Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

Last Updated on: 12/22/2009

TheDesperate Principles
We designed TheDesperate to be a safe, clean environment where you can connect to your friends and family as well as other people of like mind and faith. We understand that you do not want everyone in the world to see the information you share on TheDesperate; that is why by default your profile can not be viewed by anyone that you do not approve to be in your contacts list. We do provide you with the choice to make your profile visible to all the users of TheDesperate or to the general public. Please refer to your Profile Settings to update your preferences on TheDesperate. We believe and will always allow you to choose how and to whom your personal information is available. TheDesperate is designed to allow you to share information only with the people you choose. That is why our default privacy settings limit the information displayed publicly to: your default picture, username, personal header, age, and gender. Staying in touch with the world around you should be easy. We want to provide you with the tools you need to control how and with whom your personal information is shared.

Privacy Policy
This privacy policy was created by TheDesperate to demonstrate our firm commitment to protecting your personal information and informing you about how we collect and use it. This privacy policy only applies to transactions and activities in which you engage, and data gathered, when using TheDesperate, located at www.thedesperate.com, and it's directly associated domains (collectively, "TheDesperate" or "web site".)

Please review this privacy policy periodically as we may modify it from time to time. Each time you use or access TheDesperate you are accepting the practices described in this privacy policy.

TheDesperate is a licensee of the TRUSTe Web Privacy Seal Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to build user's trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers the Web site www.thedesperate.com. Because this Web site wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact Jonny Hale at info@thedesperate.com. If you do not receive acknowledgement of your inquiry or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, you should contact TRUSTe at http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php TRUSTe will then serve as a liaison with us to resolve your concerns.

Your IP Address
Like most web sites, each time you visit TheDesperate, we collect your IP address and browser type, in order to administer and optimize the Site for you and to diagnose problems with our web site.

Cookies
TheDesperate uses cookies to keep track of your log-in activity on the Site and enhance your overall experience. We also use cookies to deliver content specific to your convenience, to save certain information so you do not have to reenter it each time you visit the web site. We do not link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site. Some of our business partners (e.g., advertisers) use cookies on our site. We have no access to or control over these cookies.

This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by TheDesperate [www.thedesperate.com] only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.

Third party advertisers on the Site may also place or read cookies on your browser. If you wish to disable these cookies, the "help" portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how. However, if you set your browser to disable cookies, you may not be able to access certain areas of TheDesperate.com.

Information We Collect From You
In order to operate the web site and to provide you with information about products or services that may be of interest to you, we may collect "personal information" (i.e. information that could be used to contact you directly (without using the Site) such as full name, postal address, phone number or email address), or "demographic information" (i.e. information that you submit, or that we collect, that is neither personal information nor financial information; this may include, but is not limited to, zip code, postal code, hometown, gender, username, age/birth date, browsing history information, searching history information, registration history information, and the content of communications between you and other members over the Site), subject to the rest of this paragraph. Demographic information is divided into two categories: 1) "non-public information", which consists of one-on-one communications between you and other users of the Site; and 2) "public information", which consists of all other demographic information. We ask that you do not enter personal information or financial information into your profile (for example, don't use your address or pass code as your username, or include your name or address in your written responses), because if you do then it may be posted publicly on the Site, and the information will then be treated as "demographic information" that is "public information." Please note that nowhere on the Site do we knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13, as we require that all users represent to us that they are at least 13 years old.

You post content (as defined in TheDesperate Terms & Conditions) at your own risk. Although our default privacy settings strictly limit the amount of information shared publicly, please be aware that no security measures or privacy settings are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other Users with whom you may choose to share your profile pages and information. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that public and/or non-public information you post on the web site will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the web site. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal, copies of your information may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other Users have copied or stored your Information.

By using TheDesperate, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.


Service Providers

We use other third parties to provide audio downloads and clothing and accessory sales on our site. When you sign up for Spread Shirt, or Snocap, you are subject to their terms and conditions as well as their privacy policies. Please read and review their terms of use and privacy policies carefully prior to making a purchase.


Communications from the Site


Special Offers and Updates
We will occasionally send you information on products, services, special deals, promotions. You can sign up for these emails from us on our settings page under email subscriptions.

Out of respect for your privacy, we present the option not to receive these types of communications. Please see the “Choice and Opt-out.”

Newsletters
If you subscribe to our newsletter(s), either from the registration page or from the notifications section of your account settings, we will use your name and email address to send the newsletter to you. Out of respect for your privacy, we provide you a way to unsubscribe. Please see the “Choice and Opt-out” section for how to opt-out of these communications.


Service-related Announcements
We will send you service-related announcements on rare occasions when it is necessary to do so. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send you an email.

