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Privacy Policy

Here’s the basics on our privacy policy: Your personal information is your own, and we don’t use any information we collect about you except to help you (for example, we look you up in our system using your name if you need help adjusting a setting or logging in), or in an aggregated form (for example, if 200 people use our site in Orwell, we may share that information with an advertiser. We will NEVER say to that advertiser, hey, one of those people in Plainfield is Joe Smith, who visits our site 5 times a day, has a dog, three kids, makes $35,000 a year and is thinking about buying a snowmobile this year. That’s just creepy, but that’s what many internet companies are doing these days.)

If you have any questions, you know where to find us – the contact info of our managers is right here on the website, and you can stop by and see us in person, too.

These guidelines have been developed with the recognition that Internet technologies are rapidly evolving, and that underlying business models are still not established. Accordingly, guidelines are subject to change. Any such changes will be posted on this page. If the changes represent a material departure from our current practices with respect to the use of personal information, the changes will be posted on this page thirty days prior to taking effect and we will attempt to notify all registered users via email. This policy applies to our website and to the e-Paper of our publications.

Vermont Community Media, LLC is not responsible for the content or the privacy policies of websites to which it may link.

What information does Vermont Community Media, LLC gather/track about me?

Information You Give Us: Vermont Community Media, LLC receives and may store any information you enter on our Web site or give us in any other way. You provide most such information when you search, buy, subscribe, post, participate in a contest or questionnaire, or communicate with customer service. For example, you provide information when you search for a story; subscribe to TimesArgus.com or one of our other online or print publications; provide information in your Account (and you might have more than one if you have used more than one email address when registering with us) or your Profile; communicate with us by phone, email, or otherwise; complete a questionnaire or a contest entry form; provide employer information when opening a corporate account; participate in Forums or other community features; provide and rate Reviews; or connect using social media services. As a result of those actions, you might supply us with such information as your name, address, and phone numbers; credit card information; email addresses of other people; computer IP Address; content of reviews and emails to us; personal description and photograph in your Profile.

Automatic Information: Vermont Community Media, LLC receives and stores certain types of information whenever you interact with us. For example, like many websites, we use “cookies,” and we obtain certain types of information when your Web browser accesses TimesArgus.com or advertisements and other content served by or on behalf of TimesArgus.com on other websites.

IP Addresses: Vermont Community Media, LLC logs IP addresses, or the location of your computer on the Internet, for systems administration, authentication and troubleshooting purposes.

What About Cookies?

Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser to enable our systems to recognize your browser.

The Help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. Additionally, you can disable or delete similar data used by browser add-ons, such as Flash cookies, by changing the add-on’s settings or visiting the website of its manufacturer. However, because cookies allow you to visit our e-Paper and websites without logging in each time, we recommend that you leave them turned on. For instance, if you block or otherwise reject our cookies, you will have to enter your username and password every time you want to access our websites.

Does Vermont Community Media, LLC share the information it receives?

Information about our customers is an important part of our business, and we are not in the business of selling it to others. We share customer information only as described below and with subsidiaries Vermont Community Media, LLC controls that either are subject to this Privacy Policy or follow practices at least as protective as those described in this Privacy Policy. Vermont Community Media, LLC will not release personal information about you as an individual to third parties, except under the circumstances described in Compliance with Legal Process below.

What does Vermont Community Media, LLC do with the information it gathers/tracks?

Statistical Analysis and Banner Advertising:

Vermont Community Media, LLC uses demographic and preference information to allow advertising on our site to be targeted in aggregate to groups of users. Personal information about you as an individual subscriber will not be provided to any third party without your consent, except under the circumstances described in Compliance with Legal Process below.

Vermont Community Media, LLC also may perform statistical analyses of user behavior to measure interest in the various areas of our web site.

In this statistical analyses and banner advertisement targeting, we will disclose information to third parties only in aggregate form.

