Basic
World Rules
- Treat others as you want to be treated! That
means no swearing, no name-calling, no mimicking, and
no teasing. Provider World is not only
a fun place for you; it is a fun place for thousands
of other people. Even though you may never meet
the other kids you chat with face to face, you need
to remember that no one likes to be treated badly.
- NEVER, EVER share personal
information! Not your last name, not your phone
number, not even your email address! You need
to remember that even though Provider World is
heavily monitored, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to protect
your identification. So, just don’t ask….and
don’t tell.
- No inappropriate talk or behavior in Provider
World. That means no mentioning alcohol, drugs,
racial, sexual or otherwise improper talk whatsoever. This
will get you banned from Provider World.
- In Provider World, the communication is
in English. This is not because we don’t
think it is awesome that many people speak more than
one language. It is because we need to monitor all
the stuff that is said in Provider World and
the moderator’s primary language is English.
We need to be able to read your communication, so again,
not be a drag or anything, but you must speak - or
in this case write - in English only.
- Also, what is ours is NOT YOURS. We would never
steal from you. So, please don’t steal
from Provider World. You can play with
whatever toys we have on our site, but you need to
leave them at our house when you are done.
Terms of Use
- Please click HERE to
get a more detailed version of the Provider Pals ® Terms
of Use and World Rules.
Provider
Pals® Kids Privacy Policy
Note to Parents
PLEASE READ. This section of
the privacy policy explains our information collection
and use practices online for children under the age
of thirteen, including what we do with information
that we collect and with whom we share that information. We
ask that you take the time to review our policy so
that you can know exactly how we collect and use information
from kids, and so that you will know how you can review
or request that we delete your child’s information. If
you ever have any questions or concerns about this
policy, please contact
us.
Provider Pals® is
dedicated to protecting your privacy and handling any
personal information we obtain from you with care and
respect. This Kids’ Privacy Policy is designed
to answer your questions regarding our privacy policies
and principles with respect to kids under the age of
13.
Building on our general Privacy Policy, we recognize
the need to provide additional privacy protections when
kids visit the sites on which this Kids' Privacy Policy
is posted. We explain those additional protections here
in this Kids' Privacy Policy. For your convenience, this
Kids' Privacy Policy uses terms that are defined in our
General Privacy Policy.
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA")
requires that we inform parents and legal guardians about
how we collect, use, and share personal information from
children under 13 years of age; and that we obtain the
consent of parents and guardians in order for children
under 13 years of age to use certain features of our
Web sites. Below, we explain how we do that for these "kids." Also,
when we use the term "parent" below, we mean
to include legal guardians.
- What types of personal information
do we collect about kids?
- How do we use and share
the personally identifiable information that we
have collected about kids?
- How do we notify and obtain
consent from parents for the collection of information
from their kids?
- How can parents access,
change or delete personally identifiable information
about their kids?
- How will we notify parents
if our Kids' Privacy Policy changes?
- Who do members and guests
contact with questions or comments about our Kids'
Privacy Policy?
- What types of
personal information do we collect about kids?
The only information we collect about kids during our
registration process is a kid's first name, city and
state of residence, parent's e-mail address, self-defined
user name and password. We encourage all kids who
register to choose a user name that does not contain
personally identifiable information, such as a nickname
and to not use objectionable words or phrases in their
username. We do not collect any other personally
identifiable information from kids during our registration
process. By law, we cannot require any more personal
information from a kid than is necessary for participation
in an online activity.
We may collect personal information from parents in order
to allow kids to participate in certain features located
on our Web sites and within subscription-based portions
of our Web sites. These features may include instant
message chatting, sending e-mail, posting on message
boards, and other similar activities. In the course of
a kid's participation in these features, a kid may also
provide us additional information about himself or herself,
such as the contents of his or her chat or message board
postings. If a parent allows us to collect personal information
about their kid, we may link certain information collected
through technology (see the "Information Collected
Through Technology" in No. 2 below) to that personal
information.
back to top of kid’s policy
- How
do we use and share the personally identifiable information
that we have collected about kids?
