Information Collection and Use: Sikod collects information from our website users, subscribers and other customers. In this section of our Privacy Statement, we describe the type of information we collect and how we use it to provide better services to our customers.
Registration and Ordering: During registration, users are required to give their contact information (such as name, e-mail address). For internal purposes, we use this information to communicate with users and provide requested services, and, for our website visitors, to provide a more personalized experience on our sites. We also may collect demographic information (such as job title, company information and professional certification). We use aggregate demographic information about our audience to improve our service, for marketing purposes and/or industry reporting purposes.
E-mail Newsletters: If users wish to subscribe to our e-mail newsletters, we ask for contact information (such as name, e-mail address and, occasionally, demographic information). We use this information in the same manner as we use contact information in the registration and ordering process described above. Recipients of our newsletters can unsubscribe using the instructions listed at the end of the e-mail newsletter.
Surveys and Contests:From time to time we invite web site users and other customers to provide information via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the website user or other customer therefore has a choice whether to disclose requested contact information (such as name and mailing address) and demographic information (such as zip code or job title). In addition to the other uses set forth in this policy, contact information collected in connection with surveys and contests is used to notify the winners and award prizes and to monitor or improve the use of, and satisfaction with the website or other Sikod product or service. Subject to the given customer's preferences (as described in the "Permission" section below), such information also may be shared with third party sponsors of such surveys or contests.
Interactive Features: At some of our sites, we offer interactive and community features such as forums, webcasts and user profiles. Note that all personal information sent or posted via such features becomes public information for which we are not responsible.
Tell-A-Friend: If customers elect to use our referral service for informing a friend about our sites and services, we may ask them for the friend's name, job title and e-mail address. Sikod will store and use this information to send the friend an invitation. This information may also be used to provide information about our company and related products and services. The friend may contact us as specified in the tell-a-friend message to request that no further communications be sent.
Communications from Us: In order to best serve our customers, we may send updates that contain important information about our products and services. For example, we send new members a welcoming message, and verify password and username for our password-protected web sites. We may also communicate with a customer to provide requested services and for account-related issues via e-mail, phone or regular mail. In addition to such service and product-essential messages, we offer our customers the option to receive information about our company, related products, services and special deals. Users, however, can choose not to receive these communications from us, as set forth in the "Permission" section below.
Automatic Data Collection: Our web sites, newsletters and, from time to time, certain other products and services have features that automatically collect information from customers, to deliver content specific to customers' interests and to honor their preferences. This information assists us in creating products and services that will serve the needs of our customers.For example, we use "cookies," a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies benefit the user by requiring login only once, thereby saving time while on our web site. If users reject the cookies, they may be limited in the use of some areas of our web site. Additionally, we may note some of the pages the user visits on our web sites and via our email newsletters through the use of pixel tags (also called clear gifs) and web beacons. The use of cookies, pixels and web beacons enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our sites and via our email newsletters.