Toiletpedia:Privacy policy
From Toiletpedia
American Standard Brands Privacy Policy AS America, Inc., d/b/a American Standard Brands ("American Standard") respects individual privacy and values the confidence of its customers, employees, vendors, consumers, business partners and others. American Standard strives to collect, use and disclose Personal information in a manner consistent with the laws of the countries in which it does business, and has a tradition of upholding the highest ethical standards in its business practices. American Standard abides by the Safe Harbor Principles developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission and the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) issued by the Department of Commerce on July 21, 2000. This Safe Harbor Privacy Policy (the "Policy") sets forth the privacy principles that American Standard follows with respect to transfers of Personal information anywhere in the world, including transfers from the European Economic Area (EEA) (which includes the twenty-five member states of the European Union (EU) plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to the United States.
I. SAFE HARBOR
The United States Department of Commerce and the European Commission have agreed on a set of data protection principles and frequently asked questions (the "Safe Harbor Principles") to enable US companies to satisfy the requirement under European Union law that adequate protection be given to Personal information transferred from the EU to the United States. The EEA also has recognized the US Safe Harbor as providing adequate data protection (OJ L 45, 15.2.2001, p.47). Consistent with its commitment to protect Personal privacy, American Standard adheres to the Safe Harbor Principles.
American Standard's Legal Team is responsible for the company’s compliance and enforcement of this policy and data security issues. The Legal Team is available to any of its valued employees, customers, vendors, business partners or others who may have questions concerning this Policy or data security practices. Relevant contact information is provided herein.
II. SCOPE
This Policy applies to all Personal information received by American Standard in any format including electronic, paper or verbal. American Standard collects and processes Personal information concerning current and former employees and their respective family members, as well as applicants for employment through its Internet websites, its intranet site, electronic mail and manually. American Standard is the sole owner of information it collects from current and former employees, applicants for employment, customers, vendors and others. American Standard will not sell or share this information with third parties in ways different than what is disclosed in this Privacy Policy. On a global basis, American Standard will, and will cause its affiliates to, establish and maintain business procedures that are consistent with this Policy.
Personal information collected by American Standard from employees and applicants for employment is maintained at its corporate offices in Piscataway, New Jersey in the United States as well as the local office of the employee or applicant. American Standard collects Personal information for, among other things, legitimate human resource business reasons such as payroll administration; filling employment positions; administration and operations of its benefit programs; meeting governmental reporting requirements; security, health and safety management; performance management; company network access; and authentication. American Standard does not request or gather information regarding political opinions, religion, philosophy or sexual preference. To the extent American Standard maintains information on an individual’s medical health or ethnicity (as legally required), American Standard will protect, secure and use that information in a manner consistent with this Policy and any applicable law.
Personal information collected by American Standard from prospective customers, consumers, vendors, business partners and others may be maintained at its corporate offices in Piscataway, New Jersey or at other American Standard facilities. American Standard collects Personal information for, among other things, legitimate business reasons such as customer service; product, warranty and claims administration; meeting governmental reporting and records requirements; maintenance of accurate accounts payable and receivable records; internal marketing research; safety and performance management; financial and sales data; and contact information. All Personal information collected by American Standard will be used for legitimate business purposes consistent with this Policy.
III. DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this Policy, the following definitions shall apply: - "Agent" means any third party that uses Personal information provided by American Standard to perform tasks on behalf of or at the instruction of American Standard.
- "American Standard" means AS America, Inc., d/b/a American Standard Brands, its predecessors, successors, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, divisions and business groups.
- "Personal information" means any information or set of information that identifies or could be used by or on behalf of American Standard to identify an individual. Personal information does not include information that is encoded or anonymized, or publicly available information that has not been combined with non-public Personal information.
- "Sensitive Personal information" means Personal information that reveals race, ethnic origin, trade union membership, or that concerns health. In addition, American Standard will treat as sensitive Personal information any information received from a third party where that third party treats and identifies the information as sensitive.