If a kid registers for a sweepstakes or contest, we
use the parent's e-mail address to notify the parent
of the kid's registration request (as described in detail
below in No. 3). We may get a kid's e-mail address from
the parent in order to send the kid a newsletter. In
addition, personal information about a kid may be collected
and used to enable a kid's participation in certain interactive
features such as instant message chatting, sending e-mail,
posting on message boards and other similar activities.
By the very nature of activities such as instant message
chatting, posting on message boards and other similar
activities there may inadvertent disclosure of a kid's
personal information to third parties, even though all
such activities are monitored on our Web sites. In addition,
we may share a kid's personal information with third
parties when reasonably necessary to: protect the security
and integrity of our sites; to take precautions against
liability; to respond to judicial process; or to the
extent permitted under provisions of law, to provide
information to police, and other law enforcement agencies
or for an investigation related to public safety.
Information Collected Through Technology
We get information through technology to make our sites
more interesting and useful to you and for other purposes
related to our business. For instance, when you come
to one of our sites, we collect your IP address. An IP
address is used to show the way you enter the Internet,
and is usually controlled by your ISP (Internet Service
Provider), your school, library or other such place.
All by itself, your IP address is not personally identifiable.
We may use IP addresses to get information about how
often our members and guests visit the different parts
of our sites, and we may combine IP addresses with personally
identifiable information.
Our Web sites collect information through a variety of
technical methods, including cookies and Web beacons.
Cookies are pieces of information that a Web site sends
to your computer while you are on the Web site. Web beacons
are small pieces of data contained in images on the pages
of Web sites. Cookies, Web beacons and other technical
methods may involve the transmission of information either
directly to us or to another party that helps collect
information for us.
We may use the information we get through these technical
methods for tracking and to improve our members’ and
guests’ experience on our Web sites. For example,
when you return to one of our Web sites after logging
in, cookies provide information to the site so that the
site will remember who you are. These technical
methods may let us collect and use information in a form
that is personally identifiable.
Companies That Help Us Serve You Better
Sometimes Provider Pals hires companies to help give
out products or services, like a shipping company that
delivers a package or a company that helps send out prizes
for a sweepstakes. That means we have to share your information. Sometimes,
Provider Pals also works with other companies who help
either get your information or talk with you, such as
a company that helps to provide customer service. Unless
we permit it somewhere else in this policy, these companies
are only allowed to do this for the reasons in this paragraph,
or as required by law, and we require strict confidentiality
and security from those we contract with.
Provider Pals does allow approved ads to be placed on
our Web sites. Please keep in mind that if you
click on an ad on one of our Web sites and link to a
third party's Web site, then our Privacy Policy will
not apply to your personally identifiable information
collected on that other’s Web site and you must
read the privacy policy posted on that site to see how
your personally identifiable information will be handled. Please
ask your parent’s permission to go to one of these
other sites, and remember never give out your personal
information without your parent’s permission!
back to top of kid’s policy
- How do we
notify and obtain consent from parents for the collection
of information from their kids?
Before allowing a kid to use a feature of our Web sites
that might result in the public disclosure of the kid's
information to third parties on the Internet, such as
posting on open message boards, we require a high level
of verification to confirm that the parent has given
permission for the kid's participation in such features.
For example, we send an e-mail to the kid's parent requesting
the parent's affirmative consent to the kid's participation,
we may require a parent to provide us credit card information,
speak to a trained telephone operator, or return by postal
mail or fax a signed consent form.
If a kid wins a sweepstakes or contest, we notify the
parent at the parent's e-mail address provided to us
during the registration process and request that the
parent provide their postal address for purposes of delivering
the prize. We may publish a winner's first name, first
initial of last name, city and state of residence on
our Web sites.
On limited occasions, there may be a special offer
for a trial play period. When a kid uses their trial
pass, we will collect no identifiable information from
them. These passes are only good for a very limited
amount of time and will be deactivated upon expiration.
back to top of kid’s policy
- How can parents
access, change or delete personally identifiable
information about their kids?
At any time, parents can refuse to permit us to collect
further personal information from their kid and can request
that any personal information we have collected be deleted
from our records. We use two methods to allow parents
to access, change or delete the personally identifiable
information that we have collected from their kid.
