PRIVACY POLICY
Effective August 15, 2007
Welcome to Polistem.org, an online social network that connects a
proactive stem cell community through social, academic, and professional
networks. The Polistem.org service and network
(collectively, "Polistem.org" or "the
Service") are owned and operated by Polistem.org (collectively,
"us", "we" or "the Company"). Polistem.org’s Privacy
Policy is designed to help you understand how we collect and use the personal
information you decide to share, and help you make informed decisions when
using Polistem.org located at www.polistem.org
("Polistem.org " or "Web Site").
By using or accessing Polistem.org, you are accepting
the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT
When you visit Polistem.org
you provide us with two types of information: personal information you
knowingly choose to disclose that is collected by us and Web Site use
information collected by us as you interact with our Web Site.
When you register with Polistem.org, you provide us
with certain personal information, such as your name, your email address, your
telephone number, your address, your gender, schools attended and any other
personal or preference information that you provide to us.
When you enter Polistem.org, we collect your browser
type and IP address. This information is gathered for all Polistem.org
visitors. In addition, we store certain information from your browser using
"cookies." A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer
tied to information about the user. We use session ID cookies to confirm that
users are logged in. These cookies terminate once the user closes the browser.
By default, we use a persistent cookie that stores your login ID (but not your
password) to make it easier for you to login when you come back to Polistem.org. You can remove or block this cookie using the
settings in your browser if you want to disable this convenience feature.
When you use Polistem.org, you may form
relationships, send messages, perform searches and queries, form groups, set up
events, and transmit information through various channels. We collect this
information so that we can provide you the service and offer personalized
features. In most cases, we retain it so that, for instance, you can return to
view prior messages you have sent or easily see your friend list. When you
update information, we usually keep a backup copy of the prior version for a
reasonable period of time to enable reversion to the prior version of that
information.
We may also collect information about you from other sources, such as forums, blogs, instant messaging
services, and other users of the Service through the operation of the Service
in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized
experience.
By using Polistem.org, you are consenting to have
your personal data transferred to and processed in the
WE DO NOT KNOWINGLY COLLECT
INFORMATION FROM CHILDREN
We do not knowingly
collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 18 or
knowingly allow such persons to register. If you are under 18, do not send any
information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone
number, or e-mail address. No one under age 18 is allowed to provide any
personal information to us or on Polistem.org. In the
event that we learn that we have collected personal information from anyone
under the age of 18, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If
you believe that we might have any information from or anyone under the age of
18, please contact us at privacy@polistem.org.
USE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED BY POLISTEM
When you register
with Polistem.org, you create your own profile and
privacy settings. Your profile information is displayed to people in the networks
specified in your privacy settings to enable you to connect with people on Polistem.org. We may occasionally use your name and email
address to send you notifications regarding new services offered by Polistem.org that we think you may find valuable.
Profile information is used by us primarily to be presented back to and edited
by you when you access the Service and to be presented to others permitted to
view that information by your privacy settings. In some cases where your
privacy settings permit it (e.g., posting to your Comments), other Polistem.org users may be able to supplement your
profile. You can delete these comments if you wish.
We may use information in your profile without identifying you as an individual
to third parties. We do this for purposes such as aggregating how many people
at a school like a band or movie and personalizing advertisements and
promotions so that we can provide you Polistem.org.
We believe this benefits you. You can know more about the world around you and,
where there are advertisements, they're more likely to be interesting to you.
For example, if you put a favorite movie in your profile, we might serve you an
advertisement highlighting a screening of a similar one in your town. But we
don't tell the movie company who you are.
SHARING YOUR INFORMATION WITH
THIRD PARTIES
We do not provide
contact information to third party marketers without your permission. We share
your information with third parties only in limited circumstances where we
believe such sharing is 1) reasonably necessary to offer the service, 2)
legally required or, 3) permitted by you. For example:
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We may provide information to service providers to help us bring you the services we offer. Specifically, we may use third parties to facilitate our business, such as to host the service at a co-location facility for servers, to send out email updates about Polistem.org, to remove repetitive information from our user lists, to process payments for products or services, or to provide search results or links (including sponsored links). In connection with these offerings and business operations, our service providers may have access to your personal information for use for a limited time in connection with these business activities. Where we utilize third parties for the processing of any personal information, we implement reasonable contractual and technical protections limiting the use of that information to the Polistem.org -specified purposes. |
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We occasionally provide demonstration accounts that allow non-users a glimpse into the Polistem.org social network. Such accounts have passwords that are changed regularly to limit possible misuse. |
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We may be required to disclose user information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. We do not reveal information until we have a good faith belief that an information request by law enforcement or private litigants meets applicable legal standards. Additionally, we may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law, to protect our interests or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through the Service or using the Polistem.org name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies. |
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We let you choose to share information with marketers or electronic commerce providers through sponsored groups or other on-site offers. |
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We may offer stores or provide services jointly with other companies on Polistem.org. You can tell when another company is involved in any store or service provided on Polistem.org, and we may share customer information with that company in connection with your use of that store or service. |
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If the ownership of the Web site, Service, or individual business units owned were to change, your user information may be transferred to the new owner so the service can continue operations. In any such transfer of information, your user information would remain subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Policy. |
LINKS
Polistem.org may contain links to other
websites. We are of course not responsible for the privacy practices of other
web sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site to read
the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally
identifiable information. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information
collected on the Polistem.org Web site.
THIRD PARTY ADVERTISING
Advertisements that
appear on Polistem.org are sometimes delivered (or
"served") directly to users by third party advertisers. They
automatically receive your IP address when this happens. These third party
advertisers may also download cookies to your computer, or use other
technologies such as JavaScript and "web beacons" (also known as
"1x1 gifs") to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to
personalize advertising content. Doing this allows the advertising network to
recognize your computer each time they send you an advertisement in order to
measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize advertising content.
In this way, they may compile information about where individuals using your
computer or browser saw their advertisements and determine which advertisements
are clicked. We do not have access to or control of the cookies that may be
placed by the third party advertisers. Third party advertisers have no access
to your contact information stored on Polistem.org
unless you choose to share it with them.
This privacy policy covers the use of cookies by us and does not cover the use
of cookies or other tracking technologies by any of its advertisers.
CHANGING OR REMOVING INFORMATION
Access and control
over most personal information on Polistem.org is
readily available through the profile editing tools. Polistem.org
users may modify or remove their profile information at any time by logging
into their account. Information will be updated immediately. Individuals who
wish to deactivate their Polistem.org account may do
by sending an email to remove@polistem.org and
writing their request for removal in the email. Removed information may persist
in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally
available to members of Polistem.org.
SECURITY
Polistem.org member accounts are
secured by member-created passwords. We take precautions to insure that member
account information is kept private. We use reasonable measures to protect
member information that is stored within our database, and we restrict access
to member information to those employees who need access to perform their job
functions, such as our technical staff. Please note that we cannot guarantee
the security of member account information. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware
or software failure, and other factors may compromise the security of member
information at any time. For any additional information about the security
measures we use on Polistem.org, please contact us a privacy@polistem.org.
TERMS OF USE, NOTICES AND
REVISIONS
If you choose to
visit Polistem.org, your visit and any dispute over
privacy is subject to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use, including
limitations on damages, arbitration of, and application of law of the state of
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions about this
Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@polistem.org.