About Us

BabyZone/ParentZone Privacy Policy

General Statement

BabyZone and ParentZone take your online privacy seriously and we are fully committed to ensuring that your privacy is respected and protected. Our Privacy Policy below outlines the type of information we may collect and/or request from you while you are using BabyZone's websites, as well as ways in which we process and, sometimes, disseminate information collected. You are, of course, free to use the majority of our site features without providing any personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy covers all websites and web pages owned, controlled and/or operated by BabyZone.com, Inc., including ParentZone.com.

These sites are not intended for children under the age of 13. We will not knowingly collect personally identifiable information via this site from visitors under 13. We do, however, collect information about children and babies from their parents. We ask that our users not provide information about a baby or child without first getting the parents' consent. We encourage parents to talk to their children about their use of the Internet and the information they disclose to websites.

Information We Collect and What We Do With It

We collect two types of information: personally identifiable information (PII) and non-personally identifiable information (Non-PII), which is also referred to as aggregate and anonymous data. We collect this information in a variety of ways through the features provided on our websites, such as registration, when you communicate or otherwise interact with us, contests or promotions, surveys or when you purchase a product or service through our websites. We may receive information about you from other sources; for example we may obtain geographic or demographic information, or information about your interests, from third parties, or we may receive information from a marketing partner in connection with a co-branded website or promotion and through our relationships with third-party marketers and advertising networks. Providing us with PII is your choice, and you can always choose not to provide certain information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of some of our websites’ features.

References in this privacy policy to our company includes BabyZone, its direct and indirect parent companies, their direct and indirect subsidiaries, and their affiliates.

Personally Identifiable Information

PII is data used to identify, contact or locate a person, including name, address, telephone number, or email address.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information

Non-PII is information that is anonymous or not linked to a particular person. Used for online preference marketing by network advertisers, this data consists mostly of click-stream (sites you have visited or links you have clicked) compiled as you move across different websites or a single site.

Newsletters and Email

BabyZone and ParentZone offer newsletters on a variety of topics. By opting in to our mailing list, you will receive our newsletters and may receive information about our company and special offerings and promotional materials from our company and from some of our partners via email. In connection with the email service we receive PII about you. All emails will contain simple instructions on how to unsubscribe.

Membership Registration

Many areas of BabyZone and ParentZone are reserved for BabyZone/ParentZone members who have registered with us; for example, chats, message boards, and access to special services such as My BabyZone/My ParentZone, special offers and sweepstakes. We may use PII from this registration form to send members newsletters, information about our company and special offerings and promotional materials from our company and from some of our partners via email and/or postal mail. All emails will contain simple instructions on how to unsubscribe/opt out. In certain instances we may sell or otherwise provide certain members' postal addresses to third parties for postal mailings. To opt out of postal mailings please send a request to BabyZone Postal, 288 Walnut Street, Newtonville, MA 02460.

Edit Member Information

BabyZone and ParentZone provide you with the ability to access, correct, or change certain information in your member profile at any time, including contact information or other information you've provided to us. Please be advised that BabyZone and ParentZone currently archive information the sites collect on its members and visitors.

Shopping at BabyZone/ParentZone E-Commerce Partners

Shopping on our websites is provided through our e-commerce partners. When you provide personal financial and other PII to one of BabyZone's or ParentZone's e-commerce partners, this transaction will occur on the e-commerce partner's site, not BabyZone or ParentZone, and as such the financial and PII you provide is collected by and controlled by the privacy policy of that e-commerce partner. It is important therefore that you familiarize yourself with the privacy policy of the e-commerce site you transact with.

Co-Branded Sites

We may provide websites to you in partnership with third parties (“co-branded sites”) and may require you to disclose PII in order to register for and access products and/or services on those sites. Such co-branded sites will identify the third-party partners. If you elect to register for such products and/or services at co-branded sites, you may be providing your PII to both us and the third party partner and your information may be subject to a separate privacy policy or may be subject to both our privacy policy and the privacy policy of our third party partner. If you sign-in to a co-branded site with a user name and password obtained at one of our websites, you are automatically registering with the co-branded site and your personal information may be disclosed to the identified third-party partner for the co-branded site.

Message Boards, Chat Rooms, Birth Stories, Birth Announcements, Email Sent to BabyZone, Journals and Baby Books

Throughout our various public forums such as chat rooms, message boards, Ask the Expert areas, and various question and answer areas are available to you as a BabyZone visitor or member. Please remember that any information you disclose in these public forum areas becomes public information and is immediately accessible on the website, so it is important for you to exercise discretion and appropriate caution when deciding to reveal personal information in these areas. When entering journal or baby book entries, you have the choice to make these entries public or private. BabyZone and ParentZone may decide to utilize the content of Q&As, interactions with experts, birth stories, public journals, public baby books, email sent to us, and chat room and message board content in order to enhance the editorial, advertising, and promotional aspects of BabyZone and ParentZone.

