(Last Updated February 8, 2011)
Debt.com takes the privacy of our site visitors and customers very seriously. This Privacy Policy discloses how we collect personal information, the types of personal information we receive and collect, our use of current and former consumer information about, as well as the steps that we take to safeguard your information. This Privacy Policy also discloses your rights with regards to your private information, and outlines the appropriate means of contacting Debt.com with any privacy concerns.
By accessing or using the Debt.com site, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and accept this Privacy Policy and its terms. In compliance with industry standards and regulations enforced typically by the Federal and State Governments, we abide the following Privacy Policy.
Browsing Our Website
This website does not collect personally identifiable information from your computer when you browse this website and request pages from our servers. This means that, unless you voluntarily and knowingly provide us with personally identifiable information, we will not know your name, your email address, or any other personally identifiable information. Debt.com's servers automatically record non-personally identifiable information when you visit our website or use some of our products. When you request a page from our website, our servers log the information provided in the HTTP request header including the IP number, the date and time of the request, the URL of your request, the language used, the browser type and any other information that is provided in the HTTP header. We collect the HTTP request header information in order to make our website function correctly and provide you the functionality that you see on this website. We also use this information to better understand how visitors use our website and how we can better tune it, its contents and functionality to meet your needs.
Information We Collect
When we need to collect personally identifiable information from you, we will ask you to voluntarily supply us with the information we need. We will ask you for information such as, but not limited to: name, address, telephone number, email address, and demographic information (such as income level and gender) to process your submission.
Aside from the ways mentioned above, we sometimes use your personally identifiable information in other ways, including sending you promotional materials, and sharing your information with third parties so that these third parties can send you promotional materials. (By "promotional materials," we mean communications that directly promote the use of Websites, or the purchase of products or services.). However, you may "opt-out" of certain uses of your personal information.
Your Choices/Opt-out
We offer you choices when we ask for personal information, whenever reasonably possible. We provide you the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having your personally identifiable information used for certain purposes, when we ask for this information.
You may decline to provide personal information to us and/or refuse cookies in your browser, although some of our features or services may not function properly as a result.
If you no longer wish to receive our promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each communication or by emailing or calling us per the information contained on our contact page.
By providing information to Debt.com you are consenting to the collection, use and disclosure of such personal information in the manner described in this Privacy Policy. We provide you the opportunity to withdraw your consent when such information is collected or at any later time by following the procedure described in this Choice/Opt-Out provision.
Such consent may be withdrawn by calling the telephone number provided below or may be done in writing/email and sent to our customer service department at the following physical address or email address:
Securing the Transmission and Storage of Information
The security of your personal information is extremely important to us. We employ generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. We maintain physical safeguards, such as secure areas in buildings; electronic safeguards, such as passwords and encryption; and procedural safeguards, such as customer authentication procedures to prevent ID theft. Debt.com processes personal information on servers in the United States and in other countries. Access to information about you is restricted to authorized employees obtaining the information for business purposes.
Our site uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security technology to encrypt information you provide to us through the site when entering sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number) on our registration or order forms. This ensures that your information is encrypted as it travels over the Internet. SSL is an industry-standard protocol for encryption over the internet.
After information reaches Debt.com, it is stored on a secure server that resides behind firewalls designed to block unauthorized access from outside of Debt.com. You can help to maintain the security of your online transactions by not sharing your personal information or password with anyone. Remember, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. (Example: any information you provide us by email is not encrypted) Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
If you have any questions about the security on our Website, please feel free to e-mail us.
Cookies
Cookies are files that contain small amounts of data. If your browser is configured to accept these files, they are stored on the hard drive of your computer. Debt.com uses these data files when you visit our site to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information about you. By using cookies, Debt.com is able to better measure how effective our online marketing campaigns are performing.
If you wish, you may set your browser to refuse cookies. However, by refusing to accept a cookie, you may not be able to access some pages or use some of the functions of our site. Some Debt.com cookie files remain on the hard drive of your computer unless and until you manually delete the file. Debt.com cookie files do not contain personally identifiable information or track individual user movement through our site.
Log File Analysis
Debt.com also collects information from your computer each time you visit our site using javascript and log file analysis software.
Information we measure, analyze and collect in this manner may include: your IP address, screen resolution, operating system, platform information, your URL clickstream behavior (from referring URL website, through Debt.com website, to and including URL of exiting website), date and time of your clickstream behavior, purchase behavior, clickstream patterns, email address, Debt.com user answer, purchase behavior, cookie information, session information (includes: page interaction information, browser interaction information, page response times, length of visits to individual pages, download errors) and web browser software.
Information we collect on how you use our site does not include personally identifiable information. Though some personally identifiable information may be collected in this process, the information collected is not used to track individual use through our website.
How Debt.com Uses the Information We Collect
We may disclose a consumer's personally identifiable information in order to effect or carry out any transaction that you have requested of us or as necessary to complete our contractual obligations with you. The personal information collected on this site and by third parties will be used to operate the site and to provide the services or products or carry out the transactions you have requested or authorized.
