SarasotaFloridaUSA.com
Privacy Statement
SarasotaFloridaUSA.com PRIVACY POLICY effective September
2, 2004
This privacy policy applies to https://www.SarasotaFloridaUSA.com
and all websites and URL's controlled or operated by BocaCompany,
which link to this policy, unless otherwise specified.
This is a new privacy policy effective as of the date
set forth above. Even if you read and approved a prior policy, you
need to review this new version as it has been updated and revised.
Titles and headings are provided for general reference
and ease of use only, as information may be covered in more than
one heading or under other headings.
If users have questions or concerns regarding this
statement, they should first contact SarasotaFloridaUSA.com's privacy
department at privacy@SarasotaFloridaUSA.com.
Information Collection
Registration and Service Professional Enrollment
In order to complete a service request or to enroll as a prospective
service professional, a user must first complete a registration
form. During registration a user is required to give contact information
(such as name and email address). We use this information to contact
the user about services on our site for which they have expressed
interest, to inform service professionals of leads, and/or inform
customers about service professionals they matched to. By providing
this information to us, or by submitting a service request, you
expressly consent to being contacted by us and by our service professionals
and providers via phone, fax, email, mail or other reasonable means,
at any of your contact numbers or addresses, in order that we may
provide the services set forth on our Web site, service your account,
reasonably address matters pertaining to your account or for other
reasonable purposes related to our business. Unique identifiers
(such as username and password) are required. Except in the case
of lending services, it is optional for the user to provide demographic
information (such as income level and gender) but encouraged so
we can provide a more personalized experience on our Web site. We
also require a service professional's social security number or
federal tax id number to complete a background check (credit is
not checked), prior to a service professional being approved to
join our network.
Service Request
We request information from the consumer in our service request
interview process. A user must provide detailed information about
the service requested. Except in the case of lending services, no
financial information (such as credit card number, expiration date)
is collected from the consumer. This information is used to match
consumers with appropriate service professionals. The information
may also be used to contact the consumer to verify or clarify their
service request or to customize the consumer's Web site experience
or future SarasotaFloridaUSA.com communication.
Feedback, Ratings and Reviews and Testimonials
Additionally, we collect feedback from users (called ratings and
reviews) about the performance of Service Professional's who work
for them. We also collect general feedback and testimonials from
users of our service and system. By providing such feedback to us,
you consent to our use, publication and/or distribution of such
feedback at no compensation to you, and if you are a Service Professional
in our system, you consent to the publication of ratings and reviews
about you and your business.
Information Use
Profile
We store information that we collect through the Web site experience
and activities, cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or third parties
to create a profile of our users. A profile is stored information
that we keep on individual users that detail their viewing preferences,
activities and interactions with SarasotaFloridaUSA.com. Consequently,
collected information is tied to the user's personally identifiable
information to provide offers and improve the content of the site
for the user. This profile is used to tailor a user's visit to our
Web site and to direct pertinent marketing promotions and communications
to them.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data tied to information about the user and
stored on the user's computer. We use both session cookies, which
terminate when a user closes his browser, and persistent cookies,
which remain on the user's computer until manually deleted.
By setting a persistent cookie, we enable our users
to not have to log in with a password more than once, thereby saving
time while on our Web site. If users reject these cookies, they
may still use our Web site. The only drawback to this is that the
experience and/or access of a user may be limited in some areas
of our Web site. For example, the user may not be able to participate
in any of our sweepstakes, contests or monthly drawings that may
take place. See the "Profile" section.
Third Party Advertising
Some of our business partners may use cookies on our Web site (for
example, advertisers). We have no access or control over these cookies
once our business partners have been given permission to set cookies.
This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by SarasotaFloridaUSA.com
only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.
Log Files
Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes
internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service
provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp,
and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the Web site,
track user's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic
information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked
to personally identifiable information.
Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)
We employ and/or our third party advertisers employ a software technology
called clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons/Web Bugs), that help us better
manage content on our site and marketing campaigns by informing
us what content and which campaigns are effective. Clear gifs are
tiny graphics, about the size of a period at the end of a sentence,
with a unique identifier. Clear gifs are similar in function to
cookies and are used to track the online movements of Web users.
Clear Gifs can "work with" existing cookies
on a computer if they are both from the same Web site or advertising
company. That means, for example, that if a person visited "www.companyX.com",
which uses an advertising company's clear gif, the Web site or advertising
company would match the clear gif's identifier and the advertising
company's cookie ID number, to show the past online behavior for
that computer. This collected information would then be given to
the advertising company or Web site. To learn more about our advertising
partners' use of clear gifs, please contact us at privacy@SarasotaFloridaUSA.com.
