Privacy Policy

Privacy Statement for Geekie.org

Revised December 27, 2007; Effective January 1, 2008

Initial Statement

The FreddyWare Solutions Enterprise Network hereby authorizes this privacy statement to be published and adhered to by Geekie.org and its related persons. Wherever below the organization is identified as the FreddyWare Solutions Enterprise Network, it shall be taken to mean the same for Geekie.org.

Information about our Organization and Web Site

Modern information and communication technologies play a fundamental role in the activities of an organization like the FreddyWare Solutions Enterprise Network. We are based in Ontario, Canada, and therefore are subject to the laws and legislation of the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada, as well as the authority of any and all government agencies under these two governments.

Our principal activities are:

• Web development for network expansion
• Public technological services
• Creation of educational facilities on the Internet

This privacy policy covers Geekie.org (http://www.geekie.org/) and other sites that reference this policy, under the authority of the FreddyWare Solutions Enterprise Network.

Organization Name: FreddyWare Solutions Enterprise Network
Address: 46 Gannett Drive
City, Province: Richmond Hill, Ontario
Postal Code: L4E 0E9
Country: Canada
Controller: Frederick J. Ding
Web Site: http://www.geekie.org/

Providing Visitors with Anonymous Access

Visitors can access our blog home page and browse our site without disclosing their personal data. No personal information is collected unless the user decides to register for a user account or log in with that account. However, users cannot access our blog entirely anonymously, as non-personally-identifiable information such as browser version and screen size are aggregated.

The services and links of our Web site

Our blog system enables you to communicate with other visitors and to post information (comments) to be accessed by others. When you do so, other visitors may collect and use your data.

As an asset of the FreddyWare Solutions Enterprise Network, this site also depends on the services of FreddyWare Advertisements, which does collect, store, and utilize information about visitors in an inconspicuous manner.

As a web site, this site depends on FreddyWare-managed hosting where the administrators of the network may have access to server logs and associated statistics. Such mechanisms store some data about visitors that may be personally identifiable, as explained below.

We also use Google Analytics for the collection and compilation of user, content, and traffic statistics. Google Analytics does collect information that may be used to personally identify a user. Read the Google privacy policy here. However, we only utilize the following data in our day-to-day operations:

• Browser information, including the version, support for Flash and Java (used to enhance our site design for different users)
• Operating system information, including screen resolution and colour support (used to enhance our site design for different computers)
• Network information, including IP address, and Internet Service Provider (used to optimize the loading time of our site)
• Geographic information, including but not limited to country / region from which the site is accessed
• Browsing information, including the links clicked on to reach our page, what pages on our site are used, use of our search functions, what links on our site to other sites are clicked, and average time spent on our site (used to develop better content)

Additionally, Geekie.org makes use of services from FeedBurner, which do track the users’ usage of our content feeds. We utilize information such as number of subscribers, applications / software used to access our feed, syndication of our content, clicks on items, and individual item views. Please read FeedBurner’s Privacy Statement.

Automatic Collection of Information

The server and its software, as well as third-party services commissioned by us, automatically log personal data by means such as programming; on occasion, we link information automatically logged by such means with personal data about specific individuals. We do so for the following purposes:

• Technical administration of the Web site
• Research and development
• Customer administration

We use cookies which are automatically delivered for the purpose of keeping wallpaper preferences and other visual aspects of the blog. We also use cookies to store usernames and we do link usernames stored in cookies with personal data about specific individuals to enable access to certain functions and sections of the site.

Data Collection and Purpose Specification

We collect the personal data that you may volunteer while using our services.

We do not collect information about our visitors from other sources, such as public records or bodies, or private organizations. However, users logging in with OpenID will be asked to provide an e-mail address.

The membership system REQUIRES the following information in order to register a user:

• Username
• E-mail address

Additional profile data, such as

• First & Last Name
• Nickname
• Web site
• Instant messaging information
• “Biographical information”
• Identity URL’s (OpenID)

are also collected, but are voluntarily provided by the user.

