Privacy Policy

Version 3, August 5, 2008.

FreddyWare is committed to safeguarding the privacy of users of our sites and services; this policy sets out how we and our subsidiaries will treat your personal information. It is applicable to all sites and services of FreddyWare except where specifically exempted in the text or by order of the FreddyWare Administration Team.

1. The information we collect

As a modern network of interactive sites and services, our assets may collect, store, and use the following kinds of personal data:

  1. aggregate information about your computer, and information about your visits to and use of our website(s), such as your IP address, geographical location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of page views;
  2. (applicable to FreddyWare Web Services and the FreddyWare Store only) information relating to any transactions carried out between you and us on or in relation to our services, including information relating to any purchases you make of our goods or services (including but not limited to web hosting, domain registrations/transfers/renewals, and blog hosting);
  3. personally-identifiable information that you explicitly provide to us for the purpose of registering a membership with FreddyWare and/or one of its member assets (including but not limited to a username, nickname, e-mail address, and website);
  4. personally-identifiable information that you specifically provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to e-mail notifications and/or newsletters (including but not limited to your name and e-mail address);
  5. personally-identifiable information that you provide to us for the specific purpose of submitting content such as comments or forum posts;
  6. any other information that you choose to send to us, such as in your e-mail communications; and
  7. the content you publish on the Internet through our services (including blog posts on a PersonalLog-hosted site, comments on any of our blogs, forum posts, and web sites you host through FreddyWare Web Services).

2. Cookies and cookie technology

Many FreddyWare assets, particularly interactive services, utilize cookies. A cookie is a text file sent by a web server to a web browser, and stored by the browser. The text file is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. This enables the web server to identify and track the web browser.

FreddyWare sites and services may send cookies which are stored on by your browser on your computer's hard drive. We may use the information we obtain from the cookies in the administration of this website, to improve the website's usability and for marketing purposes. We may also use that information to recognize your computer when you visit our website, and to personalize our website for you. Some of our assets, including PersonalLog and Geekie.org, will use cookies to allow you to customize your online experience.

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. (For example, in Firefox, you can choose to block cookies by going to Tools » Options » Privacy and unchecking "Accept cookies from sites" or by adding a site to the Exceptions list.) However, refusing all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites, including major sites in the FreddyWare network.

We often use Google Analytics to analyze the use of our websites. Google Analytics generates statistical and other aggregate information about website use by means of cookies, which are stored on users' computers. The information generated relating to our websites is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store this information. Google's privacy policy is available at: http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html.

Many of the assets of FreddyWare display advertisements. Our advertisement delivery engine (where used), and third-party ad firms, may send cookies to your browser. You have the option of opting out by blocking cookies from those domains.

3. Our use of your personal data

Personal data submitted on websites of the FreddyWare network will be used for the purposes specified in this privacy policy and/or in relevant parts of the individual asset. Some network assets will use personal data to an extent not covered by this generic network policy; you must refer to the individual privacy sections of such assets for extensions of this policy.

Generally, we may use your information to:

  • administer the individual assets and/or the network;
  • improve your browsing experience through optimizing/enhancing our web design, personalizing our website(s) and/or allowing you to customize them;
  • supply to you services subscribed or purchased via our website(s);
  • (where applicable to FreddyWare Web Services and the FreddyWare Store) send statements and invoices to you, and collect payments from you;
  • send you general commercial communications directly;
  • send you e-mail notifications which you have specifically requested;
  • send to you our newsletter communications (relating to our network or its assets) which we think may be of interest to you or which you have explicitly agreed to receive, by e-mail — you can inform us at any time if you no longer require marketing communications to be sent by utilizing the unsubscribe link provided in newsletter mailings; and
  • deal with inquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to the website.

FreddyWare will NOT do the following:

  • We will NEVER send you SPAM.
  • We will NOT provide your personal information to any third parties for the purpose of direct marketing — unless you have given your consent.
  • We will NOT act on your behalf with your personal data on third-party services, without your prior consent.

4. Other disclosures

In addition to the disclosures reasonably necessary for the purposes identified elsewhere in this privacy policy, we may disclose information about you:

  • to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
  • in connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings;
  • in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk); and
  • to the purchaser (or prospective purchaser) of any business or asset which we are (or are contemplating) selling (you will be made aware of such a prospective transaction).

Except as provided in this privacy policy, we will not provide your information to third parties.

5. International data transfers

Information that we collect may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this privacy policy. Such countries include Canada and the United States.

If you are in the European Union, information which you provide will be transferred to countries (including the United States and Canada) which may not have data protection laws equivalent to those in force in the European Union. In your continued use of our sites and services, you expressly agree to such transfers.

Information we have on file about you will be accessed, downloaded and processed (compliant with the purposes outlined in this privacy policy) in Canada, where it is subject to the privacy and data protection laws of Canada, including but not limited to:

  • Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, revised March 2006
  • Privacy Act, as of December 13, 2007

In your continued use of our sites and services, you agree that your personal data will be protected under such Canadian legislation.

6. Security of your personal data

We take reasonable technical and organizational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or unauthorized alteration of your personal information.

We store all the personal information you provide on our secure servers. (Where applicable to interactive assets including blogs and PersonalLog) Your personal data is stored in protected SQL databases which can only be accessed with valid authentication/authorization details.

Of course, data transmission over the Internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data while in transit to or from our servers.

You are responsible for keeping your password and user details confidential. (Where applicable to interactive assets including blogs, PersonalLog, hosting, and domain registration) We will never ask you for your password to support your use of our services.

7. Policy amendments

We may update this privacy policy from time-to-time by posting a new version on our website. You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are aware and accept the terms of amendments.

If you have provided your e-mail address as part of your membership on any of our assets, or if you have subscribed to e-mail notifications / newsletter mailings, FreddyWare may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by e-mail.

8. Your rights

You may request that our organization provide you with any personal information we hold about you. Provision of such information will be subject to the payment of a fee (currently fixed at $10.00 CAD).

You may instruct us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes by e-mail (to e-mail address) at any time. (In practice, you expressly agree in advance to our use of your personal data for marketing purposes when you provide such information for membership on any of our assets, but we are obligated to provide you with an opportunity to opt-out of the use of your personal data for marketing purposes.)

9. Third-party websites

FreddyWare's assets contain links to external sites not within our control or ownership. Although we make efforts to try and protect our users from risky third-party sites, we are not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of third-party websites.

10. Updating information

Please let us know if any personal data we have about you needs to be corrected or updated, by contacting us at e-mail address or through the contact form. We will not charge any fees for updating your personal data.

11. Contact

If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy, please contact us using the contact form, by e-mail at e-mail address, or through postal mail at 46 Gannett Drive, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4E 0E9, Canada.

Last updated August 5, 2008.

Notes

Some sites process more personal information than others. Please note that FreddyWare Web Services, the FreddyWare Store, and at times, PersonalLog, collect more than aggregate data; some of our assets require addresses and phone numbers in order to process payments and deliver goods/services.

We don't collect credit card or debit card information. We use reputable third-party payment processors such as PayPal in order to handle payments and purchases. This way, you won't have to worry about us losing or leaking your financial inforamtion.