Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. You agree to agree to these policies by virtue of using our website in a way that leads to you providing us with personal information. State Law & Accompanying Rights Please understand that you may have additional rights originating from State laws based on where you live.
These State-based rights may augment, strengthen, or otherwise somehow compliment any privacy rights you have inherently or under Federal law. Our policy is to comply fully with the privacy policies of every jurisdiction in which we operate. Accordingly, you are free to use our Contact information to reach us at any time to assert any State rights.
Our Commitment To Children’s Privacy Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. For that reason, our website will never collect or maintain information at our website from those we actually know are under 18, and no part of our website is structured to attract anyone under 18. Under our Terms of Service and Conditions of Use, children under 18 are not allowed to use our website and access our services. It is not our intention to offer products or services to minors. Google Analytics MassachusettsDigitalNews.com uses Google Analytics to help analyze how users use the site. The tool uses “cookies,” which are text files placed on your computer, to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behavior information in an anonymous form. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) is transmitted to Google.
This information is then used to evaluate visitors’ use of this website and to compile statistical reports on website activity. We will never (and will not allow any third party to) use the statistical analytics tool to track or to collect any Personally Identifiable Information of visitors to our site. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. Neither we nor Google will link, or seek to link, an IP address with the identity of a computer user. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. Other Collection of Personal Information When visiting our website, the IP address used to access our website may be logged along with the dates and times of access. T
his information is purely used to analyze trends, administer our website, track users movement, and gather broad demographic information for internal use such as statistical assessments and website improvement. Most importantly, any recorded IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information. Other information may be collected as well, which is rather typical of most websites. For instance, the source that referred you to our website is generally known.
Likewise, your duration on our website, and your destination when you leave our website can also be tracked. Other common data collected includes the type of operating system the computer you are using to access our website has. Similarly, the type of web browser is often noted. Again, this is common data collection, and helps ultimately produce a better end-user experience. Cookies are another common internet practice. Cookies are a key means of improving user experience by allows us to customize your use of our website. Simple information is transferred to your computer to allow the content and experience to reflect your actions, preferences, and so on. You should simply make the assumption our website uses cookies, and note that you are free to make adjustments in your web browser to disable these or otherwise receive notification of cookies so you can take whatever desired action you so choose. Please understand that refusing cookies may cripple some of our website features and render some aspects useless to you.
At times, you will be fully aware of information received, as you are the direct source providing it. For instance, you may comment on a blog post, reply to an email (whether broadcast message or autoresponder), provide an email address, complete a survey, requests SMS, or otherwise. Likewise, purchases necessarily involve collecting certain information, such as credit card information, Paypal addresses, your physical address for billing and/or shipping, phone number, and so on. Refusing to provide some of this information may lead to us being unable to provide you with the products or services you’ve requested. A prime example of limited access to our website is where content may be protected by a username and password. Whether a username and password is generated by our website, or created by you, these will almost always be connected with some other information related to or connected with you.
This is true since much content that is protected on the internet is subscription based, often paid for. Thus, the username and password must necessarily be tied to your other account data. Usernames and passwords, by their very nature, should be kept private. Handling of Personal Information Note that any personal information you provide to others apart from us or our vendors is wholly optional. As an example, you might disclose something in a blog post comment.
That “private” information is now “public,” and we have no control over that. In like fashion, you sharing information with any other third party not functioning as a service provider to us puts that information beyond our control and becomes subject to the policy that party has in place. Our primary intention for collecting personal and private information from you is simply to conduct our business.
We can use this internally to better serve you. Accordingly, we see no reason to share your personal information to other parties and outside interests unless you have authorized us to do so. Of course, there are instances where your information is stored with third party service providers, such as email service providers, as they provide services that are industry-leading in quality and security and are far more beneficial to our end user than attempting such services “in-house.” However, you are never required to deal with any such third party directly, they are limited in how they use your information, and they cannot sell or transfer it to others in any way. However, of course, your information does comprise part of an overall whole. This aggregate of information, by contrast, may be used to understand our overall user base.
Further, we may share this information about our website visitors as a whole, not individually, with third parties for various purposes, in our sole discretion. While we are staunch privacy advocates, there are times when even we may be forced to abandon these ideals. Just as major search engines face ongoing compulsion to provide data against their will, so too may the same occur with our website. Illegal activity or other serious acts or allegations could create legal liability for our website. In those cases, we reserve the right to share your information, or else may simply be compelled to do so by law. On the other hand, there may be times when we would need to share your private information in order to protect our own interests.
For instance, in cases of suspected or alleged copyright infringement or other intellectual property violations, it may be necessary to share personal information. Google Adsense and the DoubleClick DART Cookie Google, as a third party advertisement vendor, may use cookies to serve ads on this website.
The use of DART cookies by Google enables them to serve adverts to visitors that are based on their visits to this website, including past visits, as well as other websites on the internet. To opt out of the DART cookies you may visit the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following url http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html Tracking of users through the DART cookie mechanisms are subject to Google’s own privacy policies. Other Third Party ad servers or ad networks may also use cookies to track users activities on this website to measure advertisement effectiveness and other reasons that will be provided in their own privacy policies, our website has no access or control over these cookies that may be used by third party advertisers. However, you can opt out of some, though likely not all, of these cookies in one easy location at http://ww.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp Links to Third Party Websites We have included links on this website for your use and reference. We are not responsible for the privacy policies on these websites. You should be aware that the privacy policies of these websites may differ from our own.
Comments Policy As you know, Web 2.0 is all about the conversation. But without a few simple ground rules, that conversation can turn into a shouting match that discourages others from entering into the fray. So here is MassachusettsDigitalNews.com comments policy. By posting on my blog, you agree to the following: You may comment without registering. You can log-in via Disqus, OpenID, Twitter, Facebook—or not at all. It’s up to you. You may post anonymously. I don’t recommend this, but you may do so if you wish. I may change this rule if it is abused. You may post follow-up questions. If you have a question, chances are you are not alone. Others are likely thinking similarly. Therefore, I would rather receive your comments on MassachusettsDigitalNews.com than via email. It is a better use of my time to address everyone at once rather than answer several similar emails. You may disagree with me. I welcome debate. However, I ask that if you disagree with me—or anyone else, for that matter—do so in a way that is respectful. In my opinion, there is way too much shouting in the public square to tolerate it here. MassachusettsDigitalNews.com reserves the right to delete your comments.
This is my blog. I don’t have an obligation to publish your comments. The First Amendment gives you the right to express your opinions on your blog not mine. Specifically, I will delete your comments if you post something that is, in my sole opinion, (a)snarky; (b) off-topic; (c) libelous, defamatory, abusive, harassing, threatening, profane, pornographic, offensive, false, misleading, or which otherwise violates or encourages others to violate my sense of decorum and civility or any law, including intellectual property laws; or (d) “spam,” i.e., an attempt to advertise, solicit, or otherwise promote goods and services. You may, however, post a link to your site or your most recent blog post.
You retain ownership of your comments. I do not own them and I expressly disclaim any and all liability that may result from them. By commenting on my site, you agree that you retain all ownership rights in what you post here and that you will relieve me from any and all liability that may result from those postings. You grant MassachusettsDigitalNews.com a license to post your comments. This license is worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free. You grant me the right to store, use, transmit, display, publish, reproduce, and distribute your comments in any format, including but not limited to a blog, in a book, a video, or presentation. In short, my goal is to host interesting conversations with caring, honest, and respectful people. I believe this simple comments policy will facilitate this.
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