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This residential real estate website (the “Site”) is an interactive online service
operated by Open Houses, Inc. (“Open Houses”). Please be aware that this privacy
policy (“Privacy Policy”) only describes Open Houses collection, use and disclosure
of information gathered through the Site.
Please read more about our Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies to the use
of the Site and any affiliated Open Houses site (“Sites”) by both consumers and
real estate professionals. Real estate professionals include, without limitation,
REALTORS*, homebuilders, lenders, home service professionals and other non-consumer
service professionals and are collectively referred to herein as “Professionals”.
Professionals, consumers and other persons using the Sites are individually and
collectively referred to as “you”, and Open Houses and its subsidiaries and affiliates
are referred to as “we”, “us” and “our”. We use the Sites to provide you with information,
resources, tools, products and services specific to the real estate industry and
related markets, and to provide you with information about us and our advertisers
and our respective products and services.
Open Houses is committed to implementing policies and procedures designed to protect
your privacy and security, in addition to providing you with the best possible online
experience. To that end, we want you to understand what kinds of information we
gather about you, how this information is used and safeguarded, and how you can
control its use.
In conjunction with this Privacy Policy, you should also review our Terms of Use
for a complete understanding of the rules governing our Sites.
* What information is collected from me?
* Information you give us;
* Automatic collection of information;
* Information from cookies.
* Information sharing disclosure – How is my information used and shared?
* Personal information;
* Non-personal information.
* How can I access and change my information?
* How is my information protected?
* Scope of this Privacy Policy: Outside links;
* Effective date and modifications;
* How to contact us.
Information you give us: Information collected from you will vary, depending on
how you use the Sites and what information you may choose to provide to us (whether
through email or otherwise). It’s possible to browse most sections of the Sites
without submitting any personally identifiable information. Personally identifiable
information (“Personal Information”) means individually identifiable information
about you that we collect online, including but not limited to, your full name,
a user name and password, email address, phone number, physical address, or, for
certain products or services, your social security number, or financial information,
and for certain e-commerce transactions, your credit card information. If you choose
to take advantage of some of our products and/or services, or to access certain
of our tools or Site functionality, you may be asked to provide certain Personal
Information. Certain Professionals may also be requested to provide pertinent licensing
information. Whenever we ask for Personal Information, we strive to provide a link
to this Privacy Policy to help you understand how your Personal Information will
be used before you decide whether to disclose it. You can choose not to provide
us with Personal Information, but then you may not be able to fully take advantage
of certain features of our Sites and we may not be able to provide you with certain
information, products and/or services.
Automatic collection of information: Like many websites on the internet, we automatically
track certain information about you as you visit and use our Sites to help us better
understand how the Sites are used and how we can enhance your overall experience
on each Site. This information may include your computer’s Internet Protocol address,
the URLs and Site pages you’ve visited, the number of times you visit each Site
page, what downloads and/or search queries you have made, how long you may have
spent on particular sections of each Site and each Site generally, and your browser
type. This automatically gathered data includes information provided through the
use of “cookies” (which is described in more detail below).
Information from cookies: Cookies are small files that we send to and store on your
computer so that we can recognize it as a unique machine the next time you visit
the Sites. You are always free to decline any cookies we use if your browser permits.
Some of our advertisers and third-party service providers may also utilize their
own cookies. Several of them may be part of the Network Advertising Initiative’s
(“NAI”) Self Regulatory Principles Governing Online Preference Marketing. To opt
out of the NAI’s online preference marketing, click here. In addition, we and our
service providers sometimes use “clear GIFs” in connection with cookies and other
website functions, Clear GIFs perform administrative functions without detracting
from your online experience. They may be used to perform statistical and administrative
tasks including measuring site and page traffic, verifying advertising avenues and
positioning images on the web. Clear GIFs do not collect personal information.
Information sharing disclosure – how is my information used and shared?
The use of your information depends on the context in which it is collected. Therefore,
pay special attention to the categories below that relate to the features of the
Sites that you wish to utilize.
We may share the Personal Information we collect from you only with your consent
or under the following circumstances:
User-Requested Services and Information: Certain products or services on our Sites
may seek Personal Information from you which may be used in the following ways:
For products and services provided by the Sites, the information you submit is used
by us to provide the information, product or service you’ve requested. . We may
also share this information with others, but only to the extent necessary to fulfill
your request or to facilitate your use of their services. In addition, we may use
any registration information that you submit as set forth in the “Registration Information”
section below.
