Carolina Tobacco Services, Incorporated  Privacy Policy

We respect and are committed to protecting your privacy. That is why we have adopted this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy lets you know how your personal information is processed and used. We promise that we will take steps to use your personal information only in ways that are compatible with this Privacy Policy. The following policies are only in effect for the Web pages, newsletters, discussion lists and opt-in announcement lists owned and operated by Carolina Tobacco Services, Incorporated, (“CTS”). (The CTS Network includes all Web sites and certain other Internet media properties hyper linked from the tobaccoequipment.com home page.) The following discloses our Privacy Policy.

What information are you collecting and how are you collecting it?

Every computer connected to the Internet is given a domain name and a set of numbers, that serve as that computer's "Internet Protocol" IP address. When a visitor requests a page from any Web Site within the CTS Network, our Web servers automatically recognize that visitor's domain name and IP address. The domain name and IP address reveal nothing personal about you other than the IP address from which you have accessed our Site. We use this information to examine our traffic in aggregate, but do not collect and evaluate this information for individuals. Our Web servers do not record e-mail addresses of the visitors.

What are cookies?

From time to time, CTS or its advertisers may send a "cookie" to your computer. A cookie is a small piece of data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. A cookie can't read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. Cookies do not damage your system. We use cookies to identify which areas of CTS's Network of Web sites you have visited or customized, so the next time you visit, those pages may be readily accessible. Our advertisers may also use cookies to ascertain how many times you've seen an advertisement. Our advertisers and we may use this information to better personalize the content, banners, and promotions that you see on our Sites.

You can choose whether to accept cookies by changing the settings of your browser. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies, or allow your browser to show you when a cookie is being sent. If you choose not to accept these cookies, your experience at our site and other Web sites may be diminished and some features may not work as intended.

How do you use single-pixel gifs?

CTS and its advertisers may use single-pixel gif images, sometimes referred to as web bugs or web beacons, to count Web page accesses and gather some general statistical information. CTS does not gather personal information through the use of these images. Our advertisers may use single-pixel gifs that can track personal information from cookies that may have been previously placed on a user's computer by an advertiser.

What information do you collect when I register for something?

CTS offers access to some services that require registration. We may use your contact information to send notification of CTS products and services by e-mail and/or postal mail. We also may share that information with our clients. Our clients may send you promotional material that is related to the topic of the service for which you registered if you have opted to receive it.

What other information do you request?

We may also request your e-mail address or mailing address for the purposes of conducting a survey or to provide additional services (for example, subscriptions to e-mail newsletters, announcement lists or information about seminars). Whenever we request the identity of a visitor, we will clearly indicate the purpose of the inquiry before the information is requested. We maintain a strict "No-Spam" policy that means that we do not intend to sell, rent, or otherwise give your e-mail address to a third-party, without your consent.

In addition, CTS will not send you email that you have not agreed to receive. We may from time to time send e-mail announcing new CTS products and services. If you choose to supply your postal address in an online form, you may receive mailings from other reputable, third party companies.

When you sign up for an CTS forum, your name or alias is recorded solely for purposes of maintaining your own account within the forums. This information is not used to monitor your activity within a forum, nor is it used to identify you outside the CTS Network in any way.

When you enter a contest or other promotion, we may ask for your name, address, and e-mail address so we can administer the contest and notify winners.

What information do you collect when I purchase something?

If you are purchasing something from a CTS property, we need to know your name, e-mail address, mailing address, credit card number, and expiration date. This allows us to process and fulfill your order and to notify you of your order status. This information may also be used by us to notify you of related product and services. Credit card and e-mail information will not be shared or sold to third parties for any purpose without your express permission.

Certain CTS properties use a shopping cart feature that safeguards this information by using industry standard SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encrypted servers. SSL codes the information transferred between you and the server, rendering it unreadable to anyone trying to intercept the information. Other CTS media properties do not use SSL and thereby do not offer a secure coded way to transfer information.

Wherever CTS collects personal information we make an effort to include a link to this Privacy Policy on that page.

Will you disclose the information you collect to outside third parties?

CTS will disclose personal information when required by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to:
    1)    Conform to the edicts of the law or comply with a legal process served on CTS,

    2)   Protect and defend the rights or property of the CTS Network of sites, or visitors to the CTS Network of sites,

    3)   Identify persons who may be violating the law, the legal notice, or the rights of third parties,

    4)   Cooperate with the investigations of purported unlawful activities.

CTS uses reasonable precautions to keep the information disclosed to us secure. CTS reserves the right to transfer information in connection with the sale of all or part of CTS's capital stock or assets. Furthermore, we are not responsible for any breach of security or for any actions of any third parties that receive the information. CTS also links to a wide variety of other sites and contains advertisements of third parties. We are not responsible for their privacy policies or how they treat information about their users
See below, What else should I know about my privacy when online?

Opt-in announcement List Privacy Policy

As an added benefit to the visitors of the CTS Network of sites, we have a relationship with PostMasterDirect, an independent, third party company that sends e-mail announcements to individuals who request to receive them. When you sign up for an CTS e-mail newsletter, you are given the opportunity to also receive announcement lists from PostmasterDirect. Whether you want to receive these announcement lists is your choice; you should only receive those lists you affirmatively choose to. If you choose to receive a specific announcement list, you will receive commercial messages that are related to the topic of the list from independent third parties that have contracted with CTS and/or PostMaster Direct to send messages to the list. Personally identifiable information will not be used by CTS or PostMasterDirect for any purposes other than to deliver the e-mail announcements. You may stop the arrival of these announcement lists at any time by removing your e-mail address from the list by forwarding the announcement list to info@tobaccoequipment.comby following the instructions on the e-mails you receive.

What else should I know about my privacy when online?

The CTS Network of Web sites contains many hyperlinks to other Web sites. The CTS Web Sites also contain advertisements of third parties. CTS is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites or advertisers. CTS does not share any of the individual personal information you provide CTS with the Web sites to which CTS links, except as stated elsewhere within this Privacy Policy, although CTS may share aggregate data with such Web sites (such as how many people use our Site).

Please check with those sites to determine their privacy policy.

Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online - for example through e-mail, discussion lists, or elsewhere - that information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.

Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your personal information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you're online.

Your Consent To This Agreement

By using our Web site, you consent to the collection and use of information by CTS as specified above. If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it.

Please send any questions about CTS’s Privacy Policy to: info@tobaccoequipment.com

Please note that your use of the CTS network of Web sites is governed by our Legal Notice.

 

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