TRIANGLE GARDENER PRIVACY POLICY
Last Updated February 19, 2016
Privacy Policy. Triangle Gardener, LLC (“Triangle Gardener,” “we” or “us”) values its customers and respects their concerns about privacy. This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy” or “Policy”) describes the personal information we collect about you, why we collect it, how we use it, and when we share it with third parties. Our Policy also describes the choices you can make about how we collect and use certain of that information. If our information practices change, we will post an updated Policy on our Website. You can tell if the Privacy Policy has changed by checking the “Last Updated” date that appears on this Policy. By visiting the Website, you are acknowledging and accepting this Policy. Your continued use of the Website after changes have been posted to the Policy will constitute your acceptance of the changes.
Terms of Use. Please review our Terms of Use, which you can access through a link on our Website home page. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into, and made a part of, our Terms of Use. If you do not agree with our Terms of Use, you are not permitted to access or otherwise use the Website.
Content You Provide. Unless otherwise indicated in this Privacy Policy or our Terms of Use, any information and content you provide or disclose while using the Website becomes public information and may be redistributed or republished by Triangle Gardener. If you post content, such as messages, photos and videos, please be aware that any personally identifiable information contained in such content is accessible to registered users and unregistered visitors to the Website, including the “community features” (as defined in our Terms of Use) provided on or through our Website. We have no control over how those users may use your personally identifiable information. Accordingly, you agree not share personally identifiable information with others directly on or through our Website, except as otherwise permitted by this Privacy Policy or our Terms of Use. We reserve the right, but do not undertake the obligation, to monitor any activity and content posted on our Website, and take action in connection with any content we deem in violation of this Privacy Policy, the Terms of Use, or otherwise inappropriate. Please review our Terms of Use for more information regarding your use of the Website.
Social Media Links. You may be given the option to link your social media accounts, such as your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, so that you can comment on, or take advantage of, the Website. When you comment on the Website using your social media account user names and passwords and, for example, clicking “allow” on your Facebook permission authorization screen, you grant us permission to capture, store, use and display your social media account user ID, your basic social media account profile information, and any other information from your social media account profile that you specifically allow us to access. The authentication of your social media account login credentials is conducted through the relevant social media service provider.
Information Provided About Other People. If you send someone else a communication from or through the Website, such as sending an invitation to a friend to view a favorite article, the information you provide (e.g. names and email addresses) is used to facilitate the communication and is not used for any other marketing purpose, unless we obtain consent from that person or we explicitly disclose otherwise. If that person becomes a user of our Website, her or his information will be treated in the same manner as all other users of the Website. Please be aware that, when you send a message from or through our Website, your email address may be included in the communication sent to your recipient.
Information Collected From Other People and Sources. We may acquire information from other sources to update or supplement the information you provide or we collect automatically, such as information to validate or update your address or other demographic and lifestyle information. We use this information to help us maintain the accuracy of the information we collect, to target our communications so that we can inform you of products, services and offers that may be of interest, and for other business purposes. We use third-party analytical and other tools to better understand who is using our Website, how people are using the Website, how to improve the Website, and to serve more targeted content and advertising to you. Those third parties may use cookies, pixel tags or other technologies to collect and store anonymous information such as time of visit, pages visited, time spent on each page of the Website, unique identifiers associated with your devices, type of operating system and browser used, and other web sites you may have visited. We do not have access to, nor control over, third parties’ use of cookies or other tracking technologies.
Cookies. We may collect information about your computer, including where available your IP address, operating system and browser type, for system administration. This is statistical data about how you browse our Website. We may also obtain information about your general Internet usage by using cookies. Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer. We may use cookies to help optimize your user experience. For example, we may use cookies to customize our home page for you and to better display pages according to your browser type. We may combine the information we collect through cookies with other information we have collected from you. This information may be used to improve our Website, to personalize your online experience, to help us deliver messages or information to you, to determine the effectiveness of our advertising, and for other internal business purposes. Cookies (and pixel tags, explained below) may be used to track your interactions with the Website, such as when you receive, open, or click a link in a message from us. You may refuse to accept cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of cookies.
Pixel Tags. We may use “pixel tags” (sometimes called “Internet tags”, “web beacons” or “clear GIFS”), which are tiny graphic images, on our Website. Pixel tags help us analyze our customers’ online behavior and measure the effectiveness of our Website and our advertising. We work with service providers that help us track, collect, and analyze this information. Pixel tags on our Website may be used to collect information about your visit, including the pages you view, the features you use, the links you click, and other actions you take in connection with the Website. This information may include your computer’s Internet protocol (IP) address, your browser type, your operating system, date and time information, and other technical information about your computer. We may also track certain information about the identity of the website you visited before coming to our Website.
Electronic Newsletters. You may be able to sign up to receive electronic newsletters from us. To sign up we may ask for information such as your name, email address, gender, age, and email preferences. You will receive electronic newsletters from us only if you have asked to receive them. If you do not want to receive electronic newsletters from us, you may click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any electronic newsletter communication sent by us. Please allow up to ten business days from when the request was received to implement your unsubscribe request.
Surveys, Sweepstakes and Promotions. You may be able to participate in surveys, sweepstakes and promotions (individually and collectively, “promotion(s)”). By participating in a promotion, you agree to the official rules that govern the promotion. We may request information such as your name, age, email address, mailing address, telephone number, and interests or product preferences. This information may used to enter you into our promotions. We may use this information to communicate with you about our products, services and promotions. If you choose to enter a promotion, your personal information may be disclosed to third parties or the public in connection with the administration of the promotion and as permitted by the promotion’s official rules or required by law.
