By Kids For Kids Website Privacy Policy
At By Kids For Kids Company (BKFK),
we respect the privacy rights of all visitors to the bkfk.com Web
site (referred to in this Privacy Policy as our "Visitors"
and our "Site," respectively). Use of the Site and the
activities and services available on and through the Site (referred
to in this Privacy Policy, together with the Site, as the "Services")
is governed by our Terms of Use. In this Privacy Policy, we state our policies and practices
with respect to your privacy. In particular, we respect the concerns
of parents and guardians regarding their children's
visits to and use of our Site, and have special privacy
rules for children under 13.
As a Visitor to our Site, we want you to
know what kind of personalized information we may collect on the
Site, how we collect such information, how we intend to use the
information, and how we intend to keep the information secure. Generally,
some of this will depend on what type of Visitor you are:
- Children Under 13
Certain personally-identifiable
information is collected from children on the "Kids"
area of this Site. With a few exceptions, before a child under
13 may participate in certain Services on the Site (in particular,
those in the course of which personally-identifiable information
will be collected from the child), we will first notify the
child's parent or guardian, and/or seek the permission of the
child's parent or guardian. We use the information
we collect in connection with the child's participation in the
Services provided on the Site and for promotional purposes (click
here to see examples of such purposes). We do not disclose
the personally-identifiable information of children under the
age of 13 to third parties, other than under certain
limited situations in which it is used on our behalf. A
parent or guardian has ultimate control over the personally-identifiable
information collected from his or her child under the age of
13 (click here to see how). A child under 13
is also subject to the General terms of our
Privacy Policy, which apply to all Visitors to our Site regardless
of age, and which include the opportunity for the child under
13 (or his or her parent or guardian) to opt out
of permitting certain uses of his or her personally-identifiable
information.
- Teenagers (ages 13-17) and
Adults
Teenagers are encouraged to check
with their parents or guardians before submitting any
personally-identifiable information to this Site. As a teenager
or adult Visitor to this Site, you may be asked to provide
certain personally-identifiable information.
We use the information we collect largely for Visitor participation
in our Services and promotional or marketing purposes, which
may include disclosing such information to others (click
here to see examples of such purposes). Teenager and adult
Visitors are also subject to the General terms
of our Privacy Policy, which apply to all Visitors to our
Site regardless of age, and which include the opportunity
for you to opt out of permitting certain
uses of your personally-identifiable information (such as
our disclosure of it to third parties for their marketing
purposes).
Important Notice for Parents
or Guardians
KIDS!!
Welcome to our Web Site! As you will see,
there are many fun and exciting activities available on our Site,
such as games, competitions, magazine articles, inventing tools
and resources. In order to participate in some of these activities,
you may be asked to provide, for example, your e-mail address or
other contact information, or create a screen name and password.
When you create a screen name, we suggest that you DO NOT use your
real name. Try to think of something special and different to use
for your screen name and secret password. If you are asked to provide
your e-mail address or other personal information, this Privacy
Policy tells you what we will do with this information. You
may need to first get your parent's permission. If you send
us a question or comment about us or our Site, we will only use
your e-mail address to respond back to you. Once we respond to you,
if fulfilling your request does not require ongoing communications
with you, we will delete your e-mail address from our files unless
we have your parent or guardian's permission. If you send a
post card or other message to another person through the Site, only
the person who you sent the message to will know your e-mail address
and the message you send. We will not keep this information in our
files unless we have your parent or guardian's permission
to retain it. Be sure you know who you are sending your post cards
to. If you are ever unsure about using this Site or any other web
site, be sure to check with your parent or guardian.
PARENTS AND GUARDIANS NOTICE
It is important for you to talk with your
child about using the Internet safely. Here are just a few things
to keep in mind when talking to your kids about the Internet:
- Remind your child to never give out his
or her full name, address, or phone number without your permission.
- Tell your child that if they receive something
that they are not sure about, to let you know.
- Impress upon your child the importance
of never engaging others in a communication that would put them
at risk.
Parental
Consent for Children Under 13.
With a few exceptions, before a child under 13 may participate in
certain Services on the Site, we will first notify the child's parent
or guardian, and/or seek the permission of the child's parent or
guardian. We will do this by requesting that the child provide an
e-mail or physical address for his/her parent or guardian, and sending
a notice to that person, in some cases seeking permission to allow
the child to participate in the stated activities. Where permission
is required, if no response is received by us, the child may not
participate in those activities.
