Blue Mountain Privacy Policy
GENERAL MATTERS
Overview
At Blue Mountain, protecting our users' privacy and security is a top priority. For this reason, we have adopted the following policy to advise you of your choices regarding the use of your personal information online. This policy describes what types of information we gather about you, how we use it, and your rights to update or correct it. Personal information collected from this site may be stored or processed in the United States or any other country in which Blue Mountain, or their affiliates, subsidiaries, or agents maintain facilities. By using this site, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of the United Kingdom.
Scope of Policy
This Policy applies to the Blue Mountaincards.co.uk electronic greetings site. This Policy does not apply to other web sites to which we link. You should carefully review the privacy policies of those web sites in order to determine how they treat your personal information.
INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
Information Gathered From All Visitors
Aggregate Data
We gather certain generic information with respect to customers' use of our web site, such as the number of unique visitors, the frequency with which they visit, and the areas on the web site that they favor. These statistics are very much like television ratings that tell the networks how many people tuned in to a program. We only use this type of data in aggregate-that is, we look at the data on a collective basis, in summary form, rather than on an individual basis. This data helps us determine the extent to which our customers use certain parts of our web site, which, in turn, enables us to make it as appealing as possible. We may also provide statistical "ratings" about how our customers collectively use our web site to advertisers, sponsors, and other companies with which we do business ("Business Partners"). We do this so they, too, can understand how often people use their areas of the site in order for them to provide you with the best possible experience. These statistical ratings do not contain any personally identifiable information about you or any of our users.
Cookies
We use a technology nicknamed "cookies" on our web site. Cookies are pieces of information or data sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies to make your visit to our web site easier. For example, cookies allow us to recognize you when you re-enter our web site so that you will not have to sign-in each time you visit. Cookies also allow us to count the number of unique and return visitors who use our site.Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. If you prefer, you can reset your browser to notify you when you've received a cookie or, alternatively, to refuse to accept cookies. It is important to note that you may not be able to use certain features on our web site if you choose not to accept cookies, such as Create & Print, My Page, address book, favorites, and eCard history.
In addition, you will not be able to participate in any of our sweepstakes, or contests. Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance their experience on our site.
Third Party Advertiser Cookies
We use third-party advertising companies to serve our ads on the Internet. These third-party advertising companies employ cookie and Clear Gif technology (aka 1x1 Pixel .gifs, web bugs) to measure and improve the effectiveness of ads for their clients. To do so, these companies may use anonymous information about your visits to our web site and other web sites. This information can include: date/time of banner ad shown, the banner ad that was shown, their cookie, the IP address. This anonymous information can also be used for online preference marketing purposes. Blue Mountain does not use or have access to this information.
Advertising Research Cookies
From time-to-time, outside third party research companies may set cookies on your browser regarding exposure to certain ad placements. These cookies may be used later for research purposes if you later opt-in to take a survey. If you choose to take the survey, these companies may examine your browser to see if one of their cookies has been set. If the company detects the cookie in your browser, it will gather only 2 pieces of information from it: where you have seen a particular ad and how many times you have seen it. If you do not want these kinds of cookies to be set to your browser, you can opt-out by clicking here.
IP Addresses
We collect and analyze traffic on our web site by keeping track of the IP addresses of our visitors. IP addresses are unique numeric identifiers that are assigned to each computer browser accessing the Internet. An IP address, by itself, cannot identify you personally. However, when combined with other information provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), your IP address can be used to identify the computer originating a message.
BLUE MOUNTAIN INCLUDES THE SENDER IP ADDRESS IN THE HEADER INFORMATION OF EACH GREETINGS NOTIFICATION E-MAIL IT SENDS. IT IS AVAILABLE TO THE GREETINGS RECIPIENT AND ANYONE ELSE TO WHOM IT IS FORWARDED. THIS LIMITS YOUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE ANONYMOUSLY USING ELECTRONIC GREETINGS. ELECTRONIC GREETINGS ARE NEITHER INTENDED NOR APPROPRIATE FOR ANONYMOUS COMMUNICATIONS, AND SUCH ACTIVITY IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED BY THE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY IN OUR
TERMS OF SERVICE.
