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Privacy Policy

 

Last Updated: December 4, 2009

Privacy Policy in Plain English

 

1.   Use of your information that is required for signing the petition: The law is very clear (see California Election Code): we MAY NOT and WILL NOT use, keep, sell, or even view the information you fill out in signing a petition, and will take every reasonable precaution to protect your personal data.

Once we have turned over the petitions to the proponent (sponsoring) campaign and they have turned the information over to election officials, we will destroy any copies we have. In turn, the proponent campaign is required by law to turn over all signed petitions to county election officials and destroy any copies they possess.

2.   Use of optional email address: If you provide us with your email address, we will only use it to: 1) deliver a signed copy of the petition to you; 2) notify you of when your petition has been submitted to the proponent campaign and election officials 3) notify you if there is missing or incomplete information and 4) notify you if the initiative petition you signed qualified or was rejected from appearing on the ballot.

After that, we will destroy all copies of your email address.

If you choose to opt-in to our mailing list, we will occasionally email you about petitions similar to the one you signed for your consideration. You will have the option to opt-out of these mailings at any time.

3.   Use of other information we collect: We collect additional non-personal information such as computer IP addresses, browser header information, and session information among others. We use that information to make your experience better, but we also use that information to help us uncover fraud. Please note: signing a petition with a false name or false information is against the law, and we will work with all law enforcement agencies (both on request and proactively) to keep the elections process clean. We will turn over any information we have collected if fraud is suspected. All of this information is removed from our servers and destroyed within 90 days after petitions have been turned over to election officials.

Privacy Policy In Legalese

 

1.   INTRODUCTION, AGREEMENT AND PARTIES. Verafirma, Inc. and Verafirma (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Verafirma”, “us,” or “we”) respect the privacy of the visitors to www.verafirma.com website (“website” or “site”). This privacy policy (“privacy policy” or “policy”) is an agreement between Verafirma and you, as the user of the www.verafirma.com website (“you”, “User”). This agreement tells you when this policy is effective, what information we collect from you, how we might use it, how you can review or change the personal information you provided to us, how we may change this policy, and the steps we take to ensure that your personal information is protected.

2.   AGREEMENT TO TERMS OF PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF USE. All activities in which you may engage on this website are voluntary. You are not required to provide any personal information to us unless you choose to access features on this site which require the information. If you do not agree with the terms of this policy or other terms of use on this website, then you should immediately exit this website and discontinue using the site. If you do not agree with the terms of our privacy policy and our terms of use posted at www.verafirma.com, please do not provide us with personal information, and leave this website. The terms of use of this site are expressly incorporated herein by reference and made a part of this policy. By using the www.verafirma.com website, you signify that you agree to the terms of this privacy policy as well as to our terms of use.

3.   EFFECTIVE DATE OF AND CHANGES TO PRIVACY POLICY. This privacy policy is effective as of December 3, 2009, and will remain in effect except with respect to any of its provisions that are changed in the future, in which case the changes will become effective on the date they are posted on the website or we otherwise notify you of the changes. We reserve the right to change this privacy policy at any time. Changes, modifications, additions, or deletions will be effective immediately on their posting to this site. You should check this policy periodically as its terms may change from time to time. Your continued use of the site after we post any such modifications will constitute your acknowledgment of the modified policy and your agreement to abide and be bound by the modified policy. We will also revise the “last updated” date found at the beginning of this privacy policy when we post changes to it.

4.   POLICY APPLICABLE TO ONLINE ACTIVITIES ONLY; DISCLAIMERS. The privacy policy does not extend to anything that is inherent in the operation of the Internet, and therefore beyond Verafirma’s control, and is not to be applied in any manner contrary to applicable law or governmental regulation. This online privacy policy only applies to information collected through this site. This privacy policy does not apply to any information we may collect from you in any place other than this website.

5.   PERSONAL INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT: TYPES OF INFORMATION COLLECTED. We may ask you for certain information referred to on this site as “personal information,” which includes information that pertains to your identity. Such information may include, but is not limited to, items such as your name, address, date of birth, age, gender, e-mail address, telephone number, or credit card or debit card number. We collect this information for the sole purpose of creating, filling out, and submitting initiative petitions and other types of petitions to state and local governments. If you do not provide the requested personal information, you may not be able to access or use the features of the site where such information is requested.

6.   GENERAL INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT: TYPES OF INFORMATION COLLECTED. There may be other instances in which we collect information from you that are more general in nature (“general information”). Such information may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, which enables us to identify your computer or device on a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) network, which includes the World Wide Web. Your computer has an IP address, which is required in order for you to communicate with others via the Internet. Such general information, including the click stream data and cookies, as mentioned below, may be collected from you whenever you access the site, whether or not you provide us with any personal information.

a.   Click Stream Data. When you visit our website we may also collect “click stream data” (server address, domain name). This information can be combined with information you have provided to us which will enable us to analyze and better customize your visits, as well as help us fight fraud and maintain a trusted service. We may use click stream data for traffic analysis or e-commerce analysis of our website, to determine which features of our site are most or least effective or useful to you.

b.   Cookies. We may also use cookies to gather information about your visits to our website and enhance your experience. More information on how we use cookies is available in the section “Use of Cookies.”

