GOLFBITS PUBLISHING COMPANY - PRIVACY STATEMENT

Golfbits Publishing Company is a privately held Georgia corporation whose mission is to enable individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships in the golf community based on respect for personal identity and information by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers the sites AtlantaGolfer.com, OrlandoGolfer.com, DallasGolfer.com and any other related website that we own and operate.  Because this Web site wants to demonstrate its commitment to our users’ privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices to the general public. 

 

1. What personally identifiable information Golfbits Publishing Company collects.

2. What personally identifiable information third parties collect through the Web site.

3. What organization collects the information.

4. How Golfbits Publishing Company uses the information.

5. With whom Golfbits Publishing Company may share user information.

6. What choices are available to users regarding collection, use and distribution of the information.

7. What types of security procedures are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under Golfbits Publishing Company control.

8. How users can correct any inaccuracies in the information.

If users have questions or concerns regarding this statement, they should first contact OUR PRIVACY ADMINISTRATOR by EMAIL: privacy @ golfbits.com or by PHONE: 770-579-6224. If you do not receive acknowledgment of their inquiry or your inquiry is not satisfactorily addressed, they should then contact TRUSTe through the TRUSTe Watchdog Dispute Resolution Process (http://www.truste.org/users/users_watchdog.php). TRUSTe will serve as a liaison with the Web site to resolve users concerns.

 

Information Collection and Use

 

Information Collection

Golfbits Publishing Company is the sole owner of the information collected on AtlantaGolfer.com, OrlandoGolfer.com, DallasGolfer.com and any other related website that we own and operate. Golfbits Publishing Company collects information from our users at several different points on our Web site.

 

Registration

In order to use some aspects of this Web site, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user is required to give contact information (such as name and email address). We use this information to contact the user about services on our site for which he has expressed interest. It is optional for the user to provide demographic information (such as income level and gender), and unique identifiers (such as, username and password), but encouraged so we can provide a more personalized experience on our site.

 

Order

We request information from the user on our order form. A user must provide contact information (such as name, email, and shipping address) and financial information (such as credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill customer’s orders. If we have trouble processing an order, the information is used to contact the user. The financial information is passed directly to credit card processing and is NOT saved in any way by Golfbits Publishing Company.

 

Information Use

 

Profile

We store information that we collect through cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or third parties to create a profile of our users. A profile is stored information that we keep on individual users that details their viewing preferences. Consequently, collected information is tied to the users personally identifiable information to provide offers and improve the content of the site for the user. This profile is used to tailor a user’s visit to our Web site, and to direct pertinent marketing promotions to them. We do not share your profile with other third parties. Your profile is shared in aggregate form only. For example, if you tell us your gender is "Male", then we may share with advertisers aggregate information like X% of AtlantaGolfer.com members are male. WE DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFO TO 3RD PARTIES AS TIED TO YOUR PERSONAL IDENTITY.

 

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 and persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user’s hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions. The Persistent cookie is simply used to identify you upon return to our site. For example, "Welcome John Smith" can be displayed with your name when you return. Your preferences can also be retrieved without requiring you to login.

 

By setting a cookie on our site, users would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If users reject the cookie, they may still use our site. The only drawback to this is that the user will be limited in some areas of our site. For example, the user will not be able to access directly the members section of our site, or be able to place messages or classifieds without logging in. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. See the “Profile” section.

 

Some of our business partners use cookies on our site (for example, advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies, once we have given permission for them to set cookies for advertising.

 

Third Party Advertising

Some ads appearing on this Web site are delivered to users by Third Party Advertising networks. Information about users’ visit to this site, such as number of times they have viewed an ad (but not user name, address, or other personal information), may be used to serve ads to users on this site. For more information about DoubleClick, cookies, and how to "opt-out", please click here.

 

This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by AtlantaGolfer.com, OrlandoGolfer.com, DallasGolfer.com and any other related website that we own and operate only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.

 

Log Files

Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.

 

Communications from the Site

Special Offers and Updates

We send all new members a welcoming email to welcome them and, if applicable, to verify password and username. Established members will occasionally receive information on products, services, special deals, and a newsletter. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the option to not receive these types of communications. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.

 

Newsletter

If a user wishes to subscribe to our newsletter, we ask for contact information such as name and email address. Out of respect for our users privacy we provide a way to opt-out of these communications. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.

