Handshake Network Privacy Policy

Welcome to the Handshake.com Network, owned and produced by Handshake.com, and its subsidiary and affiliate corporations, successors, and assigns (collectively referred to as "Handshake.com"). All Products and Services on the Handshake.com Network (as defined in our Terms and Conditions) are made available subject to this Privacy Policy. By using our Products and Services, you agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by this Privacy Policy or any other privacy or data collection policy applicable to any individual Handshake.com Network Web site and to receive any required legal notices regarding our privacy practices through the continuous posting of a clear and conspicuous link to the current version of this Privacy Policy throughout the Handshake.com Network near the bottom of most pages. If you become an inactive user, we will adhere to the policies and practices as described in this Privacy Policy, which may be revised from time to time.

Please note that the Handshake.com Network contains links to other sites and occasionally allows other sites to be co-branded with the Handshake.com name. Web sites that are linked to Handshake.com Network sites or carry the Handshake.com brand for co-branding or marketing purposes may have privacy policies which differ from that of the Handshake.com Network.

The Handshake.com Network Privacy Policy discloses our privacy practices and contains detailed information about the following:

Our goal is to become your favorite Internet destination by providing the information, services, and product offerings that are most relevant to you. To achieve this goal, the Handshake.com Network must collect information so we can understand what makes you different from its millions of other unique users. While you are not required to register for any services on the Handshake.com Network, some Products and Services may not function properly or may not be accessible unless you do.

Information collected online is usually defined as being either anonymous or personally identifiable.

Handshake.com reserves the right to collect certain information and store it in connection with your account. This information includes information about the different sites that you visit within the Handshake.com Network as well as the time and frequency at which you visit them. This information also includes the content that you transmit or post on the Handshake.com Network. For further information about Handshake.com's policy on maintaining transmitted or posted content, please see the Handshake.com Network Terms and Conditions.

When you register for a service within the Handshake.com Network, that information is generally collected and maintained solely by the Handshake.com Network unless specifically stated otherwise at the point of collection. If data is collected and/or maintained by any company other than Handshake.com, we will tell you at the point of collection. If you do not want to share your information with that company, you can choose not to use that service.

Handshake.com runs many promotions and sweepstakes across its Network. These promotions may be sponsored or co-sponsored by third-party companies. Data collected during a promotion is typically shared with the sponsor or co-sponsor. Handshake.com will inform you at the point of collection whether or not we are sharing your personal data as a result of your participation in a promotion or sweepstakes. If you do not want to have the Handshake.com Network share your data, you can choose not to participate in the promotion or sweepstakes.

Be aware that Handshake.com Network sponsors and other advertisers have links on the Network that take you to external sites. Some of these sites may collect personally identifiable information from you, and third-party advertising networks for Handshake.com may use cookies and Web beacons in their advertisements to collect certain information from you. Please see Section 7 of this policy for more information about advertising on the Handshake.com Network. While Handshake.com hopes that all third parties involved adhere to our policies regarding the privacy of our users, the Handshake.com Network Privacy Policy does not cover third-party data collection practices and the Handshake.com Network does not assume any responsibility for any actions of third parties.

In addition to the personally identifiable information that Handshake.com actively collects when you register, we also collect anonymous information passively using cookies and Web beacons. This technology plays an important role in making the Internet work, but there is much confusion among Internet users about what cookies and Web beacons are and how they are used.

A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that is transferred from a Web site to the hard drive of your computer so that the site administrator may identify your computer and passively track its activities on the Web site. This unique number identifies your Web browser to our computer system whenever you visit one of the sites in the Handshake.com Network. A cookie will not allow a Web site to learn any personally identifiable information (such as your real name and address) that you have not otherwise disclosed.

Cookies allow Handshake.com to automatically remember your Web browser when you visit our Network of Web sites. To help serve you better, Handshake.com generally uses cookies to:

The use of cookies is an industry standard, and they are currently used on most major Web sites. It is possible to adjust your Web browser preferences to alert you when a cookie is sent to your hard drive, or to refuse cookies altogether. While Handshake.com does not require you to use cookies, keep in mind that certain sites and services will not function properly if you set your browser to refuse all cookies.

Web beacons, also known as clear gifs or single-pixel gifs, are small image files that Handshake.com may place on Web pages and within Web-based email newsletters that we send. Working in conjunction with cookies, Web beacons allow Handshake.com to accurately count the number of unique users who have visited a specific page on the Handshake.com Network and the number of times those pages are displayed. We can also use Web beacons to let us know how many people opened a Web-based email newsletter. This information is only collected in aggregate form and will not be linked to your personally identifiable information.

Without cookies and Web beacons, it would be difficult for Handshake.com to know which services have a larger audience than others. Tracking audience size helps us to better understand when to launch new services and enhance the current offerings. Keep in mind that any image file on a Web page can act as a Web beacon. Third-party advertising networks for Handshake.com may use Web beacons in their advertisements.

Because Web beacons work in conjunction with cookies, you can prevent our Web beacon from collecting anonymous information by setting your Web browser to refuse all cookies or the Handshake.com Network cookie in particular. Web beacons are built into our Web pages, so non-functional Web beacons will continue to appear even if you refuse the Handshake.com Network cookie.

Any personally identifiable information you share with Handshake.com when registering for Products and Services at any of our Network sites is maintained and accessible only by Handshake.com unless specifically stated otherwise. Handshake.com requests information from its users so that users can enjoy customized experiences across the Handshake.com Network, including personalization services, interactive communications, online games and much more. Most of these Products and Services are available to you at no cost, and Handshake.com displays advertisements so we can continue to provide great content and services free of charge. We can also better prepare future content based on your interests.

