Definitions
The following is the Privacy Policy adopted by the Company in relation to the System and Services. The same definitions shall apply as within our Terms and Conditions.
General
The Company undertakes to protect the privacy of its Members as its highest priority and hold secure their personal details. The Company specifically undertakes not to grant access to or allow any 3rd party either to view Members’ personal details or to use the System to communicate with Members.
The System and the Services are designed to be forum for private and secure communication between rightful members of a distinct community. Members supply their personal details solely for viewing by other rightful Members of the same community and retain complete control over who can view their data at any time.
Unlike most comparable community networking systems, the System and the Services are not a vehicle for the Company to earn advertising revenue or promote 3rd party products and services. The Company intends to recover the costs of providing the System and supplying the Services from Membership subscriptions, not from 3rd party advertising or promotional revenues, as it recognises that Members are increasingly offended and fatigued by the mass of unsolicited marketing offers they receive via the internet and email.
In summary, the Company, the System and the Services are to be trusted by Members.
Data Protection Act
The Company is registered with the Data Protection Registrar (No. PZ7924849) and confirms that all personal data handled and stored by it is done so in strict compliance with the latest Data Protection Act 1998.
Privacy of Members’ Full identity and Contact Information
The System is specifically designed so that Members’ full identity and contact information is not revealed to other Members, without permission. Such information that is not revealed includes: the Member’s full name, their email addresses, telephone numbers (including their mobile phone number) and their postal / accommodation address, including their family home.
The System’s functionality is such that communications between Members are sent “blind” without revealing the full identity or the contact information of the message sender. To see the profile of the sender of a message from within the System, the recipient of that message has to also log into the System and can then only view such information about the sender that the latter has chosen to reveal within their profile.
Members can make a personal and private choice, independent of and outside the System’s functionality whether they ever want to reveal their full identity and/ or contact information in the real world to another member or person introduced to them via the System.
Registration Forms and Member Profiles
Within the Registration forms we only collect the minimum amount of personal information about Members necessary to allow the proper functioning of the System and the Services for Members’ benefit. We do not collect information on behalf of 3rd parties or with the intention that the information might be used to benefit a 3rd party.
Member Control
The System gives Members complete control over who can see their profiles and who can contact them. This functionality is fully explained within the System and Members can easily hide their personal data and prevent other Members from contacting them by using the functionality. This functionality gives Members full peace of mind that once they have entered their personal data into the System, they can ensure that it is not used against their wishes.
Members can also turn on and off and amend their profiles to ensure they reflect their latest personal circumstances and that other Members’ communication to them is relevant and appropriate.
Each channel within the System (Study, Social, Business, Love and Jobs) is designed to be a stand alone entity as it recognised that from time to time the type of communication to be made to and received from other Members will not reflect the personal circumstances of individual Members. The “on / off” profile functionality is therefore specific to each channel and can be tailored by Members to suit their personal objectives.
Channel-Specific Privacy within Love Life and Jobs Life
There are additional features built into Love Life and Jobs Life to protect Member privacy as it is recognised that Members are likely to be especially sensitive about who can view their personal information in connection with these activities.
· Love Life – certain data that might allow Members to be individually identified is specifically withheld from being viewed within Love Life, namely details about the Members’ college, course and employer. Members record a distinct and separate profile about themselves which is only viewable within Love Life and not within other Channels
· Jobs Life – unlike all the other channels, the Members’ profile within Jobs Life (including their CV) cannot be viewed by any other Member, or by an employer or agency. Only the Company can view this information and undertakes to uphold the privacy of this information with extreme discretion. This information is solely used within the Company’s recruitment arm to better assist those members who wish to use the System to find suitable employment opportunities.
Members should note that the measures above do not guarantee that another member might not deduce the Member’s identity within the System, however they are “best intention” measures designed to offer the Member increased privacy than would be the case without them.
Security of Credit Card Information
The Company takes the security of Members’ credit card details very seriously. The System deliberately uses a 3rd party specialist payment gateway to ensure electronic payments made via the internet are subject to the highest security standards.
The Company does not retain the details of Members’ credit or debit cards once payment transactions are completed to minimise the risk that these details could be hacked or wrongfully obtained by a 3rd party.
The System has deliberately not been designed to make automatic deductions from Members’ credit or debit cards, for example when their Membership is up for renewal. It is for Members alone to decide when they want to make a purchase relating to the System and the Services.
No 3rd Party Access to the Database
The Company undertakes to fully protect the security and privacy of the personal information held within the System about its Members.
No 3rd party will be granted access to the Member database either to view Members’ details or to communicate with Members. The only parties who will have access to the Member database will be the Members themselves and the Company.
No Advertising
It is not our intention to sell advertising space, including banner advertisements, pop-up or pop-under advertisements or to seek revenue from 3rd party organisations looking to promote their products or services using the medium of the System. The System is purely a forum for private communication between Members.
No Selling or Promoting Products
It is not our intention to allow 3rd parties to use or rent the System’s Membership database to promote their company or their products or services to Members.
No Selling of Membership Lists
It is not the Company’s intention to sell the list of Members or the Membership database to a 3rd party as a stand alone asset independent of the System for that 3rd party to use the same to promote its products or services.
Member Email Spam
The System has built-in checks and security procedures to prevent Members from spamming other Members with repetitive or mass-send out emails or messages.
Verification of Members’ Details
The Company intends to carry out background checks to verify that Members or potential members are who they claim to be. In doing so, the Company welcomes the assistance of rightful Members of the community in ensuring that only other rightful members join the System and use the Services.
Religious / Political Messages & Dissemination or Otherwise Offensive Material
The Company specifically requires that Members do not use the System to promote their religious or politically beliefs as it recognised that other Members may find this offensive.
Report Abuse
The System provides a “Report Abuse” tool use by Members to report other Members who they deem to be using the System inappropriately. Such inappropriate use would include: passing off as a rightful member of the community when they are not; sending offensive messages or otherwise disseminating offensive material via the System.
The Company undertakes to investigate all abuses reported by Members in a manner that is thorough but discrete, and does not compromise the integrity and anonymity of any Member who uses this feature to assist in good faith the Company and fellow Members of the community.
These procedures are designed to give Members a role in policing the proper functioning of their community.
No Monitoring or Intrusion
The Company does not routinely monitor or read the email, text and chat communication between Members, as it is recognised that this is intended to be private conversation. The Company does however reserve the right to screen Members’ communications with each other to guard against the distribution of racist, sexist or otherwise offensive material and to ensure that Members are using the System and Services in accordance with the Company’s Terms and Conditions of use.
Passwords
Members should ensure they maintain the security of passwords issued to them by the System to prevent unauthorised access to their personal information by other Members or 3rd parties.
Accessibility
We invite and encourage our Members to contact us at any time to suggest improvements to the System or the Services or to enquire about aspects of their membership, including their personal data and use the System. Our telephone number, postal and email address are published within the System.
Information Automatically Logged / Cookies
From time to time, the System may automatically store certain files within your computer memory, including cookies. The sole purpose of this to collect data about Members’ use of the System with a view to improving it for the general benefit of all Members and to ensure that certain experiences within the System are personalised to the user.
