This Privacy Policy discloses the privacy practices for the Earth Source Trading, Inc. site and various related services (together referred to as the
"site"). Earth Source Trading, Inc., the provider of the site (referred to as
"us " or "we"), is committed to protecting your privacy online. Please read the
information below to learn the following regarding your use of this site. You
acknowledge that this Privacy Policy is part of our Site Terms of Use, and by
accessing or using our site, you agree to be bound by all of its terms and
conditions. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not access or use
this site. We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. Such
changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately
without notice. Your continued use of the site will constitute your
acknowledgment of this Privacy Policy and any amendments or any modifications
thereto.
1. Types of Information Collected. In order to better
provide you with our numerous services, we collect two types of information
about our users: Personally Identifiable Information and Non- Personally
Identifiable Information. Our primary goal in collecting information from you
is to provide you with a smooth, efficient, and customized experience while
using our site.
Personally Identifiable Information: This refers to information that lets us
know the specifics of who you are. When you engage in certain activities on
this site, such as registering for a membership, ordering a product or service,
submitting content and/or posting content in discussion forums or other public
areas, filling out a survey, or sending us feedback, we may ask you to provide
certain information about you by filling out and submitting an online form. It
is completely optional for you to elect to engage in these activities however
we may ask that you provide us personal information, such as your first and
last name, mailing address (including zip code), email address, employer, job
title and department, telephone and facsimile numbers, and other personal
identifying information. When ordering products or services on the site, you
may be asked to provide a credit card number. Depending upon the activity, some
of the information we ask you to provide is identified as mandatory and some as
voluntary. If you do not provide the mandatory data with respect to a
particular activity, you will not be able to engage in that activity.
Non-Personally Identifiable Information: This refers to information that does
not by itself identify a specific individual. We gather certain information
about you based upon where you visit on our site in several ways. This
information is compiled and analyzed on both a personal and an aggregated
basis. This information may include the Web site's Uniform Resource Locator
("URL") that you just came from, which URL you next go to, what browser you are
using, and your Internet Protocol ("IP") address. A URL is the global address
of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web. An IP address is an
identifier for a computer or device on a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol ("TCP/IP") network, such as the World Wide Web. Networks like the Web
use the TCP/IP protocol to route information based on the IP address of the
destination. In other words, an IP address is a number that is automatically
assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the web, allowing web
servers to locate and identify your computer. Computers require IP addresses in
order for users to communicate on the Internet.
2. Collection Methods and Use of Information. We do not
collect any Personally Identifiable Information about you unless you
voluntarily provide it to us. You provide certain Personally Identifiable
Information to us when you (a) register for our services and register your
email address with us; (b) send email messages, submit forms or transmit other
information by telephone or letter; or (c) submit your credit card or other
payment information when ordering and purchasing products and services on our
site. We may also collect information from you at other points on our site that
state that such information is being collected. In addition, we may also
collect certain Non-Personally Identifiable Information. This information is
ultimately stored in the form of store categories, and, in some cases, specific
URLs. We use your IP address to diagnose problems with our servers, software,
to administer our site and to gather demographic information. We will primarily
use your Personally Identifiable Information to provide our services to you, as
required by our agreements with you. We will also use Personally Identifiable
Information to enhance the operation of our site, fill orders, improve our
marketing and promotional efforts, statistically analyze site use, improve our
product and service offerings, and customize our site's content, layout, and
services. We may use Personally Identifiable Information to deliver information
to you and to contact you regarding administrative notices. We may also use
Personally Identifiable Information to resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems
and enforce our agreements with you, including our Site Terms of Use, Sales
Terms and Conditions, and this Private Policy.
3. Release of Information. We do not sell, trade, or
rent your Personally Identifiable Information to others. We do provide some of
our services through contractual arrangements with affiliates, services
providers, partners and other third parties. We and our service partners use
your Personally Identifiable Information to operate our sites and to deliver
their services. For example, we must release your credit card information to
the card-issuing bank to confirm payment for products and services purchased on
this site; release your address information to the delivery service to deliver
products that you ordered; and provide order information to third parties that
help us provide customer service. We will encourage our service partners to
adopt and post privacy policies. However, the use of your Personally
Identifiable Information by our service partners is governed by the privacy
policies of those service partners, and is not subject to our control.
Occasionally we may be required by law enforcement or judicial authorities to
provide Personally Identifiable Information to the appropriate governmental
authorities. We will disclose Personally Identifiable Information upon receipt
of a court order, subpoena, or to cooperate with a law enforcement
investigation. We fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in identifying
those who use our services for illegal activities. We reserve the right to
report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we in good faith believe
to be unlawful. We may also provide Non-Personally Identifiable Information
about our customers' sales, traffic patterns, and related site information to
third party advertisers, but these statistics do not include any Personally
Identifiable Information.
