Privacy Policy

EARN Privacy Policy
(effective as of March 23, 2011)

Thank you for visiting the network of websites (the “Sites”) operated by Earned Assets Resource Network (“EARN”). EARN is committed to protecting the privacy of visitors to our Sites. Please read this Privacy Policy to understand what personal information we collect, why we collect it, and how we use the information we collect. By using the Sites, you the user (“you”) indicate that you have read and agree to be bound by this Policy. If you do not agree to this Policy, do not use the Sites in any manner.

We do not collect any personally identifiable information about you when you visit the Sites, unless you choose to provide that information to us.

Information collected and stored automatically.

There are certain categories of information we will automatically collect or store when you visit the Sites and browse through pages or download information. None of this information will identify you personally. We collect this information for statistical purposes and to, from time to time, perform analyses of user behavior in order to measure customer interest in various areas of our Sites and to help make our Sites more useful to visitors. We will disclose this information to third parties only in aggregate form.

Specifically, we may automatically collect the following types of information:

Your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, which is a number automatically assigned to your computer by your Internet Service Provider whenever you use the Internet;
The type of browser and operating system used to access the Sites;
The date and time you access the Sites and whether you have visited the Sites before;
The pages you visit within the Sites; or
If you linked to our Sites from another website, the URL of that website.

Information collected that you voluntarily provide.

We may collect any information that you choose to enter through the Sites (including in emails you send, in filling out a form and submitting it through the Site, or in subscribing to newsletters or other services). This may include personally identifiable information such as your name, email address, year of birth, gender, zip code, country, and mailing address.

From time to time, we may conduct polls and surveys. Information collected through our polls, surveys, and questionnaires is used anonymously and/or in the aggregate, unless we contact you to request permission to use your individual responses for a particular purpose.

Use of collected information.

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

to respond to your requests, questions, and comments;
to provide you with personalized services (for example, information about your local area or your favorite subjects) and to send you email news;
to let you donate online;
to analyze usage of the Sites and improve the Sites or to otherwise improve the quality of our services, including for market research, project planning, and troubleshooting problems;
to contact you to provide information about EARN, our mission, or other products or services in which we may be interested, including legal notices or information about changes to this Privacy Policy;
to protect our rights and the rights of others, to detect and protect against error, fraud, or other criminal activity, to respond to legal process and defend against legal claims, and as otherwise required by law, as determined by EARN in its sole discretion; or
as otherwise set forth in this EARN Privacy Policy, or as otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent.

Sharing of collected information with third parties.

EARN will share the personally identifiable information we collect about you only under the following circumstances:

with authorized service providers that help us provide our services or perform other business functions for us, such as sending emails and newsletters or hosting web services (but these service providers are not permitted to use personally identifiable information that we provide for any purpose other than to provide service to us);
to respond to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process, in response to a request for cooperation from law enforcement or another government agency, or to establish or exercise our legal rights, defend against legal claims, or otherwise protect or defend our rights or property;
when we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, or as otherwise required by law;
in connection with a corporate transaction;
in aggregated or other non-personally identifiable form, and
as otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent.

Comments posted to the Sites.

Any personally identifiable information or content that you voluntarily disclose online in comments becomes publicly available and can be collected, used, or shared by others. Your user name (but not your email address) is displayed to other users when you post comments. Accordingly, when posting comments, you should exercise caution not to provide any personally identifying information or other information that you would not want seen by others. Use of the community functions on the Sites is at your own risk.

Links to other websites.

Our Sites contain links to third-party websites and partners, whose privacy and information security practices may be different than ours. Please note that EARN does not control the privacy practices of these other websites or businesses to which we provide hyperlinks or access, and the information practices of such companies are not covered by this Privacy Policy. Accordingly, if you choose to access any of these third-party sites or services, you should read the privacy notices and user disclosures on these other websites and evaluate their practices before deciding to disclose any information or use any of these services.

Donations.

We partner with Networkforgood.org to process donations made online and to facilitate your online credit card transactions. When you click on links to donate, for example, “donate now,” “give now,” or “donate online,” you will be directed to Networkforgood.org’s secure server. Please note that EARN does not control the privacy or security practices on Networkforgood.org’s website and these privacy and security practices may be different than ours. Accordingly, you should read Networkforgood.org’s Privacy Policy and other user disclosures prior to disclosing any personal information.

Cookies.

A “cookie” is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website. When you visit the website again, the cookie allows that site to recognize your browser, and it may store user preferences and other information.

When you visit the Sites, a cookie may be sent to your computer by a third party analytics company—for example, Google Analytics, in order to track the categories of automatically collected, non-personal information described above. We track this information in order to improve our Sites and maximize your user experience. No other cookies are placed on your computer through your use of the Sites and no personally identifiable information is collected by cookies.

Children.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of thirteen. Should we learn that a child under the age of thirteen has provided us with personal information, we will delete that information from our database.

Security.

EARN strives to use the best available means to protect your personally identifiable information, but no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, can be 100% secure at all times. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your personally identifiable information.

Opt-out.

By using our Sites, you agree that you understand our Privacy Policy and consent to its terms. If you would no longer like to be bound by the terms of this Policy, please discontinue use of the Sites.

If you would like to opt-out of email or mail communications, such as our newsletters, please email info@earn.org or follow the unsubscribe instructions that are included in each email you receive.

Changes to this Privacy Policy.

We may update this Privacy Policy in the future. We will notify you about material changes to this policy by placing a prominent notice on the Sites or by sending a notice to an email or mailing address you have provided to us.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact EARN:

By email—info@earn.org;

By mail—EARN, 235 Montgomery St. #470, San Francisco, CA 94104; or

By phone—(415) 217-3660.