Collection of Information on Our Members and/or Authenticated Users
Collection of information is usually grouped into two categories: personally identifiable information and so-called "aggregate" information. Personally identifiable information is any information in Brad's Net's possession that is associated with a specific Member (such as a name or address) and information we collect about how individual Members use Brad's Net Internet (such as the fact that a Member visits sports pages, or has purchased merchandise through Brad's Net Internet.) It does not include aggregate information, which is general demographic information (such as the total number of Members who are more than 35 years old), or information which a Member has made public on Brad's Net Internet.

Credit Card Transactions
Credit Card transactions are handled by a third-party financial institution, which receives the credit card number and other personal identifying information only to verify the credit card numbers and process transactions. Your cardholder information is protected and will not be sold or otherwise shared.

Personally Identifiable Information
Brad's Net uses personal information only for the following purposes:

To process requests and orders placed with advertisers, merchants and service providers on Brad's Net Internet; to personalize Brad's Net Internet based on Members' interests, including making Members aware of editorial features, advertisements, and commercial offerings that may be of interest;
to communicate with Members, including promoting Brad's Net Internet;
to register a Member for a contest or sweepstakes and to administer or make related offers from the same;
to serve Members when they have questions or problems;
to perform normal business operations, such as billing, collection, and accounting; and
to investigate complaints and protect Brad's Net Internet and its Members, in compliance with the law, the Brad's Net Internet Member Agreement, and Brad's Net Internet policies.

Brad's Net respects the privacy of personal files in Members' computers. Brad's Net does not access, read, upload or store data contained in or derived from private files without the Member's authorization. Once a Member gives us that authorization, Brad's Net may from time to time record information about your computer, communications equipment, browser type and version number, mail application, and operating system software (but no other non-Brad's Net software). Brad's Net will use this information on an individually-identifiable basis only to:

analyze how current or future Brad's Net Internet features may operate on your equipment;
monitor or improve the performance of Brad's Net Internet software on your equipment; or
tell you about enhancements and offerings that may become available (such as memory or equipment upgrades).

Your authorization also allows Brad's Net to provide you with consistently fast and reliable network access by sending diagnostic data about your computer and your connections with Brad's Net Internet. Such data includes call failure data, communications bit rate, local access number used, version numbers, and modem type. Brad's Net will use this information to evaluate and improve the quality of your connections.
Brad's Net uses strict procedures and safeguards designed to protect the privacy of all personal information. All Brad's Net employees with access to personal information are required to follow specific practices concerning its proper handling. Brad's Net's employees never inspect or disclose to others the contents of these private messages except with the specific consent of the sender or recipient, or as specifically authorized or required by law.
Brad's Net complies in all respects with the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, as amended, ("ECPA"). Subject to the subpoena, warrant, consent, and court order provisions of ECPA, Brad's Net Internet must provide Member information and/or Internet communications to the proper authorities Brad's Net may establish time limits and/or other criteria under which private e-mail will be automatically removed from your online mailbox. Brad's Net has no responsibility to retain or deliver private e-mail that is located in a Member's online mailbox at the time of that Member's suspension or termination, or that is addressed to such Member thereafter.

Aggregate Information
Brad's Net tracks the total number of visitors to each of our pages within Brad's Net Internet in an aggregate form to allow us to update and improve our sites. Personally identifiable information is not extracted in this process. Brad's Net may use or disclose aggregated (not personally identifiable) information for any purpose.
Brad's Net and its advertisers may also use small pieces of code called 'clear GIFs' or 'web beacons' to collect advertising metrics in an aggregate form, such as counting page views, promotional effectiveness or advertising responses. These statistics are collected in aggregate and are anonymous, never revealing individual usage patterns.

On a limited basis, we use "cookie" technology. Cookies are pieces of information that an Internet site transfers to your hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Our servers then use these cookies to make your sessions easier by saving your preferences while you are on Brad's Net Internet pages. The use of cookies is an industry standard -- you'll find them almost everywhere on the Internet. Remember, this describes cookie usage ONLY on Brad's Net Internet sites. Brad's Net has no control over the use of cookies by other Internet sites and their owners.
If a Member enters our pages from the site of one of Brad's Net's partners, our system will recognize the path the visitor has taken. Such partners are companies such as computer or modem manufacturers with whom Brad's Net engages in promotional deals. The benefits of these deals are often passed on to Brad's Net Internet Members.

