Privacy Policy

Wednesday, 25 February 2009

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A Commitment to Privacy

Consumer Watchdog strongly believes in protecting the integrity of personal information gathered from our members and visitors to our Web sites ("End Users"). Since privacy is of the greatest importance to us, we have created this privacy policy to communicate our practices regarding personal information that can be linked to a specific individual, such as a name, address, phone number, e-mail address, or any other information.

No Sharing, Renting or Selling of Personal Information

Consumer Watchdog collects personal information provided by End Users when an End User provides such information on a voluntary basis. We will not sell, share, trade, rent, distribute, or otherwise disclose personal information provided by End Users to any third party without an End User's express consent, except as provided in the End User Terms and Conditions, or as required by law.

We maintain a secure process for collection, transmission, and storage of information related to all donations made to Consumer Watchdog through this website.

At times, Consumer Watchdog may need to access individual records for the purpose of resolving a technical problem or a suspected violation of the End User Terms and Conditions. Certain information such as Internet addresses may also be used to diagnose technical problems and to improve the quality of our Web site. We also reserve the right to track and analyze usage and volume statistical information about our End Users and to use such information in any way.

Consumer Watchdog uses "cookies" on some Web pages. A cookie is a small piece of data stored on an End User's hard drive but does not itself contain any personal information. Cookies save the End User from having to log in or provide information each time he or she re-visits a Consumer Watchdog Web page and by customizing content based on an End User's interests. An End User can configure his or her browser to be alerted when a site is attempting to send a cookie and refuse the cookie. Consumer Watchdog also tracks End User activity and click-through behavior to provide an End User with a more personalized experience while visiting our Web pages and for more personalized e-mail alerts. Consumer Watchdog also uses IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the Web site, track End User movement and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.

Forward to a Friend

If an End User visits a Consumer Watchdog Web page and uses a referral feature to inform a friend about the Web page, we automatically send that friend a one-time e-mail inviting him or her to visit the Web page. We will not send that friend any subsequent e-mail unless the friend affirmatively chooses to register with us. Such e-mail addresses will not be sold, shared, traded, rented, distributed, or otherwise disclosed to any other third party.

Opting-out, Updating Information, and Permission-Based Communications

End Users may have the opportunity to opt-in to receive future communications from Consumer Watchdog. End Users can update their personal information and unsubscribe (opt-out) from receiving future communications from us by following the instructions at the end of any e-mail.

Third Party Sites

Web pages hosted by Consumer Watchdog may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of those websites. End Users should review the policy statements of such websites to understand their policies before disclosing personal information.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

Consumer Watchdog reserves the right to change this policy at any time, with or without notice.