Information Collection and Use

Information Collection

The Hobby House, Inc. is the sole owner of the information collected www.hobbyhouseinc.com. The Hobby House, Inc. collects information from our users at several different points on our Web site.

Registration

In order to use some features of this Web site, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user is required to give contact information (such as name and email address). We use this information to contact the user about services on our site for which he has expressed interest. Users are also required to enter unique identifiers (such as, username and password).

Order

We request information from the user on our order form. A user must provide contact information (such as name, email, and shipping address) and financial information (such as credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill customer's orders. If we have trouble processing an order, the information is used to contact the user.



Information Use

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user's hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions.

Persistent cookies enable us to track the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. By setting a cookie on our site, users do not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If users reject the cookie, they may still use some areas of the site, but will be unable to make purchases, and will be limited in some areas of our site. For example, the user will not be able to use Product Notifications or Address Book features.

Log Files

Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information. We use a tracking utility called Webalyzer that uses log files to analyze user movement.



Communications from the Site

Special Offers and Updates

We send all new members a welcoming email. Established members will occasionally receive information on products, special deals, and a newsletter. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the option to not receive these types of communications. Please see the Choice and Opt-out sections.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone, in accordance with the users wishes.



Sharing

Legal Disclaimer

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.

Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable) We do not currently share aggregated demographic information with our partners, but we retain the right to share aggregate information without additional notice to the user. This is not linked to any personally identifiable information.

These are the instances in which we will share users' personal information:

Third Party Intermediaries

We use USPS or an outside shipping company to ship orders, and a credit card processing company to bill users for goods and services. These companies do not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

Business Transitions

In the event The Hobby House, Inc. goes through a business transition, such as a merger, being acquired by another company, or selling a portion of its assets, users' personal information will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred. Users will be notified via email or prominent notice on our Web site for 30 days prior to a change of ownership or control of their personal information. If as a result of the business transition, the users' personally identifiable information will be used in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection they will be given choice consistent with our notification of changes section.



Choice/Opt-out

Our users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask for information. For example, our order form has a mechanism so users who buy a product from us, but don't want any new product notifications, can 'opt-out' of this feature.

Users who no longer wish to receive our promotional communications may opt-out of receiving these communications by editing their account information and contacting us info@hobbyhouseinc.com

Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service, we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users' personally identifiable information. This can usually be done at http://www.hobbyhouseinc.com/account_edit.php or by emailing us at info@hobbyhouseinc.com