The following privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) is designed to inform you, as a user of https://www.bestinshelter.org (the “Site”) about the types of information that we may gather about or collect from you in connection with your use of the Site. It also is intended to explain the conditions under which we use and disclose that information, and your rights in relation to that information. If you do not agree to abide by this Privacy Policy, please do not access or use the Site.

By submitting information to us, or by accessing or using the Site, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. SERVICE ELIGIBILITY

You represent and warrant that you are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations, and warranties set forth in this Agreement. By accessing the Site you agree that you are thirteen (13) years of age or older. If your access or use of the Site is prohibited or restricted in any way by the laws, regulations or other governmental requirements of the jurisdiction in which you live, or if, for any reason and at any time, you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please discontinue using our Site immediately. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use the Site. If we learn that information about individuals less than 13 years of age has been collected on the Site without verified parental consent, we will take the appropriate steps to delete this information.

2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

“Personally-Identifying Information” is information such as a name or email address that, without more, can be directly associated with a specific person. “Non-Personally-Identifying Information,” by contrast, is information that, without the aid of additional information, cannot be directly associated with a specific person. Like most website operators, we gather Non-Personally-Identifying Information of the sort that web browsers, depending on their settings, may make available, such as your IP address, operating system and browser type, and the locations of the Web pages the user views right before arriving at, while navigating and immediately after leaving the Website. We analyze Non-Personally-Identifying Information gathered from users of the Website to help us better understand how the Site is being used, to identify patterns and trends in usage, and to improve your experience. From time to time, we may also release the Non-Personally-Identifying Information gathered from Site users in the aggregate. We may store and process such information in the United States or any other country in which we or our agents may maintain facilities. You consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country, where data protection laws may be different. By accessing our Site and/or providing us with Personally-Identifying Information, you waive any claims that may arise under your own or any other local or national laws, rules or regulations or international treaties. We may from time to time, transfer or merge your Personally-Identifying Information collected off-line to our online databases or store off-line information in an electronic format. We may also combine Personally-Identifying Information we collect online with information available from other sources, including information received from our advertisers and promotional partners. This Privacy Policy applies to your Personally-Identifying Information for as long as your Personally-Identifying Information is in our possession. From time to time, we may offer you the opportunity to participate in contests, giveaways and other promotions. Any information submitted in connection with such activities will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

3. CHANGING, UPDATING OR REMOVING PERSONAL INFORMATION

You may request a change to or update the Personally-Identifying Information you choose to provide directly to us by contacting us via email at info@bestinshelter.org. We will be happy to review, update or remove information as appropriate. We may still retain your information to resolve disputes, enforce our user agreement, or comply with legal requirements; in this case, your Personally-Identifying Information will not be used for any other purpose.

4. USE OF PERSONALLY-IDENTIFYING INFORMATION

We use your Personally-Identifying Information to identify you, as well as to improve and customize the content you see on the Site. Your Personally-Identifying Information may also be aggregated and used by us for market research, project planning, promotional campaigns, troubleshooting problems, detecting and protecting against error, fraud or other criminal activity, for other internal purposes, and as otherwise described to you at the time of collection. We will obtain your consent for any use of your Personally-Identifying Information beyond those set forth in this Privacy Policy and the original uses for which you provided your consent. You agree that we may use Personally-Identifying Information about you to analyze Site usage, improve or customize the Site and its content, and as otherwise set forth in this Privacy Policy. You also agree that we may use your Personally-Identifying Information to contact you. Unless you specifically opt out, you also agree that we may use your Personally-Identifying Information to contact you and deliver information to you that, in some cases, is targeted to your interests, such as targeted banner advertisements, administrative notices, product offerings, and communications relevant to your use of the Site. By accepting this Privacy Policy, you expressly agree to receive this information, unless you specifically opt out in applicable circumstances.

5. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONALLY-IDENTIFYING INFORMATION

Except as expressly provided herein, absent your prior consent, we do not share your Personally-Identifying Information with any unrelated third parties. In addition, the following describes some of the ways that your Personally-Identifying Information may be disclosed in the normal scope of business:

• External Service Providers. There are a number of separate services offered by third parties that may be complementary to your use of the Site. If you choose to use these separate services, disclose information to the external service providers, and/or grant them permission to collect information about you, then their use of your information is governed by their privacy policy. With your consent, and for your convenience, we may provide some of your Personally-Identifying Information to an external service provider offering such services. Because we do not control the privacy practices of these third parties, you should evaluate their practices before deciding to use their services.
• Internal Service Providers. We may use internal service providers to facilitate or outsource one or more aspects of our business and, therefore, may provide some of your Personally-Identifying Information directly to these internal service providers. In some instances, the internal service provider may collect information directly from you. If you provide additional information to an internal service provider directly, then their use of your personally identifiable information is governed by their applicable privacy policy.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right, and you authorize us, to share or disclose your Personally-Identifying Information, including, without limitation, any content, records or electronic communications of any kind, when we determine, in our sole discretion, that the disclosure of your personally identifiable information is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against you. Although we use standard practices to protect your privacy, we do not promise, and you should not expect, that your Personally Identifiable Information will always remain private. However, we shall use reasonable commercial and legal efforts to protect your information and to maintain your privacy and anonymity. In addition, we may be forced to disclose Personally-Identifying Information to the government or third parties under certain circumstances or third parties may unlawfully intercept or access your Personally-Identifiable Information.

6. COOKIES

“Cookies” are alphanumeric identifiers in the form of text files that are inserted and stored by your web browser on your computer’s hard drive. We and our third party advertisers may set and access cookies on your computer to track and store preferential information about you. We and our third party advertisers may gather anonymous information about their users through cookie technology on an aggregate level only. Such aggregated information is used within our internal organization and is only shared with third party advertisers on an aggregated and non-personally identifiable basis.

7. LINKS TO THIRD PARTIES

The Site may include links to third party websites. Such links are not an endorsement of those websites and/or the products or services offered on those websites. Third party websites may have different privacy policies, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third party websites. If you click on a link to a third party website, we encourage you to check the privacy policy of that website, as it may differ substantially from that of this Privacy Policy. We make no representations or warranties nor are we responsible for the privacy policies of any websites other than the Site. If you decide to access any third party links appearing on the Site, you do so at your own risk.

8. SECURITY

We take a range of security measures designed to protect your Personally-Identifying Information and keep it confidential. However, the internet by its nature is not a secure environment and the nature of security risks is constantly evolving, as are the technical and organizational industry standards relating to management of those risks. The complete security of any Personally-Identifying Information collected, stored or used by us cannot therefore be guaranteed. In the unlikely event that an unauthorized third party compromises our security measures, we will not be responsible for any damages directly or indirectly caused by an unauthorized third party’s ability to view, use or disseminate such information.

9. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to update, amend and/or change this Privacy Policy without prior notice and at any time. Updates to this Privacy Policy will be posted here. You are encouraged to revisit this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to review any changes that have been made. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of any such changes shall automatically be deemed your acceptance of all changes.

10. SPECIAL NOTE TO INTERNATIONAL USERS

The Site is hosted in the United States. If you are a User accessing the Site from the European Union, Asia, or any other region with laws or regulations governing personal data collection, use, and disclosure, that differ from United States laws, please be advised that through your continued use of the Site, which is governed by U.S. law, this Privacy Policy, you are transferring your Personally-Identifying Information to the United States and you consent to that transfer.

11. QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS

If you have questions, comments, concerns or feedback regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us via email at info@bestinshelter.org.