Gift Ecology Privacy Notice

Revised July 20, 2007

Gift Ecology (owned and operated by Toliwaga LLC) is a website that facilitates the digital annotation of physical objects, sharing of these objects between people, and tracking objects’ travels. Gift Ecology values the privacy of the website’s members and others who visit and use the website. By using Gift Ecology, you expressly consent to the information handling practices described in this notice.

This Privacy Notice is incorporated into and is subject to the Gift Ecology Terms of Use. Your use of Gift Ecology and any personal information you provide through Gift Ecology are subject at all time to this Privacy Notice and the Terms of Use.

Information Gift Ecology Collects and How it is Used

Registration

You may provide to Gift Ecology what is generally called “personally identifiable” information (such as your name and email address) if you register an account on the Gift Ecology website.

To create your account as a registered Gift Ecology member, we require you to choose a name and password, and provide your email address. This information is used to provide a unique account with which you can access Gift Ecology. Your name will be visible to any user. Your name will be visible to any registered Gift Ecology member. We will use your email address to enable you to log into the website and for administrative communications such as notifying you of Gift Ecology updates, for customer service purposes, to address copyright infringement or defamation issues, or to contact you regarding any content that you have posted to or downloaded from Gift Ecology.

We also require prospective members to confirm the email address provided at registration, preventing someone from registering with another person's email address.

For the purpose of ordering Gift Ecology tags, we will ask you to provide your mailing address. Your email address and mailing address are not viewable by other Gift Ecology members. Gift Ecology will never share your personally identifiable information with any non-registered user of our site or third party company or person without your explicit consent.

Your Profile Page

Your profile page includes information about yourself to enable other Gift Ecology users to view your profile and to view your public or shared Gift Ecology objects. Your name is viewable by all Gift Ecology users. If you choose to upload a headshot image, it will also be viewable by all Gift Ecology users. You choose which other information appears on your Profile page. Profile information may include a bio which contains any information you wish to share with Gift Ecology users. You may also optionally specify your location so that other users may track the location of your Gift Ecology objects.

Cookies and Log Files

Like most web sites, Gift Ecology uses cookies and web log files to track site usage. A cookie is a small text file that resides on your computer and allows Gift Ecology to recognize you as a member when you return to our site using the same computer and web browser. If your browser settings do not allow cookies, you will not be able to use our website. Cookies also help us understand how members use Gift Ecology, which allows us to continually improve the service. Like the information you enter at registration or in your Profile, cookie and log file data is used to customize your experience on the web site.

One type of cookie, known as a "persistent" cookie, is set when you log in to your Gift Ecology account if you check the "remember me on this computer" box. The next time you visit the Gift Ecology web site, the persistent cookie will allow us to recognize you as an existing member so you will not need to log in before using the service. In order to change your email address or password, however, you will need to re-enter your password even if your computer contains your persistent cookie. Additionally, if you log out of the Gift Ecology site you will need to re-enter your password the next time you visit in order to log in to your account. Another type of cookie, called a "session" cookie, is used to identify a particular visit to the Gift Ecology site. Session cookies expire after a short time or when you close your web browser.

Due to Internet communications standards, when you visit the Gift Ecology web site we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave Gift Ecology. We also receive the Internet protocol (IP) address of your computer (or the proxy server you use to access the World Wide Web), your computer operating system and type of web browser you are using, as well as the name of your ISP. This information may be used to analyze overall trends to help us improve the Gift Ecology service, but is not linked to personally identifiable information in any way.

Children

In compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we will not knowingly provide access to Gift Ecology to persons under the age of 13. If Gift Ecology later learns that a member is under the age of 13 we will take appropriate steps to remove the member's information from the database and restrict the individual from future access to the Gift Ecology service.

If you are the parent or legal guardian of a child under 13 who has become a Gift Ecology member, then please contact Gift Ecology at admin@toliwaga.com to have that child’s account terminated and information deleted.

When Information May be Disclosed

Third Parties

Gift Ecology does not share your personally identifiable information with other organizations for their marketing or promotional uses without your prior express consent. Please be aware, however, that any personally identifiable information that you voluntarily choose to display on the Service – such as when you publish attribution credits for documents or profile information – becomes publicly available and may be collected and used by others without restriction.

We may disclose your information to affiliated companies or other businesses or persons to: provide web site hosting, maintenance, and security services; fulfill orders; conduct data analysis and create reports; offer certain functionality; and assist Gift Ecology in improving the Service and creating new services features. We require that these parties process such information in compliance with this Privacy Notice, we authorize only a limited use of such information, and we require these parties to use reasonable confidentiality measures.