Photos, Videos, Text or Other Content You Contribute

If you submit to us or our websites comments, photographs, videos, text, or other content, it may be published online or offline (including any media or format current existing or hereafter developed), and we may publish your name, likeness, and other personal information in connection with publishing the content or a portion of the content and we may excerpt from the content in connection with advertising, marketing, publicity, and promotional activities.

Surveys and Polls

Our surveys ask for opinions on various issues and very often these surveys and polls are sponsored by or associated with BabyZone/ParentZone third-party advertisers and partners. Occasionally, we may request demographic information (like zip code, age, or gender). Most information obtained through surveys and polls is aggregated and used internally or shared with third-party advertisers and partners only in the aggregated form, in which case no PII is released. In the event PII is requested as part of surveys or polls about any BabyZone member or visitor, such PII is not provided to third parties without informing you at the time the information is collected. In these instances you may expressly choose to receive information from a sponsor, in which case your information is provided to that sponsor only. Some survey answers may be added to your member portrait so that we can better provide you with content, ads and offers that are most appropriate for you.

Contests and Sweepstakes

We occasionally operate sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways throughout BabyZone/ParentZone sites. We typically ask you for your email address to notify you if you've won. We also ask for your first name and last name, and sometimes postal addresses in order to verify the entrant's identity. In some situations, we need additional information as part of the entry process, such as a prize selection choice. This information is shared with a third party in the following circumstances: when you choose to receive information from a third-party sweepstakes sponsor and when a sweepstakes is hosted by BabyZone/ParentZone but administered by a sponsor. We will advise you of this in the sweepstakes rules. In connection with our sweepstakes and contests, we will also ask you to consent to the release of information contained within the entry form for tax purposes if you become a winner. If you do not want any PII shared in this manner, you may always decline to participate in the sweepstakes, contests, or giveaways.

You should carefully review the rules of each sweepstakes, contest, and giveaway which you enter as they may contain additional important information about BabyZone's or a sponsor's use of your PII.

Email to a Friend and Electronic Cards

BabyZone offers the ability to forward an article to another person via email or to send an electronic card. If you use either of these services, we will use the recipient's email address in order to send the article or e-card and it will also ask for your email address. In the case of e-cards, we will ask for your email address and each may be stored so that we can ensure delivery and that the recipient can retrieve the e-card. We do not use the recipient's email address for any other purpose unless such recipient gives us permission to do so.

Sharing Information with Third Parties

We may share non-PII, such as aggregate user statistics, demographic information, and website usage information with third parties. Except as provided below, we do not share your PII with non-affiliated third parties without your permission. We employ third parties to perform functions on our behalf, such as hosting or operating websites, fulfilling orders for products and services purchased through the websites, sending email and/or other communications, removing repetitive information from customer lists, data analysis, marketing assistance, credit card payment processing, and customer services. It may be necessary for us to share PII with such third parties for use for such purposes.

If you agree to have your PII shared with third parties for direct marketing purposes, the PII you disclose will be subject to the privacy policy and practices of such third parties. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of third parties.

Other Uses of Personally Identifiable Information

We share the information collected through our websites with and among the websites, and may share the information with our direct and indirect parent companies, their direct and indirect subsidiaries and their affiliates and the websites they operate.

Additionally, we may also disclose PII you provide via this site in connection with the sale, assignment, or other transfer of the business or a portion of the business of our websites, including a corporate merger, consolidation, restructuring, sale of assets or other corporate change of our direct or indirect parent companies that affects us; or to respond to law enforcement requests; or where required by applicable laws, court orders, or government regulations; or to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our websites; or to protect the personal safety or property of our users or the public (among other things, this means that if you provide false information or attempt to pose as someone else, information about you may be disclosed as part of any investigation into your actions).

ADDITIONAL METHODS IN WHICH INFORMATION IS COLLECTED

IP Address

Your IP address is a number that is assigned by your ISP (Internet service provider) to your computer to identify its location. We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server, administer our website and provide locally relevant content.

Cookies

“Cookies” are small chunks of data created by a Web server, delivered through a Web browser, and stored on your computer for recordkeeping purposes when you visit Web sites. They provide a means for websites that you visit to keep track of your online patterns and preferences, as well as identify you as a return visitor. Cookies make the personalization of your Web experiences possible. For example, without the use of cookie files, it would be virtually impossible for us to remember your registration ID and password. You would need to re-enter this information upon each visit to our websites.

