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Privacy PolicyPrivacy & ConfidentialityWe care about the privacy of your information. Privacy Policy Overview ChildResearch.com Conducts Marketing Research only Communication With Children and Young People How Surveys are Hosted We Do NOT have Open "Chat Rooms" Parental/Guardian Consent Required for a Child to Participate What Information We Collect and How It Is Used Data Security Cookies Privacy Policy Overview The American Girl® Forum Online Opinion Panel and the AmericanGirlForum.com website are managed by ChildResearch.com (a division of Touchstone Research, inc.) an opinion research firm committed to the highest industry standards of excellence and integrity. We at Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com have a great deal of admiration for today's kids and govern our business and actions with sensitivity and respect. In online research, as with all other forms of research, we govern our actions by the highest industry standards. We strive to have a positive impact in all our dealings with children and to make their participation in research studies an enjoyable and meaningful one. We follow special procedures to protect the privacy of the child, obtain parental or legal guardian consent, verify recruitment qualifications, adhere to laws and regulations and enhance the security of our clients. We have strict procedures for online research with children that ensure that no identifiable personal data is obtained without prior parental approval. Data is only reported in aggregate form--not personally identifiable. We do not, and will not sell personal data for other marketing efforts. The safety and privacy of children and their families is of paramount importance. We adhere to all applicable federal, state and local laws regarding research with children and protect the privacy and other rights of all participants in our research projects. We comply with all the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Act (COPPA). The complete Privacy & Safety Policy is detailed below and describes our steps to ensure a family-friendly and safe site for kids. If you have questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy that aren't addressed below, you can contact us by calling: 1-800-409-2665, or simply click here, or write: ChildResearch.com 175 North Main Street Branford, CT 06405 Attention: AmericanGirlForum.com Privacy Policy Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com recommends that concerned parents and guardians go with their kids to Nickelodeon's excellent guide to safe online behavior at: http://www.nick.com/blab/safety/index.jhtml. This is a well-written guide that kids will understand. Here are some other links containing useful information (Touchstone research, inc./ChildResearch.com is not responsible for the privacy practices of any linked site): . http://www.safesurfin.com/kids.htm . http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/kidz.htm ChildResearch.com Conducts Marketing Research only Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com conducts online opinion surveys of various kinds among children and their families. We are an independent consumer opinion company. We do not make or sell any other product or service and are not affiliated with any sales organization. Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com does not sell anything to Panelists or their children. AmericanGirlForum.com surveys are not sales efforts, no Panel participant (children or their parents or guardians) at AmericanGirlForum.com or any other ChildResearch.com Panel will ever be asked to buy anything because of their participation in a research Panel Communication With Children and Young People All communication from AmericanGirlForum.com/TouchstoneResearch, Inc./ChildResearch.com is done with a parent or legal guardian, even if the communication is directed at children—for example a survey invitation--this is sent to the registered parent/legal guardian Panelist. Survey invitations are sent via email. Invitations for a child will be personalized for that child but they will be sent to the registered parent/legal guardian email address. The parent/legal guardian decides whether to permit their child’s participation and provide the survey invitation to their child. How Surveys are Hosted The American Girl® Forum Online Opinion Panel surveys are hosted on the AmericanGirlForum.com website/portal. We have not but it is possible that we may in the future occasionally host surveys at other sites/portals operated by one of our clients or partners. If we do, we will notify Panel members and that site will adhere to AmericanGirlForum.com/Touchstone research, Inc./ChildResearch.com standards and policies. We Do NOT have Open "Chat Rooms" We don't host public "chat rooms", so parents and legal guardians do not need to have any concerns about someone not associated with AmericanGirlForum.com/Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com trying to contact their kids in a chat session on this website. If we want to have instant dialogue with our Panelists we most often will use our Talkback(SM) feature with built-in security and privacy protection. We do not have any current plans for chat-based surveys in which several kids or parents can discuss issues in real time with an adult moderator but if we do conduct that type of research we will inform the parent and their child may only participate with the parent's permission. If we do conduct these interactive chat-based surveys we will follow these policies: 1. During these surveys the moderator will remind participants not to disclose their names, addresses, or other personal information. Moderators will avoid asking questions that would require a participant to divulge personally identifiable information, and will warn any participant who volunteers such information to stop. 2. Only Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com employees, or sub-contractors of Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com who have agreed to abide by all Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com privacy standards will be allowed to participate in these survey sessions. The dialogue (without personally identifiable information) from these survey sessions may be