In addition, SarasotaFloridaUSA.com and its advertisers
use clear gifs in HTML-based emails. This allows us to gauge the
effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of
our marketing campaigns by showing how may emails have been opened
by the recipients. If users would like to opt-out of these emails,
please see the Opt-out section.
Communications from SarasotaFloridaUSA.com
and its Service Providers
Special Offers and Updates
We send all new members a welcoming email to verify password and
username. Established members will occasionally receive information
on products, services, special deals, and a bi-monthly newsletter.
Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the option
to not receive these types of communications. Please see the Choice
and Opt-out sections.
Newsletter
If a user wishes to subscribe to our newsletters, we ask for contact
information such as name and email address. Out of respect for our
users privacy we provide a way to opt-out of these communications.
Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.
Service Announcements
On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service
related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily
suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally,
users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate
their account. However, these communications are not promotional
in nature.
Leads Notifications and Trial Lead Notifications
If a user either signs up for our trial program or joins our service
professional network, and elects to receive their leads via email,
that user will receive multiple communications from us. Other ways
we contact members of our service professional network are via fax,
pager, outbound IVR (interactive voice response), and/or cell text
(SMS) messaging. Members of our service professional network (or
prospective members enrolled in Free Trial) can designate and opt-in
on our Web site or by contacting customer service to receive leads
in one or more of these formats.
Customer Service
We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested
services and in regards to issues relating to their account via
email, fax, phone or mail, and we reply to user inquiries via email
or phone, or other reasonable means, in accordance with the user's
wishes where applicable.
Sharing Information to Provide Services and
to Conduct Our Business
When you submit information to SarasotaFloridaUSA.com,
you authorize us to share this information with our network of service
professionals and partners in order to try to provide the services
you request. For example, when an approved member of our service
professional network accepts a lead from a registered user, and
that user indicates what personal information they are willing to
share so that the service professional can contact the user, such
as telephone numbers, physical addresses and email addresses, that
information is shared with our service professionals who have accepted
a service request lead. In addition, we have other approved contractual
partners that fulfill services requests, or that utilize their own
service professionals to supplement our network, and we share your
information with them under contractual restrictions in order to
attempt to provide the services requested. If using our services
pursuant to a membership with one of our partners, SarasotaFloridaUSA.com
may share your service request activity information with such partner
in certain circumstances. We may also post and publish ratings and
reviews of Service Professionals' performance, as well as feedback
and testimonials at our sole discretion. We may also release information
to collection and/or credit agencies for past due service professional
accounts.
Though we strive to preserve user privacy, due to
the existing regulatory environment, we cannot ensure that all of
your private communications and other personal information will
never be disclosed in ways not otherwise described in the Privacy
Policy. By way of example, we may disclose personal information
when required by law wherein we have a belief that such action is
necessary or advisable to comply with a current judicial proceeding,
a court order, legal proceeding, process or investigation served
on our business or Web site(s), or when we believe parties are misusing
or attempting to misuse our Web sites or services, including but
not limited to violating the law, committing fraud, deception, theft,
attempting to harm or divert our business, engaging in threatening
or inappropriate behavior or threatening to place, or placing themselves
or others in danger. You should also be aware that courts of equity,
such as U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, may have the authority under certain
circumstances to permit your information to be shared or transferred
to third parties. Finally, although we strive to protect your privacy,
third parties beyond our control may unlawfully intercept or access
transmissions or private communications. Therefore, we do not promise,
and you should not expect, that your personal information or private
communications will always remain private.
Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable)
SarasotaFloridaUSA.com may share aggregated activity or statistical
information with partners, advertisers or others, but that information
that does not contain personally identifiable information.
Business Transitions
In the event SarasotaFloridaUSA.com goes through a business transition
such as a merger, being acquired by another company, or selling
a portion of its assets, users' personal information will, in most
instances, be part of the assets transferred. See also, section
entitled "Changes and updates to this policy…" set
forth below.
Choice/Opt-out
Our users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their
information used for purposes not directly related to our Web site
at the point where we ask for information. For example, our service
request form has an 'opt-out' mechanism so users who submit a service
request from us, but don't want any marketing material, can keep
their email address off of our lists.
Users who no longer wish to receive our newsletter
and promotional communications may opt-out of receiving these communications
by replying to unsubscribe in the email or email us at customerservice@SarasotaFloridaUSA.com.
Users of our Web site are always notified when their
information is being collected by any outside parties. We do this
so our users can make an informed choice as to whether or not they
should proceed with services that require an outside party.
