Privacy Policy

This policy is effective as of January 14, 2008.

theCourseForum Privacy Policy

We built theCourseForum to make it easy to share course information with your fellow students. Our default privacy settings limit the use of your information.

theCourseForum's Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how we collect and use the personal information you decide to share, and help you make informed decisions when using theCourseForum, located at www.theCourseForum.com and its directly associated domains (collectively, "theCourseForum" or "Website").

By using or accessing theCourseForum, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Disclaimer: Although this organization has members who are University of Virginia students and may have University employees associated or engaged in its activities and affairs, the organization is not a part of or an agency of the University. It is a separate and independent organization, which is responsible for and manages its own activities and affairs. The University does not direct, supervise or control the organization and is not responsible for the organization’s contracts, acts or omissions.

The Information We Collect

When you visit theCourseForum you provide us with two types of information: personal information you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected by us and Web Site use information collected by us as you interact with our Web Site.

When you register with theCourseForum, you provide us with certain personal information, such as your name, your email address, your major(s), and any other personal or preference information that you provide to us.

When you enter theCourseForum, we collect your browser type and IP address. This information is gathered for all theCourseForum visitors. In addition, we store certain information from your browser using "cookies." A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. We use session ID cookies to confirm that users are logged in. These cookies terminate once the user closes the browser.

When you use theCourseForum, you set up your personal account. We collect this information so that we can provide you the service and offer personalized features. In most cases, we retain it so that, for instance, you can return to view prior reviews you have written. When you update information, we usually keep a backup copy of the prior version for a reasonable period of time to enable reversion to the prior version of that information.

You post User Content (as defined in the theCourseForum Terms of Use on the Site at your own risk. Although we do not share your name, we cannot control the actions of other Users with whom you may choose to share your reviews and information. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that User Content you post on the Site will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Site. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal, copies of User Content may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other Users have copied or stored your User Content.

Any improper collection or misuse of information provided on theCourseForum is a violation of the theCourseForum Terms of Service and should be reported to support@theCourseForum.com.

By using theCourseForum, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.

Children Under Age 13

theCourseForum does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register. If you are under 13, please do not attempt to register for theCourseForum or send any information about yourself to us, including your name or email address. No one under age 13 may provide any personal information to or on theCourseForum. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at support@theCourseForum.com.

Children Between the Ages of 13 and 18

We recommend that minors over the age of 13 ask their parents for permission before sending any information about themselves to anyone over the Internet.

Use of Information Obtained by theCourseForum

When you register with theCourseForum, you create your own account. Your account information, as well as your name and email, are not displayed to other Users. We may occasionally use your name and email address to send you notifications regarding new services offered by theCourseForum that we think you may find valuable.

Account information is used by theCourseForum primarily to be presented back to and edited by you when you access the service.

theCourseForum may send you service-related announcements from time to time through the general operation of the service.

theCourseForum may use information in your account without identifying you as an individual to third parties. We do this for purposes such as aggregating how many people in a class recommend a professor and personalizing advertisements and promotions so that we can provide you with theCourseForum.

Sharing Your Information with Third Parties

theCourseForum is about sharing information with fellow students while providing you with privacy settings that restrict other users from accessing your information. We do not provide contact information to third party marketers without your permission. We share your information with third parties only in limited circumstances where we believe such sharing is 1) reasonably necessary to offer the service, 2) legally required or, 3) permitted by you. For example:

We may provide information to service providers to help us bring you the services we offer. Specifically, we may use third parties to facilitate our business, such as to host the service at a hosting facility for servers, to send out email updates about theCourseForum, to remove repetitive information from our user lists, or to provide search results or links (including sponsored links). In connection with these offerings and business operations, our service providers may have access to your personal information for use for a limited time in connection with these business activities. Where we utilize third parties for the processing of any personal information, we implement reasonable contractual and technical protections limiting the use of that information to theCourseForum-specified purposes.
We occasionally provide demonstration accounts that allow non-users a glimpse into the theCourseForum world. Such accounts have only limited capabilities (e.g., reviewing is disabled) and passwords are changed regularly to limit possible misuse.
We may be required to disclose user information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. We do not reveal information until we have a good faith belief that an information request by law enforcement or private litigants meets applicable legal standards. Additionally, we may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law, to protect our interests or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through theCourseForum service or using the theCourseForum name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies. We may offer stores or provide services jointly with other companies on theCourseForum. You can tell when another company is involved in any store or service provided on theCourseForum, and we may share customer information with that company in connection with your use of that store or service.
If the ownership of all or substantially all of the theCourseForum business, or individual business units owned by theCourseForum, were to change, your user information may be transferred to the new owner so the service can continue operations. In any such transfer of information, your user information would remain subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Policy.

Links

theCourseForum may contain links to other websites. We are of course not responsible for the privacy practices of other web sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by theCourseForum.

Changing or Removing Information

Access and control over personal information on theCourseForum is readily available through the account editing tools. theCourseForum users may modify any of their account information at any time by logging into their account. Information will be updated immediately. Modified information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally available to members of theCourseForum.

Security

theCourseForum takes appropriate precautions to protect our users' information. Because email and instant messaging are not recognized as secure communications, we request that you not send private information to us by email or instant messaging services. If you have any questions about the security of theCourseForum Web Site, please contact us at support@theCourseForum.com.

Terms of Use, Notices and Revisions

Your use of theCourseForum, and any disputes arising from it, is subject to this Privacy Policy as well as our Terms of Use and all of its dispute resolution provisions including arbitration, limitation on damages and choice of law. We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use at any time. Non-material changes and clarifications will take effect immediately, and material changes will take effect within 30 days of their posting on this site. If we make changes, we will post them and will indicate at the top of this page the policy's new effective date. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or through notice on our home page. We encourage you to refer to this policy on an ongoing basis so that you understand our current privacy policy. Unless stated otherwise, our current privacy policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account.

Contacting the Website

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at support@theCourseForum.com.