When You Send An eCard
If you use our web site to send an online eCard or any other content, we collect your e-mail address and your recipient's e-mail address. This information is necessary to send the content and provide confirmation that it has been received. We will not use your recipient's e-mail address for any purpose other than to send the eCard . We may also use your e-mail address to contact you if you have chosen to receive communications from Blue Mountain or its Partners. (See Opt-In/Changing Your Status, below).
Personalizing Your Experience on the Web Site
We try to personalize your experience on our web sites by tracking eCards and other content you have sent and gifts you have purchased in order to shape our recommendations about the eCards, and gifts that might be of interest to you. We also examine customer traffic patterns and web site usage to help us enhance the design and layout of the site and make it easier to navigate.
From time to time, we may send you surveys or solicit your feedback. We use surveys to gauge user interest in new products and premiums we may offer. We will ask for your feedback on eCards and other site features. We will use the information we gather to improve our sites and provide a more meaningful experience for our users. We may also use the information to alert you to offers and products in which you have expressed an interest.
Communications from Blue Mountain
On the Blue Mountain greetings site, you will be able to sign up for our exclusive Blue Mountain Newsletter, which alerts you to new features, content, services, and premiums available on our site. The Newsletter may from time to time contain invitations to enhance your Blue Mountain membership, offers for new products and services from Blue Mountain, special "Member's Only" premiums, or special offers from our affiliates and our sponsors. These communications are sent to you directly by Blue Mountain. We do not share your personally identifiable information with any third parties in connection with the Newsletter.
Communications from Our Business Partners
Blue Mountain also offers you the opportunity to receive money-saving offers, discounts, and promotions from our Business Partners. These communications may come from Blue Mountain or directly from the Partners themselves. We may also share with them certain demographic, geographic, preference, and other personally identifiable information we have gathered about you. This will help them in directing to you offers that are more likely to be of interest. This program is conducted strictly on an opt-in basis. In order to receive the offers, you must affirmatively check the clearly marked box on our "Personalize Your Greeting" pages and registration pages on our site. If you leave the box unchecked, you will not receive any offers. If you do not sign up for the program but later change your mind, you are free at any time to opt-in by following the procedures outlined in Opt-In/Changing Your Status, below.
Mandatory Communications
Blue Mountain reserves the right to communicate with you from time to time about important administrative, policy, legal, credit card, and billing matters, which will affect your use of our web sites, including without limitation any alleged violations of our Terms of Service. These communications are mandatory. You cannot opt-out of them.
Information Gathered From Members
If you elect to purchase a Membership on Blue Mountain, you will be required to provide us with certain personal information, including your name, e-mail address, credit card number, expiration date, and billing address (this required information is subject to change from time to time). There will also be opportunities for you to provide us with additional information regarding your preferences and interests. This information, however, is not required and is completely optional on your part.
Additional data may be collected from Members based upon certain services they elect to utilize on our web site. For example, we may track the categories of eCards you send in order to make appropriate recommendations for products or services available on our site or those of our Business Partners. Members may register for Blue Mountain Reminders, which are e-mail alerts to track important dates and occasions they specify. Blue Mountain Membership allows you to store eCards for future delivery, bookmark favorite eCards, and save eCards received in an online scrapbook. By obtaining this information, we can provide our Members with specific content and advertising in which they might be interested. None of this information is required to use our service or to become a Member; however, the omission of certain types of data will limit the value of your membership.
Blue Mountain may also communicate with its members by mail or phone about matters relating to their renewal status, credit card information, related products or services, or any other issues relating to their Blue Mountain membership. These communications will come directly from Blue Mountain.
Information Sharing Between Affiliates
Blue Mountain is a member of the AmericanGreetings.com network of sites, which includes AmericanGreetings.com, Egreetings.com, and BeatGreets.com. In the course of providing you this service, we may share your personally identifiable information with other companies within our network in the course of accessing shared resources. These may include, without limitation, databases, servers, customer service, and technical and administrative staff. We also reserve the right to share your personal information with other companies that Blue Mountain may subsequently acquire. We will only share your credit card information among our affiliates if you expressly give us permission to do so.
