Privacy Policy

Effective Date: November 1, 2009

This Privacy Policy supplements the VentureMashTM Terms of Service. All capitalized terms used in this Privacy Policy, together with the terms “we” and “you,” have the same meanings set forth in the VentureMashTM Terms of Service.
At VentureMash, your privacy is important to us. We want you to be aware of how we protect your privacy and how we use your information to help us deliver the VentureMashTM platform referred to as the “Site.” We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make a material change to the Privacy Policy, we will post a notice of the change on the home page of the Site in addition to publishing the new policy on the Site. Please refer back to our Privacy Policy periodically, as your continued use of the Site will constitute your acceptance of the new policy. Any data or other information gathered by VentureMash through the Site is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such data or other information is actually used by us. Please review the following and print out a copy for your records:

1. When you register for an Account you are required to provide a username and password, along with your email address and the region where you live (“Registration Data”). We use your Registration Data in order to identify you as a registered User of the Site.
2. We also use your email address to contact you about the services on our Site. E-mail communications that you transmit through the Site are only accessible by designated recipients, except that certain VentureMashTM personnel involved in systems management and maintenance also have access to your e-mail communications. We retain email messages in the normal course of our business to receive comments and send responses. We also collect emails to conduct research and to assist in troubleshooting. We will only send email solicitations to you if you have opted to receive such email solicitations on your “Edit Profile” page.
3. You will also be given the opportunity to share certain demographic information about yourself, such as your zip code, your skills, and your interests (collectively, “Profile Information”). We use your Profile Information to personalize your experience on the Site and to make it more enjoyable for you. We also use your Profile Information to maintain and improve the Site, to better understand Users’ behavior, to generate aggregate reports, to conduct market research, and to make recommendations for relevant content, people, and resources that match your interests.
4. We also give you the opportunity to provide your name, one or more profile images, and if you sign up to become a Sponsor, you will be asked to provide your credit card information (“Identifying Information”). We use your name to personalize your experience on the site and when we communicate with you, and your name and image to allow Users to identify you. Your credit card information is used to process payments you make when signing up to become a Sponsor. We use a third-party provider to process your payments, and we do not store your credit card information unless we are legally obligated to do so.
5. We also give you the opportunity to provide us with additional contact information and social networking information (“Contact Information”) such as your website address, blogging address, Twitter account, Facebook page, LinkedIn page, and GitHub account to allow Users, and us, to contact you using your preferred social networks and methods of communication.
6. We also collect information from other sources about your activity on the Internet “Activity Information”). Activity Information assists us in optimizing the Site and increasing the value of our business. We collect the following types of information and use the following information collection devices:
   • Log Files. As is true of most web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes date/time stamps, browser types, operating systems, internet protocol (IP) addresses, internet service providers (ISPs), referring/exit pages, and clickstream data. We use this information, which does not identify individual users, to analyze trends, to administer the site, to track user’s movements around the site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We do not link this automatically-collected data to personally identifiable information.
   • Information from Cookies. Like many other commercial sites, we use “Cookies.” Cookies are alphanumeric scripts of textual software code that the Site transfers to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser to familiarize our systems with yours and to increase usability and decrease logging on time and other features. This information may be automatically collected. You can configure your browser not to accept cookies. We set a persistent cookie to store your passwords, so you do not have to enter it multiple times. Some of our advertisers and other business partners also use cookies through the Site. We have no access to or control over such cookies.
   • Click Path Information. We also collect information about your click path using various third-party analytics systems. We use this information to help us better organize and optimize the Site.
7. If you sign up for an Account using OpenID, some or all of the information that comprises your Registration Data, Profile Information, Identifying Information, Contact Information, and Activity Information will be sent to us automatically from your OpenID provider during the authentication process.
8. Except for the password, credit card information, and zip code information you submit through the Site when creating an Account (“Non-Published Information), all Registration Information, Profile Information, Contact Information, and Identifying Information you submit through the Site will be publicly available through the Site. Except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy, we do not share your Non-Published Information with third parties.
9. We share your Registration Data, Profile Information, Identifying Information, and Activity Information with our Affiliates, agents, and service providers, who provide certain services in connection with the Site. These third parties use such information in order to provide these services.
10. We may also share your Activity Information and Profile Information on an aggregated basis with Sponsors so that we can inform you of certain offers, promotions, and opportunities that might be of interest to you, and in order to help us improve the overall quality of the Site.
11. We share your credit card information only with those third-party service providers responsible for processing your payment.
12. You will be notified and given the opportunity to opt out when a third party that is not our Affiliate, agent, or service provider will be collecting your Non-Published Information through the Site. In order to update your Registration Data, Profile Information, Identifying Information (except for your credit card information), or Contact Information, log in to your Account and click on the link for the “Edit Profile” page.
13. We provide you with the opportunity to select whether, when, and through which available method you wish to receive emails, newsletter updates, and other communications through the Site, either when we initially ask for such information, by updating your “Edit Profile” page, or both.
14. If would like to have your Identifying Information removed from our system, contact us at VentureMash LLC, P.O. Box 82375, Portland, OR 97282. Please do not include any social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, medical information, or any other sensitive information in your communications with VentureMash.
15. Except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy, VentureMash will not sell lists of its Users, and will not sell the Identifying Information of an individual User, to any third party without having first obtained permission from such Users to do so.
16. VentureMash may transfer your Registration Data, Profile Information, Identifying Information, Contact Information, and Activity Information to any purchaser of all or a portion of VentureMash’s assets, any entity that merges with VentureMash, and any company that VentureMash purchases. Notification of any such change in the ownership or control of your personal information will be posted on the home page of the Site, sent via email, or both.
17. We reserve the right to disclose your Registration Data, Profile Information, Identifying Information, Contact Information, and Activity Information as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on us.
18. The Site is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly solicit or collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If we learn that we are in possession of personally identifiable information from a child under the age of 13 we immediately delete such information.
19. VentureMash is not responsible for the disclosure of any information you share with other Users on forums, in chat rooms, or through other portions of the Site generally accessible to Listers, Sponsors, or other Users. Any information that you submit through such portions of the Site can be read, collected, and used in other ways by other Users, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages.

Again, the security of your personal information is important to us. If you submit credit card information when becoming a Sponsor, that information is transmitted directly to our third-party payment processing provider who encrypts the information. We do not receive or store your credit card information. Except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy, your Non-Published Information is only accessible to system administrators for the Site. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us through the Site, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is entirely secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

This Privacy Policy covers our privacy practices in connection with the Site, but not the privacy practices of third parties who advertise or otherwise offer information or services through the Site. In the event that any dispute arises between you and VentureMash with respect to this Privacy Policy or the subject matter described in this Privacy Policy, that dispute must be resolved in accordance with the VentureMash Terms of Service for this Site, including without limitation those provisions dealing with liability limitations and choice of law.