read by clients or sub-contractors of Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com both in real time and after the fact. Parental/Guardian Consent Required for a Child to Participate AmericanGirlForum.com/ Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com requires the consent of parents or legal guardians before any communication with children under age 13. A parent or legal guardian must first register their child as Panel participants or give permission. Before collecting personal information from such child, AmericanGirlForum.com/ Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com obtains consent from the child's parent or legal guardian. Parents or guardians may choose to remove their child from the Panel at any time by using the Add/Modify Children link on the home page of AmericanGirlForum.com or permanently remove their entire household by using the Cancel My Registration link on the home page of AmericanGirlForum.com, or do either via email by using the Contact Us link at AmericanGirlForum.com or by calling 800-409-2665. What Information We Collect and How It Is Used This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the AmericanGirlForum.com website. We collect three kinds of information: 1. The opinions of children and their parents or guardians about issues of interest to us or our clients. Opinions are always reported in aggregate only - 52% of kids thought this-or-that, or 77% of children ages 7-9 were aware of something-or-other. This information will be shared with our clients without identifying the identity of any child, parent or guardian. 2. Background information about the children, their parents or guardians, and their households. During the process of registering at AmericanGirlForum.com, parents or legal guardians are asked a number of questions about their children, themselves and their household. This information is used as background information so that we can target surveys we conduct and to better interpret survey findings. Background information is reported in aggregate only - for instance, we might report that, 28% of participants are from the East. 3. When an adult parent or guardian registers at AmericanGirlForum.com, we collect limited personally identifiable information in order to communicate by mail, email or telephone with that adult, send checks, gift certificates and other rewards, and in order to personalize communication sent to the parent or guardian but intended for the child (For example, survey invitations using the child’s first name are sent to the Parent for forwarding to their child). We will never share the personally identifiable information provided to us without first obtaining explicit permission from the parent or guardian to do so, and giving them an opportunity to opt out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses except AmericanGirlForum.com/Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com may share information with a fulfillment (mailing) house in order to send gifts or prizes to AmericanGirlForum.com participants, or to vendors or subcontractors engaged in data management/processing for AmericanGirlForum.com/Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com. Any fulfillment house or other vendor managing a AmericanGirlForum.com/Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com program will agree to be bound by the privacy rules and restrictions contained in this notice. The types of personal information that we collect are: . Parent's or Guardian's Name . Child's name . Address . Email address for the parent (not the child) . Phone number . Demographics such as gender, age, etc. WE DO NOT COLLECT PERSONAL IDENTITY INFORMATION SUCH AS EXACT BIRTHDATE, DRIVER LICENSE, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER OR FINANCIAL DATA SUCH AS BANK ACCOUNTS, CREDIT CARDS. Data Security To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place what we believe to be appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. Your American Girl® Forum Account Information/Registration and Profile are password-protected. We recommend that you do not divulge your password to anyone. We will never ask you for your password in an unsolicited phone call or in an unsolicited email. Also, remember to sign out of your American Girl® Forum account and close your browser window when you have finished your work. This is to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence if you share a computer with someone else or are using a computer in a public place like a library or Internet cafe. Whenever Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com handles personal information as described above, regardless of where this occurs, Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com takes steps to ensure that your information is treated securely and in accordance with the relevant Terms of Use/Panelist Agreement and this Privacy Policy. Although we take reasonable precautions to protect the information we collect on this site, we can not be responsible for unauthorized access to such information, or theft, destruction or inadvertent disclosure of such information. Cookies Cookies may sometimes be used. Cookies are small information files that are placed on your computer when you visit a website. Cookies that AmericanGirlForum.com places on your computer can be accessed only by AmericanGirlForum.com/ Touchstone Research, Inc./ChildResearch.com and we cannot access cookies from any other Web site. AmericanGirlForum.com uses cookies to determine the type of operating system and browser that you and other visitors to our site are using. Some of the surveys we design will work best with certain kinds of browsers or may require certain other software to be installed, so we use this information to determine whether a Participant's computer is capable of displaying those questionnaires. Additionally, cookies are used to facilitate surveys. Cookies may be disabled on your computer by indicating this in the preferences or options menus of your browser. If you decide to block one or more cookies, the website may not function correctly, also survey functionality may be impaired. WE DO NOT USE TRACKING COOKIES TO FOLLOW YOUR WEB ACTIVITIES, SPYWARE OR ADWARE OF ANY KIND. |
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