Privacy Policy
Introduction
Website Owner.The Consumer Advice is the owner of this website ("The Consumer Advice Website"). Consumer Smart can be contacted by mail at 16192 Coastal Highway, Lewes, Delaware 19958 or by e-mail at support@theconsumeradvice.org.
This online privacy notice discloses The Consumer Advice information practices for this The Consumer Advice Website, including what type of personal identifiable information is requested in order to make a purchase, how the information is used, and with whom the information is shared. Note that other The Consumer Advice websites may be governed by privacy notices containing different information practices applicable to those sites.
Website Visits and Transactions
In general, you can visit on the The Consumer Advice Website and by doing so agree to this Privacy Policy, our Terms of Use, and the collection of certain personal information collected electronically for the purposes disclosed in this Privacy Policy, including without limitation personal and company financial data collected in connection with the Employee Retention Credit services provided by The Consumer Advice. In addition, The Consumer Advice does keep track of the domains from which people visit us.
At times, The Consumer Advice will need personal information regarding a customer or a prospect. For example, to process an order or provide a subscription, The Consumer Advice may need to know a customer's name, mailing address, e-mail address and credit card details. It is The Consumer Advice's intent to inform you before The Consumer Advice collects personal information, such as user's name and/or address on the Internet. If you tell us that you do not wish to have this information used as a basis for further contact with you, The Consumer Advice will respect your wishes.
Personal Information That May Be Collected
Identifying Information
In order to access designated subscriber services and/or restricted areas within the The Consumer Advice Website, Consumer Smart will request a user to provide certain personal identifying information, which may include: legal name, postal address, e-mail address, screen name, password, telephone number, facsimile number, method of payment, and, if applicable, credit card number. The Consumer Advice may request additional information necessary to establish and maintain customer's account.
Service Quality Monitoring
Some Website transactions may require a customer to telephone The Consumer Advice, or The Consumer Advice to call the customer. Consumer Smart will not contact you by telephone without your prior consent, except to confirm an order placed online and/or to inform a customer of the status of such order. Customer should be aware that it is The Consumer Advice's practice to monitor, and in some cases record such calls for staff training or quality assurance purposes.
Information from Children
The Consumer Advice does not sell products or services for purchase by children, and will not knowingly collect or post information from a child under the age of 18 without the involvement of a parent or guardian. To the extent reasonably possible, Consumer Smart will notify the child's parent or guardian at the e-mail address provided by the prospective customer, alerting the parent or guardian to the child's use of the Website and providing instructions as to how the parent or guardian can delete the child's registration from the Website.
Lost or Stolen Information
If a customer's password is lost or stolen, the customer should promptly notify The Consumer Advice in order to enable The Consumer Advice to cancel the lost or stolen information and to update its records with a changed password.
Chat Rooms, Forums and Bulletin Boards
If customer participates in a The Consumer Advice chat room, discussion forum, or posts messages to a The Consumer Advice bulletin board, customer should be aware that the information disclosed and shared will be broadly available to other persons, both inside of and/or outside The Consumer Advice, who have access to that chat room, forum or bulletin board. Some individual Consumer Smart chat rooms, forums or bulletin boards have additional rules and conditions regarding participation. Also, participant's expressed opinion is his or her own and should not be considered as reflecting the opinion of Consumer Smart.
Links to Other Websites
A The Consumer Advice Website may contain links to other websites. The Consumer Advice is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those other Websites.
Uses Made of the Information
Limited Uses Identified
Personal information collected by The Consumer Advice will be used for: statistical analysis of customer's behavior; product and service development; content improvement; to customize the content and layout of The Consumer Advice website; for marketing related services from The Consumer Advice and from third parties in which customer may be interested in The Consumer Advice's judgement.
Stored Information Uses
The Consumer Advice stores and retains customer information. Stored information is used by The Consumer Advice and The Consumer Advice agents and by third parties: to support customer interaction with the The Consumer Advice Website; to deliver customer purchases; and/or to contact customer again about other The Consumer Advice services and products.
Online Advertising
Some companies that help The Consumer Advice deliver interactive on-line advertising, such as banner ads, may collect and use information about The Consumer Advice's customers to help The Consumer Advice better understand the types of advertising or promotions that are most appealing to The Consumer Advice's customers. After it is collected the information is aggregated so it is not identifiable to a specific individual.
Disclosure of the Information
Within Corporate Organization
The Consumer Advice is a multinational organization, with legal entities, business processes, management structures, and technical systems that cross borders. The Consumer Advice may share your personal information within the The Consumer Advice corporate organization, and may transfer the information to countries where The Consumer Advice conducts business. Some countries may provide less legal protection for customer personal information.
