At Design4Effect we recognize the legitimate concern our clients have for privacy. Visitors to our web site and users of our services demand a non-disclosure policy and indeed, the very nature of our business demands the highest degree of confidentiality. Except under extraordinary circumstances such as ordered by a Court of Law or to prosecute persons breaching the security of our network our policy is not to disclose any information about anyone without that party's explicit consent.

Virtually all web servers in operation today generate Log Files that store records of visitor activity on the server. These log files are fed by information your browser sends when you request a page from the server. Among other things, this information includes:

	The name of the web site you are attempting to communicate with
	The file name of the page within that site being requested (if not the default)
	The name and version of the operating system your computer is running
	The brand and version of browser you are running
	Your IP Address (numeric value that uniquely identifies you on the internet)
	The address of the page linking you to the page you are now requesting
	Possibly a Cookie (see below)

This information is relatively harmless since it by no means (other than if you have a fixed IP address which is unlikely) uniquely identifies you on the internet. It's main use is in generating statistical reports including the number of visitors to the site, regions the visitors are connecting from (by location of the service provider), pages being retrieved, and the time and date of the request. Other uses include diagnostics in case of server failure, tracking in case of server abuse, and browser detection for sites wishing to deliver browser specific content.

As with most servers we save this information and use it for both protecting our network and maximizing the quality of service to our visitors.

Cookies are bits of information that web sites direct your computer to save while visiting the site. They are not viruses, trojans, or executable programs of any kind but are simply text files containing variable/value pairs such as 'Name=John Doe'. Cookies have associated with them an expiry date so that if the cookie isn't updated by you visiting the site again before the expiry date (most commonly 30-90 days), your computer will erase the cookie. Cookies are a concern to internet users for the following reasons:

For now, cookies are a necessary evil. They do provide some security in the sense that the information is stored on your computer rather than who knows where.

We use cookies to maintain session state so that your preferences can be remembered while visiting this site.

Queried data is text you type in and submit to a server while visiting a web site. This data may include your name, e-mail address, phone number, or credit card and shipping information entered when ordering products and services online. Virtually anything you type in whether as a result of a dialog box or a form being filled in is queried data.

For general information, we save the typed entries so that next time they are required they can be filled in automatically by the server rather than having the user reenter them. This makes our server much friendlier and easier to use for repeating visitors. This is not unlike your browser itself which saves the names of the most recent sites visited as well as other data to make the browser easier to use.

No credit information is ever retained on our internet servers. While this may force the user to reenter the information every time a credit card is required it is the best way to ensure that the information cannot be compromised.

Any messages sent to us through the web site are posted immediately to our mail server where they are picked up and read by the parties concerned after which they are disposed of.

Any messages posted on our message boards stay on the server only till the message expires at which time they are erased to make room for new messages.

The purpose of this web site is to provide an information service for it's users. There are no fees for the use of this site and everyone is welcome. Given however, that there is a percentage (albeit small) of users on the internet who's sole purpose is to disrupt the quality of service for others, we have taken measures to protect ourselves against such users.

Certain portions of our web site are designated 'Members Only'. There are no fees or obligations to become a member, just that you identify yourself by providing some very basic name and contact information. For us, this indicates that you are a person willing to held accountable for your actions on this web site and for that, you are granted regular user privileges on the site.

Among other things, members have much more available on the forum including the ability to create closed user groups and voting privileges.

We cannot and do not accept any responsibility for the security and privacy policies of any external web sites linked to through this site. Our policy only applies to the content and operations of Design4Effect.com.

This site has an integrated forum where users can exchange thoughts and ideas, sound off, or get advice and assistance. Please remember that any information posted in the public forums becomes viewable by all visitors to the site. Private forums can be started by any member to limit accessibility of their messages. In either case, exercise caution when deciding to disclose personal information.

Non-private concerns regarding this web site can be posted on the forum where other users may be expressing the same concerns or already have the answer.

To contact Design4Effect directly regarding this privacy policy or any other aspect of our operations, please use the following:

Design4Effect
154-1641 Lonsdale Avenue
North Vancouver, BC, V7M 2J5

feedback@design4effect.com