QOOL Privacy Policy

THIS AGREEMENT WAS LAST UPDATED ON MAY 20, 2008

We at QOOL (“we” or QOOL”) are committed to privacy.  We have created this privacy policy to express the commitment we have to protecting your personal information.  This privacy policy applies to our gathering of information, transactions and activities in which you are involved on the QOOL.ca, and QoolSpot.com web sites (collectively, the “Sites”), and any contact in email communication on the Sites, but does not apply to any other web site or offline point of contact between the Sites, or any other company, and consumers.   Please review this privacy policy occasionally as it may be modified. Each time you visit the Sites, or provide us with information, you are accepting that which is described in the policy at that time.

Information we gather from visitors

We use your IP address to help us maintain our site and identify problems with our server.  Your IP address does not disclose any personal information about you.

Cookies are small pieces of information that a web site places on your computer's hard drive to let us know that it's you when you visit.  We use cookies to help us to distribute content specific to your interests, to save your password, and to save other personal information for your convenience if you so choose so that you do not have to re-enter it each time you visit the Sites.  Should you wish to disable these cookies, the “help” portion of the toolbar on your browser will explain how. If you set your browser to disable cookies, you may not be able to access certain areas on the Sites.  Third party advertisers on the Sites may also place cookies on your browser.

Personal Information We Collect From You

In order to operate the Sites and to make available to you information about products or services that may be of interest, we may collect “personal information” (i.e. information that could be used to contact you directly, without using the Sites, such as full name, address, phone number or email address), or “demographic information”  (i.e. information that you submit, or that we collect, that is neither personal information nor financial information; this may include, but is not limited to, postal code, zip code, hometown, gender, username, age, birth date, purchase history information, browsing history information, searching history information, registration history information, and the content of communications between you and other members over the Sites), subject to the rest of this paragraph. “Demographic information” is divided into two categories: 1) “non-public information”, which consists of purchase history information and communications between you and other users of the Sites; and 2) “public information”, which consists of all other demographic information. We ask that you not enter personal information or financial information into your “Profile” (i.e. don’t use your address or password as your user name, or include your name or address in your “In My Own Words” section), as it may be posted publicly on your Profile, and the information will then be referred to as “demographic information” that is “public information.” Nowhere on the Sites do we knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18, as we require that all registered users are at least 18 years old.

How We Use Personal Information

We use your email address and other personal information to help us effectively operate the Sites, to contact you in reference to your transactions and other activities on the Sites (including, but not limited to, confirmation emails or information that could affect your relationship with QOOL), and to forward messages to you from other Site users.  These communications are known as “Service Communications.” In some cases, Service Communications may also contain messages from advertisers, such as banner ads and/or special offers.

We also use personal information to send you newsletters, information, offers and other promotional materials for the Sites’ or third parties’ services. We make an effort to send you information that is of value to you, such as discounts, exclusive offers or special event information. When registering with the Sites, you will agree to automatically receive monthly updates.  However, you can decline to receive email notifications and matches by email.

In order to operate the Sites, we may need to share your personal information with our representatives, contractors and service providers so they can provide us with support services. We require these parties not use your information for any other purpose, other than that which is required.

By purchasing, registering with or making reservations for, products or services offered or sponsored by third parties on the Sites, or choosing to receive communications (such as emails or magazine subscriptions) or choosing to participate in contests, sweepstakes or other programs (such as discount or rewards programs), offered or sponsored by third parties on the Sites, you agree to our providing your personal information to those third parties. Those third parties may use your personal information in agreement with their own privacy policies. You will need to contact those third parties to instruct them directly regarding your preferences for the use of your personal information by them. Additionally, you agree that we may use and disclose all such information so submitted to such third parties in the same manner in which we are entitled to use and disclose any other information you submit to us.

Any third party with whom we are authorized to share your personal information is allowed to use your personal information in accordance with our arranged contracts with such third parties and in accordance with their own privacy policies, over which we have no control, and you authorize that we are not responsible or liable for any of their actions or omissions.  Those who contact you will need to be instructed directly by you regarding your preferences for the use of your personal information by them.

Please read the information below under the heading “Instances in which we may share Personal and Financial Information” to view ways in which we may share your personal information.

Instances in which we may share Personal Information

We may also disclose personal information when we determine that such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable law, to cooperate with law enforcement or to protect the interests or safety of QOOL or other visitors to the Sites. We also may disclose your personal information to our subsidiary and parent companies and businesses, and other affiliated legal entities and businesses with who we are under common corporate control. Whenever personal information or financial information is disclosed under this paragraph, we may also disclose your demographic information along with it, on a non-anonymous basis. All of our parent, subsidiary and affiliated legal entities and businesses that receive your personal information or non-anonymous demographic information from us will comply with the terms of this privacy policy with respect to their use and disclosure of such information.

How We Use Public Information and Other Demographic Information:

We review all demographic information. We may use public information to enable other users to find your profile, to determine whether they are an appropriate match for you and to allow them to communicate with you. We may use demographic information to tailor the Sites and its communications to your specific interests. We may also share demographic information with advertisers on an anonymous basis (i.e. without revealing your specific identity). One of the reasons we may do this is to increase the likelihood that our advertisers’ services will appeal to the Sites’ users, so that we may target specific demographic groups.  Our sharing of demographic information with advertisers is anonymous (i.e. we do not tell advertisers which users are members of which demographic groups), subject to the rest of this privacy policy.  When you respond to an advertisement, we ask you to remember that if that ad that is targeted to a demographic group and you decide to give the advertiser your personal information, then the advertiser may be able to identify you as being a member of that demographic group.  Please be aware that we may disclose your demographic information on a non-anonymous basis as described above in the paragraph titled “Instances in which we may share Personal and Financial Information.” Also, to read further details about how we may use your public information, see our Terms of Use.

Our Security Precautions

QOOL.ca enforces security measures to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information in our control. Our security is among our highest priority and we review our security measures on a consistent basis. We encrypt all of your personal information and store it on our servers in an encrypted form. Keep in mind your information may be transferred to and maintained on computer networks which may be located outside of the state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction in which you reside, and the country or jurisdiction in which these computer networks are located may not have privacy laws as protective as the laws in your country or jurisdiction. If you have any questions about security on our Sites, you can contact us at the email address below.

Changing our Privacy Policy for Previously Gathered Information

If we decide to use particular 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 or by providing 30 days notice on the Site. Please note that we will continue to have the right to change our privacy policy and practices, and how we use your personally identifiable information, without notice, as described in the first paragraph of this Privacy Policy, provided that such changes shall only apply to information gathered on or after the date of the change.

How You Can Access and Update Your Preferences and Information

We give you the opportunity to decline to receive certain email notifications and matches by email or to modify personal information or demographic information you have already provided us with, and to hide demographic information from, or make demographic information visible to, the public users of the Site, at anytime by going to the "Member Centre" section of the Sites. Please note that it may take several hours for the changes you make to take effect on the public areas of the Sites. We appreciate your patience. Changing or deleting your information through the “Member Centre" section of the Sites, or otherwise deciding against receiving certain email communications from the Sites, will only change or delete the data in our database for purposes of future activities on the Sites and for managing future communications from QOOL. These changes and deletions will not change or delete emails or information that we may have already forwarded to any other third parties, all as provided above in this privacy policy.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns regarding QOOL’s privacy policy or practices, please direct them to privacy@qool.ca.