Untitled Document

Privacy Policy

American Greetings and Those Characters From Cleveland, Inc., an American Greetings company (AMERICAN GREETINGS) are committed to providing safe, entertaining and reliable content to families. We take this trust very seriously, especially as we expand our online presence. We recognize that families are concerned about privacy and especially about the privacy of their children online. American Greetings, its staff, contractors, and others who help us operate our website follow this privacy policy on privacy for online activities of the Get Along Gang website. We encourage parents to read and understand our privacy policy, and to contact AMERICAN GREETINGS with any questions or concerns. This privacy policy applies only to the online practices of AMERICAN GREETINGS.

1. Trust, Notice, and Security

At AMERICAN GREETINGS, we fully disclose our policy about the collection, maintenance, use, disclosure, and security of personally identifiable information obtained from users of our online activities. Concerns about privacy can be stronger in the online environment. AMERICAN GREETINGS promises to follow this privacy policy that we specially designed for the Get Along Gang website.

The Get Along Gang website will change over time as we add exciting new features. The Internet itself will also change as new capabilities and perhaps new laws emerge. And accordingly, this privacy policy will be updated occasionally. This privacy policy statement will be refined, improved, and updated to reflect changes in our website.

Another important element of trust is security. The security of personal information is a high priority at AMERICAN GREETINGS and maintain the Get Along Gang website and all associated data with technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect against loss, unauthorized access, destruction, misuse, modification, and improper disclosure. No computer system or information can ever be fully protected against every possible hazard. AMERICAN GREETINGS is committed to providing reasonable and appropriate security controls to protect the Get Along Gang website and its information.

AMERICAN GREETINGS requires that employees and contractors who have access to personally identifiable information only use it for purposes of operating the website features. These individuals are required to acknowledge in writing that they have read the Privacy Policy statement and agree to follow it.

The Get Along Gang website is operated, owned and maintained by AMERICAN GREETINGS located at One American Road, Cleveland, OH 44144. The Get Along Gang is a trademark of Those Characters From Cleveland, Inc., which is a company owned by AMERICAN GREETINGS. AMERICAN GREETINGS has access to any personal information collected on this site.

2. Information Collected and Stored Automatically

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the website, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:
1. the Internet domain (for example, "xyzcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "xyzschool.edu" if you connect from a registered school's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access our website;
2. the type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
3. the date and time you access our site;
4. the pages you visit; and
5. if you linked to the Care-Bears.com website from another website, the address of that website.
We use this information to help us make our site more useful to visitors—to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use. We do not track or record information about individuals and their visits. Certain generic information is gathered with respect to visitors' use of our web site, such as the number of unique visitors, the frequency with which they visit, and the areas on the web site that they favor. We only use this type of data in aggregate—that is, we look at the data on a collective basis, in summary form, rather than on an individual basis. This data helps us determine the extent to which our visitors use certain parts of our web site, which, in turn, enables us to make it as appealing as possible. We may also provide statistical "ratings" about how our visitors collectively use our web site to advertisers, sponsors, and other companies with which we do business ("Business Partners"). These statistical ratings do not contain any personally identifiable information about you or any of our users.
3. Parental Involvement and Consent

Parental involvement in a child's Get Along Gang activities is a cornerstone of our approach to the Internet.

The Get Along Gang website encourages parents and caregivers to spend time online with children and to collaborate in the learning and fun offered at our website. The Internet is a wonderful place to explore as a family. We recommend that an adult accompany children when using content on the Internet. The Get Along Gang website has been designed to delight children and adults alike. We encourage parents to teach their children about online safety and to supervise their children online.

AMERICAN GREETINGS and recognize that collecting personal information from visitors to the Get Along Gang website can be sensitive. Many features of the Get Along Gang website do not require disclosure of a name, e-mail address, or any other personal information to participate in that feature. Some features, such as the Get Along Gang Club, need personal information in order to work. We want our users to understand what information we collect and how we use it. We also want to provide our users with a choice when possible.
A. The Get Along Gang ClubThe Get Along Gang Club is a special section just for club members. It allows members to join and participate in special activities, games, offers and promotions, fortunes, recipes and polls. Club Members will also receive special e-mail messages from The Get Along Gang on special occasions such as birthdays and e-mails regarding offers, promotions or features from The Get Along Gang. Members also may receive periodic American Greetings or newsletters regarding the website or The Get Along Gang merchandise or offers. Members may also have chances to participate in special contests or sweepstakes in which prizes may be awarded.To join the Club, users first must register to become a member. At the membership page, users are asked to provide their first name only and their date of birth. Users who are under the age of thirteen will not be able to become members until a parent or legal guardian consents to their membership. Those users are asked to provide a parent's or legal guardian's first name and e-mail address as well as their first name.Parents will receive a notice via e-mail that explains the Get Along Gang Club, the personal information collected, and how the website will use that personal information. Parents then have the opportunity to consent to the collection and uses of the information. At no time will more information be collected from a child than is reasonably necessary to participate in the online activity.Once parental consent has been obtained, AMERICAN GREETINGS may in the future collect certain personally identifiable information from the user such as name, address, e-mail address, gender, age, and/or contest or sweepstakes submission. If a parent consents, AMERICAN GREETINGS will use the information to send e-mails, newsletters, special promotions and offers to The Get Along Gang Club Members or to notify winners of any sweepstakes or contests and to fulfill prizes. All personal information collected from The Get Along Gang Club Members will not be shared with any third party, except as allowed by law, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. AMERICAN GREETINGS has access to any personal information collected on this site.B. Tell-A-Friend Users on the Get Along Gang website may send e-mails to their friends that hyperlink to the Get Along Gang website. Users do not provide personally identifiable information to use either of these features. The user is prompted to provide his or her first name only, the friend's first name, the friend's e-mail address and a message. The friend then receives an e-mail which facilitates the friend's accessing the website. Information collected to facilitate this activity is then deleted.