Email: If you so elect at registration, Vermont Community Media, LLC will periodically send you promotional email about services offered by Vermont Community Media, LLC and its advertisers. Vermont Community Media, LLC may contact you regarding account status, changes to the subscriber agreement, and to confirm registration. We will also send you other emails only if you have opted to subscribe to them.

The Email This Article feature is an easy way for Vermont Community Media, LLC to send articles through email. The email addresses that you supply to use this service will not be used for any other purpose without your consent. Vermont Community Media, LLC does not send unsolicited email.

How Secure Is Information About Me?

Vermont Community Media, LLC works to protect the security of your information during transmission by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software, which encrypts information you input.

Vermont Community Media, LLC reveals only the last four digits of your credit card numbers when confirming an order. Our employees do not have access to your entire credit card number, or to your account password. Of course, we transmit the entire credit card number to the appropriate credit card company during order processing. And, you have the ability to reset your password at any time.

It is important for you to protect against unauthorized access to your password and to your computer.

Vermont Community Media, LLC uses email links located in the Site Help area to allow you to contact us directly with any questions or comments you may have. We will use your email address to respond directly to these questions or comments. Any information you submit using email may NOT be encrypted, so you should avoid putting passwords credit card numbers or other private information in emails.

Compliance with Legal Process

Vermont Community Media, LLC may disclose personal information if required to do so by law or we in good faith believe that such action is necessary to (1) comply with the law or with legal process; (2) protect and defend our rights and property; (3) protect against misuse or unauthorized use of TimesArgus.com; or (4) protect the personal safety or property of our users or the public (among other things, this means that if you provide false information or attempt to pose as someone else, information about you may be disclosed as part of any investigation into your actions).

Opting-Out, Corrections and Cancellations

Upon request, Vermont Community Media, LLC will a) Remove you and your personal information, from our database, thereby canceling your registration; b) Correct personal information that you state is erroneous; or c) Permit you to “opt out” of further email contact (excepting notification of major changes to the service) while still allowing access to the site.

Governing Law

This policy and the use of this Web site are governed by the laws of the State of Vermont. Any claim related to the Web site or this policy shall be brought in a federal or state court in Rutland County, Vermont, within one (1) year after the claim arises. You agree that no such claim may be brought as a class action. Users of TimesArgus.com consent to the jurisdiction and venue of such court.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

Under the the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits user registration by children below the age of 13, we cannot allow children 12 and under register to use our products online.

About Third Party Advertising

We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you use our Services. If so, a list of these ad serving companies will be available here. These companies may use information (generally, not including your name, address, e-mail address or telephone number) about your visits to our sites or use of our Services and to other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. These companies may employ cookies and clear GIFs to measure advertising effectiveness. Any information that these third parties collect via cookies and clear GIFs is generally not personally identifiable (unless, for example, you provide personally identifiable information to them through an ad or e-mail message). We encourage you to read these businesses' privacy policies if you should have any concerns about how they will care for your personal information. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, see the Network Advertising Initiative's consumer website.

Google Doubleclick for Publishers (DFP) is an ad network partner that displays ads on our Services. To improve your ad experience on our sites and Services and elsewhere on the Internet, we may send non-personal information to Google DFP based on your browser's activities, such as type of pages viewed and categories of interests, so that the advertising you see is relevant to you. Google DFP also may use information regarding its own users to select which ads to display. Click here to learn more about Google DFP's ad practices, including how to opt out of using anonymous information to select which ads to show you.

Opt-Out of Cookies

If you wish to manage or opt-out of cookies utilized by our site and third party advertisers, you can take the following steps:

  • You may be able to download an opt-out cookie from the third party advertiser's website allowing you to opt-out of cookies. Please visit the third party advertiser's websites for more information.
  • Your web browser may allow you to manage what cookies are accepted or declined. These settings can usually be found in the preferences or options menus of your web browser.
  • Your web browser may also allow you to manually view cookies and delete the cookies you don't want or need. Check your web browser's settings for more information.
  • Websites that require registration may allow you to opt-out of cookies. Check the account settings or preferences section of the website for more information.