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PRIVACY POLICY

Effective Date:  April 19, 2014.

The Lares Institute (“we,” “us,” “our” or “Lares”) has designed this Online Privacy Policy (this “Policy”) to describes our treatment of information provided or collected on or through www.laresinstitute.com, (the “Site”).  Please note that the Policy does not apply to information that is collected offline, or by third-party websites or online services.

1.  Types of Information We Collect

We collect three main types of information through the Site – “personal information,” “anonymous information”, and “aggregate information.”

Personal Information.  Personal information is information that can be used, either directly or indirectly, to contact you or identify you as a particular individual.  This would include, among other things, your full name, email address, postal address and telephone number.  In certain cases we may use third parties to collect other forms of personal information, including credit card number and other transaction information you provide us when you communicate with us or submit a payment in connection with your use of the Site.  Examples of transaction information may include basic contact information, bank or financial account information, credit card or debit card numbers and similar details required to process your payments or respond to your request.

Anonymous Information.  Anonymous information refers to information that does not (and cannot reasonably be used to) directly or indirectly identify you as an individual.  Examples of anonymous information include general demographic details (e.g., gender or date of birth), certain characteristics about your home (e.g., approximate square footage, number of levels, extent of water damage etc.) and information about your preferences and usage patterns (e.g., the amount of time you spend browsing a particular portion of the Site).  If anonymous information is ever directly or indirectly associated with personal information, Lares will also treat the anonymous information as personal information for the purposes of this Policy.

Aggregate Information.  Aggregate information refers to de-identified information about groups or particular types of individuals that use the Site.  Such information does not identify you as a particular individual.  An example of aggregate information would include the total number visitors within a particular age range that accessed the Site during a given month.  We also collect technical, viewing and usage information that relates to your interaction with the Site, such as traffic data, location data, logs, the particular portions of the Site that you access and information regarding your computer and internet connection (e.g., browser type, operating system, IP address etc.).

2.  How We Collect Your Information

Lares collects information from you when you voluntarily provide us with information during your interaction with the Site.  For example, you may choose to provide Lares with information when you directly request information or services from us, submit a payment, complete the online forms available on the Site or otherwise interact with the Site.

We may also collect certain types of information automatically, including through the use of cookies, web beacons and other tracking technologies.

  • Cookies.  Cookies are small pieces of information that your internet browser places on the hard drive of your computer when you visit a website.  We use cookies to identify your computer when you return to or otherwise interact with the Site.  Cookies allow Lares to associate your computer with other information that resides in our databases, which helps us to remember your preferences and personalize your experience on the Site.  You can configure the settings of most internet browsers to warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or to reject cookies entirely.  If you disable cookies, however, you will not have access to many features that make your interaction with the Site more efficient and some of the Site’s features may not function properly.
  • Web Beacons. A web beacon (sometimes referred to as a “pixel tag” or a “clear GIFs”) is a programming code that can be used to display an image on a website, email or other communication.  Web beacons are typically one-pixel, transparent images and are used to transfer an individual’s unique user identification (often in the form of a cookie) to a database in order to associate that individual with previously acquired information about him or her in a database.  Lares uses web beacons keep track of certain online behavior – such as the portions of the Site that you visit and your interaction with Lares emails – in order to help us compile information regarding your use of the Site.

In addition, Lares may acquire information from other trusted sources to update or supplement the information that you voluntarily provide to us, or that we collect automatically.

3.  Use of Your Information by Lares

Lares uses the information we collect about you (including personal information) in order to, among other things:

  • Confirm and complete the transactions that you request;
  • Operate, manage and improve the Site;
  • Provide you with customer support and other requested services;
  • Respond to your inquiries and resolve problems or disputes;
  • Develop, enhance and market our products and services or the products and services of third parties;
  • Communicate with you about your interactions with the Site and provide you other information about our services;
  • Provide you with promotional offers, administrative materials and other related content;
  • Protect the rights or property of Lares or third parties (including through the enforcement of this Policy, the Site’s Terms of Use and other applicable agreements and policies); and
  • Comply with legal or regulatory requirements.

Lares may also use your information for other purposes when you provide us with prior consent to use your information in such a manner.  For example, we may use personal information in accordance with disclosures made available to you when you enter that information on the Site, or as otherwise disclosed in this Policy.

