Welcome. At ARAnet, Inc, the company that operates HouseTopia.com.com, we are committed to protecting the online privacy of visitors to our websites. This Policy applies only to the information collected through HouseTopia.com.com. The purpose of this Policy is to inform you about the types of information we gather about you when you visit our websites, how we may use that information, and how we disclose it to third parties. Your use of this website is also subject to our Terms and Conditions.
Changes to this Policy We may revise or update this Policy at any time. If we make material changes, we will post the revised Policy on the Web Site and update its “last updated” date. We encourage you to check this Policy whenever you visit the Web Site to see if it has been updated since your last visit.
Site Not Intended for Children. Our website is intended for a general audience and is not intended for use by children without their parent’s or guardian’s supervision. We ask that anyone under the age of 18 not submit any personal information through our websites. We do not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 18.
Scope of this Policy
This Policy distinguishes between personally identifiable information, which we refer to as “personal information,” and “aggregate information” and other forms of non-personally identifiable information.
- Personal information as used herein means information that personally identifies you, such as your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, credit card or other account number, and other information that is linked to personal information about you.
- Aggregate information is aggregated information from which we have removed individual identities or other personal information, or information that we collect about the Web Site or about a group or category of products, services or customers that does not identify you personally. Aggregate data helps us understand trends and our users’ needs so that we can better consider new features or otherwise tailor our Web Site.
This policy applies to personal information collected by us on the Web Site. This policy in no way restricts or limits our collection and use of aggregate information.
How We Collect Personal Information
- We may collect certain information that you voluntarily provide to us when you use the Web Site. You may provide personal information to us at various locations on the Web Site. For example, we may collect your name, billing and shipping address, email address, telephone number, and credit card account number when you register and set up an account, subscribe to a newsletter or other publication, or purchase products or services on the Web Site. Personal information may also be collected if you provide such information in connection with participating in discussion forums, blogs, social networking services, or other interactive services on the Web Site. In addition, we may collect personal information you provide in connection with sending us emails or other communication through the Web Site or your participation in or response to surveys, sweepstakes, contests, games, promotional offers, and other activities on the Web Site. We may also collect other information about you that we may associate with your personal information such as your interests, preferences and demographics. For example, we may collect information about your interests in certain lifestyle topics. We collect this personal information for example, when you order a product, enter a contest or sweepstakes, request a catalog, or register for a mailing list.
- We, our related web hosting providers, and our advertisers and ad serving and tracking companies sometimes utilize “cookie” technology on the Web Sites. Cookies are bits of data stored on your hard drive that contain no personally identifying information but which help enhance your Web-browsing experience. Not all Web browsers accept cookies, and those that do usually provide a preference or setting that allows you to refuse and remove most types of browser cookies. If your browser does not accept cookies, you may still enjoy the Web Site.
- Web Beacons. We may use, and may permit third parties to use, “Web beacons” (also known as pixel tags, clear GIFs and web bugs) on the Web Site and in email communications we send. We use Web beacons to monitor the effectiveness of advertising, to track aggregate Web Site usage, and for other lawful purposes. These web beacons do not collect personal information about you on the Web Site.
- Automatically collected information. We collect into our log files certain standard information from your web browser—such as your IP address, browser type and language, screen size and the time of your visit—when you visit the Web Site. This information is used by us to analyze trends, administer the Web Site, and gather broad information for aggregate use. We may aggregate some or all of the information we collect from our log files to information stored on a cookie in your computer. We also collect information about keyword searches performed by visitors on the Web Site. We do not collect your name or email address as a result of using a search feature. We may keep logs of all words searched to help us learn what kinds of information visitors to the Website are seeking, and to improve our service to visitors.
Disclosure of Personal Information
Except as set forth in this Policy, we do not disclose, sell, rent, loan, trade or lease personal information we collect on the Web Site to any third party.
We will disclose personal information in the following circumstances:
- If you consent to the disclosure of your personal information,
- We may share your personal information with our affiliates, our technical consultants, third-party auditors and other third parties who act on our behalf, for example, to make the Web Site available, enhance its functionality, or provide associated services and/or who deal with you in delivering content, samples, products, and gifts and prizes, have access to and may use this information to provide us with services.
- We may transfer your personally identifiable information and other information in connection with or during negotiation of any merger, financing, acquisition or dissolution, transaction or proceeding involving sale, transfer, divestiture or disclosure of all or a portion of our business or assets to another company.
- We will consider, and may release, personal information to third parties: to (i) comply with laws or to respond to lawful requests and legal process, (ii) to protect our rights and property of those of our agents, customers, members, and others including to enforce our agreements, policies and terms of use or (iii) in an emergency to protect the personal safety of our employees, customers, or any person.
We may also provide aggregate statistics and deideintified data about our customers, including traffic patterns and related site information, to reputable third parties for their own purposes, including statistical analysis.
