Sosbuzz
 

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how we handle your personal information on the Sosbuzz.com website.


By accepting the Privacy Policy and the User Agreement in registration, you expressly consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.


This Privacy Policy is effective upon acceptance for new users and is otherwise effective on April 4, 2011.


1. Collection of Information


You can browse our site without telling us who you are or revealing any personal information about yourself. Once you register and give us your personal information, you are not anonymous to us. If you choose to provide us with personal information, you consent to the transfer and storage of that information on our servers located in the United States.


We may collect and store the following personal information:

  • • email address, phone number, fax number, mailing address, store location address, billing address;
  • • for sellers, financial information, such as credit card or debit card numbers;
  • • transactional information based on your activities on our site (such as posts, searches, purchases, sales, blog posts, invites, application uses, correspondence sent through our site or to us, ratings, reviews, recommendations, and other content that you generate that relates to your account);
  • • information from your interaction with our site (such as computer and connection information, page views, keywords searched, IP address, and other statistics on site usage); and
  • • information from third parties (for example, if you incur a debt to us as a seller, we may run a credit check by obtaining additional information about you from a credit bureau, as permitted by law).

2. Use of Information


Our primary purpose in collecting personal information is to provide you with a safe, smooth, efficient, and customized experience. You agree that we may use your personal information to:

  • • provide the services and customer support you request;
  • • resolve disputes, collect fees, and troubleshoot problems;
  • • prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities, and enforce our User Agreement;
  • • customize, measure and improve our services, content and advertising;
  • • tell you about our services, targeted marketing, service updates, and promotional offers based on your communication preferences; and
  • • compare information for accuracy, and verify it with third parties.

3. Disclosure of Information


Any information provided by sellers in their profile (including their contact information) will be displayed and available to all users on our site. In addition, such information may appear in non-Sosbuzz search engine results (i.e. Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask etc.).


When a buyer requests that a seller contact them for purposes of a potential transaction or reports a completed business transaction with a seller, all information contained in such buyers profile will be displayed and available to such seller and to Sosbuzz. In addition, a buyer's full name, any picture it provides, and the causes/charities it supports may appear in non-Sosbuzz search engine results. We may disclose personal information to respond to legal requirements, enforce our policies, respond to claims that a seller listing or other content violates the rights of others, or protect anyone's rights, property, or safety. Such information will be disclosed in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.


We may also share your personal information with:

  • • Service providers under contract who help with our business operations (such as fraud investigations and bill collection).
  • • Law enforcement or other governmental officials, in response to a verified request relating to a criminal investigation or alleged illegal activity. In such events, we will disclose information relevant to the investigation, such as name, city, state, zip code, telephone number, email address, username history, IP address, fraud complaints, and transaction history.
  • • Other business entities, should we plan to merge with or be acquired by that business entity. (Should such a combination occur, we will require that the new combined entity follow this privacy policy with respect to your personal information. If your personal information will be used contrary to this policy, you will receive prior notice.)
  • • Other third parties to whom you explicitly ask us to send your information (or about whom you are otherwise explicitly notified and consent to when using a specific service).

4. Information Available to Other Users


Your username is displayed throughout our site (and thus is available to the public), and is connected to all of your Sosbuzz activity. Other users will be able to see your causes and charities, reviews, recommendations, ratings, and other transactions linked to your username. If you access our site from a shared computer, certain information about you may also be visible to other individuals who use the computer after you, so always logout completely after each use and consider deleting the browser's cookies for added security.


5. Contacting Media - Non-Profit Organizations


When non-profit organizations join Sosbuzz as a Cause or Association, within forty eight (48) hours of joining, Sosbuzz may include the fact that they joined Sosbuzz in Sosbuzz press releases and other contacts with the media. Any non-profit organization that does not want to have its name mentioned in Sosbuzz press releases and other contacts with the media should contact Sosbuzz here.


6. Cookies


We use browser cookies to identify you and keep you logged into the site. We also use "flash cookies" or "Local Shared Objects" (small files placed on your hard drive), on certain pages to help analyze user statistics and to enable proper functioning of our site. These cookies are used to enhance your user experience, for example by confirming the identity of the sellers for purposes of reporting transactions and allocating contributions to your causes. When you click on any deal on our search results, featured seller ads, email deal alerts, affiliate links and/or seller profile pages, these flash cookies make it possible for you to be able to report to us any purchases you make from our sellers, and thus allow us to make a 25% donation of our proceeds to your favorite cause.