Background Checks
To determine if users qualify for membership in our service professional
network, we use their name, company name and/or social security
number or federal tax id number to request a background check. This
information is viewable only by the appropriate personnel. SarasotaFloridaUSA.com
may check for bankruptcies, liens, civil judgments and/or criminal
activity for the individuals listed with an account, as well as
for the company or business entity requesting membership. In addition,
SarasotaFloridaUSA.com will verify that a service professional has
the proper certifications and licenses mandated by the state(s)
the service professional operates in by utilizing one or more third
party verifications systems. We also may verify and validate the
existence of certain business insurance policies as we require for
membership via your insurance provider and / or broker.
Links and Integrated Partnerships
This Web site contains links from and to other Web sites. Please
be aware that SarasotaFloridaUSA.com is not responsible for the
privacy practices of such other Web sites. We encourage our users
to be aware when they leave our Web site and to read the privacy
statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable
information. This privacy statement applies solely to information
collected by this Web site. On occasion, a partner Web site will
employ our matching engine in a co-branded format. A co-branded
web page includes both the SarasotaFloridaUSA.com logo and/or URL
and the partner sites logo and/or URL, but does not appear to be
part of the SarasotaFloridaUSA.com Web site.
With some partners, SarasotaFloridaUSA.com receives
information concerning the service requested by a consumer including
personal or contact information that is inputted on a partner Web
site. This information is sent from the partner to us either in
a batched format, or via Internet technology such as XML, FTP or
HTTP Post. In any case, this information may or may not be encrypted
by the partner. With other partners, SarasotaFloridaUSA.com may
provide information concerning a consumer's service request, including
contact information to other partners to provide services.
Surveys & Contests
From time-to-time, SarasotaFloridaUSA.com may request information
from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys
or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a
choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested
information typically includes contact information (such as name
and mailing address), and demographic information (such as zip code).
Contact information will be shared with the contest or survey sponsors
(if SarasotaFloridaUSA.com elects to utilize an outside promotions
or survey company) to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey
information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving
the use and satisfaction of our services and this Web site. Though
we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests,
they may not use users' personally identifiable information for
other secondary purposes unless specified.
Tell-A-Friend
If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend
about our Web site, we ask them for the friend's name and email
address. SarasotaFloridaUSA.com will automatically send the friend
a one-time email inviting them to visit the Web site. SarasotaFloridaUSA.com
stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time
email and tracking the success of our referral program. The friend
may contact SarasotaFloridaUSA.com at privacy@SarasotaFloridaUSA.com.
to request the removal of this information from our database.
Security
While we employ several different security techniques, "perfect
security" does not exist on the Internet and we do not guarantee
security of information or that unauthorized access will not occur.
Servers that store personally identifiable information
are in a supervised and/or locked facility. While on certain pages,
such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers
such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes
locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just 'surfing'.
Users' personal information off line is restricted
by procedures and authorized access to workers who reasonably need
the information for their areas of responsibility (for example,
a billing clerk, a sales rep, a customer service representative
or management).
If users have any questions about the security at
our Web site, users can send an email to privacy@SarasotaFloridaUSA.com.
Verification and Supplementation of Information
In order for us to better conduct our business it is sometimes advisable
or necessary for us to verify and/or supplement the information
we receive with information from 3rd party sources.
Enhancement of Marketing Profile
Occasionally, we purchase third party marketing data and add it
to our existing user database to better target our advertising and
provide pertinent offers we think our users would be interested
in. We use this information to enhance or overlay the 'profile'
of individual users. This aggregate marketing data is therefore
tied to the users' personally identifiable information. See also
the "Profile."
Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating
Personal Information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as
zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer
desires our service, we provide a means to correct, update or delete/deactivate
users' personally identifiable information. This can be done by
emailing our Customer Support at customerservice@SarasotaFloridaUSA.com.
Or, contact us by telephone or postal mail at the contact information
listed below.
Changes and Updates to This Policy and to SarasotaFloridaUSA.com
Services, Products and Functionality of Web Site(s)
We reserve the right to change our information, features, services,
products, policies, promotions, disclosures and disclaimers at any
time. Changes to this Policy will be in writing and be posted on
our Web site as applicable. Please check these terms periodically
for changes. At the top of the policy we indicate the date of an
update. The continued use of any SarasotaFloridaUSA.com services
or of the applicable SarasotaFloridaUSA.com affiliated web sites
following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept
those changes
Contact Information
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy
policy, please contact us at:
BocaCompany
SarasotaFloridaUSA.com
customerservice@SarasotaFloridaUSA.com.
or
privacy@SarasotaFloridaUSA.com.
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