Welcome to the website (the "Site") for the Summerville Journal Scene, Berkeley Independent, or Goose Creek Gazette: www.journalscene.com, www.berkeleyind.com , or www.ourgazette.com .   This Site is an online service owned by Summerville Communications Inc.  (the “Company” or “us”), and powered by Mediaspan Online Services (“Mediaspan”).  We recognize that many visitors to our website are concerned about the information that they provide to us or that may be collected, and how we treat that information.  In order to address those concerns we have developed this Website Privacy Statement.

A.    TYPES OF INFORMATION COLLECTED

At this website, we may collect both personally identifiable information and non-personal information from you.  

1.    Personally identifiable information.  You don’t have to provide us with your personally identifiable information (such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, etc.) in order to read most of what’s posted on this Site.  We may, however, collect personally identifiable information about you when you submit comments in response to one of our stories, sign up to receive information from us, open an account with us, submit a letter to the editor through the Site, enter a contest, respond to a survey, make a forum submission, email us, purchase something through the Site, or at times in which we alert you that you must submit personally identifiable information.  Without this information, we would not be able to respond to your inquiries, entries and requests.  Please also note that several features of the Site, such as classified ads and blogs, may be operated by third parties.  These third parties may also obtain personally identifiable information from you in order to use their services.  Please check their privacy policies for information about their privacy practices.  In some cases these third parties may provide your personally identifiable information to the Company.

2.    Non-personal information. Non-personal information, such as which pages on the Site are accessed, what information is downloaded, what type of browser and operating system are being used, which Internet service provider is being used, and other information of this general type may be collected about visitors to the Site.  This information does not allow us to personally identify the Site visitor.  By collecting this information we learn how best to develop our website to meet the needs and desires of our visitors.

B.    METHODS OF INFORMATION COLLECTION

Personally identifiable information is collected when submitted by you – such as when you sign up for an account with us or when you send us an email.  Personally identifiable information may also be collected when you include it as part of a comment, letter, forum submission or blog entry that you submit to us.  Your personally identifiable information may be collected by third party service providers and then provided to the Company by the third party.  Non-personal information may be collected via “cookies” (small text files placed on your computer’s hard drive), “web beacons” or other technology.  

C.    HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

1.    Personally identifiable information.  If you sign up for an account with us (which is required in order to make certain submissions), then we may use your personally identifiable information to maintain your account and to correspond with you.  We may also use it to send you materials that we think would be of interest to you.  We may also provide your personally identifiable information to advertisers or others.  If you enter one of our contests, then we may use your personally identifiable information for purposes of the contest (such as to notify you if you win) and/or in accordance with the contest rules.  We may also provide your personally identifiable information to the sponsor(s) of the contest, publish information concerning the winner of the contest, and/or for any other lawful purposes.  If you email us, submit a letter to us, or ask to be placed on a mailing list that we maintain, then we may contact you and send information to you.  If you register to purchase merchandise through this website, then we may use your personally identifiable information to maintain your account and/or process your order.  If we receive your personally identifiable information from a third party service provider, then we may use the information to contact you and to assist in performing the service for which you have registered with the third party.  In addition to the uses listed above, we may use your personally identifiable information to improve our marketing and promotional efforts, as part of a statistical website usage analysis, and/or to improve the features and content of this website.  We may also use your personally identifiable information to assist in delivery of content that is customized to your interests.  We do not collect personally identifiable information on an automatic basis, but we may combine non-personal information (which may be automatically collected) with your previously submitted personally identifiable information.  We may also use your personally identifiable information as set forth elsewhere in this Privacy Statement.

2.    Non-personal information.  We may use your non-personal information to improve our marketing and promotional efforts, as part of a statistical website usage analysis, to improve the features and content of this website, and/or for other purposes to assist our business.  We may share such information with advertisers and other third parties, typically in the aggregate.  We may also use your non-personal information as set forth elsewhere in this Privacy Statement.

3.    Links from the Site to advertisers and other third parties.  Please be aware that the Company’s advertisers, business partners, sponsors, service providers and other third parties accessible through the Site (such as via links from this Site and/or framed on this Site) may have their own privacy practices.  The Company is not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties.  You should check the applicable privacy policies of the third parties when providing information to them.  These third parties may provide the personally identifiable information that they collect to the Company and may also use the information in accordance with their own privacy practices.  Financial institutions, such as those which process credit card orders, are subject to federal privacy laws.

4.    Other third parties.  During the course of its business, the Company uses third party service providers, such as lawyers and accountants, to perform a variety of functions.  In some instances, the Company may need to provide personal and/or non-personal information about you to such third parties.  However, all third party service providers which are not linked from the Site are prohibited from using your personally identifiable information for any purpose other than for which they were selected to work with the Company.

