Privacy Statement
Written by Administrator
INTRODUCTION
Quest Network, Inc. cares about protecting your online privacy. We will not disclose any of your personal information to third parties without your consent. To let you know how we collect and use your information, we have established the following privacy policy. Since this policy may change from time to time, please refer to it regularly.Children's online privacy is a top priority for both Quest Network, Inc. and our community of educators and families. We encourage you to read our Children's Privacy Policy. We do not collect personally identifiable information from children unless we have written consent from parents/guardians or teachers.
WHO WE ARE
QuestNetwork.com, TheQuestNetwork.com, LifeQuestExpedition.com and BlueZones.com are all owned and operated as a single "Site" by Quest Network, Inc., a Minnesota corporation.HOW TO REACH US
Our general mailing address is:Quest Network, Inc.
724 North First Street
Minneapolis, MN 55401
To contact us about privacy issues, please go to: Contact Us
WHAT INFORMATION WE KNOW ABOUT YOU AND HOW WE USE IT
Although we may collect certain information from you as discussed below, please be reassured in knowing the following:- We do not use any information about where you personally go on our Site, nor do we give such information out to third parties; except in aggregate format, as described below;
- We do not give out your name, telephone number, or other personal information, unless you (or, if you are a child under the age of 13, your parent or teacher) authorize us to do so or except where needed to deliver a product or service you ordered;
- Unless you are an adult and you personally divulge personal information, we will not give out information that would link your profile, Member ID, or nickname with your actual name without your (or, if you are a child under the age of 13, your parent's or teacher's) prior consent.
There are various areas on our Site where we either require or permit you to transfer personal information voluntarily. We use this personal information only for the specific purpose specified at the time you input such information. In addition, we never divulge such information to third parties without your consent. By becoming a member of Quest Network, you receive enhanced services and functionality from our Site. General members will have to enter a username, password, and email address. In order to become a member of the school section, we ask you for your first and last name, e-mail address, primary role, school affiliation, school name, school address, school zip code, and grade levels and subjects most relevant to you. We also ask whether or not you'd like to receive email from Quest Network, Inc. This membership is meant for teachers, administrators, and interested parents, and is not intended for children or K-12 students.
E-mail List Sign-Up—Quest Network's free email lists keep you up-to-date with Internet resources, and provide the latest Quest Network news.
Beyond the E-mail List Sign-Up, there may be other times we request or acquire your e-mail address, such as when you e-mail us with questions or comments. We will only use your address to respond to e-mails from you, forward and send your e-mails to and from other Quest Network members and internal Quest Network employees who may be able to respond to you, send information to you concerning your account, and inform you of updates to our Web site if you have opted-in for such notification. Quest Network DOES NOT share e-mail addresses or any other personal information about our members or subscribers with advertisers, business partners, sponsors or other third parties without your consent. Our e-mail lists are not intended for children.
Information That We Independently Derive From Your Use of Our Site
Aside from any information you may actively disclose to us, there is other, less obvious information that we might gain from you. Generally, we use such information for internal purposes, such as to improve the content of our Web pages. In addition, we keep records in your account history of your contact with Quest Network, any complaints you may have about other members' online behavior, and any reported violations of our Terms of Use that you or someone on your account may have committed.
Computer Information. We automatically query your computer for information about your computer system such as the speed of your modem, error messages you may have received, or operating system type—to help us fit our services to your individual needs and to help us diagnose problems you may be having with your system. We use an identifier in the form of a Member ID to give you access to members-only, subscription or premium areas.
Geographic Location. We may use information about your geographical location to provide localized service. By knowing where your computer is located, we can provide faster service by sending your server localized content. Also, we may use your zip code or time zone to make sure certain information you see is accurate for you.
Aggregate Information. Finally, our system automatically gathers information about the areas you visit on our Site. We use this navigational information in the aggregate to understand how our members (be they teachers or K-12 students) as a group use our service, so that we can make our Site better. We may also share this aggregate statistical information with our partners or other outside companies, but in doing so, we never disclose individual names or personal navigational information. Some examples of how we aggregate such information are as follows:
- Cookies. Cookies enable you to interact with Quest Network Web sites. By communicating with our site when you sign in, cookies speed up and ease your navigation, which prevents you from having to retype your Member ID and Password every time you move to another location within the site. Your cookie enables you to vote, send email, post messages, and otherwise interact with the site. Cookies allow us to customize the information we provide according to your profile and preferences. Widely used on the Internet, cookies have become an industry standard. Although a cookie cannot, in and of itself, identify you, it can identify your computer.
