Collection of Personally Identifiable Information
Some functions and services offered through the Service require that you provide certain personally identifiable information (“PII”). We may also collect PII when, whether you do so offline or online, you order a subscription to a publication or order other products and services offers to you, or furnish us with information relating to your order or account. PII that we may collect includes email address, name, postal address, telephone number, date of birth, credit card number or other account number. We may also collect other information about you that we associate with your PII such as your interests, preferences and demographics. For example, we may collect information about your interests in certain health, food and lifestyle topics. We collect this information for example, when you order a product, enter a contest or sweepstakes, request a catalog, or register for a mailing list. To the extent we combine information about your Service usage with PII, we will treat it as PII. However, to the extent we “de-identify” (i.e., removal or modification of personally identifiable elements or the extraction of non-personally identifiable elements, including through anonymization, pseudonymization and hashing) the information we do not consider it PII for purposes of this Privacy Policy and may, subject to applicable law, use and share it without limitation. We do not make any assurance that de-identified data is not capable of re-identification.
From time to time, we may make available certain applications for use on mobile or connected devices (each application, an “App”). The type of PII we collect will vary by App, but may include both precise and non-precise geolocation information for purposes such as to provide you with access to local service, offers and promotions relevant to the App (e.g., coupons for local stores). Each App may include its own privacy policy explaining how we collect PII (including geolocation information) when you use that App; if not, then this Privacy Policy will apply to the App. You should always read the applicable privacy policy before downloading the App.
Use of Personally Identifiable Information
We may use your PII and other information we collect about you for any purposes not prohibited by applicable law or inconsistent with the applicable Privacy Policy or any statement made by us to you in writing at the time of collection. Such uses may include, without limitation, use of your information to:
- operate and improve the Service and our other products and services;
- understand you and your preferences for purposes such as to enhance your experience and enjoyment using the Service, and our other products and services;
- process and deliver promotion (e.g., contest and sweepstakes) entries, winners and rewards;
- send you a welcoming email, to contact you about your use of the Service and to provide important Service and other updates;
- provide the services, products or information you request and to process payments and complete any transactions in connection therewith;
- respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service;
- provide and deliver products and services you request;
- request feedback and to enable us to develop, customize and improve the Service, and other products and services;
- send you surveys or questionnaires;
- send you newsletters, including any online newsletter(s) you have requested or, for print subscribers, those online newsletters that are editorial companion pieces to our print publications;
- send you related information, including confirmations, invoices, technical notices, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
- communicate with you about new contests and sweepstakes, promotions and rewards, upcoming events, and other news about products and services offered by Company, our affiliates and our selected partners;
- use for editorial purposes, such as to contact you about content you have submitted to the Service or to give attribution to content you submit;
- send an email on your behalf which contains a display or link to a recipe, article, advice or other content you have selected to share with a friend through our Email-a-Friend service (however, we do not use the name and email address you provide us through this feature for any other purpose);
- link or combine it with other personal information we get offline and/or from our affiliates or third parties, for purposes such as to help understand your needs, provide you with better service, and determine whether marketing offers from our affiliates or third parties would be of interest to you; and
- investigate and take action against fraudulent or illegal activity or improper conduct and otherwise protect us and our users.
Company may save your credit card information for use when you log in to make future purchases. Company may store and process PII in the United States and other countries.
Your Sharing of Personally Identifiable Information
Please be aware that when you connect and share your actions, comments, content and information, for example, through discussion board postings on the Service, those actions are not private. Others may capture personal information you post, including your email address, and may use the data to identify or contact you, including to send you emails. We cannot control such actions by others. Please be mindful of your own privacy needs as you choose who to connect with and what to share and make public. If you share information about others, please be sure to respect their privacy and get consent for any information you may share about them. If you use our Email-a-Friend service, you represent that you have permission for the recipient to send that person the message and you accept that your name and email will be disclosed to them as part of that message.
Third Party Activities
If you submit PII through a form on the Service to request information from an advertiser or other third party, choose to otherwise share your PII with a third party such as by sharing stories you read by connecting with social networking services, or click on a link on the Service to go to a third party site that may collect information about you, we are not responsible for the privacy practices of, including any marketing or other use of your PII by, those third parties. To learn more about any other company or organization’s privacy practices, we suggest you contact them directly about their privacy policy.
Cookies, Web Beacons and Server Logs
Company, and third parties such as related Web hosting providers, and advertisers and ad serving and tracking companies, sometimes utilize “cookie” technology and other tracking technologies now and hereafter developed (“Tracking Technologies”) on or in connection with the Service. Cookies are bits of data stored on your hard drive that contain no personally identifying information (but may associate a unique identifier with your device and/or collect information that is hashed or otherwise converted to non-PII). Not all Web browsers accept cookies, and those that do usually provide a preference or setting that allows you to refuse and remove most types of browser cookies. If your browser does not accept cookies, you may still enjoy the Service but not all features and functionality may work.
We may also use local shared objects, also known as Flash cookies, to store your preferences such as volume control for videos, or display content based upon what you view on the Service to personalize your visit. Third party partners provide certain features on the Service and may display advertising based upon your Web browsing activity, using Flash cookies to help track and store information about you. Flash cookies are different from browser cookies because of the amount of, type of, and how data is stored. Cookie management tools provided by your browser usually will not remove Flash cookies.
We and third parties may collect information using Web beacons. Web beacons are electronic images that may be used on the Service or in our emails. We may use Web beacons to deliver cookies, count visits, understand usage and campaign effectiveness, collect and share information that is hashed or otherwise converted to non-PII, and to tell if an email has been opened and acted upon.
Server logs capture certain non-personally identifying data (but do track device identifiers), such as the time and date of a Web visit or opening an email, the browser and operating system being used, and the Web URL a user linked from. This information may be used for various purposes, such as use in aggregate form to help us plan system enhancements when necessary and to provide content that is compatible with our visitors’ Web-browsing systems. We also collect information about keyword searches performed by visitors on the Service. We do not collect your name or email address as a result of using a search feature. We may keep logs of all words searched to help us learn what kinds of information Service visitors are seeking, and to improve our Service.
Your browser settings may allow you to automatically transmit a “Do Not Track” signal to online services you visit. Note, however, there is no consensus among industry participants as to what “Do Not Track” means in this context. Like many online services, we currently do not alter our practices when the Service receives a “Do Not Track” signal from a visitor’s browser.
Notice to International Visitors
Company is based in the U.S. and the information we and our service providers collect is governed by U.S. law. If you are accessing the Service from outside of the U.S., please be aware that information collected through the Service may be transferred to, processed, stored, and used in the U.S. Data protection laws in the U.S. may be different from those of your country of residence. Your use of the Service or provision of any information therefore constitutes your consent to the transfer to and from, processing, usage, sharing, and storage of your information, including Personal Information, in the U.S. as set forth in this Privacy Policy.