Privacy

Privacy

bruce flinn is owned and operated by Bruce A. Flinn. Your privacy on the Internet is of the utmost importance to me. At bruce flinn, I want to make your experience online satisfying and safe.

Because I gather certain types of information about my users, I feel you should fully understand my policy and the terms and conditions surrounding the capture and use of that information. This privacy statement discloses what information I gather and how I use it.

INFORMATION bruce flinn GATHERS AND TRACKS

bruce flinn gathers two types of information about users:

* Information that users provide through optional, voluntary submissions. These are voluntary submissions when you post comments to blog entries, from participation in polls and surveys and other forms of data input/collection:
* Information bruce flinn gathers through aggregated tracking information derived mainly by tallying page views throughout my sites. This information allows me to better tailor my content to readers’ needs and to help my advertisers and sponsors better understand the demographics of my audience. Because bruce flinn derives its revenue mainly from sponsorships and advertising, providing such aggregated demographic data is essential to keeping my site/service free to users. Under no circumstances does bruce flinn divulge any information about an individual user to a third party. bruce flinn Gathers User Information In The Following Processes:

I offer the following free services, which require some type of voluntary submission of personal information by users:

1. Polling

I may offer interactive polls to users so they can easily share their opinions with other users and see what my audience thinks about important issues. Opinions or other responses to polls are aggregated and are not identifiable to any particular user. bruce flinn may use a system to “tag” users after they have voted, so they can vote only once on a particular question. This tag is not correlated with information about individual users.

5. Surveys

bruce flinn may occasionally conduct user surveys to better target my content to my audience. I sometimes share the aggregated demographic information in these surveys with my sponsors, advertisers and partners. I never share any of this information about specific individuals with any third party.

Children

Consistent with the Federal Children s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), I will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 without requesting parental consent.

Usage tracking

bruce flinn tracks user traffic patterns throughout all of my sites. However, I do not correlate this information with data about individual users. bruce flinn does break down overall usage statistics according to a user’s domain name, browser type, and MIME type by reading this information from the browser string (information contained in every user’s browser).

bruce flinn sometimes tracks and catalogs the search terms that users enter in my Search function, but this tracking is never associated with individual users. I use tracking information to determine which areas of my sites users like and don’t like based on traffic to those areas. I do not track what individual users read, but rather how well each page performs overall. This helps me continue to build a better site/service for you.

Cookies

I may place a text file called a “cookie” in the browser files of your computer. The cookie itself does not contain Personal Information although it will enable me to relate your use of this site to information that you have specifically and knowingly provided. But the only personal information a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. A cookie can’t read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. bruce flinn uses cookies to track user traffic patterns (as described above). My advertising system delivers a one-time cookie to better track ad impressions and click rates.

You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. If you’ve set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies, you will receive the warning message with each cookie. You do not need to have cookies turned on to use this site. However, you do need cookies to participate actively in polling and surveys.

USE OF INFORMATION

bruce flinn uses any information voluntarily given by my users to enhance their experience in my network of sites, whether to provide interactive or personalized elements on the sites or to better prepare future content based on the interests of my users.

As stated above, I use information that users voluntarily provide in order to enable users to participate in polls, surveys, message boards, and forums.

bruce flinn creates aggregate reports on user demographics and traffic patterns for advertisers, sponsors and partners. This allows my advertisers to advertise more effectively, and allows my users to receive advertisements that are pertinent to their needs. Because I don’t track the usage patterns of individual users, an advertiser or sponsor will never know that a specific user clicked their ad. I will not disclose any information about any individual user except to comply with applicable law or valid legal process or to protect the personal safety of my users or the public.

SHARING OF THE INFORMATION

bruce flinn uses the above-described information to tailor my content to suit your needs and help my advertisers better understand my audience’s demographics. This is essential to keeping my site/service free.

OPT-OUT POLICY

I give users options wherever necessary and practical. Such choices include:

* Opting not to participate in certain interactive areas, which completely alleviates the need to gather any personally identifiable information from my users

YOUR CONSENT

By using this site, you consent to the collection and use of this information by bruce flinn. If I decide to change my privacy policy, I will post those changes on this page so that you are always aware of what information I collect, how I use it, and under what circumstances I disclose it.