HoopsQuest Privacy Policy

HoopsQuest is committed to providing a fun, safe and secure website for people of all ages. We are dedicated to safeguarding all personal information collected online and to helping our visitors learn how to exercise control over personal information while exploring the Internet. Because many visitors to this site are children, we employ special measures to help children protect their privacy while online. We do not ask children to disclose more personal information than is necessary for them to participate in a particular activity, and we take steps to prevent children from posting contact information.

To help ensure a rewarding online experience for all visitors, we provide this summary of our information practices. This privacy notice governs the collection and use of information at HoopsQuest.

As we continue to offer our visitors new and different types of content and services, we may modify our practices from time to time. However, we will treat all personal information we collect in accordance with the privacy notice in effect at the time the information is collected.

I. The Information We Collect

At HoopsQuest, we do not collect personally identifiable information unless our visitors voluntarily provide it to us. For some activities, such as online polls or surveys, we may ask visitors to provide information that is not personally identifiable. This might include first name only, city or state of residence, age, or gender. For some other activities, such as subscribing to our e-mail newsletters or contacting us about a specific topic, we may ask visitors to provide a first name, last name, e-mail address and other information for market research purposes such as the visitor's role at the site and how they found our site.

When contacting HoopsQuest by using our provided form, we may ask the visitor to provide his/her telephone number only if they select the option that he/she prefers to be called by a member or our staff regarding the message he/she sends. Visitors may select not to provide a telephone number if they choose to be contacted via e-mail and telephone numbers are not stored unless the visitor wishes to remain in contact with our staff. In the event that a child under thirteen chooses to provide a telephone number, the number will not be sent or saved and the only preferred contact method used will be e-mail, pending approval of a parent.

For other activities, such as sending a referral e-mail to a friend, we may also ask for personal information about other people. This is usually limited to a first name and e-mail address. E-mail addresses collected to send a referral e-mail to a friend are deleted immediately when the requested e-mail is transmitted.

When a child under thirteen participates in another ongoing activity that requires the collection, retention, and use of personal information, we will also ask for a parent's e-mail address so that we can notify the parent that we have received personal information from their child. We do not knowingly collect names and e-mail addresses from children under thirteen for these types of activities without notifying the parent via e-mail and giving the parent the option to remove their child's e-mail address from the applicable database for that activity.

When visitors come to our site, we automatically collect some non-personally identifiable information such as the type of computer operating system (e.g., Windows '95 or Mac OS) and browser (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer) being used, and the domain name of the Internet service provider (e.g., America Online, Earthlink).

II. How We Use the Information

We use visitors' personal information for internal purposes only, such as enabling visitors to subscribe to our online newsletter, or contact our staff.

We use parents' e-mail addresses to notify them when we have received personal information such as e-mail addresses from their children and to give parents the option to remove their child's name from our lists. We use information we collect about others only to enable visitors to our site to communicate with those other people, for example, by sending them a referral e-mail. We only use the e-mail addresses of subscribers to our HoopsQuest e-mail newsletters to send them the requested newsletter(s). Each newsletter also includes instructions for subscription removal via return e-mail.

We never sell, rent, or otherwise share our visitors' personal information with third parties. We sometimes use non-personally identifiable information that we collect to improve the design and content of our site, and to improve our visitors' experience at HoopsQuest. We also may aggregate this information to analyze site usage, as well as to offer products, programs, or services.

We may disclose personally identifiable information in response to legal process, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena. We also may disclose such information in response to a law enforcement agency's request, or where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of our terms of use, or as otherwise required by law. In addition, we may transfer information about you if we are acquired by or merged with another company.

We will not use or transfer personally identifiable information in ways that are materially different from the ones described above without also providing parental notification of such practices and obtaining consent for any materially different uses.

III. Collection of Information by Third-Party Sites and Sponsors

Our site contains links to other sites, including those of sponsors and advertisers, whose information practices may be different from ours. Sometimes these sites might conduct contests or sweepstakes that are promoted by HoopsQuest. Visitors should consult these other third party sites' privacy notices, since these sites are not covered by our privacy policy and may follow different procedures.

IV. Parental Review of Information

Parents, please send an email to our HoopsQuest Privacy Manager at the mailing address provided below if you would like to do any of the following:

• access personally identifiable information that the HoopsQuest site has collected online from your child
• correct factual errors in such information
• request to have this information deleted
• request that we no longer collect or maintain such information

Please be sure to include your e-mail address and a telephone number where we can reach you. To protect your child's privacy and security, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you access to the personal information that we collect and maintain about your child.

V. Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding our privacy policy and/or practices, please contact us at the following e-mail address:

Email: privacy@hoopsquest.com

VI. Updates & Effective Date

From time to time, we may update this privacy notice. We will notify you about material changes in the way we treat personally identifiable information by placing a notice on our site. We encourage you to periodically check back and review this policy so that you always will know what information we collect, how we use it, and to whom we disclose it.

The Privacy Notice posted on this site was updated on or about January 7, 2006.

VII. A Final Note to Parents

The Internet offers a world of opportunity for children. Your guidance and involvement are essential to help ensure that children have a safe and rewarding online experience. Your efforts to instill responsible information practices will help steer your children to age-appropriate sites, and will go a long way toward ensuring that your children have enriching online experiences.