|
Privacy & Security Policy
Our Commitment to Privacy
At Advanced Field Services (“AFS”) we respect the privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information. We are committed to keeping the personal information you share with us, whether over the Internet, on the telephone, through the mail or in discussions with our staff, confidential. The use of such information will only be for the purpose for which it was collected. This Policy explains how AFS collects, uses, discloses and protects the information we obtain.
What is Personal Information?
Personal information is any information about you as an identifiable individual and includes information with respect to your name, address, age, gender, marital status, employment, together with any bank account, credit card information, and/or personal identification number (such as a social security number or drivers license number). Personal information does not include any public information that is readily attainable through federal, state or local public record distribution channels.
Important Principles for Your Protection
Our Privacy Policy applies to all individuals from whom we receive personal information whether it be via our website or through traditional mailing or faxing channels. It consists of the following key principles:
Collecting and Using Personal Information - Either before or when we collect personal information about you, we will explain how we intend to use it unless the intended use is obvious. We will limit the personal information we collect to what we need for those purposes, and we will use it only for those purposes. Unless we are required or permitted to do so by law, we will also obtain your consent before collecting personal information regarding you from parties other than AFS.
Disclosing Personal Information - We may provide your personal information to other persons, but only where we have your consent or where we are required or permitted to do so by law.
Protecting Personal Information - We will protect the personal information we obtain about you with appropriate safeguards and security measures. We will retain your personal information only for the time it is required for the purposes we explain or as otherwise required by law. We have taken security measures, consistent with international information practices, to protect your personal information. These measures include technical and procedural steps to protect your data from misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, loss, alteration, or destruction.
Collection and Using Other Non-Personal Information – In addition to collecting and protecting the personal information as identified above, AFS also collects other valuable information which does not meet general industry standards for classification as personal. However, AFS recognizes that it is essential that all data be protected. There are specific gradations that require different levels of security. All data is reviewed on a periodic basis and classified according to its use, sensitivity, and importance. We have specified three classes below:
- High Risk - Information assets for which there are legal requirements for preventing disclosure or financial penalties for disclosure. Data covered by federal and state legislation, such as FERPA, HIPAA or the Data Protection Act, are in this class. Payroll, personnel, and financial information are also in this class because of privacy requirements. This policy recognizes that other data may need to be treated as high risk because it would cause severe damage if disclosed or modified.
- Confidential – Data that would not expose one to loss if disclosed, as is protected to prevent unauthorized disclosure.
- Public - Information that is freely and openly available through federal, state and local channels, and may be freely disseminated
Non-Personal information classified as “High Risk” and “Confidential” will not be redistributed or disclosed by AFS to any third party partners or outside parties unless legally bound so by law. Information classified as “Public” is collected and utilized by AFS, its parent, subsidiaries and partners for the sole purpose of updating public data initially gathered and utilized during the course of providing services.
What Other Non-Personal Information Do We Gather?
We maintain a log of your IP address when you access our website, www.afsweb.com. This IP address does not allow us to collect information about you; however, it does allow us to see which parts of the site you visit and how much time you spend browsing the site. NO IDENTIFYING INFORMATION IS COLLECTED UNLESS YOU VOLUNTARILY PROVIDE US WITH THIS INFORMATION IN ORDER TO DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE OR ACCESS PRIVATE AREAS OF THIS SITE OR OTHERWISE PROVIDE SUCH INFORMATION TO US. In order to download software or access private areas of the site, you will need to provide us with your name, the name of your company, telephone, e-mail, and certain other information regarding your company and your job function.
Cookies:
Cookies are bits of data that allow our web site to identify your browser and session. We currently utilize cookies to allow us to recognize certain information about you to provide an extra layer of security protection against unauthorized users. Based upon your browsers security settings, you have the ability to reject all cookies. Unfortunately, disabling cookies may prevent you from accessing password protected private areas of our website.
Site Logins/Access to Private Site Areas:
In order to access certain areas of the AFSWeb.com site, you will be required to submit certain identifying information, such as a username and password. You may decline to give such information when requested; however you will be denied access to such private areas. In consideration for the use of the site, you agree to provide us with true, accurate and current information as requested by our registration procedures and to keep this information up to date.
How Do We Use Non-Personal Information We Collect?
Our policy is to restrict use of your identifying information to AFS personnel only. We do not intend to sell your personal information. We may use your e-mail or regular mail address in order to notify you of relevant product news, daily status updates or other information that we believe may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive such information or if you have any questions about our privacy practices, you should notify us by contacting our Privacy Officer as provided below, or sending a detailed e-mail to privacy@afsweb.com.
Links to Other Sites:
Our site does contain links to other sites. AFS is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. If you have any additional questions about our privacy practices, please contact privacy@afsweb.com
The following sections will answer most of the important questions that you may have about how we fulfill each of these important principles, and how we will hold ourselves accessible and accountable to you.
Why AFS Gathers Personal Information
AFS gathers, obtains and uses personal information for only one reason; to facilitate the payment of services for customers utilizing our online credit card pre-payment feature. This is necessary to ensure that we can continue to provide an “open” service to all individuals with no reliance upon establishment of a “terms” based account requiring a formal background and detailed credit analysis.
