This privacy statement covers the site www.expertcolocation.com. Because Expert Colocation wants to demonstrate its commitment to our users' privacy, we have agreed to disclose our information practices in order to assure our users that their information will be kept private and secure. If users have questions or concerns regarding this statement, they should contact the Expert Colocation Privacy Department by e-mailing privacy @expertcolocation.com.
Information Collection
Registration
In order to use Expert Colocation' services, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user is required to give contact information (such as name, email address, telephone number, etc) as well as unique identifiers, such as a username and password. We also may request, at our discretion, a fax or mailed copy of a valid identification document, such as driver's license or passport in order to provide certain advanced services for our users.
Quote Request Form
We request information from the user on our quote request form. A user must provide contact information (such as name, email, and physical address) as well as desired needs (such as cabinet amount, power, and bandwidth needs). This information is used for determining a colocation services quote. If we have trouble processing the quote request, the information is used to contact the user.
Profile
We store information that we collect through cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or third parties to create a profile of our users. A profile is stored information that we keep on individual users that details their viewing preferences. Consequently, collected information is tied to the users personally identifiable information to provide offers and improve the content of the site for the user. This profile is used to tailor a user's visit to our Web site, and to direct pertinent marketing promotions to them. Your profile is not shared with other parties, however it may be used to provide anonymous statistics (ie. "We have over 2,000,000 users in the United States.") to Expert Colocation staff or third parties.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. We use session ID cookies, and may use persistent cookies for advertising, to store your e-mail address (so that we may fill in the login form automatically), or other purposes. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user's hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions. Please take a look at http://www.cookiecentral.com/ for more information on cookies.
By setting a cookie on our site, users would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If users reject the cookie, they may not login to our site. Therefore, in order to make use of our services, users must accept cookies. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site.
Some of our business partners use cookies on our site (for example, advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies, once we have given permission for them to set cookies for advertising.
Communications from the Site
Customer Service
We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone, in accordance with the users wishes.
Information Sharing
Legal Disclaimer
Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site. This includes cases of SPAM and other cases of bad "netiquette."
Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable)
We share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. This allows advertisers to decide whether or not our user base is a good target for their advertising campaign. This is not linked to any personally identifiable information.
Third Party Advertisers
Our third party advertising companies may share Web site usage information about users with a reputable third party for the purpose of targeting our Internet banner advertisements on this site and other sites. For example, our advertising companies use cookies and clear GIFs on this site, which allow them to recognize a user's cookie when a user visits this site. The information they collect and share through this technology is not personally identifiable.
Business Transitions
In the event that Expert Colocation goes through a business transition, such as a merger, being acquired by another company, or selling a portion of its assets, users' personal information will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred.
Links
This Web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we, Expert Colocation, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site and not information collected by our partners, affiliates, or co-branded resellers.
Chat Rooms, Message Boards, and Public Forums
Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online - for example on message boards, through e-mail, or in chat areas - that information can be collected and used by others. In short, by posting personal information online that is publicly accessible, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.
Security
This Web site takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is protected both online and off-line.
When our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL. While on a secure page, such as our customer portal, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just 'surfing'. To learn more about SSL, follow this link http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/faq/5-1-2.html.
While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Our employees must use password-protected screen-savers when they leave their desk. When they return, they must re-enter their password to re-gain access to user information. Furthermore, ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Any time new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our users' information is protected. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure environment, in a locked facility.
Supplementation of Information
In order for this Web site to properly fulfill its obligation to users it is necessary for us to supplement the information we receive with information from 3rd party sources.
Additional Information
ID & Address Verification
We may in some cases request fax or postal mail delivered copies of a users' identification. This may be done for various reasons, and is common practice for our users that request access and services beyond what is normally provided..
Enhancement of Marketing Profile
We purchase third party marketing data and add it to our existing user database to better target our advertising and provide pertinent offers we think our users would be interested in. We use this information to enhance or overlay the 'profile' of individual users. This aggregate marketing data is therefore tied to the users' personally identifiable information.
Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service, we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users' personally identifiable information. This can usually be done by logging into your Expert Colocation account.
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
If, however, we are going to use users' personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify users via email or by posting a notice on our Web site for 30 days.
Contact Information
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at:
Email: privacy @ expertcolocation.com
Address: PO Box 2296, Centreville, VA 20121-2296
Web site URL: http://www.expertcolocation.com/