MUSHYGUSHY.COM
PRIVACY POLICY
Last Updated: February 2007
GENERAL MATTERS
Overview
At MushyGushy.Com, LLC (“MushyGushy.Com”), we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our users. For this reason, we have adopted the following policy to advise you of your choices regarding the use of your personal information online. 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. We may revise the Privacy Policy occasionally, so please check it frequently.
Scope of Policy
This Policy applies to MushyGushy.Com. It 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
Aggregate Data
We gather certain generic information with respect to customers’ use of our website, such as the number of unique visitors, the frequency with which they visit, and the areas on the web site that they favor. This data helps us determine the extent to which our customers use certain parts of our web site, which allows us to make it as appealing as possible.
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 automatic sign-in, address book, outbox, and reminders. 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. MushyGushy.Com 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. This site will also allow you to review the third-party advertising companies' privacy policies.
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.
MushyGushy.Com INCLUDES THE SENDER IP ADDRESS IN THE HEADER INFORMATION OF EACH GUSHYGRAM NOTIFICATION E-MAIL IT SENDS. IT IS AVAILABLE TO THE GUSHYGRAM RECIPIENT AND ANYONE ELSE WHO IS FORWARDED THE NOTIFICATION E-MAIL. THIS LIMITS YOUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE ANONYMOUSLY USING ELECTRONIC GUSHYGRAMS. ELECTRONIC GUSHYGRAMS 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 GushyGram
If you use our web site to send a GushyGram or any other content, we collect your e-mail address and your recipient's e-mail address. This information is necessary to send the content and provide confirmation that it has been received. We will not use your recipient's e-mail address for any purpose other than to send the GushyGram. We may also use your e-mail address to contact you if you have chosen to receive communications from MushyGushy.Com or its Partners. Please see Opt-Out/Changing Your Status below for more information.
If you send a GushyGram to your recipient using Google as the delivery method, unintended parties may view the content of your GushyGram as the GushyGram will be searchable on the Internet. Please see Privacy of GushyGram Information below for more information.
Personalizing Your Experience on the Web Site
We try to personalize your experience on our web sites by tracking GushyGrams and other content you have sent and gifts you have purchased in order to shape our recommendations about GushyGrams 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 GushyGrams 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 MushyGushy.Com
We send to all of our registered users exclusive MushyGushy.Com emails, which alert you to new features, content, and services available on our site. From time to time, we will also send you invitations to enhance your MushyGushy.Com membership, offers for new services from MushyGushy.Com, special "Members Only" premiums, or special offers from our affiliates and sponsors. These communications are sent to you directly by MushyGushy.Com. We do not share your personally identifiable information with any third parties.
If you are receiving emails from MushyGushy.Com and you want to unsubscribe, you can simply follow the "unsubscribe" links at the bottom of each email. For other ways to unsubscribe, see Opt-Out/Changing Your Status, below.
Communications from Our Business Partners
MushyGushy.Com also offers you the opportunity to receive money-saving offers, discounts, and promotions from our Business Partners. These communications may come from MushyGushy.Com 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 this GushyGram" 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
MushyGushy.Com 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 join and register as a Member on MushyGushy.Com, you will be required to provide us with certain personal information, including, at minimum, your name and e-mail 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 GushyGrams 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 MushyGushy.Com Reminders, which are e-mail alerts to track important dates and occasions they specify. The MushyGushy.Com Head Case and address book feature allows Members to store addresses of friends and family in order to make sending a GushyGram even easier. 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 will limit the value of your Membership.
MushyGushy.Com Uses of Personal Information
If you have provided us your consent, we may use the information we have collected about you in the following ways:
- To send personalized, targeted information that we think our users will find relevant, either from MushyGushy.Com 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 MushyGushy.Com.
On-Site Advertising
MushyGushy.Com 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 GushyGram 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.
Order Fulfillment
From time to time, you may be given the opportunity to order products and services directly on the MushyGushy.Com site, the Newsletters, or in other communications you may receive from MushyGushy.Com. These orders are sometimes fulfilled by MushyGushy.Com's Business Partners directly. To process your order, MushyGushy.Com may provide these Partners with your name, street address, e-mail address, phone number, and credit card information. MushyGushy.Com 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 subject to its privacy policy. MushyGushy.Com 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 only do business with those who adhere to personal information practices with which you are comfortable.
Privacy of GushyGram Information
We treat all of our GushyGrams products as private correspondence between the sender and the recipient and will not disclose the contents of any GushyGram other than to the intended recipient, except under the specific situations outlined in Disclosure Exceptions, below.
This policy applies to all aspects of our GushyGrams, including your personalized messages, and attached photos or graphics. Under normal circumstances, we will not monitor or edit the contents of the GushyGrams you send. On occasion, however, we may need to view your message in connection with the technical processing of your GushyGram or the maintenance of our network. Also, if you ask one of our customer service representatives to help you send an GushyGram or to verify that an GushyGram was sent, that representative will be able to access all information about the GushyGram, including the recipient's e-mail address and the message.