How AFS Protects Personal Information
AFS takes the issue of protecting your personal information very seriously. Personal and High Risk information is collected and transmitted using secure socket layer (SSL) encryption, is kept in an electronic database with controlled access limited to authorized staff, or individuals under their direct supervision. Paper copies of that information are kept either in a separate office with a door that is locked when the office is not occupied by authorized staff, or in a locked filing cabinet or storage facility if that information includes financial details such as bank account or credit card numbers.
We retain your personal information only as long as it is required for the reasons it was collected or as required by law. The length of time we retain information varies depending on the nature of the service and the nature of the information. Generally, the information is kept for a period of (45) days after the completion of services. This period may extend beyond the end of your relationship with us but only for so long as it is legally necessary for us to have sufficient information to respond to any issues that may arise at a later date. When your personal information is no longer needed or required, we have procedures to destroy, delete, erase or convert it to an anonymous form.
Passwords required for website and e-mail access are masked through visual encryption and are subject to automatic expiration every (60) days. Accounts not utilized for a period of (60) days are disabled, and at the (90) day point of inactivity, deleted altogether. New user accounts are managed by a designated team of employee-based professionals, and access to active usernames and passwords is not at all available to any AFS employees outside of this core team.
FTP access is secured through traditional security methods, while the options to utilize “secure” and “advanced encryption” technologies are available upon request.
How We Obtain Your Consent for Using Your Personal Information
AFS obtains explicit consent to obtain an individual’s personal information through acceptance and consent of the stated Terms and Conditions which are readily displayed and required to be acknowledged prior to accessing our online credit card pre-payment feature. The person utilizing this feature can be reasonably assumed to understand that we will make use of his or her information in this way.
Credit Card FAQ & Policy:
How safe is it to pay for services online?
Today, the Internet is actually the safest way of doing business with your credit card. We have made it safer to use your credit card on our site than it is to use it in more traditional ways, such as in retail stores or restaurants.
What is your credit card fraud policy?
In the unlikely event that you experience unauthorized use of your credit card, promptly report the fraudulent activity to your credit card company. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you are only liable for the first $50 of the fraudulent charges. Please check with your credit card company to verify specific terms and conditions.
I've heard a lot about Secure Sites. What does that mean?
Before completing any transaction on a website, you should make sure it is a Secure Site. Being on a Secure Site means you are connected under the cloak of SSL security. You can tell if you are on a Secure Site if you see a padlock or key somewhere along the bottom of your browser's window. If the lock is closed or if the key is unbroken, you are dealing with a Secure Site.
What is SSL and how does it protect my privacy?
We use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology for mutual authentication, data encryption and data integrity- all to ensure secure transactions for our customers. SSL is the industry standard security protocol to encode sensitive information, such as your credit card number. SSL creates a shared digital key, which only lets the sender and the receiver of the transmission scramble or unscramble information. To everyone else, even the servers relaying the message, the SSL transmission is indecipherable. SSL encryption can only be broken by intercepting the encrypted message, recording it, and using a computer to try every possible combination until the key is cracked. Most keys range from 40 to 1,024 digits long...as you can imagine, the number of possible combinations can be into the billions and beyond!
Ok, so how about encryption?
Encryption is based on the mathematical scrambling and unscrambling of messages. The type of encryption we use assigns two keys - one is a public key and one is a private key. When you send us a message, you use our public key to encrypt your message. Once we receive your encrypted message, we use the private key to decode it. The same key cannot both encrypt and decrypt information. So, information encrypted using the private key can only be decrypted using the public key, and vice-versa ensuring the security of your information.
What if I still do not feel my online transaction is secure?
We will be happy to assist you with your purchase over the phone at (949) 597-9021.
Will I receive e-mail from AFS?
Yes. But only one single e-mail confirmation for each order you place online with us. AFS currently does not deliver any form of unsolicited e-mails to its online credit card users. Should a change in this policy take effect in the future, the e-mail recipient will have the choice of opting-out at any time. The instruction for removal will be clear and simple, and included in the body of the e-mail message.
Providing Access to Your Information
You may request that AFS provide you with a copy of your personal information, as well as information regarding how we have used that personal information, subject to certain limitations imposed by the privacy laws. We will make every effort to respond to your request in a reasonable timeframe, and requests should be directed to our Privacy Officer.
Our Privacy Officer
AFS has a designated Privacy Officer in our Corporate Headquarters. That person is:
Cindy Sherman, Privacy Officer
208-772-7060 or 1-866-772-7060
Fax: 208-762-5147
Email: csherman@afsweb.com
This person can be contacted to answer questions regarding our privacy policy and how we use your personal information.
What if You Still Have Questions Regarding How AFS Manages Your Personal Information?
If you have questions or concerns regarding how AFS is managing or using your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer and provide your concerns in writing by email, mail or fax. You will receive a response to your concerns in writing within (30) days.
Mailing Address:
Cindy Sherman, Privacy Officer
Advanced Field Services
7600 Mineral Drive, Suite 450
Coeur D’Alene, ID 83815
Revisions to this Privacy Statement:
AFS may revise these terms at any time by updating this posting. You should visit our website at http://www.afsweb.com/AboutAFS/Privacy.aspx from time to time to review the then-current terms because they are binding on you.
|
