Your AOL services are provided on the following basis:

  • AOL Access Services (including internet access and AOL Talk) by TalkTalk Telecom Limited (trading as AOL Broadband).
  • AOL Web Services, including the AOL Software and Premium Services, are provided by Yahoo EMEA Limited.

To find out how both companies use your personal information, please read the AOL Broadband Privacy Policy which applies to the AOL Access Services; and the Yahoo EMEA Limited Privacy Policy which applies to your use of the AOL Web Services.

AOL Broadband Privacy Policy

 

The AOL Access service is provided by TalkTalk Telecom Limited (trading as AOL Broadband) (“We”, “Us”). We regard our customers' privacy as one of our most important values. We want you to know how we protect customer data and what choices you have about its use. We believe our Privacy Policy should give you confidence whenever you use our services - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year.

We have organised our policy into three parts:

(1) We outline our Seven Principles of Privacy, our core commitment to protect your privacy.

(2) We explain how we implement each principle.

(3) We provide Helpful Tips on how you can better protect your privacy in cyberspace.

OUR PRIVACY COMMITMENT: THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF PRIVACY

We are committed to protecting your personal privacy. Our Seven Principles of Privacy summarise and clarify that commitment: how we safeguard your privacy, how we treat personal information, and what choices you have. We understand that for you to take full advantage of the benefits of this interactive medium, we must do everything we can to ensure that your privacy is secure.

  1. We do not read your private online communications.
  2. We can identify you as an individual when you use the AOL Access Services and we may personalise your experience based such use. We do not give this information out to others.
  3. We do not give out your telephone number, Billing Account information or screen names, unless you authorise us to do so. And we give you the opportunity to correct your personal contact and Billing Account information at any time.
  4. We may use information about the kinds of products you buy from us to make other marketing offers to you, unless you tell us not to. We do not give out this purchase data to others.
  5. We give you choices about how we use your personal information.
  6. We use secure technology, privacy protection controls and restrictions on employee access in order to safeguard your personal information.
  7. We will keep you informed, clearly and prominently, about what we do with your personal information, and we will advise you if we change our policy.

PRINCIPLE 1

We do not read your private online communications.

We honour the confidentiality of our customers' private communications in e-mail (including downloads) and via AOL Talk. We do not read or disclose private communications without your consent to third parties except where we or an entity processing your data on our behalf is compelled to do so by law, or in response to a valid, legally compliant request by a competent authority, to protect the company's rights and property, or during emergencies when we believe physical safety is at risk.

PRINCIPLE 2

Our systems automatically gather information about your use of the AOL Access Services and we may use this together with other aggregated information to improve our services and personalise your experience of the AOL Access Services. We also use navigational information in the aggregate to understand how our customers as a group use the service so that we can make our service better. We may also share this statistical information with our partners or other outside companies, but in doing so, we don't disclose individual names or personal navigational information.

We do not keep track of where you personally go on the World Wide Web.

We may use cookies and other analogous technologies to improve your online experience. You may control your preferences, and find out more detailed information in relation to these technologies here. We may use these technologies to personalise and enhance your experience on our service, including to:

  1. Maintain data that you voluntarily give us about your preferences, such as your personal interests;
  2. Validate participation in select online activities, such as making sure that each person only votes in an online poll once; and
  3. Authenticate your access to your personal data for added security.

The Web sites you visit should have their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of Web sites before providing them with any of your personal data.

PRINCIPLE 3

We do not give out your telephone number, Billing Account information or screen names, unless you authorise us to do so. And we give you the opportunity to correct your personal contact and billing information at any time.

When you join the AOL Access Service, we ask you for your name, address, telephone number, and Billing Account information - including the credit card, bank account, or debit card used to pay for your account. Here is how we protect that information:

  • We will not give out your telephone number or screen names (e-mail addresses), except where needed to deliver a product or service you ordered.
  • We will not give out your Billing Account information unless you authorise it, for example, during an online purchase.

