Privacy Policy

Simple Machines is committed to ensuring the protection of personal information of our staff, customers, clients and users of this web site. It has always been fundamental to the way we do business at Simple Machines in all our relationships, either on or off the Internet: we are committed to keeping personal information accurate, confidential, secure and private.

Simple Machines's policy is simple: we collect personal information about you only when you knowingly and willingly provide it, and we will not share or otherwise profit from the distribution of personal data beyond the use it was provided to fulfill.

While Simple Machines is now based in the United States, the project originated in Canada. Since the United States doesn't have similar privacy standards, we still conform with the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information (CAN/CSA - Q830-06). The code consists of ten inter-related principles which are outlined below.

The Ten Privacy Principles

Principle 1 - Accountability

Simple Machines is responsible for all personal information under its control including any personal information disclosed to third parties for processing. Simple Machines has established policies and procedures to comply with its own privacy code, and has designated one or more persons to be accountable for compliance.

Principle 2 - Identifying Purposes

Simple Machines will identify the purposes for collecting personal information, prior to or at the time it is being provided. Personal information will not be used for a purpose not previously identified without further individual consent, unless the new purpose is required by law.

Principle 3 - Consent

The knowledge and consent of the customer are required for the collection, use or disclosure of customer information, except where inappropriate.

Principle 4 - Limiting Collection

The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by Simple Machines.

Principle 5 - Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention

Personal information will not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes.

Principle 6 - Accuracy

Personal information shall be as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

Principle 7 - Safeguarding Customer Information

Simple Machines protects personal information with safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

Principle 8 - Openness

Simple Machines will make specific information about its personal information management policies and practices readily available to individuals.

Principle 9 - Customer Access

Upon request, Simple Machines will inform individuals of the existence, use, and disclosure of their personal information and provide access to that information. An individual shall be able to verify the accuracy and completeness of their information, and may request that it be amended, as appropriate.

Principle 10 - Handling Customer Complaints and Suggestions

Simple Machines will provide procedures to receive and respond to complaints or inquiries about policies and practices relating to the handling of personal information. These procedures will be easily accessible and simple to use.

Where and Why We Collect Personal Information Online

Currently Simple Machines collects personal information from the following:

  1. Community Forums
  2. Donations and Charter Membership
  3. Email sent to us
  4. Browser Cookies

Community Forum

When an individual registers for our community forum they are required to provide their name, email address, and password. This information allows us to deliver services to them in a secure manner and enables them to change their preferences associated with the forum. We also ask subscribers for additional information, which is not required to participate in the forum. The purpose of gathering this optional information is twofold: 1) with a greater understanding of our users we can develop services even better suited to the needs of our subscribers and 2) to generate a statistical profile of all subscribers that is shared with users of said forum. Note that Simple Machines will not sell or share your email address or individual information with any third party.

When a subscriber cancels his or her subscription, that individual's personal information (name and email address) will be deleted from our membership database. Any posts the user has elected to make, however, will still have the personal information they provided displayed. This is to ensure accountability for all content on our forum. If a user wishes to delete their posts, they may do so before canceling their subscription.

Donations and Charter Membership

When a visitor purchases a Charter Membership or makes a donation to Simple Machines, our third-party merchant service provider collects personal information in order to validate billing. Of this information, email address, name and shipping address are made available to Simple Machines. This information is used to verify buyers' identity and to resolve delinquent accounts.

Email sent to us

When you send us an email you provide us with your name and email address, along with any other information you provide in the body of your email. This information may be shared with persons outside of Simple Machines only when they are required to receive this information in order to respond effectively to your query. We retain all email correspondence indefinitely in order to improve our services according to customer feedback.

Browser Cookies

Cookies are small text files transferred to your hard drive by a web server. Because cookies only contain text, they cannot transmit a virus or damage your system. They are commonly used to determine return visitors to a site, record your preferences, shopping cart, registration information, pages viewed or items purchased.

Simple Machines only uses cookies to allow users to maintain a logged in state when accessing Simple Machines web services or private areas. No personal information is involved in providing this feature.

You should have the option to set your browser to either accept cookies openly, to notify you before accepting cookies, or to refuse cookies altogether.

Confidentiality

By accepting of a position on the SMF Team, every volunteer at Simple Machines is also accepting our "Core Values" and signs a CLA, which ensures the confidential handling of information. This agreement demonstrates our commitment, both collectively and as individuals, to protecting the confidentiality of information held by the company, including specifically, "customer information."

Limitation of Liability

Complete confidentiality and security is not yet possible over the Internet. Internet use and communication is subject to interception, loss and alteration. On whichever site you provide personal information, it is possible for a third party to view that information. It is not surprising, for example, that messages to newsgroups have resulted in unsolicited email from spammers. You acknowledge and agree that Simple Machines shall not be responsible for any damages you may suffer as a result of the transmission of confidential or sensitive information over the Internet, and that all such communications will be at your own risk.

Contact Us

You can contact us by writing or emailing us with the details provided on our contact page.




Simple Machines reserves the right to update and amend this policy as it is deemed necessary or appropriate to do so. Please check back often to be appraised of any changes. This version was updated on April 15th, 2007.
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