Ask-Carol Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy/Your California Privacy Rights

[This Privacy Policy/Declaration of Your California Privacy Rights is effective July 2012.]

We value your privacy. Ask-Carol is sensitive to the concerns regarding how your personal information collected via www.Ask-Carol.com is used. The Privacy Policy covers Ask-Carol’s treatment of the Personally Identifiable Information we collect when you use the Services. This notice describes our Privacy Policy. Our privacy policy is designed to advise you about how we collect, use, and protect the personal information you provide. By visiting this site, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

If you object to anything in this Privacy Policy or the Ask-Carol Terms of Use, or otherwise do not understand or agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy or the Ask-Carol Terms of Use, do not use the Site and exit immediately.

With specific regard to the privacy rights of individuals living in California, you may send a request to Ask-Carol, via the Contact Us page, that your personally identifiable information not be shared with third parties. You need only specify your name, address, and contact information.

Notice of Privacy Policy Changes

Ask-Carol may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to information practices from time to time. If any material changes are made, Users will be notified by email (sent to the e-mail address provided) or by means of a notice on the Site prior to the change becoming effective. Any such changes will be effective immediately upon being posted, unless otherwise stated in the change. Users are encouraged to periodically review this page for the latest information on our information practices.

What Information Do We Collect

Personal Information. Ask-Carol requires each user to provide us with personal information (collectively “Personally Identifiable Information”) to appropriately refer them and make accurate suggestions for Assisted Living Facilities. Personally Identifiable Information is captured only when a visitor accesses Online Services, or speaks on the phone with an Ask-Carol employee, and willingly discloses that information. Personal Information includes, but is not limited to, your name, phone number, email address, and general information relevant to placement in an appropriate Assisted Living Facility (“ALF”). We use your Personal Information mainly to provide the Services and administer your inquiries.

Log Data. When you use the Services, our servers may record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website or online service (“Log Data”). This Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type or the webpage you were visiting before you came to our Site, pages of our Site that you visit, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on our Site, access times and dates, and other statistics. No Personally Identifiable Information is revealed in this process. We may use this information to monitor and analyze use of the Site and the Services and for the Site’s technical administration, to increase our Site’s functionality and user-friendliness, and to better tailor it to our visitors’ needs.

Cookies. Cookies are pieces of information that are transferred to your computer from a web server. Most browsers are set up to accept cookies, but you can change your settings to have your browser notify you when you receive a new cookie or to refuse to accept cookies. Ask-Carol may utilize cookies from time to time.

Web Beacons. A web beacon is an often-transparent graphic image, usually no larger than a 1×1 pixel that is placed on a web page or in an e-mail that is used to monitor the behavior of the user visiting the Website or receiving the e-mail. Ask-Carol may utilize web beacons from time to time.

How Do We Use Your Information


Calls/Electronic Communications.
The information we collect is used for administering our business activities. Occasionally we may use the information to notify you about changes to our website, new services, or special offers. Ask-Carol may monitor and record phone conversations or email communications between you and Ask-Carol employees for training and quality assurance purposes. We may receive a confirmation when you open or click on content in an email from us, which helps us make our communications to you more useful and interesting. We may also use your Personal Information to contact you with Ask-Carol newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive email from Ask-Carol, you may unsubscribe from our mailing list on any of the emails we send.

Ask-Carol may also use our email lists for sending out other Ask-Carol outbound communications such as product enhancements, tool upgrades, or other user news.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

Ask-Carol Users and Assisted Living Facilities. Ask-Carol will be providing any relevant information you share with possible Assisted Living Facilities as this is necessary in determining whether a particular facility is adequately capable of assisting you or your loved one. Ask-Carol will only release this information to Facilities after the facility has entered into a confidentiality agreement so as to ensure your information is not released to any member of the public outside of the Facility(ies) and Ask-Carol. However, please be advised that while a confidentiality agreement is a contractual obligation, Ask-Carol cannot control the actions of the facilities and as such does not warrant and will not be held responsible for any breach of confidentiality made by such facilities or their agents. Consequently, please understand that you release your personal information to Ask-Carol and, by association, to any Assisted Living Facilities, at your own risk.

Third Parties. We may contract with various third parties who help us provide, maintain and improve the Website and the services we provide and the services and products we offer and sell and such third parties may have access to your personal information in order to perform their services. We may contract with third party contractors to help us manage, monitor and optimize our Website and the services and products we offer and sell. We may also use third party contractors to help us measure the effectiveness of our advertising, and communications. We will enter into confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with all third parties that have access to your personal information which will prohibit them from using or disclosing your personal information except for the purpose of providing services to us. We intend to take commercially reasonable steps to enforce such non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements if and when we become aware of any violations.

Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement. Ask-Carol will cooperate with government and law enforcement officials and private parties to enforce and comply with the law. We will disclose any information about you to government or law enforcement officials or private parties as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal process (including but not limited to subpoenas), to protect the property and rights of Ask-Carol or a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop activity we may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, any illegal, unethical or legally actionable activity.

Business Transfers. Ask-Carol may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of its assets, including your Personal Information, in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets or in the event of bankruptcy. Ask-Carol will notify you before transferring your information to a new entity as part of a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of some or all of its assets if the new entity’s processing of your information will materially differ from that set forth in this Privacy Policy.

Phishing

In order to safeguard your information to help protect you from identity theft and the practice currently known as “phishing”, we do not and will not, at any time, request your credit card information, your account ID, login password, or national identification numbers in a non-secure or unsolicited e-mail or telephone communication. For more information about phishing, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

Links

You will be able to access third party websites directly from the Website. This Privacy Policydoes not apply when you access third party websites. We cannot control how third parties may use personal information you disclose to them, so you should carefully review the privacy policy of any third party website you visit

How Do We Protect Your Information

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of Information, we have put in place reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the Information we collect online.

Specifically, we use security software to protect the confidentiality of your personal information. In addition, our business practices are reviewed periodically for compliance with policies and procedures governing the security and confidentiality of our information. Our business practices limit employee access to confidential information, and limit the use and disclosure of such information to authorized persons.

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, phone, or other method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we do not guarantee absolute security. We are not responsible for the unauthorized acts of others and we assume no liability for any disclosure of information due to errors in transmission, unauthorized third party access (such as through hacking) or other acts of third parties, or acts or omissions beyond our reasonable control.

Ad Serving

Ask-Carol occasionally displays online advertisements on our website and in our newsletters and alerts. 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 might tell us the audience they want to reach (for example, males between 25 and 55 years of age) and provide us with an advertisement tailored to that audience. Based upon the aggregated and non-identifying information we have collected, we may then display the advertisement to the intended audience. However, Ask-Carol does not share personal information about its Visitors or Users with these advertisers.

This site allows third parties like ad networks to serve advertisements. Some ads include tracking technologies which aggregate information about your behavior on this and other sites.

Interest-based ads are selected for you according to your interests as determined by companies such as ad networks and data aggregators. These companies collect information about your online activity and use it to show you ads tailored to your interests.


Where to Direct Questions About Ask-Carol Policy

You can contact us about this privacy statement by writing or email us at the address and telephone numbers provided on our Contact Us page.