HBSi respects your privacy.


When using our sites, you may get information, access online products and services, communicate with us, or link to other Web sites with which we do business. While doing that, you may give us information so that we can provide enhanced products or services to you and to personalize your experience on our Web site.


This online privacy policy describes how we use and protect Individual Identifying Information that you share with us. 'Individual Identifying Information' is information that enables us to identify you, such as your e-mail address, name, title, and mailing address.


This policy governs Web sites owned and operated by HBSi. Our policy does not govern Web sites of other parties to which we may provide links, because HBSi is not responsible, and cannot control the privacy practices or content of those sites.


To demonstrate our commitment to fair information practices, we have adopted leading communication industry privacy guidelines. Additionally, we urge you at all times to use caution when providing Individual Identifying Information, and suggest that you read the Federal Trade Commission's suggested safety precautions for Internet surfing, which can be found by clicking here.

Information Collection and Use

HBSi collects Individual Identifying Information when you register for an HBSi account, or use certain HBSi products or services, and when you visit HBSi pages. HBSi may also receive Individual Identifying Information from our business partners.

When you register with HBSi, we ask for your name, e-mail address, birth date, gender, ZIP code, occupation, industry, and personal interests or other information. Once you register with HBSi and sign in to our services, you are not anonymous to us. HBSi also automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser including your IP address, HBSi cookie information and the page you requested.

HBSi uses information for three general purposes:

• To customize the advertising and content you see
• To fulfill your requests for certain products and services
• To contact you about specials and new products

HBSi routinely time-stamps and logs events (like features used, number of participants, length of meetings.) This data is used for accounting and billing purposes as well as for performance tuning and optimization of the HBSi services.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

HBSi will not sell or rent your Individual Identifying Information to anyone. HBSi will send Individual Identifying Information about you to other companies or people when:

• We have your consent to share the information
• We need to share your information to provide the product or service you have requested
• We need to send the information to companies who work on behalf of HBSi to provide a product or service to you. (Unless we tell you differently, these companies do not have any right to use the Individual Identifying Information we provide to them beyond what is necessary to assist us.)
• We respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process
• We find that your actions on our Web sites violate the HBSi Terms of Service, or any of our usage guidelines for specific products or services

Your Ability to Edit and Delete Your Account Information and Preferences

HBSi gives you the ability to edit your HBSi Account Information and preferences at any time. You may request deletion of your account by terminating your customer agreement in accordance with Section 5 of the Distribution Interface Agreement.

Security

HBSi takes place within the context of the public Internet using SSL encryption technology to protect against unauthorized intrusion and interception. Your HBSi Account Information is password-protected for your privacy and security. In certain areas HBSi uses industry-standard SSL-encryption to protect data transmissions. In other areas HBSi uses proprietary security methods to protect data transmissions.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

If we change any of our privacy policies or practices, we will post those changes to this policy statement at least 30 days before they take effect. In limited cases, we may be required to disclose certain information to comply with a legal process, such as a court order, subpoena, or search warrant.

Questions or Suggestions

If you have questions or suggestions, complete a feedback form or send an email to info@hbsconnect.com.

IP Information Collection and Use Practices

HBSi receives IP addresses from all users because this information is automatically reported by your browser each time you view a Web page.  Your IP address is also stored in our user registration databases when you register with HBSi. When an HBSI Web page is requested and viewed, that request is logged on our servers with information including the IP address of the computer that requested the page.

IP addresses may be used for various purposes, including:

• Diagnosing service or technology problems reported by our users or engineers that are associated with the IP addresses controlled by a specific Web company or ISP
• Sending the most appropriate advertising based on geographic area or information derived from your IP address. Many IP addresses are commonly associated with Internet service providers, universities, or major corporations in specific regions or localities. Aggregate information derived from IP addresses may also be reported to advertisers
• Estimating the total number of users visiting HBSi from specific countries or regions of the world

Cookies

A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to your browser from a Web site's computer and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each Web site can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a Web site to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.

Choices About Cookies

You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is sent. (Each browser is different, so check the 'Help' menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.) If you reject all cookies, you will not be able to use HBSi products or services that require you to 'sign in', and you may not be able to take full advantage of all offerings. However, many HBSi products and services do not require that you accept cookies.


HBSI Practices Regarding Cookies


HBSi uses its own cookies for a number of purposes, including:

• Accessing your information when you 'sign in', so that we can provide you with customized content
• Keeping track of preferences you specify while you are using HBSi services
• Displaying the most appropriate advertising banners, based on your interests and activity on HBSi
• Estimating and reporting our total audience size and traffic
• Conducting research to improve HBSi content and services
• Requiring you to re-enter your HBSi password after a certain period of time has elapsed to protect you against others accidentally accessing your account contents

Data Storage and Account Information

When you register with HBSi or submit information to HBSi, a temporary copy of that information is routinely made to prevent accidental loss of your information through a computer malfunction or human error.

HBSi keeps your account information active in our user registration databases in order to provide immediate access to your personalization preferences each time you visit HBSi. If you ask HBSi to delete your HBSi account, in most cases your account will be deactivated and then deleted from our user registration database in approximately 90 days. This delay is necessary to discourage users from engaging in fraudulent activity.

Please note that any information that we have copied may remain in back-up storage for some period of time after your deletion request. This may be the case even though no information about your account remains in our active user databases.

Servers

The HBSi computers (called 'servers') that send your Web pages and advertising banners process and store an enormous amount of information every day. These computer records are called 'log files.' Log files are used for analysis, research, auditing, and other purposes, as described above. After this information has been used, it is stored and is inaccessible. Until the information is stored, your HBSi ID may remain in our active server log files.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Web site, you can contact info@hbsconnect.com.