Sifaka World :: Privacy Policy
Last updated October 12th, 2008
COMMITMENT TO PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY
Sifaka Productions, the owner and operator of the Sifaka World website, is committed to providing an entertainment website that is safe and enjoyable for all ages. Sifaka Productions is committed to protecting the online privacy of everyone using this website. We strictly adhere to all provisions of the United States Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/coppa.shtm).
This Privacy Policy is part of the terms and conditions which are set forth in our Terms and Conditions for Use of Sifaka World ("User Agreement") located on our home page.
PLEASE CONTACT US WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS
If you have any questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Policy, please write us via our "Contact Us" form located on our Sifaka World home page. To send your inquiry, you need to have created a Sifaka World account (see Section 1 under "HOW WE COLLECT AND PROTECT DATA AT SIFAKA WORLD" below). In order for us to reply to your inquiry, you will be asked to supply your Sifaka account username and email address on our "Contact Us" form.
FOR EVERYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18
Please be sure to read this policy with your parents or legal guardians and ask questions about anything that is at all confusing to you.
SPECIAL REMINDER FOR PARENTS
Please help to protect your child's privacy by reminding them to never provide personal information on any website without your specific permission. We encourage you to visit the site, GetNetWise at www.getnetwise.org/ and look through the "Kids Safety" section together. Your efforts to instill responsible information practices will help steer your children to age-appropriate sites and will go a long way toward ensuring that your children have enriching experiences online.
FOR SIFAKA WORLD USERS WHO ARE OVER THE AGE OF 18
Our site is very popular with people of all ages. However, since it is extremely important that we protect our young site Users, this privacy policy has been written so that parents and children can easily see how our site safeguards the privacy of children. Therefore the policy consistently refers to the use of only parent emails and the requirement of parental permission to use our site. If you are one of our many Sifaka site users who is over 18, you are legally permitted to use your own email address as the "parent" email address and purchase your own Sifaka World membership. You are not permitted to set up free or paid memberships for children under the age of 18 unless you are their parent or legal guardian.
HOW WE COLLECT AND PROTECT DATA AT SIFAKA WORLD
1. FREE SIFAKA WORLD MEMBERSHIPS / PARENT PERMISSION REQUIRED
During the process of signing up for a free membership on our site, we ask for the entry of a parent email address plus a User name and password. No other information is collected. We immediately send to the parent email address an email correspondence that includes the following:
- A clear description of Sifaka World
- A link to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use
- A description of the two types of chat communications in Sifaka World; safe and open chat.
In order for a child's Sifaka World account to be activated, the child's parent must follow the activation link in the signup email and choose a chat mode (i.e. safe or open chat). Only after this activation will the child be able to access members-only portions of the website.
2. NOTIFICATIONS SENT TO PARENT EMAIL ADDRESS
The parent email address you provide when signing up for a membership will by used by Sifaka Productions for the following purposes:
- General Notifications - Send notifications of any modifications to the Sifaka World Terms of Use, Privacy Rules, or Site Rules
- Account Specific Notifications - Send notifications specific to your account. ** Special Note: Users who does not abide by the Rules and Terms of Use for Sifaka World will receive a warning and potentially be banned from using Sifaka World.
3. SETTING UP A PAID MEMBERSHIP TO SIFAKA WORLD
Paid memberships require the parent's email address, full name, mailing address and credit card billing information. The financial information entered is only retained by Sifaka's payments processing vendor for the purpose of processing the online payment. Sifaka's payments processing vendor maintains the confidentiality, security, and integrity of the personal and financial information and cannot use this information for any other purpose than the processing of the membership payment. Sifaka's financial institution is bound by all applicable privacy laws relating to the provision of financial services.
4. ONLINE ACTIVITIES
For some of our online activities - such as polls or surveys - we may ask users to provide information that is not personally identifiable, such as country of residence or a visitor's favorite color. The Sifaka World website does not condition a child's participation in an online activity on the child providing more personal information than is reasonably necessary for that activity.
5. LEGAL PROCESSES
We may also disclose account information:
- When required to do so by law, such as in response to a court order;
- If we feel that such disclosure may prevent the instigation of a crime, facilitate an investigation related to the safety of a child using our website, protect the security or integrity of our website, or enable us to take precautions against liability.
6. MAINTENANCE OF WEBSITE
Service providers or other group companies who provide support for the operations of our website may require access to account information in order to maintain the site. However, they cannot use or disclose the information for any other purpose than to maintain the website.
7. SALE OF COMPANY - TRANSFER OF DATA
If we sell all or part of our business or make a sale or transfer of our assets or are otherwise involved in a merger or business transfer, we may transfer Users' personal account information to a third party as part of that transaction, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
8. GENERAL COMPUTER DATA
When people come to our site, we may passively collect non-personally identifiable computer information, such as the type of computer operating system (e.g., Windows XP or Mac OS), the user's IP Address, the web browser (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer) being used, and information regarding the Internet service provider. If this information becomes linked to personally identifiable information, it will also be treated as personally identifiable information.
