Privacy Policy

The “The Critical Architect” Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use and share personally identifiable information (“PII”) we obtain from and about individuals located in the U.S., both online and off-line.

The Critical Architect is a general audience web site, and does not knowingly collect PII from children under 13 years of age.

From time to time The Critical Architect may revise this Privacy Policy to reflect industry initiatives or changes in the law, our PII collection and use practices, the features of our web sites or technology. If we make revisions that change the way we collect or use your PII, those changes will be posted in the Privacy Policy and the effective date will be noted at the beginning of this Privacy Policy. Therefore, you should review it periodically so that you are up to date on our most current policies and practices. If The Critical Architect materially changes its practices regarding collection or use of your PII, your PII will continue to be governed by the Policy under which it was collected unless you have been provided notice of and have not objected to the change.

COLLECTION: COLLECTION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (“PII”) BY The Critical Architect General. The Critical Architect collects personally identifiable information (“PII” — that is, information such as your full name, email address, mailing address or telephone number) only in order to create or enhance our relationship with you. When we collect PII from you, it is because you voluntarily submit the information to us in order to participate in activities like sweepstakes, contests, games, surveys, forums, subscription registrations, chats or bulletin boards, in connection with content or suggestions you submit to us or because you want us to furnish you with products, services or information. We may also obtain PII from third parties.

Cookies. Cookies are small bits of information that The Critical Architect web sites place on the hard drive of your computer. Cookies remember information about your activities on our site(s) and enable The Critical Architect to make your visits to our site(s) more enjoyable. For example, cookies can store your password for easy logon to a site you have previously visited, can save your preferences for a personalized home page or can track the items you have placed in your “shopping cart” during a visit to our online store. Information about your activities on The Critical Architect sites and other non-personally identifiable information about you may also be used to limit the online ads you encounter to those we believe are consistent with your interests.

Third party advertisements displayed on The Critical Architect’s sites may also contain cookies set by Internet advertising companies or advertisers. The Critical Architect does not control these advertiser cookies and visitors to our web site(s) should check the privacy policy of the Internet advertising company or advertiser to see whether and how it uses cookies (see “Notice” below for more information on third party advertisements).

The Critical Architect may use cookies and similar tools to relate your use of our web site(s) to PII obtained from you or a reputable third party. For example, if you’ve asked us to provide you information about our upcoming products or promotions, cookie and/or click stream data about your activities on The Critical Architect web sites may allow us to limit the materials we provide you to items we think you will find interesting, based on your prior online activities and preferences. However, if The Critical Architect wishes to combine your personal and cookie and click stream information in this manner, we will obtain your express affirmative consent.

You can program your computer to warn you each time a cookie is being sent or to refuse cookies completely. However, without cookies you will not have access to certain features on The Critical Architect’s web site(s), such as interactive “polling” and video player settings.

NOTICE: The Critical Architect Will Provide You with Notice About Its PII Collection Practices
When you voluntarily provide PII to The Critical Architect, we will make sure you are informed about who is collecting the information, how and why the information is being collected and the types of uses The Critical Architect will make of the information.

At the time you provide your PII, The Critical Architect will notify you of your options regarding our use of PII, including whether we will share it with outside companies (See “Choice” below). This Policy describes the types of other companies that may want to send you information about their products and services and therefore may want to share your personal information, provided you have given The Critical Architect permission to do so (see “Use” below).

Sometimes we collect personally identifiable information from consumers in manual format or off-line, such as a post card or subscription form. Providing detailed notice in those situations often proves impractical, so consumers will instead be provided with a short notice that describes how to obtain the full text of this Policy and other relevant information from us.

The Critical Architect’s web site(s) may be linked to Internet sites operated by other companies. Some of these third party sites may be co-branded with a The Critical Architect logo, even though they are not operated or maintained by The Critical Architect (for example: Other Bloggers or News Agencies). The Critical Architect’s web site(s) also carry advertisements from other companies. The Critical Architect is not responsible for the privacy practices of web sites operated by third parties that are linked to our site(s) or for the privacy practices of third party or national Internet advertising companies. Once you’ve left a The Critical Architect site via such a link or by clicking on an advertisement, you should check the applicable privacy policy of the third party or advertiser site to determine how they will handle any PII they collect from you.