Children
Under 13
1. Personally-Identifiable Information.
With a few exceptions, before a child under 13 may provide
us with personally-identifiable information through this Site, we
will first notify the child's parent or guardian, and/or seek the
permission of the child's parent or guardian. We
consider the following information to be personally-identifiable:
a first and last name; a home or other physical address including
a street name and name of city or town; an e-mail address; a telephone
number; and any other personal information that would allow a child
to be contacted in person or online.
2. Information Collected.
Some Services on the Site require children to submit personally-identifiable
information, such as: (i) first and last name, (ii) phone number
and e-mail address, (iii) parent's or legal guardian's name and
e-mail address, (iv) age and birth date, (v) zip code and/or City/State/Country,
(vi) grade level and name of school, (vii) favorite and least favorite
class or subject in school, (viii) inventing experience, and (ix)
interests. Children may be required to provide personally-identifiable
information when joining our Kids Club, registering for a specific
Service on the Site, participating in a contest, requesting information
from us, or searching our magazine articles. If a child opts (or
has opted) to enter one of our invention competitions, or otherwise
opts to submit an invention idea to us, we will also collect the
child's school district, invention ideas, research and details about
his or her invention ideas, photos, drawings and other materials
regarding such ideas, the names of others who assisted in the invention
idea, the child's competition experience, patent information (as
applicable) and other information relevant to the invention or competition.
The terms and conditions of our invention competition will be presented
when a child enters the competition.
3. We respect the privacy of children, and
do not collect any more personally-identifiable information than
reasonably necessary to enable them to participate in the activities
we offer at our Web site. We will not condition a child's participation
in a game, offering of a prize, or other activity on the child's
disclosing more personally-identifiable information than is reasonably
necessary to participate in an activity.
4.
Use of Information. We will use
the information we collect on the Site, for example, to provide
and enable the Visitor to participate in the Services requested,
to provide e-mail accounts, to send newsletters and updates regarding
our Site and Services, to send announcements of invention competitions,
to respond to your child's inquiries and requests, for our internal
market research activities, and to otherwise promote our and our
business partners' (such as, for example, our competition sponsors')
activities and products. If a child opts (or has opted) to enter
one of our invention competitions, or otherwise opts to submit an
invention idea to us, we will also use the information received
from the child in connection with such competition, if applicable,
and otherwise to evaluate the child's invention ideas
5.
Disclosure of Information. We do
not disclose the personally-identifiable information of children
under the age of 13 to third parties, other than under certain limited
situations such as: (i) to a company that provides support for the
internal operations of our Site or Services (such as, for example
only, a shipping fulfillment company if we want to ship a prize
or gift to your child) and that does not disclose or use such information
for any other purpose, and (ii) in connection with a sale or acquisition
of our Site or assets, or (iv) as required by law or court order
or in connection with a legal proceeding.
6. Parental
Consent for Children Under 13. With
a few exceptions, before a child under 13 may participate in certain
Services on the Site, we will first notify the child's parent or
guardian, and /or seek the permission of the child's
parent or guardian. We will do this by requesting that the child
provide an e-mail or physical address for his/her parent or guardian,
and sending a notice to that person, in some cases seeking permission
to allow the child to participate in the stated activities. Where
permission is required, if no response is received by us, the child
may not participate in those activities.
7.
Parental Requests for Information. If
a child has provided any personally-identifiable information to
the Site, his or her parent or guardian may request a description
of what personally-identifiable information has been collected from
that child through the Site, the specific personally-identifiable
information collected about the child through the Site, and either
limit or restrict any further maintenance or use of the child's
personally-identifiable information, and/or direct us to delete
it. Also, a parent may decline to allow any future collection of
personally-identifiable information from that child. Such requests
can be made by contacting us here. We will take
reasonable measures to verify that the requestor is, in fact, the
parent or guardian of the child in question before providing a child's
personally-identifiable information.
8. See the "General"
section for more terms of our Privacy Policy that apply to all of
our Visitors, including children under the age of 13.
Teenagers
(ages 13-17) and Adults
Teenagers are encouraged to check with their
parents or guardians before submitting any personally-identifiable
information to this Site or any other web site.
When using the Site and Services,
Visitors may be asked to provide certain personally-identifiable-information
(for example, name, address, phone number and e-mail address) and
general, non-personal demographic information (e.g., occupation,
hobbies, zip code, etc.). Teenagers may be required to provide personally-identifiable
information when joining our Kids Club, registering for a specific
Service on the Site, participating in a contest, requesting information
from us, or searching our magazine articles.
