Last update: February 2014

The Short Version

At RootsBid we care about your privacy. We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We do not disclose it to others except as required to provide you with the services of the RootsBid.com website (“Site”), meaning – to allow you to post, bid, share the information you want to share on the Site, pay for products, post reviews and so on.

We collect information that you provide us or share with other users voluntarily, and also some general technical information that is automatically gathered by our systems, such as IP address, browser information and cookies to enable you a better user experience and a more personalized browsing experience.

Information that you provide us in the process of the registration will remain private and secure – including your contact information.

Information that you choose to publish on the site (photos, videos, text, music, reviews, deliveries) – is no longer private, just like any information you publish online.

Technical information that is gathered by our systems, or third party systems automatically may be used for Site operation, optimization, analytics, content promotion and enhancement of user experience. We may use your information to contact you – to provide notices related to your activities, or offer you promotions and general updates, but we will not let any other person, including sellers and buyers, contact you, other than through your user login.

The Longer Version

RootsBid respects your privacy and is committed to protect the personal information of its users – bidders, posters, and visitors browsing the site (“Users”). We believe that you have a right to know our practices regarding the information we may collect when you visit and/or use our website [http://rootsbid.com] (the “Site”). This policy explains our privacy practices for the Site and services provided by RootsBid. By accessing and/or using the Site and its related sites, applications, services, goods and/or registering for a RootsBid account, you consent to the terms and conditions of this privacy policy, including to our collection, use, disclosure, processing and retention of your personal information. You can also learn how to limit sharing of information in this policy.

Information We Collect

When you register to the Site we ask you to provide certain personal information, including a valid email address, location and username. We may collect additional information such as physical address and additional authentication information, to provide you with the services you need (such as payment or withdrawal of funds, sending physical goods), or to ensure the markeplace integrity (for example, prevention of fraud). We collect information to provide better services and enhanced user experience to all of our Users.

In addition, we collect information while you access, browse, view or otherwise use the Site. In other words, when you access the Site we are aware of your usage of the Site, and may gather, collect and record the information relating to such usage, including, geo-location information, IP address, device and connection information, browser information and web-log information, and all communications recorded by Users through the Site. We use that information to enhance user experience, personalize your browsing experience as well as monitor the Site for fraud and inappropriate content or behavior. We may also collect supplemental information obtained from third parties such as demographic and navigation data.

Once you register, your username and additional information regarding your activity is made public and is visible to all Users of the Site. This information includes photos or documents you upload, ratings, and additional information you may choose to add to your profile.

How do we collect Information?

You directly provide us with most of the information we collect. You do this by filling out the registration details on the Site, and by posting and sharing additional information voluntarily – this can include information about posters and their projects, bidders and their work, User’s location, sharing of portfolio, ratings and feedbacks by posters and anything you choose to add to your user profile. We also collect technical information indirectly and automatically through our systems. This information may include logging your Internet Protocol (IP) address, software configuration, operating system and use of Cookies; Cookies are small files sent from us to your computer and sometimes back. Cookies ultimately help us improve your navigation and ease of use of our Site. Cookies do not contain any personally identifiable information. You can find further information about Cookies in this policy below, under Cookies and Local Storage.

How do we use the Information collected?

We use personal information only as appropriate to provide you with quality service and security. For example, we may use the information collected from you to verify your identity. We may also use this information to establish and set up your account, verify or re-issue a password, log your activity and contact you from time to time. The information helps us improve our services to you, customize your browsing experience and inform you about additional products, services or promotions that may be of interest to you. In addition, this information helps us track any fraudulent activities and other inappropriate activities and monitor content integrity. Should you ever deactivate your account with us, we will keep your information on file, but only use it to comply with regulatory requirements and to contact you occasionally with the option to reactivate your account. We will ask for your consent before using information for a purpose other than those set out in this privacy policy. We processes personal information on our servers in different jurisdictions world-wide. We may process your personal information on a server located outside the country where you live.

