Privacy Policy
We take your privacy very seriously. Our primary goal in collecting information from you is to provide you with the best and most efficient service possible. Except as otherwise contemplated in this Privacy Policy, we do not disclose any personally identifiable information about you to any third party without your permission, unless we believe in good faith that we are required to do so by law. We do share aggregated information about our members with third parties, such as advertisers or partners, for marketing and promotional purposes. This document will answer the following privacy concerns:
- What information does Summit gather and track?
- How does Summit use my information?
- Does Summit share member account information?
- How private is my account information?
- How secure is my account information?
- How do I opt out of receiving messages from Summit?
- How do I update or deactivate my account information?
- What are cookies and how does Summit use them?
- How does Summit notify members of changes to the Privacy Policy?
- Summit and children.
As used in this web site, "Summit refers to the Ben Franklin Institute and the BFI Summit organization.
1. What information does Summit gather and track?
In general, we collect information about you in the following ways:
Registration. When you register for any of the Summit services, the more information you provide (and the more accurate it is), the better we are able to customize and provide our services to suit your needs. At Summit we are dedicated to providing you with the best service as fast as possible. When you register for one of the Summit services, we may ask for non-personal information such as how you heard about us. We may ask that you give us personal information such as your name, email address, zip code, country, and professional titles or designations. When you register for a paid service, we ask that you provide us with additional information, such as your mailing address, credit card number and credit card expiration date. Finally, in addition to the above information, we may also ask that you provide us information about your business, which may include (among other things) your company name, billing address, and phone number, and whether you are in private practice. Any information given is specifically used by the Summit administrators.
Usage Tracking/Hardware/Software/Cookies. While you are on our web site, we automatically track information related to your use of the Summit web site. This information may include (among other things) files viewed by the user, domain name, and a user's path through our web site. In addition, when you connect to any of our web sites, we will detect your IP address and store a cookie on your computer. An explanation of cookies can be found in #8. Summit does not link the information that it collects in cookies to any personally identifiable information that you may submit while on our site.
Technical Support/Information. When you request technical support or information for Summit, we ask you for you personal information and other information necessary to answer your question or resolve your problem.
Promotions or Contests. When you enter a contest or promotion sponsored by Summit and/or our partners, we ask for your contact information so that our partners or we can administer the contest or promotion, and notify winners.
Surveys/Questionnaires. We very occasionally ask Summit VIP Club Members or web site visitors to fill out optional surveys and/or questionnaires. These surveys/questionnaires may ask for demographic information and other information related to our services. Any questionnaire that is filled out is at complete discretion of the user.
Other Information You Give Us. When you visit the Summit web site, we may collect any information that you enter on our web site or give us in any other way in order to contact you about Summit services. Additionally, if you want to learn more about our products or services, we may request that you fill out a form to provide us with necessary information such as: first/last name, mailing address, email address, as well as phone number. We only use this information to provide you with information about Summit products and services, answer any questions that you may have, and/or help you sign up for the Summit service of your choice.
2. How does Summit use my information?
Summit uses your information on an aggregated basis to do such things as operate our web site and enhance our seminars and conferences. We statistically analyze site usage, including the behavior of our Members, to improve the content, layout, and services of the Summit web site, as well as to enhance our marketing and promotional efforts. We share aggregate information about our Members with third parties, such as advertisers or partners, for marketing and promotional purposes. However, except as otherwise contemplated in this Privacy Policy, we do not disclose any personally identifiable information about you to any third party without your permission or as otherwise required by law. We use the information we collect to better understand our customers’ needs. For the Summit paid services we use the information we collect to process payments, confirm charges or payments to your account, administer your account and the like. Finally, we may use the information we collect to occasionally notify you about important functionality changes to the web site, new Summit services, and special offers (including promotion of our products or third party products) we think you'll find valuable. Except for communications sent to you regarding material company announcements or policy changes, if you would rather not receive this information you can indicate your preference. You may choose not to receive messages from us by following the opt-out instructions listed in #6.
The following describes some of the ways your information may be used:
- Your contact information from the seminar, mailing list, and VIP Club sign-up forms is used to send you information about our company and products. We also use this information to contact you when necessary. Except as otherwise contemplated in this Privacy Policy, you may choose not to receive messages from us by following the opt-out instructions listed in #6.
- Your unique IP address is used when we need to diagnose technical problems with our site. We use cookies to correctly deliver account information to you. To find out more about cookies, please see #8.
- Any information you provide to us through a form, email, or telephone call requesting customer support, or information, is used for that specific situation only or to administer our service to you.
- We will occasionally offer sweepstakes or contests on our web site. To participate, you will likely be asked to provide some personal information, such as email address. This information may be shared with sponsors if the sweepstake/contest is co-sponsored by Summit and a business partner.
