This Privacy Policy serves to notify a foreign national of the following: What information is collected? WHAT INFORMATION IS COLLECTED? We collect two types of information: personally identifiable information and non-personally identifiable information. Personally Identifiable Information Personally identifiable information is information that identifies a foreign national or can be used to contact the individual. Such information may include name, address, email address, telephone number and birth date. We may request personally identifiable information from a foreign national when the individual uses one of our services or products, such as the International Tax Navigator®, including the web-based Foreign National Information System (FNIS™), and VisaManager® products (referred to collectively in this Privacy Policy as the “Service”). We may also receive personally identifiable information from the college, university and/or organization that the foreign national attends or to which they have applied or the company at which they are employed, to which said foreign nationals have provided personally identifiable information (referred to collectively in this Privacy Policy as the “Authorized Institution”) and which uses the Service to process the information collected for the purpose of determining United States tax residency status, applicable tax rates and eligibility for tax benefits under the United States Internal Revenue Code and applicable income tax treaties, as the case may be. Additionally, in the case of VisaManager, information may be sent to and from the Department of Homeland Security in order to obtain or update immigration status. We will collect personally identifiable information only if it is voluntarily submitted to us. We will not sell, share, license, trade or rent personally identifiable information other than as specified in this Privacy Policy. Non-Personally Identifiable Information Non-personally identifiable information is information that, by itself, cannot be used to identify or contact a foreign national, such as demographic information (like age, profession or gender). Non-personally identifiable information may also include the name of the Authorized Institution, as well as user IP addresses, browser types, domain names, and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of the Service. IN WHAT MANNER IS INFORMATION COLLECTED? We may collect information (including personally identifiable information) using diverse methods and at different places and times, such as when a foreign national or the Authorized Institution uses the Service. The following is a description of the methods by which we primarily collect information. From an Authorized Institution An Authorized Institution may provide us with personal information in order for us to verify the accuracy of such information or to perform or verify analyses of such information as part of the Service for the purpose of determining United States tax residency status and determining applicable tax rates and eligibility for tax benefits under the United States Internal Revenue Code and applicable income tax treaties, as the case may be, and, in the case of VisaManager, sending information to and from the Department of Homeland Security for the purpose of obtaining or updating immigration status. Use of the Service In order to use the Service, a foreign national may be required to directly provide us with personally identifiable information and non-personally identifiable information. Cookies and Action Tags We may also collect non-personally identifiable information passively using “cookies” and “action tags.” “Cookies” are small text files that are placed on a computer in order to identify the Web browser and the activities of the computer on the Service and other Web sites. Although most browsers are initially set to accept cookies, a foreign national may reset the browser to notify him or her when a cookie is received or to reject cookies generally. Most browsers offer instructions on how to do so in the "Help" section of the toolbar. If a foreign national rejects cookies, certain features or resources of the Service may not work properly and there may be some loss of convenience. "Action tags," also known as web beacons or gif tags, are a web technology used to help track Web site usage information, such as how many times a specific page has been viewed. Action tags are invisible, and any portion of the Service, or email sent on our behalf, may contain action tags. Log Files We also collect non-personally identifiable information through our Internet log files, which record data such as user IP addresses, browser types, domain names, and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of the Service. This information may be used to analyze trends, to administer the Service, to monitor the use of the Service, and to gather general demographic information. We may link this information to personally identifiable information for these and other purposes such as personalizing the experience on the Service and evaluating our Services in general. WHAT IS DONE WITH THE COLLECTED INFORMATION? In general, we use the information collected on the Service and provided to us by Authorized Institutions to provide the Service. Specifically, we use such information to perform analyses for determining United States tax residency status and determining applicable tax rates and eligibility for tax benefits under the United States Internal Revenue Code and applicable income tax treaties, as the case may be, and, in the case of VisaManger, sending information to and from the Department of Homeland Security for the purpose of obtaining or updating immigration status. WHEN IS COLLECTED INFORMATION DISCLOSED TO THIRD PARTIES? Except as set forth in this Privacy Policy, we will not disclose any information we gather from foreign nationals through the Service. For the Purposes of the Service We will disclose information to Authorized Institutions solely for the purposes of verifying the accuracy of such information and performing and verifying analyses of such information as part of the Service to determine United States tax residency status and applicable tax rates and eligibility for tax benefits under the United States Internal Revenue Code and applicable income tax treaties, as the case may be, and, in the case of VisaManager, sending information to and from the Department of Homeland Security for the purpose of obtaining or maintaining immigration status. Laws and Legal Rights We may also disclose information (including personally identifiable information) if we believe in good faith that we are required to do so in order to comply with an applicable statute, regulation, rule or law, a subpoena, a search warrant, a court or regulatory order, or other valid legal process. We may disclose personally identifiable information in special circumstances when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating the Terms and Conditions of our Services, or to protect the safety and/or security of our users, Windstar Technologies, Inc. or the general public. Third Parties Generally We reserve the right to provide to third parties information that does not allow any foreign nationals to be identified or contacted, including where such information is combined with similar information of other users of the Service. For example, we might inform third parties regarding the number of unique users who visit the Service or the demographic breakdown of our registered users of the Service. The third parties to which we may provide this information may include potential or actual commercial partners, sponsors, licensees, researchers and other similar parties. Outside Contractors We may employ independent contractors, vendors and suppliers (collectively, "Outside Contractors") to provide specific services and products related to the Service, such as hosting and maintaining the Service, fraud screening, and developing applications for the Service and e-mail services. In the course of providing products or services to us, these Outside Contractors may sometimes have