Introduction
What Personal Information About You Do We Collect?
For Younger Visitors And Their Parents
Other Information We Collect
How We Use And Disclose The Information We Collect / Your California Privacy Rights
How To Access Or Correct Information Or Modify Your Choices
Ad Serving
Digital Millennium Copyright Act Of 1998/Copyright Agent
Third Party Content
Data Security
Consent to Transfer
Acceptance

INTRODUCTION

This Privacy Policy explains what information Guideposts ("Guideposts" or "we," "us", or "our") collects on our family of websites (the "Websites"), how we use your information and the choices you have about the way your information is collected and used. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. Your use of this Website indicates to us that you have read and accepted our privacy practices, as outlined in this Privacy Policy. In addition, please review our Terms of Use that governs your use of this Website. Should you have any questions or concerns about the information we collect at any of the Guideposts websites, please feel free to contact us by e-mail at AtYourService@guideposts.org or call Guideposts Customer Service at (800) 932-2145 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST.

Guideposts is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. We also want to provide you with a rewarding Internet experience by making the products, literature, inspirational experience and advertising content you see on our Guideposts websites relevant to you. Your loyalty as a visitor or a "Member" (i.e., an individual who signs up for access to exclusive areas of the Guideposts sites) is important to us, and we hope that your use of the Guideposts websites is a productive and positive experience. This Privacy Policy applies to all Guideposts websites (Click here for a list of Guideposts websites covered by this Privacy Policy) unless a different policy is provided on a particular Guideposts website, in which case such different policy shall control. This Privacy Policy covers information collected on our websites and any information collected offline by Guideposts.

WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU DO WE COLLECT?

Personally identifiable information ("PII") is information that identifies you or could reasonably be used to identify you personally (such as your real name, address, phone number, or e-mail address). Generally, you may browse our Website without providing any PII. However, we may ask you to provide PII at various times and places on this Website, such as when you subscribe to our newsletter, register for a prayer request, send a DaySpring E-card, or participate in message groups or chat areas. We may also ask you to provide us with demographic information or information regarding your interests, hobbies or similar information. In some cases, if you choose not to provide us with the information requested, you may not be able to access all areas of this Website or participate in all of its features. We may combine the information we collect with information available from other sources, including information received from promotional partners or other third parties. We may also provide you with the opportunity to e-mail an article, electronic greeting card or other special feature from our Website to another individual (e.g., "send to a friend" or "tell a friend" features). The recipient's PII that you provide will be used to send the material to the recipient but will not be retained for other purposes. We encourage you to send such items only to recipients who are your friends or family or persons with whom you have a relationship so that it doesn't seem like Guideposts is "spamming" them.

FOR YOUNGER VISITORS AND THEIR PARENTS

Protecting children's privacy is important to us. For that reason, we do not collect or maintain information at our Website from those individuals we actually know are under the age of 13 with the exception of our two websites created for children, GuidepostsSweet16mag.com and gp4children.com. We request that visitors to all of our Websites who are under the age of 13 not disclose or provide any PII without prior verifiable parental consent. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with PII without his or her parent's consent, we will delete the child's PII from our records.

OTHER INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Log Data: When you visit this Website, our web servers automatically collect anonymous information that describes how our visitors use and navigate our Website, which includes the number and frequency of visitors to each web page and the length of their stays, as well as the anonymous information automatically sent to us by your web browser, such as browser type, referrer data that identifies the web page visited prior and subsequent to your visit to our Website, and IP addresses. We also may determine what technology is available through your browser in order to serve you the most appropriate version of a web page. For example, we may determine that you have installed a version of Flash, and we will then send you the appropriate Flash version of the web page rather than an HTML page.

IP Addresses: An IP address is a number that is assigned to your computer or network when you are on the Internet. It is usually associated with the place from which you enter the Internet, like your Internet Service Provider, your company or your university. When visitors request pages from our Website, our servers log the visitor's IP address. We may collect IP addresses for a variety of internal purposes, such as system administration, to report aggregate information to our advertisers, and to audit the number of visits to different pages on our Website.

Cookies: Cookies are information files that our Website may place on your computer to provide extended functionality. We may use cookies for a number of purposes, such as tracking usage patterns on the Website, measuring the effectiveness of advertising, controlling the display of ads, limiting multiple responses and recording registrations. Advertisers or other third parties that are serving content on some of our pages may set and access their own cookies on your computer. We don't have control over cookies placed by third parties. Such third parties' use of cookies is subject to their own privacy policies, which may differ from this one. Such third parties do not have access to our cookies.

