We know that you care how information about you is used and shared, and CaliforniaAuthors.com appreciates your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. This notice describes our privacy policy.

Information collection

At some points on our web site, CaliforniaAuthors.com collects information from our users. CaliforniaAuthors.com is the sole owner and user of the information collected. The primary areas where CaliforniaAuthors asks for information are:

California Authors Directory listing orders: We request information from the user on our order form. A user must provide CaliforniaAuthors.com with contact information (such as name, and email). Information collected during the Directory order process is used for customer service. For instance, the information is used to contact the user with a “proof” of their listing and to complete the listing process. Our online payment provider Paypal collects financial information (such as credit card number, expiration date). Paypal’s privacy policy is here.

Contests, drawings, surveys: From time-to-time we request information from users via contests, drawings or surveys. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), or demographic information (such as zip code). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes.

E-mail: Users can also volunteer information when they use our contact forms or send e-mails to contact our team.

Log Files: Like most web sites, our servers collect data in our log files to help us administer the site, analyze trends and understand who our visitors are. The information collected includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp. IP addresses, etc. are not personally identifiable information.

Cookies: Most web sites and all search engines use “cookies” to deliver a customized web experience to their visitors. A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website. When you visit the website again, the cookie allows that site to recognize your browser. Our advertising providers, Google Adsense and Amazon.com, may use third party cookies (or the similar “web beacons”, or “clear gif” files) to track visits of a specific browser to our site. These cookies do not contain personally identifiable information, such as name or e-mail address — they’re more like a claim-check at valet parking — but they can be used to track visits from a user registered as a Google or Amazon customer. Google and Amazon may use the id information to provide you with ads targeted to your browsing patterns, to determine if you are a recognized Amazon or Google customer, to store your user preferences, or to keep items in your shopping cart while you browse. CaliforniaAuthors does not gather or use the individual third-party cookie information, but may use aggregate data to better understand who our visitors are (see Log files above). Click here to see a short web video from Google, explaining their cookie basics — including how to set your browser to stop accepting cookies. Click here to see Google’s privacy policy. Click here to see Amazon’s privacy policy.

To disable cookies in your own browser, refer to your browser’s help section. Be aware that some web sites will not operate properly without cookies. You can also opt out of the Google and Amazon’s programs. Click here to learn more about opting out of Google’s program. Click here to learn more about opting out of Amazon’s program.

Information use

CaliforniaAuthors.com does not use personally identifiable information to profile our visitors. We use aggregate information to know our audience better. (See Log Files, above) We use personal information provided by our customers (for instance, e-mail addresses) to fulfill orders to our Directory. This information is never shared except to fill orders — for instance, the e-mail address may be shared with PayPal, our online payment provider.

Communications with CaliforniaAuthors: We regularly use information provided by our users to communicate with them by e-mail. When visitors want to receive occasional information on CaliforniaAuthors news, products, or services, they can sign up for the CaliforniaAuthors mailing list by e-mail request. We do not share our e-mail list. Users can remove their name from our list at any time by sending an e-mail via our contact form. The site has no form of membership.

Security

At CaliforniaAuthors we take every precaution to protect our users’ information. We do not collect sensitive information such as credit card numbers on our site. That information is collected by payment partners, Paypal. Read more about Paypal’s security here. While Paypal provides us with contact information entered by our customers, we do not receive any credit card information and have no way to access that information.

Sharing/Third Parties: We may share information with our payment provider Paypal in the course of resolving customer service issues. We do not share personally identifiable information with any other entities and Paypal does not share sensitive information such as credit card numbers with us.

Posting a listing in our Author Directory: Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online, that information can be collected and used by others. In short, by posting personal information in an online listing that is publicly accessible, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. You should not include private information in your Author Directory listing.

Other information

Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information: This can be done via our contact form.

Notification of Changes: If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement here at CaliforniaAuthors.com.

Contact Information: If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us here.

Links: This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we at CaliforniaAuthors.com is not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.