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Privacy Policy
(Last Updated: July 1, 2009)
HomeDataGuard (Critical Digital Data, Inc.) believes strongly in the right to privacy of our customers. We will do everything we can to protect your privacy and preserve your trust.
We have developed the following privacy policy (“Policy”) to protect our customers and inform everyone how personal information is collected, used, disclosed and protected with respect to your use of our Web site (“Site”) located at http://www.homedataguard.com By using the Site or the services available through the Site (the "Service"), you consent to the privacy practices described in this Policy.
Information Collected.
We collect two basic types of information with our Service, namely personal information and aggregate information. As used herein, the term "personal information" means information that specifically identifies an individual (such as a name and e-mail address), and demographic and other information about an individual when directly linked to personally identifiable information. A user name may be personal information if it includes personally identifying information such as a first and last name.
Our definition of personal information does not include “aggregate” information. Aggregate information is data we collect about a group or category of services or users from which individual user identities have been removed. In other words, information on how you use our Service may be collected and combined with information about how others use the Service, but no personal information will be included in the resulting data. Aggregate data helps us understand trends in our users’ needs so that we can better consider new features or otherwise tailor our Service. This policy in no way restricts or limits our collection and use of aggregate information, and we may share aggregate information about our users with third parties for various purposes, including to help us better understand and improve our Service, and for advertising and marketing purposes.
In general, we use personal information internally to process your requests or transactions, to provide you with information or services you request, to inform you about other information, events, promotions, products or services we think will be of interest to you, to facilitate your use of, and our administration and operation of, the Site and to otherwise serve our users and enable them to take maximum advantage of our Service. For example, we may use personal information as follows:
- Information you provide: When you register for a HomeDataGuard Online File Cabinet account promotion, we ask you for personal information (such as your name, email address and an account password). We use this information solely to provide you the service that we offer and do not use such personally identifiable information for other purposes.
- Cookies: We may use "cookies" (small files placed on your hard drive) on certain of our pages to help analyze our web page flow; customize our services, measure promotional effectiveness, and promote trust and safety. A few important things you should know about cookies are that:
- We may use cookies to help identify you and maintain your signed-in status.
- Our cookies are "session cookies," meaning that they are automatically deleted from your hard drive at the end of a session.
- You are always free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, although doing so may interfere with your use of some of our sites or services.
- Logs: Our servers automatically record information that your computer sends whenever you visit a website. These server logs may include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser
- User communications: When you send email or other communication to Home Data Guard, we may retain those communications in order to process your inquiries, respond to your requests and improve our services.
- Newsletters: We expect to send Newsletters by email to you. You may choose accept or deny the receipt of these Newsletters by modifying your email notification preferences by clicking on the “Preferences” link in your Account page (which can accessed by clicking the under the “account” link in the navigation bar).
Information not collected.
Your Personal Files Stored in Your HomeDataGuard Online File Cabinet
All files and data which you upload to and store in your personal HomeDataGuard Online File Cabinet are encrypted before they are stored in your personal HomeDataGuard Online File Cabinet. HomeDataGuard and its employees do not have access to the contents of the files and data in your account, and do not have access to your password.
No Information about Children.
Our Service is not intended to be used by children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly, directly or passively, collect information from children under the age of 13. If we create offers and products that make it appropriate to collect information from children under the age of 13, we will notify you of the change in this Policy.
Sharing with third parties.
We don't sell or rent your personal information to third parties without your explicit consent. We may disclose personal information to respond to legal requirements, enforce our policies, respond to claims, or protect anyone's rights, property, or safety. We may also share your personal information with:
- Service providers under contract who help with our business operations (such as web analytics, online customer service, fraud investigations, bill collection, credit card processors, affiliate and rewards programs and co-branded credit cards).
- Other third parties to whom you explicitly ask us to send your information such as HomeDataPros (or about whom you are otherwise explicitly notified and consent to when using a specific service). HomeDataPros may be employees of Critical Digital Data, Inc., independent contractors, or other third-party corporate entities with employees who would service you.
- Law enforcement or other governmental officials, in response to a verified request relating to a criminal investigation, court order, subpoena, warrant or alleged illegal activity. In such events, we will disclose information relevant to the investigation.
- 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.)
Without limiting the above, in an effort to respect your privacy, we will not otherwise disclose your personal information to law enforcement, other government officials, or other third parties without a subpoena, court order or substantially similar legal procedure, except when we believe in good faith that the disclosure of information is necessary to prevent imminent physical harm or financial loss or to report suspected illegal activity.
