Protecting your privacy is a serious matter and doing so is very important to Progressive Book Club (PBC). We believe the responsible use of information is important both for meeting your needs and providing quality service. This privacy policy identifies and describes PBC's data collection and use practices. Please read this policy carefully.
Part 1 - Information and Data Collection
1. PBC collects and maintains personal information from its members and from certain users of its website (Site). The personal information PBC collects from its members includes name, shipping and billing addresses, telephone number, email address, and, if provided by you, credit card and other financial information. PBC keeps a record of purchases that members make through the Site. PBC collects and maintains personal information from users who register at our Site to obtain access to online resources like chat rooms and blogs; we call these interactive areas our Communication Platform. The personal information PBC collects from these users may include name, email address, and other information. PBC may also collect information that users provide, such as survey responses and email addresses of users who send inquiries; in some cases, this information may be personally identifying or may be linked by us with personally identifying information. PBC may obtain publicly available information, such as demographic data, and link it to information it has collected.
2. PBC may automatically track certain basic information about how users get to and interact with our Site, such as internet protocol address, domain, browser type, internet service provider, referring/exit pages, click patterns, and the like. This information generally is not personally identifying. PBC uses this information for internal analysis of visitors' usage patterns, demographics, interests, and the like to better understand and serve visitors to our Site. Also, in the case of members and registered users, we may link this information with personal information to better understand and serve individual members and users.
3. PBC uses "cookies," i.e. small data files that we place in your web browser, to enable us to recognize you when you visit the Site and/or the Communication Platform. This permits us, for example, to enable members and registered users to gain access without re-entering their passwords. You will still be able to use the Site and the Communication Platform if you configure your browser to reject cookies, but certain functions of the Site and/or the Communication Platform may be disabled. We may use data collection technology in addition to cookies, but we will protect and use your data only as described in this privacy policy.
4. You may opt-in or opt-out from receiving certain types of communications from us. To do so, go to your My Account page and follow the instructions there. Please note that PBC members may not opt-out of receiving certain transactional communications from us, such as email notices regarding the monthly PBC Must Read Selection.
Part II - Use of Information
5. PBC uses the information we collect to service your account, improve our communications and community-building, improve our content and offerings, and analyze site usage, among other purposes. We also use the information we collect to troubleshoot problems, resolve disputes, and enforce our Terms of Service and Membership Agreement.
6. PBC may offer products or services that may be of interest to you, and PBC may learn of other organizations offering products or services that may be of interest to you. We may use contact information you provide to us, such as your email or mailing address, to inform you about these offers. You may opt-in or opt-out from receiving these types of communications. To do so, go to your My Account page and follow the instructions there.
7. PBC contracts with third-party service providers in order to operate its business, including the Site and the Communication Platform. Those service providers may need access to your information to perform fulfillment and other services. We undertake to provide only that portion of your information needed to perform the pertinent service, and we require that all of our service providers hold your information in confidence and use it only to provide the service for which they have been engaged.
8. PBC may use or disclose aggregate information, i.e. information that is not personally identifying, as well as information it obtains from public sources for any purpose.
Part III - Disclosure of Personal Information
9. PBC may disclose personal information relating to a member or a registered user if PBC has a good-faith belief that the disclosure is necessary to: (a) comply with the law, such as to comply with a court order or legal process served on PBC; (b) enforce our Terms of Service, Membership Agreement, or this privacy policy; (c) respond to a legal claim by a third party that relates to your conduct on the Site and/or the Communication Platform; or (d) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of PBC, its users, and/or the public. PBC may disclose personal information to law enforcement personnel in connection with an investigation of illegal activity, such as fraud or intellectual property infringement.
10. If you identify a PBC Partner or Beneficiary at the time you register with PBC (or if you update your account information to include a Partner or Beneficiary), PBC may inform the Partner or Beneficiary that you are a PBC member and have designated the Partner or Beneficiary. In doing so, PBC may provide identifying information such as your name and email and/or mailing address.
11. PBC may provide information about your account status and activity to credit bureaus. Late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report.
12. In the case of a merger, sale, or reorganization of some or all of our business, PBC may transfer some or all of the information in its records.
13. Information that you post to the public areas of our Site and/or Communication Platform (e.g. in chat rooms) is publicly accessible. We recommend against providing any personally identifying information in these areas. Also, you should be aware that information that you post to the public areas of our Site and/or Communication Platform may be reproduced, indexed, and disseminated widely by search engines, crawlers, and other similar programs.
Part IV - Security
14. PBC maintains physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to guard the information we obtain. These include limiting the employees with access to sensitive information and requiring the use of passwords to gain access; and the use of firewalls and other security technology to protect our network and systems from external attacks.
15. PBC protects your credit card information by storing it in encrypted files and by communicating financial information with you and with your credit card company only over a secure Internet connection, using SSL encryption technology. PBC keeps your credit card information on file, but we have designed the Site not to display the entire credit card information - just the last 4 digits of the card. You can always choose to change to a new card or delete one of your credit cards entirely from our files. To see (or change) your current credit card status, you must login to My Account on our site.
16. Your account is password-protected. You must use your password to submit an order or view or change your credit card or other personal information in My Account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account information and for restricting access to your computer on which you access the Site. Users of public or shared computers should log out at the completion of each visit to the Site.
17. Unfortunately, no security system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Accordingly, it is not possible to give an absolute guarantee that the security of computer connected to the Internet will not be compromised and we assume no liability for improper access to your personal information.
Part V - Additional Terms
18. PBC reserves the right to revise, amend, change or update this privacy policy. For significant changes to this policy, we will notify you either by placing a prominent notice on the home page of our Site or by sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about our use of the information we collect. PBC will indicate at the bottom of this page the date this policy was last revised. Your continued use of the Site, Communication Platform, or any PBC service after we have revised this policy constitutes your agreement to the revised version.
19. This privacy policy is governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its choice of law rule and without regard to the location of any user. Any dispute arising in connection with this policy must be filed in the state or federal courts located in New York County, New York. You may raise any matter of concern relating to this privacy policy by emailing us at privacy@progressivebookclub.com.
Revised: 05/20/09
