Privacy Policy

Shopping-in-Beijing knows that you care about how your personal information is used and shared, and we take your privacy seriously. Please read the following to learn more about our privacy policy. By visiting the Shopping-in-Beijing website, you are accepting the practices outlined in this Privacy Policy.

What Does This Privacy Policy Cover?

This Privacy Policy covers Shopping-in-Beijing's treatment of personal information that Shopping-in-Beijing gathers when you are on the Shopping-in-Beijing website and when you use Shopping-in-Beijing services.

This policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that Shopping-in-Beijing does not own or control, or to individuals that Shopping-in-Beijing does not employ or manage.

What Personal Information About Users Does Shopping-in-Beijing Collect?

Our primary goal in collecting personal information is to provide you with a friendly, customized, and efficient experience. We only collect personal information that is relevant to the purpose of our website. We do not process this information in a way that is incompatible with the purpose for which it has been collected or subsequently authorized by you. We collect the following types of information from our users:

1. Information You Provide to Us:
   We receive and store any information you enter on our website or provide to us in any other way. You can choose not to provide us with certain information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of many of our special features. The personal information you provide is used for such purposes as:
   • Registration: In order for you to use Shopping-in-Beijing services, such as submitting new links to the website, you must complete a registration form. As part of this registration form, we require your email address.
2. Automatic Information:
   • We receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with us. Shopping-in-Beijing automatically receives and records certain "traffic data" on our server logs from your browser including your IP address, Shopping-in-Beijing cookie information, and the page you requested. Shopping-in-Beijing uses this traffic data to help diagnose problems with its servers, analyze trends and administer the website.
   • Shopping-in-Beijing may also add on any page display the total counts that page has been viewed. This includes member profile pages.
   • Social sharing of data: Shopping-in-Beijing allows other users to browse stories that you have dugg, submitted, blogged, or commented on. This information is made available via your member profile (Shopping-in-Beijing.com/users/username), on the Shopping-in-Beijing spy page (Shopping-in-Beijing.com/spy) or within the permalink URL of the story in which you performed the action on. Shopping-in-Beijing may choose to post this data on other site features in the future.
   • Profile information: Shopping-in-Beijing allows other users to browse your full name, location, and instant messaging URL, within your member profile should you provide this optional information.
   • Syndication: Shopping-in-Beijing allows for the RSS syndication of all of its public content within the website.
   • Friends Data: Much like other social services Shopping-in-Beijing allows non-friends to browse through your friends activities (Shopping-in-Beijing.com/users/usersname/friends).
   • API: Shopping-in-Beijing will allow 3rd parties access to all Shopping-in-Beijing data this is already publicly available through Shopping-in-Beijing.com. Shopping-in-Beijing will forever keep private passwords and blog settings.
   • Many companies offer programs that help you to visit websites anonymously. While Shopping-in-Beijing will not be able to provide you with a personalized experience if we cannot recognize you, we want you to be aware that these programs are available.

What About Cookies?

• Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser to enable our systems to recognize your browser and tell us how and when pages in our website are visited and by how many people. Shopping-in-Beijing cookies do not collect personal information, and we do not combine information collected through cookies with other personal information to tell us who you are or what your screen name or email address is.
• The "help" portion of the toolbar on the majority of browsers will direct you on how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to command the browser to tell you when you receive a new cookie, or how to fully disable cookies. We strongly recommend that you leave the cookies activated, however, because cookies enable you to take advantage of some of Shopping-in-Beijing's most attractive features.
• Some of our business partners may use cookies on our website (for example, advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies.

Will Shopping-in-Beijing Share Any of the Information it Receives?

Information about our users is an integral part of our business. We neither rent nor sell your personal information to anyone. We share your personal information only as described below.

• Shopping-in-Beijing Personnel:
  Shopping-in-Beijing personnel (including, for the avoidance of doubt, consultants and/or contractors) may have access to user information while carrying out their duties in the normal course of Shopping-in-Beijing business.
• Business Transfers:
  In some cases, we may choose to buy or sell assets. In these types of transactions, user information is typically one of the business assets that is transferred. Moreover, if Shopping-in-Beijing, or substantially all of its assets, were acquired, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred.
• Protection of Shopping-in-Beijing and Others:
  We may release personal information when we believe in good faith that release is necessary to comply with that law; enforce or apply our conditions of use and other agreements; or protect the rights, property, or safety of Shopping-in-Beijing, our employees, our users, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection and credit risk reduction.
• With Your Consent:
  Except as set forth above, you will be notified when your personal information may be shared with third parties or used for a purpose incompatible with the purpose(s) for which it was originally collected, and you will be able to prevent the sharing of this information by opting out.

Is Information About Me Secure?

• Your Shopping-in-Beijing account information is protected by a password for your privacy and security. You need to work to protect against unauthorized access to your password and to your computer by logging off once you have finished using a shared computer.
• Only employees who need personal information to perform a specific job (for example, a customer service representative) are granted access to it. All of our employees are kept up to date on our privacy and security practices.

Can Children Use Shopping-in-Beijing's Services?

You must be 13 years and older to register to use the Shopping-in-Beijing website. As a result, Shopping-in-Beijing does not specifically collect information about children.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

Shopping-in-Beijing may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time, at its sole discretion. Use of information we collect now is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such information is used. If we make changes to the Privacy Policy, we will notify you by posting an announcement on the Shopping-in-Beijing website so you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances if any, it is disclosed.

Conditions of Use

If you decide to visit Shopping-in-Beijing website, your visit and any possible dispute over privacy is subject to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use, including limitations on damages and arbitration of disputes.

Effective Date of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is effective as of August 1, 2007