Disclaimer

Social Snowball LLC (“Social Snowball”), the owner of The Country Herald and countryherald.com, respects the privacy of individuals who visit our site. This Privacy Policy Disclaimer outlines the information that we collect through countryherald.com and how we use that information, so that you can decide whether and how you wish to provide information to us. In adopting this Privacy Policy, our intent is to balance our legitimate business interests in collecting and using information obtained through countryherald.com with your reasonable expectations of privacy.

Your use of this site tells us you have read and accept the practices outlined in this Privacy Policy.

What information does CountryHerald.com collect?

Personally Identifiable Information: Personal data is collected when users voluntarily provide information to countryherald.com, for example in registering for e-mail communications or other services, answering surveys, entering contests or sweepstakes, purchasing an archived photo, requesting vacation delivery stop, or posting an online ad. During these activities, countryherald.com may request information such as your name, e-mail address, residence address, phone number, date of birth, subscriber status, and credit card number (when purchasing products or services). We may also ask you for other information at other times.

You can choose not to provide certain information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of certain of our web site’s features.

Anonymous and Aggregated Information: Anonymous and aggregated information, such as which web pages users access, the number of daily visits to countryherald.com, and anonymous responses to survey questions, is automatically collected through various methods. In the course of using countryherald.com, we may also automatically track certain information about you. This information includes the URL that you just came from, the URL you go to next, and the Internet browser you are using. This statistical information is important to allow us to evaluate and improve the services we provide, to monitor the site’s performance and to make it easier for visitors to use countryherald.com.

Use of Cookies: The countryherald.com site also uses “cookies” to collect information. A cookie is a small data file that most web sites write to your computer’s hard drive or memory for record keeping purposes when you visit them. Cookies allow Social Snowball to measure activity on the various areas of the countryherald.com site and improve your user experience, for example by remembering your passwords and viewing preferences, thus allowing you to visit various parts of countryherald.com without re-registering.

You may also get cookies from our advertisers in connection with serving advertisements. We do not have access to cookies set by third parties or the information that they may contain.

Most Internet browsers are initially set to accept cookies. If you prefer, you can set your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent.

Information That is Not Covered by this Policy: This Privacy Policy only covers information collected at countryherald.com, and does not cover any information collected by any other web site or offline by Social Snowball, its affiliates or any other company.

Through countryherald.com, you will be able to access information, advertisements, web sites, features, contests, sweepstakes, etc. offered by other parties.  Such third party content and resources may be accessed through links to other web sites, pop-ups, frames within the countryherald.com site, or other technological means. Social Snowball will always endeavor to identify the third party source of the content. Users should review the privacy policies of those third parties before providing personally identifiable information on a co-branded, affiliated, framed or linked site. Such third parties may send their own cookies to you, and may collect data and make uses of it that Social Snowball would not. We do not control these sites or uses, or bear any responsibility or liability for them.

Information that you choose to post on a message board, forum, or chat room is also not covered by this Privacy Policy, and is not considered a confidential communication. Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information in a public area online – for example, in a Letter to the Editor or as a Guest Book entry in our Legacy.com obituary resource- that information can be collected and used by both Social Snowball and others. Social Snowball is not responsible for the disclosure or use of your name, e-mail address or other submitted information under these circumstances.

Social Snowball uses anonymous cookies to track information on your browsing history on countryherald.com, and third-party advertising networks, such as Google Ads, use the information to serve ads to you on Social Snowball’s behalf on other sites throughout the Internet. These cookies do not contain personally identifiable information, nor are they linked to any personal information collected by Social Snowball.

Children Under 13: In general, Social Snowball does not knowingly collect any personal data on countryherald.com from individuals under 13 years of age. If you are under 13, do not send any information about yourself to countryherald.com, including your name, address or e-mail address. In the event countryherald.com runs a contest or other program that requires submission of information from children, we will collect such information only with prior verified parental consent. If we learn that we have collected any personal information from a child under the age of 13 without parental consent, we will delete that information from our database as quickly as possible. Social Snowball encourages all parents to instruct their children in the safe and responsible use of the Internet.

How does Social Snowball use and share information collected through Countryherald.com?

Social Snowball’s use and disclosure of information obtained through the use of countryherald.com will comply with the terms set forth below. In all cases, we will use your information only as permitted by law.

Social Snowball’s Use of Information: Social Snowball uses both the personal and aggregated and usage information we collect for multiple purposes. For example, we use this information to fulfill orders, administer information requests and provide requested services. We may use your e-mail or other address information to contact you regarding customer service issues or billing matters. Personal and aggregated information may also be used to improve the content of countryherald.com, perform system administration activities, and to customize the content, advertising and layout of the site for each individual user.

We may also use your information to contact you regarding matters that we believe will be of interest to you. For example, we may send you e-mails regarding updates to countryherald.com, promotions or contests being conducted through the site, and services and products offered by Social Snowball, our affiliates, or third parties.

Please note that we may combine the information about you that we collect at countryherald.com with information available to us from other sources, including subscription information and information received from promotional partners or other third parties.

Disclosure of Information to Third Parties:

Affiliates and Service Providers. Social Snowball may share your information with our affiliated companies, including Reflejos Publications. Social Snowball may also disclose your information to third parties providing services on our behalf, such as web hosting companies, fulfillment houses, market research firms and business consultants. These third parties will be authorized to access and use your information only to provide services to us or on our behalf.

Unaffiliated Third Parties. Social Snowball may share your personally identifiable information with third parties that want to bring to your attention products, services and content that might interest you. Social Snowball will not, however, disclose any of your personally identifiable information to any company other than our affiliates and service providers unless we first provide you notice of such potential disclosure. If you do not want your information to be shared, you can choose not to use that particular service or, if requested, decline to have your information disclosed.

Aggregate Information. Social Snowball may share anonymous or aggregated user information with third parties for advertising and other purposes.

Legal Actions. Social Snowball may disclose user information in connection with law enforcement or governmental investigations or inquiries, to enforce compliance with the policies governing countryherald.com and applicable laws, and to protect and enforce the intellectual property and other legal rights of Social Snowball and third parties.

Sale of Business. In the event that Social Snowball, the bulk of its assets or one or more of its web sites is acquired by another company, Social Snowball may sell, transfer or otherwise disclose user information in connection with such transaction.

What choices do I have about Social Snowball collecting, using, and sharing my information

It is possible for you to use much of countryherald.com without giving us any personally identifiable information. When you do register with us or give us personally identifiable information, you will have an opportunity, at the time we collect your information, to limit e-mail communications from Social Snowball and from our third party partners. You can request at any time that Social Snowball not send future e-mails to you either by unsubscribing from the communication or by contacting us.

Security

Social Snowball takes reasonable measures to protect the security of the information transmitted between browsers and our web server, including using firewalls, SSL encryption technology and other security technologies where deemed appropriate by Social Snowball. To protect your privacy, however, please do not use e-mail or countryherald.com to communicate information you wish to be kept strictly confidential. You acknowledge that any transmission of data may be illegally intercepted and used by third parties. Social Snowball shall not be responsible for any interception of data transmitted to or from our web server.

Changes

Social Snowball reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. It is your responsibility to review this policy from time to time to be familiar with changes. At the beginning of the policy, we will post the date on which it was last updated. You can e-mail us with any further questions at webmaster@countryherald.com