Effective Date: February 11, 2008
The Baby Einstein Company (“BEC” or “we”) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling any personal information we obtain from you with care and respect. BEC is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (“TWDC”). TWDC and its subsidiaries (including BEC) are referred to in this Privacy Policy as “The Walt Disney Family of Companies.” This Privacy Policy discloses how we collect, protect, use, and share personally identifiable information gathered about you on our Web site (except for A11 below, which discusses personally identifiable information gathered about you offline, and A12 below, which applies to personal identifiable information collected by any method). Except as specifically mentioned below (including in A11 and A12), this Privacy Policy only applies to information gathered on our Web site and does not apply to information collected by us through other means, such as by telephone, mail or transactions at stores, theme parks and other locations. You will know that you are on our Web site because it will have a direct link to this Privacy Policy.
We hope that this Privacy Policy will help reinforce your confidence in our Web site and enhance your experience on the Internet.
Q1: Does the Baby Einstein Web site collect personal information from children under the age of 13?
Q2: What information is the Baby Einstein Web site collecting, and how is the site collecting it?
Q3: How does Baby Einstein use the personally identifiable information that it has collected?
Q4: How does Baby Einstein share information with other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies?
Q5: Does Baby Einstein share information with companies or other organizations that are not part of The Walt Disney Family of Companies?
Q6: What choices do I have about Baby Einstein collecting, using, and sharing my information?
Q7: What type of security does Baby Einstein provide?
Q8: Whom do I contact with questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy?
Q9: How will I know if Baby Einstein amends this Privacy Policy?
Q10: How does Baby Einstein collect, use and share information gathered offline?
Q11: Do California residents have special rights?
Q1: Does the Baby Einstein Web site collect personal information from children under the age of 13?
A1: No, the Baby Einstein Web site does not seek to collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Our Web site is directed to adults who are interested in enhancing the play and exploring experiences of children between the ages of birth to preschool years. The design, content and language of our Web site therefore are designed for an adult audience. In addition, we take technical measures that are designed to prevent children under the age of 13 from providing us any personal information.
Q2: What information is the Baby Einstein Web site collecting, and how is the site collecting it?
A2: You can surf our Web site and view much of our terrific content without giving us any personally identifiable information.
Information You Provide
There are certain activities on our site where the collection of personally identifiable information is necessary, such as making a purchase, accessing specific pieces of content, entering a contest or sweepstakes, and contacting us. You will always know when personally identifiable information is collected, because you will have to supply that information to us or give your permission for us to collect that information. For most activities, we collect only your first and last name, e-mail address, postal address, gender, birth date and your child’s birth date. When you make a purchase, we also collect your credit card information and shipping information.
You may also provide us photographs or other video materials, which may contain personal information. We may collect personal information when you register on, log on, or visit our Web site, including when you participate in activities on our Web sites, such as sweepstakes, contests, games, and informational and promotional offers, and when you provide information to our customer service representatives. Finally, our Web site may offer message boards, conversation pages, chat rooms, social community environments, profile pages, and other Public Forums (as defined in the Terms of Use governing our Web sites (the "Terms of Use"), as well as other features in which you may provide us with User Submissions (as defined in the Terms of Use). If you provide personal information when you use any of these features, that personal information may be publicly posted and otherwise disclosed without limitation as to its use by a third party. Our rules regarding User Submissions are described in the Terms of Use, including in the "User Submissions," "Public Forums and Communication" and "House Rules" sections of the Terms of Use.
Information Collected from You with Technology
Our Web site uses information collected through technology to make our site more interesting and useful to you and for various purposes related to our business. In some circumstances, it may not be readily apparent to you that such information is being collected. For instance, when you come to our site, your IP address is collected. An IP address is often associated with the access point through which you enter the Internet, like your ISP (Internet service provider), your company, or your university. Standing alone, your IP address is not personally identifiable.
At times we also store information regarding the frequency with which our visitors visit various parts of our site and where on our site they visit. We may combine this information with personally identifiable information to identify a visitor in order to provide relevant content, ads, and e-mails to that visitor, as well as to enforce compliance with our Terms of Use, and to protect our service, site, visitors, and other parties.
What Are Cookies, and How Do We Use Them?
Cookies are pieces of information that a Web site sends to your computer while you are viewing the Web site. These pieces of information allow the Web site to remember important information that will make your use of that site more efficient. Baby Einstein and other companies operating on the Internet use cookies for a variety of purposes. For instance, when you return to our site, cookies enable our site to remember who you are, so you don’t have to log in again. You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser (like Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer) settings. Each browser is a little different, so look at your browser Help menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies. If you turn cookies off, you may not have access to many features of our site that make your Web experience smoother, like the features mentioned above, and some of our services may not function properly.
