Privacy Statement
Debt Shield, Inc. is committed to stringently safeguarding your privacy online. We want you to understand what information we will collect about you and how we may use this information. Please read the following notice of Debt Shield's privacy and security policy (the "privacy notice") to understand how Debt Shield will treat your personal information. This policy may occasionally change, so please check back from time to time.
This privacy notice will tell you about:
- Introduction
- What personally identifiable information Debt Shield collects
- How Debt Shield will use this information
- Safeguarding you information
- Privacy online
- Cookies
- Security precautions to reduce the risk of loss, misuse, or alteration of your information
- Additional information
Introduction
If you choose to utilize Debt Shield's services, you agree that your visit and any dispute over privacy is subject to this privacy notice and our terms of use, which includes limitations on damages, arbitration of disputes, and application of the laws of the state of Maryland. Our business changes constantly. This privacy notice and the terms of use will change also, and use of information that we gather now is subject to the privacy notice in effect at the time of use. We may, but are under no obligation to, e-mail periodic reminders of our notices and conditions, unless you have instructed us not to. In any event, you should check our web site frequently to see recent changes to this privacy notice.
Debt Shield reserves the right to change this privacy statement in its sole and absolute discretion. Any changes to the Debt Shield privacy statement will be communicated through this site at least thirty (30) days in advance of implementation and will apply to all nonpublic personal information collected from you.
What personally identifiable information Debt Shield collects
In order to perform a meaningful analysis of the financial situation of any prospective client, it is important for us to have current and accurate information. Debt Shield's primary goal in collecting personal information is to provide you with a customized personal experience.
Therefore, when you apply for our assistance, we will collect personal and financial nonpublic information from you. This information includes but is not limited to your name, address, social security number, address, phone number(s), e-mail address, salary, pay period, occupation, employer name, birth date, gender, creditor information, credit history, debt schedule, budget information (assets, expenses and other income) and other financial information we deem appropriate. We will likely receive this information from you on forms, such as our program application form or your budget information sheet; via the internet, telephone or otherwise.
In addition, we collect and maintain information about your transactions with/from our affiliates, your creditors, your collectors, your banks, other third parties and us. This information includes account balances, payment history, credit card usage, and parties to transactions. We also collect addresses when you come to the Debt Shield web site. We use your IP address to track the total number of unique users to the site, for system administration, and to diagnose problems. To help make e-mails we send more useful, we often receive a confirmation when you open an e-mail from us.
For our current clients who have completed the online client service registration, our site verifies online users by collecting the following nonpublic personal information prior to allowing access to the site:
- Last name
- Last 4 digits of social security number
- E-mail address or client id
- Zip code
How we will use this information
We use the information we collect, as described above in Section 2, about you in order to learn more about your interest in the products or services we offer, to effectuate our service and to provide you with information regarding various products in services. As such, both you and we have increased potential to receive:
- Enroll clients who desire our services;
- Enroll qualified clients into our program;
- Enroll Clients who are better informed and have reasonable expectations;
- Expedite the enrollment of clients and the processing of their accounts;
- Provide a higher caliber of customer service;
- Provide additional services to increase the enjoyment of the services retained;
- Fulfill our contractual obligations in a timely and effective manner;
- Learn how to improve our technology, products and services;
- Provide multiple means of communication with our firm;
- Provide educational resources;
- Provide opportunities for our affiliates and other companies to inform you about the products or services they offer that may interest you; and
- Better respond to your changing desires, needs or goals.
We do not disclose confidential client information except as we believe necessary to fulfill our commitments and provide the services you request from us. We will share or disclose limited portions of your personally identifiable information with third parties as part of our overall efforts to fulfill our obligations as mentioned and bulleted above. This may include venders, such as mail services or data processing services. If the aforementioned should occur, our agreements with venders will prohibit the use or disclosure of your information for any purpose outside of their written agreement with us.
Additionally, we share information with companies that help us process your transactions and provide you with the products or services you requested from us, in the following manner:
- We may disclose the information we collect, as described in Section 2, to companies that perform marketing services on our behalf and for our affiliates. The information we disclose for marketing purposes is limited to contact information (such as name, address, or email address), information that assists us to offer products or services that are of interest to you, and non-personally identifiable information;
- We may share or sell limited portions of the information we collect to third parties that have products or services that may be of interest to you. We do not share or sell confidential client information (such as your bank account or credit card information) with anyone for marketing purposes. Our agreements with third party companies do not permit them to use the information for secondary purposes beyond the purposes for which the information is shared unless they first obtain your permission;
- We disclose information in response to the orders of government agencies that show they have proper jurisdiction of matters requiring disclosure;
- We share aggregated statistical data with our business partners or for public relations. For example, we may disclose that a specific percentage of our users are between the ages of 25 and 35;
- Like any other business, it is possible that in the future we could merge with, be acquired by another company or change ownership. If such an acquisition occurs, the successor company would have access to the information maintained by us, including customer account information. The successor would continue to be bound by this Privacy Policy unless and until it is amended as described in Section 3, above;
- We share your information with parent, subsidiary or joint marketing companies to help coordinate the services we provide to you. They too would be bound by our terms and conditions.
