American Consumer Credit Counseling ("ACCC") is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to enable individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers the following sites:
www.consumercredit.com & www.secure-consumercredit.com
Because this Web site wants to demonstrate its commitment to our users' privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe.
If clients have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us:
By Phone: 1-800-769-3571
By Fax: 617-244-1116
By Email: help@consumercredit.com
Postal Address:
American Consumer Credit Counseling
130 Rumford Ave. Suite 202
Newton, MA 02466
The following privacy pertains to information collected via our web site and used in the service of our clients and visitors.
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, number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.
We only use "cookies" as described in this section. A "cookie" is a piece of information that our Web site sends to your browser, which then stores this information on your system. If a cookie is used, our Web site will be able to "remember" information about you and your preferences either until you exit your current browser window (if the cookie is temporary) or until you disable or delete the cookie. Many users prefer to use cookies in order to help them navigate a Web site as seamlessly as possible. You should be aware that cookies contain no more information than you volunteer, and they are not able to "invade" your hard drive and return to the sender with personal or other information from your computer.
Our uses of "cookies" are limited to the following specific situations. The first situation is with respect to temporary cookies. There are two instances in which we use temporary cookies. First, if you are accessing our services through one of our budget consultation forms our Web server will automatically send your browser a temporary cookie, which is used to help your browser navigate our site. The only information contained in these temporary cookies is a direction value that lets our software determine which page to show when you hit the back button in your browser. This bit of information is erased when you close your current browser window. If you come to our site from one of our business partners, our Web server may also send your browser a temporary cookie that reflects an "origination code" for that business partner. We use this information for statistical and marketing purposes. Second, if you are using your member username and password to log into an access-controlled section of our site, we set a temporary session cookie to establish that you have been authenticated. The information contained in these cookies consists of random data that is used by the server to authenticate the browser requests to the server for that particular session. It does not include any type of personally identifiable information. This bit of information is erased when you exit your current browser window.
The second situation in which we may use cookies is when you visit our Web site and request documentation or a response from us. When you are filling out a form you may be given the option of having our Web site deliver a cookie to your local hard drive. If you are an existing client, you may be given the option of having our Web site deliver a cookie to your local hard drive to assist you with logging into our site. This type of cookie is not temporary, although you can always delete or disable it through your browser preferences. If you choose not to accept this type of cookie, you will still be able to use our Web site, but you may experience issues when filling out a budget consultation form or logging onto our Member's website. To find more information about cookies, if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer as your browser, go to the Microsoft Web site at www.microsoft.com/info/cookies.htm?RLD=291. We use a third-party tracking service Conversion Analyst that uses cookies to track non-personally identifiable information about visitors to our site in the aggregate of page count, time spent on page and search engine referral to better serve our visitor's needs.
We communicate with clients on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via email, live chat or phone, in accordance with the clients' wishes.
If you use a chat room on this site, you should be aware that we have a third party monitoring system that helps us assure the best possible customer service for our clients. Any personally identifiable information you submit there can be read and collected by our monitors but will not be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these forums.
In order to become a member of ACCC, you must first complete the registration form and create a user name and password. During registration you are required to provide contact information such as name, address, telephone number, date of birth, Social Security Number, and email address. We use this information to contact you about the services on our site in which you have expressed interest.
You have the option to provide demographic information (such as income level and gender) to us; we encourage you to submit this information so we can provide you a more personalized experience on our site.
ACCC is the sole owner of the information collected on consumercredit.com. ACCC collects personally identifiable information from our users at several different points on our Web site. ACCC does not share personally identifiable data with third parties for unknown or unrelated uses.
Our clients 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 information. For example, our Email newsletter has an 'opt-out' mechanism so clients who do not want to be contacted via email will be taken off of our lists. To opt-out send an email to help@consumercredit.com.
We post customer testimonials on our web site which may contain personally identifiable information such as the customer's name. We do obtain the customer's consent prior to posting the testimonial or to posting their name along with their testimonial.
Our website may provide links to third-party websites and may link you automatically to sponsors' websites. We provide such links solely for the convenience of our users. We do not review or endorse, and are not responsible for, any content, advertising, products, services or other materials on or available from such websites. You assume full responsibility for your use of third-party websites.
We employ a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons/Web Bugs), that help us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. The main difference between the two is that clear gifs are invisible on the page and are much smaller, about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Clear gifs are not tied to users' personally identifiable information. In addition, we use clear gifs in our HTML-based emails to let us know which emails have been opened by the recipients. This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. If users would like to opt-out of these emails, please see the Choice/opt-out section.
The security of your personal information is important to us. When you enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number) on our registration or order forms, we encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL).
We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. If clients have any questions about the security at our Web site, clients can send an email to help@consumercredit.com.
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.
If, however, we are going to use users' personally identifiable information in a manner materially different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify users via email and/or by posting a notice on our Web site for 30 days. If clients have questions or concerns regarding this statement, they should contact help@consumercredit.com or call toll free at 1-800-769-3571, American Consumer Credit Counseling 130 Rumford Ave., Suite 202 Newton, MA 02466. If they do not receive acknowledgement of their inquiry or their inquiry is not satisfactorily addressed, they should then contact TRUSTe through the TRUSTe Watchdog Dispute Resolution Process www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php. TRUSTe will serve as a liaison with the Web site to resolve users concerns.
