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Your privacy is very important to Village Online (Reaction Systems, Inc.).
("Village Online"). This Village Online Privacy Policy spells out
Village Online’s commitment to respecting the privacy of Village Online
members. Village Online reserves the right to change this policy.
 Collection of Information on Our Members
- Personally Identifiable Information
Aggregate Information
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A Special Note Concerning Privacy and Children Online
- Chat, Newsgroups, Bulletin Boards, and Kids
How Parents Can Reduce the Risks
Guidelines for Parents
Cyber Patrol software
Recreational Software Advisory Council Ratings
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Third-Party Provider Content
- Contact Information
Collection of Information on Our Members
Collection of information is usually grouped into two categories: personally identifiable information and so-called "aggregate" information. Personally identifiable information is any information in Village Online’s possession that is associated with a specific Member (such as a name or address) and information we collect about how individual Members use Village Online (such as the fact that a Member visits sports pages, or has purchased merchandise through Village Online.) It does not include aggregate information, which is general demographic information (such as the total number of Members who are more than 35 years old), or information which a Member has made publicly available.
Personally Identifiable Information
Village Online uses personal information only for the following purposes:
- To process requests and orders placed with advertisers, merchants and service providers on Village Online;
- To personalize Village Online based on Members’ interests,
including making Members aware of editorial features, advertisements, and commercial offerings that may be of interest;
- To communicate with Members, including promotion of Village Online;
- To serve Members when they have questions or problems;
- To perform normal business operations, such as billing, collection, and accounting; and
- To investigate complaints and protect Village Online and its Members, in compliance with the law, the Village Online Member Agreement, Interactive Features Guidelines and Village Online Internet policies.
Village Online respects the privacy of personal files in Members’ computers. Village Online does not access, read, upload or store data contained in or derived from private files. Village Online may from time to time record information about your computer, communications equipment, browser type and version number, mail application, and operating system software in the form of serverlog files.
Village Online uses strict procedures and safeguards designed to protect the privacy of all personal information. All Village Online employees with access to personal information are required to follow specific practices concerning its proper handling. Village Online’s employees never inspect or disclose to others the contents of any private e-mail messages except with the specific
consent of the sender or recipient, or as specifically authorized or required by law.
Village Online complies in all respects with the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, as amended, ("ECPA"). Subject to the subpoena, warrant, consent, and court order provisions of ECPA, Village Online must provide Member information and/or Internet communications to the proper authorities Village Online may establish time limits and/or other criteria under which private e-mail will be automatically removed from your mailbox.
Village Online has no responsibility to retain or deliver private e-mail
that is located in a Member's mailbox at the time of that Member's suspension or termination, or that is addressed to such Member thereafter.
Aggregate Information
Village Online tracks the total number of visitors to each of our pages within Village Online in an aggregate form to allow us to update and improve our sites. Personally identifiable information is not extracted in this process. Village Online may use or disclose aggregated (not personally identifiable) information for any purpose.
On a limited basis, we use "cookie" technology. Cookies are pieces of information that an Internet site transfers to your hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Our servers then use these cookies to make your sessions easier by saving your preferences while you are on Village Online pages. The use of cookies is an industry standard -- you'll find them almost everywhere on the Internet. There are two cookies used throughout Village Online pages. The first Village Online cookie allows Village Online to know
who the Member is and that he or she properly authenticated into our network. This cookie information can be used to retrieve personal information needed during the Member session, for example, to build your customized pages. The second cookie is an "advertising" cookie which Village Online uses to keep track of the ads the Member has seen. Village Online tracks which ads have been viewed, and we tie it to Members’ demographic data, but not to personally identifiable information. Remember, this describes cookie usage
ONLY on Village Online sites. Village Online has no control over the use of cookies by other Internet sites and their owners.
If a Member enters our pages from the site of one of Village Online’s partners, our system will recognize the path the visitor has taken. Such partners are companies such as computer or modem manufacturers with whom Village Online engages in promotional deals. The benefits of these deals are often passed on to Village Online Members.
A Special Note Concerning Privacy and Children Online
Members of Village Online are required to be 18 years of age or older. In fact, you confirmed that you were 18 or older when you enrolled in Village Online. However, Members may want to allow their children to use Village Online Internet to access the Internet. Although the Internet offers a
wealth of information and exciting opportunities to explore, some of its content may not be suitable for children. Understandably, as the popularity of the Internet has grown, so have concerns among parents. Village Online believes that parents should supervise their children's online activities and Village Online suggests that they consider using parental control tools available on the Internet, such as Cyber Patrol, and software manufacturers that help provide a child-friendly online environment.