5.    Public forum.  If you submit a comment, personal ad, email, blog entry, forum entry, or similar submission, the information in your submission may be published to the general public.  Please exercise caution when making such submissions.  Please note that most such submissions are not reviewed prior to publication.  We will not be responsible to read, respond to, or perform in accordance with any requests for privacy or confidentiality that are included with the submission or at any time.  

6.    Other uses.  In addition to the uses set forth elsewhere in this Privacy Statement, the Company may use or disclose personal or non-personal information: (i) in cases where we believe in good faith that it is necessary to prevent a crime, an injury or financial loss to ourselves or to third parties; (ii) to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of this Site (including violation of the Company’s Terms of Use http://www.journalscene.com/privacy/); (iii) pursuant to a court order, warrant, subpoena, discovery request, or as required by law; (iv) in conjunction with the sale or offering for sale of some or all of the Company; (v) in the event of the Company’s bankruptcy, assignment for the benefit of creditors, or similar financial circumstances; and/or (vi) when you have been made aware of the possibility of use or disclosure of the information at or prior to the time of collection.

D.    OUR COMMITMENT TO SECURITY

We have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures that we believe are appropriate to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data security, and correctly use the information we collect online.  Please note that we cannot guarantee the security of our databases or Site, nor can we guarantee that information will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the Internet.  In order to use some of the features of this Site, you may be required to create an account with us.  For your protection, this account will only be accessible by means of a password or similar security measure.  If you believe that your password or email address has been compromised, you should change your account with us immediately.  If you forget your password, follow the instructions on the login page.  

E.    CHILDREN

The Company does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 through this Site unless such collection is done in accordance with the law.  If you are a child under the age of 13 that intends to submit information to the Company through this Site, you must obtain your parent’s consent prior to making such a submission.  In the event that the Company obtains actual knowledge that you are a child under the age of 13, the Company may require that you (and/or your parent) prove to us your prior parental consent.  Even if you are 13 or over, we recommend that all children under the age of 18 obtain parental consent prior to the submission or purchase of anything through this Site.

F.    ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AND “OPT OUT” PROCEDURES

You may change your online account information with the Company by accessing your account through the Site (if you forgot your password, follow the instructions on the login page).  If you would like to access or change any other personal information that we have collected, or would like to “opt out” of our collection, retention or disclosure of any other information, please email us at online@journalscene.com or contact us at the address set forth below.  Subject to the Company’s protection of itself and others, disclosures for legal reasons, and our current technological capabilities, we may be able to assist you.  Please keep in mind that to protect your privacy and security, we may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you access to any personally identifiable information or “opt out” capabilities.  To change the information that you submitted to third party service providers, such as in conjunction with personal ads, classified ads or blogs, please contact the service provider.  Their policies will dictate the extent to which you can access or change the information that they have collected about you.  

G.    PARENTAL OPTIONS AND REVIEW

    Parents of children under the age of 13 have the option to agree to the collection and use of their child’s personal information without consenting to the disclosure of the information to third parties (subject to the Company’s protection of itself and others, disclosures for legal reasons, and the Company’s current technological capabilities).  In addition, parents can review the personal information provided by their child under the age of 13, ask to have it deleted and refuse to allow any further collection or use of the child’s information (subject to the same items as above).  In order to make these requests, parents should follow the “Opt Out” procedures set forth in the “Access to Your Personal Information and ‘Opt Out’ Procedures” section of this Privacy Statement.  Please note that, while this Site will not require more information from children under 13 than is reasonably necessary to participate in any activity or event, deletion of required information (such as information that would permit the Company to contact the winner of a contest) may result in termination of the child’s participation in an event or activity.  Parents should also note that the official rules for contests and promotions on this website may contain additional information related to their children’s privacy and the parents’ rights and responsibilities.

H.    CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT

This Privacy Statement may be changed from time to time, so we encourage you to check back with every visit to the Site. If you do not agree to one or more of the changes, you may choose to “opt out,” using the procedures set forth above.  Once the change has been made, all information collected by the Site before or after the change will be subject to the new terms of the Privacy Statement.  The current version of this Privacy Statement is effective January 7, 2008.

I.    TO CONTACT US

1.    For general privacy inquiries, please contact us at online@journalscene.com.

2.    Parents of children under 13 seeking to access or change personally identifiable information that has been collected about their children through this Site, or to submit parental consent forms, please contact us at:

Summerville Communications Inc.
Website Privacy Issues
c/o Ellen Priest
104 East Doty Avenue
Summerville, SC 29483
Phone: (843) 873-9424
Fax:  (843) 873-9432
Email: online@journalscene.com

The Company may have several operators collecting or maintaining personal information.  The operator that is responsible for responding to privacy inquiries is Ellen Priest, whose address is 104 East Doty Avenue, Summerville, SC  29483.  Third parties accessible through this Site may have their own such operators.

Copyright © 2008, Summerville Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

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