Collection of Information on Our "Visitors"
A visitor is defined as a user of our site who is neither a current member nor authenticated user. You will receive a similar experience to our members and authenticated users with the exception of being provided a personalized experience and access to certain member information and services. As a leading Internet service provider, Brad's Net is committed to respecting the privacy of all our visitors to www.brads.net. Although we track the total number of visitors to our sites in an aggregate form to allow us to update and improve our sites, personally identifiable information is not extracted in this process. If a visitor enters our site from the site of one of Brad's Net's partners, our system will recognize the path the visitor has taken.

Brad's Net only collects personally identifiable data, such as names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and the like, when voluntarily submitted by a visitor who requests that Brad's Net software be sent to him or her, either through a download or through a land carrier. The information we collect is used by us to follow up on these orders and is not shared with other organizations for commercial purposes. If you supply us with your postal address online you may receive periodic mailings of our software.

Brad's Net will respond to visitors who send us e-mail to particular addresses, for example, regarding advertising, partnering, or employment opportunities. Brad's Net will use the information submitted in those e-mails only to respond to the purpose specified by the sender.

Brad's Net does not sell or release any information gathered on visitors on www.brads.net to any third parties except in instances where users submit resumes for consideration of employment. We use third parties to parse, collate, scan, store, and format this information in order for Brad's Net to manage and analyze resume information. All information gathered here will be used only by Brad's Net, for internal marketing analysis, to improve our products, services, websites, and to facilitate the hiring of employees.

A NOTE FOR PARENTS CONCERNING PRIVACY
Brad's Net asks that visitors, providing us personally identifiable information, be 18 years of age or older. Brad's Net believes that parents should supervise their children's online activities and consider using parental control tools available from Brad's Net, online services and software manufacturers that help provide a kid-friendly online environment. Please instruct your children not to give us their name, address or e-mail address, sign up to receive our software, or provide any other personal information to anyone without your permission. For additional information about parental control tools, please click here.
A Special Note Concerning Privacy and Children Online
Members of Brad's Net Internet are required to be 18 years of age or older. In fact, you confirmed that you were 18 or older when you enrolled in Brad's Net Internet. However, Members may want to allow their children to use Brad's Net Internet to access the Internet. Although the Internet offers a wealth of information and exciting opportunities to explore, some of its content may not be suitable for children. Understandably, as the popularity of the Internet has grown, so have concerns among parents. Brad's Net believes that parents should supervise their children's online activities and Brad's Net suggests that they consider using parental control tools available from Brad's Net to help provide a child-friendly online environment.
Please instruct your children not to give us their name, address or e-mail address, or provide any personal information to anyone without your permission. It may also be wise to carefully note all the people with whom your child frequently corresponds over the Internet or on any online service.

Chat, Newsgroups, Bulletin Boards and Kids
Chat, newsgroups, and bulletin boards offer children and parents alike the unique opportunity to make friends and talk to people all over the world. Please remember, though, that these interactive features are just like other public places where strangers meet. If you allow your children to access interactive features, please remind them of the dangers involved when corresponding or communicating with strangers or new acquaintances on the Internet (especially in Chat and Newsgroups, as well as when using e-mail).
We strongly recommend that you supervise your children's activities on these areas as you would in any public area. You should help your children understand that people they do not know will be reading their notes. They should be careful when choosing what to post (particularly information about themselves), as well as when choosing the people with whom they correspond. Also, only you, as a parent, can establish which topics and individual notes are appropriate for your family, just as you would for television programs or movies.
Children and teenagers get a lot of benefit from being online, but they can also be targets of crime and exploitation in this as in any other environment. Trusting, curious, and anxious to explore this new world and the relationships it brings, children and teenagers need parental supervision and common sense advice to ensure that their experiences in "cyberspace" are happy, healthy, and productive.

How Parents Can Reduce the Risks
Take advantage of Brad's Net's offer of Filtering, which we talk about below. Also, to further restrict your child's access to discussions, forums, or bulletin boards that contain inappropriate material, some Internet sites and private bulletin boards have systems in place for parents to block out parts of the sites that they feel are inappropriate for their children. If you are concerned, you should contact the site find out how you can add these restrictions to any accounts that your children can access.
The Internet and some private bulletin boards contain areas designed specifically for adults who wish to post, view, or read sexually explicit material. Most private bulletin board operators who post such material limit access only to people who attest that they are adults but, like any other safeguards, be aware that there are always going to be cases where adults fail to enforce them or children find ways around them. The best way to ensure that your children are having positive online experiences is to stay in touch with what they are doing. One way to do this is to spend time with your children while they're online. Have them show you what they do and ask them to teach you how to access the sites. While children and teenagers need a certain amount of privacy, they also need parental involvement and supervision in their daily lives. The same general parenting skills that apply to the "real world" also apply while online.
If you have cause for concern about your children's online activities, talk to them. Also seek out the advice and counsel of other computer users in your area and become familiar with literature on Cyber Patrol and other filtering devices. Open communication with your children, utilization of such computer resources, and getting online yourself will help you obtain the full benefits of these devices and alert you to any potential problem that may occur with their use.

