Earthquake and disaster news, products and services
 

Statistics

The Association of Bay Area Governments estimates 370,373
Bay Area people will become homeless after a magnitude 7.3 Hayward fault earthquake

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists estimate there is a 70% probability of a magnitude 6.7 or greater Bay Area earthquake between 2000 and 2030

1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in Santa Cruz was magnitude 6.9

1906 San Francisco earthquake was magnitude 7.8

 
 

EQ Box contents

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Privacy Policy


The EPICENTERservices.com Web site ("Web site") is owned and operated by Epicenter Services. The following privacy statement describes the practice of EPICENTERservices.com with respect to the collection, maintenance and disclosure of information on the Web site.

Information Collected
You can access this Web site and browse it without providing your personal information. But in order to participate in some of the activities available on, or benefit from services offered on, the Web site, a user must provide personal information.

Annual Reminder to Replace Food and Water
To subscribe to our Annual Reminder to Replace Food and Water service, users are required to provide personal information such as name and e-mail address. The provision of personal information is not optional if a user wishes to receive the annual e-mail reminder and we will not be able to provide a user with the requested service unless the requested information is submitted.

Surveys
To improve services and the quality of the Web site and to expand our users' experience on the Web site, we occasionally conduct surveys among users which request the provision of personal information such as name and e-mail address as well as non-personal information regarding users' experiences on the Web site. Participation in the surveys and the corresponding submission of personal information are optional.

Suggestion, Contact and Feedback
To improve services and the quality of the Web site, we may offer users an opportunity to provide their suggestions and contributions by completing Suggest and/or Feedback forms. By virtue of the forms, we collect personal information such as full name and e-mail address. Through these forms we also solicit the provision of non-personal information. By providing your suggestions and contributions, you grant to EPICENTERservices.com an unrestricted, irrevocable, perpetual and royalty-free license to use, reproduce, display, perform, modify, transmit, distribute and otherwise utilize such suggestions and/or contributions for any purpose. To contact us users must complete the contact form requesting the provision of personal information such as full name and e-mail address.

Use of Personal Information Collected
Personal information collected on this Web site is used primarily for the purpose it is requested. In particular, contact information, such as name and e-mail address, is used to provide users services they have chosen on this Web site such as the provision of an Annual Reminder to Replace Food & Water. Personal information collected in connection with a contest is used to notify the winners and to award prizes.

We also use personal information to provide users with information about new services and products offered on the Web site and to forward promotional materials from us and our partners. It is important to note that users may opt-out of receiving promotional materials and information about new services on the Web site. The opt out procedure is discussed in detail below.

We may use personal information collected to contact users in connection with their inappropriate use of this Web site, non-compliance with the Terms of Use or in connection with a complaint filed by another user.

We may share personal information collected on the Web site with our partners and third parties but only with your consent. We will not share personal information if you select the opt-out feature at the points where personal information is collected.

We collect and use non-personal information such as demographic data to analyze and develop our marketing strategy and to determine how you found out about us, your interests regarding our services and how to further improve our Web site based upon user data. We share non-personal information with our partners and third parties

Disclosure Required By Law
We may disclose personal information when required by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary in order to conform to the requirements of law or comply with legal process served on the Web site.

Opt-Out
We provide users the opportunity to opt-out from receiving updates regarding new services and products offered on the Web site, newsletters, promotional materials and from sharing users' personal information with our partners and/or third parties. The opt-out option may be exercised at points where personal information is collected by clicking on the "No" button.

If the user has not exercised the opt-out option at the point where personal information is collected, s/he can do it later by contacting us at policy@epicenterservices.com

Forums
Forums are very popular informative discussion opportunities for Web site users. Please note, however, that any information users post during forum sessions becomes public information. Exercise caution when you decide to disclose personal information in forum sessions as all users of the Web site will have access to this information.

Children and EPICENTERservices.com
The Web site is intended for adults who are interested in earthquake news and resources. It is not designed for children, and we purposefully discourage children from using this site. Therefore, we do not collect personal information from children and ask that users do not provide information about children unless you are their parents. If you do provide such information, you will have the option of reviewing, changing, or deleting a child's personal information, revoking the consent, or refusing to permit collection of further information.

Cookies and Log Files
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Use of a cookie is in no way linked to any personal information. If a user rejects the cookie, s/he may still use the Web site, although it may affect the functionality of certain services available to the user. Cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance their experience on the Web site.

We collect IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the Web site, track user's movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses are not linked to personal information.

Links
This privacy statement applies solely to information collected on this Web site. This Web site contains links to other Web sites. Please be aware that EPICENTERservices.com has no control or influence over the privacy practices of such other Web sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave the Web site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site they visit.

Security
We take every reasonably available precaution to protect our users' information. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personal information. This information is password protected. Furthermore, all employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices.

If you have any questions about the security at the Web site, you can send an e-mail to policy@epicenterservices.com

Correct/Update
We provide users with an opportunity to access their personal information to ensure that personal information is correct, accurate and current. To access personal information a user must send us a request at policy@epicenterservices.com

Notification of Changes
We will use information in accordance with the privacy statement under which the information was collected. If we decide to change our privacy statement, we will post those changes on our homepage so that our users are always aware of the information we collect, how we use it, and the circumstances, if any, under which we disclose it. If at any point we decide to use personal information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify users by way of an e-mail. Users will have a choice as to whether or not they will allow us to use their personal information in this different manner.

Enforcement
If users have any questions or complaints with respect to the principles outlined in this privacy statement or enforcement of this privacy statement they should contact us at policy@epicenterservices.com


Last revised on November 21, 2001.

 

 
 
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