Version June 1, 2009
At BrewingCommunities.com, we think the Internet should be fun and we want to help you enjoy it. Our privacy policy was designed with that in mind, to respect and protect the privacy of our users so that they may comfortably enjoy BrewingCommunities.com sites. We want you to fully understand how we collect information from you and how we use it.
Data Collection
BrewingCommunities.com (or a 3rd party solution provider) collects limited non-personally identifying information from your browser makes available whenever you visit a website. This log information includes your Internet Protocol address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your query and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser. We use this information to operate, develop and improve our services.
Some of our services require you to register for an account. BrewingCommunities.com asks you for some personal information in order to create an account (typically your name, email address and a password for your account) and we will use that information to provide the service.
Information Sharing
Unless used in conjunction with a BrewingCommunities.com campaign, we do not rent, sell or giveaway your personally identifying information to other companies or individuals. Unless subject to display, all of your information is strictly confidential and its sole usage will be to provide enhanced content on BrewingCommunities.com.
Use of email addresses
BrewingCommunities.com collects email addresses from users who want to receive various newsletters we publish. These email addresses will not be sold, traded or otherwise given to a third party. Each message you receive from BrewingCommunities.com will include information why you are receiving it and clear instructions on how to unsubscribe from the list. To fight spam, your email address will never be shown and is used solely by BrewingCommunities.com.
Use of IP addresses
An IP address is a number that's automatically assigned to your computer whenever you're connect to the Internet. BrewingCommunities.com collects IP addresses for the purposes of system administration, possible troubleshooting, to report aggregate information to our advertisers, and to audit the use of our site. When guests request pages from BrewingCommunities.com, our servers log the guests' IP addresses. We do not normally link IP addresses to anything personally identifiable, which means that a user's session will be logged, but the user remains anonymous to us.
Use of cookies
Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to an individual's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Cookies can make surfing easier for you by saving your preferences while you're at our site. We never save passwords or credit card information in cookies. The use of cookies is an industry standard and you'll find them at most major websites, but at BrewingCommunities.com we minimize their use. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or indicate when a cookie is being sent.
Links to other sites
BrewingCommunities.com provides links to sites outside the BrewingCommunities.com Network. These sites may have different privacy policies -- they may send their own cookies to users, collect data or solicit personal information. BrewingCommunities.com's policy does not extend to anything that is inherent in the operation of the Internet, and therefore beyond BrewingCommunities.com's control.
Discussion forums
BrewingCommunities.com offers users the opportunity to participate in forums, or message boards. Any information you disclose when posting a message in these forums becomes public. Those who post a message in our forums make their email address available to others through a feature of our forums software, which could result in unsolicited email from other subscribers or parties. If you contribute to a discussion board you will be asked if want the program to remember you. If you answer yes a cookie will be set that makes posting messages easier in the future.
Compliance with legal process
We may disclose personal information if we are required to do so by law or we in good faith believe that such action is necessary to (1) comply with the law or with legal process; (2) protect and defend our rights and property; (3) protect against misuse or unauthorized use of BrewingCommunities.com on the Internet; or (4) protect the personal safety or property of our users or the public.