We will use the information we collect on
the Site, for example, to provide and enable the Visitor to participate
in the Services requested, to provide e-mail accounts, to send newsletters
and updates regarding our Site and Services, to send announcements
of invention competitions, to respond to inquiries and requests,
for our internal market research activities, and to otherwise promote
our and our business partners' (such as, for example, our competition
sponsors') activities and products.
If a teenager opts (or has opted) to enter
one of our invention competitions, or otherwise opts to submit an
invention idea to us, we will also collect the teen's school district,
invention ideas, research and details about his or her invention
ideas, photos, drawings and other materials regarding such ideas,
the names of others who assisted in the invention idea, the teen's
competition experience, patent information (as applicable) and other
information relevant to the invention or competition. The terms
and conditions of our invention competition will be presented when
a teen enters the competition. We will use the information received
from the teen in connection with such competition, if applicable,
and otherwise to evaluate the teen's invention ideas.
Any information may be used, for example,
to provide a Visitor with periodic marketing and promotional notices
and other correspondences from us. We may also make this information
available to other persons or entities whom we believe offer goods
or services that may interest that Visitor. This information may
also be shared with others for the purpose of completing transactions
arising from the Site or the Services. A Visitor may elect
to "opt-out" of certain uses of their personally-identifiable
information as set forth below.
See the "General"
[LINK TO K] section for more terms of our Privacy Policy that apply
to all of our Visitors, including Teenager (ages 13-17) and Adults.
Kid Advisory Board Members
1.
Information Collected. BKFK collects certain personally-identifiable
information from members of the BKFK Kids Advisory Board, such as
the member's full name, nickname, home phone number, cell phone
number, alternative phone number, fax number, e-mail address, birthdate,
age, photograph, grade in school, name of school, postal address,
family information (including parents name(s) and names and ages
of siblings), invention information, club memberships, awards received,
sports and other hobbies and interests, "favorites," and
role models. Kids Advisory Board Members also contribute to BKFK
their suggestions, feedback and opinions regarding BKFK's Web Site,
Kid's Club, other activities, products, packaging and marketing,
as well as their evaluations of other kids' inventions. Such information
may be obtained by BKFK online through the BKFK Web Site and/or
by e-mail, and/or through offline means such as phone, fax, postal
mail, live meetings, and the like. All of this information may be
attributable to the particular Kids Advisory Board member. Kids
Advisory Board members who are at least 13 years old may also attend
board meetings at which they may provide additional feedback, opinions
and other information to BKFK and other Kids Advisory Board members.
2.
Use of Information. BKFK may use
the information collected or derived from or regarding members of
the BKFK Kids Advisory Board, for example, in connection with improving
its Web Site, Kids' Club and other activities, evaluating invention
ideas submitted from other kids, and to publicize BKFK and its Web
Site, Kids' Club, competitions and other activities.
3.
Disclosure of Information. Any
or all of this information may be disclosed by the child him or
herself and, if the kid member is at least 13 years old, by BKFK
to other Kids Advisory Board members and/or to third parties, provided
that BKFK will not publish the full home address, phone number or
personal e-mail address (other than a BKFK e-mail address which
may be assigned to the member) of kid members to third parties who
are not members of the Kids Advisory Board or BKFK. For example,
such information may be included in the BKFK Web Site, marketing
and publicity materials, and other publications.
4. Parental Consent for Kid Advisory
Board Members. Before a child may become a member of the
BKFK Kids Advisory Board, we will first seek the permission of the
child's parent or guardian. We will do this by requiring the child's
parent or guardian to sign a Parent Permission Form.
5. Parental Requests for Information.
If a child member under the age of 13 has provided any
personally-identifiable information to BKFK through the Site, his
or her parent or guardian may request a description of what personally-identifiable
information has been collected from that child through the Site,
the specific personally-identifiable information collected about
the child through the Site, and either limit or restrict any further
maintenance or use of such personally-identifiable information,
and/or direct us to delete it. Also, a parent may decline to allow
any future collection of personally-identifiable information from
that child through the Site. Such requests can be made by notifying
BKFK in writing to BKFK at: By Kids For Kids Company, 1177
High Ridge Road, Stamford, CT 06905, Attn: Laura Ploss. We will
take reasonable measures to verify that the requestor is, in fact,
the parent or guardian of the child in question before providing
a child's personally-identifiable information.