Purchasing Products and Services. You may be able to purchase certain products and services on this Website and make payment to us through our third party payment gateway provider(s). We will ask for information such as your name, billing and shipping address, telephone number, email address and payment card information in order to process your purchase, confirm your order, and ship the items to you. If, in connection with your purchase, you elect to be added to our electronic newsletter list, we may use your contact information to communicate with you about our products, services and promotions.
Use of Your Information. We may use Information that we collect about you: (1) to provide you with information or services or process transactions that you have requested or agreed to receive; (2) to provide you with information regarding new features, products or services; (3) to improve the Website or our features, products and services, and to customize your experience; (4) to contact you regarding your use of the Website and, in our discretion, changes to the Website and/or our policies; (5) for internal business purposes; and (6) for purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information or as otherwise set forth in this Privacy Policy.
Transactional Communications. We may send you notices from time to time relating to your account or your subscriptions. These may include order confirmations, renewal notices, invoices or customer service notifications. We may also send you service-related announcements when it is necessary to do so; for instance, if our Website is temporarily suspended for maintenance, the delivery of a product is delayed, or there is some service issue with something you may have ordered. You may not opt-out of receiving these communications, which are not promotional in nature.
Service Providers. We may disclose information to outside companies that help us bring you the products and services we offer. For example, we may work with outside companies to: (a) manage a database of subscriber or customer information; (b) process and receive payments for products and services sold on or through our Website; (c) assist us in distributing emails messages; (d) assist us with direct marketing and data collection; (e) provide us data storage and analysis; (f) provide fraud prevention; (g) provide customer service by phone; and (h) other services designed to assist us in maximizing our business and operations. We require that these outside companies agree to keep confidential all proprietary information we share with them and to use the information only to perform their obligations under our agreements with them.
Third Party Advertising. We also may use third-party ad servers and ad networks to serve advertisements when you visit the Website. These companies and the advertisers themselves may use information about your visits on other web sites and our Website in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. In the course of serving advertisements to our Website, these third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to send, directly to your device, the advertisements and links that appear on the Website. They automatically receive your device identifier when this happens. They may also use tracking technologies to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and to personalize the advertising content. This Privacy Policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such advertisers, ad servers or ad networks.
Co-branded Areas. Certain areas on our Website may be provided to you in association with third parties such as sponsors or advertisers (“co-branded areas”) and may request that you disclose personal information to them. These co-branded areas will identify the third party. If you elect to register for products and/or services at co-branded areas, you may be providing your information to both the third party and us. Your personal information will be subject to this Privacy Policy as well as the privacy policy and practices of the third party. We are not responsible for the privacy policy of practices of such third party. You should consult the respective privacy policies of those third party sponsors or advertisers to learn more about their privacy practices.
Legal Matters; Safety. We may, without your consent, access and disclose your information, any communications sent or received by you (including, without limitation, the contents of any chat, messaging, or other communication posted in the community features, as defined in our Terms of Use), and any other information that we may have about you or your account as may be permitted or required by law (including, but not limited to, court order or subpoena), or to prevent or investigate suspected fraud, violations of our Terms of Use, or any activity that appears to us to be illegal or may expose us to legal liability. Additionally, we may disclose your information and/or communications in situations that we believe to be: (i) emergencies involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person or property, if we believe that your information in any way relates to that threat; or (ii) your conduct on the Website or when using the community features that we believe is inappropriate and inconsistent with generally accepted norms of behavior.
Sale or Transfer of Business or Assets. In the event that we, or any of our businesses, are sold or disposed of as a going concern, whether by merger, sale of assets or otherwise, or in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy or receivership, personally identifiable information of our visitors may be one of the assets sold or merged in connection with that transaction. Information about our visitors and registered users may also need to be disclosed in connection with a commercial transaction where we or any one of our businesses are seeking financing, investment, support or funding. In such transactions, personal information will be subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Policy in effect when the information was obtained.
Choice and Opt Out. You may close your account on our Website or opt out of our sharing information with third parties for marketing purposes by emailing us at publisher (at) trianglegardener.com or sending mail through the U.S. Postal Service (certified mail, return receipt requested is recommended) to the following address:
Triangle Gardener, LLC
PO Box 91132
Raleigh, NC 27675
Attention: Publisher
If you prefer not to receive electronic promotional communications, you can opt-out by following the unsubscribe instructions included in each such communication. Please allow up to ten business days from when the request was received to implement your unsubscribe request.
Links to other Sites and Communities. To the extent hyperlinks may be utilized to access external or third party sites and communities, you should be aware that these external or third party site and communities are not controlled by us and, therefore, are not subject to this Privacy Policy. We recommend that you check the privacy policies of each such site and community to determine how your personal information will be utilized by their proprietors.
Security. We implement safeguards to help protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of information under our control. However, despite our efforts, no data transmission over the Internet, wireless transmission or electronic storage of information can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Please note that we cannot ensure and do not undertake any obligation to ensure the security of any information you transmit to us, and your use of the Website indicates that you are willing to assume this risk.
Children’s Privacy. The Website is provided for a general purpose audience and is not directed or intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under 13 years of age. If you are under 13 years of age, you should not register or provide personal information on the Website. If we later obtain actual knowledge that a user is under 13 years of age, we will take steps to remove that user’s personal information from our systems.
No Rights of Third Parties. This Privacy Policy does not create rights enforceable by third parties or require disclosure of any personal information relating to users of the website.