Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting DeafWorld.com. We strive to offer you as visitors the many advantages of Internet technology and to provide an interactive and personalized experience. We may use Personally Identifiable Information (your name, e-mail address, street address, telephone number) subject to the terms of this privacy policy. Please be sure to read this entire Privacy Policy before using or submitting information to us.

Throughout this site, the terms "we", "us", "our", "this site", "DeafWorld" and "DeafWorld.com" refer to DeafWorld.com LLC and any of its affiliated companies as appropriate in the context.

How we gather information from users
How we collect and store information depends on the page you are visiting, the activities in which you elect to participate and the services provided. You can visit many pages on our site without providing any information. Other pages may prompt you to provide information, such as when you register for access to portions of our site, sign up for membership, or request certain features such as newsletters, etc. You may also provide information when you participate in sweepstakes and contests, voting and polling activities, and other interactive areas of our site.

Like most Web sites, this site also collects information automatically and through the use of electronic tools that may be transparent to our visitors. For example, we may log the name of your Internet Service Provider or use "cookie" technology. Among other things, the cookie may store your user name and password, sparing you from having to re-enter that information each time you visit, or may control the number of times you encounter a particular advertisement while visiting our site. As we adopt additional technology, we may also gather information through other means. In certain cases, you can choose not to provide us with information, for example by setting your browser to refuse to accept cookies, but doing so may limit your ability to access certain portions of the site or may require you to re-enter your user name and password. Additionally we may not be able to customize the site's features according to your preferences.

What we do with the information we collect
We will use your information only as permitted by law. Aggregated Information (information that does not personally identify you) may be used in many ways. As one example, we may combine information about your usage patterns with similar information obtained from other users to learn which pages are visited most or what features are most attractive. Aggregated Information may occasionally be shared with our advertisers and business partners, but cannot be used to contact you individually.

We also collect information to enhance your visit and deliver more individualized content and advertising. For example, we may use Personally Identifiable Information collected on this site to communicate with you regarding our Terms of Service and privacy policy, products and services offered by us and other affiliates and partners, administration of sweepstakes and contests, processing e-commerce transactions and other topics we think you might find of interest.

Personally Identifiable Information collected by us may also be used for other purposes including but not limited to site administration and troubleshooting. Certain third parties who provide technical support for the operation of our site (our Web hosting service, for example) may access such information.

As we continue to develop our business, we may sell, buy, merge or partner with other companies or businesses. In such transactions, user information may be among the transferred assets. We may also disclose your information in response to a court order, at other times when we believe we are reasonably required to do so by law, in connection with the collection of amounts you may owe to us, and/or whenever we deem it appropriate or necessary to give such information to law enforcement authorities. Please note we may not provide you with notice prior to disclosure in such cases.

Your choice to opt out
The quality information on this site is supported by advertising revenue and a controlled source is an important element of our online business. Like other Web sites, we sometimes permit our advertising and promotional partners to e-mail you about services, features, products, special offers and unique content we believe might interest you. If you prefer not to receive e-mail communications sent directly from our advertisers or promotional partners, you will be given an opportunity to decline before you provide us information we might use for this purpose. If you decline at the time you provide us such information, we will not share the Personally Identifiable Information you provide with non-Affiliated advertisers for such purposes, though we may on occasion send you information on their behalf.

Affiliated sites, linked sites and advertisements
We expects our partners, advertisers and third-party affiliates to respect the privacy of our users. However, third parties, including our partners, advertisers, affiliates and other content providers accessible through our site, may have their own privacy and data collection policies and practices. For example, during your visit to our site you may link to, or view as part of a frame on our page, certain content that is actually created or hosted by a third party. Also, through this site you may be introduced to, or be able to access, information, Web sites, advertisements, features, contests or sweepstakes offered by other parties. We are not responsible for the actions or policies of such third parties. You should check the applicable privacy policies of those third parties when providing information on a feature or page operated by a third party.

While on our site, our advertisers, promotional partners or other third parties may use cookies or other technology to attempt to identify some of your preferences or retrieve information about you. For example, some of our advertising is served by third parties and may include cookies that enable the advertiser to determine whether you have seen a particular advertisement before. Through features available on our site, third parties may use cookies or other technology to gather information. We do not control the use of this technology or the resulting information and are not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties.

Please be careful and responsible whenever you are online. Should you choose to voluntarily disclose Personally Identifiable Information on our site, such as in listing or in advertising you post, that information can be viewed publicly and can be collected and used by third parties without our knowledge and may result in unsolicited messages from other individuals or third parties. Such activities are beyond the control of ours and this policy.

Referrals
Some of our websites may provide you with the opportunity to email a message or web page to another person. For this feature to work, we may need to collect your email addresses and/or the email addresses of those to whom you send the information. The email address collected in this context are not used for any other purpose other than to send your request. These email addresses are not stored and are deleted immediately after your request is fulfilled.

Children
We do not knowingly collect or solicit Personally Identifiable Information from or about children under 18 except as permitted by law. If we discover we have received any information from a child under 18 in violation of this policy, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe we have any information from or about anyone under 18, please contact us.

Security
We take reasonable steps to protect your personally identifiable information as you transmit your information from your computer to our site and to protect such information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. You should keep in mind that no Internet transmission is ever 100% secure or error-free. In particular, e-mail sent to or from this site may not be secure, and you should therefore take special care in deciding what information you send to us via e-mail. Moreover, where you use passwords, ID numbers, or other special access features on this site, it is your responsibility to safeguard them.

Other Terms
Your use of this site is subject to our terms of service.

Changes to this policy
We reserve the right to change this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of our site following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes. Information collected prior to the time any change is posted will be used according to the rules and laws that applied at the time the information was collected.

Governing law
This policy and the use of this Site are governed by Maryland law. Any claim related to the Site or this policy shall be brought in a federal or state court in Maryland, within one year after the claim arises. You agree no such claim may be brought as a class action. Users of this site consent to the jurisdiction and venue of such court as the most convenient and appropriate for the resolution of disputes concerning this policy. This site is controlled, operated and administered entirely within the United States. If you are located outside the United States, please note the information you provide to us will be transferred to the United States. You hereby consent to this transfer.

How to Contact Us
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the information practices of this site, please contact us.