Saving Pets, One Paw at a Time 


Waggin'Tails Pet Rescue
A no kill shelter for pet dogs & cats
Privacy Policy Statement 

This is the Web site of  Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue

We can be reached via e-mail at information@waggintailsrescue.com


Information Collection and Use


Information Collection

Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue is the sole owner of the information collected on www.waggintailsrescue.com

Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue collects information from our users at several different points on our Web site.


Orders

We request information from the user on our order form. A user must provide contact information (such as name, email, and shipping address) and financial information (such as credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill customer's orders. If we have trouble processing an order, the information is used to contact the user.


Information Use

Profile

We store information that we collect through cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or third parties to create a profile of our users. A profile is stored information that we keep on individual users that details their viewing preferences. Consequently, collected information is tied to the users personally identifiable information to provide offers and improve the content of the site for the user. This profile is used to tailor a user's visit to our Web site, and to direct pertinent marketing promotions to them. [Your profile is shared in aggregate form only.] 



Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. [Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information while on our site.] We use [both] session ID cookies [and] persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user's hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by User. By setting a cookie on our site, users would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If users reject the cookie, they may still use our site. The only drawback to this is that the user will be limited in some areas of our site. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. See the "Profile" section. Some of our business partners use cookies on our site (for example, advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies, once we have given permission for them to set cookies for advertising. 



Third Party Advertising

The ads appearing on this Web site are delivered to users by LinkShare our Web advertising partner. Information about users' visit to this site, such as number of times they have viewed an ad (but not user name, address, or other personal information), is used to serve ads to users on this site. 
For more information about LinkShare cookies,   please click here

This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by Waggin' Tail Pet Rescue only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers. 


Log Files

Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information. 



Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)

We employ [or our third party advertising company employs] a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons/Web Bugs), that help us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. The main difference between the two is that clear gifs are invisible on the page and are much smaller, about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. [Clear gifs are not tied to users' personally identifiable information.] Clear Gifs can "work with" existing cookies on a computer if they are both from the same Web site or advertising company. That means, for example, that if a person visited "www.companyX.com", which uses an advertising company's clear gif, the Web site [or advertising company] would match the clear gif's identifier and the advertising company's cookie ID number, to show the past online behavior for that computer. This collected information would then be given to the advertising company [or Web site]. 


Communications from the Site


Newsletter

If a user wishes to subscribe to our newsletter, we ask for contact information such as name and email address. Out of respect for our users privacy we provide a way to opt-out of these communications. 
At the bottom of every email you receive from us there is a opt-out option.


Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account. However, these communications are not promotional in nature. 



Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone, in accordance with the users wishes.



Sharing

Legal Disclaimer

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.

Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable)

We share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. This is not linked to any personally identifiable information.





Third Party Advertisers

Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue shares Web site usage information about users with a reputable third party LinkShare for the purpose of targeting our Internet banner advertisements on this site and other sites. For example, Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue uses cookies and clear GIFs on this site, which allow them to recognize a user's cookie when a user visits this site. The information they collect and share through this technology is not personally identifiable. For more information about our third-party advertiser or for choices about not having this anonymous information used please click here 

These are the instances in which we will share users' personal information:

We DO NOT Share Personal Information with Third Parties 



Third Party Intermediaries

We use an outside shipping company to ship orders, and a credit card processing company to bill users for goods and services. These companies do not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

Service Providers

We partner with other third parties to provide specific services. For example, PayPal when the user signs up for these particular services, we share names, or other contact information that is necessary for the third party to provide these services. These third parties are not allowed to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing these services.




Business Transitions

In the event Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue goes through a business transition, such as a merger, being acquired by another company, or selling a portion of its assets, users' personal information will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred. Users will be notified via [email] [prominent notice on our Web site for 30 days] prior to a change of ownership or control of their personal information. If as a result of the business transition, the users' personally identifiable information will be used in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection they will be given choice consistent with our notification of changes section.





Choice/Opt-out

Our users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask for information. For example, our order form has an 'opt-out' mechanism so users who buy a product from us, but don't want any marketing material, can keep their email address off of our lists. 

Users who no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications may opt-out of receiving these communications by replying to unsubscribe in the subject line in the email or email us at information@waggintailrescue.com 

Users of our site are always notified when their information is being collected by any outside parties. We do this so our users can make an informed choice as to whether or not they should proceed with services that require an outside party.



Links

This Web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we, Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.





Surveys [& Contests] 

From time-to-time our site may request information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code). Contact information will be used [shared with the contest [survey] sponsors] to notify the winners and award prizes. [Anonymous] Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site. Users' personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties unless we give prior notice and choice. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests, they may not use users' personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes. 





Tell-A-Friend

If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about our site, we ask them for the friend's name and email address. Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the site. Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email . The friend may contact Waggin' Tails Pet Rescue at information@waggintailsrescue.com to request the removal of this information from our database.





Security

This Web site takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is protected both online and off-line.

When our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL. While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just 'surfing'. 

While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Our employees must use password-protected screen-savers when they leave their desk. When they return, they must re-enter their password to re-gain access to user information. Furthermore, ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Every [quarter], as well as any time new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our users' information is protected. 

If users have any questions about the security at our Web site, users can send an email 

information@waggintailsrescue.com



Notification of Changes

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected. 

If, however, we are going to use users' personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify users via email. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. However, if users have opted out of all communication with the site, or deleted/deactivated their account, then they will not be contacted, nor will their personal information be used in this new manner. In addition, if we make any material changes in our privacy practices that do not affect user information already stored in our database, we will post a prominent notice on our Web site notifying users of the change. In some cases where we post a notice we will also email users, who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices. 





Contact Information

If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at:information@waggintailsrescue.com