Please instruct your children not to give us their name, address or e-mail address, or provide any personal information to anyone without your permission. It may also be wise to carefully note all the people with whom your child frequently corresponds over the Internet or on any online service.
Chat, Newsgroups, Bulletin Boards and Kids
Chat, newsgroups, and bulletin boards offer children and parents alike the unique opportunity to make friends and talk to people all over the world. Please remember, though, that these interactive features are just like other public places where strangers meet. If you allow your children to access interactive features, please remind them of the dangers involved when corresponding or communicating with strangers or new acquaintances on the Internet (especially in Chat and Newsgroups, as well as when using e-mail).
We strongly recommend that you supervise your children's activities on these areas as you would in any public area. You should help your children understand that people they do not know will be reading their notes. They should be careful when choosing what to post (particularly information about themselves), as well as when choosing the people with whom they correspond. Also, only you, as a parent, can establish which topics and individual notes
are appropriate for your family, just as you would for television programs or movies.
Children and teenagers get a lot of benefit from being online, but they can also be targets of crime and exploitation in this as in any other environment. Trusting, curious, and anxious to explore this new world and the relationships it brings, children and teenagers need parental supervision and common sense advice to ensure that their experiences in "cyberspace" are happy, healthy, and productive.
How Parents Can Reduce the Risks
Take advantage of Village Online’s offer of Cyber Patrol, which we talk about below. Also, to further restrict your child's access to discussions, forums, or bulletin boards that contain
inappropriate material, some Internet sites and private bulletin boards have systems in place for parents to block out parts of the sites that they feel are inappropriate for their children. If you are concerned, you should contact the site find out how you can add these restrictions to any accounts that your children can access.
The Internet and some private bulletin boards contain areas designed specifically for adults who wish to post, view, or read explicit material. Most private bulletin board operators who post such material limit access only to people who attest that they are adults but, like any other safeguards, be aware that there are always going to be cases where adults fail to enforce them or children find ways around them.
The best way to ensure that your children are having positive online experiences is to stay in touch with what they are doing. One way to do this is to spend time with your children while they're online. Have them show you what they do and ask them to teach you how to access the sites. While children and teenagers need a certain amount of privacy, they also need parental involvement and supervision in their daily lives. The same general
parenting skills that apply to the "real world" also apply while online.
If you have cause for concern about your children's online activities, talk to them. Also seek out the advice and counsel of other computer users in your area and become familiar with literature on Cyber Patrol and other filtering devices. Open communication with your children, utilization of such computer
resources, and getting online yourself will help you obtain the full benefits of these devices and alert you to any potential problem that may occur with their use.
Guidelines for Parents
By taking responsibility for their children's online computer use, parents can greatly minimize the potential risks. Make it a family rule to:
- Never give out identifying information – home address, school name, or telephone number – in a public message such as chat or bulletin boards, and be sure you are dealing with someone that both you and your child know and trust before giving it out via e-mail. Think carefully before revealing any
personal information such as age, marital status, or financial information. Consider using a pseudonym or un-listing your child's name from Internet sites in which they participate.
- Consider keeping the computer in a family room rather than the child's bedroom. Be sure to make this a family activity. Get to know their "online friends" just as you get to know all of their other friends.
- Get to know the Internet sites your child uses. If you don't know how to get to them, get your child to show you. Find out what types of information it offers and whether there are ways for parents to block out objectionable material.
- Never allow a child to arrange a face-to-face meeting with another computer user without parental permission. If a meeting is arranged, make the first one in a public spot, and be sure to accompany your child.
- Never respond to messages or bulletin board items that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, threatening, or make you feel uncomfortable. Encourage your children to tell you if they encounter such messages. If you or your child receives a message that is harassing, or of a sexual nature, or threatening, alert the appropriate law enforcement agency. You may also send an alert to Village Online if the message is from another Village Online
Member, or to the online service from which the message originated.
- Should you become aware of the transmission, use, or viewing of child pornography while online, immediately report this to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-843-5678.