Account Protection.
Your password is the key to your account. Use unique numbers, letters and special characters, and do not disclose your HomeDataGuard password to anyone. If you do share your password or your personal information with others, remember that you are responsible for all actions taken in the name of your account. If you lose control of your password, you may lose substantial control over your personal information and may be subject to legally binding actions taken on your behalf. Therefore, if your password has been compromised for any reason, you should immediately notify HomeDataGuard and change your password by logging in to your account.
Online Security
We treat data as an asset that must be protected and use lots of tools (encryption, passwords, physical security, etc.) to protect your personal information against unauthorized access and disclosure. All the communication between your browser and our servers is encrypted using 128-bit SSL encryption so that no one else will be able intercept the communication. We also run hacker-safe tests daily to ensure that our servers are completely hacker-proof. Personal registration information is known only by employees with a need-to-know (such as Customer Service personnel). However, as you probably know, third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications, and other users may 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.
All of the encrypted files in your HomeDataGuard Online File Cabinet are stored in HomeDataGuard’s account on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3™) which provides an infrastructure web services platform for storing data in the cloud in the United States and in Europe (within the EU). Amazon.com’s global computing infrastructure is the backbone of Amazon.com’s $15 billion retail business and transactional enterprise whose scalable, reliable, and secure distributed computing infrastructure has been honed for over 13 years.
Network and Information Security
Reasonable effort will be taken to prevent unauthorized release, corruption, or loss of your personal and all files that you upload to your HomeDataGuard Online File Cabinet. For example, we limit which employees at HomeDataGuard have access to your personally identifiable information. Specifically, only employees who require your personally identifiable information to perform a specific task are granted access to such information. In addition, user data is protected with SSL encryption for transmission to HomeDataGuard.
The servers on which all customer data and information is stored are kept in a secure environment, and may be archived elsewhere. Our records are stored indefinitely, as well as any archival backup copies which we may retain. While we have taken efforts to guard your personal information, we cannot guarantee that your information will not be disclosed or accessed by accidental circumstances or by the unauthorized acts of others.
To date, we have never had a situation in which to our knowledge any of our users' personal information has been compromised in any way, or in which any user's personal information has become public. If HomeDataGuard learns of a security systems breach, then we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. HomeDataGuard may also post a notice on the Site if a security breach occurs. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing. To receive a free written notice of a security breach, you should notify us at support@homedataguard.com
Updating Personal Information
If your personally identifiable information changes in any way, we request that you provide us the means to correct or update this information as soon as possible. To do so, please login to your HomeDataGuard account and click “My Account” to make the updates.
Choice/Opt-Out
By using HomeDataGuard, you understand that we may send you communications or data regarding the Services, including but not limited to (i) notices about your use of the Services, including any notices concerning violations of use, (ii) updates, and (iii) promotional information and materials regarding our products and services, via electronic mail. We give you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving electronic mail from us by following the opt-out instructions provided in the message. In addition, HomeDataGuard provides users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us or to remove your information from our database at any time by logging in to your HomeDataGuard account and clicking “My Account” to make the updates. Other requests can be made by contacting us through support@homedataguard.com
International Users
By using our Site and providing us with data, you acknowledge and agree that due to the international dimension of HomeDataGuard, we may use the data collected in the course of our relationship for the purposes identified in this policy or in our other communications with you, including the transmission of information outside your resident jurisdiction. Please note that your personal information will be stored and processed on our computers in the United States. The laws on holding personal data in the United States may be less stringent than the laws of your country. If you object to your personal information being transferred or used as described in this Policy, please do not register for the Service.
California Privacy Rights
California Civil Code section 1798.83 permits customers who are California residents to request certain information regarding disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. We do not provide your personal information to any third party for their direct marketing purposes without your consent. If you would like more information with respect to your privacy rights under California law, you may contact us at the contact point below. Please reference your request as “California Disclosure Information.”
Changes to this policy.
Please note that this Privacy Policy may change from time to time. We will post any material Policy changes on this page and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice in our home page and also notify you by email. We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. We will strive to provide a summary of the key changes and keep prior versions in an archive for your review.
Contacting Us
If you have any other questions about this policy you may contact us at support@homedataguard.com or send us a letter to 7770 Regents Road, Suite 113-129, San Diego, CA 92122.