You can, of course, disable cookies on your computer by indicating this in the preferences or options menus in your browser. However, it is possible that some parts of our Website will not operate correctly if you disable cookies. You should consult with your browser's provider/manufacturer if you have any questions regarding disabling cookies.

Web Beacons: While you are on our Website, or while you are otherwise viewing our content, you may encounter Web beacons, which may come from Guideposts or from third parties, such as advertisers or content providers. A Web beacon, which is sometimes also called a Web bug or "clear gif," is a small graphic image in a Web page, a Web-based document or an e-mail message, which generally allows the party that set the Web beacon to monitor certain information about the viewer of the Web page, Web-based document or e-mail message, and may allow access to certain cookies. Web beacons are usually invisible to the user, because they are very small (generally 1-by-1 pixel). However, in general, any electronic image viewed as part of a Web page, including an advertisement, can act as a Web beacon. Web beacons typically collect the URL of the page the Web beacon comes from, the type of browser requesting the Web beacon, the IP address of the computer that the Web beacon is sent to and the time the Web beacon was viewed. Guideposts does not have control over Web beacons used by third parties and does not have access to whatever information they may collect. Guideposts may use Web beacons to count visitors to our Web pages and we may include Web beacons in HTML-formatted e-mail newsletters in order to count how many of our electronic newsletters (or particular articles, links, etc.) were actually opened. We aggregate all information we collect through Web beacons and we do not use Web beacons to track any individuals' use of the Website. Web beacons can also be linked to PII.

Guideposts does NOT use or authorize the use of so-called "spyware" (i.e. we do not embed pop-up, pop-under or other advertising [adware] in any of our downloadable features such as screen savers or wallpaper).

HOW WE USE AND DISCLOSE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT / YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

We use the PII you provide about yourself to deliver the information or content you have requested, to contact you about our programs, products, features or services or for other purposes disclosed at the time of collection. For instance, we may provide you with your request for a prayer, send an email newsletter to you or send information about new services to you. If, at any point, you do not wish to receive information about our programs, products, features or services, you may update your preferences by returning to the registration area of the Website or websites for which you registered. Alternatively, you can remove yourself from the mailing list for newsletters and promotional materials by clicking on the opt-out link provided at the bottom of many of the commercial electronic mail messages we send to you.

As set forth with more particularity below, Guideposts may also share your personal information with our advertising and promotional partners and other third parties. You can opt-out of having Guideposts share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. You can exercise your opt-out choices: (a) during the registration process on our Websites, by clicking on the opt-out box provided; (b) after registration, by sending an e-mail message to AtYourService@guideposts.org or by mailing your request to us at the following address: Guideposts, 39 Seminary Hill Rd, Carmel, NY 10512; and (c) as indicated on subscription forms or other order documents when providing personal information offline. If you do not opt-out, Guideposts may share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. Thus, if you want to opt out of having your personal information shared with third parties for marketing purposes, you must consistently opt-out at each of our Websites where you register and whenever you provide personal information to us.

Please bear in mind that this opt-out choice for "third parties" will not apply to Guideposts licensees and co-branding participants, as set forth below. Please also keep in mind that any opt-out choices you make will not apply in situations where (a) you either have made, simultaneously make, or later make a specific request for information from us, or (b) Guideposts uses your personal information for either operational purposes (e.g. to complete transactions requested by you [such as your purchase of a product or service], or to send you administrative communications either about your account with us or about features of our Websites, including any future changes to this Privacy Policy) or fulfillment purposes (e.g. sharing with companies that facilitate communications and transactions with you),

Finally, if you do not exercise your opt-out choices upon registration or otherwise at the time the personal information is provided, it may take up to forty five (45) days for your opt-out choices to be fully effective. Our systems require time to update, and promotional mailings using personal information shared before your opt-out may already be in process. Thus, your personal information might continue to be shared with third parties for promotional purposes for up to forty five (45) days after you make your request, For similar reasons, your personal information is shared with a third party, Guideposts largely or completely loses control over how that information is used. Thus, even after you have opted out of allowing us to share your personal information, you might continue to receive promotional materials from third parties unless and until you duly register your opt-out request with each third party in question.