Q3: How does Baby Einstein use the personally identifiable information that it has collected?
A3: Baby Einstein uses personally identifiable information collected online in a number of ways. One of the ways we use such information is to complete transactions. For instance, if you purchase an item from Baby Einstein online, we use your information to process your order. If you contact us for help, we will use the information to respond to you. We also use your information to notify you if you've won a game or contest. Information we collect is used to send you e-mail updates and newsletters about our products and our Web site. We also use the information you provide to send you e-mail and postal mail promotions, as well as offers from other companies and the other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies, unless you have elected not to receive these promotions and offers.
We may also obtain information from other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies, as described below in A4. Additionally, at times, we may supplement a visitor’s record with data from a third party in order to serve our visitors by providing, among other things, relevant content, ads, and e-mail and to send postal mail promotional materials. This third party data may be either general demographic information or information specific to our individual visitors. For example, with respect to general demographic information, there are companies that infer a consumer’s preferences based on the consumer’s zip code. With a zip code, these companies can generally infer home ownership, vacation choices, television viewing habits and similar characteristics. With this additional information, we can then better customize our content, ads and email based on these inferred characteristics. The data that we obtain in this manner from third parties will not be shared with any third party, except as permitted by this Privacy Policy.
Q4: How does Baby Einstein share information with other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies?
A4: To serve our visitors, we may work with other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies. BEC may share your personally identifiable information with other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies, unless you have elected not to have us do so. When another member of The Walt Disney Family of Companies receives your information from us, it will not share your information with unaffiliated third parties, except that it may share your information in the same manner as BEC would be permitted to do under the provisions of A5 below. Other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies may use information supplied by us to contact you by email and postal mail, as well as for other purposes related to providing you enhanced service, such as combining your information with other information that they maintain.
Q5: Does Baby Einstein share information with companies or other organizations that are not part of The Walt Disney Family of Companies?
A5: We will share your information or send you messages on behalf of unaffiliated third parties as described below.
Companies That Provide Services to Baby Einstein
Sometimes we hire companies to help us deliver products or services, like a shipping company that delivers a package or a company that helps us fulfill prizes for a sweepstakes or a contest. In those instances, we need to share your information with these companies. Sometimes we also work with other companies who assist us in gathering your information in order to enable us provide you products and services. Your opt-out choices under A6 below will not apply to sharing by BEC of your personal information with any of these companies. Nonetheless, except as separately permitted by other provisions of this Privacy Policy, these companies are allowed to gather, receive, and use your information only for the purposes described in this paragraph or to facilitate compliance with laws.
Companies Offering Promotions, Products, or Services
On occasion, we offer promotions, such as sweepstakes or free subscriptions, in conjunction with a sponsor. If you choose to participate in one of these promotions, we may provide your information to the other company, in which case, that company will use your information in accordance with its privacy policy. Of course, whenever we conduct one of these joint promotions, we will identify to you the other sponsor of the promotion so that you can decide whether you wish to participate in the promotion. Finally, in addition to sharing information in the context of these joint promotions, we may also share your information, unless you elect not to have us do so, with other third parties selected by us, so that these third parties can send you offers regarding their products and services by e-mail and postal mail.
Third-Party Advertisers and Network Advertisers
Once you’ve clicked on an advertisement and have left our Web site, our Privacy Policy no longer applies. You must read the privacy policy of the advertiser to see how your personal information will be handled on their site.
In addition, many advertisements are managed and placed on our site by third-party companies. These companies are called “network advertisers.” Network advertisers may collect information about you when you click on or move your cursor over one of their banner advertisements. You may not realize it’s being collected. The network advertisers may collect this information so that they can show you ads that are more relevant and interesting to you. If you would like to read more about network advertisers or do not want certain network advertisers to collect information about you, click here.
Purchase or Sale of Businesses
From time to time, we may purchase a business or sell a business (including portions thereof), and personally identifiable information regarding you may be transferred as a part of the purchase or sale. In the event that we purchase a business, the personally identifiable information received with that business would be treated in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy, if it is practicable and permissible to do so. In the event that we sell our business (including all or any portion of our business), we will make reasonable efforts to include provisions in the selling contract to require the purchaser to treat your personally identifiable information in the same manner you requested under this Privacy Policy (including any amendments to this Privacy Policy). In light of this protection, your opt-out choices under A6 will not affect our right to transfer your information to a purchaser in these circumstances.
