Effective April 1, 2006:
About theXdegree.com
theXdegree.com is an online service that allows our members to set up unique
personal profiles that can be linked together through networks of friends.
theXdegree members can view each others' profiles, communicate with old friends
and meet new friends on the service, share photos, post journals and comments,
and describe their interests. To enrich our members' experience, we request
and display some personal information to other members and visitors, which
allows our users to identify each other and expand their network of friends.
theXdegree members can change their profile information at any time and can control
how other members and the service communicates with them.
theXdegree.com cares deeply about online privacy If you have any questions concerning this privacy policy, please email us at @theXdegree.com.
Information Collection and Use by theXdegree.com
theXdegree.com collects user submitted information such as name, email address,
and age to authenticate users and to send notifications to those users relating
to the theXdegree.com service. theXdegree.com also collects other profile data including
but not limited to: personal interests, gender, age, education and occupation
in order to assist users in finding and communicating with each other.
theXdegree.com also logs non-personally-identifiable information including IP
address, profile information, aggregate user data, and browser type, from
users and visitors to the site This data is used to manage the website, track
usage and improve the website services. This non-personally-identifiable information
may be shared with third-parties to provide more relevant services and advertisements
to members. User IP addresses are recorded for security and monitoring purposes
User Profile information including members' pictures and first names are displayed
to people in order to facilitate user interaction in the theXdegree.com social
networking community. Email addresses are used for the purposes of inviting
new friends to join theXdegree, to add users to members' friends' networks, and
to send notifications related to the service. With the exception of inviting
friends, adding friends, and notifications, a user's email address is not
shared or displayed to people within a user's personal network Users within
a personal network communicate on theXdegree.com with each other through the
theXdegree.com service, without disclosing their email addresses. Users' full
names are never directly revealed to other members. To facilitate searching
and finding friends and acquaintances on the service, theXdegree.com allows users
to search for other members using first and last name, email address, and
schools and/or companies where users may have attended or worked.
We may also use a user's email address to send updates, a newsletter or news regarding the service. Users may choose not to receive email of this type by changing their "notification" setting to "Do not send me notification emails" in the user "Account Settings"
From time to time, theXdegree.com or a partner, may sponsor a promotion, sweepstake
or contest on theXdegree.com. Users may be asked to provide personal information
including name, email address or home address or to answer questions in order
to participate. We may transfer personal information to certain ad partners
that you have explicitly requested to receive information from. It will be
clear at the point of collection who is collecting the personal information
and whose privacy statement will apply.
Invitations and Other Communications to Non-members
theXdegree members can invite friends to join the service by sending invitation
emails via our automated invitation system. theXdegree.com stores the email addresses
that members provide so that the respondents may be added to the friend's
list of the member sending the invitations, and also to send reminders of
the invitations theXdegree.com does not sell these email addresses or use them
to send any other communication besides invitations, invitation reminders
(up to three (3) per email address). Recipients of invitations from theXdegree.com
may contact theXdegree.com to request the removal of their information from our
database.
theXdegree members may also store email addresses of people they know in their internal theXdegree address book and may also choose to send invitations and other communications to those addresses.
You may prevent theXdegree.com email invitations and other messages from being sent to any email address you control by sending a single email with the subject "BLOCK" to @theXdegree.com Please note that the email must come from the account you wish to block.
Use of Cookies
theXdegree.com uses cookies to store visitors' preferences and to record session
information, for purposes including ensuring that visitors are not repeatedly
offered the same advertisements and to customize newsletter, advertising,
and Web page content based on browser type and user profile information. We
do not link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable
information you submit while on our site. You may be able to configure your
browser to accept or reject all or some cookies, or notify you when a cookie
is set -- each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of
your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences -- however, you
must enable cookies from theXdegree.com in order to use most functions on the
site Please note that theXdegree allows 3rd party advertisers that are presenting
advertisements on some of our pages to set and access their cookies on your
computer. Advertisers' use of cookies is subject to their own privacy policies,
not the theXdegree Privacy Policy.
Links
theXdegree.com contains links to sites. theXdegree.com is not responsible for the
privacy policies and/or practices on other sites. When linking to another
site a user should read the privacy policy stated on that site. Our privacy
policy only governs information collected on theXdegree.com.
Chat Rooms, Journals and WebLogs, Message Boards, Classifieds and
Public Forums
Please be aware that whenever you voluntarily post public information to Journals,
WebLogs, Message Boards, Classifieds or any other Public Forums that that
information can be accessed by the public and can in turn be used by those
people to send you unsolicited communications.
Correcting/Updating or Removing Information
theXdegree.com users may modify or remove any of their personal information at
any time by logging into their account and accessing features such as Edit
Profile and Account Info.
Email Choice/Opt-out
Members who no longer wish to receive updates or notifications may choose
not to by selecting 'Do not send me notification emails' in the user profile
'Account Settings'. Users who do not wish to receive theXdegree.com newsletters
may choose not to by selecting 'Do not send me theXdegree newsletters' in the
user profile 'Account Settings'. All notification emails and theXdegree.com newsletters
also include the above instructions for opting-out of those communications
in the future.
Third Party Advertising
Ads appearing on this Web site may be delivered to users by theXdegree.com or
one of our Web advertising partners. Our Web advertising partners may set
cookies. These cookies allow the ad server to recognize your computer each
time they send you an online advertisement. In this way, ad servers may compile
information about where you, or others who are using your computer, saw their
advertisements and determine which ads are clicked on. This information allows
an ad network to deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be
of most interest to you. This privacy statement covers the use of cookies
by theXdegree.com and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.
Security
theXdegree.com member accounts are secured by member-created passwords theXdegree.com
takes precautions to insure that member account information is kept private.
We use reasonable measures to protect member information that is stored within
our database, and we restrict access to member information to those employees
who need access to perform their job functions, such as our customer service
personnel and technical staff. Please note that we cannot guarantee the security
of member account information. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software
failure, and other factors may compromise the security of member information
at any time For any additional information about the security measures we
use on theXdegree.com, please contact us a @theXdegree.com
Sharing and Disclosure of Information theXdegree.com Collects
Except as otherwise described in this privacy statement, theXdegree will not
disclose personal information to any third party unless we believe that disclosure
is necessary: (1) to conform to legal requirements or to respond to a subpoena,
search warrant or other legal process received by theXdegree.com, whether or
not a response is required by applicable law; (2) to enforce the theXdegree.com
Terms of Use Agreement or to protect our rights; or (3) to protect the safety
of members of the public and users of the service. theXdegree reserves the right
to transfer personal information to a successor in interest that acquires
rights to that information as a result of the sale of theXdegree or substantially
all of its assets to that successor in interest For more information see the
"Changes in Our Privacy Policy" section below.
Changes in Our Privacy Policy
From time to time we may make changes to our privacy policy If we make changes,
we will post them on our site to make users aware of what the changes are
so users will always be aware of what information we collect, how we use it,
and when we may disclose it. A User is bound by any minor changes to the policy
when she or he uses the site after those changes have been posted If, however,
we are going to use users' personally identifiable information in a manner
materially different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify
by posting a notice on our Web site for 30 days.
Contacting the Web Site
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this
site, or your dealings with this Web site, please contact us at: @theXdegree.com
(Street / PO BOX, Springfield MO ZIP)
Last Updated 1.1.6