SportsMates' goal is to become your favorite Internet destination for sports community, information and media by providing the information, services, and product offerings that are most relevant to you. To achieve this goal, SportsMates must collect certain information. While you are not required to register on SportsMates, some products and services may not function properly or may not be accessible unless you do. This document discloses our privacy practices and contains detailed information about how we use the information you choose to share with us.
 
1. What information of yours does SportsMates collect?
 
Information collected online is usually defined as being either anonymous or personally identifiable.
 
•    SportsMates collects anonymous information, which refers to data that cannot be tied back to a specific individual. For example, SportsMates collects some information each time a visitor comes to the site so we can improve the overall quality of the visitor's online experience. SportsMates collects the visitor's IP address (e.g., whether the user is logged on from ibm.com or aol.com), referral data (e.g., the Internet address of the last Web page visited by a user before clicking over to SportsMates), and browser and platform type (e.g., a Netscape browser on a Macintosh platform). SportsMates collects this user information for purposes of product monitoring, product improvement, and targeted advertising. You do not have to register with SportsMates before we can collect this anonymous information.
   
• Personally identifiable information refers to data that tells us specifically who you are, such as your name and email address, which may be collected in addition to the anonymous data described above. SportsMates collects personal information in the following ways from different parts of the website:
   
 
a.    SportsMates Registration: When you register for SportsMates, you provide SportsMates with your name, location, email address, birth date, gender, and other information. While not all of this data is required for our services to function, we are better able to customize your experience if you volunteer complete and accurate information. Users who complete the registration process are given an account and can take full advantage of the many SportsMates services and offerings.
b. Other Registration: In addition to registration for various services on the SportsMates, we may ask you for personal information at other times, including when you enter a sweepstakes, contest or promotion sponsored or operated by SportsMates. If you purchase premium services, we may ask for a valid credit card number. Certain services and offerings may require that you provide requested information for us to provide the requested services and offerings.
c. Correspondence: If you contact the SportsMates, we may keep a record of that correspondence. We collect any email addresses of those who communicate with SportsMates via email. We use the information provided so that we may respond to the email.
   
  SportsMates reserves the right to collect certain information and store it in connection with your account. This information includes information about the time and frequency at which you visit SportsMates. This information also includes the content that you transmit or post on SportsMates.
 
2. What organization is collecting the information?
 
When you register for a service within the SportsMates, that information is generally collected and maintained solely by SportsMates, Inc., a California corporation, unless specifically stated otherwise at the point of collection.

SportsMates may run promotions and sweepstakes. These promotions may be sponsored or co-sponsored by third-party companies. Data collected during a promotion is typically shared with the sponsor or co-sponsor. SportsMates will inform you at the point of collection whether or not we are sharing your personal data as a result of your participation in a promotion or sweepstakes. If you do not want to have SportsMates share your data, you can choose not to participate in the promotion or sweepstakes.

Be aware that SportsMates sponsors and other advertisers may have links on the service that take you to external websites. Some of these websites may collect personally identifiable information from you. While SportsMates hopes that all third parties involved adhere to our policies regarding the privacy of our users, the SportsMates Privacy Policy does not cover third-party data collection practices and SportsMates does not assume any responsibility for any actions of third parties.
 
3. How does SportsMates use the information it collects?
 
Any personally identifiable information you share with SportsMates is maintained and accessible only by SportsMates, Inc. unless specifically stated otherwise. SportsMates requests information from its users so that users can enjoy a customized experience, including personalization services and interactive communication. Most of the services and offerings we provide are available to you at no cost, and SportsMates displays advertisements so we can continue to provide great content and services free of charge. We can also better prepare future content based on your interests.

The following are examples of how SportsMates may use the information it collects:
 
•    SportsMates uses the information collected (both anonymous and personal) to personalize and enhance the content you see on the web site. In some cases, our services and offerings cannot work unless you have volunteered accurate information.
   
