How Highlights Thinks About Privacy and our Privacy Policies

Effective October 8, 2010

Thank you for your interest in our privacy policies. We value your privacy and your children's safety. At Highlights for Children, we care about:

  • Protecting the privacy of children
  • Being open and honest with our customers, and
  • Treating personal information with care and respect

We welcome the chance to share Highlights' wholesome Fun with a Purpose® content with families, and we approach each contact with our customers with care and respect. The policy below explains our practices regarding the safeguarding of personal information and the choices you can make about the way your information is used. We encourage you to read the policy, to manage your communication preferences, and to discuss with your children what information is and is not appropriate to share, both online and off.

Regarding children’s privacy and the special privacy policy for our websites for children HighlightsKids.com and PuzzlemaniaKids.com:

  • HighlightsKids.com was the first website to be accepted by the Children's Advertising Review Unit (operated by the Council of Better Business Bureaus) as a "Safe Harbor" site. As such, we fully comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (the COPPA Rule) as well as with CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising, including the Guidelines for Interactive Electronic Media. More information about CARU and the Safe Harbor program can be found here.
  • HighlightsKids.com offers an e-card tool that enables visitors to create, customize, and send e-cards. A visitor provides only a first name and the recipient's e-mail address. We use the e-mail address for no other purpose.
  • Features such as E-mail the Editors on HighlightsKids.com do require that a child submit an e-mail address in order for our editors to provide an individual response. We use the e-mail address for no other purpose. Other features such as The Arizona Zone on HighlightsKids.com allow children to submit content along with their first name, age, and state, province, or country. Non-personally identifiable information from these features may be posted on our websites or printed in our publications.
  • It's important to note that websites for children under 13 are not permitted to condition a child's participation in an activity on the disclosure of more information than is reasonably necessary.
  • We do collect aggregate information from our websites in order to improve the experiences for our young visitors. Aggregate information is non-personally identifiable. Like many sites, we also use "cookies" and other tracking technologies during a visit to help us understand how people use our websites. Your browser allows you to disable "cookies".
  • As a company dedicated to the needs of children, we also provide tools to help parents encourage children to safeguard their privacy online.

Regarding customer privacy, preferences and shopping on our websites and our general website privacy policy:

  • For all of our other websites that are not focused on children's use, we collect information from our website in order to improve the customer experience and to serve you better. All of our sites collect aggregate information that is non-personally identifiable. We also use "cookies" and other tracking technologies during your visit to help us understand how people use our websites. Your browser allows you to disable "cookies".
  • When you make a purchase or sign up for a newsletter, you provide us information that we use to deliver the services you request, to inform you of new products, services or offers, and to provide you with updates about Highlights for Children. We take our role in holding and using this information seriously. When we select credit card processors, fulfillment and delivery companies, web services and others to help us we select those whom we believe take security seriously. We are committed to using this information within the bounds of the law and using our best judgment. Our Terms of Use policy is incorporated by reference.
  • We encourage you to make decisions about the offers you receive from us and the way your personal information is used. Manage your communication preferences here.
  • If you give us your child's name in connection with an order you place on one of our websites, we keep it on file, but only for the purpose of addressing, never for marketing. We ask for your child's name because many people want their children to experience the thrill of receiving mail personally addressed to them. If you are uncomfortable using your child's name in this context, here are some suggestions.
  • We sometimes make our list of customers' names and addresses available to other carefully selected companies whose products and services we believe might be of interest to you. Be assured this program does not involve children's names (please see the information above regarding children's privacy). If you do not want to receive offers from these other companies, you can opt out of these third party offers at any time.

Thank you for taking an interest in this important topic. If you have additional questions about our approach to privacy, please feel free to contact me:

Garry Brown
VP, INFORMATION SECURITY & PRIVACY
Highlights for Children, Inc.
1800 Watermark Drive
Columbus, Ohio 43215
garry.brown@highlights-corp.com
(614) 486-0631