Privacy Policy

The National Center for Dispute Settlement (NCDS)'s, currently located at www.ncdsusa.org (the "Website"), is operated by NCDS (NCDS may hereinafter be referred to as "us", "we" and "our").  a person or entity accessing and/or utilizing the Website may be referred to in this Policy as "user", "you" and "your").  NCDS is committed to privacy and your need for appropriate protection and management of the personally identifiable information you share with us via the Website (the phrases "personally identifiable information" and "personal information" mean any information by which you can be specifically identified, such as your name, address, telephone number, etc.).  The purpose of this privacy policy (the "Policy") is to inform you when you visit our Website how we collect and use such information, and the choices you have regarding our use of, and your ability to review and correct, such information.

General

In general, you may visit many pages of the Website without telling us who you are or revealing any personal information about yourself.  We may track the Internet domain address from which people visit the Website and analyze this data for trends and statistics, but individual users will remain anonymous, unless you voluntarily tell us who you are.

There may be times (such as when you view specific content, purchase or order a product, subscribe to a service, register to receive catalogs, or participate in contests, sweepstakes or promotions, etc.) we will ask you to provide personal information about yourself, such as your name, shipping/billing addresses, telephone number, email address, credit card information, birth date, gender, occupation, personal interests, etc.  We also maintain a record of your online purchases and other activities associated with the Website.  Whether or not you choose to provide the information we request is entirely up to you.  But if you choose not to provide the information we request, you may be unable to view certain content, participate in certain activities on or through the Website, purchase products, or access certain services, offers and content on the Website.

Collection and Use of Personal Information

If you choose to provide information to us through our online registration, you may provide us with personal information, including your name, address, postal address and telephone number, your email address, a password, and other identifying information (such as your mother's maiden name, city of birth, pet name, etc.).  If you choose to purchase a product (e.g., content) from us, we may collect additional personal information, including your billing postal address, shipping postal address, and credit card number and expiration date in order to properly process your purchase.  We may also ask you for personal information when you ask us for information, subscribe to a NCDS service or publication, or download information.

Your personal information enables us to provide you with the information you have requested, provide you with information regarding the status of your orders and transactions, fulfill using third parties, such as PayPal, your purchases, and provide you with information regarding future products and services that may suit your particular interests.  We also use your personal information to help identify you in the event you lose your password and to help you quickly find information on the Website.
If you believe that any of your personal information is incorrect, or has been changed since your registration at the Website, please send an email message to info@ncdsusa.org explaining the correction or change and provide any relevant confirmation or reference number.

Safe Harbor

NCDS adheres to the U.S. safe harbor policy privacy principles of Notice, Choice, Onward Transfer, Security, Data Integrity, Access and Enforcement, and is registered with the U.S. Department of Commerce's safe harbor program. If there are questions regarding this policy, you should contact NCDS through the Website or write to us at either info@ncdsusa.org or Attn.: National Center for Dispute Settlement, LLC, 12400 Coit Road, Suite 1230, Dallas, Texas 75251.

Cookies

The Website uses cookie technology to improve the quality of your experience. A cookie is a small file that contains information sent by a website that is saved on your hard disk by your computer's browser. Cookies store information that a website may need to personalize your experience and to gather website statistical data.  Anytime that you visit the Website to browse or to read or download information, we collect and store the name of the domain and host from which you access the Internet (for example, msn.com, aol.com, etc.); the Internet protocol (IP) address of the computer you are using; the browser software you use and your operating system; the date and time you access the Website; and the Internet address of the website from which you linked directly to the Website.  We use this information to measure the number of visitors to areas of the Website, and to help us make the Website more useful and interesting to our visitors.  We use information from cookies in the aggregate to analyze for trends and statistics, and then discard it - we do not track individuals, only instances of entry onto the Website.
Most consumers do not know that cookies are being placed on their computers when they visit websites. If you want to know when this happens, or to prevent it from happening, you can set your browser to warn you when a website attempts to place a cookie on your computer.

Do We Share Your Information?

We will only share personal information you provide us with our partners and with third-party independent contractors and only for purposes of:  (1) performing functions on behalf of NCDS, such as companies that process credit card transactions; (2) providing you with product offers via email and/or postal mail; and (3) for tracking information generated through the Website.  Our partners and third-party independent contractors are contractually obligated not to use or share your personal information for unauthorized purposes.

NCDS may also disclose your personal information to comply with a court order, subpoena, search warrant or other legal process; to comply with legal, regulatory or administrative requirements of any governmental authorities; to protect and defend NCDS, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and all of their officers, directors, employees, attorneys, agents, contractors, and partners, in connection with any legal action, claim or dispute; to enforce the Terms and Conditions of Use of the Website; to prevent imminent physical harm; and in the event that we find that your actions on the Website violate any laws, our Terms and Conditions of Use, or any of our usage guidelines for specific products or services.

We reserve the right to transfer your personal information to a third party in the event of a transfer of all or substantially all of NCDS's assets, provided that the third party agrees to adhere to similar terms of this Policy.

Opt Out

You may opt out of having your personal information shared for purposes of receiving product offers via email and/or postal mail, and from receiving product offers directly from us via email and/or postal mail, by simply clicking on the box stating "I Do Not Agree" provided in the Website MyAccount page upon the first time you use your login and password to access the area of the Website that requires registration.  Additionally, you can opt out by providing us written notice identifying which communications you choose not to receive by email at info@ncdsusa.org or writing us at Attn.: National Center for Dispute Settlement, LLC, 12400 Coit Road, Suite 1230, Dallas, Texas 75251.

If you choose not to give us your personal information at all, you can still access the Website, however, you will not be able to access areas that require registration or personal information.
Third-Party Hosting

NCDS contracts with a third party to maintain and host the Website.  Therefore, any information you submit, including personal information, may be placed and stored on a computer server maintained by this third-party host.  The third party has implemented technology and security features and strict policy guidelines to safeguard the privacy of your personal information from unauthorized access or improper use.

Site Technologies

NCDS does not provide the technologies used to build the Website, and therefore, neither recommends nor endorses the same.  Any information regarding identified technologies, their capabilities, limitations, applications, etc., should be sought directly from their manufacturers.  NCDS hereby disclaims any rights to trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, copyrights, patents, domain names or other intellectual property interests of third parties.

Links to Other Materials

The Website contains links to other sites.  These links are an accommodation to the respective third-party site owners and for your convenience.  Sites linked to and from the Website are not necessarily under the control of NCDS and NCDS shall have no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the content or privacy practices of any such linked sites or any link or linking program at any time.  You should read and understand NCDS's policies with respect to such third party links as stated in the Terms and Conditions of Use of the Website.

Security

The Website has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. All credit card information utilizes state-of-the-art Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology and is SET compliant.

Effective Date and Changes

This Privacy Policy is effective as of July 27, 2016.  To see what has changed, click here.  NCDS reserves the right to modify the terms of this Privacy Policy at any time and in its sole discretion, by posting a change notice on this page.  Your continued use of the Website following our posting of a change notice will constitute binding acceptance of the Policy, as modified by those changes.