Last updated 21 DEC 2018
General
Sommer Street Associates takes your privacy seriously. Please read the following to learn more about our privacy policy. This Policy applies to all Sommer Street Associates Web Sites and eNewsletters (“Web Sites”). This Policy 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. 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. This policy does not apply to the practices of companies or Web Sites that Sommer Street Associates does not own or control or to people that who Sommer Street Associates does not employ or manage.
Information About You
We gather certain generic information with respect to customers’ use of our Web Sites. Information may include number of unique visitors, the frequency with which they visit, and the areas on the Web Sites that they prefer. These statistics are very much like television ratings that tell the networks how many people tuned in to a program. We only use this type of data in the aggregate, on a collective basis, in summary form, rather than on an individual basis. This data helps us determine the extent to which our customers use certain parts of our Web Sites, which, in turn, enables us to make it as appealing as possible. We may also share aggregate data of customers’ collective use of our Web Sites with advertisers, sponsors, and other companies with which we do business (“Affiliates” or “Business Partners”). We do this so they, too, can improve functionality and offer services and materials that users want.
Cookies
We use “cookies” on our Web Sites. 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. Cookies tell our computer that you’ve visited before and can help to make your visit more personal so you don’t have to re-enter information on a return visit. Cookies also allow us to count the number of unique and return visitors who use our Web Sites.
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 like checking out (and participate in certain offerings) on our Web Sites if you choose not to accept cookies. Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance their experience on our Web Sites.
Third Party Advertiser Cookies
We use third-party advertising companies who use cookies to serve our ads on the Internet. To do so, these companies may use anonymous information about your visits to our Web Sites 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. Sommer Street Associates 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 Sites individually and opt out or visit the Web Sites of the National Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) to opt-out of all network advertising cookies at http://www.networkadvertising.org/
IP Addresses
We collect and analyze traffic on our Web Sites by keeping track of the IP addresses of our visitors. An IP address is a unique number assigned to your computer when you are using your browser on the Internet. We log this information so that we can monitor things like the number of visitors visiting the Web Sites; however, we do not link your IP address to any personally identifying information.
Personalizing Your Experience on the Web Sites
We try to personalize your experience on our Web Sites by tracking content you have sent and purchases in order to shape our recommendations that might be of interest to you. We also examine customer traffic patterns and Web Sites usage to help us enhance the design and layout of the Web Sites 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 greetings and other site features. We will use the information we gather to improve our Web 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 may be interested.
Our email service provider also pulls in publicly available data from social channels to help us better tailor the content to you. If you’re ever interested in removing yourself from all of our email lists and deleting your data, please email us at sales@sommerstreet.com.
Subscribing to our Newsletter
We send email notifications and information to users who have opted in. Those notifications may be, but not limited to, our exclusive Newsletter, information on new features, new content, other products and services. These communications are sent to you directly by Sommer Street Associates. In order to receive the emailed information you must have subscribed via one of our Web Sites or other sources such as our mailing/customer list.
It is our intention to always allow you to opt out of any of our lists. When you receive any Newsletter or email and you want to unsubscribe, you can simply follow the “unsubscribe” links at the bottom of each edition.
Offers from Our Business Partners
Sommer Street Associates may also offer you the opportunity to receive money-saving offers, discounts, and promotions from our Business Partners. These communications may come from Sommer Street Associates 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 on an opt-in basis. In order to receive the offers, you must affirmatively check to receive information from us. 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.
Information Gathered From Members
If you elect to purchase a product on an Sommer Street Associates-owned web site, you will be required to provide us with certain personal information, including your name, e-mail address, credit card number, expiration date, and billing address (this required information is subject to change from time to time). There may 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 you based upon certain services you elect to utilize on our Web Sites, email addresses for example or used to store and send electronic greeting cards. 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 user; however, the omission of certain types of data will limit the value of your use of these features. If you become a user of our Web Sites or from one of our co-branded Web Sites, we may share your registration information with the co-branded partner.
Uses of Personal Information
If you have provided us your consent via opt-in subscription, we may use the information we have collected about you in five ways:
- To send personalized, targeted information that we think our users will find relevant, either from Sommer Street Associates or directly from its Business Partners
- To support any of your requests like order processing;
- To send promotions and coupons based on user interests;
- To contact the user for feedback and surveys;
- To send the user other information about Sommer Street Associates or its Business Partners. These communications include but are not limited to e-mail, postal mail. On-Site Advertising Sommer Street Associates may also use information about you to target advertising while you are visiting our Web Sites. 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 from one of our Web Sites, the Newsletters, or in other communications you may receive from Sommer Street Associates. To process your order, Sommer Street Associates may provide these partners with your name, street address, e-mail address, phone number, and credit card information. Sommer Street Associates will limit the types of information shared to the minimum necessary to efficiently process your order. In some cases you are ordering products from a business partner and in accepting these offers, you become subject to its privacy policy. 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.
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 Sommer Street Associates’ 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 Sommer Street Associates against misuse or unauthorized use of our Web Sites and/or the Sommer Street Associates service; or During emergencies, such as when we believe someone’s physical safety is at risk.
Your Control Over Your Personal Information
Opt-Out/Changing Your Status any time you receive an email from us you can change your status. Every communication Sommer Street Associates sends you will contain a clearly worded “Opt-Out” or “Unsubscribe” link allowing you to withdraw your permission for future mailings. This system is automated and must be contacted from the email address you wish to have removed. Permission changes will be honored as soon as possible after receipt. Please allow five to seven days for processing. Permission changes will however not affect any information that you provided to us and that we previously shared with our Business Partners.
Sale of Assets
In the event that Sommer Street Associates 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 Sommer Street Associates’ assets.
Data Security
When you place orders for purchased products or access your payment information, we use an advanced encryption technology 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.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
Sommer Street Associates will occasionally update this Privacy Policy in response to changing business circumstances and legal developments. When Sommer Street Associates posts changes to this Policy, you will see a date depicting the last update of the policy on the top of this page. If there are material changes to this Policy or in how Sommer Street Associates uses your personally identifiable information, Sommer Street Associates will prominently post such changes before implementing the change. Sommer Street Associates encourages you to periodically review this Policy to be informed of how we are protecting your information. You may review our policy any time as it will always be linked to our web sites.
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 online greetings.
Any time 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.
Contact Information
If you have questions or concerns regarding this Policy, please contact us.