IV. PRIVACY PRINCIPLES
The privacy principles in this Policy are based on the seven Safe Harbor Principles.
(1) NOTICE: Where American Standard collects Personal information directly from individuals, it will inform them about the purposes for which it collects and uses Personal information about them, the types of non-agent third parties to which American Standard discloses that information, and the choices and means, if any, American Standard offers individuals for limiting the use and disclosure of their Personal information. Notice will be provided in clear and conspicuous language when individuals are first asked to provide Personal information to American Standard, or as soon as practicable thereafter, and in any event before American Standard uses the information for a purpose other than that for which it was originally collected. American Standard may disclose Personal information if required to do so by law or to protect and defend the rights or property of American Standard.
(2) CHOICE: American Standard will offer individuals the opportunity to choose (opt-out) whether their Personal information is (a) to be disclosed to a non-agent third party, or (b) to be used for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was originally collected or subsequently authorized by the individual. For sensitive Personal information, American Standard will give individuals the opportunity to affirmatively and explicitly (opt-in) consent to the disclosure of the information to a non-agent third party or the use of the information for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was originally collected or subsequently authorized by the individual.
American Standard will provide individuals with reasonable mechanisms to exercise their choices should requisite circumstances arise.
(3) DATA INTEGRITY: American Standard will use Personal information only in ways that are compatible with the purposes for which it was collected or subsequently authorized by the individual. American Standard will take reasonable steps to ensure that Personal information is relevant to its intended use, accurate, complete and current.
(4) TRANSFERS TO AGENTS: American Standard will obtain assurances from its Agents that they will safeguard Personal information consistently with this Policy. Examples of appropriate assurances that may be provided by Agents include: a contract obligating the Agent to provide at least the same level of protection as is required by the relevant Safe Harbor Principles, being subject to EU Directive 95/46/EC (the EU Data Protection Directive), Safe Harbor certification by the Agent, or being subject to another European Commission adequacy finding (e.g., companies located in Switzerland). Where American Standard has knowledge that an Agent is using or disclosing Personal information in a manner contrary to this Policy, American Standard will take reasonable steps to prevent or stop the use or disclosure. American Standard holds it Agents accountable for maintaining the trust our employees and customers place in the company.
(5) ACCESS AND CORRECTION: Upon request, American Standard will grant individuals reasonable access to Personal information that it holds about them. In addition, American Standard will take reasonable steps to permit individuals to correct, amend or delete information that is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete. Any employees that desire to review or update their Personal information can do so by contacting their local Human Resources Representative.
(6) SECURITY: American Standard will take reasonable precautions to protect Personal information in its possession from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. American Standard protects data in many ways. Physical security is designed to prevent unauthorized access to database equipment and hard copies of sensitive Personal information. Electronic security measures continuously monitor access to our servers and provide protection from hacking or other unauthorized access from remote locations. This protection includes the use of firewalls, restricted access and encryption technology. American Standard limits access to Personal information and data to those persons in American Standard's organization, or as agents of American Standard, that have a specific business purpose for maintaining and processing such Personal information and data. Individuals who have been granted access to Personal information are aware of their responsibilities to protect the security, confidentiality and integrity of that information and have been provided training and instruction on how to do so.
(7) ENFORCEMENT: American Standard will conduct compliance audits of its relevant privacy practices to verify adherence to this Policy and the US Department of Commerce Safe Harbor Principles. Any employee that American Standard determines is in violation of this Policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.
V. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Any questions or concerns regarding the use or disclosure of Personal information should be directed to the American Standard’s General Counsel at the address given below. American Standard will investigate and attempt to resolve complaints and disputes regarding use and disclosure of Personal information in accordance with the principles contained in this Policy. For complaints that cannot be resolved between American Standard and the complainant, American Standard has agreed to participate in the dispute resolution procedures of the panel established by the European data protection authorities to resolve disputes pursuant to the Safe Harbor Principles.