We may share your information with third parties if sharing your information is necessary to execute a specific request by you (e.g., ordering Gift Ecology tags, in which case it would be necessary to share your information with a credit card processing company and order fulfillment provider). In these specific cases third parties will not retain, share or store any personally identifiable information except to provide the specific services requested by you, and are bound by strict confidentiality agreements which limit their use of such information.

Gift Ecology may disclose User information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with state and federal laws (such as U.S. Copyright law) or respond to a court order, judicial or other government subpoena, or warrant in the manner required by the requesting entity.

Gift Ecology also reserves the right to disclose User information that we believe, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary: to take precautions against liability; to protect Gift Ecology from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses; to investigate and defend ourselves against third-party claims or allegations; to assist government enforcement agencies; to protect the security or integrity of Gift Ecology; or to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Gift Ecology, our Users, or others.

Other Gift Ecology Members

If you have received a Gift Ecology object and lose or forget the password required to claim it online, at your request your email address may be shared with the previous object owner to verify your identity and allow them to release the object to you.

Geographical Information

Gift Ecology shows geographical information about object and member locations. This information includes the places where an object has traveled and the dates the object was there. If a Gift Ecology object is public, this information is available to all Gift Ecology users. If an object is private, the information is available to the past, current, and future members who have kept the object. If you do not want your geographical information recorded and displayed, do not set your location in either your profile or the sojourn of any object. If your location is set in your profile, you may change it to “unspecified” by setting it to an empty location.

Links to Other Web Sites

You may see links to other web sites on Gift Ecology, either via advertisements or other third-party promotions or links posted by other Gift Ecology members. Gift Ecology is not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites you may visit through a link you found on Gift Ecology. If you provide information directly to a party other than Gift Ecology, different privacy policies may cover those parties' use of your information. Please review any company's privacy policy before disclosing your personal information.

Security

Gift Ecology uses commercially reasonable physical, managerial, and technical safeguards to preserve the integrity and security of your personal information. We cannot, however, ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to Gift Ecology, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission of information, Gift Ecology makes commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the security of our systems. However, please note that this is not a guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards.

If Gift Ecology learns of a security systems breach, then we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. Gift Ecology may post a notice on the website if a security breach occurs. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing. To receive a free written notice of a security breach you should notify us at admin@toliwaga.com.

Control Over Your Personal Information

You can change any of your profile information stored on the Gift Ecology site at any time. You do this by using the profile editing tools under Your Account.

While an object is in your possession you have control over all the information you post. You can add, edit, or delete information in posts, or add or delete entire posts. Once you release an object by choosing to release it, you can no longer add, edit, or delete the posts that you made for that object. This quality of history preservation is central to the Gift Ecology experience. Please be aware that this approach may be different from the way some other websites work, in which you can add, edit, or delete information at any time.

Comments you make on a member’s post are editable for a limited amount of time, and cannot be edited or deleted after that time. Personal messages you send to another member are generally not editable and cannot be removed.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your control over information, please send us an email at admin@toliwaga.com.

International Visitors

For Users visiting Gift Ecology from the European Economic Area or other non-U.S. territories, please note that any data you enter into Gift Ecology will be transferred outside the European Economic Area or such other non-U.S. territory for use by Gift Ecology and its affiliates for any of the purposes described herein. In addition, because Gift Ecology operates globally, we may make information we gather available to worldwide business units and affiliates. By providing any data on Gift Ecology, you hereby expressly consent to such transfers of your data to the United States or other countries.

In the Event of Merger or Sale

In the event that Gift Ecology is acquired by or merged with a third-party entity, we reserve the right, in any of these circumstances, to transfer or assign the information that we have collected from our members as part of that merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice may be revised periodically without further notice to you. Please revisit this page to stay aware of any changes. Your continued use of Gift Ecology constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Notice and any future revisions.

For revisions to this Privacy Notice that may be materially less restrictive on our use or disclosure of personal information you have provided to us, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you and obtain your consent before implementing revisions with respect to such information.

Gift Ecology Contact Information

Please contact Gift Ecology with any questions or comments about this Privacy Notice, your personal information, our third-party disclosure practices, or your consent choices.

By mail:
Toliwaga LLC
PO Box 88
Hanover, NH 03755

By email:
admin@toliwaga.com

We will respond to your inquiry within 30 days of its receipt.