Privacy policy

Because your privacy is important to us, Spokesman.com and all Web sites now or hereafter owned or controlled by The Spokesman-Review (collectively referred to hereafter as "S-R.COM" or "we") operate by the following principles:

PERSONAL INFORMATION
We explicitly ask when we need information that personally identifies you ("Personal Information"). Personal Information may be needed to provide unique services specific to you, like personal directions or personalized news and information. Other services may need more extensive Personal Information in order to provide a package tailored to a specific individual's needs. Other services that we offer may require more extensive Personal Information in order to provide a package tailored to a specific individual's needs. For example, we may ask you for your name and e-mail address if you wish to personalize your Spokesman.com home page. Some portions of the site may ask you to provide personal financial information (in addition to Personal Information like name and address) over an encrypted connection, enabling you to purchase items online. We may request that you provide Personal Information as part of a contest or promotion.

We use your Personal Information to operate Spokesman.com and other affiliated sites, and we may occasionally inform you of new features, services, and products from S-R.COM Web sites. In all cases, we will explicitly inform you as to the requirement and/or use of requested Personal Information.

REGISTRATION
All users who wish to access paid news content on Spokesman.com are required to register in order to gain access to that portion of our site and must agree with the terms of our Service Agreement. Spokesman.com, along with several other SR.COM affiliated sites, require all registrants to provide a valid e-mail address and a personal password. Users who want online access to paid content on Spokesman.com will be required to provide additional Personal Information, including, but not limited to, home address, home telephone number, home zipcode, newspaper subscriber account number (when applicable), as well as other billing and credit card information. Other demographic information (e.g., country, zipcode, age, sex, job title, etc.) may also be requested from time to time.

COOKIES
We may also place a text file called a "cookie" in the browser files of your computer. The cookie itself does not contain Personal Information although it will enable S-R.COM to relate your use of our Web sites to information that you have specifically and knowingly provided to or requested from us.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND BANNER ADVERTISING
S-R.COM may perform statistical analyses of user behavior in order to measure interest in the various areas of our sites (for product development purposes) and to inform advertisers as to how many users have seen or "clicked" their advertising banners. We also may use demographic and preference information to allow advertising banners on our Web sites to be targeted, in aggregate, to the users for whom they are most pertinent. This means that users see advertising that is most likely to interest them, and advertisers send their messages to people who are most likely to be receptive, improving both the viewer's experience and the effectiveness of the ads. In this statistical analyses and banner advertisement targeting, we will disclose information to third parties only in aggregate form. Personal Information about you as an individual user or viewer of our site will not be provided to any third party without your consent, except under the circumstances described in Compliance with Legal Process below.

DATA SECURITY
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the appropriate use of information, we have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to protect the information we collect online.

COMPLIANCE WITH LEGAL PROCESS
S-R.COM may disclose Personal Information if we are required to do so by law or we in good faith believe that such action is necessary to (1) comply with the law or with legal process; (2) protect and defend our rights and property; (3) protect against misuse or unauthorized use of S-R.COM Web services; or (4) protect the personal safety or property of our users or the public. (Among other things, this means that if you provide false information or attempt to pose as someone else, information about you may be disclosed as part of any investigation into your actions.)

If at any time you believe Spokesman.com or any of its affiliated Web services has not adhered to these principles or if you have questions about our Privacy Policy, you may notify us by e-mail at information@spokesman.com. We will use all commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and correct the problem.

S-R.COM and its affiliated Web services are maintained by The Spokesman-Review and owned by Cowles Publishing Company, 999 West Riverside Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201.

For further information on policies governing S-R.COM Web services, see:
Community Guidelines | Copyright Policy | Forum Standards | Service Agreement