We Reserve The Right To, Share, Sell, Rent Or Otherwise Transfer/Disclose Your Personal Information To Third Parties For Any Purpose In Our Sole Discretion In Accordance With Applicable Laws. We prohibit the sale or transfer of personal information to non-affiliated entities for their use without giving you the opportunity to opt-out. We may share your personally identifiable information with affiliated companies that are directly or indirectly controlled by, or under common control of Debt.com. We may send personally identifiable information about you to non-affiliated companies that are not directly or indirectly controlled by, or under common control of, Debt.com.
We may use this personally identifiable information for auditing, research and analysis to operate and improve Debt.com's technologies and services. We may change or broaden the use of your personal information at any time. We may use your personal information to provide customized content, promotional offers to individuals by means of email advertising, telephone marketing, direct mail marketing, banner advertising, and other possible uses.
Legal Disclaimer
We reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information, as required, to comply with the law, applicable regulations, governmental and quasi-governmental requests, judicial proceedings, court orders or subpoenas, to enforce our Legal Notices or other agreements, or to protect our rights, property or safety or the rights, or to protect the property or safety of our users or others (e.g., to a consumer reporting agency for fraud protection etc.), and to ensure the security of our network and services.
Business Transitions
In the event Debt.com goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your personally identifiable information will likely be among the assets transferred. You will be notified via e-mail and/or a prominent notice on our website for 30 days of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. We will not jeopardize your privacy. The provisions contained in this Privacy Policy supersede all previous notices or policies regarding our privacy practices with respect to this site. Any and all changes will be made here, to this Privacy Policy.
We encourage you to check our site frequently to see the current Privacy Policy to be informed of how we are committed to protecting your information and providing you with improved content on our website in order to enhance your online experience. Upon any material changes to the Privacy Policy, we will post those changes to this Privacy Policy, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
Third Party Advertisers
Any ads appearing on this Website are delivered to users by our advertising partner. We share Website usage information about users with a reputable third party for the purpose of targeting our Internet banner advertisements on this site. The information collected and shared through this technology is not personally identifiable.
Links to Other Sites
This Website may contain links to other sites such as our affiliates as well as third parties which are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that this Privacy Policy only addresses Debt.com's use and disclosure of your information collected on this site.
While we try to link only to sites that share our standards and respect for privacy, we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to read the applicable privacy policies and terms of conditions of each and every Website that collects personally identifiable information.
This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected by this Website.
Co-branded sites
We may be co-branded with "partners and affiliates" or part of a corporate group. We may share information about customers and former customers with these co-branded / corporate group companies. These business to business relationships are helpful to us and to you as they afford all concerned with greater product and service opportunities. We always provide opt-out opportunities regarding the sharing of your information with such partners and affiliates. Please note the sites linked to our site are governed by their own privacy policies which may or may not reach the standards set by Debt.com.
Children
Consistent with the Federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 without requesting parental consent.
Your California Privacy Rights (As provided by California Civil Code Section 1798.83)
A California resident who has provided personal information to Debt.com ("California customer") is entitled to request information about whether Debt.com has disclosed personal information to any third parties for the third parties' own direct marketing purposes. Upon receipt of such request by a California customer, Debt.com is required to provide a list of all third parties to whom personal information was disclosed in the preceding calendar year, as well as a list of the categories of personal information that were disclosed.
However, under the law, Debt.com is not required to provide the above-described lists if Debt.com adopts and discloses to the public (in its Privacy Policy) a policy of not disclosing customer's personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes unless the customer first affirmatively agrees to the disclosure, as long as the business maintains and discloses this policy. Rather, Debt.com may comply with the law by notifying the customer of his or her right to prevent disclosure of personal information and providing a cost free means to exercise that right.
As stated in our Privacy Policy, we do not share information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes unless you affirmatively agree to such disclosure. If you do ask us to share your information with a third party for its marketing purposes, we will only share information in connection with that specific promotion, as we do not share information with any third party on a continual basis. To prevent disclosure of your personal information for use in direct marketing by a third party, do not opt in to such use when you provide personally identifiable information on one of our sites. Please note that whenever you opt in to receive future communications from a third party, your information will be subject to the third party's Privacy Policy. If you later decide that you do not want that third party to use your information, you will need to contact the third party directly, as we have no control over how third parties use information. You should always review the Privacy Policy of any party that collects your information to determine how that entity will handle your information.
California customers may request further information about our compliance with this law by e-mailing contact@debt.com. Please note that we are only required to respond to one request per customer each year, and we are not required to respond to requests made by means other than through this e-mail address.
If You Have Questions
If you ever have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us. We respect your rights and privacy, and will be happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have.
PLEASE PRINT AND RETAIN A COPY OF THIS AGREEMENT FOR YOUR RECORDS.