If we are going to use your personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection, we will notify you via e-mail. You will have a choice as to whether or not we use your information in this different manner.
If you do not wish that your personally identifiable information be shared for purposes other than relating to your debt settlement program, if any, you may opt-out by filling out this form and following the instructions set forth therein.
If have any further questions and/or issues relating the opt-out procedure, you can contact us at info@debtShield.com or by writing to us at Debt Shield Inc, ATTN: Corporate Counsel, 9212 Berger Road Suite 100, Columbia, MD 21046.
Safeguarding your information
We take steps to safeguard customer information. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard your customer information against unauthorized access. We also take appropriate corrective action when needed to enforce employee compliance with our procedures with respect to the privacy of client information. We may also ask you for personal information in order to verify your identity when you request assistance from us.
As previously mentioned, if we work with other companies who provide services on our behalf or jointly with us, we will maintain contracts with our partners which will require them to comply with our privacy policy and to keep this information secure and confidential.
We only grant access to nonpublic personal information about you (such as your name, address and social security number (if applicable)) to company employees and affiliated and non-affiliated service providers so that they can provide or offer products and services to you, process and service your accounts, and administer our business.
Our corporate philosophy requires that your information remain confidential. Even if you are no longer our client, we will continue to treat your nonpublic personal information in the same way as if you are still a client. In addition, we maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard this personal information. Some state laws may further restrict the sharing of you nonpublic personal information.
Privacy Online
Our system safeguards include the use of encryption to protect the confidentiality of data that you transmit to us over the internet. When you visit one of our websites, we may collect and store information about your visit on an anonymous, aggregate basis. This information may include information such as the time and length of your visit, and the pages you looked at on our site. No confidential information is collected from you online, unless you have provided it to us. We use this information only to measure site activity and to develop ideas for improving our sites.
We strongly urge you to use 128-bit encryption. Your level of encryption can be found for internet explorer by clicking www.microsoft.com or in Netscape Communicator or Navigator by clicking www.netscape.com. If you are using a browser other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Netscape's Communicator or Navigator please check directly with your browser's software publisher.
Although we take all possible precautions to safeguard your information, you should never send confidential information via e-mail. The e-mails you send us are not secure. Customers always have the option of mailing or calling us to provide any information they wish to keep confidential.
Cookies
Cookies are pieces of data assigned by our web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive for later retrieval. This helps us recognize you the next time you visit our site. We will not use cookies to record information that will enable anyone to contact you via telephone, e-mail, or regular mail. We may also use clear gifs. Clear gifs are used to tag the pages you visit on our site to help us improve the design and content of our site. All of this information is considered confidential and is only available for our use. Unless you specifically tell us who you are (for example by completing an application), if you are just browsing our site, we will never know who you are even though we assign you a cookie. This site contains links to other sites. If you use a link to visit the site of another company, we cannot be responsible for the privacy practice or the content of that company or its site.
Security precautions to reduce the risk of loss, misuse, or alteration of your information
Unfortunately, no one can guarantee that data transmitted over the internet is 100% secure. We work to protect the security of your information during transmission by using secure socket layers software, which encrypts information you input. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, Debt Shield cannot and does not ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you transmit such information at your own risk. Please see our terms of use. Upon our receipt of your transmission, we will take precautions to ensure its security on our systems.
As a service to our clients we provide the below information to point you in the right direction so that you can reduce the amount of advertising you receive from other companies. Individuals can write to the following agencies:
For advertising received through the mail:
Mail Preference Service
c/o direct marketing association
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
2. For advertising received via the telephone:
Telephone preference service
c/o direct marketing association
P.O. Box 9014
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9014
Individuals can also have their name taken off pre-approved credit solicitations, by calling 888-50ptout (888-567 -8688) or writing to the following credit reporting agencies. Be sure to include name, (first, middle, and last name including; jr., sr., iii), current address, (previous address if moved in the last six months), and social security number. Also, you may also want to check each company's website since you may be able to submit an on-line request.
ExperianConsumers Opt-Out
P.O. Box 919 701
Experian Parkway
Allen, TX 75103
Equifax
P.O. Box 749123
1150 Lake Hearn Dr.
Atlanta, GA 30374-0123
Trans Union
Name Removal Option
P.O. Box 97328
Jackson, MS 39288-7328
Additional information
If you have any questions about this privacy notice, the practices of this site or your dealings with this site, you can contact us at info@debtshield.com or by writing to us at Debt Shield Inc, ATTN: Corporate Counsel, 9212 Berger Road, Columbia, MD 21046.
In the event a user of our site chooses to enroll in our debt negotiation and settlement program online, this privacy statement is incorporated by reference into and subject to the terms and conditions of the Debt Shield services agreement. This privacy statement is not a substitute for the Debt Shield services agreement and should in no way be confused with the Debt Shield services agreement. Information that is shared with creditors to initiate the debt management program is subject to the Debt Shield services agreement.
Furthermore, Debt Shield gives you the following option for removing your information from our database to end any future communication or to discontinue the service.
(last modified on March 13, 2006)