The Critical Architect’s web site(s) may also be linked to sites operated by companies affiliated with The Critical Architect. Although all such entities adhere to the group’s Privacy Principles visitors to those affiliated sites should still refer to their separate privacy policies and practices, which may differ in some respects from this Policy.

Some of the advertisements that appear on The Critical Architect’s web site(s) are delivered to you by national Internet advertising and application companies such as DoubleClick. These companies utilize certain technologies to deliver advertisements and marketing messages and to collect anonymous information about your visit to our site(s), including information about the banner ads they display, any cookie they place on your computer and your IP address. To opt out of information collection by DoubleClick, or to obtain information about the technologies they use or their own privacy policy, please visit their web site at: http://www.doubleclick.com/us/about_doubleclick/privacy.

CHOICE: The Critical Architect Will Provide You with Choices About the Use of Your PII
The Critical Architect will not use the PII you provide to us for purposes different from the purpose for which it was submitted or share your PII with third parties that are not affiliated with The Critical Architect unless we obtain your permission.

USE: The Critical Architect’s Use of PII
The Critical Architect will use your PII provided under this Policy in a manner that is consistent with this Policy. If The Critical Architect obtains PII from a third party, such as a business partner, our use of that information is governed by this Policy.

The Critical Architect employees, agents and contractors must have a legitimate business reason to obtain access to your PII. The Critical Architect may share your PII with outside contractors or agents who help us manage our information activities (i.e., sweepstakes administration, order fulfillment, statistical analyses) but they may only use your PII to provide The Critical Architect with a specific service and not for any other purpose.

The Critical Architect may also enter into agreements with outside companies that possess the technology that allows The Critical Architect to customize the advertising and marketing messages you receive on our web sites. Your non-PII and click stream data about your activities on our sites may be shared with these companies so this customization can be accomplished. These companies will not share your information with any third party or use it for any other purposes. Anonymous click stream and demographic information may also be shared with The Critical Architect’s advertisers and business partners.

There may be instances when The Critical Architect may disclose PII without providing you with a choice in order to protect the legal rights of The Critical Architect, agents and contractors; to protect the safety and security of visitors to our web sites; to protect against fraud or for risk management purposes; or to comply with the law or legal process. In addition, if The Critical Architect shall sell all or part of its business or makes a sale or transfer of assets or is otherwise involved in a merger or business transfer, The Critical Architect may transfer your PII to a third party as part of that transaction.

SECURITY: The Critical Architect Protects the Security of PII
The Critical Architect uses reasonable administrative, technical, personnel and physical measures to safeguard PII in its possession against loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure or modification. In addition, The Critical Architect uses reasonable methods to make sure that PII is accurate, up-to-date and appropriately complete. Passwords and other sensitive information stored by The Critical Architect are password protected when stored within The Critical Architect’s online databases.

ACCESS: How to Access, Correct or Delete Your PII
If you are a registered user at The Critical Architect’s web site, you can view your user preferences by following the procedure detailed below.

To access your PII, send an e-mail with the word “Privacy” in the subject line to critic@TheCriticalArchitect.com. The Critical Architect will respond promptly to your request with a list of the PII on file. There may be certain instances when The Critical Architect may not be able to provide the PII, such as when access would violate the privacy of another individual, when access is prohibited by law, or when the PII has been lawfully obtained from third party sources.

In the event the PII on file is incorrect, you may correct the PII by sending a written request for correction to the The Critical Architect “Internet Privacy Officer” at critic@TheCriticalArchitect.com, that includes (1) all of the incorrect PII that you wish to change, (2) the corrected PII and (3) your signature authorizing such changes. The Critical Architect will then correct the PII in its database and send a written confirmation to you promptly.

If for any reason you wish to stop all future communications from The Critical Architect, you may send an e-mail with the word “Privacy” in the subject line to critic@TheCriticalArchitect.com, requesting that your PII be permanently removed from any The Critical Architect database. The Critical Architect will send a written confirmation of such removal to you within fifteen (15) business days of receipt of your request.

REMEDIES AND COMPLIANCE: How to Contact The Critical Architect About Privacy Concerns
If you have concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, your use of the The Critical Architect web site(s), or the collection and use of PII, you may contact the “Compliance Officer” at critic@TheCriticalArchitect.com
You may also request a written response to your concerns, which will be made no later than thirty (30) days after you contact The Critical Architect.