This
privacy statement
discloses the privacy practices for
http://www.thebrazilianconnection.com.
Because this web site wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices reviewed for compliance. This web site has agreed to notify you of:
1.What
personally identifiable information of yours or third party personally
identification is collected from you through the web site
2.The
organization collecting the information
3.How
the information is used
4.With
whom the information may be shared
5.What
choices are available to you regarding collection, use and distribution
of the information
6.The
kind of security procedures that are in place to protect the loss,
misuse
or alteration of information under The Brazilian Connection
control
7.How
you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.
Registration
In order to use this website,
a user must first complete the registration form.During
registration a user is required to give their contact information (such
as name and email address).This
information is used to contact the user about the services on our site
for which they have expressed interest.It
is optional for the user to provide demographic information (such as
income
level and gender), and unique identifiers (such as social security
number),
but encouraged so we can provide a more personalized experience on our
site.
Order
We request information from
the user on our order form.Here
a user must provide contact information (like name and shipping
address)
and financial information (like 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, this contact information is used
to
get in touch with the user.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data
stored on the user’s hard drive containing information about the user.Usage
of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable
information
while on our site.Once the user
closes their browser, the cookie simply terminates.For
instance, by setting a cookie on our site, the user would not have to
log
in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site.If
a user rejects 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.For example, the user will
not be able to participate in any of our Sweepstakes, Contests or
monthly
Drawings that take place. Cookies can also enable us to track and
target
the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site.
Some
of our business partners use cookies on our site (for example,
advertisers).However,
we have no access to or control over these cookies.
Log Files
We use IP addresses to
analyze
trends, administer the site, track user’s movement, and gather broad
demographic
information for aggregate use.IP
addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information.
Sharing
We will share aggregated
demographic information with our partners and advertisers. This is not
linked to any personal information that can identify any individual
person.
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.
We
partner with another party to provide specific services. When the user
signs up for these services, we will share names, or other contact
information
that is necessary for the third party to provide these services.
These
parties are not allowed to use personally identifiable information
except
for the purpose of providing these services.
Links
This web site contains links
to other sites. Please be aware that we, The Brazilian Connection, 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.
Newsletter
If a user wishes to subscribe
to our newsletter, we ask for contact information such as name and
email
address.
Surveys & Contests
From time-to-time our site
requests 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.Information
requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping
address),
and demographic information (such as zip code, age level).Contact
information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes.Survey
information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the
use
and satisfaction of this site.
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.The
Brazilian Connection will automatically send the friend a one-time
email
inviting them to visit the site.The
Brazilian Connection stores this information for the sole purpose of
sending
this one-time email.The friend may
contact The Brazilian Connection at
http://www.thebrazilianconnection.com
to request the removal of this information from their database.
Security
This
website takes every precaution to protect our users’ information.When
users submit sensitive information via the website, your 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 you are just ‘surfing’.
We
do everything in our power to protect user-information.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 your 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 customers’ information is protected.Finally,
the servers that we store personally identifiable information on are
kept
in a secure environment, behind a locked cage. If
you have any questions about the security at our website, you can send
an email to info@thebrazilianconnection.com
Supplementation of
Information
In
order for this website to properly fulfill its obligation to our
customers,
it is necessary for us to supplement the information we receive with
information
from 3rd party sources.
We
also send the user site and service announcement updates. Members are
not
able to un-subscribe from service announcements, which contain
important
information about the service. We communicate with the user to provide
requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account
via
email or phone.
Correction/Updating
Personal Information:
If
a user’s personally identifiable information changes (such as your zip
code), or if a user no longer desires our service, we will endeavor to
provide a way to correct, update or remove that user’s personal data
provided
to us.This can usually be done at
the member information page or by emailing our Customer Support.[Some
sites may also provide telephone or postal mail options for updatingor
correcting personal information].
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 the 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 or promotional materials
from
our partners may opt-out of receiving these communications by replying
to unsubscribe in the subject line in the email or email us at sales@thebrazilianconnection.com [Some
sites are able to offer opt-out mechanisms on member information pages
and also supply a telephone or postal option as a way to opt-out.]
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 they should
proceed
with services that require an outside party, or not.
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our
privacy policy, we will post those changes on our Homepage so our users
are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and
under
circumstances, if any, we disclose it.If
at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a
manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will
notify users by way of an email.Users
will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in
this
different manner. We will use information in accordance with the
privacy
policy under which the information was collected.