A parent can view his or her kid's personal information
by logging on to the kid's account at the Member Services
center located at http://www.providerpals.com/pals/user/action/UpdateProfile.action.
The parent will need to have their kid's user name and
password. There are also instructions at the Member Services
center explaining how to recover a password if the kid
has forgotten it.
To change or delete personal information that we have
collected from his or her kid, a parent can contact our
Member Services center by sending an e-mail to memberservices@providerpals.com.
Please include the kid's user name, the parent's e-mail
address, and your specific request in the e-mail so that
we can better assist you.
back to top of kid’s policy
- How will we notify
parents if our Kids' Privacy Policy changes?
We may amend our Kids' Privacy Policy at any time. To
keep parents updated, we will provide parents notice
by e-mail of any material changes in the way we intend
to collect, use and/or share kids' personal information.
Please note that, at all times, parents should update
their personal information to provide us current e-mail
addresses. We will apply material changes in our Kids'
Privacy Policy only in conformance with applicable law,
including any applicable provisions of COPPA that require
parental consent.
back to top of kid’s
policy
- Who do members
and guests contact with questions or comments about
our Kids' Privacy Policy?
If you need further assistance, please send an e-mail
with your questions or comments to memberservices@providerpals.com or
write us at:
Member Services
Provider Pals
5957 Champion Road
Libby, MT 59923
You may also telephone us at (406) 293-8822. (If you
are not 18 years of age or older, you must have your
parent or guardian's permission to call this number.)
back to top of kid’s policy
Provider
Pals® General Privacy Policy
At Provider Pals, we are dedicated to protecting your
privacy. Any personal information we obtain from
you will be treated with care and respect. Our
Privacy Policy has been designed to answer questions
you may have about our privacy policies and our principles.
- What information does this Privacy
Policy cover?
- What types of personally identifiable
information do we collect about our members and guests?
- How is your personally identifiable
information used and shared?
- What choices do you have about the
collection, use, and sharing of your personally identifiable
information?
- What kinds of security measures do
we take to safeguard your personally identifiable
information?
- How can you update your contact information
and opt out choices?
- How can you ask questions or send
us comments about this Privacy Policy?
- How will you know if we amend this
Privacy Policy?
- What additional privacy protections
do we provide for children under the age of 13 who
visit our sites?
- What information
does this Privacy Policy cover?
This Privacy Policy applies only to personally identifiable
information collected on the Web sites where this Privacy
Policy is posted and does not apply to any other information
collected by Provider Pals through any other means.
When this Privacy Policy uses the term "personally
identifiable information," we mean information that
identifies a particular individual, such as the individual's
name, postal address, e-mail address, and telephone number.
When other information, such as a purchase of goods or
service, is directly associated with personally identifiable
information, this other information also is treated as
personally identifiable information for purposes of this
Privacy Policy. The terms of this Privacy Policy are
subject to all applicable laws.
back to top of general policy
- What types of
personally identifiable information do we collect
about our members and guests?
We collect several types of personally identifiable
information about our members and guests.
Information You Provide to Us
Much of the personally identifiable information we receive
comes directly from members and guests who are interested
in obtaining various products and services from us. Typically,
this information includes the member’s or guest’s
complete name, postal address, e-mail address of parent
and/or child, and telephone number. We may also collect
other types of information such as gender, age and personal
interests, which we may associate with personally identifiable
information. This information may be used for record
keeping, order fulfillment, marketing and subscription
renewal notification or as a means of ensuring that our
online experiences are designed for the appropriate audience. If
you purchase products or services from us, we will note,
for example, credit card information, the type of services
or products ordered or purchased and the date of the
order or purchase. You may also provide us photographs
or other video materials, which may contain personal
information. We may collect personal information when
you register on, log on, or visit our Web sites, including
when you participate in activities on our Web sites,
such as sweepstakes, contests, games and promotional
offers, and when you provide information to our Member
Services representatives. Finally, our Web sites may
offer message board, chat and other public forums. In
Provider World, only the English language will be used
for communication so that occurrences of unintentional
sharing of personal information are limited. Other
languages and characters are not allowed. Failure to
comply, or the attempt to circumvent our language filters
by using foreign languages or characters may result in
an account being deactivated and/or permanently banned
from the site. If you provide personal information when
you use these forums, that personal information may be
publicly posted. Our rules for use of these public forums
are described in the "Public Forums and Communication" and "House
Rules" sections of the Terms
of Use for this Web site.
