PRIVACY
STATEMENT
RUVENECO INC./MCAT-prep.com
is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. Privacy statement effective date January 16, 2006. TRUSTe is an independent,
non-profit organization whose mission is to enable individuals and
organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal
identity and information by promoting the use of fair information
practices. This privacy statement covers the site www.MCAT-prep.com.
Because this Web site wants to demonstrate its commitment to our users?
privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its
privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe.
1. What
personally identifiable information RUVENECO INC. collects.
2. What
personally identifiable information third parties collect through the Web site.
3. What
organization collects the information.
4. How
RUVENECO INC. uses the information.
5. With
whom RUVENECO INC. may share user information.
6. What choices are
available to users regarding collection, use and distribution of the information.
7. What types of
security procedures are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of
information under RUVENECO INC. control.
8. How users can correct
any inaccuracies in the information.
If users have questions or concerns regarding this
statement, they should first contact our Privacy Department at
learn@MCAT-prep.com. If you do not receive acknowledgment of your inquiry or
your inquiry is not satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact TRUSTe
through the
TRUSTe Watchdog Dispute Resolution Process
(http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php).
TRUSTe will serve as a liaison with the Web site to resolve users concerns.
The TRUSTe program covers only information that is
collected through this Web site, and does not cover information that may be
collected through software downloaded from the site.
By displaying the TRUSTe trustmark, MCAT-prep.com has
agreed to notify users of:
RUVENECO INC. is the sole owner of the information
collected on MCAT-prep.com. RUVENECO INC. collects information from our users
at several different points on our Web site.
During enrollment a user is required to give contact
information (such as name and email address). We use this information to
provide the user with an account in order to access the Member?s side of the
website. We will also contact those users
who opted-in to receive communications from us in order to send them our
newsletter and announcements.
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.
Information Use
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user?s
computer tied to information about the user. 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 limited in some areas of our
site. For example, the Member?s side requires a password. Persistent
cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the
experience on our site.
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.
Online Forum
The website has a Discussion
Board. Simple click on the package name in the Member's Menu then click
the "discussion" link either in the Member's Menu or in the content
section (e.g. for physics it will read "Open Physics Discussion").
This will spawn the discussion popup window. You will be asked to provide
a nickname. These communications
will be logged so students, including yourself while you are a Member, will
have access to academically relevant discussions. If you use this Discussion Board, then you should be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit can be read, collected, or used by other users of these forums, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these forums.
Communications from the Site
We send all new members a welcoming email to verify
password and username. Established members will occasionally receive information
on announcements and/or 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.
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. To deactivate
your account use the link on your home page, or email support@mcat-prep.com with ?Deactivate mailing list? in the
subject heading.
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.
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. In
other words, Personally Identifiable Information provided to Licensee is subject to disclosure pursuant
to judicial or other government, warrants, or others.
Aggregate
Information (non-personally
identifiable)
We do not share aggregated demographic information
with our partners. This is not linked to any personally identifiable
information.
We DO NOT Share Personal Information with Third
Parties.
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.
In the event RUVENECO INC. goes through a business
transition, such as a merger, being acquired by another company, or selling a
portion of its assets, users? personal information will, in most instances, be
part of the assets transferred. Users will be notified via email and a
prominent notice on our Web site for 30 days prior to a change of ownership or
control of their personal information. If as a result of the business
transition, the users? personally identifiable information will be used in a
manner different from that stated at the time of collection they will be given
choice consistent with our notification of changes section.
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 enrollment form
has an ?opt-out? mechanism so users who register for the MCAT courses, but
don?t want any marketing material, can keep their email address off of our
lists. Users who purchase books and materials from us are not
presented with the opportunity to opt-out and therefore will not receive any
marketing communications from us other than information related to their
purchase.
Users who no longer wish to receive our newsletter
and announcement communications may opt-out of receiving these communications
by replying with ?unsubscribe? in the subject line or email us at
malone@mcat-prep.com.
Users of our site are always notified when their
information is being collected by any outside parties. We do this so our
users can make an informed choice as to whether or not they should proceed with
services that require an outside party.
This Web site contains links to other sites. Please
be aware that we, RUVENECO INC., 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 this Web site.
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 offline.
When our registration/order 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?.
While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive
information online, we also do everything in our power to protect
user-information offline. 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. ALL employees are kept up-to-date on
our security and privacy practices. Every year, as well as 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 malone@mcat-prep.com.
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 or update users?
personally identifiable information. This can be done at the My MCAT home page
by logging on to the Member?s side or by emailing our Customer Support at support@MCAT-prep.com. If you delete your account, access to any
purchased packages will be lost indefinitely.
Users will be notified when
there is a material change to the privacy statement. If we are going to use users? personally
identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of
collection we will notify users via email. Users will have a choice as to
whether or not we use their information in this different manner.
Contact Information
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding
our privacy policy, please contact us at:
In the US:
RUVENECO INC./MCAT-prep.com
Privacy Department
559 - 334 Cornelia Street
Plattsburgh, NY
12901
In Canada:
RUVENECO INC./MCAT-prep.com
Privacy Department
1641 Place Victor Hugo
Montreal, QC