Privacy Policy
Thank you for visiting a website of businessesinChrist (BIC). Protecting your privacy is very important to us. To assure you of your privacy, we provide this notice to help you understand our commitment to security, what kinds of information we may gather about you when you visit the site, how we may use that information, and how you can correct the information.
Our Commitment to Security
Safeguards
We have appropriate physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards in place in our physical facilities to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of any information you may have provided at our site. We always use industry-standard encryption technologies when transferring and receiving consumer data exchanged with our site. When we transfer and receive certain types of sensitive information such as financial information, we redirect visitors to a secure server and will notify visitors through a pop-up screen on our site.
Credit Card Safety
Ordering online with us is a secure transaction. All online transactions in BIC's online stores are handled with industry-standard SSL encryption. This means that when you enter your credit card number into the order form, it is transmitted across the Internet in an encrypted (scrambled) form, and then decoded when it gets to us.
E-mail Addresses
When you provide BIC with your e-mail address, we will use it only for the purpose for which it was provided. We do not rent, sell, or exchange your e-mail address with any third party except to provide the services you request or as required by law (see "Other Entities" section below).
Information We Collect
Automatically Collected Anonymous Information
When you visit a BIC website, certain anonymous information about your visit is automatically logged as it is at most websites, which may include information about your IP address, domain name, browser type, access time, and referring website address. This information is not personally identifiable and is only used in aggregate (not in any way that personally identifies you).
Personally Identifiable Information
Personally Identifiable Information is any information about you as an individual that would enable someone to contact you; for example, your name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address.
BIC will not collect any personally identifiable information about you unless you provide it. Providing any personally identifiable information to BIC is voluntary. If you do not want BIC to obtain any personally identifiable information about you, do not submit it.
How We Use This Information
We will use your information only as permitted by law. Aggregated information may be used in many ways. For example, we may combine information about your usage patterns with similar information obtained from other users to learn which pages are visited most or what features are most attractive. Aggregated information may occasionally be shared with our advertisers and business partners, but cannot be used to contact you individually.
Personally identifiable information will be used for the purposes for which it was given. We also may use it to notify you about updates to our website and to contact you for marketing purposes.
You can visit and browse BIC's websites without revealing personally identifiable information about yourself. You may also choose to disclose personally identifiable information about yourself for the purposes described below.
E-mail Newsletters
When you request a free e-mail newsletter from us, we will collect and store your e-mail address to provide you with the requested newsletter. We may also send you occasional special offers and information from BIC and other select sources we think would be of interest to you. You may change your subscribed e-mail address, opt-out of receiving special e-mailed offers, or remove yourself from any mailing list by following the instructions contained in every newsletter. We do not rent, sell, or exchange your e-mail address with any third party except to provide the services you request or as required by law (see "Other Entities" section below).
Requests for Magazines, Products or Services
When you request a magazine, product, or service from us, we will collect and store your name, address, credit card number, and other basic personally identifiable information to provide you with the requested product or service and for billing purposes. We may also offer you, by direct mail, products from BIC and other select sources we think would be of interest to you.
Your e-mail address will also be obtained during the online ordering process for the purpose of corresponding with you about your purchase and to occasionally notify you of additional online shopping opportunities. You may opt-out of receiving any subsequent shopping opportunities by following the unsubscribe information found in each e-mail announcement. Again, we will not rent, sell, or exchange your e-mail address with a third party for any purpose except to provide the services you request or as required by law.
Third Party Direct Marketing
We occasionally rent our customer list (not including e-mail addresses) to other organizations to offer you products that may be of interest to you by direct mail.
Opting Out of Third Party Direct Marketing: After receiving the product or service requested, you may "opt-out" of receiving Third Party Direct Marketing offers by sending an e-mail stating your request to opt-out along with your complete name, mailing address, and the name of the BIC magazine, product, or service you have received. This information is necessary so we can accurately process your request.
• Magazines: fulfill@gotofreshwater.com
• Products & Services: store@businessesinchrist.com
Surveys
BIC occasionally conducts reader surveys to better target content to our audience. We sometimes share the aggregated demographic information in these surveys with our advertisers and partners. We never share with any third party information collected via surveys about specific individuals.
Contests
BIC occasionally offers contests and auctions. These contests and auctions are conducted in full accordance with federal and state laws. The full rules for our contests and auctions are clearly posted during each event. Information gathered is used by BIC only to verify user identity and to contact winners and/or prize recipients.
Other Services
BIC offers free services such as "e-mail this page" and e-cards. We collect the domain name, e-mail address, and name of visitors who choose to use these services in order to fulfill their requests. We also collect the e-mail addresses and names of the people to whom our visitors choose to send pages or e-cards in order to enable our visitors to send the pages and e-cards they have chosen and for no other purpose.
Other Entities
Companies that are independent from BIC operate many of the online areas that you may visit via links from businessesinChrist.com and GoTofreshwater.com. Although BIC will seek to require that these independent companies (e.g., information and paid subscription service providers, advertisers, merchants, and contest or sweepstakes sponsors) adhere to our strong privacy principles, BIC does not bear responsibility for their policies or actions. Please read their unique site privacy policies.
BIC reserves the right to cooperate with law enforcement officials in the investigation of alleged unlawful activities of our customers related to electronic communication transmitted on our site. BIC will have no legal liability for such disclosures.
Cookies
Cookies are a technology that helps us serve you better. Our cookies collect no personally identifiable information. We use cookies to help us know when and how many people visit our site; to store your personal preferences for paid online subscription services you may subscribe to, in order to provide you with the best experience possible; to ensure that visitors are not repeatedly sent the same pop-up ads; and to record session information, such as items that consumers add to their shopping cart.
Information for Children and Parents
Kids and Teens
Be sure to ask your parents for permission before sending us any information about yourself. If you are under 18, you must have your parents' or guardian's permission to order any products or services from us.
Parents
BIC's Internet sites are general audience sites, and BIC does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. Any information collected online by BIC from children under 18 is used only for the purpose of delivering the requested product or service. Please instruct your children to ask you for permission before providing any information about themselves to BIC, and visit the Federal Trade Commission website for more information about safe Web surfing.
How to Update Your Information
E-mail Newsletters
You may subscribe and unsubscribe to our newsletters by notifying us at info@businessesinchrist.com. In addition, each BIC newsletter you receive will have instructions on how to unsubscribe prominently mentioned in it.
Updates to Privacy Policy
From time to time, we may update this privacy notice. Please check this page periodically for changes. We will notify you about any changes in the way we treat personally identifiable information by placing a notice on our site.
The Privacy Policy posted on this site was updated on or about May 22, 2008.
BIC welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.