Beginning January 1, 2005 under California's "Shine the Light" law, California residents are entitled once a year to request and obtain certain information regarding our disclosure, if any, of personal information (whether collected online or offline) to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the immediately prior calendar year (e.g. requests made in 2005 will receive information about 2004 sharing activities). To make such a disclosure request, please send an e-mail to AtYourService@guideposts.org or write us at:

Guideposts
39 Seminary Hill Rd
Carmel, NY 10512

Please be aware that not all information sharing is covered by the "Shine the Light" disclosure requirements and only the required information will be included in our response. For companies such as Guideposts that have historically offered guests and customers an opt-in or opt-out choice regarding the use of their personal information, the Shine the Light law permits us to respond to disclosure requests by providing you with (a) notice of the right to prevent disclosure of personal information to third party for marketing purposes and (b) a cost-free means by which you can exercise that right. That is exactly what this section of this Privacy Policy provides.

E-Cards

Guideposts may offer visitors the opportunity to send an electronic greeting card or "e-card" through a type of "send to a friend" or "tell a friend" functionality or otherwise. You will be required to provide your email address when sending an e-card, and at that point, the choice to receive Guideposts' newsletters and promotions may be pre-selected. If you do not wish to receive such updates and communications, you must "opt-out" by removing the check from the box indicating whether you are interested in receiving newsletters and promotions. You can also opt out by updating your preferences to indicate your choice to deselect this option at any time.

Prayer Request

If you send a prayer request from any of our Websites, Guideposts will collect your e-mail address and any other PII contained in your request. Your e-mail address is maintained for the purpose of contacting you, should we have any questions relating to your request. If you select your prayer to be made public, it will be made available to the general public when it is posted on the Guideposts discussion board. When sending a prayer request, you can choose to "opt-in" to receive newsletters and other promotional materials from Guideposts.

Transactional Information

If you subscribe to our magazines or purchase items offline or through the Guideposts Books and Gifts web store, we collect and store the necessary PII to complete the transaction (e.g., credit card number, shipping address, full name). We also capture your e-mail address to communicate with you regarding your order. Guideposts will share this information with third parties to the extent necessary to fulfill or complete your transaction. We may also share this information with our advertising and promotional partners and other third parties.

Currently, if you purchase a Guideposts product through our web store, you are automatically registered to receive newsletters and Guideposts promotional materials at your provided e-mail address. You can "opt-out" of receiving this information by following the directions in the initial confirmation e-mail that you will receive from Guideposts. We also collect your physical shipping address and data about your purchasing history (e.g., the types of products purchased) when you make a purchase from the Guideposts web store or offline. Guideposts may share this information with third parties who may send you promotional materials to you.

IP Numbers, Cookies and Site Metrics

Guideposts collects users' IP (internet protocol) number upon entry to any of the Guideposts sites. Your IP number is a unique numeric code that corresponds to every host or machine that accesses the Internet. In addition, we drop a "cookie" on your PC, which is a small file that helps track aggregate information about site visitors and trends about site use. This information is used to provide you with better services and to improve the design and content of the Guideposts sites. We may provide aggregate non-identifying information about general trends and website use to potential advertisers or other trusted third parties. However, we do not provide this information to third parties or other organizations for their individual commercial use at the present time.

Discussion Forums

Discussion forums are available for use by Members on certain Guideposts sites. While messages can only be posted by Members, the posted messages can be viewed by any site visitor, whether or not he is a Member of the site. Guideposts is not responsible for any PII that you post on its hosted discussion forums or other public areas of the websites, or for the activities of any third parties who collect voluntarily disclosed PII in the discussion forums. From time to time, Guideposts may monitor the discussion boards for offensive or derogatory content, and reserves the right to delete your user account if you post any such content.

Additional Uses of Information

We use non-identifying information collected on our Website in the aggregate to better understand your use of the Website and to enhance your enjoyment and experience. For example, we may use the information to improve the design and content of our Website or to analyze the programs and services we offer. We may also share non-identifying aggregate information with third parties. For example, we may tell potential or future advertisers how many individuals visit certain areas of our Website, or how many men or women receive our newsletter. However, other than as set forth in this Privacy Policy, we will not share your PII with outside parties unless you give us permission to do so.

We may employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. For instance, we may use third parties to host message boards or other user forums, to develop software applications and databases or to send communications on our behalf. Our employees, agents and contractors who perform functions on our behalf and who have access to PII are required to protect the information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy.

We may share your personal information with companies that offer products and/or services under the Guideposts brand name. These companies are called "licensees." For example, a company that publishes and sells books under the "Guideposts" brand would be such a licensee. Guideposts may also share your information with companies that offer products and/or services that are co-branded using Guideposts brand names. These companies are called "co-branding participants."

