Effective date: October 31st, 2016.
These Privacy policies apply to your use of our website and other related information and services provided by us (collectively the “Services”). Please read these Privacy policies carefully before using any of our Services. By using any of the Services, you signify your assent to these Privacy policies; if you do not agree to these policies, you may not use any of the Services.
Silicon Valley Seeds respects the privacy of its users and supporters. We have developed a rigorous privacy policy that reflects that respect. Please read the following policy to understand how your personal information will be treated. We will do our best to honor any limitations you may wish to place on the usage of your personal information.
These Privacy policies do not apply to pages hosted by other third party organizations to which we link; the privacy and other policies of those sites will differ, and are generally available on those sites. The policies under which we operate may change from time to time, but a dated copy will always be available on our Privacy and Terms of Use pages, so check back periodically.
Website Use
Most areas of our site are accessible without having to provide personal information of any kind. Some of our services do, however, require some form of identification, which the user is free to provide or withhold, at their discretion. Submission of a registration form that includes a user’s phone number or email address implies the user’s consent to being contacted by Silicon Valley Seeds using those means, but we will not share that information with any third parties.
Collection of Information
When you are on the SVS website and are asked for personal information, you are sharing that information only with Silicon Valley Seeds, unless stated otherwise. SVS may collect information regarding website visitors, including IP address, browser and domain information, and information volunteered by you, such as your email address. We may also track usage patterns of visitors while they are on our website (such as website hits) using standard site tracking software. Rest assured that physical, electronic, and managerial procedures have been put in place to safeguard the security and integrity of any personal information we collect/maintain.
Personally Identifiable Information
Silicon Valley Seeds collects personal information from visitors and supporters when they make a donation (either online or offline) or when they subscribe to our quarterly newsletter. Our web server does not automatically recognize or collect personal information based on ones email address; the personal information we collect is always voluntarily submitted by the person being asked for it.
Use of Information
Silicon Valley Seeds uses the information we collect about you to be able to send you communications — newsletters, printed publications, mail appeals, or surveys to help administer/improve our web site. Note that we use this information for internal purposes only, and that if you subscribe to the SVS newsletter, you will receive one email communication every three or four months.
Sharing of Information
We are keenly aware of, and very sensitive to, the issue of unsolicited email (or “spam”). As a result, SVS will never send unsolicited emails, and will never rent, trade, or sell your email address to another organization. In addition, your email address will be used only for the purpose(s) for which it was provided. (For instance, to send our newsletter to those who have indicated an interest in receiving it).
Update, Correct or Delete Personal Information
The accuracy of your individual information is important to us. If you ever have a question regarding this Privacy Policy or need to correct, change, or delete any information found on the website or related to a specific user of our services, please contact us. We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information that we present, in addition to seeing to correcting any issues that may arise.
Links to Third-Party Sites
The SVS website provides links to several third party websites. While we make every effort to choose our links carefully, we cannot take responsibility for the content of linked websites, or for the privacy policies of the websites we link to. We encourage our visitors to review the privacy policies of those websites prior to making any use of them.
Affiliate Compensation Disclosure
Silicon Valley Seeds is an educational website which makes use of affiliate advertising relationships with select organizations. We receive commission funds from our affiliate partners when readers click on, buy from, or shop their offers. We include a disclosure statement at the top of every page, post, or article in which an action taken by a reader can result in generated affiliate compensation. Our disclosure statement appears at the top of the page and reads as follows:
Disclosure: This page contains commissioned referral links; read our affiliate policy for details.
Note that the commissions we earn through the use of affiliate links come at no additional cost to our readers, and that we make use of affiliates that we deem to be helpful and useful, not simply because of the small commissions we make when someone decides to buy something through those links. Our affiliates are companies whose reputations we know and trust, but we reserve the right to add or remove affiliates in response to the activities or policies of those companies.
Our disclosure policy is meant to comply fully with FTC disclosure requirements for endorsements and affiliates.
Linking to the SVS Website
Generally speaking, other sites may link to the SVS website without seeking permission. However, we do ask that any such links clearly identify Silicon Valley Seeds (or any specific sources which we make reference to on our site) as the source of the information being presented. We also ask that the presentation formatting employed by the SVS website remain intact and unaltered, in order to preserve the integrity of our work.
Privacy Policy Changes
Silicon Valley Seeds continually examines best practices/options for maintaining a high level of privacy on our site in order to ensure/maintain the confidence and trust of our visitors. As a result, we reserve the right, at our discretion, to change these Privacy policies at any time. Please check this page (always available via a link in the footer of our homepage) periodically for changes. Any changes will go into effect on the Effective Date disclosed on the changed Privacy page. The new Privacy policy will apply to all current and past users of the Services and will replace any prior Privacy policies. Any use of Services provided after the Effective Date shown at the top of this page will constitute your agreement to the terms of this policy.