Freecycle USA Privacy Policy
Last Updated on February 7, 2014
Freecycle USA does not send spam or sell email addresses.
About Freecycle USA and the Information, We Collect
Profile Information submitted by Members to Freecycle USA
Freecycle USA is an online social networking community that connects people through networks of friends for communicating, sharing, and meeting other members that recycle. To accomplish this, each Freecycle USA Member creates his or her own user profile, which contains the personal information that the Member chooses to include.
This personal information includes such things as:
• The name of the member
• Gender, age, marital status and other, similar personal information,
• Occupation,
• Location (e.g., city and state), and
• photos, videos, or other shared content uploaded by the Member to his or her profile, to the extent that it includes personal information.
Other Information submitted by Members to Freecycle USA
Freecycle USA also collects member-submitted account information such as name and email address to identify Members, send notifications related to the use of the Freecycle USA services and conduct market research and marketing for Freecycle USA’s internal use only. You should also be aware that Members may reveal other personal information while communicating on other areas of the Freecycle USA website, e.g. while participating in discussions on Freecycle USA Forums and/or posting information on Freecycle USA Blogs, news stories, videos, and photos. This information, in turn, might be viewed by other Members or visitors to the Freecycle USA website who are not Members.
Information Not Directly Submitted by Members or Other Website Users to Freecycle USA
Finally, we also collect some information from Members, as well as from other visitors to the Freecycle USA website, that is not personally identifiable, such as browser type and IP address. This information is gathered from all Members and visitors to the website.
Use of Information Obtained by Freecycle USA
Sharing by Members of Profile Information
The personal information of a Member contained in his or her profile will be shown to those people whom the Member chooses. Each Member has two options when choosing the level of sharing of his or her complete profile. They are:
•” Friends” which consists only of that Member’s friends, and
•” Freecycle USA Members” which means all members on the Freecycle USA website will have limited access to general profile information.
PLEASE NOTE THAT, REGARDLESS OF WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION A MEMBER CHOOSES TO INCLUDE IN HIS OR HER PROFILE, OR WHAT LEVEL OF SHARING HE OR SHE CHOOSES, CERTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT EACH MEMBER WILL BE INCLUDED IN THAT MEMBER’S “PUBLIC PROFILE,” WHICH IS AN ABBREVIATED VERSION OF A Freecycle USA PROFILE CONTAINING THE UPLOADED PHOTO, THE LOCATION, AND THE USER’S NAME. IN ORDER FOR A VISITOR TO
Display of Members’ Information
Members will go by their legal name and a member’s email address and full name will be used in the following circumstances:
• When the Member invites a friend via email to become a Freecycle USA Member,
• When a user or member shares a page on the website with the email to friend functionality,
• When the Member sends a request to another Member to add the other Member to his or her friend list,
• When a Member subscribes to a section on the website, (i.e. – user forums, profile posts, news or blog comments, etc.)
• When we send notifications to the Member relating to his or her use of the Freecycle USA service or Freecycle USA website, and
• If the Member so chooses, when we send regular notifications, weekly updates, or other news regarding the Freecycle USA service or the Freecycle USA website.
Except when inviting or adding friends or as otherwise expressly set forth herein, a Member’s email address will never be shared with or displayed to any other person. Members and their friends, and other Members within their personal networks (depending on the level of sharing a Member has chosen) communicate on Freecycle USA with each other through the Freecycle USA private messaging service, without disclosing email addresses.
Freecycle USA’s Use of Members’ Information
We use information relating to each Member’s server information, IP address, and browser type.