Guidelines for Parents
By taking responsibility for their children's online computer use, parents can greatly minimize the potential risks. Make it a family rule to:

+Never give out identifying information -
home address, school name, or telephone number - in a public message such as chat or bulletin boards, and be sure you are dealing with someone that both you and your child know and trust before giving it out via e-mail. Think carefully before revealing any personal information such as age, marital status, or financial information. Consider using a pseudonym or unlisting your child's name from Internet sites in which they participate.

+ Consider keeping the computer in a family room rather than the child's bedroom.
Be sure to make this a family activity. Get to know their "online friends" just as you get to know all of their other friends.

+ Get to know the Internet sites your child uses.
If you don't know how to get to them, get your child to show you. Find out what types of information it offers and whether there are ways for parents to block out objectionable material.

+Never allow a child to arrange a face-to-face meeting with another computer user without parental permission.
If a meeting is arranged, make the first one in a public spot, and be sure to accompany your child.

+Never respond to messages or bulletin board items that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, threatening, or make you feel uncomfortable.
Encourage your children to tell you if they encounter such messages. If you or your child receives a message that is harassing, or of a sexual nature, or threatening, alert the appropriate law enforcement agency. You may also send an alert to Brad's Net if the message is from another Brad's Net Internet Member, or to the online service from which the message originated.

+Should you become aware of the transmission, use, or viewing of child pornography while online, immediately report this to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-843-5678.

+Remember that people online may not be who they seem.
Because you can't see or even hear the person, it is easy for someone to misrepresent him- or herself. Thus, someone indicating that "she" is a "12-year-old girl" could really be a 40-year-old man.

+Remember that everything you read online may not be true.
Any offer that's "too good to be true" probably is. Be very careful about any offers that involve your coming to a meeting or having someone visit your house.
Set reasonable rules and guidelines for computer use by your children. Discuss these rules and post them near the computer as a reminder. Remember to monitor their compliance with these rules, especially when it comes to the amount of time your children spend on the computer. A child or teenager's excessive use of the interactive features of the Internet, especially late at night, may be a clue that there is a potential problem.

EduGuard Software
EduGuard is a content filtering service offered by Brad's Friendly Net, which can help to protect you and your family from materials that you may find offensive on the Internet.

Eduguard gives you the ability to block access to sites that contain subject matter such as: obscenities, hate groups, drugs, cults and pornography. EdGuard does not filter email, chat rooms or attachments.

EduGuard is not a keyword or ratings-based system. It only blocks specific sites that have been reviewed by our site review team using strict federal guidelines. The result is an accurate and comprehensive database of specific websites.
The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires federally funded schools and libraries to block access to sites that contain pornography, obscenity, and content "harmful to minors". EduGuard blocks these sites. For more information Click Here.

Third-Party Provider Content
Please keep in mind that some of the bulletin boards, chat areas, and newsgroups on Brad's Net Internet pages are controlled and operated by a third party, not by Brad's Net. Because of this, remember that when you use these interactive features, that you may not just be speaking with Brad's Net Internet Members, but with anyone on the Internet. Some third party content is not protected behind a Brad's Net Internet firewall, that is, it is not proprietary to Brad's Net Internet, and is therefore open to anyone to participate. The search engine technology automatically produces search results that reference sites and information located worldwide throughout the Internet. Because neither Brad's Net nor the third party service provider has control over such sites and information, there are no guarantees as to such sites and information, including as to:
the accuracy, currency, content, or quality of any such sites and information, or
whether a search may locate unintended and objectionable content.

Because some of the content on the Internet consists of material that is adult-oriented or otherwise objectionable to some people, the results of your search may automatically and unintentionally generate links or references to objectionable material. Brad's Net has no control over, and can make no claim that such surprises will not occur. Computerized search technology does not give you search results limited to only the hits that you were seeking.

There may be extraneous hits as well.
There may be extraneous hits as well. Brad's Net recommends that to avoid any such surprises, you take advantage of the access controls that Brad's Net offers, as we discuss above, and be diligent in your supervision of any children you allow to use Brad's Net Internet.

Contact Information
For answers to specific concerns regarding privacy that are not addressed here, see our Contact Us. This site provides information on whom and how to contact us at Brad's Net.

Trust is at the heart of any sucessful ongoing relationship.