3. Use and Disclosure Limitations

AMERICAN GREETINGS uses personally identifiable information about The Get Along Gang website users only in defined and responsible ways and pursuant to the parental consent obtained. We do not share users' personally identifiable information with third parties except when required or permitted by law, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

If you choose to identify yourself by sending us an email or when using our secure online forms (e.g., Bureau of Consumer Protection, Project Know Fraud, or Identity Theft complaint forms, or our FOIA Request Form):

We use personally-identifying information from consumers in various ways to further our consumer protection and competition activities. We collect this information under the authority of the Federal Trade Commission Act and other laws we enforce or administer. We may enter the information you send into our database to make it available to our attorneys and investigators involved in law enforcement. We also may share it with a wide variety of other government agencies enforcing consumer protection, competition, and other laws. If you contact us because you have been the victim of Identity Theft, we also may share some information you provide with certain private entities, such as credit bureaus and any companies you may have complained about, if we believe that doing so might help resolve identify theft-related problems. In addition, when you submit a complaint, you may be contacted by the FTC or any of the agencies or private entities to whom your complaint has been referred.

If you contact us to order publications, we will use your information only to fulfill your order or to contact you about your order.

In other limited circumstances, including requests from Congress, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from private individuals, or in accordance with our public record rules, we may be required by law to disclose the information you submit. If you use one of our online forms, the information you provide is up to you. If you don't provide your name or other information, it may be impossible for us to refer, respond to, or investigate your complaint or request. If you want to get information about you that may be in our records:

The Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974 provide you certain rights to get information about you that is in our records. To learn more about the circumstances under which you can get and correct this information, visit our Freedom of Information Act page. Here's what you should know about the security of the information you provide to us:

We use secure socket layer (SSL) encryption to protect the transmission of information you submit to us when you use our secure online forms. All the information you provide us through these forms is stored securely offline.

If you send us an e-mail, you should know that e-mail is not necessarily secure against interception. So, if your communication includes sensitive information like your bank account, charge card, or social security number, and you prefer not to use one of our secure on-line complaint forms, contact us by postal mail rather than email.

Here's how to contact us about consumer fraud, misleading advertising, credit cards, or other consumer protection matters, and identity theft antitrust or competition matters:
contact our Webmaster.

You also may contact us by postal mail. If you do so, we may use the information you provide in the ways we have described in this privacy policy.

If you experience technical problems with the operation of this website, contact our Webmaster.

This website links to documents located on websites maintained by various federal agencies or other organizations. Once you access an individual document that links you to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of the website containing that document.

Cookies: On the Internet, a cookie is a piece of information that a website transfers to a user's computer for record-keeping purposes. As a user moves from page to page at the Get Along Gang website, a cookie is the only way that we have of knowing who you are. An activity on one page may depend on what you selected on a previous page. We use a cookie to keep track of your selection. Without cookies, users may be asked to provide the same information repeatedly. Some activities may not function at all.

The use of cookies is common on the Internet. Most major websites use cookies. The Get Along Gang website uses cookies only when appropriate. We never use cookies to retrieve information from your computer that was not originally sent in a cookie from us. We never use information transferred through cookies for marketing purposes. We never share cookies information with any third parties for marketing or other purposes.

Ads on the Get Along Gang website (e.g., interactive banners) sometimes allow a user to click through to a website maintained by an advertiser. Advertiser websites are not controlled by AMERICAN GREETINGS. Advertisers may have different privacy policies, which we encourage you to review. When you click through to these websites operated by our advertisers, you may occasionally get cookies directly from them. The Get Along Gang website does not see or use these cookies, and we do not control how other sites use cookies. Other websites operate under their own cookies and privacy policies, and the Get Along Gang website policies no longer apply once you leave our site.

You can control cookies from your end. Internet browsers (like Netscape, AOL and Explorer) give you the ability to control the use of cookies. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. If you prefer, you can set your browser to alert you when cookies are in use. You may set your browser to disable or refuse cookies. You can also erase a cookie that has been placed on your computer by us or by others. If you do not allow cookies to be used in the traditional way, it is possible that some parts of the website will not function as we designed them. It is your choice.

It is possible that AMERICAN GREETINGS could be required to disclose personal information in response to valid legal process. This includes a search warrant, subpoena or court order. In this respect, we are no different from any other record keeper. Disclosures may also be appropriate to protect AMERICAN GREETINGS’ legal rights or during emergencies if physical safety is believed to be at risk. We think that these events are unlikely, but they are possible. We will take reasonable steps to limit the scope and consequences of any of these disclosures.

4. Complaints and Change in Parental Consent.

The Get Along Gang website pledges to work with users to resolve any complaints about our privacy policy and with parents who wish to review their child's personal information that they authorized us to collect and use. If you have a complaint about our Privacy Policy, wish to review your child's information, ask to have it deleted, or refuse future collection or use of it, you can write to us at One American Road, Cleveland, OH 44144 or e-mail us at Consumer.Relations@amgreetings.com. We try to resolve any problems that arise in a fair and prompt manner.

Thank you.

This policy was lasted updated on December 1, 2004.