Welcome
Welcome
to AbleStable's Privacy Statement. The links below will take you to sections
within this page. We have attempted at all times to be clear and unambiguous.
We update our privacy statement from time to time so please revisit this page
periodically. All updates are posted on this page.
If you have any suggestions for improvements to our Privacy Statement please
visit our Feedback page where you can contribute
to the continuing development of AbleStable.
AbleStable® provides a comprehensive Terms
and Conditions for all our users and is registered under the Data Protection
Act 1998. You may view our entry at Data Protection.
Contents
Definitions:
user types
The following definitions of user types
apply across AbleStable®:
• Users:
all visitors to AbleStable
• Grazers:
unregistered visitors to AbleStable
• Clients:
registered people seeking Members
• Members:
creative professionals (people providing creative products
and/or services)
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Introduction
AbleStable
values your privacy. AbleStable does not gather Personally
Identifiable Information (PII) without your explicit
consent. We practice 'Opt-In' protocols across our
site, and we never contact Users without a completed
consent form (e-mail, phone, postal or otherwise).
AbleStable is an independent not for profit site that aims to build your trust
and confidence in the Internet by practising the use of fair information practices.
Because AbleStable wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it
openly discloses its information practices and privacy practices. We disclose:
• What
personally identifiable information is collected
• What
organisation is collecting the information
• How
you can correct any inaccuracies in the information
• How
the information is used
• With
whom the information may be shared
• What
choices are available to you regarding collection,
use and distribution of the information
• What
kind of security procedures are in place to protect
against the loss, misuse or alteration of information
under our control
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Special
guidelines for children
Children should always ask parents/carers
for permission before providing any Personally
Identifiable Information. To protect children
we recommend that children do not use an adult's
e-mail address anywhere on the Internet. We strongly
suggest they acquire their own redirect e-mail address
from a free service. We further recommend that they
are helped to pick their own 'net alias' and encouraged
to use it at all times instead of their own name.
Children are strongly advised NOT to enter their e-mail address or use their
own name should they wish to register as a Client of AbleStable.
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1
Information Disclosure
AbleStable attempts to make clear at all times why you are giving us your name,
e-mail address and other information. If requested we may submit your information
to local or government authorities. You may view our entry under the Data Protection
Act at Data Protection.
During our Member registration processes people are required to supply a username
(alias), password, e-mail address and various other types of information depending
on their type of User status. All requested information is requested for the
sole purpose of delivering a premium quality directory of creative professionals.
No information is passed on to external commercial organisations without Users'
permission. Users acknowledge that certain kinds of information they provide
at registration (for example contact details appearing on Member profile pages,
and in the Projects Area) will be published on our web site, and may therefore
be more widely available to the general public on the Internet.
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1.1
Opt-In or opt-out
You are free to opt-in or opt-out at will when choosing to disclose (or not)
Personally Identifiable Information used by our site. You are not restricted
to a set amount of Opt-in or Opt-out choices. All registered Users (Clients
and Members) may alter their profile at any time,
including their choices of opt-in/out profile selections (e-mail notifications,
newsletters etc).
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1.2
Mandatory or optional information
Information requested at AbleStable may
be mandatory (required) or optional. The registration process (be it for Clients
or Members) will not be ratified without the completion
of mandatory information. The mandatory information provides the basis of our
directory service and is crucial in its effective delivery.
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1.3
Information collection, use and distribution
All Personally Identifiable Information collected at AbleStable is
immediately made secure in password protected files which can only be accessed
by the Director or Administrator of AbleStable.
PII is used solely for AbleStable® and
is never passed on to third parties (see 1 above). Distribution
of PII on our site has to be explicitly authorised by Users through the appropriate
User type registration forms.
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1.4
Corrections and Updates
AbleStable offers
you the ability to correct or change the information
collected during registration. You may access and
amend this information at any time and as often as
necessary by altering your User profile. If you forget
your password, you may enter your date of birth and
first school in the 'forgotton password' fields located
on our log-in page. Your password will be e-mailed
to you within 24 hours.
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1.5
Delete and/or Deactivate
AbleStable sends regular e-mails to Users. If you wish to be removed from our
mailing list, you may click on the unsubscribe URL that appears at the end
of each e-mail. Please allow two to three business days for the actual cancellation
to take effect. Once you have requested information to be deleted or deactivated
from AbleStable there may be a wait of up to one month before this process
is complete (this length of time is necessary to comprehensively remove users
details from our records and files).
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1.6
Information Disclosure
Although you needn't register to visit AbleStable,
Users of many of our services must register for these services in order to
participate (the Clients services is free). During registration you are required
to supply a username (alias), password, and e-mail address. and various other
types of information depending on your user status.
Disclosing personally identifiable information online through our services
makes the information submitted public information; such disclosure may increase
your chance of receiving "spam" or unsolicited e-mail Be extra careful
and use discretion when disclosing information online.
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Privacy statement: user types
2.1
Grazers
AbleStable does not require Personally Identifiable Information from Grazers
to our site.
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2.2
Clients
AbleStable requires Client specific PII. Client specific information enables
us to deliver a premium service for people searching for creative professionals,
and who wish to post up to three projects on our directory per year without
charge (additional 'project posting blocks' may a;so be purchased). This is
data that Clients provide through 'Opt-In' optional, voluntary registrations
when completing forms, requesting updates and/or news letters, and participation
in our directory service. To view the information we request of Clients go
to Client Registration and visit each
page in the registration process.