Your browser is most likely set up to accept cookies automatically. If you'd like to disable cookies, you may do so by adjusting the options or preferences in your browser. See our help section on cookies for more information. However, by doing so, you will lose some of the functionality of Quest Network's Web pages, will not be able to access our subscription Web sites, and will lose ability for personalization.
- IP Addresses. An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you begin service with an Internet Service Provider. Quest Network collects IP addresses for the purposes of system administration and to audit the use of our Site. Each time you sign onto our Site and each time you request one of our pages, our server logs your IP address. Although we log your session with us, we will not normally link your IP address to anything that can enable us to identify you. However, we can and will use IP addresses to identify a user when we feel it is necessary to enforce compliance with our rules or Terms of Use or to protect our service, Site, members or others.
Quest Network may require other information for tracking and/or verifying compliance with Quest Network policies, fulfilling any prizes or promotions we may offer, as well as abiding by federal, state, and local laws, and/or for editorial and feedback solicitation purposes. In addition, from time to time, we may use your information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices materially change at some time in the future, we will contact you (or post such change to the Site) before we use your data for these new purposes. At that time we would notify you of the policy change and provide you with the ability to opt-in or opt-out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, please periodically check our Site, especially this privacy policy.
PRIVACY POLICY FOR CHILDREN UNDER 13 YEARS OF AGE
We understand that our student users who are under 13 years of age need special safeguards and privacy protection and it is our intent to fully comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (or "COPPA"). In addition, we realize that children may not understand all the provisions of our policy or be able to make thoughtful decisions about the choices available to adult members. For this reason, we have special privacy policies to protect children using areas on the service specifically designed for them. However, we urge all parents, teachers, and classroom administrators to teach their children and/or students about protecting their personal information while online. A good starting point for learning about children's privacy online is the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's privacy section. It is important to understand that only certain portions of our site are intended for or directed at children under the age of 13 years old. No personal information in these or any other areas should be submitted to, or posted by, students under 13 years of age without the consent and guidance of their parent, teacher or guardian.We do not allow children under 13 to provide any direct personally identifiable information (for example, name, address, and telephone number information); all such information will be collected solely from teachers and/or parents. Such personal information provided by teachers and/or parents will be available only to the teacher, the student, and the student's parent or guardian. We will never otherwise share or use such information without prior teacher or parental consent.
The only information that will be collected from children will be information received from the children in response to their teachers' assignments and requests (such as homework assignments). While this information will generally not be personally identifiable information or third party personally identifiable information, to the extent that it is, we will:
- Get consent from the child's parent or teacher (for example, by sending in a permission form by regular mail or by fax, or by email where permitted by COPPA regulations in effect April 21, 2000) before collecting, using, or distributing to third parties any personally identifiable information from the child or any third party personally identifiable information from the child. We will not otherwise share such information from the child with third parties.
- Provide the child's parent or teacher, upon request, with (a) a description of the specific types of personally identifiable information or third party personally identifiable information collected from the child and allow the parent or teacher to refuse further use or future online collection of such information; and (b) a means that is reasonable under the circumstances for the parent or teacher to obtain any personally identifiable information or third party personally identifiable information collected from the child.
- Maintain reasonable security procedures to protect personally identifiable information from the child or third party personally identifiable information from the child.
- Ensure that no information collected from children under 13 years of age is knowingly used for any marketing or promotional purposes whatsoever, either inside or outside Quest Network except as explicitly stated during registration for contests or promotions (and in that case, the information collected will be used only for the specific contest or promotion). In addition, although children under 13 years of age may be allowed to participate in some contests and promotions, if such a child wins, notification and prizes will be sent to the child's teacher, parent, or guardian. Publication of contest winners' names, ages, or images for individuals under 13 will require parental or guardian consent.
In addition to the above protections, we will also:
- Get consent from the child's parent or teacher before giving the child access to services that allow the child to publicly post or distribute personally identifiable information or third party personally identifiable information.
