Groople Privacy Policy (effective Dec. 1, 2003)

The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to disclose what types of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Groople will collect and how that information will be used and shared.

• MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
  You must be a member to purchase on this site and to access certain sections of this site. Member registration is free. During the registration process, we collect basic information about you, such as your name, e-mail address, and password. After registering, you have the option to provide (and store in your profile) additional information, such as your telephone number, credit card information (e.g., credit card number, expiration date, billing address), and information about your group members (e.g., their e-mail addresses, credit card information).
• TRANSACTION INFORMATION
  In order to book a reservation, we require that you provide us with certain information about you and your group members. This may include names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and credit card information, such as credit card numbers, credit card verification numbers, expiration dates, and billing addresses. Most information collected is required to complete the transaction; however, some information may be optional. Each time we ask for information, we will clearly indicate to you if that information is required or not.
• CONTEST/SWEEPSTAKES/SURVEY PARTICIPATION INFORMATION
  We may occasionally offer a contest or sweepstakes to our customers. If you opt to participate in our contest or sweepstakes, you may be asked to provide certain personal information. The types of information collected will clearly be disclosed as part of each contest or sweepstakes. Again, your participation is entirely optional.
• INFORMATION COLLECTED WHEN YOU CONTACT GROOPLE
  When you contact Groople via e-mail, phone, or other means, we collect certain information about you, such as your name, e-mail address, and phone number.
• INFORMATION COLLECTED AUTOMATICALLY
  We automatically collect certain information when you visit this site, such as your IP address, domain name, browser type, operating-system type, and search criteria. We may link that information with your membership information if you choose to become a member.
• THIRD-PARTY PERSONAL INFORMATION
  When you create your profile and/or purchase on this site, you may be asked to provide information about third parties (group members), such as their names, e-mail addresses, and credit card information. It is your sole responsibility to obtain consent from those individuals before you provide their information to us.
• INFORMATION FROM OTHER SOURCES
  To improve services and products offered to you on this site, we may occasionally obtain information about you from other sources, and link that information to your membership and/or transaction information.

• We will NOT sell or rent your personal information to any third parties.
• We will use the membership information you provide to identify you when you log in to the site. We may also use the information stored in your profile to help you book reservations faster and easier by pre-populating your information for you whenever possible.
• We will use the purchase information you provide to facilitate the transaction process. We will share that information with third parties involved in the transaction, such as vendors (e.g., hotels, airlines, rental car companies), travel intermediaries (e.g., tour operators), and transaction-processing companies (e.g., credit card companies).
• If you participate in a contest or sweepstakes, the information you provide us at the time of entry will be used to process your entry. We may share your information with trustworthy third parties to help us facilitate this process.
• We will use the information collected when you contact Groople (e.g., name, e-mail address, phone number) to respond to your request.
• We may use information collected automatically to analyze visitor trends, gather broad demographic information, understand how users are moving throughout the site, and offer customer support. We may also use that information, and/or associated membership information, to determine the content we will provide to you on this site.
• We may occasionally ask trustworthy third parties to provide services for us, such as marketing analysis of the data we collect on this site. In that event, we may share membership or transaction information with that trusted third party. In all such cases, the third party will only have access to information necessary to perform the required service, and will not be permitted to use that information for any other purpose.
• We may disclose your personal information if you violate our Terms of Use, or any law, rule, or regulation, or if required by law or regulatory authority (e.g., court order or subpoena).
• In the event that Groople or this site or certain of our assets are acquired, your personal information may be one of the transferred assets.

• You may receive transaction-related communications from us or third parties performing services on our behalf. These communications, which will be sent to the e-mail address you provide, may include confirmation e-mails and/or e-mail requests for additional information. Occasionally, we and/or third parties involved in the transaction may contact you via phone to discuss important issues related to your transaction.
• If you signed up to receive group-travel-related e-mails, you may periodically receive e-mail communications from us and/or trustworthy third parties with content and/or special travel offers we have determined may be of value to you. These communications are optional, and you may choose to unsubscribe at any time. To unsubscribe, simply visit the “Contact and Registration Information” page in your profile and uncheck the appropriate box.
• If you have contacted us with a question or comment, we may contact you with a response.

• This site requires that your browser accepts cookies. If your browser does not accept cookies, you will not be able to use this site. Cookies are small pieces of information that are transferred via the Internet and stored by your browser on your computer's hard drive. We use this information to determine where you are in the booking process and what content to provide you. We do not store personal information in a cookie, and we do not link a cookie to personal information.

• You may access your membership information at any time by logging in and visiting your profile. You may make changes to any information stored in your profile, as well as unsubscribe from non-transactional e-mail communications.

• We make every effort to protect your personal information. When you send personal information to Groople over the Internet, your data is protected by our state-of-the-art Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to ensure safe transmission. Once we receive your information, we securely store it on our system. Only authorized personnel have access to your information. In addition, certain highly confidential information is encrypted for added protection. As a member, you may only access your information if you know your password; even then, certain information, such as your credit card number, cannot be viewed.

• Some content and/or services on this website may be provided by third parties. We only work with trustworthy third parties. However, please keep in mind that this Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices and/or policies of any companies or entities that we do not own or control, including third parties that we link to. We encourage you to review our partners' privacy policies to understand their policies for collecting, using, and sharing your information.

• Groople reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to revise this Privacy Policy at any time; all such revisions shall be effective when posted.

• If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please e-mail our privacy policy department.