1. Our Commitment to Privacy.
Protecting your privacy and the personal information you provide us is a top priority for us. For this reason, we do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes without your explicit consent. We want our users to fully understand what information we collect, how we use this information, and the steps we take to protect your personal information. Please read this privacy policy to learn more about the policies and procedures we have put in place to achieve this goal. This notice describes our Privacy Policy. By visiting this site, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
For the convenience of our visitors, this Web site may contain links to a number of sites that we believe may offer useful information. The policies and procedures we described here do not apply to those sites. We suggest contacting those sites directly for information on their privacy, security, data collection, and distribution policies.
2. What Information is Collected.
(a) Information You Provide to Us: We collect any information you enter on our Site or that you give us in any other way. For example, any time you create a User account, we collect and save the information. This information may include your geographic location, photos, videos, blogs, favorite dishes, specialty dishes, ethnicity and other individual information useful in enabling Site Users to locate your services. At least some of this information will be visible to other Site Users, depending on your personal preferences. As such, please use your discretion in determining the amount and specificity of the information you provide and the level of visibility you select in your User preference page.
We may use and share information we collect from our users without prior consent when we collect and compile information in the aggregate, in a way that would not enable others from identifying personal information about individual Users. We also may save your email address, user-name, password, and first and last name (all of which may be edited and changed by signing onto your account) for account maintenance purposes, but we do not share this information.
(b) Your Usage of Our Site. We automatically track certain information about you based upon your use of our site. We use this information to conduct internal research on our users’ demographics and behavior to better understand and serve our users. This information may include the URL that you just came from, which URL you next go to, what browser you are using, and your IP address.
(c) Cookies. In addition, we use “cookies” on certain pages of our site. Cookies are small files that can be used to track a user’s steps or automatically generate a user’s password. Cookies allow you to enter your password less frequently during a session. Cookies can also help us provide information which is targeted to your interests. Cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our site. Most cookies are automatically deleted at the end of a session. You may decline our cookies if your browser permits, although your use of the site will then be restricted.
3. How and When the Information is Used.
Information you submit to Us will fall into two categories. The first is personal information, which we will protect and not disclose to other Users. The second is information you submit for inclusion in your profile. Please note that your profile may be viewed by other Users, and as such, you should use discretion and consideration before submitting such profile information.
Your information is also used for administering our business activities. We may use the information to notify you, either directly or through our agent(s) about changes to our website, new services, or special offers. You authorize Us to send you newsletters relating to Our Service.
4. Legal Requests
We cooperate with law enforcement authorities, as well as with other third parties, to enforce laws, intellectual property rights, and to prevent fraud. In response to a verified request by law enforcement or other government officials relating to a criminal investigation or alleged illegal activity, we can, and you authorize us to, disclose your email address, login history, fraud complaints, and site use history, with or without a subpoena. Without limiting the above, we will not disclose your personal information to law enforcement or other government officials 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 protect our rights or to prevent imminent physical harm, financial loss or to report suspected past, present, or future illegal activity. Further, we can, and you authorize us to, disclose to a third party your information, including your email address, as we in our sole discretion believe necessary or appropriate in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringement, piracy, or other unlawful activity.
5. How We Protect Your Information.
The privacy and protection of your information is important to us. We therefore use practices that are consistent with standards in the industry to protect your privacy. Subject to the other sections of this Privacy Policy, we do not make any personal information available to third parties without your permission. Please note, however, that no transmission over the Internet can be fully guaranteed in its confidentiality and non-disclosure, and as such you transmit at your own risk.
Your access to some services and content, such as the viewing of full cook profiles, are password protected. We advise that you do not disclose your password to anyone. In addition, we recommend you sign out of password-protected services at the end of your session. You are responsible for all actions taken with your login name and password. Your user password should be held in strict confidence. If you lose control of your password, you may lose substantial control over your information and cook profile. Therefore, if your password has been compromised for any reason, you should immediately change your password. We offer you the ability to review and change the information you submit to us by logging into the site and entering in the new information yourself. Once logged in as a registered user, you can change your Password and user preferences. Please contact us at support@bookofcooks.com if you are unable to change your password. We will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this provision.
6. Consent
By using our website, you consent to the collection and use of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.
7. Changes to Privacy Policy.
If our Privacy Policy or procedures change, we will immediately post those changes to our website. Any such changes will be effective 30 days from the time such new policies are posted, unless otherwise stated in the change.
8. Effective Date
This Privacy Policy is effective as of September 1, 2010.