Generally, you may opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive them, please see “Choice and Opt-out.”


Customer Service
Based upon the personally identifiable information you provide us, we will send you a welcoming email to verify your information. We will also communicate with you in response to your inquiries, to provide the services you request, and to manage your account. We will communicate with you by email or telephone, in accordance with your wishes.

Choice/Opt-out

At TheDesperate.com our highest priority is your safety and privacy. With this in mind we have given you as much control over your personal information as we can. The personally identifiable information that you provide to TheDesperate can be modified from your account settings page and the information that you receive as well as how we use your personal information can be opted out of or “Email Subscriptions” page, that is located in your account settings.

We provide you the opportunity to ‘opt-out’ of having your personally identifiable information used for certain purposes, when we ask for this information.

If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each newsletter or communication or by emailing us at info@thedesperate.com. We offer an opportunity to opt-out of certain communications on our account settings page, or you may contact us by PHONE: 706-580-7466 EMAIL: info@thedesperate.com or POSTAL MAIL: 11645 Thonotosassa Rd. Thonotosassa, fl 33592 to opt-out.

You will be notified when your personal information is collected by any third party that is not our agent/service provider, so you can make an informed choice as to whether or not to share your information with that party.

Forums and Blogs

If you use a shout, blog, or forum on this Web site, you should be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users of these forums, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these forums. It is our recommendation that you do not provide ANY personal information (phone number, address, etc.) for any reason on a shout or blog area of the site.

 

Information Other Websites Collect From You
On the Site, we place links to other web sites operated by other parties. Some of these other web sites contain our brand names and trademarks and other intellectual property that we own; others do not. When you click on these links and visit these other web sites, regardless of whether or not they contain our brand names, trademarks and other intellectual property, you need to be aware that we do not control these other web sites or these other web sites' business practices. This privacy policy does not apply to these other web sites. Consequently, the operators of these other web sites may collect different kinds of information about you, and may use and disclose that information in different ways than we would if it were collected on the Site. We encourage you to review their privacy policies and remind you that we are not be responsible or liable for their actions.

Tell-A-Friend
If you choose to use our referral service to tell a friend about our site, we will ask you for your friend’s name and email address. We will automatically send your friend a one-time email inviting him or her to visit the site. TheDesperate stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email [and tracking the success of our referral program].

Your friend may contact us at info@thedesperate.com to request that we remove this information from our database.

Access to Personally Identifiable Information

If your personally identifiable information changes, or if you no longer desire our service, you may correct, update, delete or deactivate it by making the change on your “Account Settings” and “Update Profile” sections of the site or by emailing our Customer Support at email: info@thedesperate.com or by contacting us by telephone or postal mail at the contact information listed below.

How We Use Personal Information
We do not share, sell, rent or trade PII with third parties for their promotional purposes.
We use your email address and your other personal information to help us efficiently operate the Site, to contact you in connection with your transactions and other activities on the Site (including, but not limited to, confirmation emails or important news that could affect your relationship with TheDesperate. These types of communications are known as "Operational Communications."

We also use personal information to send you newsletters, information, offers and other promotional materials for TheDesperate. We attempt to send you offers that are of value to you, such as discounts, exclusive offers or special event information. The Site provides you with options to decline to receive communications from TheDesperate. Some of these options may only be for a certain category of communications; others may be more general. By posting a profile on the Site, you are opting in to receive TheDesperate operational communications by email. To stop receiving TheDesperate by email, go to the "Email Subscriptions" section of your account settings and disable the notifications.

To operate the Site, and support your activities on the Site, we may share your personal information with our agents, representatives, contractors and service providers so they can provide us with support services such as email origination, receipt or support services, customer relationship management services, and sweepstakes and promotional fulfillment.

By purchasing, registering, making reservations, interests in products and services, or opting to receive communications that are offered or sponsored by third parties on our site, you are consenting to us providing your personal information to those third parties. You may opt of this by going to the notifications page of your account settings and un-checking the “Third Party Products and Services” box. Those third parties may use your personal information in accordance with their own privacy policies. You will need to contact those third parties to instruct them directly regarding your preferences for the use of your personal information by them. Additionally, you agree that we may use and disclose all such information so submitted to such third parties in the same manner in which we are entitled to use and disclose any other information you submit to us.

We reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on our Web site.