We may provide access to your PII when legally required to do so, such as in response to a legal subpoena, to cooperate with police investigations or other legal proceedings, to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our Website, to limit our legal liability and protect our rights or the rights, property or safety of visitors of this Website or the public. In those instances, the information is provided only for that purpose.

Guideposts may also sell, transfer or otherwise disclose user information, including PII, if Guideposts combines or merges with, is sold to or is otherwise acquired by another company, such as through a corporate merger, consolidation, the sale of all or substantially all assets, or other fundamental corporate change.

HOW TO ACCESS OR CORRECT INFORMATION OR MODIFY YOUR CHOICES

If you are a registered Member of our Website and volunteer PII, you may visit the registration area of the Website where you will have the opportunity to access certain of your PII, to correct errors in such information, and to update your preferences regarding what information you want to receive from us. You will be required to enter your user name and password before you will have access to your information. We will process your changes as quickly as we can. You should be aware, however, that it is not always possible to completely remove or modify information in our databases. In addition, please be aware that if you opt out from receiving marketing and promotional material we may still contact you regarding your use of our Website or changes to our Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, or other policy or terms that affect you or your use of our Website.

AD SERVING

From time to time, we or our advertisers may use third-party advertising servers to deliver ads when you visit our Website. These companies may use information about your visits to our Website and other websites in order to deliver advertisements about goods and services they believe will be of interest to you. We share website usage information about visitors to our Website with these companies for the purpose of managing and targeting advertisements and for market research analysis. For these purposes, we or our third-party advertising server may note some of the pages you visit on our Website through the use of Web beacons.

DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1998/COPYRIGHT AGENT

If you are under the good faith belief that any content appearing on the Website has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement under US Copyright law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the "DMCA") provides recourse. You may forward the following information to Guideposts Copyright Agent GuidepostsOnline@Guideposts.org (i) information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact you as the complaining party, such as your name, address, telephone number, and email address at which you may be contacted; (ii) identification and description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or if multiple copyrighted works at the Website are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works; (iii) the exact URL or identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing; (iv) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (v) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; and (vi) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. By this filing, Guideposts does not necessarily stipulate that it is a service provider as defined in 17 USC section 512c or elsewhere in the law, but merely seeks to preserve any and all exemptions from liability that may be available under the copyright law. If you believe in good faith that a notice of copyright infringement has been wrongly filed against you, the DMCA permits you to send Guideposts a counter-notice pursuant to the statutory requirements imposed by the DMCA, including, without limitation, a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. If we receive a proper notification (or if we believe in our sole and absolute discretion) that any materials submitted or posted by you allegedly violate another person's or entity's rights, we reserve the right to withdraw and remove the affected material from our Website, at any time in our absolute discretion with or without notice. You can find more information about the DMCA on the U.S. Copyright Office website, currently located at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/. You are advised to consult a legal advisor before filing a notice or counter-notice. Please be forewarned that there can be penalties for false claims.

THIRD PARTY CONTENT

While on our Websites, you may encounter links to other websites or online materials. Those other websites and any online advertising servers delivering ads to our Website may set their own cookies, collect data, and/or have their own privacy policies that differ from this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy only covers information collected by Guideposts, and we encourage you to review the privacy policy of any other website you visit.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to any PII you may disclose publicly in user forums (such as chat rooms, message boards, or similar web pages). When you voluntarily disclose PII on message boards, chat areas or other user forums, that information can be collected and used by other people to send unsolicited messages and marketing materials. Guideposts assumes no responsibility for any action or policies of any third parties who collect any information that users disclose in user forums or other public areas of our websites.

DATA SECURITY

We take physical, electronic and managerial steps to maintain the security and accuracy of the PII we collect, including limiting the number of people who have physical access to our database servers, as well as electronic security systems and password protections that guard against unauthorized access. However, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Accordingly, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.

CONSENT TO TRANSFER

This Website is operated in the United States. If you are located in the European Union or elsewhere outside of the United States, please be aware that any information you provide to us is either being collected in the United States or will be transferred to the United States. By using our Website, participating in any of our services and/or providing us with your information, you consent to this transfer.

ACCEPTANCE

By using this Website, you accept the policies set forth in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy, like the online medium itself, is subject to change, so visitors are encouraged to review this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will also notify Members by e-mail if we make changes to this Privacy Policy in a way that alters the types of information that we collect or the way that we use that information. We may change, add or remove portions of this Privacy Policy at any time, and any changes will become effective immediately upon being posted unless we tell you otherwise.

This Privacy Policy was last updated and became effective on January 1, 2005.

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