We make lists of customers' contact information available to other companies within the TalkTalk Group of companies and to pre-screened third-party companies who have product or service offers we think may be of interest to you. We also sometimes combine these lists with publicly available information or segment them based on other information, such as when a customer joined us or a customer's computer system type. These lists are never based on a customer's online activities.

You may choose to remove your name and address from the mailing lists we provide to other companies. For more information about your choices, please see Principle 5.

We also collect and use other information for internal purposes. For example, we keep records in your account history of your complaints about other customers' online behaviour, your contact with our Customer Services department and any reported violations of our terms and conditions) that you or someone on your account may have committed. Our systems and software automatically query your computer for information about your computer system such as the speed of your modem, error messages you may have received, or whether you use a particular type of software or hardware to access the internet - to help us fit the service to your individual needs and to help us diagnose problems you may be having with your system.

We have two exceptions to these policies: We will release specific information about your account only to comply with valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order, or in special cases such as a physical threat to you or others.

We provide you with the opportunity to update or correct your contact and billing information that we have on file. Just as you want to make sure that information we have about you is accurate, we want to keep only the most up-to-date information about your account. Therefore, whenever you believe that your contact or billing information needs updating, you can go to Manage Account and make the necessary changes.

PRINCIPLE 4

We may use information about the kinds of products or services you buy from us to make other marketing offers to you, unless you tell us not to. We do not give out this purchase data to others.

Your Purchases From Us 
We may offer users the opportunity to buy merchandise directly from us, such as computer hardware and software, and other products or services. Like other retailers and direct marketers, we record information about such purchases. When you buy from us online, our system automatically gathers purchase data, and we also record information about purchases made through our telemarketing, mail order and other marketing operations.

We may use this information in the following ways:

  1. We review what kinds of products and services appeal most to our customers as a group. This statistical information helps us improve our offerings in the same way that other companies change their catalogue based on what sells best.
  2. We use information such as the number of purchases customers make and the categories of goods and services they buy to make offers to you that we believe will interest you. In addition, we use other information such as when customers joined us, how often they use the service or their type of computer system to make such offers. We also use publicly available consumer data to help us decide which marketing offers to make and which advertising they see.

You may choose not to receive marketing offers from us. For more information about your choices, please see Principle 5.

We do not give out any information about what you, as an individual, purchase from us, except to complete your transactions, or otherwise as set out in this privacy policy. We share with outside companies only statistical information about what AOL Access products or services our customers - as a group - buy.

Your Other Online Purchases Through Our Service
For all other online purchases, be sure to review the merchants' privacy policies and contact them directly if you have any questions. They may have privacy terms that differ from our privacy policy, and they may use personal information which you may provide them differently than our policy permits.

We may be involved in facilitating your purchases from these other companies, but this individual data is not used for any other purpose.

PRINCIPLE 5

We give you choices about how we use your personal information.

You have choices about how the information you have provided may be used by us to make special offers to you. And you can direct us to remove your contact details such as your name and address from mailing lists we provide to selected, pre-screened companies.

To activate any of these marketing preferences, go to http://marketingpreferences.aol.com.

  • You may choose not to receive marketing offers from third parties about their products and services by post
  • You may choose not to receive marketing offers from us by post.
  • You may choose not to receive marketing offers from us by telephone.
  • You may choose not to receive marketing offers from us by e-mail.
  • You may choose not to receive marketing offers from us through online "pop-up screens."

PRINCIPLE 6

We use secure technology, privacy protection controls and restrictions on employee access in order to safeguard your personal information.

We use state-of-the-art technology to keep your personal information - including your billing and account information - as secure as possible. We also have put in place privacy protection control systems designed to ensure that your personal data remain safe and private

Each and every one of our employees must abide by our privacy policy. Only authorised employees and suppliers are permitted to have access to your personal information and such access is limited by need. For example, if you call our Customer Services department with a concern or complaint, the representative is allowed to access only the personal information that he or she needs to address your concern. In addition, any company with which we contracts to be our agent in conducting our business is required to adhere to confidentiality agreements to ensure that your information remains safe and secure.

