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SEPTEMBER 9, 2005 (Amended July 25, 2007)
SCOPE OF THIS POLICY
This privacy policy applies to BestContractors.com, and its website located at www.bestcontractors.com.
This privacy policy also applies to the services provided by BestContractors.com.
This version of the Privacy Policy is effective as of the date set forth above. By logging in to the system
or using the website in any way, users consent to the Privacy Policy that is effective at that time. Even if users
have read and approved a prior version, users agree to the version that is effective as of any date that they log
in to the system or use the website.
This website contains links from and to other websites that are not controlled by BestContractors.com.
BestContractors.com is not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites. This Privacy Policy only
applies to the BestContractors.com website.
Please e-mail questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy to BestContractors.com's privacy
department at support@BestContractors.com.
NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES MADE TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY
HomeSphere, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time. We indicate
that the policy has been modified by displaying hyperlinks to our Privacy Policy in red
text preceded by an asterisk. Hyperlinks will be displayed in this fashion for 60 days.
POLICY STATEMENT
BestContractors.com connects homeowners and service professionals. In order to make our website more
useful to our users, we collect personal information in a variety of ways, as outlined in this Privacy Policy.
We have designed this Privacy Policy, and our underlying procedures, to best protect users' private information
while making our website as useful and user friendly as possible. We endeavor to protect our users' private
information to the greatest extent possible, but we cannot promise, and users should not expect, that personal
information or private communications will always remain private.
CHILDREN
Children, meaning those who are not yet 18 years old, are not eligible to use BestContractors.com.
We ask that children not submit personal information to us.
REGISTRATION OF HOMEOWNERS AND SERVICE PROFESSIONALS
In order to submit a project request or enroll as a prospective service professional, a user must register
with our website, including creating a unique username and password. During the registration process, a user
must provide contact information. We then use this information to contact the user about services on our
website for which they have expressed an interest, inform homeowners about service professionals that they have
selected, and/or inform service professionals of potential customers. By submitting a project request,
loan information request or enrolling as a service professional, a user expressly consents to being contacted
by us by phone, email address or mail.
INFORMATION WE COLLECT FROM HOMEOWNERS
A homeowner's project request includes the completion of a Project Form and a Personal Profile Form.
The Personal Profile Form is used to register the homeowner to our website and is only required during the
first instance of a project request. At the Project Form we collect information from a homeowner that
describes the scope of the project. At the Personal Profile Form we collect the following information from
a homeowner: first and last name, street address, phone number, email address, city, state and zip code.
Optionally, a homeowner may choose to obtain information on loans and other financing options from lending
professionals who are enrolled at our BestLocalLenders.com website. From BestContractors.com a
homeowner submits a Loan Information Request Form. At this form we collect information from a homeowner
that depicts a homeowner's current financial standing, property assets, income and creditworthiness.
INFORMATION WE COLLECT FROM SERVICE PROFESSIONALS
Service professionals enroll in our service online and complete a Contact Form and Service Contact Form. At the
Contact Form we collect the following information: first and last name, company name, street address,
phone number, email address, city, state and zip code. At the Service Contact Form we collect the following
information: Billing Address, Billing City, Password, Credit Card Number, Credit Card Expiration month
and year, and Credit Card Type.
INFORMATION WE COLLECT FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC
BestContractors.com provides a Contact Form at various pages of our website for site visitors who are
interested in our marketing and affiliate programs. This Contact Form collects the following information:
first and last name, company name, street address, phone number, email address, city, state, zip code
and business type.
HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT:
Ratings
We ask our users to provide "Ratings", or feedback, about their experiences with the service professionals
in our network. We also ask our users to provide general feedback and testimonials. By providing any such
Ratings, feedback or testimonials, users consent to our use, publication and distribution of such content,
with no compensation.
Service professionals consent, by choosing to use our website and services, to the publication and
distribution of Ratings regarding their businesses that our users have provided.
Surveys and Contests
BestContractors.com may request information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these
surveys or contests is completely voluntary. If BestContractors.com chooses to use a third party in
administrating any such contest or survey, that third party may have participants' information.
Referrals
BestContractors.com maintains a service allowing our users to refer our services to another person.
