Your privacy is very important to us. This Privacy Policy was developed because we believe that you are entitled to know how and why the information that we collect from you and your computer is being used. Many web sites and products have business plans that include advertising revenues and revenues from the sale of customer information. We can assure you that this is not the case at ProtoGroup. Our goal is to provide unique applications for business users who are concerned about privacy and security.

This Privacy Policy describes the policies related to the software, web site, and communication links associated with the ProtoGroup web site (referred to hereafter as “our Web Site”). This Policy does not include third parties and partners who resell or distribute the service on our behalf. You should check with the policies of the specific service provider in cases where you have not purchased the service directly from ProtoGroup.

Details of this policy are provided under the headings below.

• Collected information and how it is used
• User IDs, passwords, and keys
• Use of cookies
• Security for collected information
• Notification of Policy changes
• Updating and deleting personal information
• Contact us

Collected Information and How it is Used

ProtoGroup collects personal information from our Web Site in order to track its effectiveness and to respond to visitor requests. The following general principles apply with regard to this information:

1. Personal information is provided by you on an as-needed basis. We will not collect information including your name, address, email address, and phone numbers without first making you aware that we are collecting this information. Personal information will not be shared publicly unless you have authorized us to do so unless doing so is necessary to: (a) fulfill your requests for our Services, (b) protect ourselves from liability, (c) respond to a legal process or comply with law, (d) protect the security of our Services, (e) complete a merger, acquisition, or liquidation (for more information see our “Notification of Policy Changes” section below), or (f) as needed to fulfill your request by sharing with an organization under contract to preserve your confidentiality.
2. Non-personally identifying information may be collected to facilitate the operation of our Web Site and assist us in improving your user experience. Non-personally identifying information includes, but is not limited to, IP addresses, login information, state information, and log files containing information that relating to service usage. We may share non-personally identifying information and aggregate information with others, including our partners, customers, and prospective customers.

Newsletters
If you wish to subscribe to our newsletter, we will use your name and email address to send the newsletter to you. Out of respect for your privacy, we provide you a way to unsubscribe. Please see the "Updating and deleting personal information."

Surveys or Contests
From time-to-time we may provide you the opportunity to participate in contests or surveys. If you participate, we may request certain personally identifiable information from you. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and you therefore have a choice whether or not to disclose this information.

We use information collected on a contest application form to notify you of contest results and to award prizes. We use information collected on a survey form to facilitate improvements in our Services to better serve you. We will not send personally identifying information from a survey to third parties, unless they are under contract to preserve your confidentiality. We may publish aggregate information that is not linked to an individual respondent.

User IDs, Passwords, and Keys

You must provide a user ID (your email address) and a password in order to access specific sections of our Web Site. ProtoGroup will use this information to verify your identity when accessing specific content in our Web Site.

Use of Cookies

A cookie is a small text file stored on a computer that contains information associated with the computer’s interaction with a web site. Our Web Site uses cookies to identify you as well as to maintain state information. You have the option to set your browser to refuse cookies; however, if you do so, areas of our Web Site will not work correctly.

Security for Collected Information

ProtoGroup will take every reasonable step in order to protect the security of your personally identifiable information. All information is stored in a secure database to which access is highly controlled. Passwords are stored in encrypted format.

Notification of Policy Changes

This privacy policy is effective as of July 24, 2004. While we do not intend to change the content of this Privacy Policy, it is likely that we will need to change specific details in this Privacy Policy as our business and products evolve. If we decide to make material changes to this policy, we will provide advance notice by posting changes on our web site and/or by providing an email to customers who have supplied a valid email address.

Updating and Deleting Personal Information

If your personally identifying information changes, or you no longer desire access to our Web Site, you may update or remove the personal information that you have provided us. Personally identifiable information we have collected and transferred to back-up or archival storage may be retained indefinitely.

You can provide account changes to us by sending an email message to info@protogroup.net or by entering the information into the relevant screens through our Web Site. We recommend using our web forms to ensure that the information is encrypted for delivery to us.

ProtoGroup offers newsletter and email correspondence to keep users and potential customers aware of new service features and product announcements. If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and/or promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each communication or by emailing us at info@protogroup.net.

Contact Us

If you have questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the practices of our Web Site, you may e-mail us at info@protogroup.net. Our mailing address is ProtoGroup, LLC, 2043 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL 60618.

 

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