Our Use of Cookies

Our site uses a feature of your browser to set a cookie on your computer. BabyZone/ParentZone can then read the cookies whenever you visit the BabyZone/ParentZone websites. We use cookies to save your ID and password so you do not have to re-enter them each time you visit our site, to deliver content specific to your interests, to track the pages you have visited, and to make sure you do not see the same ads repeatedly. If you have asked us to send you information about upcoming products and promotions, using cookies we collect information about which website pages you have visited and in what order (called click stream data) that may allow us to narrow or limit the materials provided to you based on your prior online activities or preferences. We use general IP address information to better understand how the site is utilized. While we cannot collect PII via cookies or other tracking technology, if PII was previously provided, cookies may be tied to such information. We may combine your PII with your cookie and click stream data to allow us to limit the materials we provide you to items we think you will find interesting, based on your prior online activities and preferences. We may share aggregate, but not individual, cookies and tracking information, all Non-PII, with third parties, including our advertisers. You may modify your browser preference to provide you with choices relating to cookies. You have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set or to reject all cookies. If you choose to reject cookies you may be unable to use those BabyZone services that require registration.

Web Beacons and Web Bugs

Generally, a Web beacon consists of a small string of software code that represents a graphic image request on a Web page or email. There may or may not be a visible graphic image associated with the Web beacon and often the image is designed to blend into the background of a Web page or email. Web beacons can be used for many purposes—including site traffic reporting, unique visitor counts, advertising auditing and reporting, and personalization. The Web beacons on our websites collect only Non-PII or anonymous data.

Our Use of Web Beacons and Web Bugs

We may use Web beacons to do the following:

• count users who have visited specific pages or access certain cookies;
• monitoring traffic and conversion patterns through our various product and other offerings on the Web site;
• personalizing your experience when you visit our Web sites, including the advertising content you see;
• determining whether or not messages were opened, links were clicked or notifications/offers were acted upon.

Advertiser and Partner Links

BabyZone and ParentZone contain links to advertiser and partner websites. We cannot be responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such non-BabyZone websites, and we do not control the practices of any of our advertisers or partners to whom we are linked. In order to participate in certain partner and/or advertiser supplied services and tools you may be required to provide personally identifiable information to the advertisers and partners whose tools and services you have chosen to interact with. Each advertiser and partner may request different information from you. If you have additional questions about how one of our advertisers, partners or sponsors use information about you, we urge you to contact them directly.

THIRD-PARTY ADVERTISING COMPANIES

Many of the banner ads displayed on our Web pages are not selected and delivered by us, but by network advertising companies that manage and provide advertising for our Web sites. These third parties, called third-party ad servers or ad networks, deliver ads to you on our behalf when you visit our websites. These companies utilize certain technologies to deliver advertisements and marketing messages. They may also collect and use Non-PII about your visits to our websites and other websites in order to present advertisements about goods and services that may be of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice or to opt out of having this information used by third-party ad servers to provide targeted ads, please visit here .

The companies that provide advertising for our websites and other websites typically gather data about consumers who view their ads. That data is anonymous—linked only to a numbered cookie on a user's computer. Networks collect and analyze this data to make a variety of inferences about each consumer's interests and preferences. The result is a profile that attempts to predict the individual consumer's tastes, needs, and purchasing habits. That profile enables the advertising companies' computers to make split-second decisions about how to deliver ads directly targeted to the consumer's specific interests. This is called online preference marketing.

Some of these third parties track and analyze anonymous usage and browsing patterns of our visitors and community members. All data collected by these third parties on behalf of our websites is owned and used by us, but is licensed to the third party for the purposes of creating behavioral information segments. We use this information to help provide our advertisers with more targeted advertising opportunities, which means that users see advertising that is most likely to interest them and advertisers send their messages to people who are most likely to be receptive, improving both the viewer’s experience and the effectiveness of the ads. In addition, the third parties can sell the behavioral information segments to other third parties for use in ads on other websites.

THIRD-PARTY COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGY

In the course of serving advertisements to this site, our third-party advertisers may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. Our third-party advertisers may use other tracking technology, including without limitation, clear gifs (a.k.a. Web beacons and Web bugs) to recognize you and provide better managed advertising on our websites. Third party cookies and Web beacons are governed by the third party’s specific privacy policy, not our privacy policy.

Your California Privacy Rights

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits customers of BabyZone or ParentZone who are California residents to request certain information regarding its disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please click here or send request for information to: BabyZone Postal, 288 Walnut Street, Newtonville, MA 02460.

Security of Information

BabyZone and ParentZone have numerous security measures in place to protect you from the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. Access to all of your private member information requires use of your password. We recommend that you do not share your password with anyone. BabyZone and ParentZone use industry-standard tools to ensure that your information is secure and confidential.

Changes To Our Privacy Policy

We may amend our 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 PII, we will notify you of such amendment by giving notice on our Web sites covered by this privacy policy and/or by sending you an email to the last email address that you provided to us.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or anything else about BabyZone or ParentZone, please click here.

© 2008 Babyzone.com, Inc. All rights reserved
Last Updated March 14, 2008.