If a user elects to use our referral service to tell someone else about our website, we request the referral's
name and e-mail address. The referral may contact BestContractors.com at privacy@BestContractors.com
to request his or her removal from our database.
Enhancement of Marketing Profile
We may purchase third party marketing data and add it to our user database to target our advertising
and provide pertinent offers to our users. We use this information to enhance the profile of individual
users, and it is tied to users' personally identifiable information. This information is not collected directly
from users, but from third party sources.
User Profiles
We use users' personally identifiable information to facilitate their use of our services. We create a
personalized profile for each of our users by storing information we collect through a variety of mechanisms,
which are explained below. This profile includes information on our users' viewing preferences, activities on
our website and interactions with BestContractors.com. By analyzing our users' activities on our website and
use of our services, we can improve our services and our website.
DATA COLLECTION
Cookies:
A cookie is a very small file stored on the user's hard drive that identifies the user to our website and
assists us in data collection. We use both session cookies, which terminate when the user's browser is closed,
and persistent cookies, which must be manually deleted.
Session cookies allow our system to remember information about the user only during that internet browser session.
Persistent cookies allow our system to remember our users, meaning that they will not be required to log in
every time that they visit our website. Users may reject these cookies, or manually delete them. We do,
however, offer several features only available through the use of a cookie; users who have rejected our cookies
may not be able to access these features.
Log Files:
We employ log files, which track certain information about your internet connection, including internet protocol
addresses and internet service provider type. These log files are not linked to personally identifiable information
of any user. By tracking this information, we are better able to analyze our users' needs and improve our services
and website.
INFORMATION BESTCONTRACTORS.COM SHARES
Except as detailed in this Privacy Policy, BestContractors.com does not share your information with third
parties. The information we collect is to facilitate our users' use of our website and services.
Aggregate Information:
BestContractors.com collects aggregate information on our users' use of our website, which we may share
with third parties. This information does not contain personally identifiable information. Rather, this
information is an anonymous summary of activities on our website.
Legal Requirements:
Though we strive to preserve users' privacy, we cannot ensure that users' private communications and other
personal information will always remain confidential. For example, we may disclose personal information
when required by law or when we believe parties are misusing or attempting to misuse our websites or services.
Security:
Users should also know that there is always a risk that third parties may unlawfully access private
communications and information. While we use several online and offline security tools, policies and procedures,
we cannot guarantee security of the information we collect or that unauthorized access will not occur.
Third Parties:
Users of our website are always notified when their information is being collected for marketing purposes by
any outside parties, except our affiliates or service professionals.
Sale, Merger or Acquisition:
In the event that BestContractors.com goes through a merger, acquisition or asset sale, users' personal
information will likely be part of the assets transferred.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM BESTCONTRACTORS.COM
Opt-Out
Users may always "opt-out" of having their information used for most purposes. For example, users who no
longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications may opt-out of receiving those
communications by replying to the e-mail or e-mailing us at customerservice@BestContractors.com.
Notifications for Service Professionals
Service professionals in our network, or in our trial program, will receive regular communications from us
regarding service requests we have received, or directly from our users. We may use any contact information
we have for our service professionals to provide such communications. Service professionals may designate
which method of communication they prefer on our website or by contacting Customer Service at
customerservice@BestContractors.com.
Promotional Communications
We send all new members an e-mail to verify usernames and passwords. Existing users will occasionally
receive information on our services, products and special deals as well. We offer all users the opportunity
to opt-out of these communications.
Newsletter
We may provide our users with a newsletter about our services. If a user wishes to subscribe to our
newsletter, we ask for contact information such as name and e-mail address. We also offer users the
opportunity to opt-out of these types of communications.
Announcements
We may occasionally need to send out service-related announcements. Users may not opt-out of these
communications, though they may deactivate their account entirely.
MANAGING PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION
Homeowners and service professionals can self-manage their personally identifiable information
by means of logging into their secure and password-protected "Dashboards." Changes made are
immediately reflected throughout our system.
CONTACTING BESTCONTRACTORS.COM
Changes in Personal Information
Users should e-mail Customer Support at customersupport@BestContractors.com if their personal information
changes or they no longer desire our services.
Contact Information
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our Privacy Policy, please contact us
at privacy@BestContractors.com.
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