Investment Advisor recognizes the importance of respecting the privacy of information provided by users of our web site, subscribers to our magazine, registrants for our events, recipients of our e-mail newsletters and all of our customers. We created this policy to guide our relationships with our users. This Privacy Statement discloses the privacy practices for products and services owned by Investment Advisor.
INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE
Investment Advisor collects information from our website users, subscribers and customers. In this section of our privacy policy, we will describe the type of information we collect and how we use it to provide better services to our customers.
Information submitted to Investment Advisor in the course of use of our site will generally be retained beyond the term of the applicable subscription to the service provided via a particular site.
Registration and Ordering
When attending our trade shows, participating in our customer-sponsored webcasts, using our website and signing up for certain selected services (such as free subscriptions), users must first register. During registration, users are required to give their contact information (such as name, e-mail address, mailing address and phone number). We also may collect demographic information (such as job title and purchasing responsibilities, company information and professional certification). For internal purposes, we use this information to communicate with users and provide requested services, and, for our website visitors, to provide a more personalized experience on our sites. We use aggregate demographic information about our audience to improve our service, for marketing purposes and/or industry reporting purposes.
For services that require payment (such as certain events, products and subscriptions), we also collect credit card information (such as account name, number and expiration date), which is used for billing and collection purposes.
E-mail Newsletters
If users wish to subscribe to our e-mail newsletters, we ask for contact information (such as name, e-mail address and, occasionally, demographic information). We use this information in the same manner as we use contact information in the registration and ordering process described above. Recipients of our newsletters can unsubscribe using the instructions listed at the end of the e-mail newsletter.
Surveys
From time to time we invite users to provide information via surveys. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether to disclose requested contact information (such as name and mailing address) and demographic information (such as zip code or job title). In addition to other uses set forth in this policy, contact information collected in connection with surveys is used to monitor or improve the use and satisfaction of the site, and may be shared with sponsors of such surveys.
Communications with Us
We have features where users can submit information to us (such as our feedback forms). Letters to the editor and similar submissions may be made public. Requests for service, support or information may be forwarded as needed to best respond to a specific request. We may retain e-mails and other information sent to us for our internal purposes, and to help us to serve customers better.
Communications from Us: Service Updates, Special Offers
In order to best serve our customers, we may send updates that contain information about our sites and services. For example, we send new members a welcoming message, and verify password and username for our password-protected sites. We may also communicate with a user to provide requested services and for account-related issues via e-mail, phone or regular mail. We offer our users the option to receive information about our company, related products, services and special deals. Users can choose not to receive these communications, as set forth in our Permission section below.
Automatic Data Collection
Our web sites have features that automatically collect information from users, to deliver content specific to users' interests and to honor their preferences. This information assists us in creating sites that will serve the needs of our users.
We use "cookies," a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies benefit the user by requiring login only once, thereby saving time while on our site. If users reject the cookies, they may be limited in the use of some areas of our site. Additionally, we may note some of the pages the user visits on our site through the use of pixel tags (also called clear gifs). The use of cookies and pixels enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our sites.
Some of our business associates, advertisers and venture participants, or others offering services on, through or via links from our sites, use cookies on our sites in ads or promotions. However, we have no access to or control over these cookies; we urge users to read their privacy policies for information.
For our internal purposes, we gather date, time, browser type, navigation history and IP address of all visitors to our site. We use this information for our internal security audit log, trend analysis and system administration, and to gather broad demographic information about our user base for aggregate use.
We may combine demographic information supplied by a subscriber at registration with site usage data to provide general profiles about our users and their preferences in the content of the site and advertising. We may share this information with our advertisers and business affiliates to help them better understand our services.
WITH WHOM YOUR INFORMATION IS SHARED
When we have co-branded, customized, private label, powered by or sponsored products and services, or when we join with other parties to provide specific services, we may share (provide and receive) personal information with them.
Information collected in connection with online webcasts will be shared with the sponsor of the particular webcast(s)/seminar(s). These sponsors will use the information according to their own privacy policies, and we urge participants to read those policies and be aware of their privacy practices before registering.
On occasion, we may provide or rent targeted lists of names and offline and online contact information to third parties for their own marketing purposes. We give users the option of not having their name or contact information disclosed to third parties, as set forth in the Permission section.
Financial institutions and their vendors, which receive a user's credit card number and other personal identifying information use that information to verify the credit card number and process credit card transactions.
Other than as set forth above, we do not share personally identifiable information with other companies, apart from those acting as our agents in providing our product(s)/service(s). Also, our subsidiary and affiliate companies, entities into which our company may be merged, or entities to which any of our assets, products, sites or operations may be transferred, will be able to use information which we compile or obtain from our users. We will also disclose information we maintain when required to do so by law; for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena or other legal obligation, in response to a law enforcement agency's request, or in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) our rights or property. Users should also be aware that courts or governmental agencies might have the authority under certain circumstances to permit personal information to be shared or transferred to third parties without permission.
CORRECTION/UPDATING PERSONAL INFORMATION
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code), or if a user no longer desires our product(s)/service(s), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data. The user should contact their Customer Support contact for the applicable product or service.
PERMISSION
Our users are given the opportunity to choose whether to receive information from our affiliates and us not directly related to the registered services. Users also have the opportunity to choose whether to have personally identifiable information shared with third parties for marketing purposes. Instructions for how to exercise this choice are contained in e-mails sent by us, on our product websites and in our publications. Please note that we will endeavor to implement requests within a reasonable time, although for a time users may continue to receive mailings, etc., transmitted based on information released prior to the implementation of the request. Users will continue to receive information related to their registered services, so they always are kept informed.
SECURITY
We use precautions to protect our users' personal information and to store it securely. Sensitive information that is transmitted to us online (such as credit card number) is encrypted. In addition, access to all of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted internally. The servers on which we store personally identifiable information are also kept in a secure environment. Any Investment Advisor employee who has access to personal information of authorized users of this site is aware of this Privacy Statement.
LINKS
Our web site contains links to other sites. Investment Advisor is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each web site to which we may link that may collect personally identifiable information.
NOTIFICATION and CHANGES
Investment Advisor reserves the right to change this Privacy Statement. If we change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page. Users should check this Privacy Statements frequently to keep abreast of any changes.
Investment Advisor is controlled, operated and administered by WICKS Business Information (WBi) from offices and facilities within the United States of America. Where applicable (for example, the European Union), WBi endeavors to comply with country-specific legislation regarding protection of personal information it may obtain from authorized use of its sites in countries other than the U.S.
This Privacy Statement is not intended to, and does not create, any contractual or other legal rights in favor or on behalf of any user or any other person.