- Remember that people online may not be who they seem. Because you can't see or even hear the person, it is easy for someone to misrepresent him- or herself. Thus, someone indicating that "she" is a "12-year-old girl" could really be a 40-year-old man.
- Remember that everything you read online may not be true. Any offer that's "too good to be true" probably is. Be very careful about any offers that involve your coming to a meeting or having someone visit your house.
- Set reasonable rules and guidelines for computer use by your children. Discuss these rules and post them near the computer as a reminder. Remember to monitor their compliance with these rules, especially when it comes to the amount of time your children spend on the computer. A child or teenager's excessive use of the interactive features of the Internet, especially late
at night, may be a clue that there is a potential problem.
Cyber Patrol® software
To respond to the concerns of our Members, Village Online offers Cyber Patrol, which is easy-to-use filtering software from Microsystems Software, Inc. Cyber Patrol allows you to control which features on the Internet and on your computer are
not suitable and are off-limits to your children. These features can include Chat, Newsgroups, the World Wide Web, FTP and gopher sites, and even specific programs on your hard drive, such as games or your financial software. You have the option either to totally restrict access to these features, or set limitations to the kinds of features your children can see. Cyber Patrol loads during Windows start-up and runs in the background. It's password-protected so inquisitive youngsters can't change your settings or disable the program.
Cyber Patrol continually researches Internet content to develop a list of areas it considers inappropriate for children. This CyberNot Block List® is organized by categories such as violence, nudity, sex, etc. To block access, parents simply select the categories of content they feel are unsuitable for their children. They can also add sites not already on the CyberNot list, right down to the directory or page level. So, if one particular area of a site isn't suitable for children, parents can block access to just that area. Likewise, they can allow access to a site that is on the CyberNot list. All Cyber Patrol settings are per machine, rather than per user, but settings can be unlocked with a password so that adult family members are not restricted.
Cyber Patrol also allows you to restrict your children's Internet access to certain times of the day, and limit the total number of hours spent on the Net per day or per week -- a great way to manage your family's budget and preferences for online activities.
Cyber Patrol is available for download at the following URL: http://www.cyberpatrol.com
Recreational Software Advisory Council ratings
Certain Web Sites are registered with the Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC). This organization provides Web surfers with information about the suitability of Internet content for themselves and their families. If the site is not registered or does not fit the categories selected by certain visitors who use the RSAC product on their computers, those visitors will not be able to access that site. (Please note that the RSAC software functions only with Microsoft® Internet Explorer™ browser. If you are using another browser, look at your browser's help area to find out more information about content suitability ratings.) RSAC may be used for rating Web sites only and does not rate Newsgroups, Chat, File Libraries, etc.
Parts of this section were adapted from "Child Safety on the Information Highway," which was written by Lawrence J. Magid, a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times who is author of Cruising Online: Larry Magid's Guide to the New Digital Highway (Random House, 1994) and The Little PC Book (Peachpit Press 1993) and was jointly produced by the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Interactive Services Association (8403 Colesville Road, Suite 865, Silver Spring, MD 20910).
Third-Party Provider Content
Please keep in mind that some of the bulletin boards, chat areas, and newsgroups on Village Online pages are controlled and operated by a third party, not by Village Online. Because of this, remember that when you use these interactive features, that you may not just be speaking with Village Online Members, but with anyone on the Internet. Some third party content is not protected behind a Village Online firewall, that is, it is not
proprietary to Village Online, and is therefore open to anyone to participate.
The search engine technology automatically produces search results that reference sites and information located worldwide throughout the Internet. Because neither Village Online nor the third party service provider has control over such sites and information, there are no guarantees as to such sites and information, including as to:
- the accuracy, currency, content, or quality of any such sites and information, or
- whether a search may locate unintended and objectionable content.
Because some of the content on the Internet consists of material that is adult-oriented or otherwise objectionable to some people, the results of your search may automatically and unintentionally generate links or references to objectionable material. Village Online has no control over, and can make no claim that such surprises will not occur. Computerized search technology does
not give you search results limited to only the hits that you were seeking. There may be extraneous hits as well.
Village Online recommends that to avoid any such surprises, you take advantage of the access controls that Village Online offers, as we discuss above, and be diligent in your supervision of any children you allow to use Village Online.
Contact Information
For answers to specific concerns regarding privacy that are not addressed
here, see our Contact
Us This site provides information on whom and how to contact us at Village Online.
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