Ratepic.com is committed to protecting the privacy of our users. The following statement outlines our privacy policy.

At ratepic.com, we do not require that our users provide us with information to use our site. If you choose to sign up for a ratepic.com membership to gain additional functionality and access, we intend to give you as much control as possible over your personal information, including the Registration Data. ratepic.com will let each user know how we intend to use the personal information derived from user access and use of ratepic.com services.

Personally Identifiable Information

In order to attain a ratepic.com membership to gain additional functionality, we'll ask you to provide the following information; your email address, name, birthdate, sex, and general location.

Without your specific permission, ratepic.com will NOT disclose, sell or exchange your personally identifiable information to or with anyone, except when we believe it is absolutely necessary to disclose. The following reasons would force ratepic.com to disclose personal identifiable information:

(1) Comply with the law or legal process
(2) Protect or defend the rights or property of ratepic.com or others
(3) Enforce this Agreement
(4) Respond to claims that the contents of any communications violate the rights of others
(5) Change in ownership or ratepic.com

Aggregated User Information That Does Not Identify Any User Individually:
In order to measure overall demographics and interests regarding specific areas of the ratepic.com domain and to analyze how and where to use our resources, we perform statistical analysis of the collective characteristics and behavior of our members and visitors.

We also use the aggregate data collected to inform our sponsors the number of people who have seen and 'clicked' on their advertisement. In addition, at times we may compile and disclose aggregate information about its users for promotional or other purposes. For example, we might want to disclose that a certain percentage of our users are located within a particular geographic area.

Cookies and Clickstreams *
A 'cookie' is an element of data which a service or site, when visited by a user, sends to that user's browser which, in turn, may store that element on the user's hard drive or memory. ratepic.com uses cookies in the following ways to better serve our users

(1) Provide user preferences for registered users on our site.
(2) Help determine how long users view particular content
(3) Which particular content (e.g., advertising) users view
(4) Which content or sites users link to
(5) Which ratepic.com services members and visitors use

Cookies: Any user may block or delete our cookies from his or her hard drive. However, by disabling cookies, certain site features and functionality may no longer work properly, or at all.

'Opt-in' Emails: Users may 'opt-in' to receive site notifications, newsletters or other information via email. Users may remove themselves from such services at their discretion. Any email sent to an 'opt-in' list will include directions for how a user may remove him or herself from the list, or a URL where the user may find such directions.

Profile Display: In some cases, users' personal information may be publicly available through a user's profile display. In such cases, users have the option to opt out of publicly displaying their real names. In cases where site profiles allow users to display optional information publicly, such entry and display is at the user's discretion,

Email Display: In some cases, users may have the opportunity to use a Service to send electronic mail to another user or email list. In such cases, a user's valid email address and real name will be included with such messages. In order to prevent abuse, users may not opt-out of such a display, but may choose to refrain from using said Service to transmit an email message.

With regard to personal information, users can view their data on their personal profile page. When technically feasible, users are permitted to update their personal information directly through ratepic.com Service. When such updating service is not technically feasible, ratepic.com will make reasonable efforts to assist users in updating their personal information.

To secure site integrity, ratepic.com employs measures including but not limited to security audits, use of encryption tools and software, and other reasonable security measures and procedures.
Internal access to users' private and nonpublic personal information is restricted to site administrators and individuals on a need-to-know basis.

In the event that ratepic.com becomes aware that site security is compromised or user nonpublic information has been disclosed to unrelated third parties as a result of external activity, including but not limited to external security attacks, ratepic.com shall take reasonable measures which it deems appropriate, including but not limited to internal investigation and reporting, and notification to and cooperation with law enforcement authorities.

If ratepic.com becomes aware that a user's personal information provided to ratepic.com has been disclosed in a manner not permitted by this Privacy Policy, ratepic.com shall make reasonable efforts to notify the affected user, as soon as reasonably possible and as permitted by law, of what information has been disclosed, to the extent that ratepic.com knows this information.