Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy of The Howard Company and it’s Associated Brands

Brookfield, WI

To Our Customers:

Your privacy is important to us, and maintaining your trust and confidence is one of our highest priorities.  We respect your right to keep your personal information confidential and understand your desire to avoid unwanted solicitations.  We are happy to disclose our privacy policy to our website users.  We hope that by taking a few minutes to read it, you will have a better understanding of what we do with the information you provide us and how we keep it private and secure.

Collection of Personal Information

In general, you can browse our web pages without providing or submitting any personal information. When you engage in certain activities on this site however, such as ordering products, or requesting a design, The Howard Company, Inc. may ask you to provide certain information about yourself by filling out and submitting an online form. Personal information can include your name,  your home  address and zip code, home  telephone number, fax number, and email address. To provide you with product information and design services, we may require that you provide us personal information, such as your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and other personal identifying information. When ordering products on the linked website, you will be asked to provide a credit card number through a secured payment service. All information with regard to financial data will be transmitted to The Howard Company, Inc. through the use of secure, certified transfer means. We will not ask for your social security number or for information not directly related to providing you with design services or products you request.

When you submit personal information to The Howard Company, Inc., you understand and agree that The Howard Company, Inc. may use this information to send future mailings, by post or electronic means. These mail pieces will be in regard to The Howard Company’s products and services, in form of product upgrade information, new product releases, or newsletters. We restrict access to nonpublic personal information about you to employees of our company and other parties who must use that information to provide services to you. We also maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards in compliance with applicable laws and regulations to guard your personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, or premature destruction. The Howard Company, Inc. will not transfer, sell, or distribute any of the collected personal information to any other agency, affiliate, or subsidiary. We do not sell advertising space on our web pages to other companies. Visits to our web pages are non-identifying and data is used for tracking visitor interests only.

The Howard Company, Inc. recognizes and appreciates the importance of responsible use of this information. If you do not want the information you provide to The Howard Company, Inc. to be used to inform you of other products and special offers from The Howard Company, Inc. and you indicate this preference when you provide the information to The Howard Company, Inc., The Howard Company, Inc. will honor your preference. You may also reply to any email message, at any time, with an indication to be removed from future email messages.

Internet Users - Cookies, Internet Protocol (IP) Address, Aggregate Information

Cookies - in addition to Personal Information, we use data collection devices such as "cookies" on certain web pages to help analyze our web page flow and measure promotional effectiveness. Cookies are pieces of information a website sends to an individual’s hard drive while they are viewing the website. Cookies allow the website to remember important information that will make your visit to the site more useful. We use cookies to help improve your future visits. If you do not wish to receive a cookie or if you wish to set your browser to warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or if you wish to turn off all cookies, use the options on your browser to assist you. The “Help” option on your browser may assist you in changing your cookie preferences. Please note that by turning cookies off, you will not have access to many features available on our website.

Web Beacon - Also called a Web bug or a pixel tag or a clear GIF.  We use pixels tags or transparent GIF files, to help manage our online advertising and promotions.  These tags collect anonymous (not personally identifiable) information about which advertisements and promotions bring users to our website.  With both cookie and tag technology, the information that we collect and share is anonymous and not personally identifiable. It does not contain your name, address, telephone number, or email address.

Used in combination with cookies, a Web beacon is an often-transparent graphic image, usually no larger than 1 pixel x 1 pixel, placed on a Web site or in an e-mail used to monitor the behavior of the user visiting the Web site or sending the e-mail. When the HTML code for the Web beacon points to a site to retrieve the image, at the same time it can pass along information such as the IP address of the computer that retrieved the image, the time the Web beacon was viewed and for how long, the type of browser retrieving the image and previously set cookie values.

Web beacons are typically used by a third-party to monitor the activity of a site. A Web beacon can be detected by viewing the source code of a Web page and looking for any IMG tags that load from a server different from the rest of the site. Turning off the browser's cookies will prevent Web beacons from tracking the user's activity. The Web beacon will still account for an anonymous visit, but the user's unique information will not be recorded.

Internet Protocol (IP) Address - an Internet Protocol (IP) Address is associated with your computer's connection to the internet. The Howard Company Inc. may use your IP address to help diagnose problems with The Howard Company’s server, to administer the Website and to maintain contact with you as you navigate through the Website. Your computer's IP address also may be used to provide you with information based upon your navigation through the Website. The Howard Company Inc. does not link IP addresses to any Personal Information.

Aggregate Information – is used to measure the visitors’ interest in, and use of, various areas of the Website and the various programs that The Howard Company, Inc. administers, The Howard Company, Inc. will rely upon aggregate information, which is information that does not identify you, such as statistical and navigational information. With this aggregate information, The Howard Company, Inc. may undertake statistical and other summary analyses of the visitors' behaviors and characteristics. Although The Howard Company, Inc. may share this aggregate information with third parties, none of this information will allow anyone to identify you, or to determine anything else personal about you.

Children and Data Collection

The Howard Company, Inc. adheres to the federal privacy protection standards as stated in the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). We care about the safety of children. We will not knowingly allow anyone under 13 to provide us any personally identifying information. Children under 13 years of age are required to obtain the express permission of a parent or guardian before submitting any Personal Information about themselves (such as their names, e-mail address, and phone number) over the Internet. If a child has provided us with personally-identifiable information without the consent of a parent or guardian, the parent or guardian of that child should contact the Privacy Officer immediately atprivacyofficer@howardcompany.com. We will use reasonable efforts to promptly delete the child's information from our servers.

