Updated: 4/12/2011

Online Trust Alliance, (OTA, Inc) is committed to protecting your privacy.  By accessing the Site, you are consenting to the information collection and use practices described in this privacy statement.

Collecting Your Personal Information
We will ask you when we need information that personally identifies you (personal information) or allows us to contact you to provide a service or carry out a transaction that you have requested such as requesting information about OTA, ordering e-mail newsletters, joining OTA, signing up for an event or training. The personal information we collect may include your name, title, company or organization name, work e-mail, work phone, work or home address, information about your job function, information about your company, and credit card information.
 
When you register for an event on our site you are asked for your name, email address and billing information (such as credit card number and expiration date).  Although the event registration page has the same look and feel as https://otalliance.org you may actually be submitting registration information to our third party service provider who then shares the information back with https://otalliance.org in order to fulfill your event registration request.  Please note that our privacy statement does apply and that our service provider must treat your personal information in accordance with our privacy statement.   Your security is important to our third party service provider.  When you enter sensitive information (such as credit card number) on the event registration form, they encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL).

The Site may collect certain anonymous information about your visit, such as the name of the Internet service provider and the Internet Protocol (IP) address through which you access the Internet; the date and time you access the Site; the pages that you access while at the Site and the Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to our site. This information is used to help improve the Site, analyze trends, and administer the Site.

Use of Your Personal Information
The personal information collected through our offline forms will be used to operate the Site and to provide the service(s) or carry out the transaction(s) you have requested or authorized.

In support of these uses, OTA may use personal information to provide you with more effective customer service, to improve the Site and any related OTA products or services.  We may use your personal information to provide you with important information about the product or service that you are using, including critical updates and notifications. OTA occasionally hires other companies, consultants and contractors to provide limited services on our behalf, such as Web site hosting, packaging, public relations, mailing and, answering customer questions about products and services, and sending information about our products, special offers, and other new services. We will only provide those companies the personal information they need to deliver the service. They are required to maintain the confidentiality of the information and are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.   OTA may disclose personal information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on OTA or the Site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of OTA or (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of OTA employees or agents, users of OTA products or services, or members of the public.

We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services.  If you wish to cancel your account or request that we no longer use your information to provide you services contact us at staff@otalliance.org.  We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Control of Your Personal Information
Except as otherwise described in this statement, personal information you provide on the Site will not be shared outside of OTA without your permission.

Access to Your Personal Information
You can review and edit the personal information and any contact preferences provided at the Site by sending e-mail to staff@otalliance.org or in writing to:

Online Trust Alliance (OTA)
9057 Points Drive NE
Clyde Hill WA, 98004-1611

Security of Your Personal Information
OTA is committed to protecting the security of your personal information. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. For example, we store the personal information you provide on computer servers with limited access that are located in controlled facilities. Additionally, we use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol on our site to ensure further safety of the information being transmitted while logged into your Membership account. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure.  Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Cookies
We use both session ID and persistent cookies.  We use session cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our site. A session ID cookie expires when you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time. You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browser’s “help” file. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site including access to our member’s only area.   We do not link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site.

The use of cookies by our partners or service providers is not covered by our privacy statement.  We do not have access or control over these cookies.  Our partners and service providers may utilize session ID cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our site, in order for you to register for events, pay membership dues, etc.

Changes to This Privacy Statement
We may occasionally update this privacy statement. When we do, we will also revise the "last updated" date at the top of the privacy statement. For material changes to this privacy statement, we will notify you either by placing a prominent notice on the home page of our web site or by directly sending you a notification prior to the changes taking effect. We encourage you to periodically review this privacy statement to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. Your continued use of the service constitutes your agreement to this privacy statement and any updates.

Changes in Ownership
If Online Trust Alliance is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, you will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our Web site of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal information.

Contact Information
OTA welcomes your comments regarding this privacy statement. If you believe that OTA has not adhered to this privacy statement, please contact us by e-mail at staff@otalliance.org or via postal mail at the address provided below, and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.

Online Trust Alliance (OTA)
PO Box 803
Bellevue, WA 98009-0803
 
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each newsletter or communication or by emailing us at staff@otalliance.org  or you may contact us at our address above or by phone at 425-455-7400

 Online Trust Alliance (OTA) has been awarded TRUSTe's Privacy Seal signifying that this privacy policy and practices have been reviewed by TRUSTe for compliance with TRUSTe's program requirements including transparency, accountability and choice regarding the collection and use of your personal information.  TRUSTe's mission, as an independent third party, is to accelerate online trust among consumers and organizations globally through its leading privacy trustmark and innovative trust solutions. This privacy statement covers the Web site https://otalliance.org.  If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact the Privacy Officer at staff@otalliance.org.  If you are not satisfied with our response you can contact TRUSTe here.