VI. INTERNET PRIVACY
American Standard sees the Internet, intranets and the use of other technologies as valuable tools for communicating and interacting with consumers, employees, vendors, business partners and others. American Standard recognizes the importance of maintaining the privacy of Personal information collected through websites that it operates. American Standard's sole purpose for operating its websites is to provide information concerning products and services to the public. In general, visitors can reach American Standard on the Web without revealing any Personal information. Visitors on the Web may elect to voluntarily provide Personal information via American Standard websites but are not required to do so. American Standard collects information from visitors to the websites who voluntarily provide Personal information by filling out and submitting online questionnaires concerning feedback on the website, requesting information on products or services, or seeking employment. The Personal information voluntarily provided by website users is contact information limited to the user's name, home and/or business address, phone numbers and email address. American Standard collects this information so it may answer questions and forward requested information. American Standard does not sell or share this information with non-agent third parties.
American Standard may also collect anonymous information concerning website users through the use of "cookies" in order to provide better customer service. "Cookies" are small files that websites place on users’ computers to identify the user and enhance the website experience. None of this information is reviewed at an individual level. Visitors may set their browsers to provide notice before they receive a cookie, giving the opportunity to decide whether to accept the cookie. Visitors can also set their browsers to turn off cookies. If visitors do so, however, some areas of American Standard websites may not function properly.
Few, if any, of American Standard's websites are directed toward children. Nevertheless, American Standard is committed to complying with applicable laws and requirements, such as the United States' Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"). American Standard website users have the option to request that American Standard not use information previously provided, correct information previously provided, or remove information previously provided to American Standard. Those that would like to correct or suppress information they have provided to American Standard should forward such inquiries to:
AS America, Inc. Privacy Inquiries One Centennial Avenue Piscataway, New Jersey 08855-6820 Attention: Maria Chiclana, Senior Vice President and General Counsel
The inquiries should include the individual's name, address, and other relevant contact information (phone number, email address). American Standard will use all reasonable efforts to honor such requests as quickly as possible. American Standard websites may contain links to other "non-American Standard" websites. American Standard assumes no responsibility for the content or the privacy policies and practices on those websites. American Standard encourages all users to read the privacy statements of those sites; their privacy practices may differ from those of American Standard.
II. CHANGES TO THIS SAFE HARBOR PRIVACY POLICY
The practices described in this Policy are current Personal data protection policies. American Standard reserves the right to modify or amend this Policy at any time consistent with the requirements of the Safe Harbor Principles. Appropriate public notice will be given concerning such amendments. • Related • [Contact] [1] • [Careers] [2] • [Sitemap] [3] • [Legal] [4] • [American Standard Brands] [5] • [Jado Porcher] [6] • [Crane Plumbing] [7] • [Eljer] [8] • [Fiat] [9]
Note:
This policy covers personally identifiable information collected or stored by Toiletpedia or American Standard on its servers. Toiletpedia and American Standard Brands only collect and retain the minimum amount of personally identifiable information required for operational needs – for example, email addresses are stored; however, email addresses are not shared and will not be used for marketing of any kind.
User accounts and authorship
Users that do register are identified by their chosen username. Users select a password, which is confidential and used to verify the integrity of their account. Except insofar as it may be required by law, no person should disclose, or knowingly expose, either user passwords and/or cookies generated to identify a user. Once created, user accounts will not be removed. It may be possible for a username to be changed. Toiletpedia does not guarantee that a username will be changed on request.
Details of data retention
IP and other technical information
When a visitor requests or reads a page, or sends email to a server, no more information is collected than is typically collected by web sites. Toiletpedia may keep raw logs of such transactions, but these will not be published or used to track legitimate users.
