California Gourds Privacy Policy

Last Updated: January 8, 2004

In an effort to build trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information by promoting the use of fair information practices we offer this Privacy Policy Statement. This privacy statement covers the Welburn Gourd Farm and California Gourds Web sites. Because these Web sites want to demonstrate their commitment to our users’ privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices to all visitors of the Web site.

If users have questions or concerns regarding this statement, they should contact info@californiagourds.com.

Information Collection and Use

Information Collection
California Gourds is the sole owners of the information collected on www.californiagourds.com. California Gourds collect information from our users at several different points on our Web site.

Order
We request information from the user on our order form. A user must provide contact information (such as name, email, and shipping address) and financial information (such as credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill customer’s orders. If we have trouble processing an order, the information is used to contact the user.

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. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions.

By setting a cookie on our site, users would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If users reject the cookie, they may still use our site. The only drawback to this is that the user will be inconvenienced to retype the same information more than once.

This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by www.californiagourds.com only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.

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 personally identifiable information. We use a tracking utility called WebTrendsLive that uses log files to analyze user movement.

WebTrends Live Privacy Statement

WebTrends Live is used to analyze traffic to this web site. WebTrends Live does not create individual profiles for visitors. Unlike some tracking services WebTrends Live does not have a database of individual profiles for each visitor. WebTrends Live only collects aggregate data. For more information about WebTrends Live privacy policy, please click here.

Principle 1 - No Collection of Personal Information WebTrends Live does not collect any personal information such as names, ages, phone numbers, addresses or e-mail addresses from visitors to our customer's web sites.

Principle 2 - No Combination of Browsing and Web Traffic Information with Personal Information Since WebTrends Live does not collect any personal information from website visitors, we do not combine traffic analysis information with personal information such as name, age, phone number or mailing address.

Principle 3 - No Aggregation of Individual Visitor Traffic Patterns across Multiple Sites WebTrends Live does not collect individual profile information for visitors across multiple sites and does not aggregate information from any other sources about browsing patterns of individual visitors across multiple sites.

Principle 4 - Collection of Non-Personally Identifiable Information WebTrends Live collects anonymous visitor information like IP addresses, browser types (such as Internet Explorer or Netscape), referring pages, pages visited and time spent on the web site. WebTrends Live collects this non-personally identifiable information for the following purposes: (1) to provide anonymous statistical analysis of web page traffic patterns to our customers for their web sites; (2) to administer our web site and servers, (3) to allow for auditing of our services by third parties, and (4) to improve our services.

Principle 5 - Anonymous Use of Cookies It is WebTrends Live's policy to use cookies only for more accurate anonymous traffic analysis such as tracking the time/date of the visit, the page viewed, the referrer, transaction information for eCommerce pages. The cookie information does not include personal data such as name, age, phone number, e-mail address or mailing address. In addition, WebTrends Live does not link cookies to personal data such as name, age, phone number, e-mail address or mailing address. As we do not build a database of individual visitors, the data that we do collect is never stored in any individual user profile; the data collected serves only to update aggregate counts allowing our customers to monitor traffic on their site. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. If you would prefer, you can set your browser to reject cookies.

WebTrends Live customers use customized JavaScript tracking code provided by WebTrends to track anonymous information about their web site visitors' activity. This code contacts NetIQ's servers, receives a response, and loads an image to the page. This 1x1 image is called a clear gif or web bug. This JavaScript tracking code does not collect personal information such as name, age, phone number, mailing address or credit card numbers from visitors to our customers' web sites. Visitors may elect to opt out of receiving tracking cookies for all sites using WebTrends Live services. Please visit our opt-out page for more information.

Principle 6 - No Individual Profiling WebTrends Live does not create individual profiles of visitors. Unlike other tracking services we do not have a database of individual profiles of each visitor. WebTrends Live collects data in aggregate form and data is not recorded or stored about individual visitors.