All our employees are required to acknowledge that they understand and will comply with this privacy policy. Employees who violate our privacy policies are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

We strongly encourage our content, commerce and advertising partners to post clearly their own privacy policies and to have privacy control systems in place to protect your personal information. Be sure to review their privacy policies and contact them directly if you have any questions.

PRINCIPLE 7

We will keep you informed, clearly and prominently, about what we do with your personal information, and we will advise you if we change our policy.

A key part of our commitment to protecting your privacy is explaining to you how we may use your personal information. This privacy policy serves that purpose, and it is accessible through several means within our service. When you register for our service, you are presented with the main terms of our privacy policy and should familiarise yourself with this and all our other policies at that time. In addition, this policy is easily located in our Conditions of Service area.

Whenever we change our policy, we will give you 30 days' notice of those changes through prominent disclosures, including notification on our front screen. If policy changes are substantial, we will notify each of our customers individually through pop-up screens or e-mails. Since pop-ups last only for a limited time, however, you should sign on to your account regularly for these and other important announcements.

Business transfers. The online world and our business continue to evolve, and we may purchase or sell business units, take over other companies, (or we may ourselves be taken over) or carry out corporate reorganisations. In such transactions, customer information may form one of the transferred business assets. Any entity receiving such personal data will remain bound to the Privacy Policy set out here and in the Access Services Agreements.

The Privacy Policy set out above should be should be read subject to the following: We may disclose data about your account if we or an entity processing your data on our behalf is compelled to do so by law or in response to a valid, legally compliant request by a competent authority, or with your consent.

If you'd like to comment on or have questions about our privacy policy, or if you have a concern or policy violation you wish to report, you can write to us at Data Protection, c/o Member Services, AOL Broadband, PO Box 387, Southampton SO30 9AL.

SOME TIPS TO HELP YOU PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY AND SECURITY ONLINE

You can take the responsibility to protect your personal privacy online. Here is a checklist that will help safeguard your privacy and protect the integrity of your computer and AOL Access account. We urge you to print these tips and post them near your computer for you and your children.

  1. Never give your password to anyone online. Never give your billing information except to facilitate a purchase.
  2. Make your password at least 6 characters in length. Create a password that includes a combination of numbers and letters (such as sun8ray or bel3jar2 or 12hat93). Be sure to use different passwords for each screen name on your account.
  3. If you have fallen for an online scam and given out your password, change your password right away. Before you sign off, create a new password for your screen name. Also, change the passwords for any other screen names on your account.
  4. Your computer can catch a virus by simply opening an e-mail, so exercise caution if opening an email from someone you don’t know and consider installing virus detecting software. If an e-mail asks for a password or billing information, or contains a suspicious file attachment from someone you don't know, go to Notify AOL to learn how to report it.
  5. Never download files unless you know what they are and who sent them to you. Computer viruses and destructive programs that could cause your computer to divulge personal information are often transferred in cleverly disguised files.
  6. When you go on the Web, you may want to check the sites you visit to see if they have a privacy policy. Take special care to protect your personal information and your screen name, since the operators of Web sites are not bound by the AOL Broadband Privacy Policy.
  7. Explain to your children that some contests or prize draws provided by other parties could ask them for personal information, and make very clear what information they may or may not provide, under any circumstances.
  8. You can get instructions to report any violation by going to Notify AOL.

The AOL Access Service is provided by TalkTalk Telecom Limited (trading as AOL Broadband) registered in England and Wales with Company Number 04633015 with a registered address at 11 Evesham Street, London W11 4AR.

Please use the dedicated contact details specified above to ensure prompt processing of your requests.