bidhistory.com Privacy Policy

Updated 5 November 2001

We understand that you have confidential business information and want you to know that bidhistory.com is committed to safeguarding your privacy online, and that we strive to make our site as safe and secure as reasonably possible. In order to address our Members' most frequently asked questions we've organized our privacy policy statement in a Q&A format. If you have any questions after reading the statement, please let us know. We want to hear from you! You can email us at support@Hcss.com or call us at (713)270-4000.

What information does bidhistory.com collect from me?

During registration we ask for your name, company name, address, zip/postal code, email address, phone, fax, title, and company type. In addition to the information we obtain at registration, we may ask you for information at other times, such as when you make a purchase or register for a service on bidhistory.com, when you submit a listing for a Web site, or when you report a problem with one of our sites or services. If you contact bidhistory.com we may keep a record of that correspondence. bidhistory.com also may occasionally ask you to provide information to participate in certain voluntary promotions, surveys, or contests (see the section regarding this below). Finally, bidhistory.com collects information about its Members in general, which does not necessarily identify the Member, using our server log files and some of the methods described under "cookies" below.

What about bidhistory.com's partner services or linked sites?

Certain products and services available through bidhistory.com are made available by other companies with which bidhistory.com has a strategic alliance. To obtain some of these other products and services you may be on the other company's Web site or a site they share with bidhistory.com. When ordering, registering for, or purchasing products or services from these partners, you will be entering into an agreement with that partner, and not with bidhistory.com. In these cases, this privacy policy does not apply; instead, the privacy policy of the partner actually providing the goods or services will apply. We urge you to read and understand our partners' policies before entering into agreements with them. We are committed to partnering with companies that share our privacy concerns. bidhistory.com, however, can't control the way these partners collect or use information.

Also, when you click through to a partner's, an advertiser's, or other site linked from bidhistory.com, those companies may use cookies or other means to collect information about you. Again, this privacy policy does not apply to those sites; instead, the privacy policy of the site you visit will apply.

If you have questions about our partners' privacy policies or the privacy policies of these other sites, we encourage you to contact them directly.

Why does bidhistory.com gather this information?

bidhistory.com's primary goal in collecting personal information is to provide you, the user, with a customized experience on our site. This includes personalization services, interactive communications, online commerce, and many other types of services, most of which are completely free to you. By knowing a little about you, bidhistory.com is able to deliver better service and more relevant content to our individual users.

How does bidhistory.com use my information?

bidhistory.com uses your information to enable you to take advantage of the features available through the bidhistory.com site. Once you register, you are no longer anonymous to bidhistory.com: you are given a bidhistory.com ID and are able to take full advantage of bidhistory.com's many offerings. Additional information you volunteer enables us to better customize your experience. We may also use your contact information to reach you regarding important issues about the use of our service.

We use other information we collect to get a better understanding of our Member base. The more insight we have into you-the people who use bidhistory.com on a daily basis-the better we can serve you. Therefore, we analyze our users' demographics, interests, and behavior based on the information provided to us through our Web site. Our research and analysis is done on an aggregate basis, and is not intend to identify individual Members.

With whom, and how, does bidhistory.com share my information?

1. Our Business Partners/Advertisers
If you choose to receive information from our partners, bidhistory.com (or agents working on behalf of bidhistory.com and under confidentiality agreements) will send you these direct mailings. bidhistory.com will not provide your information to our partners unless it is necessary to complete a purchase of a partner or co-branded product/service on bidhistory.com that you have ordered. This may be necessary so that they may process your orders and ship, supply, maintain, or service the goods or services that you requested. If you register directly with another company reached through the bidhistory.com site, then that company will have control over the information you provide.

From time to time, we share aggregated data regarding the Members and users of our services (for example, information such as the percentage of our users that are architects, or that Members who choose one type of service request a related service a certain percentage of the time). Some of this data may include the data obtained as described in the "cookies" section, but no personally identifiable information is included in these types of statistics.

Also, please pay attention to which services you register for when you register for bidhistory.com. In some instances we have offered you the choice to register with certain of our partners at the same time you register at bidhistory.com. If you choose to register with a partner, the information that you provide in registration may also be provided to that partner and will be subject to our partner's privacy policy. Our partner's policies as to the use of information may differ from bidhistory.com's policy. Again, we encourage you to review our partner's policies before you enter into agreements with them.

2. Sponsors/Contests/Surveys
Information we obtain from voluntary programs such as surveys, promotions, and contests may be subject to additional or different terms, or may be used in a slightly different way. If different terms do apply, details of the shared use of this information will be outlined in the specific terms and conditions or rules of these special surveys, promotions, or contests. Please be sure to read those specific terms and conditions because they may alter what is written in this Privacy Policy on a case-by-case basis.

