Updated: November 14, 2014
The Vacation Property Owners Rental Association (“VPORA”) provides cottage rental services and a rental management software platform to cottage owners, property managers, and their customers. To that end, VPORA operates HYPERLINK “http://www.vpora.com” www.vacationpropertyownersrentalassociation.com. It is from this site that property owners, and property management professionals may setup member profiles and promote, rent, and manage their portfolio of properties. They may create property profiles and post text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, and other materials (collectively referred to as “Content”) in order to display and/or promote or otherwise enhance the property listings within their portfolio.
At the “VPORA Website”, we take your privacy very seriously – and you have control over how your information is collected, used and disclosed.
VPORA maintains strict customer information privacy policies and uses state of the art technologies to safeguard customer information and communications from unauthorized intrusions. VPORA also recognizes that the growth of on-line services, including Internet services, has created additional privacy concerns, particularly for consumers.
On-line privacy concerns focus primarily on the protection of “personally identifiable” information which an individual or other customer reasonably expects to be kept private. As the term suggests, “personally identifiable” information is information that, when associated with an individual identifies that individual, for example, a customer’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address or credit card number.
The following is VPORA’s privacy policy, which forms part of VPORA’s Terms of Use Agreement and is an integral part thereof.
What this Privacy Policy Covers
This Privacy Policy covers VPORA’s treatment of personally identifiable information that VPORA collects when you are on the VPORA Website, and when you use the VPORA Services. This policy also covers VPORA’s treatment of any personally identifiable information that VPORA ‘s business partners share with VPORA.
This Privacy Policy applies to the services offered by VPORA, including any VPORA branded URL (the “VPORA Website”), VPORA embedded audio and video players and other applications offered by VPORA in connection with the VPORA Website (collectively, the “VPORA Services”).
This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that VPORA does not own or control or to people that VPORA does not employ or manage, including without limitation, any VPORA affiliates or business partners.
Information Collection and Use
It is possible to use this website and watch and listen to most of the content on the VPORA Website without having a VPORA account (“VPORA Account” or “VPORA Membership”).
Certain of the VPORA Services activities, like uploading content, posting comments, flagging content, or watching or listening to restricted requires an VPORA Account.
VPORA collects personally identifiable information when you register for an VPORA Account, when you use certain VPORA products or services, and when you enter promotions or sweepstakes. VPORA may also receive personally identifiable information from VPORA’s business partners.
Once you register with VPORA and sign in to the VPORA Services, you are not anonymous to us. When you register with VPORA, we ask for your name, email address, birth date, gender, postal code, occupation, industry, and personal interests (the “Registration Information”). All other information you provide upon registration or otherwise post on the VPORA Website is done so voluntarily.
Any personally identifiable information, or video or audio content that you voluntarily disclose online (on discussion boards, in messages and chat areas, within your profile pages, etc.) may become publicly available and may be collected and used by others.
VPORA may collect personally identifiable information from you should you choose to participate in activities such as sweepstakes, contests and surveys, because you want us to furnish you with products, services, newsletters, or information, or in connection with content or suggestions you submit to VPORA for review
VPORA automatically receives and records non-personally identifiable information on the VPORA server logs from your browser including your IP address, VPORA cookie information and the page you requested. (User IP addresses are recorded for security and monitoring purposes.)
VPORA Members may also choose to provide or store non-personally identifiable information and related data in their profiles, including but not limited to company service offerings, date of birth, videos and/or pictures, audio recordings, private messages, bulletins or personal statements (collectively “Profile Information”). The Profile Information in your profile is provided at your sole discretion. Please be aware that your Profile Information, as well as any information posted to any public forum, can be accessed by the public. Profile Information located on private profiles can be accessed by VPORA at all times and, in limited cases, by certain third parties authorized by VPORA for purposes of ensuring compliance with VPORA’s Terms of Use Agreement.
VPORA determines the purposes of collection, use and disclosure of the Registration Information you provide and, as such, is considered the data controller of this information. Because the Member, not VPORA, determines the purposes for which Profile Information is collected, used and disclosed, VPORA is not the data controller of Profile Information that Members provide on their profile.
VPORA uses information for the following general purposes:
- to customize the advertising and content you see on VPORA pages and otherwise provide you with personalized services,
- to fulfill your requests for certain products and services,
- to protect you and/or VPORA from error, fraud and unauthorized access and use,
to improve VPORA’s services, - to allow you to have the ability to identify and familiarize with other VPORA Members,
- to conduct research, and
- to contact you about specials and new products or for service announcements or administrative messages relating to VPORA.
Information Sharing and Disclosure by VPORA
VPORA will not sell, trade, rent or otherwise disclose to third parties any personally identifiable information derived from the registration or use of an VPORA product or service.