7.      GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU; USE OF GENERAL INFORMATION. We will not use the personal information you provide and any general information we receive from you for any reason except the following:

c.   We will deliver your signed petition to both the sponsoring campaign and the appropriate governmental agency (state or local agency depending on state requirements). Your signed petition contains all of the personal information you provided to us, except your email address.

d.   Use of your email: We will use your email address only to send you a copy of your signed petition, to notify you of the progress of the petition campaign for which you signed, or to notify you of any problems or issues with your signed petition. Once a petition campaign is over, we will not use your email address for any other purpose, and it will be purged from our database and datastore.

e.   To analyze visits to the website and learn about the interests of our visitors in aggregate.

8.      PROTECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION.

f.    Security Measures. In order to protect both the personal information and the general information that we receive from you through our website, we have implemented various security measures which you can read at http://www.verafirma/security.htm .

g.   Risk of Interception. Please keep in mind, however, that whenever you give out personal information online there is a risk that third parties may intercept and use that information. While Verafirma strives to protect your personal information and privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose online. By using this site, you expressly acknowledge and agree that we do not guarantee the security of any data provided to or received by us through this site and that any personal information, general information, or other data or information received from you through the site is provided to us at your own risk, which you expressly assume.

9.      NO USE OF THIS SITE BY PERSONS UNDER 18 PERMITTED

h.   Verafirma intends only persons who are 18 years or older and registered to vote in the state in which they reside to use this website.

i.    Notice Concerning Children. PLEASE NOTE: We are a general audience site, and do not direct any of our content specifically at children under 13 years of age. We understand and are committed to respecting the sensitive nature of children’s privacy online.

10.  THIRD PARTIES

j.    Sharing Information With Persons or Entities Who Manage This Website. Verafirma’s global and local websites and the personal information and general information collected are managed and controlled by Verafirma’s Chief Security & Privacy Administrators with high security located in California, U.S.A. The servers that make Verafirma’s global and local websites available are located in Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. If you are located outside Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., please note that the information you provide will be transferred to Verafirma’s Chief Administrator, and by submitting the information you authorize this transfer.The Chief Administrator has entered into an agreement with the hosting company in Dallas, Texas to provide safeguards for the protection of your data that are consistent with this policy.

k.   Disclosing Information to Third Parties. WHO MAY HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION. Verafirma will not disclose your information to any third party EXCEPT the sponsoring campaign and any state or local governmental agency that requires the signed petition. We provide some of our services through contractual arrangements with affiliates, services providers, partners and other third parties (collectively, “service partners”). Our service partners may use your personal information to operate our sites and to deliver their services. For example, in the course of signing a petition, you may be asked to enter your mobile telephone number so that an SMS message linking you to our signature service may be activated. In such a case, we use an outside SMS provider to whom we pass your telephone number. These parties will only use your data for the purpose of carrying out the work as agreed with us and will be required to keep the information confidential. We will encourage our service partners to adopt and post privacy policies. However, the use of your personal information by our service partners is governed by the privacy policies of those service partners and is not subject to our control.

l.    Security. RELEASE OF INFORMATION. Verafirma will release personal or general information without your consent for security purposes, when required by law, or to prevent imminent harm to any person or entity. We will disclose personal or general information upon receipt of a court order or subpoena, or to cooperate with a law enforcement investigation, which may include responding to requests and court orders from jurisdictions outside the United States. We fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who use our services for illegal activities. SIGNING A PETITION WITH A FALSE NAME OR UNDER FALSE PRETENSES IS AN ILLEGAL ACTIVITY. We reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we in good faith believe to be unlawful, as determined in our sole discretion. Release of your personal data for security purposes, as described in this agreement to any person or entity under any circumstances shall be based on a determination made solely by us, exercising our own discretion, permission for which is expressly granted by you to us in accordance with this policy.

m.  Links to Third Parties. PURPOSE OF LINKS. For your convenience and to improve the usage of the website we may insert links to third parties on this site. This privacy policy does not apply to such third party websites. These links take you outside our service and off Verafirma’s site and are beyond our control. The sites those links can take you to have their own separate privacy policy and although we seek to protect the integrity of our site, Verafirma is not liable for the content and activities of those sites. Your visits and access to such websites is at your own risk. Please note that those other sites may send their own cookies to users, collect data, or solicit personal information.

11.  AUTOMATIC COLLECTION. COOKIES. A cookie is a small string of information that the website you visit transfers to your computer for identification purposes. Cookies can be used to follow your activity on the website and that information helps us to understand your preferences and improve your website experience. You can turn off all cookies, in case you prefer not to receive them. You can also have your computer warn you whenever cookies are being used. For both options you have to adjust your browser settings (such as Mozilla, Firefox, or Internet Explorer). There are also software products available that can manage cookies for you. Please be aware, however, that when you choose to reject cookies, this choice may limit the functionality of the website you visit and you may lose access to some of its features.

12.  DELETING OR MODIFYING PERSONAL INFORMATION; CHANGING YOUR INFORMATION. Verafirma does not store or keep your personal information for more than 90 days past the campaign for which you submitted a petition. Verafirma does not keep copies of signed petitions past 90 days from the end of a campaign.

13.  QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS; CONTACT INFORMATION. If you have any questions or comments relating to our website or the privacy policy, send an e-mail to privacy@verafirma.com.