We may use other companies and individuals to perform supporting functions for the
various tools, functionality, products and services offered through our Sites on
our behalf. These service providers will not be permitted to use the information
collected from you for any other purpose other than performing the support functions
for Open Houses.
For products and services offered to you jointly by us and a third party, your Personal
Information may be shared with or independently gathered by the third party. In
these situations, Open Houses will only use your Personal Information as outlined
in this Privacy Policy, but the third party may use the information in different
ways. You can tell when a product or service is offered by a third party, because
a page of the Sites will be “co-branded” and will display the third party’s logo
and/or name along with our own, or you will be linked to the third party’s site
to complete the transaction. Please be aware that each company we do business with
has its own policies regarding the use and protection of your information that may
differ from those outlined in this Privacy Policy.
User–Initiated Communication: From time to time, portions of the
Sites may enable you to send email to us or to third parties and to participate
in public bulletin boards and discussion groups. All postings to public bulletin
boards become our property. Whenever you choose to initiate these kinds of communication
with us, or anyone else, you may be contacted in return. Also, remember that our
bulletin boards and discussion groups are open to the public, and therefore, your
postings can be seen by anyone and are not protected by us or any other entity.
Please use your own discretion when deciding what to post and whom to contact. We
reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to edit or delete inappropriate postings
from our bulletin boards and discussion groups. This reservation of rights shall
not under any circumstances obligate us to conduct such edits or deletions, nor
shall it cause us to be liable for any such edits or deletions.
Referrals: If you participate in any referral service we may offer:
Consumers: We use the information you submit to determine which
of our participating professional (s) may be able to serve your needs. We may then
forward your information, which may include Personal Information, contained on our
sign-up form to certain professional (s), who may then contact you.
Professionals: You may receive information from consumers seeking
your products or services, including without limitation, their Personal Information.
Because protecting consumer privacy is important, we require that you treat data
received from Open Houses consumers as if it was still on the Sites and in accordance
with this Privacy Policy. You may only use the information sent to you via our Sites
for the purpose of providing products and/or services to the consumer. We require
that you otherwise not share, use or transmit this information to or with any third
party without the consumer’s consent.
Protection of rights: We will release Personal Information if we
believe that such action is appropriate to: (1) comply with legal process, (2) enforce
the terms Use Agreement for the applicable Site, or (3) identify, contact or bring
legal action against persons or entities who are or we believe will cause injury
to us or a third party, or (4) otherwise protect the rights , property or personal
safety of Open Houses, its employees, Site users or others.
Asset Transfers: We continue to develop our business and in doing
so might choose to buy or sell other businesses or assets. Personal Information
is generally one of the transferred assets acquired or transferred in such transactions.
Registration Information: The Personal Information you provide
when you become a registered user or customer of one of the Sites is used primarily
to help us customize your online experience, increase the convenience of accessing
new tools, products and services, and, if applicable, provide the products and/or
services you purchase or request. This Personal Information may also be shared among
the Sites to make your use of the Sites more convenient by, for example, limiting
the number of times you have to register with us. Your email address serves as a
unique identifier in our record system, and together with your password is designed
to prevent unauthorized access to any information you choose to store on the Sites.
The data you give us about your personal preferences and demographics (e.g. your
age, ZIP code, occupation or the like may be used to help us offer content, advertisements,
products, and services that we believe will be of interest to you. In addition,
we may share this information, in aggregate form, with our current and potential
advertisers so that they can present advertisements more effectively. If you forget
your password for any registered area of the Sites, we have an automated password
recovery system, which can be accessed by clicking on the “Forgot Password” link
on the sign-in page.
Unless you specify that you’d prefer not to hear from us, we may use the email address
you provide at the time of registration to contact you for promotional or other
purposes. You may have these communications terminated at any time by opting out
through your member profile on the applicable Site, or by clicking on any “unsubscribe”
link contained in a promotional email. Please be aware that opting out on one of
our Sites does not opt you out from any of our other Sites. If you would like to
request to opt out with respect to all of the Sites, please email
privacy@openhousesinc.com with your requests.
Professionals: Personal Information provided to us from your trade
association is not shared with third parties, unless you authorize it directly.