9. OUR WILDLIFE ORGANIZATION PARTNERS
An important mission of Sifaka World is to provide a means of making a difference in wildlife preservation. To accomplish this mission, Sifaka World acts as an agent for the collection of donations to specific wildlife organizations with 501(c)3 (not-for-profit) status (see Animal Lover and Basic Membership descriptions on our home page). Should you decide to become a paying member of Sifaka World and thereby donate money to one of our wildlife charity partners, none of your personal information will be shared with that organization.
If you wish to be an official member of one of the wildlife organizations, you must do so by contacting that organization directly. We do not facilitate that process. For your convenience, our home page "wildlife partners" section includes website links to these organizations. When visiting the websites for these organizations, please consult the respective sites' privacy policies, as Sifaka Productions' Privacy Policy only applies to the Sifaka World website.
10. USE OF SIFAKA WORLD OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
This Website and the servers that make this Website available are located in the United States and personal data you submit to us may be further transferred by us outside the U.S. or your country of residence. Most countries, including the United States, have not formally been determined to operate under specific laws deemed "adequate" by the European Union (EU) for the transfer of personal data. Sifaka Productions, however, respects your privacy, and will handle your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy. By accepting the User Agreement, you specifically acknowledge and consent to the collection, processing, transfer and use of your personal data as indicated in the User Agreement and our Privacy Policy. To update your contact information and preferences on how we contact you, or access the personal information we may hold about you, please see Section 15 below.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Privacy Director as specified in Section 15 of this Policy. If you are dissatisfied with your correspondence with our Privacy Director, please contact your respective country's authoritative office:
Canadian Office of the Privacy Commissioner at 1 800 282-1376.
For the UK and other European Countries, contact information can be found online at http://www.ico.gov.uk/
11. COOKIES
We may use software technologies such as unique identifiers or "cookies." Cookies are small text files that are within the computer browsers of people who visit the Sifaka website. Their purpose is to store a person's preferences. Cookies themselves do not contain personally identifiable information, however in any case where we have linked a cookie with any personal identifiable information, that cookie is treated with the same level of protection as your personal information. We do use cookies to learn about usage of our site, such as geographic location, how many visitors we have and how often they visit various sections of our site. This information is used in planning new Sifaka World features.
12. MAINTAINING A SAFE SIFAKA WORLD
We may actively collect and use email addresses and user names to track usage and to ensure users are following the site's Terms of Use. In addition, we may use an email address and user name to ban a user temporarily or permanently from the Sifaka World website if that user engages in inappropriate conduct on the site. We may also use email addresses to provide notification regarding the site, such as any future amendments to this Privacy Policy. We also may use information in the aggregate to analyze site usage, as well as to offer products, programs, or services.
13. MONITORING ONLINE CHAT
When parents initially activate a Sifaka World account for their respective children, they are given the option to allow their children to use Sifaka World's online chat. We may, in our sole discretion, record or store communications submitted through online chat and may monitor, filter and review such communications for the purpose of monitoring content and enforcing website rules and to investigate and detect unauthorized use of the website. Although Sifaka Productions employs measures so that users cannot communicate personal information through this chat function, Sifaka Productions does not assume any obligation to review or control any online chat content.
14. SECURITY
We have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data security, and correctly use the information we collect online.
VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER
WE WILL NEVER SEND EMAILS ASKING YOU TO PROVIDE OR CONFIRM SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION OR YOUR USERNAME OR PASSWORD! If you receive such email communication, please forward it immediately to the Site's Privacy Administrator at Privacy.@SifakaProductions.com and then immediately delete the fraudulent email from your computer.
The fraudulent practice known as Phishing: Phishing attacks attempt to steal consumers' personal identity data and financial account credentials. "Phishers" use 'spoofed' e-mails to lead consumers to counterfeit websites designed to trick recipients into divulging Sensitive Personal Information such as credit card numbers, account usernames, passwords, and social security numbers.
15. PARENTAL REVIEW / INFORMATION COLLECTION AND RETENTION INQUIRIES
If you would like to access the personal information that was collected online from you or your child to:
- Correct factual errors in such information;
- Request to have this information deleted;
- Request that we no longer collect or maintain such information;
- Request more information about the organizations having access to your information; i.e., our financial vendor or our webserver maintenance people;
Please contact us via privacy@sifakaworld.com or by mail at: Sifaka Productions, 3 Oxcart Road, Aquinnah, MA 02535 ATT: Privacy Director. Please remember to include your email address and a telephone number where we can reach you.
To protect you and your child's privacy and security, we will take reasonable steps to help verify your identity before granting you access to the personal information that we collect and maintain about you or your child.
16. EFFECTIVE DATE / AMMENDING PRIVACY POLICY
The Privacy Policy set out above is effective as of October 12, 2008. Your use of the Sifaka World website is subject to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use Agreement located on our home page. By using this Sie, you are accepting the practices set out in this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use. We reserve the right to change the Privacy Policy at our sole discretion. Sifaka World users will be informed of any such change by our posting a new Privacy Policy on the Sifaka World website, with the effective date of any change of Privacy Policy being clearly marked. Your continued use of any portion of this Site following the posting of an updated Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of the changes in the Privacy Policy.
As required by law, we will not use personal information in ways that are materially different from the ones described in this Privacy Policy without also providing notification of such practices and obtaining consent to any such different uses.