The following are examples of how the Handshake.com Network may use the information it collects:

Whenever you provide registration information on co-branded or private label sites, that data may be shared with the third-party company providing the service. You should make every effort to read the individual privacy policies of such third parties and make an informed decision on your own whether to continue based upon these sites' privacy practices and your own discretion. You may opt-out of sharing your information with such providers by choosing not to use that service or content.

In addition to finding co-branded and private label sites, you will find direct links on our site to sites offered by third parties. Some of these sites are authorized to use the Handshake.com Network brands and/or logos. No third-party sites are covered by this Privacy Policy. If you feel that a site using a Handshake.com Network brand and/or logo does not follow an acceptable privacy policy, please contact the Handshake.com Privacy Site Coordinator by email at privacy@Handshake.com.com.

Handshake.com may disclose information about individual users to third parties who agree to provide services to Handshake.com and who agree to maintain the confidentiality of such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. These third parties will provide a variety of services to Handshake.com, including, without limitation, processing and storing user information, helping to create new content and promotions for the Handshake.com Network, and sending or coordinating the sending of marketing communications that users have consented to receive. Handshake.com will disclose information about individual users to governmental or judicial authorities or law enforcement agencies, or to other individuals or entities in response to subpoena, court order, or other legal process. In matters involving a danger to personal or public safety, Handshake.com may voluntarily provide information to appropriate governmental authorities.

If you elect to receive Handshake.com registration offers during registration for the Handshake.com Network, Handshake.com will release personally identifiable information to the applicable sponsor or advertiser. Information released may include name, email address, postal address and other information supplied in the Handshake.com Network registration process. Please note that the sponsor or advertiser will not be bound by this Handshake.com Network Privacy Policy.

If Handshake.com is acquired by or merged with another company, Handshake.com may transfer personally-identifiable information about you to that company. Handshake.com will notify you in the event that your personally-identifiable information is transferred under these circumstances and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

If a third party acquires, or otherwise receives in a transaction with Handshake.com, one or more of the Handshake.com Products and Services, then Handshake.com will transfer personally-identifiable information about users of those Products and Services to the third party. The third party will handle the Products and Services in accordance with its own policies and procedures and not in accordance with Handshake.com policies and procedures. You will be notified if your personally-identifiable information is transferred under these circumstances by an email sent to the email address you provided or by a posting on the site that offers the relevant Products or Services.

Handshake.com Customers: Handshake.com creates your public profile by using your answers to the Handshake.com questionnaire and your ZIP Code, along with any photos or images you post. Users will have the ability to search and view the public profiles.

Handshake.com Domains Customers: Users of Handshake.com Domains will be required to designate an administrative contact and, in some instances, a technical contact for the domain names they register. Handshake.com will assume that the Handshake.com member who registers for the Handshake.com Domains service will serve as these contacts, although users will have the ability to designate other contacts. Handshake.com will disclose the name, address, phone number, fax number, and email address of the administrative and technical contacts to Handshake.com' s domain name provider, which in turn will make such information publicly available through an online WHOIS database.

You can opt out of sharing your personally identifiable information with any third-party service or content providers in any areas of the Handshake.com Network by choosing not to use such areas.

In addition, you may opt-opt of sharing your personally identifiable information with third-party service providers and sponsors by clearing the appropriate checkboxes at the point of initial collection. You will see these checkboxes near the bottom of the registration page.

In addition, all Handshake.com Network newsletters and direct email communications have easy-to-follow unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email.

If you have a question about the Handshake.com opt-out process that is not answered here, please send an email to privacy@Handshake.com.com.

The Handshake.com Network has security measures in place to attempt to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of your user data under our control. Handshake.com uses physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect any personally identifiable data stored on its computers. Only authorized employees have access to the information you provide us.
You are ultimately responsible for the security of your Handshake.com Network ID and password. Please take care when using and storing them. Handshake.com recommends that you do not divulge your password to anyone. You should log out of your browser at the end of each computer session to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence, especially if several people have access to your personal computer or you are using a computer in a public place like a library or Internet cafe.

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 provides safeguards to protect children who use the Internet by regulating the online collection of personal information from children under the age of 13. Because of these safeguards, children under 13 are not able to access or use all Products and Services on the Handshake.com Network. Parents of children under 13 can authorize their children to use some of our services by signing up for a Handshake.com Family Membership.

 

Handshake.com may make certain software available for download. This software may be created by Handshake.com or by third party licensors. The software may be programmed to access our servers and/or third party servers in order for the software to operate and in order to check for program upgrades or enhancements. From time to time, new files may be added to your computer in order to upgrade the software or add new functionality to it. These changes may occur without notice to you. If at any time you wish to uninstall the software program, you may do so by following the instructions that accompany the software. Use of the software will be governed by a separate license agreement.

Personal information collected by Handshake.com may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Handshake.com or its agents maintain facilities. By using the Handshake.com Network, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country.

Meeting new people in an online community (chat room, forum, newsgroup, message board, Web page, etc.) is one of the best things about the Internet, but you should always be careful about disclosing personal information such as an actual name, member name, email address, and so on. This information may be collected and used by others within the online community to send unsolicited email messages from other parties, outside the Handshake.com Network. Some of the messages you receive may be useful to you, but some may not. In an effort to curtail unsolicited email, Handshake.com blocks certain email addresses and domains from sending messages to email addresses at our domains.

 

The Handshake.com Network will update this policy from time to time so please check back periodically. When such changes occur, you will see the word "Updated" next to the Privacy Policy link on the front page of each site on the Handshake.com Network. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will prominently post such changes prior to implementing them.