Since use of some of our Web sites, including Provider
World, require that you create a unique identifier such
as a password, you should know that failure to create
or enter this required information will result in your
inability to access portions or all of these Web sites.
Information Collected Through Technology
We collect information through technology to make our
sites more interesting and useful to you and for various
purposes related to our business. For instance, when
you come to one of our sites, we collect your IP address.
An IP address is associated with the access point through
which you enter the Internet, and is typically controlled
by your ISP (Internet Service Provider), your company,
or your university or school. Standing alone, your IP
address is not personally identifiable. We may use IP
addresses to collect information regarding the frequency
with which our members and guests visit various parts
of our sites, and we may combine IP addresses with personally
identifiable information.
Our Web sites collect information through a variety of
technical methods, including cookies and Web beacons.
Cookies are pieces of information that a Web site sends
to your computer while you are viewing the Web site.
Web beacons are small pieces of data that are embedded
in images on the pages of Web sites. Cookies, Web beacons
and other technical methods may involve the transmission
of information either directly to us or to another party
authorized by us to collect information on our behalf.
We may use the information collected through these technical
methods for tracking and to enhance our members’ and
guests’ experience on our Web sites. For example,
when you return to one of our Web sites after logging
in, cookies provide information to the site so that the
site will remember who you are. We also may use
technical methods for a number of purposes in HTML e-mails
that we send our members and guests, including to determine
whether our members and guests have opened those e-mails
and/or clicked on links in those e-mails, to customize
the display of banner advertisements and other messages
after a member or guest has closed the e-mail, and to
determine whether a member or guest has made an inquiry
or purchase in response to a particular e-mail. These
technical methods may enable us to collect and use information
in a form that is personally identifiable.
Provider Pals does allow approved advertisements to be
placed on our Web sites. Please keep in mind that
if you click on an advertisement on one of our Web sites
and link to a third party's Web site, then our Privacy
Policy will not apply to your personally identifiable
information collected on that third party's Web site
and you must read the privacy policy posted on that site
to see how your personally identifiable information will
be handled.
Information That We Collect from Others
We may supplement personally identifiable information
that we have collected directly from our members and
guests with other information that we obtain from third
parties. In addition, we may obtain information about
individuals who are not yet users of our Web sites, members
or guests of Provider Pals or Provider World. When we
associate information that we obtain from third parties
with personally identifiable information that we have
collected under this Privacy Policy, we will treat the
acquired information like the information that we collected
ourselves and, except as permitted by this Privacy Policy,
the information will not be shared with third parties.
On limited occasions, there may be a special offer for
a trial play period. During this trial period,
we will collect no identifiable information from the
user. These passes are only good for a very limited
amount of time and will be deactivated upon expiration.
back to top of general policy
- How is your
personally identifiable information used and shared?
As described in detail below, Provider Pals may use
your personally identifiable information in many ways,
including sending you promotional materials. (By "promotional
materials," we mean communications that directly
promote the use of Web sites, and/or the purchase of
products or services.) As outlined below in No. 4, you
may "opt-out" of certain uses of your personal
information.
General Provisions for Sharing and Use by Provider
Pals
Personally identifiable information collected under this
Privacy Policy is used by Provider Pals for many purposes.
For example, Provider Pals may use your personal information
to send you promotional materials about goods and services
(including special offers and promotions) offered by
Provider Pals. These promotional materials may be sent
to you by postal mail, e-mail or other means. You may
opt out of receiving these communications as provided
in No. 4 below.
Provider Pals may also use your personally identifiable
information for many purposes other than sending you
promotional materials. (We refer to all of these types
of uses of your personally identifiable information that
do not involve the sending of promotional materials as "Operational
Uses.") For example, we may use your information
to complete transactions requested by you (such as your
purchase of a product or service offered on our Web sites),
or to send you administrative communications either about
your account with us or about features of our Web sites,
including any future changes to this Privacy Policy.
