Website Visitors

Except as described below, this Website does not collect or require visitors to furnish personally-identifying information such as names, email addresses and phone numbers. Like most Web site operators, this Website does collect non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and date and time of each visitor request. This Website also collects potentially personally-identifying information like Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which are non-personally-identifying in and of themselves but could be used in conjunction with other information to personally identify users.

This Website's purpose in collecting this information is to better understand how this Website's visitors use its site. To that end, this Website may share potentially personally-identifying information with its employees, contractors and affiliated organizations. This Website may also release non-personally-identifying information about visitors, e.g. by publishing a report on Web site usage trends. Otherwise, this Website will not publicly release potentially personally-identifying information except under the same circumstances as this Website releases personally-identifying information. Those circumstances are explained in detail below.

Community Members

Certain members of this Website's community (contributors, customers, etc.) choose to interact with this Website in ways that require this Website and others to know more about them. The amount and type of information that this Website gathers from those members depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, members who wish to post content to certain portions of this Website are asked to provide usernames that identify that content as having been posted by a particular member. Developers, by comparison, are asked to provide contact information, up to and sometimes including telephone or fax numbers, so that they can be contacted as necessary. Customers of the Website are asked to provide even more information, including billing and shipping addresses and credit card or similar information. In each case, this Website collects personally-identifying information only insofar as is necessary to fulfill the purpose of the community member's interaction with this Website.

This Website is an open organization that believes in sharing as much information as possible about its products, its operations and its associations. Accordingly, community members should assume - as should most folks who interact with this Website - that any personally-identifying information provided to this Website will be made available to the public. There are three broad exceptions to that rule:

1. This Website does not publicly release information gathered in connection with commercial transactions (i.e., transactions involving money), including transactions conducted through this Website.
2. This Website does not make publicly available information that is used to authenticate users the publication of which would compromise the security of this Website (e.g., passwords).
3. This Website does not make publicly available information that it specifically promises at the time of collection to maintain in confidence.

Outside those three contexts, users should assume that personally-identifying information provided through this Website will be made available to the public.

Interactive Product Features

Certain products released by this Website contain features that report, or that permit users to report, the user's usage patterns and problems - whether caused by the software, third party software, or third-party Web sites - to this Website. The reports generated by these features typically include non-personally-identifying information such as the configuration of the user's computer and the code running at the time the problem occurred. Some of these features give users the option of providing personally-identifying information, though none of these features require it. Some software features that do permit users to provide personally-identifying information advise in advance that such information will not be made publicly available. This Website analyzes the information provided by these interactive product features to develop a better understanding of how its products are performing and being used.

Cookies

A cookie is a string of information that a Web site stores on a visitor's computer, and that the visitor's browser provides to the Web site each time the visitor returns. This Website use cookies to help it identify and track visitors, their usage of this Website, and their Web site access preferences across multiple requests and visits to this Website. It is possible to link cookies to personally-identifying information, thereby permitting Web site operators to track the online movements of particular individuals. This Website, however, does not do so. Instead, it uses the information provided by cookies to develop a better understanding of how this Website's visitors use, and to facilitate those visitors' interactions with this Website. This Website's visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers by this Website or its contractors should set their browsers to refuse cookies before linking to this Website. Certain features of this Website may not function properly without the aid of cookies.

Protection of Certain Personally-Identifying Information

Where this Website has collected personally-identifying information subject to one of the three exceptions described in the Contributors and Customers section, above, it discloses that information only to those of its employees, contractors and affiliated organizations that need to know that information in order to process it on this Website's behalf and that have agreed not to disclose it to others. Some of those employees, contractors and affiliated organizations may be located outside of your home country; by using this Website, you consent to the transfer of your information to them. This Website does not rent or sell such information to anyone. Other than to its employees, contractors and affiliated organizations, as described above, this Website discloses such information only when required to do so by law, or when this Website believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of this Website, members of the this Website's community, or the public at large. This Website takes all measures reasonably necessary to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of such information

Updating of Personally-Identifying Information

This Website permits users to freely update and correct their personally-identifying information as maintained by this Website. To do so, users need only look for the links and other tools available on this Website or contact us by email.

Privacy Policy Changes

Although changes are likely to be minor, this Website may change its Privacy Policy from time to time. Any and all changes will be reflected on this page. Substantive changes will also be announced through the standard mechanisms through which this Website communicates with its community, including its mailing lists.