Privacy Policy

---

The information Computer Idiot Technology & Design Services and its subsidiaries providing the services (collectively referred to in this Privacy Policy as “we,” “us,” “our” or other similar pronouns, or (“COMPUTER IDIOT”), collects about you at pcidiot.com or computeridiot.com, and the subdomains thereof (the “Site” or “Website”) is used to administer the Website and to provide information to Website visitors about the Site’s various services and tools, and to provide general news, information, entertainment and eCommerce capability.

What Does This Privacy Policy Cover?

This Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”) applies to your use of the Website. This Privacy Policy does not govern Computer Idiot Technology's treatment of information it collects and receives about you other than through this Website, for example in connection with any other services provided to you by Computer Idiot Technology. Computer Idiot Technology also has a Subscriber Privacy Notice that applies to its subscription new group services, which is found on those specific Website’s.

This Privacy Policy covers how Computer Idiot Technology treats information that Computer Idiot Technology collects and receives about you via this Website, including the personal information we collect through the various features, services, and software that we use to provide the Site to you. Some of these offerings are provided by third parties who may provide you with additional information and choices about your privacy. If you choose to take advantage of these offerings, you should read the privacy policies of such third parties.

How Does Computer Idiot Technology Collect and Use Information About You?

Computer Idiot Technology will not share your personally identifiable information with third parties for their marketing purposes without your consent.

The information learned from this Website’s users will help Computer Idiot Technology provide an enhanced online experience for its users. Computer Idiot Technology tracks certain information about users (as further described below), including, but not limited to, the type of browser being used by the visitor (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer), the type of operating system (e.g., Macintosh, Windows) in use by the visitor and the domain name of the visitor’s Internet service provider (e.g., Spectrum Internet). By having this information, Web pages optimized for a particular visitor’s preferences are automatically made available to that visitor. Other use of this information may include review of the number of visitors to this Site as well other internal and administrative purposes.

Personally identifiable data (as further described below) about visitors to this Site are collected by Computer Idiot Technology, for example, when users register or subscribe for newsletters, accounts or features, change services or service settings on our Website, make online purchases, enter sweepstakes and contests, complete surveys, contribute to a chat room, message board, blog, or other similar open forum on our Website, submit a comment or question to us using a “contact us” or similar feature on our Website, or send us an e-mail, or in any other way submit personal information to us via our Website.

We may use your personally identifiable information to send you notices (for example, in the form of e-mails, mailings, and the like), and otherwise correspond with you, about products, services, companies and events, sponsored by us and others, that we think might interest you.

Computer Idiot Technology sites (other than this Site), as well as any other third party sites linked to from this Site, may each have different privacy policies and practices. Computer Idiot Technology is not responsible for the information practices of non-Computer Idiot Technology sites, or channels or areas of this Site, that are operated by third parties. You should carefully review these other privacy policies in order to determine how each third party may use any personal information you provide.

Here are the types of information Computer Idiot Technology gathers and how this information is used:

Website Usage Information

Computer Idiot Technology receives and stores certain types of website usage information whenever you interact with our Website. Here are the types of website usage information Computer Idiot Technology.

We may use “cookies” to keep, and sometimes track, information about you. Cookies are small data files that are sent to your browser or related software from a Web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies track where you travel on our Web site and what you look at and purchase. They may store, for example, the information in your shopping cart, and/or your username and/or password. All of these purposes serve to improve and personalize your experience on our Website.

Most Web browsers can be set to inform you when a cookie has been sent to you and provide you with the opportunity to refuse that cookie. Additionally, if you have a Flash player installed on your computer, your Flash player can be set to reject or delete Flash cookies (technically known as Flash “local shared objects”). However, refusing a cookie may, in some cases, preclude you from using, or negatively impact the display or function of, the Web site or certain areas or features of the Web site.

Clear GIFs

We may use “clear GIFs” (aka “Web beacons” or “pixel tags”) or similar technologies, in the Website and/or in our communications with you, for example, to enable us to know whether you have visited a Web page or received a message. A clear GIF is typically a one-pixel, transparent image (although it can be a visible image as well), located on a Web page or in an e-mail or other type of message, which is retrieved from a remote site on the Internet enabling the verification of an individual’s viewing or receipt of a Web page or message.