Disclosures Required By Law and Disclosures to Help Protect the Security and Safety of Our Visitors and Our Site
Regardless of any opt-out choices that you make under A6, BEC will disclose personal information when it believes in good faith that such disclosures facilitate compliance with laws, including, for example, to comply with a court order or subpoena. We may also disclose personal information in order to enforce our Terms of Service, our site and game rules, and to protect the safety and security of our sites, ourselves and others.
Q6: What choices do I have about Baby Einstein collecting, using, and sharing my information?
A6: It is possible for you to use our site without giving us any personally identifiable information. As mentioned above, there are also ways to limit the information collected through technology, though some of our features won’t work if you decide to do this. When you choose to register with us or give us personally identifiable information, you will have an opportunity at the time we collect your information (a) to limit communications from us, other members of The Walt Disney Company Family of Companies, and our third-party sponsors, and (b) to request that we not share your information with other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies and/or our third-party partners. In addition, you can request at any time that we not send future promotional communications to you either by unsubscribing from the communication (with respect to email communications) or by e-mailing customerservice@babyeinstein.com and stating your request (with respect to both e-mail and postal mail communications). If you have allowed us to share your information with other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies, you may contact us at any time at customerservice@babyeinstein.com to request that these businesses not use the information that we have shared with them to send you future promotional communications. We will then relay your request to these businesses. Please be advised, however, that it may require up to 45 days to fully implement your request.
Q7: What type of security does Baby Einstein provide?
A7: The security and confidentiality of your information is extremely important to us. We have implemented technical, administrative, and physical security measures to protect guest information from unauthorized access and improper use. From time to time, we review our security procedures in order to consider appropriate new technology and methods. Please be aware though that, despite our best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. There are some things that you can do to help protect the security of your information as well. For instance, never give out your password, since this is what is used to access all of your account information. Also, remember to sign out of your account and close your browser window when you finish surfing the Web, so that other people using the same computer won't have access to your information.
Q8: Whom do I contact with questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy?
A8: If you need further assistance, please send an e-mail with your questions or comments to customerservice@babyeinstein.com or write us:
Customer Service
P.O. Box 25020
Glendale, CA 91221
Please be assured that any personal information that you provide in communications to the above e-mail and postal mail addresses will not be used to send you promotional materials, unless you so request.
Q9: How will I know if Baby Einstein amends this Privacy Policy?
A9: BEC may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any substantial changes in the way we use your personal information, we will notify you by sending you an e-mail at the last e-mail address that you provided us, and/or by prominently posting notice of the changes on our Web sites. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will be effective thirty (30) calendar days following either our dispatch of an email notice to you or our posting of notice of the changes on our Web site. In the event that the last e-mail address that you have provided us is not valid, or for any other reason is not capable of delivering to you the notice described above, our dispatch of the e-mail containing such notice will nonetheless constitute effective notice of the amendment described in the notice. Changes to this Privacy Policy may affect our use, and use by the other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies, of personal information that you provided us prior to our notification to you of the changes. If you do not wish to permit changes in our use of your information, you must notify us (in the manner that we specify) prior to the effective date of the changes. If you provide us this notice, we may choose to deactivate your account. Please be advised, however, that, regardless of whether you provide such notice to us, any such amendment to this Privacy Policy will apply to any personal information that you provide us on or after the effective date of such amendment.
Q10: How does Baby Einstein collect, use and share information gathered offline?
A10: The discussion in this A10 applies only to personally identifiable information that you provide to us for the purpose of obtaining from us a product or service primarily for personal, family or household purposes. In addition to gathering this type of personally identifiable information on our Web site, we may collect this type of information through other means, such as by telephone, mail or transactions at stores and other locations. We may use this information in a variety of ways. For instance, we may use this information to send you promotional materials, and we may share this information with other members of The Walt Disney Family of Companies and third parties so that they can send you promotional materials. We also may use this information for purposes other than sending you promotional materials. For example, we may use this information to process orders requested by you, or to respond to you if you contact us for help. In each instance, our collection, use and sharing of this information will be in accordance with all applicable laws.
Q11: Do California residents have special rights?
A11: California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits our customers who are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information (whether collected online or offline) to third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an e-mail to customerservice@babyeinstein.com or write us:
The Baby Einstein Company, LLC
PO Box 25020
Glendale, CA 91221