Mergers and Acquisitions
For the purpose of developing and expanding its business, The Consumer Advice may share, rent, sell or buy business assets. In such transactions, customer information is generally one of the transferred business assets. Also, in the event The Consumer Advice is acquired, customer information will be one of the transferred assets.
Affiliated Businesses
The Consumer Advice works closely with affiliated businesses operating website stores, providing services or selling products on each other's Websites. These businesses identify themselves to customers. Customer information related to a transaction with an affiliated business is shared with that affiliated business.
Disclosure to Governmental Authorities
The Consumer Advice releases personal identifying information when The Consumer Advice believes release is appropriate to comply with law, to enforce The Consumer Advice agreements, or to protect the rights, property or safety of The Consumer Advice customers.
Use of Computer Tracking Technologies
No Tracking of Personal Information
The Consumer Advice's Website(s) are set up via cookies and other means to track, collect or distribute information not entered by visitors. Through website access logs The Consumer Advice does collect clickstream data and HTTP protocol elements, which generate certain kinds of non-identifying site usage data, such as the number of hits and visits to our sites. This information is used for internal purposes by technical support staff for research and development, user analysis and business decision making, all of which provides better services to the public.
Use of Cookies
The Consumer Advice, or its third party vendors, collects non-identifiable and personal information through the use of various technologies, including "cookies." A cookie is an alphanumeric identifier that a Website can transfer to customer's hard drive through customer's browser. Customer can set its browser to notify customer before a cookie is received, giving an opportunity to decide whether to accept the cookie. Customer may also set its browser to turn off cookies; however, some Websites may not then work properly.
Collection of Non-Identifiable Information
The Consumer Advice may collect non-identifiable information from user visits to the The Consumer Advice Website(s) in order to provide better customer service. Examples of such collecting include: traffic analysis, such as tracking of the domains from which users visit, or tracking numbers of visitors; measuring visitor activity; Website and system administration; user analysis; and business decision making.
Information Security
Commitment to Online Security
The Consumer Advice employs physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard the security and integrity of personal information. Billing and payment data is encrypted whenever transmitted or received online. Personal information is accessible only by staff designated to handle online requests or complaints.
No Liability for Acts of Third Parties
The Consumer Advice will exercise all reasonable efforts to safeguard the confidentiality of customer personal information. However, transmissions protected by industry standard security technology and implemented by human beings cannot be made absolutely secure. Consequently, The Consumer Advice shall not be liable for unauthorized disclosure of personal information due to no fault of The Consumer Advice including, but not limited to, errors in transmission and unauthorized acts of The Consumer Advice staff and third parties.
Privacy Policy Changes and Opt-Out Rights
Changes to Privacy Policy
This privacy notice was last updated on July 8, 2022. Consumer Smart reserves the right to change its privacy policy statement at any time. A notice of such change will be posted on the The Consumer Advice Website on page for three (3) days prior to the implementation of such change.
Opt-Out Right
Customer has the right at any time to cease permitting personal information to be collected, used or disclosed by The Consumer Advice and/or by any third parties with whom The Consumer Advice has shared and/or transferred such personal information. Right of cancellation may be exercised by contacting The Consumer Advice via e-mail at support@theconsumeradvice.org, telephone or certified postal mail. After processing the cancellation, The Consumer Advice will delete customer or prospective customer's personal information from its data base.
Access Rights to Data
Information Maintained by The Consumer Advice
Upon customer's request, The Consumer Advice will provide a reasonable description of customer's personally identifiable information that The Consumer Advice maintains in its data bank. The Consumer Advice can be contacted by e-mail at support@theconsumeradvice.org or certified postal mail at 16192 Coastal Highway, Lewes, Delaware 19958.
California Privacy Rights
Beginning on January 1, 2005, California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits customers of The Consumer Advice who are California residents to request certain information regarding Consumer Smart's disclosure of personal information for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please write to: 16192 Coastal Highway, Lewes, Delaware 19958.
Corrections and Changes
Help The Consumer Advice to keep customer personal information accurate. If customer's personal information changes, or if customer notes an error upon review of customer information that The Consumer Advice has on file, please promptly e-mail Consumer Smart and provide the new or correct information.
Accountability
Questions, Problems and Complaints
If you have a question about this policy statement, or a complaint about The Consumer Advice compliance with this privacy policy, you may contact The Consumer Advice by e-mail at support@theconsumeradvice.org.
Terms of Use
If customer chooses to subscribe to The Consumer Advice's services, customer's action is hereby deemed acceptance of The Consumer Advice practices described in this policy statement. Any dispute over privacy between customer and The Consumer Advice is subject to the provisions of this notice and to Consumer Smart's Terms of Use Agreement which is hereby incorporated herein as an integral part of this Privacy Policy with regard to the provisions covered by the Terms of Use.