Collection and Use of Employee Personal Information

The Howard Company, Inc. also collects Personal Information from its employees and applicants (human resource data) in connection with administration of its Human Resources programs and functions. These programs and functions include, but are not limited to: job applications and hiring programs, compensation and benefit programs, performance appraisals, training, access to The Howard Company Inc. facilities and computer networks, employee profiles, internal intranet employee directories, Human Resource recordkeeping, Affirmative Action data, and other employment related purposes.

It is the policy of The Howard Company Inc. to keep all past and present employee information private from disclosure to third parties. There are certain business related exceptions and they are:

  1. To comply with county, state or federal agency requests;
  2. Inquiries from third parties with a signed authorization from the employee to release the information, except in situations where limited verbal verifications are acceptable (see below);
  3. Third parties with which The Howard Company Inc. has contractual agreements to assist in administration of company sponsored benefits.

Verification of Employment

Prospective employers, financial institutions, and residential property managers routinely contact The Howard Company Inc. requesting information on a former or current employee's work history and salary. All such requests of this type shall be referred to and completed on a confidential basis by the Human Resources Department or Payroll Department.

For written verification of employment requests, information will be provided on the form only when it is accompanied by an employee's signed authorization to release information. The form will be returned directly to the requesting party and filed as part of the Human Resources or Payroll Department’s confidential records.

Medical Information

The Howard Company, Inc. is compliant with federal HIPAA regulations and only utilizes information related to the company sponsored healthcare plan on a "need to know" basis for administration of the healthcare plan.

Opt-Out of Email and Mobile Updates

You may have the opportunity to elect to receive email communications from The Howard Company, Inc. The Howard Company Inc. will only email you or send you mobile alerts if you elect to receive them. If you elect to receive email communications, The Howard Company, Inc. will send you occasional updates about new additions to the Website as well as special offers and promotions of which you can take advantage. If at any time you decide you would rather not receive these types of communications from The Howard Company Inc., you can opt-out by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any The Howard Company Inc. email, update the contact preferences for your account, or contact the Privacy Officer atprivacyofficer@howardcompany.com.

Security

We endeavor to protect your Personal Information using physical, electronic or procedural security measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information in our control. These measures include safeguards to protect Personal Information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use and modification.

We safeguard your Personal Information on the Internet by using industry-standard practices. Although "guaranteed security" does not exist either on or off the Internet, we make commercially reasonable efforts to make the collection and security of such information consistent with our Privacy Policy and all applicable laws and regulations. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards as appropriate to safeguard your Personal Information.

Currently, our website utilizes a variety of different security measures designed to protect Personal Information by users both inside and outside The Howard Company Inc, including the use of encryption mechanisms (e.g., Secure Socket Layers or SSLs), password protection, and other security measures to help prevent unauthorized access to your personally identifiable information. This helps maintain the confidentiality, privacy, and integrity of your transactions, and helps to protect your confidential information - such as credit card numbers, online forms and financial data, from loss, misuse, interception and hacking.

Storage, Retention and Accuracy of Personal Information

The Howard Company Inc. ensures personal Information is safeguarded against loss, access, use, modification, disclosure or other misuse. All reasonable steps are taken to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of your Personal Information.

The Howard Company Inc. will retain your Personal Information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected and to comply with applicable laws and your consent to such purpose remains valid after termination of our relationship with you.

We take all reasonable steps to insure your Personal Information is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading.

California Privacy Rights

Under California’s “Shine the Light” law, California residents have the right to request in writing from businesses with whom they have an established business relationship (1) a list of the categories of personal information, such as name, address, e-mail address, and the type of services provided to that customer, that a business has disclosed to third parties (including affiliates that are separate legal entities) during the immediately preceding calendar year for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes, and (2) the names and addresses of all such third parties. To request the above information, please email the Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@howardcompany.com or write to us at:

The Howard Company, Inc.
1375 North Barker Road
Brookfield, WI 53045
USA
Attention: California Disclosure Information

We will respond to such written requests within 30 days following receipt at the mailing address above. We reserve the right not to respond to requests submitted other than to the address specified above or otherwise exempted by law. Please note we are required only to respond to each customer once per calendar year.

Updating Your Personal Information

You have the right to ensure that The Howard Company, Inc. has the most accurate and current information with regard to your personal information. This may be accomplished either by sending us an email message or by writing to The Howard Company, Inc. with the information to be updated:

Email:  privacyofficer@howardcompany.com

The Howard Company, Inc.
1375 North Barker Road
Brookfield, WI 53045
USA

Please include your name, address, and/or e-mail address when you contact us.

Links to Non-Howard Company Inc Web Sites and Third Parties

Please note www.howardcompany.com websites may contain links to other websites for your convenience and information. The Howard Company Inc. does not control those sites or their privacy practices, which may differ from www.howardcompany.com. The Howard Company’s privacy policy cannot and does not apply to external websites. We do not endorse or make any representations about third party websites. The personal data you choose to give to unrelated third parties is not covered by The Howard Company Inc privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any company or website before submitting your Personal Information. Some third parties may choose to share their personal data with The Howard Company Inc.; that sharing is governed by that third party company’s privacy policy.

LAST UPDATED:  4/19/12