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The Grand Rapids Business Journal has created this privacy statement to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. Protecting the user's privacy is very important to us. We do not release user names, coming from registration and subscription forms, to any advertisers or outside organizations unless the user selects the option to receive product and service information on a registration or subscription form.
Users are defined as visitors or subscribers to the site. We only provide our advertisers with demographic reports that include aggregate registration profiles – not personal information such as names, addresses, e-mail and phone numbers ("personal ID info"). Personal ID info from the above sources is not shared with advertisers unless the user selects the option to receive product and service information on a registration or subscription form.
We collect necessary information from site users during the subscription process and, occasionally, at other times. This information, which ranges from limited demographic and personal data such as users' age and professions, is then securely stored on partitioned servers. Any information obtained, however, from a "Submit a News Release," or "Submit an Award," or "Submit a Career Move," or any other type of News or Press Release may be shared with third parties.
Relationships
GRBJEXPRESS is the online version of the Grand Rapids Business Journal published by Gemini Publications, Grand Rapids, MI.
How the Registration/Subscription Information is used:
1. To process and validate subscriptions
2. To send notification of breaking news to our subscribers according to their preferences, using our E-mail News Alert service (future)
3. To provide advertisers with aggregate information -- not the personal ID info -- about our user database and usage patterns
4. To give Grand Rapids Business Journal and GRBJEXPRESS editors feedback that is useful for developing new site functions and services that meet user needs
5. To allow us to potentially vary the advertising that users see based on the user's personal interests
6. To announce new product features
7. To alert users of product and service information if this option is selected on the submitted registration or subscription form
Future Research
We may, from time to time, contract with market research firms to conduct online surveys. When the user is on the GRBJEXPRESS site, the user may see a pop-up window offering the option of participating in a survey. The user may choose not to participate by simply clicking on the "No, Thank You" link. The user will not see this window again.
If the user chooses to participate, the user will be prompted to answer a series of online questions. Responses are confidential and will be used for statistical analysis only; no information on the user's personal ID info will be shared with any outside organization unless the user selects the option to receive product and service information on the registration or subscription form. The user will be prompted to enter an e-mail address for validation purposes but no other personal ID info (name, address, etc.) will be collected as part of the survey. In some cases, however, the user may be offered a free gift for participation. In this case, we will use the user's name and address to fulfill the gift request.
Cookies
We employ cookie technology to help users move faster through our site, to minimize repetition of ads and to keep track of items the user places in the shopping cart when engaged in e-commerce (future) on this site. This avoids the potentially time-consuming task of checking our registration database each time a page is requested. When a user signs on to GRBJEXPRESS or takes advantage of several key features, such as E-mail News Alert (future), we pass cookies to that user's computer. We also employ cookie technology to store subscribers' user names and passwords so the user can access the GRBJEXPRESS site more quickly. Some advertisers may incorporate cookies into their online ads to capture information about the user clicking on the ad. Our site may reference or link to other sites provided as a resource to users. We cannot be responsible for the content or privacy policy of advertisers using cookies or to sites that we reference or provide links to.
Additional Terms and Notices
1. We use credit card information only to process a user's order for subscriptions, products and services; this info is not shared with any outside organization for marketing purposes.
2. The user should use discretion with regard to information disclosed in chat rooms (future) or forums (future) etceteras since it becomes public information.
3. In the future, we may run contests in which we ask users for demographic and financial information. The financial information would be used to check the users' qualifications for registration. The demographic information is used to tailor the users' experience at this site so they only see content that we believe they would be interested in according to their preferences. This information may be shared with advertisers on an aggregate basis but no personal ID info will be shared with them.
4. Several browsers, including state-of-the art Microsoft ™ Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator ™, provide server authentication and data encryption to control access by unauthorized users. We cannot guarantee that their or our security measures are fail-safe.
5. Finally, we reserve the right to contact any user at any time regarding site information, site enhancements, subscription renewals or other subscription-related problems or other technical problems, as well as changes to our User Agreement or Privacy Policy.
Opt Out and other changes to User Account
We may send users e-mail notifications of new site functions and news alerts. Users may Opt Out from these announcements at any time. Users have two options to opt out of this communication process as follows:
1) E-mail us at optout@grbj.com, including the phrase "opt out" in the e-mail subject line. You must include your name, company (only if you have a company account), your e-mail address and user name.
Similarly, to edit registration information or cancel a subscription at any time, please send an e-mail to circulation@grbj.com and indicate the desired changes.
2) Users also may send requests in writing to:
User Account Changes
Grand Rapids Business Journal/GRBJEXPRESS
549 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 201
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-1444
We welcome you as a valued subscriber and look forward to a long and mutually rewarding partnership as your local business resource.
Thank you,
John Zwarensteyn
Publisher & CEO, Grand Rapids Business Journal & GRBJEXPRESS |