The Site and any emails that you receive from Lares may contain links to third-party websites and/or other online content.  Please note that Lares cannot control the treatment of your information by such third parties, and that their privacy practices likely differ from those described in the Policy.  We encourage you to review the privacy practices of any such third parties prior to disclosing any personal information to them.

4.  Sharing Your Information With Other Companies

Lares will not share your personal information with other companies, except under the following limited circumstances:

  • Authorized Disclosures:  We may disclose your personal information to third parties when you consent to a particular disclosure of your personal information.  It is important to note that once we share your information with another company, that information becomes subject to the other company’s privacy practices.
  • Compelled Disclosures:  On rare occasions, we may share your personal information when we reasonably believe that we are compelled to do so by government authorities or as otherwise required or permitted by applicable laws and regulations (e.g., pursuant to law enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or court orders).  Lares may also share your personal information with third parties if we believe in good faith that disclosure is appropriate to protect our rights, property or safety (including the enforcement of this Policy, the Site’s Terms of Use and any other applicable agreements and policies), or to protect the rights, property or safety of third parties.
  • Agents / Service Providers:  Lares may disclose personal information to our trusted agents and service providers so that they can perform requested services on our behalf.  For example, we may share your information with third parties that we engage to assist us with activities such as data processing, analytics or storage; marketing; research; the maintenance and security of the Site; or other similar functions.
  • Business Transfers:  In the event that Lares is (or substantially all of its assets are) acquired by a third party pursuant to an acquisition, merger, sale, reorganization, liquidation or similar business transfer, the personal information stored in our databases may be one of the transferred assets.
  • Non-Personal Information:  Lares may take personal information collected on the Site and turn it into aggregate information (i.e., by combining it with information about other individuals) or anonymous information (i.e., by removing characteristics that can reasonably be used to directly or indirectly identify you as an individual).  We may use and share such aggregate or anonymous information in any manner not otherwise prohibited by this Policy, without notice or compensation to you.

You may be presented with an opportunity to receive information and/or marketing materials from third parties when you interact with the Site.  Please note that any information you elect to disclose to such entities will be subject to their established privacy practices, as Lares is unable to control the privacy practices of third parties.  We encourage you to always review the applicable privacy policies and terms of use maintained by third parties prior to disclosing information to them.  In the event you do elect to receive promotional materials from third parties and later decide that you no longer wish to receive communications that entity, you will need to contact the relevant third party directly to change your preferences.

5.  Children’s Privacy

 We do not use the Site to knowingly solicit data from or market to children under the age of thirteen (13) without parental consent.  If you are a child under 13 years of age, please do not send any information about yourself to us through the Site.  The Site is not intended for use by children.

In the event that Lares becomes aware that we have collected personal information from any child, we will dispose of that information in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and other applicable laws and regulations.  If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with information without their consent, he or she should promptly contact us and we will take reasonable steps to ensure that such information is deleted from our files.

 6.  Data Security, Integrity and Retention

 We have implemented reasonable physical, technical and administrative security measures for the Site that comply with applicable laws and industry standards.  Despite these efforts, however, the Internet is inherently an insecure medium and Lares cannot ensure that your personal information will be protected from disclosure under all circumstances.

For additional information regarding how we store data, please feel free to contact us anytime with your questions or concerns.

 7.  Changes to the Policy

 We may, in our sole discretion, make changes to the Policy from time to time in order to accommodate new technologies, industry practices, regulatory requirements, or for other purposes.  The most recent version of the Policy will always be posted on the Site.  If we do make any changes, we will also update the “Effective Date” posted at the top of the Policy and we may provide you with other forms of notice, such as email.  We encourage you to review the Policy periodically to ensure that you understand how we collect, use and share information through the Site.

Any changes to the Policy will become effective when the revised Policy is posted on the Site.  By continuing to use the Site following such changes, you are agreeing to accept the terms of the revised Policy.

 10.  Contact Us

 If you have any questions or comments about this Policy, please contact us via email at webmaster@laresinstitute.com.  Please be sure to include your name, address and email address in any correspondence to us so that we can respond to your inquiry in a timely manner.