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Privacy Statement

Decoy Magazine recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of all information provided by users of our web sites, subscribers to our magazines, registrants for our events, recipients of our e-mail newsletters and all of our customers. We created this policy with a fundamental respect for our users’ right to privacy and to guide our relationships with our users. This privacy statement discloses the privacy practices for all products and services covered in this web site. Decoy Magazine, Inc., is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. We will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement.

Decoy Magazine is a general audience web site, intended for users of all ages.

Subscription
We request information from the user when ordering a subscription or purchasing a book or other goods offered by Decoy Magazine . A user must provide contact information (like name and shipping address) and financial information (like credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill customer's orders. We ask that all credit card orders be processed by phone or postal mail to ensure the utmost protection of our user's private information. Furthermore, our subscriber list is not rented nor sold to outside vendors or direct-response mailers.

E-mail Newsletters
If users wish to subscribe to our e-mail newsletters, we ask for contact information (such as name, e-mail address and, occasionally, demographic information). We use this information in the same manner as we use contact information in the registration and ordering process described above. Recipients of our newsletters can unsubscribe using the instructions listed at the end of the e-mail newsletter.

Surveys and Contests
From time to time we invite users to provide information via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether to disclose requested contact information (such as name and mailing address) and demographic information (such as zip code or job title). In addition to other uses set forth in this policy, contact information collected in connection with surveys and contests is used to notify the winners and award prizes or to monitor or improve the use and satisfaction of the site.

Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information while on our site. Once the user closes their browser, the cookie simply terminates. Cookies could enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. At this time we do not use cookies on our site but reserve the right to use cookies in the future if it woud enhance the user's experience.

Some of our business affiliates use cookies on our sites in ads or promotions. However, we have no access to or control over these business affiliates' cookies; we urge users to read their privacy policies for information. We do not accept responsibility nor liability for information gathered from other websites if users visit their site via links that reside on our website to those sites.

For our internal purposes, we gather date, time, browser type, navigation history and IP address of all visitors to our site. This information does not contain anything that can identify users personally. We use this information for our internal security audit log, trend analysis and system administration, and to gather broad demographic information about our user base for aggregate use.

We may combine demographic information supplied by a subscriber at registration with site usage data to provide general profiles, in aggregate non-personally identifiable form, about our users and their preferences in the content of the site and advertising. We may share this composite information with our advertisers and business affiliates to help them better understand our services.

Log Files
We use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement, and gather broad anonymous demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information.

Links
Decoy Magazine offers links to or from web sites it controls as well as to sites operated by third parties. We offer links to third party sites so that you can conveniently visit our vendors and advertisers or locate other content likely to be of interest. We are not responsible for the content, practices or policies of sites operated by third parties and urge you to inquire about them before providing any personally-identifiable information. Please be aware that Decoy Magazine is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Email to a Friend
If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about our site, we ask them for the friend's name and email address. Decoy Magazine will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the site.

Third Party Advertisers
Some of the banner ads displayed in our websites are provided by outside companies. Their sites may contain cookies or other information-gathering functionality over which we have no control. User data may be collected by our advertisers when you visit their sites; we do not have access to this information. They may share anonymous information with their clients such as date/time of the banner ad shown, the specific ad shown, the IP address, etc.

Security
This web site takes industry standard precautions to protect our users' information. While on a secure page, 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 you are just 'surfing'

We also take commercially reasonable measures 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. The servers that we store personally identifiable information on are kept in a secure environment. 

Notification of Changes
We will occasionally update this Privacy Policy as necessary to protect our users and to comply with a changing environment. We recommend that you check the policy when you visit our site to be sure you are aware of and understand our current policy. If we make material changes to this policy or in how we will use or collect your personally identifiable information, we will prominently post such changes prior to implementing the change. We will not make material changes in how we handle previously collected personal information that have retroactive effect unless legally required to do so, and we will e-mail registered website visitors information on material changes to this policy.

Contact Information
Please direct all correspondence relating to our magazine and its content to our Editor at decoymag@aol.com. If you would like to report a broken link or have any questions related to the functionality of our site, please direct your e-mail to our webmaster at karenokeefe@robsoncom.net. If you are interested in having a professionally designed website, please contact Karen at karenokeefe@robsoncom.net.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please e-mail us at decoymag@aol.com. Please include the URL of the web site and/or name of the page involved in your request.

Or you can contact us by mail at:

Decoy Magazine
P.O. Box 787
Lewes, DE 19958
Phone (302) 644-9001

Or you can fax us at (302) 644-9003.

Legal Disclaimer

USE OF THIS SITE SIGNIFIES YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND AGREEMENT TO COMPLY WITH THE ENTIRE PRIVACY POLICY. By accessing and using the Website you are agreeing to be legally bound by the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy. You should therefore also read the Terms of Use before using the Website.
 
Decoy Magazine is determined to protect your privacy. It is very important to us that you should be able to use and enjoy the website without having to compromise your privacy unacceptably. 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 the Website.

© 2004 Decoy Magazine, All rights reserved.