Information Collection and Use
Gold Coast Professional Schools,inc. is the sole owner of
the information collected on this site. We will not sell,
share, or rent this information to others in ways different
from what is disclosed in this statement. Gold Coast Professional
Schools collects information from our users at several different
points on our website.
Registration
In order to use this website, a user must first complete the
registration form. During registration a user is required
to give their contact information (such as name and email
address). This information is used to contact the user about
the services on our site for which they have expressed interest.
It is optional for the user to provide demographic information
(such as income level and gender), and unique identifiers
(such as social security number), but encouraged so we can
provide a more personalized experience on our site.
Order
We request information from the user on our order form. Here
a user must provide contact information (like name and shipping
address) and financial information (like credit card number,
expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes
and to fill customer's orders. If we have trouble processing
an order, this contact information is used to get in touch
with the user.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive
containing information about the user. Usage of a cookie is
in no way linked to any personally identifiable information
while on our site. Once the user closes their browser, the
cookie simply terminates. For instance, by setting a cookie
on our site, the user would not have to log in a password
more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If
a user rejects the cookie, they may still use our site. The
only drawback to this is that the user will be limited in
some areas of our site. For example, the user will not be
able to participate in any of our Sweepstakes, Contests or
monthly Drawings that take place. Cookies can also enable
us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance
the experience on our site. Some of our business partners
use cookies on our site (for example, advertisers). However,
we have no access to or control over these cookies. Gold Coast
currently does not use cookies.
Log Files
We use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site,
track user's movement, and gather broad demographic information
for aggregate use. IP addresses are not linked to personally
identifiable information.
Sharing
We will share aggregated demographic information with our
partners and advertisers. This is not linked to any personal
information that can identify any individual person. We use
an outside shipping company to ship orders, and a credit card
processing company to bill users for goods and services. These
companies do not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable
information for any secondary purposes. We partner with another
party to provide specific services. When the user signs up
for these services, we will share names, or other contact
information that is necessary for the third party to provide
these services. These parties are not allowed to use personally
identifiable information except for the purpose of providing
these services.
Links
This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware
that we Gold Coast Professional Schools are not responsible
for the privacy practices of such 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.
Newsletter
If a user wishes to subscribe to our newsletter, we ask for
contact information such as name and email address.
Surveys & Contests
From time-to-time our site requests information from users
via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or
contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has
a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Information
requested may include contact information (such as name and
shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip
code, age level). Contact information will be used to notify
the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used
for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction
of this site.
Tell-A-Friend
If a user elects to use our referral service for informing
a friend about our site, we ask them for the friend's name
and email address. Gold Coast Professional Schools will automatically
send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the
site. Gold Coast Professional Schools stores this information
for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email. The friend
may contact Gold Coast Professional Schools at remove@goldcoastschoolsinc.com
to request the removal of this information from their database.
Security
This website takes every precaution to protect our users'
information. When users submit sensitive information via the
website, your information is protected both online and off-line.
All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information
mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees
who need the information to perform a specific job (for example,
our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are
granted access to personally identifiable information. Our
employees must use password-protected screen-savers when they
leave their desk. When they return, they must re-enter their
password to re-gain access to your information. Furthermore,
ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy
practices. Every quarter, as well as any time new policies
are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded about
the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to
ensure our customers' information is protected. Finally, the
servers that we store personally identifiable information
on are kept in a secure environment, behind a locked cage.
If you have any questions about the security at our website,
you can send an email to security@goldcoastschools.com
Supplementation of Information
In order for this website to properly fulfill its obligation
to our customers, it is necessary for us to supplement the
information we receive with information from 3rd party sources.
For example, to determine if our customers qualify for one
of our credit cards, we use their name and social security
number to request a credit report. Once we determine a user's
credit-worthiness, this document is destroyed.
Special Offers
We send all new members a welcoming email to verify password
and username. Established members will occasionally receive
information on products, services, special deals, and a newsletter.
Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the
option to not receive these types of communications. Please
see our choice and opt-out below.
Site and Service Updates
We also send the user site and service announcement updates.
Members are not able to un-subscribe from service announcements,
which contain important information about the service. We
communicate with the user to provide requested services and
in regards to issues relating to their account via email or
phone.
Correction/Updating Personal Information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such
as your zip code), or if a user no longer desires our service,
we will endeavor to provide a way to correct, update or remove
that user's personal data provided to us. This can usually
be done at the member information page or by emailing our
Customer Support. [Some sites may also provide telephone or
postal mail options for updating or correcting personal information].
Choice/Opt-out
Our users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having
their information used for purposes not directly related to
our site at the point where we ask for the information. For
example, our order form has an 'opt-out' mechanism so users
who buy a product from us, but don't want any marketing material,
can keep their email address off of our lists. Users who no
longer wish to receive our newsletter or promotional materials
from our partners may opt-out of receiving these communications
by replying to unsubscribe in the subject line in the email
or email us at remove@goldcoastschools.com
sites are able to offer opt-out mechanisms on member information
pages and also supply a telephone or postal option as a way
to opt-out.] Users of our site are always notified when their
information is being collected by any outside parties. We
do this so our users can make an informed choice as to whether
they should proceed with services that require an outside
party, or not.
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those
changes on our Home page link so our users are always aware
of what information we collect, how we use it, and under circumstances,
if any, we disclose it. If at any point we decide to use personally
identifiable information in a manner different from that stated
at the time it was collected, we will notify users by way
of an email. Users will have a choice as to whether or not
we use their information in this different manner. We will
use information in accordance with the privacy policy under
which the information was collected.