We may offer a newsletter to keep you abreast of the products and services on the
Sites or other professional products and services. Information such as your license
number or personal financial information will not be shared with third parties except
to complete a transaction or as provided in the paragraph above. Additionally, information
provided by you for the purposes of offering your products and services via one
or more of the Sites will be shared by others, including consumers accessing one
or more of the Sites. To the extent such information is necessary to offer such
products and services it will be posted on the applicable Site. This may include,
without limitation, your full name, email address, license number, state of license,
address, phone number, graphic images and any other date intended to help consumers
identify or contact you for your products and services.
Automatically Gathered Information: Information that is automatically gathered,
including through the use of cookies, may be shared among the Sites and in aggregate
form with other third parties, including listing providers, and advertisers, so
that we may better understand how the Sites are used and to enhance your overall
experience on the Sites. When such data is aggregated, all Personal Information
is eliminated.
Children’s Privacy: Our Sites are general audience Web sites. If
you are under the age of 13 you should not register or provide information on our
Sites. We do not collect Personal Information from any person we actually know is
a child under the age of 13. If you have knowledge that a child under the age of
13 has submitted Personal Information to us, please email
privacy@openhousesinc.com.
How can I access and change my information?
To view, edit or delete the Personal Information you submitted on the Sites during
registration, the purchase of a product or service, or elsewhere as described above:
Consumers: Follow the instructions found in the “My Profile” or
“Edit Your Profile” area of the Site(s) where you registered or submitted Personal
Information. If you would like us to no longer use or share with our affiliates,
partners or other service providers, your Personal Information we may gather from
you to market information to you, please send a request to
privacy@openhousesinc.com.
Professionals: You may edit your information by returning to the
area of the Site where you registered and modifying the information there, or by
calling our Customer Care Center at 1-866-99-OHINC. By contacting
Customer Care to make such changes, you expressly authorize Customer Care to access
your data for the purposes of completing your requested edits, modifications and/or
deletions.
Whenever personal information about you is stored on our computers, that information
is password-protected from unauthorized access or use. In addition, this information
is kept on servers that are located behind a firewall. Since your financial information
and certain other Personal Information (i.e. your social security number) is especially
sensitive, we take special care to keep it secure. We will only electronically transmit
or ask for this information over secure internet connections using SSL (Secure Sockets
Layer) encryption, the currently accepted standard for online security, and security
keys. In addition, we require password authentication from any third parties you
have authorized to receive this information. Finally, to the extent that we may
ask for your social security number, credit card number or financial information,
these will be stored on secure designated servers where access is limited to individuals
in departments charged with using such information only in connection with processing
your orders for products and services purchased; provided, however, that those orders
processed by our partners, marketing allies and service providers that provide the
service or products requested may store such information on their servers which
are governed by such third party’s privacy policy and security procedures.
Of course, we appreciate your help in safeguarding the integrity of your own and
others’ privacy. We hope you’ll use common sense whenever you disclose Personal
Information over the Internet. Just as importantly, we encourage you to let us know
immediately if you suspect that the information you share with us is being used
in any way contrary to this Privacy policy. Finally, no data transmission over the
Internet or the storage of information on servers can be guaranteed to be 100% secure
and while we strive to protect your Personal Information, as described herein, we
cannot guarantee or warrant its complete security. To contact us, please send an
email to: privacy@openhousesinc.com
or webmaster@openhousesinc.com.
Scope of this Privacy policy: Outside Links
Be aware that our Sites link to other Web sites that may collect personally identifiable
information about you. This Privacy Policy only applies to the Sites, and we are
not Responsible for the privacy practices or the content for any linked Web sites.
You should refer to the privacy policies and statements of other Web sites or contact
the respective Webmasters of those Web sites to obtain information regarding their
information collection, use and disclosure policies.
This Privacy Policy is effective as of the date first written above and may
be updated and modified from time to time by us in our sole discretion. If we choose
to update or modify this Privacy Policy, such updated or modified policy shall become
effective five (5) business days after its posting on the applicable Site(s). Accordingly,
we encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy and the Sire(s) in order
to keep apprised of our current privacy practices. If you do not agree to any provision
of this Privacy Policy, or any update or modification thereto, please do not use
the Sites.
If you have concerns about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices in general,
contact us at:
Privacy Administrator
Legal Department
Open Houses, Inc.
Email: privacy@openhousesinc.com
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