4. Updating and Correcting Information. We believe you
should have the ability to access and edit the Personally Identifiable
Information that you have provided to us. You may change any of your Personally
Identifiable Information in your account online at any time by linking to your
account in accordance with instructions posted elsewhere on this site. You may
also access and correct your personal information and privacy preferences by
writing us at:
Earth Source Trading, Inc. P.O. Box 584 Ephrata, PA 17522 ATTN:Web Master
Please include your name, company name, address, and/or email address and/or
customer account number when you contact us. We encourage you to promptly
update your Personally Identifiable Information if it changes. You may ask to
have the information on your account deleted or removed; however, because we
keep track of past transactions, you cannot delete information associated with
past transactions on this site. In addition, it may be impossible to completely
delete your information without some residual information because of backups.
5. User Choices on Collection and Use of Information. We
may, from time to time, send you email regarding our products and services. In
addition, if you indicated upon registration that you are interested in
receiving offers or information from us and our partners, we may occasionally
send you direct mail about products and services that we feel may be of
interest to you. Only Earth Source Trading, Inc. (or agents working on behalf
of Earth Source Trading, Inc. and under confidentiality agreements) will send
you these direct mailings and only if you indicated that you do not object to
these offers. If you do not want to receive such mailings, simply tell us when
you give us your personal information. Or, at any time you can easily edit your
account information to no longer receive such offers and mailings. You also
have choices with respect to cookies, as described below. By modifying your
browser preferences, you have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified
when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies. If you choose to reject all
cookies some parts of our site may not work properly in your case.
6. Security of Information. At our site you can be
assured that your Personally Identifiable Information is secure, consistent
with current industry standards. The importance of security for all Personally
Identifiable Information associated with our user is of utmost concern to us.
Your Personally Identifiable Information is protected in several ways. Access
by you to your Personally Identifiable Information is available through a
password and unique customer ID selected by you. This password is encrypted. We
recommend that you do not divulge your password to anyone. In addition, your
Personally Identifiable Information resides on a secure server that only
selected Earth Source Trading, Inc. personnel and contractors have access to
via password. We encrypt your Personally Identifiable Information and thereby
prevent unauthorized parties from viewing such information when it is
transmitted to us. Personal information that you provide that is not Personally
Identifiable Information also resides on a secure server and is only accessible
via password. Since this information is not accessible from outside Earth Source Trading, Inc. you will not be asked to select a password in order to
view or modify such information. In order to most efficiently serve you, credit
card transactions and order fulfillment are handled by established third party
banking, processing agents and distribution institutions. They receive the
information needed to verify and authorize your credit card or other payment
information and to process and ship your order. Unfortunately, no data
transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be
100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your Personally
Identifiable Information, you acknowledge that: (a) there are security and
privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control; (b) the
security, integrity and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged
between you and us through this site cannot be guaranteed; and (c) any such
information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third
party.
7. Cookies. When you use our site we will store cookies
on your computer in order to facilitate and customize your use of our site. A
cookie is a small data text file, which a Web site stores on your computer's
hard drive (if your Web browser permits) that can later be retrieved to
identify you to us. Our cookies store randomly assigned user identification
information. The cookies make your use of the site easier, make the site run
more smoothly and help us to maintain a secure site. You are always free to
decline our cookies if your browser permits, but some parts of our site may not
work properly in that case.
8. Privacy Policies of Third Party Sites. Except as
otherwise discussed in this Privacy Policy, this document only addresses the
use and disclosure of information we collect from you. Other sites accessible
through our site have their own privacy policies and data collection, use and
disclosure practices. Please consult each site's privacy policy. We are not
responsible for the policies or practices of third parties.
9. Miscellaneous Privacy Issues. You must be at least 18
years old to have our permission to use this site. Our policy is that we do not
knowingly collect, use or disclose Personally Identifiable Information about
visitors that are under 18 years of age. You should also be aware that when
Personally Identifiable Information is voluntarily disclosed (i.e. your name,
email address, etc.) in the discussion forums or other public areas on this
site, that information, along with any information disclosed in your
communication, can be collected and used by third parties and may result in
unsolicited messages from third parties. Such activities are beyond our control
and this Policy does not apply to such information. Any submissions to public
areas on this site are accepted with the understanding that they are accessible
to all third parties. If you do not want your comments to be viewed by third
parties, you are advised not to make any submissions. Ultimately, you are
solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your password and/or account
information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you're online. If you
have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this site, or
your dealings with this site, please contact us by sending a letter to:
Earth Source Trading, Inc. Attn: Privacy Compliance Officer P.O. Box 494
Ephrata, PA 17522