
any personal information that can identify any individual person.
PII from Children Under Thirteen
(13) Years of Age
This Site is not directed to
children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect any information
from children under 13 years of age. If you are under 13 years of age, do not
submit any information about yourself to this Site. If we discover that a child
under the age of 13 has provided the Site with PII, we will delete that child’s
PII from all HiWired systems.
IP Addresses
An IP address is a number that is
assigned to your computer or network when you are on the Internet. When
visitors request pages from our Site, our servers log the visitor’s IP address.
We may collect IP addresses for a variety of internal purposes, such as system
administration, to report aggregate information to our business partners or to
audit the number of visits to different pages on our Site. Please note that
some services within our Site, such as certain message boards, may display IP
addresses along with the message poster’s name and message.
Cookies
Cookies are information files that
our Site may place on your computer to provide extended functionality and to
personalize your Site experience. We may use cookies for a number of purposes.
For example, we may use cookies to track usage patterns on the Site or to limit
multiple responses to and registrations for a survey. We may also use cookies
to record registration and personalization information, enabling you to save
your user name and password. We do not store any PII in cookies, but we may
link the cookie to any information we collect. You can disable cookies on your
computer by indicating this in the preferences or options menus in your
browser. However, it is possible that some parts of the Site will not operate
correctly if you disable cookies. You should consult with your browser’s
provider/manufacturer if you have any questions regarding disabling cookies.
Subscriptions
Our Site offers various subscription
services to registered users. Such services are fulfilled using provided PII
information such as your name, email address and credit card information. You
have the ability to opt out of such services at any given time in accordance
with this Privacy Policy and HiWired’s
Terms
of Service.
Contact Us - Correction/Updating
Personal Information
If your personally identifiable
information changes (such as your zip code), or if you no longer desire our
service, we will allow you to correct, update or remove your personal
information provided to us. This can be done by emailing HiWired Customer
Support at info@hiwired.com or by calling us at 1-888-My-HiWired.
Changes to Privacy Policy
Because HiWired will continue to implement new technologies
and improve the services and features provided, this policy is subject to
change. If there are changes or additions to this privacy policy, we will post
those changes here or in other formats for you to review. If we change our
information practices or this privacy policy in such a way that your personal
information may be used or shared in a different manner, HiWired will give you
the opportunity to opt-out of having your information used or shared in that
new manner.
Your
HiWired collects various types of personal information
about you, both online and offline, during the course of our business
relationship. Under
HiWired has chose to provide you with a cost-free means to
opt-out of such sharing. If you would
like to exercise your rights under
or
HiWired
75 Second Ave
Suite 610
Needham, MA 02494