Altair Gas Engineering Company, herein after referred to as "Altair" PRIVACY POLICY. This privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") discloses the privacy practices for Altair ("Altair" or "we" or "us")/ www.altair-gec.com (the "Sites").
Information Collection and Use
We gather two types of information about the users of the Site: non-personally identifiable and personally identifiable information.
When visitors come to the Site, we may collect and aggregate non-personally identifiable information indicating, among other things, which pages were visited, the order in which they were visited and which hyperlinks were clicked. Collecting such information involves the logging of IP addresses, operating system and browser software used by each visitor to the Site. Although this information is not personally identifiable, we can determine from the IP address a visitor's Internet Service Provider and the geographic location of his or her point of connectivity.
The non-personally identifiable information that we collect helps us, among other things, to monitor our internal operations, improve our services, identify the most popular areas of the Site and determine the effectiveness of our services and promotional activities. It also helps us make available higher quality and more useful online services by performing statistical analyses of the collective characteristics and behavior of the users of the Site, and by measuring demographics and interests regarding specific areas of the Site.
We also may use "cookies" that allow us to serve visitors of the Site better and more efficiently. Cookies are small text files placed on a visitor's computer's hard drive if permitted by the web browser. Among other things, cookies make it easier for users to access the Site and services, and help us track the pages that visitors go to, determine the length of time visitors spend at any particular area of the Site, and track the services visitors choose to use. Cookies are only read by the server that placed them, and are unable to read data from hard disks, execute any code, send viruses to you or destroy your files. Most browsers initially are set up to accept cookies. However, usually you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or indicate when a cookie is being sent. Some parts of this Site may not function properly if you refuse cookies, but most of the Site still should be accessible. For information on whether cookies will be accepted by your web browser, please refer to the documentation accompanying your web browser.
We do not collect any information that personally identifies you unless you knowingly and willingly provide it. We explicitly ask for information that personally identifies you. We request personally identifiable information in the following instances:
You may be asked to register before accessing certain areas on the Site. We require specific contact information (such as your name and e-mail address). This information is used to contact you about the services you are requesting on the Site. We also may ask you for additional demographic information (such as the hardware and operating system that you use), so we can give you a more customized experience. However, your response to these types of questions is voluntary.
If you are ordering a product, you need to give us your contact information (such as your name and shipping address) and financial information (such as your credit card number and its expiration date). We use this information for billing purposes and to fulfill your order. We also may use this information to contact you if we have trouble processing your order.
We will ask for your contact information (such as your name and e-mail address) if you wish to subscribe to our newsletters.
Occasionally we offer surveys and contests for which we require user information (such as your name and shipping address). Participation in these surveys and contests is voluntary.
Survey information will be used to determine future product development, gain more insight into our users and improve the Site. We will use contact information that you submit to us in entering a contest to notify winners and award prizes.
We share non-personally identifiable information with our partners and advertisers.
We share personally identifiable information in the following instances:
We use an outside shipping company to ship orders and a credit card processing company to bill users for products and services. These companies have agreed not to retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for other purposes.
We partner with other companies to provide specific services. When you sign up for these services, we will share your name and other necessary contact information with the relevant partner. These partners have agreed not to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing the services specified.
As we continue to develop our business, we might sell or buy companies or assets. In such transactions, customer information generally is one of the transferred business assets. Also, in the event that Altair is acquired or sells some or all of its assets and/or subsidiaries, customer information might be one of the transferred assets.
This Site contains links to other sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of every web site that collects any personally identifiable information. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites. This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected by Altair.
When you submit personally identifiable information to us on the Site, your information is encrypted and protected with SSL, the industry standard encryption software. While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to unlocked, or open, when you are just "surfing."
INFORMATION SUBMITTED TO CERTAIN E-MAIL ADDRESSES ON THE SITE, HOWEVER, IS NOT ENCRYPTED. Please check to determine whether the lock icon on the bottom of your web browser is locked before sending any sensitive personally identifiable information to us.
We also strive to protect your personally identifiable information in our offices. Our employees use password-protected screen-savers when they leave their desk so they must re-enter their password to regain access to your personally identifiable information. In addition, the servers that we store your personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.
Altair owns the information collected on our site. We will not sell, share or rent this information other than what is disclosed in this Privacy Policy.
It sometimes is necessary for us to supplement the information that we receive from you with information from third-party sources.
For example, to determine if a customer qualifies for credit, we may use the customer's name and social security number or corporate ID number to request a credit report.
New customers/partners may receive a welcoming e-mail to verify password and username. Established customers/partners occasionally will receive information on products, services, special deals and a newsletter. If you prefer not to receive these types of communications, please see the Choice/Opt-out section below.
We also may send our users announcements about Site and service updates via e-mail or phone. You cannot unsubscribe from service announcements as they contain important service information.
By using the Site, you consent to the collection and use of your information by Altair. Please note that we review our Privacy Policy and practices from time to time, and that our practices are subject to change. Any changes we make will be effective immediately upon posting on the Site. Any use of the Site by User after such notice shall be deemed to constitute acceptance by User of such changes. Please bookmark and review periodically this page to ensure continuing familiarity with the most current version of our Privacy Policy so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it.
Altair Gas Engineering Company
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