What Our Policy Covers

This policy covers how Authors Talent (AT) treats personal information that it collects and receives, including information related to your clients past use of your products and services. We take you and your client’s security and privacy very serionsly. Personal information will be treated as proprietary and will not be divulged beyond what is required to conduct business.

Personal information is information about your clients that identifies their name, address, E-Mail address, phone number, and other information that is otherwise not publicly available. This policy does not apply to the practices of companies that are beyond the functionality of (AT) and how information is handled on the (AT-S) servers.

Security Overview

All of the (AT-S)/(AT) servers are certified as PCI/DSS compliant within the standards set by the credit card industry. They are scanned and re-certified monthly. Authors Talent stores all data behind carefully selected security devices, such as firewalls. All internal communication with the system and communication of private member data, such as credit card information, is transmitted using encrypted protocols. Policies related to staff access to private member data are in place. All data is held in the strictest confidence and protected by the strictest security standards.

Information Collection and Use

(AT) collects personal information when clients register with a company, when they use their products or services, when they visit web pages, and when they place orders. (AT) may combine information collected with information obtained from business partners or other companies. For Example:

  • When (AT) asks for information such as names, E-Mail addresses, zip codes, personal interests, and billing information.
  • We automatically receive and record information in our logs from their browser, including IP addresses, cookie information, and the web pages requested.
  • We may use that information to customize the content seen, fulfill requests for products and services, improve services, contact people, conduct research, and provide anonymous reporting for internal and external clients.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

(AT-S) and (AT) does not rent, sell, or share personal information about you or your clients with other people or nonaffiliated companies. Exceptions are to provide products or services you’ve requested, with your permission, or under the following circumstances:

  • We provide information to trusted partners who work on behalf of (AT-S)/(AT) under confidentiality agreements.
  • These companies may use your personal information to help communicate with you about offers from (AT) and our marketing partners. However, these companies do not have any independent right to share this information.
  • We respond to subpoenas, court orders, legal processes, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims;
  • We believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of our terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.
  • We transfer information about you if we are acquired by or merged with another company. In this event, we will notify you before information about you or your clients is transferred or becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Cookies and Data Stored on Other Computers

(AT) sets, stores, and accesses cookies on other computers, if they have that option enabled. That information is not available for use by any other company except as outlined above. Advertisers or other companies do not have access to (AT) cookies.

The cookies (AT) stores consist of an Account Number. All other related information is stored in a separate secure area on the (AT-S) server.

Other use of cookies, using code not related to (AT) embeded in web pages, is subject to the client’s privacy policies.

Parental Controls

Authors Talent does not offer parental control protections to limit access to materials on this site. We do not feel any information presented on www.ultimateherocontest.com might be deemed harmful to minors.. We also believe it is the responsibility of the parent to maintain open communications with their children so that restricting their access to information is unnecessary.

Confidentiality and Security

We have physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal and merchant card regulations to protect personal and billing information:

  • All of the (AT-S)/(AT) servers are certified as PCI/DSS compliant within the standards set by the credit card industry. They are scanned and re-certified monthly.
  • The (AT-S)/(AT) servers are located in a continuously occupied building with a cypher-lock on the server room door.
  • The (AT-S)/(AT) server is situated behind the best firewall software available and maintained by an expert in the field.
  • Up to date virus protection software monitors all E-Mail and files transferred to the system.
  • All account information is password-protected. Three attempts are allowed before being required to start over.
  • Merchant Account identification is stored in an area on the server that is only accessible from the server keyboard.
  • In sensative areas, we use industry-standard SSL encryption to protect data transmissions. Clients who, for some reason, may not be able to procure their own security certificate are configured to use (AT)’s.
  • All information, other than raw web and error logs, is stored in a separate area on the server that is not accessible via web browser (http or https).
  • E-Mail containing credit card information for the merchant is routed to an account set up for access via https://(AT).com/WebMail.
  • Credit Card and Bank Account information is displayed only on secure (https) pages.
  • Credit Card and Bank Account numbers are never reused via the web. Even with the correct login, customers must retype that information for subsequent purchases.
  • All Credit Card and Bank Account numbers stored in data bases are scrambled for security.

The above also applies to sites using (AT)’s remote mode.

(AT) is compiled software running on a (AT-S) server. The (AT).asp file installed on the client’s web site is a launch script and cannot be modified in any fashion to compomise the operation of (AT).