Information this Site Gathers/Tracks
We collect aggregate information site-wide, including anonymous site stats. We also log domain names and/or IP addresses. On certain pages such as the Suggest a URL feedback Form, we give users the option of providing us with names, e-mail addresses and various other kinds of details. Any such personal information is not gathered by us without users` knowing and active permission and participation. Such information is normally acted upon and discarded unless it is understand the information is to be used in the future. No database of this information exists at SourceNet. It is widely believed by investigative journalists that internet traffic is monitored and recorded by various government agencies. Such agencies just love e-mail, no messy envelopes top open and scan. Books such as Secret Power by Nicky Hager detail these types of abuses by governments worldwide. Just because we discard it doesn't mean the government does. It is truly ironic that the largest invader of privacy worldwide spends time hassling businesses about their privacy standards. When the pot calls the kettle black...
Use of the Information this Site Gathers/Tracks
We review and discard the information in our logs to help make decisions about the future of the site and we do not send unsolicited e-mail to any addresses we might find in the log..
Sharing of the Information this Site Gathers/Tracks
SourceNet does not disclose personal information to others except as might be temporarily "shared" with third parties that fulfill orders, verify credit cards, process orders in on-line currencies such as First Virtual or DigiCash, etc. These off-site assistants and fulfillment houses will be required to make no further use of such information, nor disclose it to others.
Other Information About Your Privacy at This Site
SourceNet`s site generally stores no information about its visitors per se, with the exceptions of basic logging for site stats, and information provided by users who fill out our on-line feedback form. Under no circumstances does SourceNet compile "audit trails" of which users are browsing what pages, and under no circumstances will SourceNet sell, rent, loan or give personally identifiable user information to marketers. SourceNet`s site does not monitor private communications of others (e.g. e-mail) at all, much less make any use of such communications. SourceNet`s site does not display or make available users` personal information, such as contact information, even if it is already publicly available.
Our Policy About Cookies
SourceNet does not put cookies on your hard drive or attempt to read cookies placed their by others. Unfortunately the free counter we subscribe to may place a cookie, but it is not mandatory so there is no effect if you have your cookies turned off and we have no access to that information.
More About Cookies
For the uninitiated there is a file on your hard drive called MagicCookie and it contains private information that uniquely identifies who you are to each company that chooses to write data there. It is widely used by search engines and on-line stores to monitor your personal tastes and search preferences. Such habits are available to any company that chooses to install the special profiling software needed. Profiling software allows a nosy site to replay your entire on-line session, click by click, link by link. If you are a paying customer of a site that uses it, the site marketers can associate your name, address, phone number and demographics with all these preferences and sell this marketing information to whatever junk mailer, spammer or telemarketer they choose, now or in the future if their data usage policies change. Companies are not currently under any legal obligation to inform you what information they collect and what they do with it. If you just love junk mail and telemarketing calls, this is for you! If not, you can erase the old data in the cookie, but a new empty one will come right back and begin to fill up again. MS Explorer and Netscape's browsers both have preference options that allow you to turn off cookies. They also let you selectively allow or disallow whether a cookie will be set on a case by case basis. You can learn more about cookies and profiling at Cookie Central or Junkbusters. Profiling is described at Consumer Profiling Firefly Proposes Clearinghouse For Sharing Information and personify.com
As we mentioned with cookies there is no guarantee about the secondary use of marketing information acquired during the transaction. It can be used later in the same way a mail order house may rent its customer list to others. The web is no different except that now there is an e-mail address too and sending e-mail is essentially free and instantaneous compared to snail mail. Now a marketer can send you a custom offer based on your personal tastes within minutes of when you have purchased a similar item if they choose. If you are buying either information or some kind of entertainment that does not require a shipping address then protections are available through digicash and anonymous e-mail service. Now you can, of course, have a free unique mail box for each merchant if you choose. Privacy advocates are replete with many horror stories of sloppy data matching and malicious misuse of credit information, job history and medical data. The last thing consumers "need" is to have this data available rapidly on a widely distributed network like the web. Web users are so suspicious or aware of these issues that 90% of them have steadfastly refused to buy anything on the web. The safest approach is find a merchant with a written privacy policy such as members of Truste and good prices and stick with that merchant until you have evidence of misuse. For a perspective about buyer concerns you can read the lengthy discussion paper entitled "Information Privacy in the Marketspace". In cases of outright fraud be sure to contact the National Fraud Information Center
Another avenue is to find a merchant registered with a web business bureau. Privacy is not assured but at least you stand a good chance of not being cheated outright. A few of the more common are BBB Online a web better business bureau, NetCheck a web chamber of commerce, the Web Assurance Bureau another source of help for consumer disputes and The Public Eye a Good Webkeeping Seal of Approval
