Privacy
Policy
Overview
This Privacy Policy describes
the policies of ESS Direct Inc. ("we") regarding the
collection, use, disclosure and protection of the following types
of information:
Information obtained when you
and other users ("you" or "Users") visit the
http://essdirect.ca web site (the "Site").
Information obtained through email
communications with you related to the Site.
This privacy policy does not apply
to information that we may collect from you by other means (including
offline) or from other sources. Your use of this Site constitutes
your acceptance of all of the terms and conditions contained in
this Privacy Policy and your consent to any action we take with
respect to your information that is in compliance with this Privacy
Policy.
We may change the terms of this
Privacy Policy, so Users are encouraged to review this page from
time to time. Your continued use of this Site following the posting
of changes to the Privacy Policy means that you accept the changes.
If you do not agree to this Privacy
Policy, as modified from time to time, please do not visit or
subscribe to this Site.
Information We
Collect and How We Collect It
We require you to provide us with
certain information about yourself when you register with this
Site and when you request products and services. We may also collect
information from you when you participate in surveys, when you
respond to requests for feedback and when you submit postings
to public areas of this Site.
The information we collect may
include information from which you may be personally identified
("Personally Identifiable Information"), such as name,
postal address, telephone number, fax number and email address,
and also may include certain business information, such as employer
name, occupation, job function, job title and buying information
(e.g., preferences or history). This Site only collects Personally
Identifiable Information with your knowledge.
Automatic Data
Collection
When you visit this Site, we may
collect the IP address of your computer.
We also automatically record other
information that identifies your computer to this Site and tracks
your behaviour on the Site. For example, we may record how many
times you visit this Site and your navigation within the Site.
We do not collect Personally Identifiable Information in this
manner; however, if you provide us with Personally Identifiable
Information, we may associate that information with the information
that is collected automatically.
Methods used to collect this information
may include "cookies" and "clear GIFs" (also
known as "pixel tags" or "beacons"). A cookie
is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a
server and stored on your computer's hard drive. Most browsers
allow Users to block the receipt of cookies, but doing so may
compromise your ability to use certain features of this Site.
A clear GIF is a small graphic image, typically used in connection
with cookies, that is placed on a web site or in an email message.
A clear GIF can monitor certain user behaviour, such as your usage
of the web site, whether you opened an email message or whether
you clicked on a URL in an email message.
Some of the materials included
on this Site, including advertising, may be served by third parties.
These third parties, in the course of serving such materials,
may collect information regarding your use of this Site and how
you respond to email communications, using methods that may include
those described in the preceding paragraph. Collection, use, disclosure
and security of information collected by third parties are subject
to the privacy policies of those third parties.
How We Use Your
Information
We use Personally Identifiable
Information that we collect on this Site for the following purposes:
To provide you with this Site
and other products and services, such as electronic and print
publications and newsletters.
To respond to your inquiries and
contact you about changes regarding the Site.
To provide you with email, fax
and other notices (such as expiration and renewal notices) and
inquiries regarding your account and the products or services
that you are receiving, and for billing and collection purposes.
For any other purpose disclosed
at the time the information is collected or to which you consent.
As otherwise specifically described
in this Privacy Policy.
We also may use your information
to better understand the needs of our Users and to improve our
Site. For example, we may use this information to determine what
portions of the Site are most popular and the demographics of
our Users generally. Cookies and other User information also enable
us to customize your experience on the Site.
We may use IP addresses to help
diagnose problems with our servers or to administer our Site.
We may also use IP addresses to help identify a User during a
particular session and to gather data regarding use of the Site.
Newsletters and
Offers
We may use the information you
provide us to send you email, fax and other communications on
behalf of ESS Direct Inc. These communications may include email
newsletters that are relevant to this Site, as well as offers
for other ESS Direct Inc. services. All of these communications
will include instructions explaining how you can request that
we not send you ("opt out" of) future communications
of the same type.
We may use your information to
send you email, fax and other communications on behalf of unaffiliated
third parties, but only if you opt in to receiving such offers
when you register. Each of these communications will include instructions
for opting out of receiving future third party offers from us.
You also may change your preference with regard to receiving third
party offers from this Web Site at any time on the registration
page of this Site.
Our Disclosure
of Your Information
We will not disclose your information
to anyone outside of ESS Direct Inc., except as described in this
section.
We may disclose aggregated anonymous
statistics about many Users to advertisers, content and service
providers and other affiliated and unaffiliated companies.
We sometimes engage third parties
to perform services for us, including in connection with this
Site, that require us to disclose Users' Personally Identifiable
Information to them. If we make any such disclosure, we will require
such parties to keep the information confidential and to use it
only to perform the services.
We may from time to time wish
to disclose your information to third parties that wish to market,
or provide information about, their products and services to you.
We will only do so after obtaining your permission. The only other
times we may disclose your Personally Identifiable Information
collected on this Site are as follows:
In the event of an asset sale,
merger, consolidation, restructuring, reorganization, liquidation
or other similar transaction involving ESS Direct Inc. or this
Site, we may transfer some or all User information, including
Personally Identifiable Information, to the successor company.
We will disclose your Personally
Identifiable Information when we believe such disclosure is required
by law or for the protection of persons or property.
We may disclose your Personally
Identifiable Information with your consent, as well as when disclosure
is necessary to accomplish the purpose for which you provide it.
Security
We use reasonable security safeguards
to protect Personally Identifiable Information we collect on this
Site from unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure.
However, due to the design of the Internet and other factors outside
of our control, we cannot guarantee that communications between
you and our servers will be free from unauthorized access by third
parties.
Right to Access
and Change Information
You may view and update information
that you previously submitted to this Site by visiting the registration
page for this Site. However, a request to change information may
not be accommodated if the request would conflict with legal requirements
or result in incorrect information. Requests to view or change
personal information may take a few days to process.
Links
This Site may contain content,
services, advertising and other materials that link to Web sites
operated by third parties. We have no control over those other
sites, and this Privacy Policy does not apply to them. We encourage
you to refer to the privacy policies, if any, of those sites.
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