The Short Version

We know most people would rather not have to study an entire privacy and security policy just to find out if you can trust us with your personal info, so here’s the bottom line:

• Earthville respects your privacy, and we do our best to treat you the way we’d like to be treated.
• We will never spam you. We are a zero-spam organization.
• Our mailing lists and newsletters are strictly opt-in (meaning we won’t subscribe you unless you ask us to do so) and, should you ever wish to unsubscribe or change your subscription preferences, we make it as quick and painless as possible to do so.
• We don’t sell people’s personal information, period.
• We don’t even share your contact info with our nonprofit partners unless you ask us to do so.
• We use up-to-date security standards and best practices to keep your data as safe as possible.

If you care to go spelunking for more detail, our official privacy  and security policy is below.

The Long Version

This page describes the information we collect and the steps we take to ensure your privacy and security. By using our website, you are agreeing with our Privacy and Security Policy.

Information Collected

• Information provided by the visitor: We may collect and store any information you enter on our website or give us in any other way, including your name, organization name, street/mailing/billing addresses, email address, and any other information you may provide. We may use the information you provide to register your membership, respond to your communications, and perform other services which you may request.
• Information collected automatically: Like most modern websites, our website collects certain kinds of standard information whenever you visit our site. For example, our site may make use of browser “cookies” that help the our webserver remember who you are so that next time you return, your experience may be easier and more personalized; it may also track your browsing history so it can display suggestions for other pages you might appreciate. Our website also receives and stores computer and network information such as operating system, platform, and browser type and version. It is possible for you to use third party software to visit our website anonymously, but in doing so you might sacrifice the personalization features of our site, and some of these privacy methods may also prevent our site from working properly, which could result in your requests or submissions not being processed.
• E-mail, postal, and telephone communications: To help us serve you better in the future, we may retain any information that you provide to us through email, postal mail, telephone communications, or any other means. This information will be kept private and secure and will only be used to fulfill your requests, manage your account, communicate with you as described in this privacy policy, and improve our products and services.

Use and Sharing of Information Collected

Earthville is not in the business of sharing our visitors’ or members’ personal identifying information with others. We share information only as necessary to process your donations, (e.g. transmitting your credit card information securely to the bank), fulfill your requests and comply with the law, as described below:

• Employees and contracted agents: As with online retail companies, we employ multiple individuals and companies to perform certain functions in the process of serving you. Examples may include fulfillment and delivery of orders, processing credit card payments, managing member communications and billing, and providing member services. These employees and agents may have access to certain specific personal information required in order to perform their functions, but they are not permitted to use your information for other purposes.
• Legal compliance: We may be forced to release personal information if required by law (such as by court order) or if necessary to enforce our Terms of Use and other agreements, or to protect Earthville or its partners, agents, members, and customers from fraud or other illegal or unethical activity.
• Visitor-approved uses: We may also offer our visitors and members the choice of opting in to mailing lists, special programs, promotions or other opportunities. Any such communications would be conducted only on an opt-in basis, and you will always have the choice to opt out of such communications.

Security of Visitor Information

The information we collect from you is protected with industry-standard security protocols and procedures:

• Encryption: When you submit information on a page that begins with https:// (not just http://), the information you provide, including credit card information, is protected during transmission by using industry-standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology provided by leading security companies.
• No sensitive data sent via email: Credit card information is not sent through email, which is inherently an insecure medium. We will never ask you for your credit card information over email, and if someone claiming to be us requests your credit card information via email, do not provide it; instead, please contact us immediately to report the incident.
• Password-protected accounts: Your personal account login information is password-protected. It is your responsibility to keep your password completely private and prevent unauthorized access to your password or your computer. If you use a public or shared computer to access our site, be sure to quit the browser when you are finished. Please use a secure password: one that is not a dictionary word, and that has at least eight characters, with a mix of numbers, letters, and special characters like punctuation, etc.

Visitor Access to and Control of Stored Information

If you create a personal account on our website (e.g. a “citizen” or “ally” account, or an account in a discussion forum, etc.), you will have the ability to choose an account name and password that will allow you to access your account information and update certain types of information. This information can be accessed by clicking the “login” link at various locations in the website. The types of information accessible to and editable by our visitors may evolve as we continue to improve our website.

Visitor Options and Preferences

• Anonymity: You can choose not to provide information, you can set most web browsers to not accept “cookies,” and you can use third-party software (not supported by us) to visit our site completely anonymously, but please be aware that doing any of these may prevent you from being able to complete a purchase successfully or to take advantage of certain features of our site.
• Account details: You can view, update, or delete certain personal identifying information from your personal account, by logging in with your username and password as described above and making the desired changes. Please note that, even after you update your information, we (or our webhosting provider) may keep a copy of any information entered previously for our records or in our (or our webhosting provider’s) automated computer backups.
• Communications preferences: We may offer mailing lists and other communications features on an opt-in basis, and you will always have the choice to opt out of such communications. Please note, however, that we will always send you online donation/order confirmations via email, and we may contact you by telephone, email or postal mail if there is a problem with your order/donation or with processing your transaction.

Children

Children aged 16 and 17 may post to this website (e.g. in community forums, comments, etc.) with the permission of a parent or guardian. Children under the age of 16 may post to this website only with the supervision of a parent or guardian.

Terms of Use

Your use of this website constitutes agreement to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use, including limitations on damages, arbitration of disputes, and application of the law of the state of California.

Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use are subject to change without notice. If you are concerned about changes, we suggest you visit these pages of our website periodically to see any changes. Nonetheless, we will never significantly change our policies and practices to make them materially less protective of visitor information collected in the past without the express consent of affected visitors, and we reserve the right to contact you regarding any such changes; lack of response to any such communications within a reasonable time period would be construed as your agreement to the changes.

Last updated: July 31, 2013