How We Use Public Information and Other Demographic Information
We may review all demographic information. We may use public information to enable other users to find your profile, to determine whether they are a match for you and to communicate with you. We may use demographic information to tailor the Site and communications to your interests. We may also share demographic information with advertisers on an anonymous and aggregated basis (i.e., without telling the advertisers your identity). One of the reasons we may do this is to increase the likelihood that our advertisers' goods and services will appeal to TheDesperate users, so that we may target specific ads at specific demographic groups. Our sharing of demographic information with advertisers is anonymous (i.e., we do not tell advertisers which particular TheDesperate users are members of which demographic groups), subject to the rest of this privacy policy. When you respond to an advertisement, however, we ask you to remember that if that ad that is targeted to a demographic group and you decide to give the advertiser your personal information, then the advertiser may be able to identify you as being a member of that demographic group. Please also be aware that we may disclose your demographic information on a non-anonymous basis as described above in the paragraph titled "Special Cases in which we Share Personal and Financial Information."

Our Security Precautions

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

If you have any questions about security on our Web site, you can email us at security@thedesperate.com.

The Site has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. Your information may be transferred to and maintained on computer networks which may be located outside of the state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction in which you reside, and the country or jurisdiction in which these computer networks are located may not have privacy laws as protective as the laws in your country or jurisdiction. All of the personal information you submit to TheDesperate is stored and processed in the United States.

Changes in this Privacy Statement

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the home page, and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.

We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our home page.

How You Can Access and Update Your Email Preferences, Personal Information and Public Information
We give you the opportunity to opt-out of certain communications and modify personal information or demographic information you have provided to us, and to hide demographic information from, or make demographic information visible to, the public users of the Site, at anytime by going to the section of the Site. Please be aware that it may take several hours for the changes you make to take effect on the public areas of the Site. We thank you for your patience. Please note that changing or deleting your information through the "Settings" or "Update Profile" section of the Site, or otherwise opting-out of receipt of email communications from TheDesperate, will only change or delete the data in our database for purposes of future activities on the Site and for managing future communications from TheDesperate. These changes and deletions will not change or delete emails or information that we may have already forwarded to other users or any other third parties, all as provided above in this privacy policy.

If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy, the practices of the Site, or your dealings with the Site, you can contact us by email at: info@thedesperate.com. By Mail at: 11645 Thonotosassa Rd. Thonotosassa, FL 33592. By Phone at: 706-580-7466

Terms of Use Agreement

By using the TheDesperate Website (also "Website") you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use (this "Agreement"), whether or not you register as a member ("Member"). If you wish to become a Member and communicate with other Members and make use of the TheDesperate service (the "Service"), read these Terms of Use and indicate your acceptance of them by following the instructions in the Registration process.

This Agreement sets out the legally binding terms of your use of the Website and your membership in the Service. We reserve the right to change these terms of use from time to time without notice. It is your responsibility as the user to review this agreement on a regular basis to assure that you are updated as to any changes. Your continued use of the site after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms of use. This Agreement includes TheDesperate Acceptable Use Policy for Content Posted on the Website, TheDesperate Privacy Policy, and any notices regarding the Website.

1. Eligibility
By using the site you represent and declare that the registration information submitted is truthful, accurate, and current and you will maintain the accuracy of your information, and that you are thirteen (13) years of age or older. Your profile will be deleted if we believe you are in violation of any of the limits of eligibility as set forth in these terms of use. It's your responsibility as a user of the site to assure that your use of the site does not violate any applicable law and/or regulation.

2. Term
This Agreement will remain in full force and effect while you use the Website and/or are a Member. You may terminate your membership at any time, for any reason by following the instructions on the Resign pages in Account Settings. TheDesperate may terminate your membership for any reason. If TheDesperate terminates your membership in the Service because you have breached the Agreement, you will not be entitled to any legal recourse for termination. Even after membership is terminated, this Agreement will remain in effect, certain provisions will remain in effect, including, but not limited too sections 4, 5, 7 and 9-14 of this Agreement.

3. Non Commercial Use by Members
The Website is for the personal use of individual Members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors. Organizations, companies, and/or businesses may not become Members and should not use the Service or the Website for any purpose. We reserve the right to make exception for affiliate and partnership entities. Illegal and/or unauthorized uses of the Website, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of members by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email and unauthorized framing of or linking to the Website will be investigated, and appropriate legal action will be taken, including without limitation, civil, criminal, and injunctive redress.

[b]4. Proprietary Rights in Content on TheDesperate[/b]
TheDesperate owns and retains all proprietary rights in the Website and the Service. The Website contains the copyrighted material, trademarks, and other proprietary information including but not limited to: designs, text, graphics, music, software, and all other files of TheDesperate, and its licensors. Except for that information which is in the public domain or for which you have been given written permission, you may not copy, modify, publish, transmit, distribute, perform, display, or sell any such proprietary information.