VPORA will not share personally identifiable information about you to other companies or people except when:
- we have your consent to share this information;
- we need to share your information to provide the product or service you have requested;
- we need to share the information with companies who work on behalf of VPORA to provide a product or service to you. (Please know that whenever we share your personally identifiable information with VPORA’s trusted business partners, they work under confidentiality agreements. Unless we tell you differently, these companies do not have any right to use the personally identifiable information we provide to them beyond what is necessary to assist us.);
- we reasonably believe it is necessary to share personally identifiable information:
to investigate, prevent or take action regarding potentially illegal activity or activity that threatens the network or otherwise violates VPORA’s Terms of Use Agreement or other customer agreement, - to investigate, prevent or take action regarding situations involving potential threats; to the physical safety of any person, or for risk management purposes;
- We are required to disclose personally identifiable information by reasons of a court order, subpoena, search warrant, or other legal process or in the case of imminent physical harm to the customer or others, or
- to establish or exercise VPORA’s legal rights or defend against legal claims;
- we transfer information about you if VPORA is acquired by or merged with another company. (In this event, VPORA will notify you before information about you is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.); or
- when you register for an VPORA Account, as your registration information and other data may be transmitted to the other countries for processing and storage by VPORA and its affiliates and may be subject to the legal jurisdiction of these countries.
To enrich the community experience, VPORA displays certain Member Profile information, including Company contact information, pictures etc.
If VPORA includes your name and/or any other personally identifiable information in a directory or webpage that VPORA creates from information we receive as an on-line service provider, VPORA will provide you the opportunity to have your information excluded from that directory. Business directories that VPORA creates may, however, contain information obtained from other sources.
VPORA may enable Members to voluntarily publicly display some Registration Information as an element of their Profile Information if they choose to do so via a profile setting under “Edit Profile.” To locate other VPORA Members you may already know in the physical world, VPORA allows Users to search for Members using publicly displayed Registration Information (i.e., full name or email address).
VPORA allows Users to browse for publicly available Profile Information (e.g. schools and/or companies where Users may have attended or worked) in order to help connect with Members.
Search engines may also index the portion of a Member’s profile (including the Profile Information it contains) that is publicly displayed.
Cookies, Web Beacons and other Usage Data
When you access the Internet, the computers that host web sites you visit (“web servers”) automatically receive some anonymous information. This “usage data” may include a record of which pages a web browser has visited. The VPORA Website servers receive usage data when customers visit “http://www.vpora.com/”and “http://www.vacationpropertyownersrentalassociation.com” and other VPORA websites, and when VPORA Users visit other sites as well. VPORA and its advertisers may use various kinds of software devices to collect information about Internet use.
VPORA may use cookies and similar tools to customize the content and advertising you receive based on the Profile Information you have provided. Profile Information you provide in structured profile fields or questions (multiple choice questions like “Marital Status”) (“Structured Profile Information”), information you add to open-ended profile fields and questions (essay questions like “About Me” and “Interests”) (“Non-Structured Profile Information”) and other non-personally identifiable information and related data about you may also be used to customize the online ads you encounter to those we believe are aligned with your interests. For example, based on your music interests we might display an advertisement to make sure you are advised when and where your favorite artists are performing. The information used for this feature does not provide your personally identifiable information or identify you as an individual to third parties, but will involve the processing of certain related data such as IP addresses.
Small files called “cookies” may be attached to your Web browser and your computer.
VPORA will not use information about your activities on the Internet together with any information that identifies you without your consent.
VPORA uses cookies to identify your browser and save information such as passwords so that the VPORA Website can recognize you.
VPORA uses cookies to store preference and to record session information, which allows to us to do such things as customize advertising and content based on browser types and profile information.
VPORA also uses cookies to determine whether you have installed the enabling software needed to access certain material on the VPORA Website.
We do not link the information stored in VPORA’s cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on the VPORA Website.
You may be able to configure your browser to accept or block all or some cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. Each browser is different, so check the “Help” menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences. Note though , disabling cookies may mean that we won’t be able provide certain products or services, which may be of use to you.
In addition, VPORA and its advertisers may use small bits of code called “one-pixel gifs,” or “clear gifs” embedded in some web pages, to make cookies more effective.
A pixel tag is a tiny image inserted in a webpage and used to record the number and types of views for that page. VPORA may allow third party pixel tags to be present on the VPORA Website for the purposes of advertising, providing services or data and statistics collection.
VPORA will not associate the information these software devices collect with your name or e-mail address.
Advertising presented on the VPORA Website may by delivered by VPORA or one of VPORA’s advertising partners.
To provide customized advertising for products and services they believe may be of most interest to you, other companies presenting advertisements may set and access their own cookies on your computer.
The advertising companies may also receive some anonymous information about advertisement viewing by Internet users on VPORA web pages and other Internet sites. This information may be associated with a customer’s web browser, but cannot be associated with a name or e-mail address without the customer’s permission. (This means that advertising companies may know where your computer goes on the Internet, but they don’t know who you are unless you tell them.)
VPORA does not supply customer identifiable information to advertising companies or to individual advertisers or other third parties and advertisers do not have access to VPORA’s cookies.
