Privacy Policy
PRIVACY POLICY - Last Updated: April 7, 2009
DebtSteps.com strives
to offer its visitors the many advantages of Internet technology and to provide
an interactive and personalized experience. We may use Personally Identifiable
Information (your name, e-mail address, street address, telephone number)
subject to the terms of this privacy policy. We will never sell, barter, or
rent your email address to anyone.
How we gather information from users:
How we collect and store information depends on the page you are visiting,
the activities in which you elect to participate and the services provided.
For example, you may be asked to provide information when you register for
access to certain portions of our site or request certain features, such as
newsletters or when you make a purchase. You may provide information when
you participate in sweepstakes and contests, message boards and chat rooms,
and other interactive areas of our site.
Like most Web sites, DebtSteps.com also collects information automatically
and through the use of electronic tools that may be transparent to our visitors.
For example, we may log the name of your Internet Service Provider or use
cookie technology to recognize you and hold information from your visit. Among
other things, the cookie may store your user name and password, sparing you
from having to re-enter that information each time you visit, or may control
the number of times you encounter a particular advertisement while visiting
our site.
As we adopt additional technology, we may also gather information through
other means. In certain cases, you can choose not to provide us with information,
for example by setting your browser to refuse to accept cookies, but if you
do, you may be unable to access certain portions of the site or may be asked
to re-enter your user name and password, and we may not be able to customize
the site's features according to your preferences.
While on our site, our advertisers, promotional partners or other third parties
may use cookies, web beacons or other technology to attempt to identify some
of your preferences or retrieve information about you. For example, some of
our advertising is served by third parties and may include cookies and web
beacons that enable the advertiser to determine whether you have seen a particular
advertisement before. Other features available on our site may offer services
operated by third parties and may use cookies or other technology to gather
information. DebtSteps.com does not control the use of this technology by
third parties or the resulting information, and is not responsible for any
actions or policies of such third parties.
A web beacon is a transparent image file used to monitor your journey around
a single website or collection of sites. They are also referred to as web
bugs and are commonly used by sites that hire third-party services to monitor
traffic. They may be used in association with cookies to understand how visitors
interact with the pages and content on the pages of a web site.
Some third-party advertisements may be provided by Google, which uses cookies
to serve ads on this site. Google uses the DART cookie, which enables it to
serve ads to our users based on their visits to this site and other sites
on the Web. You may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the
Google ad
and content network privacy policy.
What we do with the information we collect:
Like other Web publishers, we collect information to enhance your visit and
deliver more individualized content and advertising. We respect your privacy
and do not share your information with anyone.
Aggregated Information (information that does not personally identify you)
may be used in many ways. For example, we may combine information about your
usage patterns with similar information obtained from other users to help
enhance our site and services (e.g., to learn which pages are visited most
or what features are most attractive). Aggregated Information may occasionally
be shared with our advertisers and business partners. Again, this information
does not include any Personally Identifiable Information about you or allow
anyone to identify you individually.
We may use Personally Identifiable Information collected on DebtSteps.com
to communicate with you about your registration and customization preferences;
our Terms of Service and privacy policy; services and products offered by
DebtSteps.com and other topics we think you might find of interest.
Personally Identifiable Information collected by DebtSteps.com may also be
used for other purposes, including but not limited to site administration,
troubleshooting, processing of e-commerce transactions, administration of
sweepstakes and contests, and other communications with you.
Certain third parties who provide technical support for the operation of our
site (our Web hosting service for example) may access such information. We
will use your information only as permitted by law.
In addition, from time to time as we continue to develop our business, we
may sell, buy, merge or partner with other companies or businesses. In such
transactions, user information may be among the transferred assets.
We may also disclose your information in response to a court order, at other
times when we believe we are reasonably required to do so by law, in connection
with the collection of amounts you may owe to us, and/or to law enforcement
authorities whenever we deem it appropriate or necessary. Please note we may
not provide you with notice prior to disclosure in such cases.
Affiliated sites, linked sites and DebtSteps.com expects its partners, advertisers
and affiliates to respect the privacy of our users. Be aware, however, that
third parties, including our partners, advertisers, affiliates and other content
providers accessible through our site, may have their own privacy and data
collection policies and practices.
For example, during your visit to our site you may link to, or view as part
of a frame on a DebtSteps.com page, certain content that is actually created
or hosted by a third party. Also, through DebtSteps.com you may be introduced
to, or be able to access, information, Web sites, features, contests or sweepstakes
offered by other parties.
DebtSteps.com is not responsible for the actions or policies of such third
parties. You should check the applicable privacy policies of those third parties
when providing information on a feature or page operated by a third party.
You should also be aware that if you voluntarily disclose Personally Identifiable
Information on message boards or in chat areas, that information can be viewed
publicly and can be collected and used by third parties without our knowledge
and may result in unsolicited messages from other individuals or third parties.
Such activities are beyond the control of DebtSteps.com and this policy.
Contacting Us:
We can be reached by contacting us by using our
contact
form.
Changes to this Policy
DebtSteps.com reserves the right to change this policy at any time. Please
check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of our site following
the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes.
Information collected prior to the time any change is posted will be used
according to the rules and laws that applied at the time the information was
collected.
Governing Law
This policy and the use of this Site are governed by New York law. If a dispute
arises under this Policy we agree to first try to resolve it with the help
of a mutually agreed-upon mediator in the following location: St. Lawrence
County, New York. Any costs and fees other than attorney fees associated with
the mediation will be shared equally by each of us.
If it proves impossible to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution through
mediation, we agree to submit the dispute to binding arbitration at the following
location: St. Lawrence County, New York, under the rules of the American Arbitration
Association. Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitration may be entered
in any court with jurisdiction to do so.
DebtSteps.com is controlled, operated and administered entirely within DebtSteps.com.
This statement and the policies outlined herein are not intended to and do
not create any contractual or other legal rights in or on behalf of any party.
Children's Privacy
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age
of 13. If we learn that we have personal information on a child under the
age of 13, we will delete that information from our systems.
DebtSteps.com encourages parents to go online with their kids. Here are a
few tips to help make a child's online experience safer:
Teach kids never to give personal information, unless supervised
by a parent or responsible adult. Includes name, address, phone, school,
etc.
Know the sites your kids are visiting and which sites are appropriate.
Look for Web site privacy policies. Know how your child's information is
treated.
Check out the FTC
site for more tips on protecting children's privacy online.
Contacting Us
We can be reached by using our
contact
form or by mail:
DebtSteps.com
P O Box 675
Potsdam NY 13676-0675
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