Information Collection and Use

LinkBuddies is the sole owner of the information collected on the site www.linkbuddies.com. LinkBuddies collects information from our users at several different points on our Web site.

1. Registration In order to use certain areas of this Web site, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user is required to give certain contact (such as name and email address gender and income level). We use this information to contact the user about services on our site for which he has expressed interest.

2. Information Use The tools and services provided by LinkBuddies encourage repeat user visits. We use the information gathered from you to provide a more personalized experience. We also use the information gathered to assist us in designing new product and service offerings. LinkBuddies does not rent, sell, or share personal information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies except to provide products or services you've requested. This is only done when we have your permission.
In addition, LinkBuddies will disclose personal information under the following circumstances:

We respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims;

We believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of LinkBuddies's terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.

We transfer information about you if LinkBuddies is acquired by or merged with another company. In this event, LinkBuddies will notify you before information about you is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
3. Commitment to Children's Privacy Protecting children's privacy is especially important to us. It is our policy to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 and all other applicable laws. However, we believe that there is no substitute for proper parental supervision. LinkBuddies recommends that children ask a parent for permission before sending personal information to LinkBuddies, or to anyone else online.

4. Profile We store information that we collect through cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or third parties to create a profile of our users. A profile is stored information that we keep on individual users that details their viewing preferences. Consequently, collected information is tied to the users personally identifiable information to provide offers and improve the content of the site for the user. This profile is used to tailor a user's visit to our Web site, and to direct pertinent marketing promotions to them. Your profile is shared in aggregate form only.

5. Cookies A cookie is a small piece of data stored on the user's computer that contains identifying information about the user. Only the Website that sets the cookie is able to access that cookie; thus information you provide to LinkBuddies that is stored in a cookie will only be accessible to LinkBuddies's Website. We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user's hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions.

By setting a cookie on our site, users would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If users reject the cookie, they may still use our site. The only drawback to this is that the user will be limited in some areas of our site. For example, certain features and tools will not be accessible to the user if they are not logged in. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site.

Some of our business partners use cookies on our site (for example, advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies, once we have given permission for them to set cookies for advertising.

6. Online and Third Party Advertising LinkBuddies displays our online advertisements. We share aggregated and non-identifying information about our visitors and users collected through the registration process as well as through online surveys and promotions with these advertisers. Additionally, in some instances, we use this aggregated and non-identifying information to deliver tailored advertisements. For instance, an advertiser tells us the audience they want to reach (for example, males between 25 and 55 years of age) and provides us an advertisement tailored to the audience. Based upon the aggregated and non-identifying information we have collected, we may then display the advertisement to the intended audience. LinkBuddies does not share personal information about its visitors or users with these advertisers. This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by LinkBuddies only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.

7. Log Files Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses are tied to personally identifiable information to enable our Web-based service.

8. Visible and Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs) We employ or our third party advertising company employs a software technology called visible and clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons/Web Bugs), that help us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is effective. Visible and clear gifs are graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. The main difference between visible and clear gifs is that clear gifs are invisible on the page and are much smaller, about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Clear gifs are tied to users. personally identifiable information.

Visible and clear Gifs can "work with" existing cookies on a computer if they are both from the same Web site or advertising company. That means, for example, that if a person visited .www.companyX.com., which uses an advertising company's visible or clear gif, the Web site or advertising company would match the visible or clear gif's identifier and the advertising company's cookie ID number, to show the past online behavior for that computer. This collected information would then be given to the advertising company or Web site.

In addition, we use visible or clear gifs in our HTML-based emails to let us know which emails have been opened by the recipients. This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. If users would like to opt-out of these emails, please see the Opt-out section.

9. Communications from the Site

a. Special Offers and Updates. We send all new members a welcoming email to verify password and username. Established members will occasionally receive information on products, services, special deals, and a newsletter. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the option to not receive these types of communications. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.
b. Newsletter. If a user wishes to subscribe to our optional newsletters, we ask for contact information such as name and email address. Out of respect for our users privacy we provide a way to opt-out of these communications. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.

c. Service Announcements. On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

d. Customer Service. We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via email.

10. Sharing

a. Legal Disclaimer. Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site
. b. Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable). We share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. This information is used to present certain products and services to the demographic group being targeted. This is not linked to any personally identifiable information.

c. Third Party Advertisers. LinkBuddies may share Web site usage information about users with a reputable third parties for the purpose of targeting our Internet banner advertisements on this site and other sites. For example, LinkBuddies uses cookies and clear GIFs on this site, which allow us to recognize a user's cookie when a user visits this site. The information they collect and share through this technology is not personally identifiable.

11. Choice/Opt-out Our users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask for information. For example, our registration form has an 'opt-out' mechanism so users who register with us, but don't want any marketing material, can keep their email address off of our lists. However, as a condition of LinkBuddies being a free service we reserve the right to send monthly newsletters to all users. Users who wish to opt out of this mandatory newsletter will need to cancel their LinkBuddies subscription.
Users who no longer wish to receive our other newsletter and promotional communications may opt-out of receiving these communications by going to the Settings option in LinkBuddies and un-subscribing.

12. Links This Web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we, LinkBuddies, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.

13. Surveys & Contests. From time-to-time our site requests information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site. Users' personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties unless we give prior notice and choice. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests, they may not use users' personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes

14. Security This Web site takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is protected both online and off-line.

When our registration form asks users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL.

While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just "surfing". While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure environment, behind a locked cage in a locked facility. If users have any questions about the security at our Web site, users can send an email to the contact listed in this Privacy Policy.

15. Supplementation of Information In order for this Web site to properly fulfill its obligation to users it is necessary for us to supplement the information we receive with information from 3rd party sources.

16. Public Forums Please remember that any information you may disclose in the public areas of our Web sites or the Internet, becomes public information. You should exercise caution when deciding to disclose personal information in these public areas.

17. Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code, email, etc.), or if a user no longer desires our service, we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users' personally identifiable information. This can usually be done at the "settings" option once a user is logged in to the service.

18. Revisions to This Policy and Notification of Revision If we decide to revise, amend, or modify our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.

19. Contact Information If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at:

E.B.O.Z., Inc.
Legal Department
2800 28th Street, Suite 321
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Telephone: 310-314-8148
Facsimile: 310-399-3650
E-mail: legal@eboz.com