3. Special Cases
bidhistory.com may also disclose account information in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be violating bidhistory.com's Terms of Use. The same policy applies in cases where we believe an individual may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) bidhistory.com's rights or property, other bidhistory.com users or Members, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities. bidhistory.com may disclose or access account information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it and for administrative and other purposes that we deem necessary to maintain, service, and improve our products and services.

What are my choices regarding the use of my information?

When you register with bidhistory.com, you can choose whether or not you want to receive information from us or from our partners. If you do not want to receive this information, be sure to indicate that on your bidhistory.com registration form. You also have choices about whether you want to receive this information when you visit and provide information to other sites, including sites accessible through bidhistory.com

What are cookies and how does bidhistory.com use them?

A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a Web server, and gets saved on your computer hard drive. These cookie files store and sometimes track information about what you do on bidhistory.com. This information makes it possible for us to offer and provide highly customized services. All areas on bidhistory.com where you are prompted to log in or that are customizable require that you accept cookies in order for that part of the site to function.

Generally, we use cookies to:

1. Remind us of who you are and to access your profile (stored on our computers) in order to deliver to you a better and more personalized service. This cookie is set when you register or "Log In" and is modified when you "Log Out" of our services.
2. Estimate our audience size. Each browser accessing bidhistory.com is given a unique cookie which is then used to determine the extent of repeat usage, usage by a registered user versus by an unregistered user, and, in the future, may be used to help target advertisements based on user interests and behavior.
3. Assist bidhistory.com partners to track visits to co-branded content. This information collected by cookies is sometimes called "clickstream" or "click trail" and may also describe which pages you have seen in each section of the site.
4. Measure certain traffic patterns, which areas of the site you have visited, and your visiting patterns in the aggregate. We use this research to understand how our users' habits are similar or different from one another so that we can make each new experience on bidhistory.com a better one. We may use this information to better personalize the content, banners, and promotions that you and other users will see on our sites.

bidhistory.com also collects IP Addresses for system administration and to report aggregate information to our advertisers. In addition, bidhistory.com mail includes IP addresses in outgoing mail message headers.

I'd rather not have cookies stored on my computer. Is there any way to work around them?

Yes, you do have choices with respect to cookies. By modifying your browser preferences you can choose to accept all cookies, be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies. If you choose to reject all cookies, however, you will be unable to use those bidhistory.com services that require registration in order to participate. 

When I registered I opted to get mailings and offers sent to me. Now I've changed my mind and don't want to get them anymore. What do I do?

It's simple! At any time, you can edit your bidhistory.com^TM profile to no longer receive such offers and mailings. Just go to our Edit Profile page and change your profile. Please remember to have your bidhistory.com Username and password handy; you won't be able to access your profile without them. If you have forgotten your password, please visit the site login screen to have your password emailed to you. If you have any problems signing in to bidhistory.com, contact support@Hcss.com.

Please note that bidhistory.com is not responsible for removing any information from third-party lists with whom you have entered into agreements.

Can I cancel my bidhistory.com account?

Yes, your bidhistory.com account can be deleted or deactivated anytime. Once you do so, however, you won't be able to access any Members-only area of bidhistory.com, including your bidhistory.com Mail account. To delete your account, please contact support@Hcss.com, and be sure to include your bidhistory.com Username. We will provide complete instructions on deleting or deactivating your bidhistory.com account.

What kinds of security precautions are in place to protect my information from hackers or prying eyes?

Your bidhistory.com Profile is password protected so that you, and only you, have access. However, it may on occasion be necessary for bidhistory.com employees or contractors working on behalf of bidhistory.com to have access to your profile to provide you with support or to perform certain maintenance tasks. This access happens on an as-needed basis only.

We recommend that you do not divulge your password to anyone. Also remember to sign out of your bidhistory.com account and close your browser window when you have finished your work. This is to prevent others from accessing your personal information if you share a computer with someone else or use a workstation in a public place.

We use advanced security technology to ensure that your personal data remains private within our site. Please read the bidhistory.com Security Statement to get the details. While no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, bidhistory.com strives to protect your personal information, but cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or from our online products or services.

What else should I know about my privacy?

Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online--for example on message boards, through email, or in chat areas--that information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.

As bidhistory.com expands its offerings, we will update our Privacy Policy to address these changes. Please check this page on a regular basis for updates to this Privacy Policy.

Ultimately, you are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and your profile. Please be careful and responsible whenever you're online.