Principle 7 – Third Party Access Our customers control access to WebTrends Live traffic analysis reports. WebTrends Live does not provide access to anyone other than the visitors identified by our customers. WebTrends Live anonymous traffic data for a customer's web site may be provided to an auditing service upon request from such customer.

Principle 8 - Opting Out of Tracking Cookies You may elect to opt out of receiving tracking cookies for all sites using WebTrends Live services. To do so, you will need to accept a cookie indicating your choice. Please visit our opt-out page for more information.

Clear Gifs
We employ a software technology called clear gifs, that help us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. The main difference between the two is that clear gifs are invisible on the page and are much smaller, about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Clear gifs are not tied to users’ personally identifiable information.

In addition, we use clear gifs in our HTML-based emails to let us know which emails have been opened by the recipients. This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. If users would like to opt-out of these emails, please see the Opt-out section.

Communications from the Site

Special Offers and Updates
We send all new members a welcoming email to verify password and username. Established members will occasionally receive information on products, services, special deals, and a newsletter. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the option to not receive these types of communications. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.

Newsletter
If a user wishes to subscribe to our newsletter, we ask for contact information such as name and email address. Out of respect for our users privacy we provide a way to opt-out of these communications. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.

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 email. 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 email or phone, in accordance with the users wishes.

Sharing

Legal Disclaimer
Though we make every effort to preserve user 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 Web site.

Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable)
We share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. This is not linked to any personally identifiable information.

We DO NOT Share Personal Information with Third Parties

Choice/Opt-out
Our users 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. For example, our order form has an ‘opt-out’ mechanism so users who buy a product from us, but don’t want any marketing material, can keep their email address off of our lists.

Users who no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications may opt-out of receiving these communications by replying to unsubscribe in the subject line in the email or email us at newsletter@gourdzette.com We also offer an opt-out mechanism at the bottom of all newsletters or the user may contact us at (951) 325-7602 or newsletter@gourdzette.com to opt-out.

Links
These Web sites contain links to other sites. Please be aware that we, California Gourds, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by these Web sites.

Surveys & Contests
[From time-to-time] our site requests information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site. Users’ personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties unless we give prior notice and choice. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests, they may not use users’ personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

Tell-A-Friend
If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about our site, we ask them for the friend’s name and email address. California Gourds will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the site. California Gourds do not store this information. It is used for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email.

Security
This Web site takes every precaution to protect our users’ information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is protected both online and off-line.

When our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security 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’.

While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users’ information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. 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. Furthermore, ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Any time new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our users’ information is protected. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure environment.

If users have any questions about the security at our Web site, users can send an email to info@californiagourds.com.

Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information
If a user’s personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service, we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users’ personally identifiable information. This can usually be done on your member page or by emailing our Customer Support at info@californiagourds.com. Or, contact us by telephone or postal mail at the contact information listed below.

Changes to this Policy
California Gourds reserve the right to change this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of our site following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes. Information collected prior to the time any change is posted will be used according to the rules and laws that applied at the time the information was collected.

Children
California Gourds does not knowingly collect or solicit Personally Identifiable Information from or about children under 13 except as permitted by law. If we discover we have received any information from a child under 13 in violation of this policy, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe California Gourds has any information from or about anyone under the age of 13, please contact us at the address listed below.

Contacting Us
We can be reached by contacting:

Email: info@californiagourds.com

Regular Mail:
California Gourds.
31752 Pepper Tree St.
Winchester, CA 92596

Governing law
This policy and the use of this Site are governed by California law. If a dispute arises under this Policy we agree to first try to resolve it with the help of a mutually agreed-upon mediator in the following location: San Diego, CA. Any costs and fees other than attorney fees associated with the mediation will be shared equally by each of us.

If it proves impossible to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution through mediation, we agree to submit the dispute to binding arbitration at the following location: San Diego, California, under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitration may be entered in any court with jurisdiction to do so.

This statement and the policies outlined herein are not intended to and do not create any contractual or other legal rights in or on behalf of any party.

Any questions related to the Policy Agreement please email us at: info@californiagourds.com