Local Shared Objects are similar to browser cookies, but can store data more complex than simple text. By themselves, they cannot do anything to or with the data on your computer. To find out more about flash cookies or how to disable them, please click here: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/526/52697ee8.html. Please note that disabling flash cookies may interfere with the performance and features of our site. Also note that unless you have otherwise blocked flash cookies from writing to your hard drive, by revisiting Sosbuzz and clicking on any deal on our search results, featured seller ads, affiliate links, seller profile pages and/or email deal alerts will place the flash cookie back on your hard drive so we can make it possible for you to be able to report to us any purchases you make from our sellers, and thus allow us to make a 25% donation of our proceeds to your favorite cause.


7. Use of Information Obtained from Sosbuzz


Sosbuzz enables you to share personal information to complete transactions and interact with other users in our community. We encourage you to disclose your privacy practices and respect the privacy of other users. When users are involved in a transaction, they may have access to each other's profiles and contact information. You agree to use user information only for: using services offered through Sosbuzz; Sosbuzz transaction-related purposes; and other purposes that a user expressly chooses.


8. Third Parties


Except as otherwise expressly included in this Privacy Policy, this document addresses only the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. If you disclose your information to others, whether they are buyers or sellers on our site or other sites throughout the internet, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the information you disclose to them. Sosbuzz does not control the privacy policies of third parties, and you are subject to the privacy policies of those third parties where applicable. We encourage you to ask questions before you disclose your personal information to others.


9. No Spam


We and our users do not tolerate spam. You are not licensed to add other Sosbuzz users, even a user who has purchased a product or service from you, to your mailing list (email or physical mail) without their express consent. To report spam or spoof emails to us, please forward the email to abuse @ sosbuzz.com. You may not use our site to send spam or otherwise send content that would violate our User Agreement.


10. Account Protection


In order to safeguard your account, do not disclose your password to anyone. If your password becomes compromised, please notify us immediately and change your password.


11. Closing An Account


Upon your request (through use of our contact form) and provided that you do not have an outstanding balance due on your account, we will close your account and remove your personal information from view as soon as reasonably possible, based on your account activity and in accordance with applicable law. We do retain personal information from closed accounts to comply with law, prevent fraud, collect any fees owed, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our User Agreement and take other actions otherwise permitted by law.


12. Security


Your information is stored on our servers located in the United States. We use encryption, firewalls and physical security to protect your personal information against unauthorized access and disclosure. However, we can not guarantee that third parties will not unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications, and that other users will not abuse or misuse your personal information that they collect from the site. Therefore, although we work very hard to protect your privacy, we do not promise, and you should not expect, that your personal information or private communications will always remain private.


13. Notice of Privacy Rights to California Residents.


California law requires that we provide you with a summary of your privacy rights under the California Online Privacy Protection Act (the "Act") and the California Business and Professions Code. As required by the Act, we will provide you with the categories of personally identifiable information that we collect through the Sosbuzz site and the categories of third party persons or entities with whom such personally identifiable information may be shared for direct marketing purposes at your request. California law requires us to inform you, at your request, (a) the categories of personally identifiable information we collect and with which third parties we share that information; (b) the names and addresses of those third parties; and (c) examples of the products marketed by those companies. The Act further requires us to allow you to control who you do not want us to share that information with. To obtain this information, please send a request by email or standard mail to the address found below. When contacting us, please indicate your name, address, email address, and what personally identifiable information you do not want us to share with affiliated businesses or marketing partners. The request should be sent to the attention of Sosbuzz, Inc., Attn: Privacy Transparency, 1007 S. Central Ave Suite 206 Glendale, CA 91204, and labeled "California Customer Choice Notice." Please allow 30 days for a response. Also, please note that there is no charge for controlling the sharing of your personally identifiable information or requesting this notice.


14. Privacy Policy Changes


We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the amended terms on this site. All amended terms automatically take effect 10 days after they are initially posted on the site. Additionally, we will notify you through the inbox of your control panel (known as the "Beehive") and via email to the primary email address you have provided. It is each user's responsibility to regularly check this site for updates to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy may not be otherwise amended except in writing signed by you and us. For purposes of this Section 14, a "writing" does not include an email message and a signature does not include an electronic signature.


15. Contact Information


If your questions are not answered online, you may contact us at: Sosbuzz, Inc., Attn: Privacy Policy, 1007 S. Central Ave Suite 206 Glendale, CA 91204, or using the Contact Us form.