5. Content Posted on the Site
a. You understand and agree that TheDesperate may review and delete any content, messages, TheDesperate dchat messages, photos or profiles (collectively, "Content") that in the sole judgment of TheDesperate violates this Agreement or which might be offensive, illegal, or that might violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of Members.

b. You are solely responsible for the Content that you publish or display (hereinafter, "post") on the Service, or transmit to other Members.

c. By posting Content to any area of TheDesperate, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to TheDesperate, an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute such information and content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such information and content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.

d. The following is a partial list of the kind of Content that is illegal or prohibited on the Website. TheDesperate reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action in its sole discretion against anyone who violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the Service and terminating the membership of such violators. It includes Content that:

# is risque', has nudity, sexually suggestive content, lude, generally indecent material;

# all religious dialogue is to be non combative and non argumentative and should be conducted with love and respect.

# is patently offensive to the online community, such as Content that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind;

# harasses or advocates harassment of another person;

# involves the transmission of "junk mail", "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing or "spamming";

# promotes information that you know is false, misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous;

# promotes an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's copyrighted work, such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices, or providing pirated music or links to pirated music files;

# contains restricted or password only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);

# provides material that exploits people in a sexual or violent manner, or solicits personal information from anyone;

# provides instructional information about illegal activities such as making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;

# solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other users;

# engages in commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, and pyramid schemes.

e. You must use the Service in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

f. You may not include in your Member profile any telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, URL's or email addresses.

g. You may not engage in advertising to, or solicitation of, other Members to buy or sell any products or services through the Service. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to other Members. Although TheDesperate cannot monitor the conduct of its Members off the Website, it is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from the Service in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person, or in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any Member without their prior explicit consent. In order to protect our Members from such advertising or solicitation, TheDesperate reserves the right to restrict the number of emails which a Member may send to other Members in any 24-hour period to a number which TheDesperate deems appropriate in its sole discretion.

6. Copyright
You may not post, distribute, or reproduce in any way any copyrighted material, trademarks, or other proprietary information without obtaining the prior written consent of the owner of such proprietary rights. Without limiting the foregoing, if you believe that your work has been copied and posted on the Service in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our Copyright Agent with the following information: an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Website; your address, telephone number, and email address; a written statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. If you feel that your intellectual property rights have been violated in any way please contact us at copyright@thedesperate.com

7. Subscription.
You may only sign up for 1 membership to TheDesperate per email.

8. Member Disputes
You are solely responsible for your interactions with other TheDesperate Members. TheDesperate reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Members.

9. Privacy
Use of the Website and/or the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy. Please reference our Privacy Policy and Safety sections for a full description of all of our privacy policies.

10. Disclaimers
TheDesperate is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate Content posted on the Website or in connection with the Service, whether caused by users of the Website, Members or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Service. TheDesperate is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any user of the Website or Member of the Service. TheDesperate assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, user or Member communications. TheDesperate is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of email or players on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Website or combination thereof, including injury or damage to users and/or Members or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in connection with the Web and/or in connection with the Service. Under no circumstances will TheDesperate be responsible for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from anyone's use of the Website or the Service, any Content posted on the Website or transmitted to Members, or any interactions between users of the Website, whether online or offline. The Website and the Service are provided "AS-IS" and TheDesperate expressly disclaims any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. TheDesperate cannot guarantee and does not promise any specific results from use of the Website and/or the Service.

11. Limitation on Liability.
Except in jurisdictions where such provisions are restricted, in no event will TheDesperate be liable to you or any third person for any indirect, consequential, exemplary, incidental, special or punitive damages, including also lost profits arising from your use of the Web site or the Service, even if TheDesperate has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, TheDesperate liability to you for any cause whatsoever, and regardless of the form of the action, will at all times be limited to the amount paid, if any, by you to TheDesperate for the Service during the term of membership.

12. U.S. Export Controls.
Software from this Website (the "Software") is further subject to United States export controls. No Software may be downloaded from the Website or otherwise exported or re-exported (i) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Iran, Syria, or any other Country to which the U.S. has embargoed goods; or (ii) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or using the Software, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list. All user information is stored in the United States and is subject to all applicable laws.

13. Disputes.
If there is any dispute about or involving the Website and/or the Service, by using the Website, you agree that the dispute will be governed by the laws of the United States without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You agree to personal jurisdiction by and venue in the United States.

14. Indemnity.
You agree to indemnify and hold TheDesperate, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, and other partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorney's fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the Service in violation of this Agreement and/or arising from a breach of this Agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above.

15. Other.
This Agreement, accepted upon use of the Website and further affirmed by becoming a Member of the Service, contains the entire agreement between you and TheDesperate regarding the use of the Website and/or the Service. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid, the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.

Please contact us with any questions regarding this agreement. TheDesperate, RealRawRevolution, IamTheDesperate and other such marks are trademarks of TheDesperate, LLC.