When a page is edited by a logged-in editor, the server confidentially stores related IP information for a limited period of time. This information is automatically deleted after a set period. For editors who do not log in, the IP address used is publicly and permanently credited as the author of the edit. It may be possible for a third party to identify the author from this IP address in conjunction with other information available. Logging in with a registered username allows for better preservation of privacy.
Cookies
The site sets a temporary session cookie on a visitor's computer whenever a page is visited. Readers who do not intend to log in or edit may deny this cookie; it will be deleted at the end of the browser's session. More cookies may be set when one logs in to maintain logged-in status. If one saves a user name or password in one's browser, that information will be saved for up to 30 days, and this information will be resent to the server on every visit to the same page. Contributors using a public machine who do not wish to show their username to future users of the machine should clear these cookies after use.
Page history
Edits or other contributions to a page on its articles, user pages and talk pages are generally retained forever. Removing text from a project does not permanently delete it. Normally, in projects, anyone can look at a previous version of an article and see what was there. Even if an article is "deleted", a user entrusted with higher level of access may still see what was removed from public view. Information can be permanently deleted by individuals with access to the servers, but aside from the rare circumstance when Toiletpedia or American Standard is required to delete editing-history material in response to a court order or equivalent legal process, there is no guarantee any permanent deletion will happen.
User contribution
User contributions are also aggregated and publicly available. User contributions are aggregated according to their registration and login status. Data on user contributions, such as the times at which users edited and the number of edits they have made, are publicly available via user contributions lists, and in aggregated forms published by other users.
Reading projects
No more information on users and other visitors reading pages is collected than is typically collected in server logs by web sites. Aside from the above raw log data collected for general purposes, page visits do not expose a visitor's identity publicly. Sampled raw log data may include the IP address of any user, but it is not reproduced publicly.
Editing projects
Edits to pages are identified with the username or network IP address of the editor, and editing history is aggregated by author in a contribution list. Such information will be available permanently on the projects. Logged in registered users: Logged in users do not expose their IP address to the public except in cases of abuse, including vandalism of a page by the user or by another user with the same IP address. A user's IP address is stored on the servers for a period of time, during which it can be seen by server administrators and by users who have been granted CheckUser access. IP address information, and its connection to any usernames that share it, may be released under certain circumstances (see below). Editors using a company mail server from home or telecommuting over a DSL or cable Internet connection, are likely to be easy to identify by their IP address; in which case it may be easy to cross-identify all contributions to various pages made by that IP. Using a username is a better way of preserving privacy in this situation.
Release: Policy on Release of Data
It is the policy of Toiletpedia and American Standard that personally identifiable data collected in the server logs, or through records in the database via the CheckUser feature, or through other non-publicly-available methods, may be released by Toiletpedia and American Standard volunteers or staff, in any of the following situations: 1. In response to a valid subpoena or other compulsory request from law enforcement, 2. With permission of the affected user, 3. When necessary for investigation of abuse complaints, 4. Where the information pertains to page views generated by a spider or bot and its dissemination is necessary to illustrate or resolve technical issues, 5. Where the user has been vandalizing articles or persistently behaving in a disruptive way, data may be released to a service provider, carrier, or other third-party entity to assist in the targeting of IP blocks, or to assist in the formulation of a complaint to relevant Internet Service Providers, 6. Where it is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of toletpedia and American Standard,, its users or the public. Except as described above, Toiletpedia and American Standard policy does not permit distribution of personally identifiable information under any circumstances.
Disclaimer
Toiletpedia and American Standard believe that maintaining and preserving the privacy of user data is an important value. This Privacy Policy represents a committed effort to safeguard the security of the limited user information that is collected and retained on our servers. Nevertheless, Toiletpedia and American Standard cannot guarantee that user information will remain private. We acknowledge that, in spite of our committed effort to protect private user information, determined individuals may still develop data-mining and other methods to uncover such information and disclose it. For this reason, Toiletpedia and American Standard can make no guarantee against unauthorized access to information provided in the course of participating in the Toiletpedia community.