- Any information you submit in a survey or questionnaire is used to help us better understand and serve our members. This research is compiled and analyzed on an aggregated basis; we may share this aggregated data with advertisers or business partners.
- The contents of email correspondence to us may be used for promotional purposes, such as customer testimonials.
- Any information that you enter on any of our web sites and/or any contact information that you provide to Summit may be used to send you email messages and direct mailings which supply detailed information about Summit and/or the applicable Summit services. We may also use your telephone number to call you in order to discuss the Summit services and assist you in signing up if you choose to become a VIP Club Member.
3. Does Summit share member account information?
As a general rule, except as otherwise contemplated in this Privacy Policy, Summit will not disclose any of your personal information without your permission, except under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it.
Business Partners: In addition to disclosing personal information to agents who provide services to you on Summit’s behalf, Summit may disclose your personal information to business partners, but this is specifically described to you prior to data collection or prior to transferring the data. Our business partners have separate privacy and data collection practices. Summit has no responsibility or liability for these independent policies. For more information regarding the partner or service and their privacy policies, return to that partner's home page and click on their Privacy Policy link.
Agent: We employ other companies and individuals who are subject to confidentiality obligations, to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include, but are not limited to, web site design services, sending postal mail and email, removing repetitive information from customer lists, analyzing data, providing marketing assistance, providing customer service, and collecting and processing payments for the Summit services. They have access to personal information needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes.
Promotions, Sweepstakes/Contests: Some Summit promotions, sweepstakes/contests may require that you provide additional information, such as your mailing address, social security number or credit card number. Such information may be shared with a third party if such third party is sponsoring the "event" or if the information is necessary in order to administer the service or process your transaction. Some Summit promotions and sweepstakes/contests may also offer opportunities to request additional information from sponsors and/or may require that you share some basic information in order to participate. By requesting more information or by participating, you give Summit permission to transfer your personal information to the sponsor or partner so they can fulfill your request.
Legally Compelled Disclosure and Other: Summit may disclose or access account information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it or for the protection of our legal rights. We can disclose any personal information about you to law enforcement or other government officials as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate, in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringements, or other activity that is illegal or may expose us to legal liability.
4. How private is my account information?
Summit makes every effort to ensure the confidentiality of all information you provide about yourself. As a general rule, except as otherwise contemplated in the Privacy Policy, Summit will not disclose any of your personal information without your permission, except under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it. If personally identifiable data about you will be shared, we will tell you, whenever possible, before we collect or transfer the data. Our Member Support staff also has access to your account information, which is viewed for reasons such as when technical support is requested or maintenance is required. In addition, any partner you request to provide services to your account may have access to your account information.
5. How secure is my account information?
Summit uses industry standard efforts to safeguard the confidentiality of your personally identifiable information, such as firewalls and Secure Socket Layers. We make every effort to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. In addition, we always use a secure connection when collecting personal financial information from you. However, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.
6. How do I opt out of receiving messages from Summit?
Except as otherwise contemplated in this Privacy Policy, if you are a VIP Club Member and do not want to receive messages from Summit about new features, products, and promotions, you can simply contact us stating that you wish not to be contacted. Since it is necessary for us to contact you regarding certain matters, you may not opt-out of receiving messages relating to material company announcements or policy changes, or administrative matters relating to your account, like billing, collections, customer support or the like. If you have been contacted by Summit as a result of information you entered on our web site or if you provided your personal information to Summit for the purposes of receiving more information about a Summit service before choosing to sign up as a VIP Club Member, and you no longer want to be contacted by Summit, you can send an e-mail simply stating "do not contact" and Summit will remove you from the list of those who will be contacted with more information about the Summit services.
7. How do I update or deactivate my account?
If you wish to update your contact information or deactivate your Summit services, please contact customer support by e-mail or phone.
8. What are cookies and how does Summit use them?
A cookie is a short piece of data, not code, which is sent from a web server to a web browser when that browser visits the server's site. The cookie is stored on the user's machine, but it is not an executable program and cannot do anything to your machine. Summit uses cookies in the same format as any other web site that is on the internet. Cookies are a standard in the web industry to offer better, faster, and more appropriate service.
9. How does Summit notify members of changes to the Privacy Policy?
This policy is periodically reviewed by Summit and may be subject to change at any time. Therefore, please check this Privacy Policy periodically; you may refer to the date posted at the top of this page to determine when this policy was last updated. Use of the Summit websites or service(s) constitutes consent to any policies then in effect. If we are going to use your personally identifiable information in a manner different from that as provided in our Privacy Policy at the time of collection we will notify you via email. You will have a choice as to whether or not we use your information in this different manner. In some cases where we post the notice we will also email Members who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices.
10. Summit and Children.
The Summit services are not intended for use by children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Please do not use the Summit website if you are under the age of 13.
The BEST Locations!