If you go to another web site, including an advertiser’s web site (for example by clicking on an advertisement), or request information or enter a contest, be aware that you may be authorizing another company, including an advertising company, to use information you supply. An Advertiser’s use of cookies is subject to its own privacy policies, not this one.
VPORA also uses “web beacons” to access VPORA’s cookies inside and outside the VPORA Website and in connection with VPORA products and services.
Links & Third Party Applications
VPORA may provide, and the VPORA Website may contain links to other websites. Although we strive to only link to websites that share VPORA’s high standards and respect for privacy, we are not responsible for the content or practices employed by other sites.
Third party applications (such as widgets) created by third party developers may also be available on the VPORA Website. Third party applications are small bits of software, often with interactivity, that can be installed into Members’ profiles or shared with other Users. VPORA does not control third party developers and cannot dictate their actions. When a you engage with a third party application, you are interacting with the third party developer, not with VPORA. VPORA encourages you to not provide personally identifiable information to the third party unless you know the third party with whom you are interacting.
When you leave the VPORA Website via a link, access a third party application (such as widgets) or click on an advertisement, you should check the applicable privacy policy of the third party or advertiser site to determine, among other things, how they will handle any personally identifiable information they collect from you.
Editing and Deleting Registration/Account Information and Preferences
You have the right to access, verify and update your VPORA Registration Information, Profile Information and Preferences at any time, including whether you want VPORA to contact you about specials and new products.
You may modify or remove any of your personally identifiable information (exclusive of your User Name) at any time by logging into your VPORA Account and accessing features such as “Edit Profile”.
If you no longer wish to receive updates or notifications from VPORA or one or more of VPORA’s advertising partners, simply uncheck the appropriate boxes under the “Send me VPORA updates and information” heading in your Email Notification Settings.
Upon such choice, VPORA (a) will not contact you directly with marketing messages about VPORA and its products and services, and (b) will not use personally identifiable information obtained from your registration for or use of the VPORA Website or any of the VPORA Services to contact you with marketing messages about any VPORA products or services.
If you wish to receive updates or notifications but want to limit how such messages are delivered to you, you may choose limit receipt of such messages to e-mail, regular mail and/or telephone.
VPORA honours requests from Members to review all personally identifiable information maintained in reasonably retrievable form, including but not limited to such information as your name, address, e-mail address, telephone number and/or billing information, and will correct any such information which may be inaccurate. Members may also verify that appropriate corrections have been made.
You may request deletion of your entire VPORA Account at any time, for any reason, by following the instructions on the Member’s Account Settings page (You will be asked to verify your password and confirm your choice to terminate you Account). Please click here to read about what information may possibly remain in VPORA’s archived records after your account has been deleted.
Note: Not allowing us to use certain information may mean we won’t be able to provide certain products or services which may be of use to you.
Confidentiality and Security
We have physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect your personally identifiable information and we use commercially reasonable measures to safeguard personally identifiable information and credit card information in VPORA’s possession against loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure or modification.
In addition, VPORA uses reasonable methods to make sure that personally identifiable information is accurate, up-to-date and appropriately complete.
In order to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under VPORA’s control, VPORA’s database resides behind firewalls.
We limit access to personally identifiable information about you to employees who, as part of their job, we believe need to come into contact with that information to provide products or services to you.
We have taken preventative measures to restrict access to sensitive data and to detect and prohibit certain connections and operations by unauthorized Users.
While VPORA’s measures exceed industry standards, no claim is made as to the impenetrability of the system under unusual circumstances or its resilience to future attacks.
In the event that you believe that your personal safety is at risk or if you believe that you may be the victim of identity theft or other illegal conduct, please contact the appropriate federal, provincial or local law enforcement agencies directly.
E-mail Contents
VPORA will not read or disclose to third parties private e-mail communications that are transmitted using VPORA services except as required to operate the service or as otherwise required or authorized by law.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
VPORA will keep this Privacy Policy current and as such may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time.
VPORA will inform you of any changes we make by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your VPORA Account and/or by posting a prominent announcement on VPORA’s Home Page.
Questions or Suggestions
If you have questions, concerns or suggestions about VPORA, the VPORA Website or any VPORA products or services, please feel free to contact us.
If you have questions, concerns or suggestions about the VPORA Privacy Policy or its implementation, please contact VPORA’s [Privacy Officer].
Additional Privacy Protections for Children Using the Internet
VPORA recognizes that children, including young teens, may not be able to make informed choices about personally identifiable information requested on-line.
VPORA and the VPORA Website does not target children or teenagers (younger than eighteen years of age) for collection of information on-line. VPORA does not solicit or collect personally identifiable information targeted at children and/or teenagers under eighteen and does not allow anyone else to do so, on any VPORA Website web pages.
Any content on VPORA web pages designed for children will not knowingly promote or link to any third party web site that collects personally identifiable information unless that web site publishes a privacy policy that is easily accessible.
In addition, on product or service related VPORA web pages, VPORA will encourage children and teenager under eighteen to seek the guidance and consent of their parents before providing any information about themselves or their households to anyone on the Internet.