Virtual Homes, Inc. Privacy Statement
Virtual Homes, Inc. (VH) and our network of virtual community web sites (Sites) provides quality information and content related to real estate, home mortgage and insurance, and in general the process of buying and selling a home. VH is committed to insuring that your online experience is the best possible. To that end, the following information will disclose our information and privacy practices.
Personal Information Registration
When you visit one of the VH web sites you have the opportunity to search and obtain information without providing any personal information. You do have the option of registering for specific information and services. The information we collect is typically a name, email address and phone number which is required. In some cases, for instance a CMA (comparative market analysis), we request address information and a description of the property. We do not request financial information, social security numbers or other personal information.
In addition to the personal information you choose to submit, our systems are designed to gather certain anonymous data so that we can understand how the Sites are being used and how we can improve them. This automatically gathered data includes your computer’s Internet Protocol ("IP") address, statistics about how visitors navigate through the Sites and information provided through the use of "cookies" (which is described in more detail below).
In some cases, when you provide a phone number, an agent associated with VH may contact you to see if you need further assistance. If direct contact is made, the agent will follow your instructions in regards to further contact.
Information Use
The information collected is shared with our mortgage, insurance and other real estate related partners (Third Party Advertisers). We may forward your requests directly to the appropriate partner or provide your registration information in aggregate form so that you may receive the appropriate response and follow up. They may contact you regarding their services and if you communicate with them directly they may ask for more specific information.
We may link information collected from you through various means, including information collected automatically and through the use of cookies or other personal information you provide to help us offer content, advertisements, products and services that we believe will be of interest to you, and this information may also be shared among the Sites. A typical example of this process is the monthly electronic newsletter we provide.
Virtual Homes does not sell lists or data to other parties however if we merge with another company or sell a division we will notify you of the new relationship.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data that we send to and store on your computer that is tied to information about the user. Our primary use of cookies is for the session (ID cookie) and once you close your browser the cookie simply terminates. We may utilize pertinent cookies which is a small text file stored on the users hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions. Our cookies are used to help us optimize your online experience by altering our content depending on your particular needs or browsing patterns, and to provide you with advertisements, products and services that we believe will be of interest to you; and to help us understand the size of our audience and their traffic patterns within the Sites.
Third Party Advertising
Ads appearing on our web sites are delivered to users by the VH servers. The ads may link to the advertiser’s web page and/or server. When you link out of our sites please review the privacy statements offered on those sites.
Log Files
Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP) referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and click counts to analyze trends, administer the site, user tracking, and broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information. We use a tracking utility (Hits Link by Tool Shack) that uses the log files to track movement.
Communications from the Site
We send all visitors that register on the site an auto-response and a series of follow-up letters by email in case we do not communicate with the visitor by phone. Users may opt out by clicking on the link provided on each email letter which will take them through the process of removal.
One of the letters sent to the user is the link to an electronic newsletter which will continue on a monthly basis unless the user elects to opt out.
Virtual Homes may send emails that offer benefits of services or products that are related to buying or owning real estate. (Users may opt-out through the standard process or notify Customer Service at customerservice@virtualhomes.com
Links
VH Sites contain links to other sites. VH is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. Please review each sites privacy statement when you leave the VH Site.
Surveys and Contests
From time to time, VH may conduct surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys and contests is completely voluntary and the user will have the choice to disclose information. The information provided by the user will be shared with the sponsor(s) that will be disclosed with survey or contest. Survey information use will be disclosed with the survey.
Security
VH takes every precaution to protect our user’s information both on and offline. We do not collect sensitive information such as credit card numbers or social security numbers therefore the information we do collect is not encrypted.
Notification of Changes
If VH decides to change our privacy policy, we will post changes to this privacy statement. If we are going to use the user’s identifiable information in a manner that is different from that stated at the time of collection, we will notify the users via email and post the notice on our privacy statement for 30 days prior to the change of use.
Contact Information
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at:
Mailing address:
Virtual Homes
55 Ponemah Road
Amherst, NH 03031
1-800-856-2479
603-673-6908 Fax
E-Mail: customerservice@virtualhomes.com