Privacy Pledge

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Privacy Pledge
of The Write Place

When people you've never met want information about you, a natural
reaction is to take a step back and wonder how that information might be
used.

The more "powerful" the information is -- in other words, the more ways
in which it can be used or potentially abused -- the more cautious you
will be when asked to provide it. If it's just your name, you probably
won't care. But if it's your e-mail address, you may be less inclined to
provide it. And if it's your credit card information, you may not want to
provide it at all, especially if it's not in a way that you are familiar with.

As a person who knows that privacy matters, I fully recognize and understand
your concern, and how it relates to my site. If you use all of the features of
The Write Place, you may eventually be asked to share personal information
with me, which might make you feel uncomfortable since you would be sharing
that information via the World-Wide Web. For this reason, I pledge to abide by
the following Privacy Protection Pledge, which states:

1. I will not attempt to collect information specific to you without your knowledge.
I may analyze the anonymous, aggregate information generated by your visit, such
as server logs, to determine visitor traffic patterns, but this information will not
be tied to you directly.

2. When requesting information, the reason for doing so will either be
obvious (e.g., a shipping address for an order you are placing) or
will be stated explicitly within one click from the page location
where the information is requested, in such a way that you may read
the explanation before providing the information.

3. I will not request user-specific information from my site's visitors
who, by the nature of the content of my site, are expected to be under
the age of 18, unless I can reasonably assume that the under-age
user's parent(s) or legal guardian(s) have given explicit consent for
the provision of such information.

4. Personal information that you share with me will not be redistributed
to any third party (via sale, rental, gift, or other sharing or transfer)
without your explicit, verified permission in advance. This means
you don't need to "opt out" of having your information redistributed
-- I assume that is what you want unless you specifically tell me
otherwise. Of course, if I am presented with a legal court order
requiring the transfer of your information for law enforcement
purposes, I may have no choice but to comply with that order. When
placing orders for merchandise on my site, you may be redirected to
another vendor's site, where my privacy policies will be modified in
accordance with the privacy policies at that other site. All financial,
credit card transactions will be handled via guaranteed secure servers.

5. I will not use information that you provide for future off-site
electronic "sales pitches" unless you specifically request that I
do so. For example, if you place an order and provide your e-mail
address in the process, you will not need to "opt out" from my mailing
list(s). I will add you to my mailing list for FootNotes (my free monthly
e-newsletter).

6. If I use HTTP cookies, or if I display banners that are served
from another site that uses HTTP cookies, I will explain why the
cookies are being used. This explanation will be placed in a clear,
obvious location and will be written to be easily understood. For
cookies that are not generated on my site, my explanation will
depend largely on the explanation provided by the other site(s).

7. I will use all available resources to protect your personal
information from unauthorized disclosure, both during transfer
between your computer and my server and while the information is
in storage under my control.

I hope this assurance will help you feel more comfortable using my
online resources! If you have any questions about the handling of your
information, you are urged to contact me promptly.

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Questions? Send me an e-mail at mlefan@vvm.com

Or call me at (254) 773-3590 (M-F), 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central