Merion Matters values its customers and respects their privacy. We are committed to protecting your privacy and the information you give us. We collect customer information in an effort to improve your shopping experience and to communicate with you about our products, services, and promotions. Merion Matters recognizes that it must maintain and use customer information responsibly. Your privacy is important to us.

This Privacy Statement discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices of Merion Matters in connection with advanceWeb.com and all other Web sites owned and operated by Merion Matters. Merion Matters can be contacted by mail at 2900 Horizon Drive, King of Prussia, PA 19406, attention Manager, Public Relations, by phone at 610-278-1400, or by e-mail at advance@merion.com .

1. Collection of Personal Information from Site Visitors
Merion Matters may collect and/or track (1) the home server domain names, e-mail addresses, type of client computer, files downloaded, search engine used, operating system, and type of Web browser of visitors to Merion Matters Web site, (2) the e-mail addresses of visitors who communicate with Merion Matters via e-mail, (3) information knowingly provided by the visitor in online forms, registration forms, surveys, e-mail, contest entries, and other online avenues (including demographic and personal profile data), and (4) aggregate and user-specific information on which pages visitors access.

Merion Matters may place cookies on the visitors’ computer to gather statistical information that is designed to assist in understanding what users find interesting and useful on our Web sites. A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identifier (e.g., #12489) that is sent to your browser from a Web server and then stored onto your computer's hard drive. When the visitor revisits Merion Matters Web site, Merion Matters may recognize the visitor by the Internet cookie and customize the visitor's experience accordingly. Through modification of browser preferences, a user can elect to accept all cookies, receive notification when a cookie is set or decline all cookies. Alterations to these settings may, however, affect the functionality of certain Web sites. We may also embed a piece of code (sometimes referred to as "1x1 clear pixel," "Web beacon" or “clear GIF”) in the pages of certain Web sites in order to gather additional statistical site usage information.

When a visitor performs a search within Merion Matters Web site, Merion Matters may record information identifying the visitor or linking the visitor to the search performed. Merion Matters may also record limited information for every search request and uses that information only to solve technical problems with the service and to calculate overall usage statistics.

2. Use of Personal Data Collected
Personal data collected by Merion Matters may be used by Merion Matters for many reasons, for example, for editorial and feedback purposes, for marketing and promotional purposes, for a statistical analysis of users' behavior, for product development, for content improvement, or to customize the content and layout of Merion Matters site. Aggregate data on visitors' home computers may be used for internal purposes or provided to third parties such as marketing firms. Individually identifying information, such as names, postal and e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and other personal information which visitors voluntarily provide to Merion Matters may be (i) added to Merion Matters databases and used for future calls and mailings regarding site updates, new products and services, and upcoming events, or (ii) provided to reputable third parties who provide products and services which Merion Matters believes that visitors may be interested in purchasing or obtaining.

3. Disclosure of Personal Data to Third Parties
Any third party to which Merion Matters shares, rents, sells, or otherwise discloses personal data for marketing purposes will be under a contractual obligation to use the personal data solely for marketing products and services which Merion Matters determines, in its sole judgment, that visitors might find of interest. Merion Matters will use its reasonable efforts to identify whether such third parties may have products or services of interest to visitors to Merion Matters site. However, such parties are independent third parties over which Merion Matters exercises no control, and therefore Merion Matters is not responsible for their conduct, products, or services, and will not be liable therefore. Merion Matters will only disclose to third parties information in aggregate form, that is publicly available, and/or that is knowingly and voluntarily disclosed by visitors. Data collected during the registration to obtain access to events and materials sponsored or provided by third parties will be provided to those third parties for their use.

4. Security Measures
Merion Matters has implemented numerous security features to prevent the unauthorized release of or access to personal information. For example, all Merion Matters employees are required to certify their understanding that personal information is considered confidential, that it is important to safeguard personal information, and that Merion Matters will take appropriate action against any employee who fails to acknowledge these facts or adhere to the requisite standards of conduct. Merion Matters uses industry-standard secure software technology, Secure Socket Layer (SSL), to protect the information you enter on your online order is transmitted securely from your Web browser to our facilities. SSL (https) encrypts your order information and protects your information from being seen by unauthorized individuals. Secure Socket Layer provides our customers the highest level of security. Please be advised, however, that the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to/from our Web sites via unsecured pages on the sites or via e-mail cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, Merion Matters is not responsible for the security of information transmitted via the Internet unless it is transmitted on secure Web pages and indicated by the SSL (https) indication in your Web browser. For more private communication, visitors can contact Merion Matters by telephone.

5. Opt-Out Right
Visitors may opt out of having their personally identifiable information retained by Merion Matters, used by Merion Matters for secondary purposes, disclosed to third parties, or used by Merion Matters or third parties to send promotional correspondence to the visitor by contacting Merion Matters via postal mail, e-mail, or telephone at the addresses above. (This does not apply to collection of the type of Web browser of visitors to Merion Matters Web site.)

6. Collection of Personal Data from Children
To the extent that Merion Matters is able to determine the age of users by their submissions to or communications with Merion Matters Web site, Merion Matters will not knowingly (a) collect or post information from individuals under the age of sixteen ("children") without their parent's or guardian's consent, or (b) provide any personally identifying information collected from children, regardless of its source, to any third party for any purpose whatever.

If registration is required for any services on the Merion Matters Site, and a user submits information to Merion Matters Web site through such a registration process that indicates that such user is a child, the child's parent or guardian will be alerted to the child's registration and will be provided instructions on how the parent or guardian can delete the child's registration, if so desired. No information collected through Merion Matters Web site from users self-identified as children will knowingly be used for any direct marketing or promotional purposes. If there are no age restrictions on a contest which requires registration, and if a child wins, notification and prizes will be sent to the parent(s) or guardian(s) identified in the initial registration process.

7. Merion Matters Right to Contact User
Merion Matters reserves the right to contact site visitors regarding account status and changes to the subscriber agreement, privacy statement, or any other policies or agreements relevant to site visitors.

8. Merion Matters Right to Change Privacy Statement
Merion Matters reserves the right to change this Privacy Statement at any time by notifying visitors of the existence and location of the new or revised privacy statement. Any change to this Privacy Statement shall be effective as to any visitor that has accepted the Merion Matters Web Site Terms and Conditions before the change was made.