Because these uses of your personally identifiable information
do not involve sending you promotional materials, your
opt-outs under No. 4 below will not apply to any of these
Operational Uses.
Finally, Provider Pals may take your personally identifiable
information and make it non-personally identifiable,
either by combining it with information about other individuals
(aggregating your information with information about
other individuals), or by removing characteristics (such
as your name) that make the information personally identifiable
to you (de-personalizing your information). Given the
nature of this information, there are no restrictions
under this Privacy Policy upon the right of Provider
Pals to aggregate or de-personalize your personal information,
and Provider Pals may use and/or share with third parties
the resulting non-personally identifiable information
in any way.
Companies That Facilitate Communications and Transactions with You
Sometimes Provider Pals hires companies to help provide
products or services, like a shipping company that delivers
a package or a company that helps fulfill prizes for
a sweepstakes. In those instances, there is a need to
share your information with these companies. Sometimes,
Provider Pals also works with other companies who help
either gather your information or communicate with you,
such as a company that helps to provide customer service.
Your opt-out choices under No. 4 below will not apply
to sharing by Provider Pals of your personally identifiable
information with any of these companies. Nonetheless,
except as separately permitted by other provisions of
this Privacy Policy, these companies are allowed to gather,
receive and use your information only for the purposes
described in this paragraph or as required by law.
Disclosures Required By Law and Disclosures to Help Protect the Security and
Safety of Our Web Sites, Provider Pals and Others
Regardless of any opt-out choices that you make under
No. 4, Provider Pals will disclose personally identifiable
information when it believes, in good faith, that such
disclosures (a) are required by law, including, for example,
to comply with a court order or subpoena, or (b) will
help to: enforce our Terms
of Use; enforce contests, sweepstakes, promotions
and/or game rules; protect your safety or security, including
the safety and security of property that belongs to you;
and/or protect the safety and security of our Web sites,
Provider Pals and/or third parties, including the safety
and security of property that belongs to Provider Pals
or third parties.
back to top of general policy
- What choices
do you have about the collection, use, and sharing
of your personally identifiable information?
With regard to personally identifiable information that
you have provided under this Privacy Policy, there are
two opt-out choices available to you. These opt-out choices
are the means by which you give us, or decline to give
us, your consent to use your personally identifiable
information for the purposes covered by these opt-out
choices. Please be assured, however, that if any one
of these opt-out choices is not presented to you on a
Web site, personal information collected from you on
that site will not be used for the purposes covered by
that opt-out choice. There are several methods by which
you can exercise your opt-out choices: (a) during the
registration process on our Web sites; (b) after registration,
by logging on our Web sites, clicking on our Privacy
Policy links, going to a site's Member Services center,
and following the opt-out directions; and (c) as described
below in No. 6. Each of these opt-out choices is subject
to the exceptions described further below.
Your two opt-out choices are:
Opt-Out Choice #1 -- You may choose to opt-out of receiving promotional
materials from Provider Pals. This opt-out choice is found on each of our
Web sites. For your convenience, when you make a choice regarding this "Provider
Pals" opt-out at any one of our Web sites, we will treat that choice as
replacing any other choices regarding that opt-out that you may previously have
made. Thus, if you want to make a change in your "Provider Pals" opt-out
choice, you can make that change by visiting the Member Services center at any
one of our Web sites. As described in the following paragraph, you provide
this consent when you complete a registration page on, or visit the Member Services
center of, the Web site of Provider Pals and choose not to opt-out of receiving
promotional materials.
Opt-Out Choice #2 -- You may choose to opt-out of receiving from Provider
Pals such items as newsletters, Web site update notifications, notices of contests,
sweepstakes and other such communications that are of interest and benefit to
our members and guests. This opt-out choice is found on each of our Web
sites. For your convenience, when you make a choice regarding this "Provider
Pals" opt-out at any one of our Web sites, we will treat that choice as
replacing any other choices regarding that opt-out that you may previously have
made. Thus, if you want to make a change in your "Provider Pals" opt-out
choice, you can make that change by visiting the Member Services center at any
one of our Web sites. As described in the following paragraph, you provide
this consent when you complete a registration page on, or visit the Member Services
center of, the Web site of Provider Pals and choose not to opt-out of receiving
such materials as noted above.
