CastleHearth & Co. - Privacy Notice

This web site is maintained by:
CastleHearth & Company, L.L.C.
P.O. Box 1686
Brighton, Michigan 48116-5486
734-474-1555

Summary
CastleHearth & Company takes your online privacy seriously. You may visit this site anonymously as often as you like without providing any personally identifying information (such as your name, address or e-mail address). We do not collect personally identifying information from you except when you specifically provide it, and we protect the information we receive. If you ask to be added to a newsletter or other subscription list, we will use a cookie to keep track of your requests so that you can easily check and revise your subscriptions. We also use cookies to identify your browser so that we can provide the best link to our site. We never share your e-mail address with third parties except, in rare instances, to protect our site or to enforce compliance with our Terms of Use. Please read below for a further explanation of what information we gather and how we use it.

The Information You Provide
As you explore our Web site, you may come across places in which we ask you to provide us voluntarily with information about yourself. In some instances we are seeking only your e-mail address so that we can send you the specific information that you request, such as a newsletter or online subscription. In other instances, such as a contest, we request both your e-mail address and your name (along with your contest answer), so that we can contact you by name in the event that you win. Both of these activities the subscriptions and the contests are purely voluntary; if you do not wish to reveal your name or e-mail address you are free simply to ignore these offerings. If you decide to participate, we will not use your name or e-mail address for any purpose other than as stated, and will not sell or rent your name or address to third parties not affiliated with CastleHearth.

At other places in this site, we may ask for your feedback, opinion or suggestions, and provide you with a link for e-mailing us your response. We may also ask for your zip code or city of residence to gather geographical information about the visitors to our site. If you send your e-mail to us, it will include your e-mail address in the "From" line. But again, as in the case of subscriptions and contests, we promise to use the e-mail address we receive in this manner only for the purpose of responding to your questions or suggestions, and will not approach you with unsolicited offers or provide your e-mail address to anyone else. Only if you have expressed clear intent that you wish to receive information will such information be provided.

One last area in which we may ask for your name is on bulletin boards or forums--places on the site where you can participate in a discussion of a particular subject by posting written comments which are then entirely public. We may ask for a name simply so that other people reading a string of comments will be able to determine which comments come from the same person. You may, therefore, provide a nickname or alias, if you prefer, so that your identity is not disclosed. You should be aware that if you do voluntarily disclose personal information (e.g. user name, e-mail address) on the bulletin boards or forums, that information can be collected and used by others and may result in unsolicited messages from other posters or parties. If you choose to participate anonymously, you should remember that you are still legally liable for the material you post, including claims of libel, invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.

Removing Your E-mail Address
If you have previously provided us with your e-mail address and later decide that you do not want us to have it, please follow the instructions to unsubscribe contained at the end of your e-mail message from us. We will try to accommodate your request, but cannot promise that it will happen immediately.

Cookies
Cookies are electronic tags that most major Web sites place on your computer in the process of sending your computer a file, such as a Web page. We may use them in a limited fashion as well. In essence, a cookie is a unique bit of computer code that is placed on your computer the first time you visit our site. It tells us simply when a computer that has previously visited our site returns, and it identifies your computer's browser and operating system to help us make the best connection. We also may use cookies to keep track of your subscriptions to various CastleHearth & Company lists. In no event does the cookie we place on your computer tell us anything about your visits to other Web sites or your use of the Internet in any other way.

If you would prefer not to receive any cookies, most browsers can be set to refuse cookies or to alert you when one is being sent. It is possible, however, that some portions of this site may not function properly if the cookies are disabled.

Links to Other Sites
Our site contains links to other sites that are not under our control, even though they may use the CastleHearth & Company name or logo on their site through an agreement with us. Such other sites do not necessarily follow our privacy policies, and may place their own cookies on your computer. This practice is standard on the Web, and we do not control cookies placed on your computer by third parties whose advertising or links appear on our site.

Security of Private Information
We would like to be able to tell you that the information you provide us is absolutely safe. Unfortunately, several well-publicized instances of computer security breaches make it impossible for anyone to be so confident. The most we can tell you is that we take reasonable steps to protect the information you provide us from theft, alteration or unauthorized inspection. In addition, in rare instances, we will disclose private information to necessary parties to protect our site or other visitors, or to enforce compliance with our Terms of Use

Kids
We do not at present collect any personally identifying information from children under age 13. Our policy may change in the future, so please check back here regularly to get our latest policy.

Parents and Guardians
We encourage you to get involved with your children's online usage and to be aware of the activities in which they are participating. We also ask you to check back here regularly to see what our latest policies are, particularly those relating to children.

You should be aware that if your children voluntarily disclose their names, e-mail addresses or other information on bulletin boards or chat areas of other Web sites, such disclosures may result in unsolicited messages from other parties. We suggest that you discourage your child from providing such information on this site or elsewhere unless you are confident that the information will not be misused.

Version July 4, 2004.

Contact CastleHearth
If you have any concerns regarding this "Privacy Policy," please contact us at mail@chearth.com. Please include the words "Privacy Policy" in the subject line of your e-mail.
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