- Use online contact information for the child (such as an email address) (a) only once to respond to a specific request from the child; (b) in order to request the name or online contact information of a parent or teacher in order to get the parent's or teacher's consent or provide notification to the parent or teacher; and (c) to respond more than once directly to a specific request from the child and not to recontact the child beyond the scope of that request. When the information is used to contact the child more than once, reasonable efforts will be taken to provide notification to the parent or teacher of the child.
- Not entice a child by offering a special game, prize, or other activity to give more personal information than is needed to participate in that activity.
WHAT KIDS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ONLINE PRIVACY
We care about your online privacy. To protect kids, we have rules we follow about how we collect and use information from children under 18. Make sure your teachers and parents read our Privacy Policy so they know all the details!What we do to keep kids safe on our site:
- We do not allow students under 18 to post any "personally identifiable information" in our discussions and galleries. Personally identifiable information, or PII, is information such as full name, email address, IM name, home address, and telephone number.
- If you e-mail an expert, Quest team member, or other Quest Network person, we will reply to you once, but we won't keep your email address or send you other email.
- What kids can do to keep safe online:
- Always use a nickname when posting in public areas, or use only your first name. Never use your last name.
- Never give out personal information.
- If you receive email from a stranger, tell your teacher or parent before replying.
- Keep your password a secret.
- Look at a site's privacy policy to see how the site uses the information you give them.
Have fun surfing! For more information on children's online privacy, check out the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's KIDZ Privacy section. Remember, be safe.
WHEN WE MAY BE FORCED TO DISCLOSE
Quest Network may disclose user information in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) Quest Network's rights or property or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities. Quest Network may also disclose user information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it.
LINKS TO OTHER SITES
Linking to other sites is an integral part of the functionality of the Internet, including the Quest Network Site. Any link to a page that displays a URL of a non-Quest Network site (see Who We Are for a list of our sites) in the address window of your browser, is a link to a site outside of our service. This includes links to our partners, Library links, and links to any other advertisers and partners that may link to Quest Network or are part of a co-branding agreement, as well as other suggested links or links our users may post. These other sites may send their own cookies to you, collect data or solicit personal information. Although we monitor the sites that we link to and make every attempt to ensure their quality, we cannot guarantee and are not responsible for the content of outside sites.Please keep in mind that whenever you give out personal information on other Web sites (for example via message boards or chat), that information can be collected and used by people you don't know. While Quest Network strives to protect our visitors' personal information and privacy, we cannot guarantee the security and privacy of any information you disclose at other Web sites, and you do so at your own risk.
E-MAIL LINKS
We use e-mail links located on our Contact Us page to allow you to contact us directly with any questions or comments you may have. We read every message sent in and try to reply promptly, answer your questions, and note your comments. We may also file your comments to improve the Site and our services, or review and discard the information. Your personal information is only shared with third parties with your explicit permission.SECURITY
To help protect your account, please keep your password secure. We suggest that you pick a non-obvious password that mixes numbers and letters. In addition, we recommend that you do not divulge your password to anyone. Quest Network will never ask you for your password in an unsolicited phone call or e-mail. Ultimately, you are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and any account information.
Remember to sign out of your Quest Network member account by clicking the Sign Out button on the left navigation bar, and close your browser window whenever you leave your computer. This is to ensure that others cannot access your personal information, because your computer may be accessible to others or used in a shared setting such as a school computer lab, library or Internet café.
Quest Network's policy does not extend to anything that is inherent in the operation of the Internet, and therefore beyond Quest Network's control, and is not to be applied in any manner contrary to applicable law or governmental regulation.
If you have any questions about the security of our Web site, please e-mail contact us.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
We may disclose personal information when required by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary in order to conform to the edicts of the law or comply with a legal process served on our Web site.NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES
We will notify you directly via e-mail if there is a material change in our privacy practices. We will also post the changes in our Privacy Policy 30 days prior to a change.YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS
By using this Site, you signify your assent to the Quest Network Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use. If you do not agree with these policies, please refrain from using our Site. Your continued use of the Quest Network Web site following a reasonable notice of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes.If you have questions or concerns regarding this Web site's Privacy Policy and/or Terms of Use, please contact us.
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