Date of last revision: Jan. 2, 2010
This is the Privacy Policy for the CalPotNews.com Web site owned and operated by California Pot News (“CPN,” “we,” “our”). This Privacy Policy is incorporated into, and part of, the User Agreement located at www.calpotnews.com/useragreement, which governs your use of this Web Site in general. This Privacy Policy also applies to the Affiliated Web Sites of CalPotNews.com: CalPotNews.net, CalPotNews.info, CalPotNews.org and CalPotNews.mobi. We are committed to protecting your privacy and to earning and maintaining your trust in our family of Web Sites.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to information that you may provide to us, or that we may obtain, other than through our Web Site, such as by phone, postal mail, print or broadcast media, other Web sites or mobile applications utilized by cell phones. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information collected about you by anyone except us, and it only applies to the CalPotNews.com Web Site and its Affiliated Web Sites.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to information obtained during the newsgathering process for this Web Site, including but not limited to the identity of confidential sources, as such information is protected by the U.S. Constitution and applicable state and federal laws. We will vigorously oppose all attempts to compel disclosure of such information, regardless of the manner by which it is obtained or the reason(s) given by government authorities in seeking such disclosure. California Pot News enjoys the same legal rights and protections that shall be accorded to working journalists in the United States, and such additional rights and protections that shall be accorded to working journalists in California.
This Web site is intended for users who are located in the United States of America. This Privacy Policy shall be interpreted under the laws of the United States and the state of California.
You understand and agree that, by visiting CalPotNews.com or any of its Affiliated Web Sites, you are accepting, without modification, this Privacy Policy. If you disagree with any portion of this Privacy Policy, then your only option is to not use CalPotNews.com or any of its Affiliated Web Sites. Children under thirteen (13) years of age should not use CalPotNews.com or any of its Affiliated Web Sites; you must be eighteen (18) years of age or older to use the CPN forums as outlined in our User Agreement.
This Privacy Policy is subject to change from time to time by CPN. Material changes to this Privacy Policy will be indicated by a revised effective date at the top left-hand corner of this page and by a notice posted on the homepage of CalPotNews.com. Whether or not you are a registered member of CalPotNews.com, it is your responsibility to check back and review this page regularly to ensure you are familiar with the most current terms. Should you object to any such modifications to this Privacy Policy or become dissatisfied with CalPotNew.com in any way, your only option is to immediately discontinue use of our Web Site. Your continued use of the service after the effective date of the Privacy Policy revision means that you agree to be bound by the changes, without modification.
How we gather information from users
Personal Information
We collect Personal Information from users of our Web Site, such as when they post comments on stories, register for forums, subscribe to e-mail lists and/or RSS feeds, or fill out contact forms. In most cases, such information is used to enhance the user’s Web Site experience. In some instances, we may collect “opt-in” information from users to share advertising, promotions and special offers from CPN and/or third parties. This represents an important source of potential revenue for this Web Site, but no marketing efforts are under way currently. This Privacy Policy will be revised prior to the commencement of any marketing activities.
Computer Information
Some information on CalPotNews.com is collected actively, such as when using contact forms or becoming a registered forum user. Other information, including “cookie” data, is collected passively, primarily to enhance software functionality and to provide targeting data used by advertisers to provide relevant content to the user. You also may occasionally get cookies from our advertisers or other third parties; information collected by a third-party provider will be subject to that provider’s privacy policy and terms of service, rather than this Privacy Policy. Accordingly, we recommend that you read the privacy policy of each and every Web site you visit or with which you interact.
All web servers track basic information about their visitors. This information includes, but is not limited to, IP addresses, browser details, timestamps and referring pages. None of this information can personally identify specific visitors to this site. The information is tracked for routine administration and maintenance purposes. When necessary, we may link this information with your Personal Information to enforce compliance with our User Agreement or to protect the rights, safety and/or property of our Web Site, customers or others.