We retain information as long as it is necessary and relevant for our operations. In addition, we may retain personal information from closed accounts to comply with the law, prevent fraud, collect any fees owed, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigation, enforce our Site terms and take other actions permitted by law.

Sharing Personal Information with third parties

We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes without your explicit consent.

We may combine your personal information with information we collect from automatically or obtain from other companies and use it to improve and personalize our services, content and advertising. If you do not wish to receive marketing communications from us, you can opt-out through the link attached to each communication.

We may provide your personal details to third parties, only in order to operate the Site, and prevent fraud and illegal activities, as detailed below.

• To service providers for the purpose of opening, operating and servicing your account (example – payment vendors, CRM systems, mailing systems or technical consultants);
• To respond to a subpoena or court order, judicial process or to regulatory authorities; and
• To protect against fraud, unauthorized transactions (such as money laundering), claims or other liabilities. We do not collect credit information; but allow our payment vendors to collect information for the purpose of collecting payments from buyers on the site or transferring payments to sellers on the site. We are not exposed to the payment information provided to our payment vendors, and this information is subject to the privacy policy applicable to the payment vendor.

Cookies & Local Storage

When you visit the Site, we may use industry-wide technologies such as "cookies" (or similar technologies), which store certain information on your computer and which will allow us, among other things, to enable automatic sign-in to the Site, make your browsing much more convenient and effortless and allow us to test user experience and offer you personalized browsing or promotions. Cookies (which may be html files, Flash files or other technology) are text files that help store user preferences and activity. The Site uses cookies to collect statistical data about its use, to tailor the Site's functionality to suit Users’ personal preferences and to assist with various aspects of Site operation. These files contain a variety of information such as information about webpages visited by Users, the length of time Users visited certain Sites, data about how Users came to visit particular sites, the scope and nature of those sites, areas viewed by Users, and additional information.

Advertising Cookies

We may use third party service providers to deliver ads or promotions related to the Site. These service providers may use cookies or other tracking technologies to identify your activity on our Site and on third party websites. However, this tracking information does not identify you personally, is not combined with personally identifiable information from the Site and is subject to the privacy policies of the related third party service providers.

Blocking Cookies

You may set your browser to block all cookies, including cookies associated with our services, or to indicate when a cookie is being set by us. However, it’s important to remember that many of our services may not function properly if your cookies are disabled. For example, cookies may, in certain cases, save the User from the need to enter usernames and passwords, and allow session continuity.

Security

We take great care in maintaining the security of the Site and your information and in preventing unauthorized access to it through industry standard technologies and internal procedures. However, we do not guarantee that unauthorized access will never occur. Users who have registered to the Site agree to keep their password in strict confidence and not disclose such password to any third party.

Third Party Sites

While using the Site you may encounter links to third party websites. RootsBid is not responsible for these sites and has no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to privacy matters or any other legal matter with respect to such sites. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy policies and the terms of use or service of such websites. Our terms of use and our privacy policy apply only to information collected by us in accordance with this policy.

Updating Your Information

We take steps to ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate and up to date, and we provide you with the opportunity to update your information through your account profile settings. Whenever you use our services, we aim to provide you with access to your personal information. In the event that you believe our information is in anyway incorrect or inaccurate, please let us know immediately. We will make sure we investigate the matter and correct any inaccuracies as quickly as possible where necessary or give you ways to update it quickly or to delete it – unless we have to keep that information for legitimate business or legal purposes. When updating your personal information, we may ask you to verify your identity before we can act on your request. If for any reason you have a problem with deleting your personal information please contact RootsBid’s Customer Support and we will make reasonable efforts to delete any such information pursuant to any applicable privacy laws.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change this policy at any time, so please re-visit this page frequently.

Changes to this privacy policy are effective as of the stated "Last Update” and your continued use of the Site on or after the Last Update date will constitute acceptance of, and agreement to be bound by, those changes.

Corporate Change

In the event we go through a business transition such as a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be among the assets transferred.

Got any Questions?

If you have any questions (or comments) concerning this Privacy Policy, please contact us, and we will make an effort to reply within a reasonable timeframe.