Boston Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Welcome to this Boston Magazine/Metro Corp. Web site (the "Site"). Boston Magazine is committed to protecting your privacy and trust. This Privacy Policy applies to all portions of our Site except the "Personals," which are governed by a separate privacy policy offered by Spring Street Networks. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect information from you and what we do with it.

Your visit to this Site serves as your consent to Boston Magazine's collection and use of information, including Personal Information (defined below), as described in this Policy. If you do not want Boston Magazine to collect and use your Personal Information in the manner described in this Policy, please do not provide the information to us.

Boston Magazine may at any time change this Policy. You should periodically visit this page to review the then-current Privacy Policy. If at any time you choose not to accept the terms and conditions herein, please do not use this Site.

Boston Magazine is not responsible for the content or the privacy policies of Web sites to which it may link.

Disclaimers

While Boston Magazine has taken reasonable steps to limit the uses of information provided by you, we cannot guarantee that the information will remain permanently secure. There is always a possibility that your information could be lost due to technical problems or stolen from our databases. Boston Magazine is not responsible for any such loss or theft or any other unanticipated security breach.

Aggregate Information Collection and Use

We collect and use non-identifying and aggregate information to improve the content of our Web pages, for systems administration, and for trouble-shooting purposes. This information may be shared with other organizations for commercial purposes and with Boston Magazine affiliates. This kind of information includes which pages you visit, how many pages you visit, the search engine and key words you may have used, and how long you stay on our site.

Personal Information Collection and Use

We also collect any information that you volunteer, such as your name, email address, mailing address, telephone number, or credit card information ("Personal Information"). We request this information when you subscribe to Boston Magazine or an affiliated publication, sign up for and use a chat, club, message board, or forum (collectively, a "Forum"), send a letter to the editor, or otherwise contact Boston Magazine. To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

We reserve the right to share both aggregate and personal information collected from you with third parties if we are authorized to do so, if the law requires it, to protect the rights of Boston Magazine, or as part of a sale or other disposition of our assets (including our membership and/or customer records). We may also use and disclose Personal Information to prevent or trace abuses of the Site, including but not limited to use of a Forum. We may also use and disclose Personal Information to comply with any court order or government investigation or inquiry, or as otherwise required by law, or to protect the rights, property or personal safety of Boston Magazine, users of the Site, or the public. In addition, in our letters to the editor section, we typically disclose the city or town in which the letter-writer resides.

Boston Magazine may use your Personal Information to personalize and enhance your use of this Site, including the marketing and promotion of products and services that might be of interest to you. Boston Magazine may also use your Personal Information to address technical problems and communicate with you about customer service issues.

Purchases

If you make a purchase on our Site, including a subscription for a magazine, we will typically ask for your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, credit card number, and the expiration date. If the product or subscription is provided or shipped by a third party, we will pass on to the third party the information needed to fulfill your order.

Promotions and Contests

Boston Magazine may from time to time sponsor sweepstakes, contests, or other events ("Promotions") which require the collection, processing, and storage of individual contact information plus demographic information. These Promotions may also ask registrants to answer survey questions. Any personally identifiable information collected through promotions will be treated as "Personal Information," as defined above. No purchase is ever necessary to enter a Boston Magazine Promotion. Please see the official rules of each Promotion for more information.

Boston Magazine may co-sponsor Promotions with other companies, in which case any information collected is likely to be shared with other participating sponsors, who may use this information as they wish. A registrant's personal contact and demographic information will not be released to any third-party organization other than named sponsors without the registrant's consent.

Chats, Clubs, Forums, and Message Boards

Please consult our Terms of Use for a description of our chats, clubs, forums, and message boards ("Forums"). You should be aware that any Personal Information, such as your name and email address, as well as any other information or content that you post on a Forum, or otherwise specifically and knowingly disclose by use of a Forum, may be directly collected and used by Boston Magazine and third parties. Therefore, you may receive unsolicited email as a result of your disclosure of such information. You should have no expectation of privacy with respect to your communications through these Forums.

Surveys and Polls

Boston Magazine will from time to time conduct anonymous surveys and polls of users to the Site to obtain aggregate demographic information about them. Such information may be compiled and shared in the aggregate with advertisers and other third parties, but no personal details will be traceable or associated with specific individuals unless otherwise disclosed in the survey rules.

Cookies

Boston Magazine does not use Cookies at the present time. In the future, however, users to this Site may be issued a "cookie," a small text file placed on the user's hard drive to track usage of the Site. Cookies help to prevent you from having to register or re-enter your information every time you visit the Site. Cookies are also used to authenticate your identity. Cookies from our Site provide us with certain information about your computer, but will not interfere with the operation of your computer.

Hyperlinks

We may post hyperlinks to the Web sites of third-party advertisers, service providers, and others. We cannot control the actions of such third parties or be held responsible for their use of any information that you provide directly to them. We advise you to take the time to educate yourself about the privacy policy and terms of use of any Web site that you visit.

Children's Online Privacy

Consistent with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"), this Site is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 13. Boston Magazine does not knowingly collect personal information from children through this Site, or any of its Web sites. If you are a parent with concerns about children's privacy issues in conjunction with the use of this Site, please contact us at rbertsche@plgt.com.

Terms & Conditions