Privacy policy

HighBeam™ Research, a division of The Gale Group, Inc. (“HighBeam” or “we”) respects the privacy of our users, and we want you to be aware of how we use information that we have collected from and about you. By coming to www.highbeam.com or www.encyclopedia.com (the HighBeam Web sites), you are agreeing to and accepting this Privacy Policy as well as the Terms and Conditions and other end user agreements governing our services. Because the Internet is a rapidly evolving medium, and enhancements to the services we provide may affect the information that we collect and the manner that we use it, the Privacy Policy may change from time to time. If it does, we will post the revised policy on the HighBeam Web sites, with an indication of the date of the most recent revisions.

Scope

You should be aware that this Privacy Policy applies only to the HighBeam Web sites. Any Web sites linked to from the HighBeam site, an advertisement or an article displayed on the site are governed by their own privacy policies.

What personally identifiable information do I provide to HighBeam, and how does HighBeam use it?

• Personally identifiable information refers to any information that identifies or can be used to identify, contact, or locate you. HighBeam collects only the personally identifiable information that you provide to us if you register for membership on the HighBeam site, such as your name, mailing address, telephone number and e-mail address. If you are a Full Member of the HighBeam site, this also includes your credit card and related information.
• HighBeam uses your personally identifiable information to bill you in accordance with the User Agreement and to communicate with you regarding your account. These communications may include, without limitation, notices regarding material changes to HighBeam site policies, service updates, service enhancements, account management procedures and customer service transactional replies. Since these communications are necessary to ensure we provide our members with the highest quality of services, our members are not permitted to opt out from receipt of these communications.
• HighBeam may also use personally identifiable information to e-mail you newsletters or tips about how to use the service, inform you of product updates, or notify you about our own special offers or those of our third-party partners. You may choose at any time to opt out of receiving some or all of these communications by so indicating in the “Privacy Preferences” section of the Web site, by filling out this form (please include your name, address, and e-mail) or by using the unsubscribe link on any e-mail message you receive.
• We may also engage in co-registration programs with our partners in which situations both our partners and we will be able to communicate with you and use demographic data about you. You will have the option to opt out of receiving these messages in the “Privacy Preferences” section of the Web site.
• HighBeam does not associate your personally identifiable information with information about your use of the Web site.

What other information is collected about me on the HighBeam site and by whom?

• Like most Web sites, HighBeam employs cookies to recognize you and your access privileges on the HighBeam site. A cookie is a small piece of information that a Web site can store in a designated file on your computer. When you visit a site, that site can access only the information which it stored in your cookie – not information put on your computer by other Web-based services. HighBeam’s cookie does not store any of your personally identifiable information.
• HighBeam maintains internal logs of member and visitor use of the HighBeam site. Logs include information such as IP address, browser type and version, and computer operating system. HighBeam uses logs mainly for systems administration and diagnostic purposes, and to detect improper use of the site. Logs may also be used to generate aggregate, non-personally identifiable information for advertisers or other third parties.
• HighBeam also contracts with third parties to help us understand how people use our Web site and to provide functionalities such as e-mail distribution, ad serving and customer surveys. These companies also use cookies. They may also use other tracking technologies, such as Web beacons (also known as clear GIFs, Web bugs, tracking pixels or action tags), which are similar in function to cookies, allowing them to determine when users have reached particular Web pages on the HighBeam site.
• Cookies and Web beacons allow HighBeam and its third-party service providers to collect and analyze aggregate information about how its Web site is used, including tracking Web site usage categorized by non-personally identifiable information such as user age, profession, or place of residence.
• HighBeam does not use cookies, Web beacons, its internal logs or any other technologies to associate your personally identifiable information with information about your use of the site.
• HighBeam is currently using and has contracted with Omniture, a third party, to track and analyze non-personally identifiable usage and volume statistical information from our members and visitors (e.g., percentage of our site’s users who live in particular countries or fall into various age ranges). This helps us administer our Web site and constantly improve the quality of the services that we offer you. All data collected by Omniture on behalf of HighBeam is owned and used by HighBeam. HighBeam reserves the right to publish non-personally identifiable, summary information regarding its Web site members and visitors for promotional purposes and as a representative audience for advertisers. Please note that this is not personally identifiable information, only summaries of the activities or broad characteristics of our members and visitors.
• Omniture uses cookies and Web beacons to help track visitor behavior and sets cookies on behalf of HighBeam which will be listed under the domain 2O7.net. For more information about Omniture‘s privacy policy, including how to opt out, go to http://www.omniture.com/en/privacy.
• We sell advertising on our site in order to provide parts of our service for free and at a more affordable price for paying customers. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, our third-party advertisers may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. Most of the advertisements appearing on this Web site are delivered to you by 24/7 Real Media, Inc., our Web advertising partner. Information about your visit, such as number of times you have viewed an ad (but not your name, address, or other personal information), is used to serve ads to you. For more information about 24/7, cookies, and how to “opt-out,” please click here. Please be aware that if you opt out of allowing our Web advertising partner to collect this information, you may not be able to use certain parts of the site nor have access to certain functions.
• We partner with TACODA Audience Networks, which uses general information about the types of sites you visit and other non-personally identifiable information about you in order to deliver advertisements to you, on the HighBeam Web sites and third-party Web sites, for goods and services that may be of particular interest. If you would like more information about TACODA, its business practices, and its privacy policies, please click here. To opt out of TACODA’s cookies, click here.