Order Fulfillment
From time to time, you may be given the opportunity to order products and services directly on the Blue Mountain site, the Newsletters, or in other communications you may receive from Blue Mountain. These orders are typically fulfilled by Blue Mountain's business partners directly. To process your order, Blue Mountain may provide these partners with your name, street address, e-mail address, phone number, and credit card information. Blue Mountain will limit the types of information shared to the minimum necessary to efficiently process your order. However, in accepting these offers, you become a customer of the business partner and therefore subject to its privacy policy. Blue Mountain will alert users whenever a Business Partner will be fulfilling an order for products or services ordered on our site. We encourage you to review these companies' privacy policies and only do business with those who adhere to personal information practices with which you are comfortable.
Privacy of eCard Information
We treat all of our eCard products as private correspondence between the sender and the recipient and will not disclose the contents of any eCard other than to the intended recipient, except under the specific situations outlined in Disclosure Exceptions, below.
This policy applies to all aspects of our eCards, including your personalized messages, attached photos or graphics, Create & Print™ products, or paper cards. Under normal circumstances, we will not monitor or edit the contents of the online eCards you send. On occasion, however, we may need to view your message in connection with the technical processing of your eCard or the maintenance of our network. Also, if you ask one of our customer service representatives to help you send an eCard or to verify that an eCard was sent, that representative will be able to access all information about the card, including the recipient's e-mail address and the message.
Disclosure Exceptions
Notwithstanding the above policies, we reserve the right to disclose your personal information to appropriate third-parties if we are required to do so by law or we believe that such action is necessary:
To comply with legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order;
To protect the company's rights and property;
To investigate reports of users sending material using a false e-mail address or users sending harassing, threatening, or abusive messages;
To protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our web site and/or the Blue Mountain service;
To investigate reports of violations of our Terms of Service;
To investigate reports of credit card fraud or unauthorized use; or
During emergencies, such as when we believe someone's physical safety is at risk.
Your IP address can be accessed by greetings recipients in the header of the notification e-mail.
Under certain circumstances, recipients, their legal representatives, and/or law enforcement authorities may be able to combine this with information disclosed by ISPs to determine the source of a particular communication. By using this service, you knowingly and voluntarily assume any risks associated with such disclosure.
YOUR CONTROL OVER YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Opt-In/Changing Your Status
At any time, you can change choices you have previously made as to the use of your personal information. Every communication Blue Mountain sends you will contain a clearly worded "Opt-In" or "Subscribe" link allowing you to grant your permission for future mailings. This system is automated and must be contacted from the email address you wish to have included. Permission changes will be honored as soon as possible after receipt. Please allow five to seven days for processing.
Editing Your Profile
If you are a registered member, you have the ability to review and correct your personally identifiable information at any time. Simply click on the "My Profile" link at the top of the each page. There, you can change your address information, e-mail type, sign-in, and e-mail permissions. You can revise, add, delete, or completely cancel all alerts by clicking the "Reminders" links at the top of each page.
OTHER MATTERS
Data Security
When you place orders for purchased products or access your payment information, we use an advanced encryption technology known as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to protect the storage and transfer of your data from unauthorized parties. While on a secure page, such as our registration form, a lock or key icon appears on the bottom of your web browser.
In addition to our online security efforts, we take steps to protect your personal data offline, as well.
All of your information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Employees are granted access on a need-to-know basis (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative). Furthermore, ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Finally, the servers on which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment, behind a locked cage.
Blue Mountain's main servers are operated from a dedicated Internet hosting facility with state-of-the-art physical security features, including smoke detection and fire suppression systems, motion sensors, and 24x7 secured access, as well as video camera surveillance and security breach alarms. If you have any questions about the security at our website, you can send an email to security@support.bluemountaincards.co.uk.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
Blue Mountain will occasionally update this Privacy Policy in response to changing business circumstances and legal developments. When Blue Mountain posts changes to this Policy, you will see the word "updated" next to the Privacy Policy link on the front page of Blue Mountain Sites. If there are material changes to this Policy or in how Blue Mountain uses your personally identifiable information, Blue Mountain will prominently post such changes prior to implementing the change. Blue Mountain encourages you to periodically review this Policy to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