IP Address and Clickstream Data

Our server automatically collects data about your server’s Internet address when you visit us. This information, known as an Internet Protocol address, or IP Address, is a number that’s automatically assigned to your computer by your Internet service provider whenever you’re on the Internet. When you request pages from our Website, our servers may log your IP Address and sometimes your domain name. Our server may also record the referring page that linked you to us (e.g., another site or a search engine); the pages you visit on this Website; the site you visit after this Website; the ads you see and/or click on; other information about the type of Web browser, computer, platform, related software and settings you are using; any search terms you have entered on this Website or a referral site; and other Web usage activity and data logged by our Web servers. We use this information for internal system administration, to help diagnose problems with our server, and to administer our Website. Such information may also be used to gather broad demographic information, such as country of origin and Internet Service Provider.

Ads and Content displayed to you on the Site may be customized to your interests and preferences, based on your personal information and web site usage information, including (but not limited to) non-personally identifying information, which we may obtain from you or from other sources.

Any or all of these activities with regard to web site usage Information may be performed on our behalf by our services providers.

Short Message Service

We may make available a service through which you can receive messages on your wireless device via short message service (“SMS Service”). If you subscribe to one of our SMS Services, you thereby agree to receive SMS Service messages at the address you provide for such purposes from Computer Idiot Technology.

Your wireless carrier’s standard rates apply to these messages, and you may change your mind at any time by following the instructions on the Site or in the message you receive. You represent that you are the owner or authorized user of the wireless device you use to sign up for the SMS Service, and that you are authorized to approve the applicable charges. To use the SMS Service, you must be 18 years of age or older and reside in the United States. You must first register and provide all required Personal Information, which may include, for example, your name, SMS address, wireless carrier and, if fees are applicable to the SMS Service you subscribe to, billing information (either your credit card information or mobile service carrier information if applicable fees will be billed through your carrier). We may also obtain the date, time and content of your messages in the course of your use of the SMS Service. We will use the information we obtain in connection with our SMS Service in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If fees are charged to your wireless account invoice, we may provide your carrier with your applicable information in connection therewith. Your wireless carrier and other service providers may also collect data about your wireless device usage, and their practices are governed by their own policies.

You acknowledge and agree that the SMS Service is provided via wireless systems which use radios (and other means) to transmit communications over complex networks. We do not guarantee that your use of the SMS Service will be private or secure, and we are not liable to you for any lack of privacy or security you may experience. You are fully responsible for taking precautions and providing security measures best suited for your situation and intended use of the SMS Service. We may also access the content of your account and/or wireless account with your carrier for the purpose of identifying and resolving technical problems and/or service-related complaints.

Third Party Ad Services and Providers

We may use third-party advertising services companies to serve ads when you visit our Website. We are not using ad serving companies as of the date of this Privacy Policy, however we may add such companies at a later date, and if we do so we will revise this Privacy Policy accordingly.

These companies may use information (generally not including your name, address email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. These companies may employ cookies and clear gifs to measure advertising effectiveness. Any information that these third parties collect via cookies and clear GIFs is generally not personally identifiable (unless, for example, you provide personally identifiable information to them through an ad or e-mail message). We encourage you to read these businesses’ privacy policies if you should have any concerns about how they will care for your personal information. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, see the Network Advertising Initiative’s consumer Web site at http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising.

Personal Information

Computer Idiot Technology also receives and stores information that may personally identify you. Visitors to the Website who decide to register or login to computerrepairshoppe.com or performance-msp.com in order to request a more personalized Website experience, or accept any of the various promotions and other product or service offerings (i.e., whitepaper downloads) that may be made available on the Website from time to time, may be asked to enter certain types of personally identifiable information that will allow Computer Idiot Technology to provide those promotions and offerings to the visitor. The types of personally identifiable information that may be collected include: name, postal address, email address and phone number; Computer Idiot Technology account number, CPNI customer code, Website login, user ID and/or password information; social security number; short message service or text message address or other wireless device address; instant messaging address; credit card or other payment information; demographic information and/or other information that may identify you as an individual or allow online or offline contact with you as an individual. Certain other information collected, such as security questions, may be used by Computer Idiot Technology to verify your identity in the event that you lose or forget your Website login credentials.