Sharing of the Information this Site Gathers/Tracks
Except as explained herein, or where you are expressly informed otherwise, we do not sell, rent, share, trade or give away any of your personal information unless required by law or for the protection of your Membership. However, Freecycle USA may share profile information and aggregate usage information of the Freecycle USA services in a non-personally identifiable manner with advertisers and other third parties which may be used for research, or in order to present to Members and other users of the Freecycle USA website more targeted advertising, products and services; provided that, in such situations, we will never disclose information that would personally identify you. As set forth above, Freecycle USA may (i) use your email address to conduct market research for Freecycle USA’s internal use only; and/or (ii) use your email address to market Freecycle USA to you (e.g., new features and applications, announcements, opportunities of interest). Freecycle USA may contract with a third party to conduct such research and marketing; provided that such third party will be fully bound by an obligation of confidentiality to Freecycle USA and may not use any personally-identifiable information provided by Freecycle USA other than as expressly instructed by Freecycle USA and in strict compliance with the terms of this Privacy Policy.
Links
The Freecycle USA Website contains links to other websites. This includes links that are placed there by Freecycle USA (such as in advertisements), as well as by other Freecycle USA Members. Please be aware that Freecycle USA is not responsible for the privacy practices of any other website. We encourage all Members and other users of the Freecycle USA website to be aware of when they leave our website and to read the privacy policies of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy policy applies solely to information collected by Freecycle USA through the Freecycle USA website.
Use of Cookies
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s computer for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies on the Freecycle USA website. However, we do not and will not use cookies to collect private information from any Member or other users of the Freecycle USA website which they did not intentionally submit to us other than as stated in this Privacy Policy. We use both “session ID cookies” and “persistent cookies.” We use session ID cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our site. A session ID cookie expires when you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time. Note also that Members may optionally use a cookie to remember their email in order to automatically log in to our website. You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browsers’ “help” file; however, please note that, if you reject cookies or disable cookies in your web browser, you may not be able to use the Freecycle USA website as intended.
Correcting/Updating or Removing Information
REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN CHANGE THE GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO MAY VIEW YOUR PROFILE AT ANY TIME. YOU CAN CHANGE THESE PROFILE SHARING SETTINGS BY VISITING THE “MY PROFILE” PAGE WHEN YOU ARE LOGGED IN. ALSO, YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE THE PERSONAL INFORMATION YOU’VE SUBMITTED TO THE Freecycle USA WEBSITE, INCLUDING THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN YOUR Freecycle USA PROFILE, FROM LINKS PROVIDED ON THE “MY PROFILE” PAGE. YOU CAN ONLY SEE AND ACCESS THE “MY PROFILE” PAGE WHEN YOU ARE LOGGED ONTO THE Freecycle USA WEBSITE.
Changes in Our Privacy Policy
If we change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on our website so Members and other users of the VeloNation website are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If we are going to use Members’ or other users’ personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection, we will notify those Members and users by updating this policy on our website.
Security
The Freecycle USA account of every Member is password-protected. Freecycle USA takes every precaution it can to protect the information of the Members, as well as information collected from other users of the Freecycle USA website. We use industry-standard measures to protect all information that is stored on our servers and within our database. We limit access to this information to those employees who need access to perform their job functions.
Members and Users Located Outside of the United States of America
We have made an effort to protect the personal information of all Members and other users of the Freecycle USA website, and to the extent applicable, we attempt to comply with local data protection and consumer rights laws. If you are unsure whether this privacy policy is in conflict with the applicable local rules where you are located, you should not submit your personal information to the Freecycle USA website. IN ADDITION, IF YOU ARE LOCATED WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION, YOU SHOULD NOTE THAT YOUR INFORMATION WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE UNITED STATES, THE LAWS OF WHICH MAY BE DEEMED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION TO HAVE INADEQUATE DATA PROTECTION (see, for example, European Union Directive 95/46/EC of 24 October 1995, a copy of which can be found here). Members and other users of the Freecycle USA website located in countries outside of the United States of America who submit personal information do thereby consent to the general use of such information as provided in this privacy policy and to the transfer of that information to and/or storage of the information in the United States of America.
Contacting Freecycle USA.
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, Freecycle USA’s privacy practices, or your dealings with Freecycle USA, please contact us at info@freecycleusa.com
