Privacy Statement

What personally identifiable information does TechKnowSys collect from me?

TechKnowSys collects information in several ways from different parts of our network of Web sites.

Some personal information is gathered when you register. During registration, TechKnowSys asks for your name, email address, and other personal information. The more information you volunteer (and the more accurate it is), the better we are able to customize your experience. Once you register you are no longer anonymous to TechKnowSys – you are able to take full advantage of TechKnowSys's many offerings.

In addition to registration we may ask you for personal information at other times, including (but not limited to) when you enter a sweepstakes, contest or promotion sponsored by TechKnowSys and/or our partners. TechKnowSys also occasionally asks users to complete surveys that we use for internal research.

What are cookies and how does TechKnowSys use them?

As part of offering and providing customizable and personalized services, TechKnowSys uses cookies to store and sometimes track information about you. A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browsers from a Web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. All sites on TechKnowSys where you are prompted to log-in or that are customizable require that you accept cookies. (See "What are my choices regarding collection, use and distribution of my information?" for more information on cookies.)

Generally, we use cookies to:

1. Remind us of who you are and to access your account information (stored on our computers) in order to deliver to you a better and more personalized service. This cookie is set when you register or "Sign in" and is modified when you "sign out" of our services.
2. Estimate our audience size. Each browser accessing TechKnowSys is given a unique cookie which is then used to determine the extent of repeat usage, usage by a registered user versus by an unregistered user, and to help target ads based on user interests and behavior.
3. Assist in tracking visits. This information collected by cookies is sometimes called "clickstream" or "click trail" and may also describe which pages you have seen
4. Track your progress and number of entries in some of our promotions, sweepstakes and contests. When TechKnowSys hosted promotions use cookies, the information used written to the cookie indicates the participant's progress through the promotion, and may be used to track entries submissions, and status in prize drawings.
5. Measure certain traffic patterns, which areas of TechKnowSys's network of Web sites you have visited, and your visiting patterns in the aggregate. We use this research to understand how our users' habits are similar or different from one another so that we can make each new experience on TechKnowSys a better one. We may use this information to better personalize the content, banners, and promotions that you and other users will see on our sites.

Advertising networks that serve ads onto TechKnowSys may also use their own cookies.

How does TechKnowSys use my information?

TechKnowSys's primary goal in collecting personal information is to provide you, the user, with a customized experience on our site. This includes personalization services, interactive communications and many other types of services, most of which are completely free to you. In order to provide services free of charge, we may display advertisements. By knowing a little about you, TechKnowSys is able to deliver more relevant advertisements and content, and hence better service to you.

In our role of delivering targeted advertisements, TechKnowSys plays the middleman. Advertisers give us an advertisement and tell us the type of audience they want to reach (for example, males over 35 years old). TechKnowSys takes the advertisement and displays it to users meeting that criteria. In this process, the advertiser never has access to the individual account information. Only TechKnowSys has access to individuals' accounts. This kind of advertisement targeting is done with banner ads as well as promotional email through TechKnowSys Updates. You will only receive offers via email from TechKnowSys if you indicated in your account preferences that you would like to receive them. You can change your account preferences at any time.

Who is collecting information?

When you are on a TechKnowSys site and are asked for personal information, you are sharing that information with TechKnowSys alone, unless it is specifically stated otherwise. If you do not want your data to be shared, you can choose not to allow the transfer by not using that particular service.

Promotions that run on TechKnowSys may be sponsored by companies other than TechKnowSys or may be cosponsored by TechKnowSys and another company. Some or all data collected during a promotion may be shared with the sponsor. If data will be shared, you will be notified prior to the time of data collection or transfer. You can decide not to participate in the promotion if you don't want your data to be shared.

With whom does TechKnowSys share my information?

As a general rule, TechKnowSys will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it or under the circumstances described below. The following describes some of the ways that your information may be disclosed.

Business Partners & sponsors: TechKnowSys may disclose your personal information to business partners or sponsors, but this is specifically described to you prior to data collection or prior to transferring the data. Some or all data collected during a TechKnowSys promotion may be shared with a sponsor. If personally identifying data will be shared, we will tell you before we collect or transfer data.

Many promotions offer opportunities to request additional information from sponsors. By requesting more information, you give TechKnowSys permission to transfer your personal information to the sponsor so they can fulfill your request. In many instance, only your email address will be shared. If more information will be shared with the sponsor, you will be notified prior to the transfer.

Third Party Data & Data in the Aggregate: Under confidentiality agreements, TechKnowSys may match user information with third party data. Also, TechKnowSys discloses aggregated user statistics (for example, 45% of our users are female) in order to describe our services to prospective partners, advertisers, and other third parties, and for other lawful purposes.

What are my choices regarding collection, use, and distribution of my information?

If you indicated upon registration that you are interested in receiving offers or information from TechKnowSys and our partners, we may occasionally send you e-mail about products and services that we feel may be of interest to you. Only TechKnowSys (or agents working on behalf of TechKnowSys and under confidentiality agreements) will send you these direct mailings and only if you indicated that you do not object to these offers. If you do not want to receive such mailings, simply tell us when you give us your personal information. Or, at any time you can easily edit your TechKnowSys Account Information to no longer receive such offers and mailings. You need your TechKnowSys ID and Password in order to access your TechKnowSys Account Information.

On some types of TechKnowSys promotions, we will ask for your email address in order to update you on your score, entries, and status in prize drawings. When you participate in these types of promotions, you automatically receive promotion-related email, unless you choose the no-email options that some promotions offer. Occasionally these promotion-related email messages may include targeted advertisements.

You also have choices with respect to cookies. By modifying your browser preferences, you have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies you will be unable to use those TechKnowSys services that require registration in order to participate. These services include (but are not limited to) Message Board.

TechKnowSys will notify you at the time of date collection or transfer if your data will be shared with a third party and you will always have the option of not permitting the transfer. If you do not wish to allow your data to be shared, you can choose not to use a particular service or not to participate in certain promotions or contests.

What is TechKnowSys's policy on allowing me to correct and update my personally identifiable information?

You may edit your TechKnowSys Account Information at any time by using your TechKnowSys ID and password.

If you are participating in a TechKnowSys promotion or you have participated in a promotion sponsored by TechKnowSys and you wish to update your email address on the promotions mailing list or to quit a promotion and cease receiving promotion related email, please contact info@techknowsys.com.