The Web Site may include personal profiles, discussion forums, blogs, social networking services or other interactive areas (“Interactive Areas”) in which you or third parties may create, post or store content, messages, comments, materials or other items on the Web Site. If you use these Interactive Areas, you should be aware that any personal information you post on the Web Site or provide to others through the Web Site may be read, collected and used by others and may be posted on publicly available portions of the Web Site. Such information may be retained indefinitely, and may be saved by caching services on the Internet. We recommend you be cautious in giving out personal information to others in public or private online forums. We are not responsible for personal information you chose to post in Interactive Areas of the Web Site or the use by third parties of such personal information.
We are not responsible for the actions of Service Providers or other third parties, nor are we responsible for any additional information you provide directly to Service Providers or other third parties and we encourage you to become familiar with their practices before disclosing information directly to them.
How We Use the Personal Information We Collect
In general, we use personal information we collect to process your requests or transactions, to provide you with information or services you request, to inform you about other information on events, promotions, products or services we think will be of interest to you, to facilitate your use of, and our administration and operation of, the Web Site, and for the purpose for which the information was provided. For example, we may use the information we collect:
- to operate and improve the Web Site and our products and services;
- to understand you and your preferences to enhance your experience and enjoyment using the Web Site and our products and services;
- to send you a welcoming email, to contact you about your use of the Web Site and to provide important Web Site updates;
- to provide the services, products or information you request and to process payments and complete any transactions in connection therewith;
- to respond to your emails, submissions, comments, requests or complaints;
- to request feedback and to enable us to develop, customize and improve the Web Site and our publications, products and services;
- to send you surveys or questionnaires;
- to send you newsletters, including any online newsletter(s) you have requested.
- to contact you about our or a third party’s services, products, activities, special events or offers and for other marketing, informational, product development and promotional purposes;
- for editorial purposes, such as to contact you about content you have submitted to the Web Site or to give attribution to content you submit;
- to send a one-time email on your behalf which contains a display or link to an article, advice or other content you have selected to share with a friend through our Email-a-Friend service (however, we do not use the name and email address you provide us through this feature for other purposes); and
- to notify contest/sweepstakes winners.
Choices about Our Use and Sharing of Personally Identifiable Information: If you do not wish to receive promotional and newsletter emails from us you may click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of those emails.
Non Personal Information and Cookies. When you visit our Site we collect certain non-personal information from your computer. This information is collected from your computer’s web browser and may include information such as the following (“non-personal information”):
- the type of web browser software you use (for example, Internet Explorer)
- the name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, Yahoo.com)
- the date and time you access our websites, as well as which pages were viewed
We and/or our advertisers or vendors may also place a text file called a “session cookie” in the browser files of your computer when you visit. “Session cookies” are not loaded onto your hard drive, and do not give us any personal information. You are always free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, but some parts of our websites may not work properly for you if you do so.
We will use non-personal information to help us make our websites more useful to visitors and for other business purposes. We may use information from cookies to deliver content that you may find more interesting based upon the articles you have viewed in the past. We may prepare reports and other materials using non-personal information. We may share and use non-personal information without restriction because it does not identify who you are.
Third-Party Advertising on the Web Site
We may also use third parties to serve ads on our Web Site. Certain third parties may automatically collect information about your visits to this and other websites, your IP address, your ISP, the browser you use to visit Web Site (but not your name, address, email address or telephone number). They do this by using cookies, clear gifs or other technologies. Information collected may be used, among other things, to deliver advertising targeted to your interests and to better understand the usage and visitation of the Web Site and the other sites tracked by these third parties. This policy does not apply to, and we are not responsible for, cookies or clear gifs in third party ads, and we encourage you to check the privacy policies of advertisers and/or ad services to learn about their use of cookies and other technology.
Links and Advertisers on This Site. This website contains links to other websites, including to sites operated by advertisers that are clients of ARAnet, Inc. We provide these links for your convenience, but we do not review, control, or monitor the privacy practices of other sites. We are not responsible for the performance of these sites or for your business dealings with them. Your use of other websites is subject to the terms and conditions of those sites, including the privacy policies of those sites. Please note that we may allow third party advertisers to place ads on our pages. Those ads may include cookies. Our advertisers’ use of cookies is subject to their own privacy policies, not this Policy.
Data Processed in U.S. By providing any information to us through this website, all users, including without limitation users in the member states of the European Union, fully understand and unambiguously consent to the collection, storage, forward transfer and processing of such information in the United States of America.
Contact Us
If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected] or send us a letter addressed by First Class Postage Prepaid U.S. Mail or overnight courier to the following address:
Privacy Officer, ARAnet, Inc.
850 Fifth Street South
Hopkins, MN 55343
This Policy was last updated on May 29, 2013.