How is my personally identifiable information or site usage data used or disclosed?

• HighBeam may share your personally identifiable information with others under the types of circumstances described in this Privacy Policy. We also reserve the right to assign, sell, license, or otherwise transfer to a third party your personally identifiable information in connection with an assignment, sale, joint venture, or other transfer of all or substantially all of our assets.
• If you make a purchase by credit card or otherwise provide your credit card information, the relevant data will be securely transmitted to HighBeam‘s vendor providing such payment processing service. Similarly, if you are using a co-branded site of HighBeam and at least one other third party (indicated by the inclusion of another party‘s name or product/service name either in the URL or site or by the inclusion of a third party‘s logos or trademarks in the site), your personally identifiable information may be used by HighBeam pursuant to this Privacy Policy and by the other party pursuant to its privacy policy. Such third party will be authorized to use this information in keeping with our contractual relationship with them and in accordance with its own privacy policy and information practices. We do not control these third parties and you agree that HighBeam is not liable for their acts, or any failure to act, on their part.
• We may make personally identifiable information available publicly without your prior written or electronic consent as required by law, court order, or as requested by other government or law enforcement authority.
• Advertisements, promotional offers, promotional e-mail, newsletters, “free gifts,” and links, for example, on the HighBeam site or sent via e-mail or other means from HighBeam may ask for personally identifiable information from you. If you provide this information, your personally identifiable information may be provided (either directly from you or by HighBeam) to the advertiser or Web site or company making the offer or providing the gift. This Privacy Policy does not cover the privacy and information practices of those advertisers or Web sites linked to the HighBeam site.
• HighBeam may use other companies and persons to perform certain functions for us. These functions might include, for example, processing credit card payments, providing customer service, and sending e-mail. These other companies and persons may have access to customer information (such as personally identifiable information) that‘s needed to perform their functions, but they are not authorized to use it for any other purposes. In addition, we may share information with other affiliated companies and joint ventures.
• We may use and/or distribute information about you and your use of the HighBeam site in ways that do not identify you individually or reveal your identity.
• Demographic information provided by you may be used, among other things, to tailor your user experience at the HighBeam site, distribute and show you content that we think you might be interested in, and display site content according to your preferences.

How secure is my personal information?

We are very concerned about the security of customer data. We store your information securely, using industry-compliant encryption technology. For example, when we ask users to provide payment information such as credit card numbers the data is protected during transmission to us using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology.

How can I opt out of having my information collected or shared?

As part of our registration process, we give you important choices about receiving HighBeam Research special offers, newsletters, product updates, research tips and special third-party promotions. To simplify the process, we have automatically checked the opt-in box for you. You have the option of unchecking the boxes for the types of communications you do not want to receive from us. If you do not opt-out from receiving these communications about our site or third-party sites, we will send them to you. If you do not opt-out during registration, but later change your mind, you can update your privacy preferences here, you can click on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail you receive from us or you can call our 24-hour customer support line at 1-800-860-9227.

How will I know when there are changes to this privacy policy?

This Privacy Policy is subject to modification from time to time at HighBeam‘s discretion. All changes will be incorporated into the written policy and posted on the privacy policy pages of the HighBeam Web sites here. The date of last revision to the policy is indicated at the bottom of the document.

What if I have questions that are not answered here?

If you have questions, you may use this form or contact us at:

Document last updated: Sept. 23, 2009