• SportsMates collects anonymous data and shares it with third-party companies in an aggregate form. We will disclose to those third-party companies the number of SportsMates users who have certain demographic characteristics and interests. We share with advertisers the number of those people who have seen and "clicked" on a particular advertisement. We will also disclose to advertisers, where available, the overall demographic information regarding who saw and "clicked" on their advertisement. In addition, we may disclose anonymous results from online surveys to third-parties. No personally identifiable information will be disclosed.
   
• SportsMates also uses the aggregate data to perform statistical analyses of the collective characteristics and behavior of our registered users and visitors, to measure user demographics and interests, and to analyze how and where best to use our resources. Without such data, we would not know which parts of the SportsMates are the most popular, and we would not be able to change and update the content and services appropriately. We may share this aggregate information with third-party companies and no personally identifiable information will be disclosed.
   
• SportsMates sometimes uses an individual registered user's data to "pre-populate" online forms that are displayed for the purpose of collecting additional individual data by SportsMates, selected third-party websites, and/or sponsors and advertisers.
   
• SportsMates may, from time to time, use your information to contact you about changes or enhancements to our serviecs and offerings or issues regarding your account.
   
• If you enter a sweepstakes or a contest on SportsMates, we will use the information you provided to contact you in the event that you win.
   
• If you told SportsMates that you were interested in receiving special offers from SportsMates, SportsMates clients or third parties on SportsMates's behalf, SportsMates (i) will send you messages about products and services that we feel may be of interest to you, and (ii) may combine information we have about you with information we obtain about you from third parties for the purpose of providing you with more appropriate products, services, and offerings. If you do not wish to participate in this program, please follow the opt-out instructions set forth in Section 6 of this policy.
   
• If you purchase a premium service of product from SportsMates, your credit card information is used to collect any fees due to SportsMates.
 
4. With whom does SportsMates share the information that is collected?
 
SportsMates may disclose information about individual users to third parties who agree to maintain the confidentiality of such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. These third parties will provide a variety of services to SportsMates, including, without limitation, processing and storing user information, helping to create new content and promotions for SportsMates, and sending or coordinating the sending of marketing communications that users have consented to receive. SportsMates will disclose information about individual users to governmental or judicial authorities or law enforcement agencies, or to other individuals or entities in response to subpoena, court order, or other legal process. In matters involving a danger to personal or public safety, SportsMates may voluntarily provide information to appropriate governmental authorities.
 
5. How can you access or edit your information?
 
SportsMates provides its registered users the ability to access and edit the personal information in their user profiles.
 
6. What is the opt-out policy for SportsMates?
 
You can opt out of sharing your personally identifiable information with any third-party service or content providers in any areas of SportsMates by choosing not to use such areas.

In addition, you may opt-opt of sharing your personally identifiable information with third-party service providers and sponsors by clearing the appropriate checkboxes at the point of initial collection. You will see these checkboxes near the bottom of the registration page. After the point of initial collection, we offer you the ability to opt-out of receiving updates and information about new services, as well as direct mail offers from selected service providers and sponsors.

In addition, all SportsMates newsletters and direct email communications have easy-to-follow unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email.
 
7. What kinds of security procedures are in place to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of your information?
 
SportsMates has security measures in place to attempt to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of your user data under our control. SportsMates uses physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect any personally identifiable data stored on its computers. Only authorized employees have access to the information you provide us. Any particularly sensitive information, such as a credit card number used to purchase premium services is encrypted prior to transmission.

While we cannot guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration to data will not occur, we take many precautions to prevent such unfortunate occurrences.

You are ultimately responsible for the security of your SportsMates account and password. Please take care when using and storing them. SportsMates recommends that you do not divulge your password to anyone. You should log out of your browser at the end of each computer session to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence, especially if several people have access to your personal computer or you are using a computer in a public place like a library or Internet cafe.
 
8. Updates
 
SportsMates will update this policy from time to time so please check back periodically. When such changes occur, you will see the word "Updated" next to the Privacy Policy link. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will prominently post such changes prior to implementing them.