 

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

 

Customer Service

We communicate with users on an occasional basis to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone, in accordance with the users wishes.

 

Sharing

Legal Disclaimer

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.

 

Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable)

We share aggregated demographic information with our partners, potential advertisers, and advertisers. This is not linked to any personally identifiable information! For example, we may tell potential advertisers that X% of our site users are male, and Y% of our users are female. We may share what percentage of our users are in certain age brackets, income brackets, etc. This "aggregate information" is always provided as total numbers or perecentages. Your personal information is NOT shared with any third party EVER.

 

These are the instances in which we will share users’ personal information:

 

Third Party Intermediaries

We sometimes use an outside shipping company to ship orders, and always use a credit card processing company to bill users' credit cards for goods and services. These companies do not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

 

Service Providers

We occasionally partner with other third parties and advertisers to provide specific services, products or offers. For example, if you inquire about a golf travel trip, we will provide your inquiry information to the 3rd party golf travel company such as TMG Golf. When the user signs up for these particular services, we share names, or other contact information that is necessary for the third party to contact you about providing these services. These third parties are not allowed to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing these services.

 

Business Transitions

In the event Golfbits Publishing Company goes through a business transition, such as a merger, being acquired by another company, or selling a portion of its assets, users’ personal information will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred.

Choice/Opt-out

Our users are given the opportunity to ‘opt-out’ of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask for information. For example, our order form has an ‘opt-out’ mechanism so users who buy a product from us, but don’t want any marketing material, can keep their email address off of our lists.

 

Users who no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications may opt-out of receiving these communications by replying to unsubscribe in the subject line in the email or email us at: unsubscribe @ golfbits.com. We also offer an opt-out mechanism on the MEMBER INFORMATION OR MEMBER HOME PAGES or the user may contact us at 770-579-6224 to opt out.

 

Users of our site are always notified when their information is being collected by any outside parties. We do this so our users can make an informed choice as to whether or not they should proceed with services that require an outside party.

 

Links

This Web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we, Golfbits Publishing Company, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by the Web sites owned by Golfbits Publishing Company, such as AtlantaGolfer.com, OrlandoGolfer.com, DallasGolfer.com or any other similar website that we own or operate.

 

Surveys & Contests

From time-to-time our site requests information from users via surveys, polls, or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as gender, age or zip code). Contact information will be used or shared with the contest or survey sponsors ONLY to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site, or shared in the aggregate to potential advertisers or existing advertisers. Users’ personally identifiable information is NOT shared with third parties unless we give prior notice and choice. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests, they may not use users’ personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

 

Tell-A-Friend

If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about our site, we ask them for the friend’s name and email address. Golfbits Publishing Company will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the site. Golfbits Publishing Company storesthis information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email and tracking the success of our referral program. The friend may contact Golfbits Publishing Company at privacy @ golfbits.com to request the removal of this information from our database.

 

Chat Rooms, Message Boards, and Public Forums

Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online - for example on message boards, through e-mail, or in chat areas - that information can be collected and used by others. In short, by posting personal information online that is publicly accessible, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. We have no control over this, but have implemented measure to aid in the disguising of your email address to automated robots.

 

Security

This Web site takes every precaution to protect our users’ information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is protected both online and off-line.

 

When our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL. While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just ‘surfing’.

 

While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users’ information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Furthermore, ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Every six to twelve months as needed, as well as any time new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our users’ information is protected. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure environment, in a locked facility.

 

If users have any questions about the security at our Web site, users can send an email to security @ golfbits.com

 

Supplementation of Information

In order for this Web site to properly fulfill its obligation to users it is necessary for us to supplement the information we receive with information from 3rd party sources.

 

Credit Card Verification

For example, if you order something from our website or provide credit card information, we may check the validity of the credit card and related information with our third party merchant processor.

 

Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information

If a user’s personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service, we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users’ personally identifiable information. This can usually be done at the member account information page or by emailing our Customer Support at members @ golfbits.com. Or, contact us by telephone at 770-579-6224.

 

Notification of Changes

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.

If, however, we are going to use users’ personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify users by posting a notice on our Web site for 30 days.

 

Contact Information

If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at:

 

Phone: 770-579-6224

Email: privacy @ golfbits.com

Postal Address: Golfbits Publishing Co. 4037 Hickory Fairway Drive, Woodstock, GA 30188

Web site URL: http://www.goflbits.com