Please keep in mind that any opt-out choices you make
will not apply in situations where you either have made,
simultaneously make or later make a specific request
for information from Provider Pals.
Finally, if you do not exercise your opt-out choices
upon registration or initial login at our Web sites,
it may take up to ninety (90) days for your opt-out choices
to be fully effective. Please keep in mind that, if you
have not consistently used the same postal and e-mail
addresses on our Web sites, or if you have used a general
change of address process (such as the change of address
process offered by the U.S. Postal Service) after providing
address information on our Web sites, systems maintained
by Provider Pals may have varying contact information
for you. Accordingly, it may not always be possible to
match your new opt-out choices with the personal information
that you previously have provided.
back to top of general policy
- What kinds of
security measures do we take to safeguard your personally
identifiable information?
The security and confidentiality of your information
is extremely important to us. We have implemented technical,
administrative and physical security measures to protect
member and guest information from unauthorized access
and improper use. From time to time, we review our security
procedures in order to consider appropriate new technology
and methods. Please be aware though, that despite our
best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.
back to top of general policy
- How can you
update your contact information and opt out choices?
You can access and update the contact information you
gave us during registration (that is, your postal address,
e-mail address, or any other information that would directly
enable us to contact you), or modify your opt-out choices,
by going to our Member Services center. Simply click
on this link http://www.providerpals.com/pals/user/action/UpdateProfile.action,
or go to the Member Services center on our Web sites,
and then log in with your member name and password. In
some cases, you may need to visit the Member Services
center on a particular Web site to change your preferences
associated with that Web site. There are instructions
on the start page of the link above to help you recover
your password if you have forgotten it. If you need to
recover your password, you can also contact us via e-mail
at memberservices@providerpals.com.
Please include information in the e-mail that will help
us identify your account so we can assist you with your
request. We may also provide you an opportunity to update
your contact information and/or modify your opt-out choices
by sending you an e-mail or other communication that
invites your response. Finally, you may unsubscribe from
certain e-mail communications by clicking on unsubscribe
links in those e-mails.
back to top of general policy
- How can you
ask questions or send us comments about this Privacy
Policy?
If you have questions or wish to send us comments about
this Privacy Policy, please send an e-mail with your
questions or comments to memberservices@providerpals.com or
write us:
Member Services
Provider Pals
5957 Champion Road
Libby, MT 59923
Please be assured that any personal information that
you provide in communications to the above e-mail and
postal mail addresses will not be used to send you promotional
materials, etc. unless you so request.
back to top
of general policy
- How will you
know if we amend this Privacy Policy?
We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time. If we
amend this Privacy Policy to permit material changes
in the way we collect, use and/or share your personally
identifiable information, we will notify you of such
amendment by sending you an e-mail at the last e-mail
address that you provided us and/or by prominently posting
notice of such amendment on the Web sites covered by
this Privacy Policy. Any such amendment to this Privacy
Policy will be effective thirty (30) calendar days following
either our dispatch of an e-mail notice to you or our
posting of notice of the changes on the Web sites covered
by this Privacy Policy. Please note that, at all times,
you are responsible for updating your personal information
to provide us your current e-mail address. In the event
that the last e-mail address that you have provided us
is not valid, or for any other reason is not capable
of delivering to you the notice described above, our
dispatch of the e-mail containing such notice will nonetheless
constitute effective notice of the amendment described
in the notice. In any event, an amendment to this Privacy
Policy may permit material changes in the way we use
and share personally identifiable information that you
provided us prior to our notification to you of such
amendment. If you do not wish to allow such material
changes, you must so notify us (in the manner we specify)
prior to the effective date of the amendment. If you
provide us this notice, we may choose to deactivate your
account. Please be advised, however, that regardless
of whether you provide such notice to us, any such amendment
to this Privacy Policy will apply to any personal information
that you provide us on or after the effective date of
such amendment.
back to top of general policy
- What additional
privacy protections do we provide for children under
the age of 13 who visit our sites?
We recognize the need to provide additional privacy
protections for children who visit our sites. To read
about our protections for children who are under the
age of 13, please click
here. |