limited access to information collected on the Service, including personally identifiable information. We also require that these contractors (1) protect the privacy of personally identifiable information consistent with this Privacy Policy, and (2) not use or disclose personally identifiable information for any purpose other than providing us with the products or services for which we contracted. Sale of Business In the in the event of a sale, merger or other transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of Windstar Technologies, Inc. to or with another party (the “Buyer”), we may transfer information to the Buyer so that it can continue to provide the Service. However, before we transfer the information to the Buyer, the Buyer must agree to use information only as permitted in this Privacy Policy and to otherwise adhere to all of the terms of this Privacy Policy. Affiliates We may disclose information (including personally identifiable information) about foreign nationals to our Affiliates. For purposes of this Privacy Policy, "Affiliates" means any person or entity which directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by or is under common control with Windstar Technologies, Inc., whether by ownership or otherwise. Any information relating to foreign nationals that we provide to our Affiliates will be treated by those Affiliates in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy. IS THE COLLECTED INFORMATION SECURE? We want the foreign national’s information (including personally identifiable information) to remain as secure as possible. We strive to provide secure transmission of information from a foreign national’s computer to our servers through industry-standard techniques. To help ensure the integrity and privacy of the personally identifiable information provided to us via the Internet, we use Secured Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology in transmitting such personally identifiable information over the Internet to our servers. We secure the personally identifiable information foreign nationals provide on servers located in controlled, secure environments, protected from unauthorized access, use, or alteration. Only employees and contractors who need access to the information in order to perform a specific task or function are granted access to such information. In addition, all Windstar Technologies employees must abide by this Privacy Policy and are kept up-to-date on security practices. Any employee who violates this Privacy Policy is subject to disciplinary action, including termination. Notwithstanding the above commitments to protect information (including personally identifiable information) from loss, misuse or alteration by third parties, foreign nationals should be aware that there is always some risk involved in transmitting information over the Internet. There is also some risk that others could find a way to thwart our security systems. As a result, while we strive to protect information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security and privacy of any information transmitted to us, and the foreign national does so at his or her own risk. WHAT CHOICES DO FOREIGN NATIONALS HAVE REGARDING THE COLLECTION, DISCLOSURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION? Except as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy, we will only use personally identifiable information for the purposes described above or as otherwise disclosed at the time we request such information. Foreign nationals must expressly give us permission to use their personally identifiable information for any other purpose. CAN PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION BE UPDATED OR CORRECTED? The nature of our Service is gathering personally identifiable information. Any personally identifiable information may be updated when the Service is available. Once a foreign national has submitted data, access to it will be more restricted to ensure its integrity. To make changes a foreign national must contact the administrator of the program associated with the data. Foreign nationals may update or correct the information provided to us at any time by accessing the applicable screen in the Service. Foreign nationals also have the right to request the restriction of certain uses and disclosures of personally identifiable information. However, given the purpose and nature of the Service, if foreign nationals restrict certain uses and/or disclosures of their information, we may no longer be able to perform the Service, and the Service will be terminated. If foreign nationals wish to delete the personally identifiable information maintained on our systems (subject to the following paragraph), they may do so by accessing the applicable screen in the Service or contacting Privacy@Windstar.com. Updates, corrections, changes and/or deletions will have no effect on other information that we maintain, or information that we have provided to third parties in accordance with this Privacy Policy prior to such update, correction, change or deletion. Foreign nationals should be aware that it is not technologically possible to remove each and every record of the information provided to us from our system. The need to backup our systems to protect information from inadvertent loss means that a copy of personally identifiable information may exist in a non-erasable form that will be difficult or impossible for us to locate. We promise that promptly after receiving a request, all personally identifiable information stored in databases we actively use and other readily searchable media will be updated, corrected, changed or deleted, as appropriate, as soon as reasonably practicable. HOW WILL FOREIGN NATIONALS KNOW IF THERE ARE ANY CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY? Foreign nationals should be aware that we may revise this Privacy Policy at any time and that such revisions may result in additional uses or disclosures of their personally identifiable information. If we decide to change this Privacy Policy, we will post those changes on the Service so they are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner significantly different from that stated in this Privacy Policy, or otherwise disclosed, at the time it was collected, we will notify the foreign national by email, and the foreign national will have a choice as to whether or not use personally identifiable information in the new manner. We may also make non-significant changes to this Privacy Policy that generally will not affect our use of personally identifiable information. WHO WOULD A FOREIGN NATIONAL CONTACT WITH ANY PRIVACY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS? If a foreign national has any questions or comments about our Privacy Policy, or feels that we are not abiding by the terms of said Policy, please contact our Privacy Agent in any of the following ways: By e-mail: By postal mail or courier: BY USING THE SERVICE, A FOREIGN NATIONAL SIGNIFIES ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF THE FOREIGN NATIONAL DOES NOT ACCEPT THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY, HE OR SHE MAY NOT USE THE SERVICE. ADDITIONALLY, CONTINUED USE OF THE SERVICE FOLLOWING THE POSTING OF CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY WILL MEAN THAT THE FOREIGN NATIONAL ACCEPTS THOSE CHANGES. ADDITIONALLY, BY USING THE SERVICE, (1) A FOREIGN NATIONAL SIGNIFIES UNAMBIGUOUS AND INFORMED CONSENT TO TRANSFER INFORMATION TO SERVERS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND, IF THE FOREIGN NATIONAL IS LOCATED IN THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE FOREIGN NATIONAL ACKNOWLEDGES THAT CERTAIN EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES CONSIDER THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO BE “WITHOUT ADEQUATE DATA PROTECTIONS” AND (2) A FOREIGN NATIONAL EXPRESSLY PERMITS WINDSTAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. TO TRANSFER SUCH INFORMATION TO THE THIRD PARTIES DESCRIBED ABOVE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION AUTHORIZED INSTITUTIONS.
Last modified 10/25/03 |
