Privacy Policy

Effective: May 13, 2009

The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® ("C.A.R.") has created this Privacy Policy to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy and so that you, as a visitor to this Web site (the "Site"), will be aware of the uses made of information that may be generated as a result of you using our Site.

What information is generated when you visit our Site?
Depending on how you use our Site, certain types of personal and nonpersonal information may be generated and collected.  For example, you may give us your name or e-mail address when you complete a registration screen, respond to a questionnaire or submit an e-mail to us.  Any personal information that you provide to us will be used by us primarily to fulfill the stated objective for which the information was requested or collected (e.g. if information is provided as a result of you e-mailing us, we will use the information provided, such as e-mail address, to respond to you).

Other types of information that may be generated and collected when you visit our Site is information that we consider nonpersonal in nature.  For example, we may collect the name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are connecting from an America Online account); the date and time you access our Site and the Internet address of the site from which you linked directly to our Site.  We use this information to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of our Site and to help us make our Site more useful to visitors.

Use of Cookies
What is a cookie?  A cookie is a data file that is created and stored on your computer's hard drive when you visit a Web site.  The typical purposes of a cookie is to make your use of the Web site easier and more convenient and to assist the Web site in tracking your use of the site.  For example, a cookie may save the registration information, passwords, purchases or preferences that you create when using a Web site so you don't have to reenter this information.  Cookies may also tell the Web site which areas of the site are popular and which aren't.  Cookie technology is used by most major Web sites and is considered an industry standard for the Internet.

Our Site may use cookie technology.  Also, most Internet browsers are initially set to accept cookies.  If you prefer, you may set your browser so that it refuses cookies or alerts you when cookies are being created on your hard drive.  You should be aware though that by not accepting cookies, you may impair your ability to use certain shopping or password protected areas of web sites.

"Contact Us" Feature
Like most sites on the Internet, our Site may contain a feature that allows you to contact us with your comments or questions.  To use this feature, a screen will prompt you to provide us with certain information, such as your first and last name, email address, phone and fax number and your address, including your city and state. 

The information collected through the "Contact Us" feature is used to investigate and respond to your inquiries.  If you are a C.A.R. member, we may also use the information you provide to update our membership records.

Online Product/Service Purchases
The Site may allow you to purchase various products and services.   In order to process and complete your orders though the Site, we may need to ask you for certain information, such as your name, company name, address, state and zip code, phone number, fax, number, e-mail address, credit card number, security code and expiration date.

The information collected through the Site is used to process your order and may also be used to keep track of the amount and types of purchases being made through the Site.  We may also use your email address or mailing address to send you information regarding updates to the products/services you purchased or new products/services which may be of interest to you.  When you initiate the purchase transaction, you may be taken to another Web site where you may purchase products/services, and if so, you agree to be taken to and bound by the terms of use and privacy policy of that Web site; therefore, we suggest that you review that Web site’s terms of use and privacy policy to make sure the terms are acceptable to you.

With respect to your credit card information, this information is sent encrypted to a secure server.  The information is then used to complete your purchase order.  Please see the section called "Security" for more information about the security of our Site.

Links to Other Sites
In many areas of our Site, we have included links to other Internet sites which we feel add to or improve the quality of our Site.   While we hope you find these links helpful, we cannot assume responsibility for the privacy practices or the content of any linked site.  Therefore, we encourage you to investigate and determine the privacy policy and practices of any linked site prior to providing information to the linked site. 

Surveys
We may from time to time create and use surveys on our Site.  Most surveys are simple "click box" surveys where you click a box on the screen to indicate your response.  However, we may from time to time ask you for your name, email address or demographic information.  If a survey does ask you this information, we will use the information to complete the survey, compile statistics and update member records.

Contests
We may from time to time run contests on our Site.  If our contests require you to provide personal or demographic information, we will use this information primarily to complete the contest and update member records.

Advertisements
Like many other sites on the Internet, we sell advertising space on our Site to other companies.  The advertising space we sell is usually in the form of an electronic "advertisement banner."  An advertisement banner is essentially a graphic link to the actual Internet site of the advertiser.

While we hope you find our advertiser's products helpful, we cannot assume any responsibility for the privacy practices of our advertisers.  Therefore, like any other Internet site you may visit, we encourage you to become knowledgeable of the privacy policies and practices of our advertisers prior to providing information on their sites. 

Public Chat Rooms or Forums
From time to time a discussion forum, bulletin board, blog, chat area, news group, community, or other feature designed so that Users may upload data and images or communicate with others ("Forum") may be made available to Users on this Site. C.A.R., in its sole discretion, reserves the right to review, control or edit any text, data, images, files, or other materials that may be uploaded, posted or submitted in any Forum ("Submissions") as well as the right to refuse to post any such Submission.  All Submissions are subject to the Terms of Use.  Please remember that any information you disclose on these types of features will be accessible to the public and you should exercise caution prior to disclosing any personal information on these features.

Required by Law
We may disclose information provided by you if we are legally required to do so, such as by court order or subpoena.

Security
We have adopted what we consider to be reasonable security measures to protect against the loss, theft, misuse and alteration of information collected through our Site.  However, if you are concerned about the security of the Internet or our Site, we suggest that you not provide this information.

Other Products and Services
Although we generally collect and use information to fulfill the stated objective for which the information was requested or collected, we may also provide the information to our subsidiaries so that they may send you information regarding other products or services that may be valuable or interesting to you.

Children's Guidelines
Our Site does not currently attempt to collect or solicit information from persons who are under the age of eighteen.  However, given the anonymous nature of the Internet, it is possible that someone under the age of eighteen may access our Site and provide us with personal information.  If this situation occurs and it is brought to our attention, we will not use the information in any way without prior parental consent and we will take all reasonable steps to prevent it from occurring again.

Choice/Opt-Out
Our Site provides you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us.  To exercise your opt-out privilege, please feel free to e-mail us at contactus@car.org or write us at 525 South Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90020, Attn: Expo Webmaster.  Please be advised that if you are a C.A.R. member and choose to opt-out of receiving communications from the Site, this may affect your ability to receive other e-mail communications that are sent to C.A.R. members.

Corrections/Updates
If you are a C.A.R. member and there is information about you on this Site which needs to be corrected or updated, please feel free to email us at webmaster@car.org or write us at 525 South Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90020, Attn: Expo Webmaster.  However, in order for the correction or update to be permanent, you may need to contact your local association and make sure that the correction or update is made in their records as well. 

Contacting our Site
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of our Site or your dealings with our Site, please feel free to email us at webmaster@car.org or write us at 525 South Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90020, Attn: Expo Webmaster.

Changes to Privacy Policy Statement
With the ever-changing environment of the Internet and to maintain our ability to improve the quality and safety of our Site, we reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time.  In the event we make any material changes to our Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the Policy's Effective Date and indicating the previous effective date.  As you use our Site, we encourage you to periodically check back with this Privacy Policy for changes that we may make.  Your continued use of our Site will constitute your agreement to any changes we make and if you do not agree with a change, please refrain from using our Site.  Thank you!