6. Kids Advisory Board members who are under
the age of 13 also have the rights set forth in Sections
3 and 5 of the "Children Under 13" Section
above.
7. See the "General"
section for more terms of our Privacy Policy that apply to all of
our Visitors, including Kids Advisory Board Members.
General
(Applicable to Visitors of All Ages)
1. IP Addresses. We passively
collect IP addresses for the purpose of system administration and
to maintain and report aggregate Visitor information. An IP address
is a number that is automatically assigned to a Visitor's computer.
Web servers can automatically identify individual computers by their
IP address. We may link IP addresses to personally-identifiable
information.
2. Cookies. "Cookies"
are pieces of information that are passively placed on an individual's
computer hard drive to enable the individual to more easily communicate
and interact with a web site. We may use cookies to customize your
experience on the Site and with the Services. We use cookies to
deliver content specific to your interests, to save your password
(if you have registered with us) so you don't have to re-enter it
each time you visit our Site or use the Services, and for other
purposes. You may, however, disallow receiving cookies at any time
through your web browser.
We may use a third party advertising service to display advertisements
on our Site. Sometimes these advertising services will utilize cookies
to display specific advertisements to Visitors based on, among other
things, their surfing habits. We do not have access to these cookies
nor do we know what information is contained in these cookies. As
stated above, you may restrict the placement of cookies on your
computer through controls available in your web browser.
3. Links. The Site may include
links to other Web sites (the "Linked Sites"). We are
not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of the
Linked Sites and hereby expressly disclaim all responsibility and
liability which may arise therefrom.
4. Technical Information.
Settings, technical and other information concerning a Visitor's
computer, such as an operating system, browser version, connectivity,
various communication parameters and other information related to
the operation and interaction of the Site and the Services may be
passively collected by us.
5. Tracking Usage Patterns.
We passively gather information and usage patterns related to our
Visitors' use of the Site and the Services, including without limitation,
real time tracking of other Web sites linked to and from this Site,
to better understand how our Visitors, as a group, use the Site
and Services, and the various features thereof, as well as to help
us provide personalized offerings, and to conduct market research
and other commercial activities.
6. Security. We strive to
protect our Visitors' personally-identifiable information and privacy,
however no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed
to be 100% secure. Thus, although we will exercise great care to
provide secure transmissions of personally-identifiable information,
we cannot guarantee the security of information disclosed online,
and Visitors use the Site at their own risk.
In the unlikely event that we believe that the security of your
personally-identifiable information in our possession or control
may have been compromised, we may seek to notify you of that. If
a notification is appropriate, we would endeavor to do so as promptly
as possible under the circumstances, and, to the extent we have
your e-mail address, we may notify you by e-mail.
7. Consent to Processing.
All Visitors of the Site and users of the Services fully understand
and unambiguously consent to the collection and processing of their
personally-identifiable information in the United States.
8. Legal Disclosure; Acquisition.
We shall, pursuant to valid legal process, such as a search warrant,
subpoena or court order, allow access to relevant Visitor information,
in order to comply with such process and to protect our rights and
property. If warranted, we may also allow access to this information
in special emergencies where physical safety is at risk. We may
also disclose or transfer personally-identifiable information regarding
Visitors in connection with a merger, acquisition, change of control
or sale of all or substantially all of our assets related to the
Site.
9. Opt-Out/Access.
We provide Visitors the opportunity to opt-out of permitting certain
uses of their personally-identifiable information at the time the
information is requested and/or through the Site. To "opt-out"
or modify any information previously provided, or to contact us
regarding this Privacy Policy, the Site or the Services, please:
- Send email to:
privacy@bkfk.com
-
Send certified/return receipt requested
mail to: By Kids For Kids Company, 1177 High Ridge Road, Stamford,
CT 06905. Attn: Customer Service.
Thanks for visiting our Site.
By Kids For Kids Company
1177 High Ridge Road
Stamford, CT 06905
(203) 321-1226
info@bkfk.com
If there are changes or additions to this
Privacy Policy, we will notify Visitors by posting those changes
here. Changes and additions to this Privacy Policy are effective
when they are posted. Please check this web page periodically to
see any changes we have made to our Privacy Policy. We will obtain
parental consent to material changes to our Privacy Policy before
applying such changes to children under the age of 13.
Version Date: November 29 2005