Please keep in mind that if you use Google as part of your GushyGram delivery method, your GushyGram will be searchable using Google, and, therefore, an unintended third party may possibly view your personalized GushyGram. We strongly recommend that you do not use any personal identification such as full names, addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etcetera, in your GushyGrams. MushyGushy.Com is not responsible for any personalized material or content contained in any GushyGram.
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 MushyGushy.Com service; or
- During emergencies, such as when we believe someone's physical safety is at risk.
Your IP address can be accessed by GushyGram recipients in the header of the notification e-mail. Under certain circumstances, recipients, their legal representatives, and/or law enforcement authorities may be able to combine this with information disclosed by ISPs to determine the source of a particular communication. By using this service, you knowingly and voluntarily assume any risks associated with such disclosure.
YOUR CONTROL OVER YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Opt-Out/Changing Your Status
At any time, you can change choices you have previously made as to the use of your personal information. Every communication MushyGushy.Com sends you will contain a clearly worded "Opt-Out" or "Unsubscribe" link allowing you to withdraw your permission for future mailings. Permission changes will be honored as soon as possible after receipt. Please allow 5 to 7 days for processing. Permission changes will not affect any information which you provided to us and which we previously shared with our Business Partners.
Editing Your Profile
If you are a Member, you have the ability to review and correct your personally identifiable information at any time. Simply click the "My Account" link at the top of each page. From there, you can change your address information, e-mail type, sign-in, and e-mail permissions.
OTHER MATTERS
Protection for Children - COPPA Compliance
We are committed to protecting the privacy and rights of children online. We believe that children should be able to use the Internet in a safe, productive, and efficient manner and should be afforded the highest protection available with respect to their personal information. To that end, we have made it our policy to not collect any individually identifiable information from users whom we know are under the age of 13. Our registration process blocks the registration of users under 13 years old and will automatically delete all individually identifiable information collected from such users.
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") imposes certain requirements upon web sites and online services that are directed toward children. To learn more about COPPA, visit the Federal Trade Commission COPPA Web Site.
Contests and Promotions
Occasionally, MushyGushy.Com may sponsor contests and/or promotions on our sites or in our e-mail products. Participation in such contests is purely voluntary. In order to enter a contest or promotion, you may be asked to provide personally identifiable information. By entering, you agree to all of its terms and conditions, which will be clearly outlined in the rules. Where a contest or promotion is not sponsored by MushyGushy.Com, the identity of the sponsor will be clearly disclosed in the rules. MushyGushy.Com cannot be responsible for actions or policies of third-party contest sponsors. Users are encouraged to review the relevant privacy policy of the sponsor before entering.
Sale of Assets
In the event that MushyGushy.Com and/or its units or subsidiaries are ever sold, acquired, merged, liquidated, reorganized, or otherwise transferred, we reserve the right to transfer our user databases together with any personally identifiable information contained therein, to a third-party acquiring MushyGushy.Com' assets. In the event we do so, we will place a prominent notice of the sale on the homepage of our site, with links to information as to how you can change your privacy preferences.
Data Security
When you place orders for purchased products or access your payment information, we use an advanced encryption technology known as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to protect the storage and transfer of your data from unauthorized parties. While on a secure page, such as our registration form, a lock or key icon appears on the bottom of your web browser.
In addition to our online security efforts, we take steps to protect your personal data offline, as well. All of your information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Employees are granted access on a need-to-know basis (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative). Furthermore, ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Finally, the servers on which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment, behind a locked cage.
MushyGushy.Com's main servers are operated from a dedicated Internet hosting facility with state-of-the-art physical security features, including smoke detection and fire suppression systems, motion sensors, and 24x7 secured access, as well as video camera surveillance and security breach alarms.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
MushyGushy.Com will occasionally update this Privacy Policy in response to changing business circumstances and legal developments. When MushyGushy.Com posts changes to this Policy, the “Last Updated” date on the top of this page will change to reflect the relevant date. If there are material changes to this Policy or in how MushyGushy.Com uses your personally identifiable information, MushyGushy.Com will prominently post such changes prior to implementing the change. MushyGushy.Com encourages you to periodically review this Policy to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
USE COMMON SENSE IN ALL YOUR ONLINE ACTIVITIES
Even the best policy can't protect your online privacy and security in all circumstances. Unscrupulous advertisers, hackers, and scam artists are constantly searching the Internet looking for new targets. Your best protection is to understand the limits to privacy on the Internet and use common sense in all of your on-line activities.
Be aware that e-mail is an inherently insecure form of communication. Remember that third parties are sometimes able to illegally intercept your unencrypted messages, including GushyGrams.
Anytime you visit a chat room or post a message to an on-line bulletin board, your e-mail address can be accessed by advertisers looking to compile lists for unsolicited commercial e-mail (also known as spam). Be sure that you only disclose your e-mail address in circumstances in which it is safe to do so.
Beware of scams in which persons unknown to you request your screen name, password, or credit card information. Make sure you verify the identity of anyone asking for personal information.
Always monitor your children's on-line activities and educate them as to the rules for safe Internet use.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at service@MushyGushy.Com. |