Controlling your privacy
You have the option to change your browser settings to disable cookies if you have privacy concerns. Disabling cookies for all sites is not recommended as it may interfere with your use of some sites. The best option is to disable or enable cookies on a per-site basis. Consult your browser documentation for instructions on how to block cookies and other tracking mechanisms.
How we use your Personal Information
We do not sell, share, or rent your Personal Information to third parties. We will not disclose your Personal Information to third parties, without your permission, except as described in this Privacy Policy.
In general, we use Personal Information to enhance our users’ Web Site experience; perform administration and technical support; enable the use of certain services and features available on or through the Web Site; create aggregate information about demographics and usage patterns; allow delivery — with your permission — of advertisements describing special offers, products and services that may be of interest to you; and enable purchases of goods and services that may be offered by CPN or third-party vendors.
Although we make good-faith efforts to store the information we collect in a secure operating environment that is not available to the public and to work with responsible third parties, we cannot guarantee complete security for your information.
California privacy rights
Under California law, California residents may request once a year, free of charge, certain information regarding California Pot News’ disclosure of personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, write to: Privacy Coordinator, California Pot News, P.O. Box 1675, Penn Valley, CA 95946. No such marketing efforts are under way as of the date posted at the top of this Web page; this Privacy Policy will be revised prior to the start of any direct marketing activities.
Public forums
When you contribute to a public area or feature of our Web Site, such as a chat room, live blog, story comments or user forums that we may make available on or through our Web Site, the information that you submit will be made available to the general public and will not be considered Personal Information for purposes of this Privacy Policy. We urge users not to submit any sensitive information, including your full name, home address, phone number, or other information that would enable other users to locate you or your financial information on these areas of our Web Site. The use of a username that does not disclose your personal identity is highly recommended.
We encourage, but do not require, the submission of Personal Information to enhance the functionality of certain services on our Web Site, e.g. newsletters, RSS feeds and user forums. In these cases, also, the use of a username that does not disclose your personal identity is highly recommended. CPN will not be held responsible for Personal Information that you choose to publicly disclose on our Web Site.
Third party offers
We reserve the right to make our lists of registered users available to companies or other entities not affiliated with the Web Site that have goods, services and offers that we believe might be of interest to you. Such marketing represents a source of potential revenue that is necessary to sustain and improve Web Site operations. We may compile these lists using Personal Information provided by users both offline and online. We may, from time to time, provide your Personal Information to these entities so that they may send you these offers. Users have the option of having their names and identifying information removed from those lists (subject to certain exceptions) by contacting us at admin@calpotnews.com.
You always opt-in at CalPotNews.com
CPN does not require users to “opt out” of providing their Personal Information; we always ask users to “opt in” to receive advertising, promotional materials and/or special offers from third parties. At present, CPN does not provide any of our users’ Personal Information to third parties for any purpose, except in limited instances on a confidential basis when needed to resolve technical problems with the Web Site and/or third-party e-mail services. This Privacy Policy will be revised and posted on our Web Site before the start of any marketing activities that make use of users’ Personal Information, whether by CPN or a third party.
Regardless of whether you agree to receive correspondence and third-party marketing materials from us, we still may contact you in connection with your relationship, activities, transactions and communications with California Pot News. If you opt-in and subsequently request to opt out of receiving marketing materials, we may take up to ten (10) business days after receipt of such request to stop sharing your Personal Information with other entities. CPN will not be held responsible for any communications that you may receive from entities that received your Personal Information prior to your opt-out request. In such cases, please contact that entity directly.
Service providers
We may use third parties to help operate our Web Site and deliver our products and services, and may share your Personal Information with our service providers and other third parties that provide products or services for or through this Web Site or for our business. This may include Web Site hosting companies, address list hosting companies, e-mail service providers, analytics companies and other service providers that use such information on our behalf. Unless otherwise stated, these companies do not have the right to use your Personal Information beyond what is needed for them to assist us.