Does Computer Idiot Technology Ever Share Information with Other Parties? Disclosure of Information to Outside Parties:

Computer Idiot Technology will not disclose information about you to any other party except under the circumstances as described below, or as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy or required or permitted by law:

If you give us your consent, we may share your personally identifiable information with third parties (such as co-sponsors of our sweepstakes, contests and other offerings) pursuant to the terms of your consent.

Computer Idiot Technology may share your information with its affiliates, service providers and other third parties that help to operate our business and this Website and deliver the products and services available on or through the Website.

When you contribute to a “public” area or feature of our Website, such as a chat room, bulletin board, blog or other open forum that we may make available on or through our Website, the information that you submit will be made available to other users. For this reason, we recommend that you not submit any sensitive information on these areas of the Site, including your full name, home address, phone number, financial information, or other information that would enable users to locate you.

Computer Idiot Technology provides your information to trusted partners who work on behalf of or with Computer Idiot Technology and under confidentiality agreements. However, these companies do not have any independent right to share this information.

When Computer Idiot Technology believes it should, it will respond to subpoenas, court orders, legal process, and to establish or exercise Computer Idiot Technology's legal rights or defend against legal claims.

Computer Idiot Technology shares information in order to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to Computer Idiot Technology's property or the physical safety of any person, violations of Computer Idiot Technology's terms of use or as otherwise allowed by law.

In the event that Computer Idiot Technology, or any affiliated entity, or substantially all of its assets related to a particular geographical region, are acquired by one or more third parties as a result of an acquisition, merger, sale, reorganization, consolidation or liquidation, user information may be one of the transferred assets.

Security

Computer Idiot Technology will take steps to protect the security and integrity of all sensitive information provided to this Site. However, due to the inherent nature of the Internet as an open global communications vehicle, we cannot guarantee that information, during transmission through the Internet or while stored on our system or otherwise in our care, will be safe from intrusion by others, such as hackers.

You are responsible for maintaining the strict confidentiality of your account password and any Website login or user ID information, and you shall be responsible for any access to or use of the Site by you or any person or entity using your password, login or user ID, whether or not such access or use has been authorized by or on behalf of you.

In the event that we believe that the security of your Personal Information in our possession or control may have been compromised, we may seek to notify you of that development. If a notification is appropriate, we would endeavor to do so as promptly as possible under the circumstances, and, to the extent we have your e-mail address, we may notify you by e-mail.

Computer Idiot Technology online products and services and applications are for the sole use of Computer Idiot Technology customers in managing their accounts and the products and services they receive. If you choose to provide access to certain of your account data to third parties Computer Idiot Technology cannot be held responsible for any release of account or personal data that occurs as a result of such transmissions or access that you provide to others.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

Computer Idiot Technology will occasionally update this Privacy Policy at Computer Idiot Technology's sole discretion. Please check the Website frequently to see recent changes. Such changes and/or modifications shall become effective immediately upon posting thereof. Without limiting the foregoing, Computer Idiot Technology may occasionally notify you by email about changes to the Website and/or this Privacy Policy, or provide notices of such changes by displaying notices or links to notices to you generally on the Website.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, or the privacy practices of Computer Idiot Technology in connection with this Website, you may contact us at info@pcidiot.com

California Residents: Your California Privacy Rights

California law entitles our California customers to request additional information from a business which shares personally identifiable information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. We do not share personally identifiable information with unaffiliated third parties, for their own direct marketing purposes. We may share personally identifiable information with some same-branded affiliates, however, for those affiliates’ direct marketing purposes. If you contact us, we will provide you with the names and addresses of our same-branded affiliates in California and a list of personally identifiable information that we may have shared with them.