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2.3
Members
AbleStable® requires Member specific PII. Member specific information enables
us to deliver a premium service for creative professionals. This is data that
Members provide through 'Opt-In' optional, voluntary registrations when completing
forms, requesting updates and/or news letters, and participation in our directory
service. To view the information we request of Members go to Member
Registration and visit each page in the registration process
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2.4
Unsolicited e-mail (Spam)
Sending unwelcome and unsolicited e-mail (Spam) has become a significant problem
on the internet and the burden of cost falls not only on individuals using
dial up Internet service providers (ISP's) who charge by the minute, but on
us all. ISP's pass on the additional cost of forwarding millions of Spam e-mails
to everyone who uses the Internet.
Although it is easy to understand the commercial motivation of spamming, it
is important we all practice responsible e-mail protocols. AbleStable
never contacts private individuals and Clients without their authorisation.
In comparison however, creative professionals and businesses in the creative
industries actively invite contact by e-mail for promotional purposes.
AbleStable cannot be held responsible for individuals registering as Clients,
Members or Partners and then abusing the services we offer by creating e-mail
lists with the sole purpose of spamming. If we discover a User of our site
abusing our service in this way, they are barred immediately, indefinitely,
and without refund of their service fee.
3
Information gathering practices
3.1
Communication
AbleStable collects information via registration forms. At all times users
at AbleStable® are provided with requests and explanations of what PII
is required and why. Personally Identifiable Information is never passed on
to commercial businesses or organisations (see 1 above).
AbleStable aims to provide you with information about whether you should expect
communication from our web site and when this may occur. This includes promotional
and informational mail and whether or not you have the option of not receiving
this type of communication. An explanation is always provided at the end of
the registration process as to when you may expect e-mail, telephone calls,
or postal mailings.
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3.2
Demographic Information
Demographic information, which is collected on our web site, is not shared
with third parties (see 1 above). This information is used
solely in-house to provide a premium directory service. We comply fully with
the 1998/2000/2001 United Kingdom data protection act and have registered with
the UK data protection agency. You may find them at www.dataprotection.gov.uk.
You may view our entry under the Data Protection Act at Data
Protection.
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3.3
Logs
As people visit AbleStable a User log is made which records Non-Personally
Identifiable Information (IP addresses, ISPs, and browser type). A record is
made of the amount of visitors who visit our site on a page by page basis,
where they travel to and from within our site, and how long they stay there.
Visitors cannot be identified personally although their browser and platform
is (PC, Mac etc). This information is used to help AbleStable® evaluate
how we can improve our service by analysing trends, and administering our site.
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3.4
Cookies
A cookie is a small data file that certain Web sites write to your hard drive
when you visit them. A cookie file can contain information such as a user ID
that the site uses to track the pages you have visited. The only personal information
a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. A cookie can't read
data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. AbleStable
uses cookies to track user traffic patterns (as described above), and when
you register as a Client or Member.
If you've set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies, you will receive
the warning message with each cookie. When you register, AbleStable uses a
cookie to store a unique, random user ID. We use this ID to identify you anonymously
in our database and to track the pages you visit on our site. Cookies also
enable you to automatically enter User areas which would otherwise require
a manual log-in.
You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. You do not need
to have cookies turned on to use AbleStable as a Grazer, but you are required
to use them when using our services as a Client or Member.
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3.5
Session tracking
To provide an effective registration and User service we track Users across
our site. We record Non-Personally Identifiable Information (IP addresses,
ISPs, and browser type). This enables us to 'persist' data on our site. For
example, when a User registers, they may wish to alter information they completed
earlier in the registration process. By 'persisting' this information they
have the facility to revisit their earlier form in one action. Without session
tracking all database requests would have to be completed sequentially, and
Users would not have access to previous database-led information.
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3.6
Supplementation of Information
All material at AbleStable is either original to our site, or we have gained
express permission from the copyright owner to show material for the express
use of our creative directory. We supplement the information users receive
with information from third parties (such as newsfeeds) to add value to our
service. We do not run banner advertising on this site. There are however areas
of our site where Users may choose to view information about products and services
that Members of AbleStable provide.
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3.7
Security
To protect the loss, misuse, or alteration of information collected:
• Employees
and of AbleStable are made aware of our security policy
and practices through training programmes and with
the Employees Introduction Guide which contains our
Private Statement and is given to all employees of
AbleStable at the start of their term of work.
• Access
to personal data is limited to the Director and Administrator
of AbleStable. These individuals obtain access via
password protected encrypted files
• Our
web security is reviewed every three months
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3.8
Linking to Outside Sites
This web site contains links to other web sites. Please note that when you
click on one of these links, you are moving to another web site. We encourage
you to read the privacy statements of these linked sites as their privacy policy
may differ from ours.
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3.9
Notification of Changes
If a change occurs in our privacy practices, all Users of AbleStable are informed
by e-mail within one week of that change. Any change in our privacy policy
is immediately made available on this page.
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4
Information Use
AbleStable uses any information voluntarily given by you to enhance your experience
on our site, whether to provide interactive or personalised elements on the
sites or to better prepare future content based on your interests.
As stated above, AbleStable uses information that you voluntarily provide to
enable you to take full advantage of our services. We send out newsletters
to subscribers on a regular schedule (daily or weekly, depending on the newsletter),
and occasionally send out special editions when we think subscribers might
be particularly interested in something we are doing. AbleStable never shares
newsletter mailing lists with any third parties, including partners.
When we use tracking information to determine which areas of our sites users
like and don't like based on traffic to those areas. AbleStable does not track
what individual users read, but rather how well each page performs overall.
This helps us continue to build a better service for you.
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4.1
Surveys
On occasion we may conduct online surveys. This is used to gauge our service,
collect demographic information and other information that we may find useful.
These surveys are optional. We may share non-personal, aggregated information
collected during these surveys with third parties.
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