We may collect and use personal data for the additional purpose of enhancing the coordination of user/member management between sites operating in the FreddyWare Solutions Enterprise Network. We also use the names and e-mail addresses to send out newsletters, from time to time. You may opt-out from newsletters by sending an e-mail to the contact below.

If we wish to use your personal data for new purposes, we will contact you to offer you the means to consent to those new purposes:

• by sending an email: administration[@]geekie.org
• by calling this telephone number: +1 (416) 273-7799

Children’s Privacy

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children, and this site contains no content (language or subject matter) that is unsuitable for minors.

However, we take specific steps to protect the privacy of children by discouraging children from signing up without the express consent of their parents.

Additionally, to ensure that children’s privacy is respected on our services, no personal data is specifically requested for any member except a username and e-mail, which need not be personally identifiable.

Disclosure and Visitor Choice

We disclose our visitors’ personal data only to staff and administrators within our organization and organizations directly owned and/or operated by the FreddyWare Solutions Enterprise Network. Users do not have the opportunity of withdrawing from this scheme.

Where we disclose your personal data for purposes which are different from those indicated in the table mentioned above, we will contact you and offer you the opportunity to consent to disclosure:

• by sending an email: administration[@]geekie.org
• by calling this telephone number: +1 (416) 273-7799

Confidentiality / Security

At the moment, we do not have the capacity to give visitors the option of using a secure transmission method to send us their personal data. As a result, no personal data is required other than an e-mail and username, and a password where applicable.

We have implemented security policies, rules and technical measures to protect the personal data that we have under our control from:

• unauthorised access
• improper use or disclosure
• unauthorised modification
• unlawful destruction or accidental loss

All our employees and data processors, who have access to, and are associated with the processing of personal data, are obliged to respect the confidentiality of our visitors’ personal data.

We ensure that your personal data will not be disclosed to governmental institutions and authorities except if required by law, court order, or other regulations.

Access to the personal data we may hold about you

You can ask us, by:

• sending an email: administration[@]geekie.org
• sending postal mail to: 46 Gannett Drive, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4E 0E9, Canada
• calling this telephone number: +1 (416) 273-7799

whether we have stored personal data about you.

Upon request, which you can only indicate by:

• sending an email: administration[@]geekie.org
• sending postal mail to: 46 Gannett Drive, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4E 0E9, Canada

we will provide you with a readable copy of the personal data which we keep about you, within 30 days. We reserve the right to require proof of identity before this is done. Only the postal fees of delivering such a package to you will be charged, which can be processed securely by a third-party payment processor (in this case, our preferred payment processor is PayPal).

We allow you to challenge the data that we hold about you and, where appropriate, you may have the data:

• erased
• rectified or amended
• completed

We reserve the right to refuse to provide certain visitors with a copy of their personal data, but will give reasons for our refusal, including (for instance) but not limited to: insufficient proof of identity, non-existence of requested information, and unreachable postal destination. However, such parties may challenge our decision to refuse to provide a copy of their personal data through communications with the administration team only.

Privacy Compliance

To our knowledge, our privacy policy is compliant with the following instruments:

• The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act of Canada
• The Access to Information Act of Canada
• The Privacy Act of Canada

As far as we know, there are no global or regional regulatory or self-regulatory schemes applicable to our web site or organization.

We cannot give public information that our privacy policy accords with the privacy instruments; however, we will take whatever steps necessary to rectify any problems regarding compliance with legislative acts in Canada.

Privacy Support

If you have an inquiry or concern about our privacy policy, please contact:

Primary contact
Frederick J. Ding
Chief Administrator
46 Gannett Drive
Richmond Hill, ON L4E 0E9 (Canada)
+1 (416) 273-7799 ext. 100
administration[@]geekie.org

Secondary contact
Q. Carol Xiong
Special Administrator
551 Lauder Avenue
Toronto, ON M6E 3J5 (Canada)
q.carol.x@geekie.org

We do not recommend another means by which visitors’ concerns may be addressed, and usage of any legal and/or administrative proceedings will void your relationship with this organization.