We also may use third parties to provide services in connection with Submitted Materials, as that term is defined in the User Agreement. Information in forums and Submitted Materials (including submitted video and pictures) become publicly available and may be used by us for any lawful purpose. We may share personal information that is included with Submitted Materials with third parties, including, without limitation, vendors or other service providers, affiliates and partners.
When you conduct e-commerce with one of the e-commerce affiliates or service providers to which the Web Site may be linked, certain personal information such as your e-mail and home address may be collected by the service provider’s server. We do not receive credit card information from any service provider. California Pot News does not solicit credit card information or any other financial data from users, and will immediately delete any such information transmitted or posted on its Web Site.
Aggregate statistics
We may disclose aggregate statistics regarding user behavior as a measure of interest in, and use of, our Web Site and e-mails to third parties in the form of aggregate data, such as overall patterns or demographic reports that do not describe or identify any individual user.
Legally compelled disclosures
We may disclose Personal Information to government authorities, and to other third parties when compelled to do, but will only do so when required to comply with court orders and subpoenas. We also may disclose Personal Information when we have reason to believe that someone has committed, or will commit, acts that endanger the safety, rights or property of our business or others.
Business transfer
In the event that CPN is acquired by one or more third parties as a result of an acquisition or sale, Personal Information may be one of the transferred assets.
Third-party ad servers
We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web Site. If so, a list of these ad serving companies will be available here. These companies may use information (which generally does not include your name, address, e-mail address or telephone number) about your visits to this Web Site and to other web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. These companies may employ cookies, Web beacons and clear GIFs to measure advertising effectiveness; in general, such information is not personally identifiable.
At present, this Web Site utilizes the following third-party advertising company: AdSense (Google). You can read Google’s privacy policy regarding advertising here, and its overall privacy policy here.
Security
California Pot News uses procedures to safeguard the information collected on its Web site. Although protective measures have been put in place, California Pot News cannot ensure that the information collected will never be disclosed in a manner inconsistent with this Privacy Policy. No transmission of data over the Internet is guaranteed to be completely secure, and any such transmission made to our Web Site is done at your own risk.
Should you choose to create an account on our Web Site with a username and password, you are responsible for maintaining the strict confidentiality of your account password. You are solely responsible for any access to or use of the Web Site by you or any person or entity using your password, whether or not such access or use has been authorized by you. You agree to immediately California Pot News of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security. California Pot News will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this provision. We will have no liability for disclosure of your information due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties during or after transmission.
In the unlikely event that we believe that the security of your Personal Information in our possession or control may have been compromised, we may seek to notify you of that development. If a notification is appropriate, we would endeavor to do so as promptly as possible under the circumstances, and, to the extent we have your e-mail address, we may notify you by e-mail or by other means as required by law. You consent to our use of e-mail as a means of such notification.
Children’s privacy policy
This policy describes the privacy practices of California Pot News relating to information collected from children. This policy does not apply to third-party web sites, nor to companies and persons that are not controlled by, affiliated with or managed by California Pot News. California Pot News does not knowingly collect information from children under 13 years of age. In the event that we collect information from children under 13 years of age, this Children’s Privacy Policy shall apply.
If we discover we have received any information from a child under 13 in violation of this policy, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe CalPotNews.com has any information from or about anyone under 13, contact us using the information listed below. You must verify that you are the child’s parent or legal guardian before CalPotNews.com will confirm that the child’s Personal Information has been received and/or follow your instructions regarding said information.
Children under age 13 are not authorized to provide any Personal Information or to use our public discussion areas, forums, liveblogs and chat rooms. Children should check with their parents or guardians before entering information on any Web site, and parents and guardians should exercise responsibility by closely monitoring their children’s online activities.
Written policy controls
In the event case of any conflict between the terms of this policy and the terms of any electronic or machine readable privacy policy (for example, a P3P electronic privacy policy), the terms of this written policy shall control.
Contacting us
If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding our privacy policy and/or practices, please contact us using the information provided below:
Privacy Coordinator
California Pot News
P.O. Box 1675
Penn Valley, CA 95946
