Information Collection
Registration and Billing
In order to use some of our services, we ask our customers to give us contact
information (name, address and phone number). We use this information to contact
customers about services or products that may interest them. We also ask our
customers to give us their e-mail addresses and credit card information for
certain services. We DO NOT distribute e-mail addresses or phone numbers outside
of TradingMarkets, its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates and strategic business
partners. We DO NOT disclose credit card information to any entity other than
credit card processing companies that assist us in billing customers for goods
and services.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information
about the user. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable
information while on our site. We use both session ID cookies and persistent
cookies. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie
simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user's
hard drive for an extended period of time. Users can set up their web browser
to inform them when cookies are set or to prevent cookies from being set. If
users reject cookies, they may still use our website, but will be limited in
using some areas of our website.
We use cookies to store our customers user name and password
so that they do not have to input these items every time they visit our website.
We also use cookies to track our customers' preferences, such as services or
products previously purchased, so that we can provide a better customized service
when our customers return to our website. See the Profile section.
Log Files
Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes internet
protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit
pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends,
administer the site, track user's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad
demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked
to our customers' contact or Sensitive Information.
Information Use
Profile
We store information that we collect through cookies, log files, clear gifs,
and/or third parties to create a profile of our users. A profile is stored information
that we keep on individual users that details their viewing preferences. Consequently,
collected information is tied to the users personally identifiable information
to provide offers and improve the content of the site for the user. This profile
is used to tailor a user's visit to our Web site, and to direct pertinent marketing
promotions to them.
Information Use
We provide information about trading. Since our customers often have widely
differing uses for our products and services, our strongly held belief and experience
is that the more we know about our customers, the more value we can offer them.
We use the information our customers provide during registration to offer them
personalized collection, filtering, and delivery of information (such as strategies
and articles) that is of the greatest interest and value to them.
Third Party Advertising
The ads appearing on our website are delivered to our customers by our Web advertising
partners. Information about our customers' visit to this site, such as number
of times they have viewed an ad (but not user name, address or other contact
information), is used to serve ads to users on our website.
This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by TradingMarkets
only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.
Communications from the Site
Special Offers and Updates
We send all new members a welcoming e-mail to verify password and username.
Established members will occasionally receive information on products, services
and special deals. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the
option to not receive these types of communications in these e-mails.
Newsletters
If a user wishes to subscribe to our newsletters, we ask for contact information
such as name and e-mail address. Out of respect for our users privacy we provide
a way to opt-out of these communications.
Service Announcements
On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement.
For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might
send users an e-mail. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications,
though they can deactivate their account. However, these communications are
not promotional in nature.
Customer Service
We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and
in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via e-mail or phone,
in accordance with the users wishes.
Sharing
Legal Disclaimer
Though we make every effort to preserve customer privacy, we may need to disclose
personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief
that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding,
a court order or legal process served on our website.
Sharing With Third Parties
We do NOT share our customers' e-mail addresses with third parties, except for
when required by law (see legal disclaimer). In order to present our customers
with potentially interesting opportunities, we do occasionally share name and
mailing address information with certain third parties. We believe that our
customers will benefit from these arrangements, but out of respect of our clients'
privacy, we will remove such information from disclosure upon request (via e-mail
to support@tradingmarkets.com) by our customers.
Third Party Intermediaries
We use an outside shipping company to ship orders, and a credit card processing
company to bill users for goods and services. These companies do not retain,
share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.
Choice/Opt-out
Our customers are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their information
used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask
for information. Customers who no longer wish to receive our newsletters and
promotional communications via e-mail may opt-out of receiving these communications
by clicking on the link provided in the e-mail or by sending us an e-mail us
at support@tradingmarkets.com.
Tell-A-Friend
If a customer elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about
our site or forwards a TradingMarkets' commentary to a friend, we ask for the
friend's name and e-mail address. TradingMarkets may send the friend a one-time
e-mail inviting them to visit the site. TradingMarkets stores this information
for the sole purpose of sending this one-time e-mail and tracking the success
of our referral program. The friend may contact TradingMarkets at support@tradingmarkets.com
to request the removal of this information from our database.
Security
We take every precaution to protect our customers' information. When customers
submit sensitive information via our website, their information is protected
both online and off-line.
When our registration form asks users to enter sensitive information
(such as credit card number), that information is encrypted and is protected
with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL. While on a secure page,
such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as
Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed
to un-locked, or open, when users are just 'surfing'.
We also do everything in our power to protect user-information
off-line. We restrict all of our customers' information to our offices, and
only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example,
our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to
personally identifiable information. Our employees must use passwords to access
the information and are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices.
Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are kept
in a secure environment.
If you have any questions about the security at our website,
please contact us via e-mail at to support@tradingmarkets.com.
Supplementation of Information
To fulfill our obligation to our customers, it is sometimes necessary that we
supplement the information that we receive with information from third party
sources.
Address Verification
We use RTWare software to verify a customer's address before completing a charge
on a credit card. This procedure protects our customers and us from credit card
fraud and other illegal activities.
Purchasing History
In order for this Web site to enhance its ability to tailor the site to a user's
preference, we combine information about a customer's purchasing habits to create
a personalized customer profile.
Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information
If a customer's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code,
phone, e-mail or mailing address), or if a customer no longer desires our service,
we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate the customer's personally
identifiable information. This can usually be done at the member information
page, by e-mailing our Customer Support at support@tradingmarkets.com or by
contacting us by telephone or postal mail at the contact information listed
below.
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this
privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our
customers are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and
under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
Contact Information
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please
contact us at:
