Monsters and Critics' Privacy Policy

Corporate News

By M&C Nov 13, 2006, 7:09 GMT

Introduction Monsters and Critics.com takes your privacy seriously and we endevour to comply with the privacy rules set out in USA under the Safe Harbour specification as well as The Data Protection Act in the UK.We also aim to have a transparent policy and have attempted in this document to lay out fully the ways in which we gather, store and use information provided by you to the site.Collection of your Personal InformationWe will ask you when we need information that personally identifies you (personal information) or allows us to contact you. Generally, this information is requested when you are registering before entering a contest, ordering e-mail newsletters, joining the site, becoming a subscriber, signing up for an event, or when purchasing and/or registering to use Monsters and Critics services or products. Personal information collected by Monsters and Critics.com is often limited to e-mail address, language, country or location, but may include other information when needed to provide a service you requested. Optional demographic information is also requested for some services.For example: If you choose a service or transaction that requires payment, such as subscribing to access a subscriber only service from the Web site, we will request personal information necessary for billing and/or shipping, such as: name, address, telephone number, and credit card number. Credit card information is never stored by Monsters and Critics itself and is instead handled by secure third parties. You will always be able to access any payment details and ammend or cancel them yourself.Monster and Critics.com also collects certain information about your computer hardware and software. This information may include: your IP address, browser type, operating system, domain name, access times and referring Web site addresses. This information is used for the operation of the service, to improve the relevance of content, and to provide statistics regarding use of Monsters and Critics.com.Monsters and Critics.com also collects information about which pages our customers visit within Monsters and Critics.com. This site usage data is is never linked with personal information unless a user consents as described below.Monsters and Critics.com uses its own membership and subscription system. When you sign in to this site using this system, you will be asked to provide your login and a password to sign you in. To learn more about free membership and paid subscription, the information stored in your profile, and how Monsters and Critics uses and protects your personal information, please read the our Terms and Conditions. (link)

How we use your Personal InformationWe use your personal information for the following purposes:

To ensure our site content is relevant to your needs and interests.

To deliver services, such as updates, newsletters, pre-delivered content, that you request, subscribe to or purchase.

To allow you access to restricted areas of our site as appropriate.

We will merge site-usage data with anonymous demographic information for research and marketing purposes, and we may use this information in aggregate to provide more relevant content. In some restricted sections of Monsters and Critics.com, with your approval, we will combine site-visitation data with your personal information in order to provide you with personalized content. If you decline permission, we will not provide you the personalized service and won't merge your personal information with site usage data.We occasionally hire other companies to provide services on our behalf, including packaging, mailing and delivering purchases, and delivery of content. We will only provide those companies the information they need to deliver the service, and they are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.Monsters and Critics may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Monsters and Critics (WOTR Ltd) or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Monsters and Critics and its Web sites, or (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of Monsters and Crtitics employees, users, or members of the public.Your information may be stored and processed in the United Kingdom, United States or any other country in which Monsters and Critics or its affiliates, subsidiaries or agents maintain facilities, and by using this site, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country. Monsters and Critics abides by the safe harbor(link) framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of data from the European Union. As well as the Data Protection Act(link) in the UK where WOTR Ltd is registered.Control of your Personal InformationWhen you register, or otherwise give us personal information, Monsters and Critics.com will not share that information with third parties without your permission, other than for the limited exceptions already listed. It will only be used for the purposes stated above.Registering also allows you to tell us how or whether you want Monsters and Critics.com to communicate with you. After registering, go to your personal homepage and establish your preferences in the Options sections. There, you can decide what information you want to receive and how you want to receive it. Or you can tell us not to contact you by selecting the appropriate option.Monsters and Critics.com occasionally allows other companies to offer our registered customers information about their products and services. If you want to receive these offers, you should check the box in the Options section of your profile or indicate it upon registering.Monsters and Critics.com may send out periodic e-mails informing you of technical or service issues related to the site or a service you requested, or confirming you requested a product or service. You will not be able to choose to unsubscribe to these mailings, as they are considered an essential part of the site operation and are needed in order that we comply with etiquette regarding newsletter conformation and other practices.Accessing your Personal InformationWe will provide you with the means to ensure that your personal information is correct and current. As well as the ability to remove information stored by us about you.If you register on Monsters and Critics.com or subscribe to a newsletter, you can review and edit your personal information on your profile. You will be asked to enter your login and password before viewing your personal information, unless you have chosen for the site to remember your details. You can also be removed from any Newsletter by clicking the unsubscribe link which is present in every one.In your Profile you can:

View and edit personal information you have already given us at Monsters and Critics.com.

Tell us whether you want Monsters and Critics.com to send you marketing information.

Choose whether you want third parties to send you their offers by postal mail or receive e-mail via Monsters and Critics from these companies.

Subscribe, or cancel subscriptions, to newsletters about our services or content.

Choose which Items you are tracking.

Some services and features offered on Monsters and Critics.com may collect information that is not accessible via your Profile. However, in such cases, you can access your personal information by contacting Monsters and Critics.com as described at the bottom of this statement.Security of your Personal InformationMonsters and Critics.com is committed to protecting the security of your personal information. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. For example, we store the personal information you provide in computer servers with limited access that are located in controlled facilities. When we transmit sensitive information over the internet, we protect it through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.Children's Personal InformationMonsters and Critics.com is a general audience site and does not knowingly collect any personal information from children under 13 years old.Protecting ChildrenMonsters and Critics is committed to protecting children from any content inappropriate for them to view or from anything which their parents do not want them to see. To this end all our forums are moderated and staff are trained to watch for any inappropriate behaviour. We also endevour to stop childern under 13 from accessing certain parts of the site by requiring confirmation of age.The site is aimed at a general audience and has a strict policy against obscenity, racism, bigotry or sexism. However, it does review media and arts which cover a broad spectrum of subjects and have a varety of ratings. So we feel there is some content not appropriate for children under 13 years old.We cannot accept any responsiilty for persons accessing parts of the site against the wishes of their parents where we have been given false information. If you are concerned about anything you see on the site please do not hesitate to contact us. We can also provide some limited advise on protecting your children from inappriate content.Use of CookiesWhen someone visits the site, a cookie is placed on the your computer or is read if the customer has visited the site previously. One use of cookies is to assist in the collection of the site visitation statistics described above.We also use cookies to collect information on which newsletter links are clicked by customers. This information is used to ensure we are sending information customers want to read and so improve the service. It is collected in aggregate form and never linked with your personal information.Web beacons, also known as clear gif technology, or action tags, may be used to assist in delivering the cookie on our site. This technology tells us how many visitors clicked on key elements (such as links or graphics) on a Monsters and Critics.com Web page. We do not use this technology to access your personally identifiable information on Monsters and Critics.com; it is a tool we use to compile aggregated statistics about Monsters and Critics.com Web site usage. We may share aggregated site statistics with partner companies but do not allow other companies to place clear gifs on our sites.
We also uses cookies in connection with our membership and subscriber services.If you choose to not have your browser accept cookies from the Monsters and Critics.com Web site, you will be able to view the text on the screens, however you will not experience a personalized visit nor will you be able to access the full services and content on the site.Changes to this StatementMonsters and Critics.com will occasionally update this privacy statement. When we do, we will also revise the "last updated" date at the top of the privacy statement. For material changes to this statement, Monsters and Critics.com will notify you by placing a prominent notice on the Web site.Contact InformationWe welcome your comments regarding this privacy statement, please contact us by e-mail, or postal mail.
Monsters and Critics (Privacy Policy)
WOTR Ltd
St Andrews
Flat 1/2 1 Maxwell Road
Glasgow
Scotland
UK
G41 1QP