Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy covers what information we collect from you when you visit the Referral Institute site, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it. By using the Referral Institute site, you agree with the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.

The information that we collect

When you use the Referral Institute site, we receive and collect certain information. The information that we receive and collect depends on what you do when you visit Referral Institute.

  • Automatically Collected Information. Some information is automatically received and sometimes collected from you when you visit the Referral Institute site. We receive and collect the name of the domain and host from which you access the Internet; the Internet protocol (IP) address of the computer you are using; the browser software you use and your operating system; the date and time you access our site; and the Internet address of the web site from which you linked directly to our site. We use this information to monitor the usage of our site. Also, when we send emails to you, we may be able to identify information about your email address, such as whether you can read graphic-rich HTML emails. All of the information we automatically capture provides us with the ability to enhance our customers' search and shopping experiences and to determine aggregate information about our user base and usage patterns.
  • Information Collected via Cookies. We use cookies to enhance the browsing and shopping experience on the Referral Institute site. "Cookies" are small files or records that we place on your computer's hard drive to collect information about your activities on the Referral Institute site. The cookies transmit this information back to the computers at Referral Institute or our third-party distributors of banners and newsletters; these computers are, generally speaking, the only computers which are authorized to read such information. The information captured makes it possible for us (i) to speed navigation, keep track of items in your shopping cart, and provide you with custom tailored content; (ii) to remember information you gave to us so you don't have to reenter it each time you visit the Referral Institute site; (iii) to monitor the effectiveness of certain of our marketing email campaigns; and (iv) to monitor total number of visitors, pages viewed, and the total number of banners served.

    Most people do not know that cookies are being placed on their computers when they visit the Referral Institute site or most web sites because browsers are typically set to accept cookies. You can choose to have your browser warn you every time a cookie is being sent to you or you can turn off cookie placement. If you refuse cookies, you will not be able to open a Referral Institute Shopping Cart and therefore will not be able to complete an order with us online. Also, by not using cookies, your overall Internet browsing experience will be affected.

    If you would like to obtain more information about the third-party distributor of banners on the Referral Institute site and to know your choices about having such distributor's cookies turned off, please visit www.privacychoices.org. If you turn off the third-party distributor's cookies, you will still see banners on our site; however, the banners will not be tailored to your shopping experience.
  • Information You Actively Submit to Referral Institute. For most of the browsing services we provide, we neither require nor collect "Personal Customer Information" -- your name, email address, billing address, shipping address(es), phone number and credit card information. You can browse the Referral Institute site and take as much time as you want to view our products and services without having to submit such Personal Customer Information. Even when you use our shopping cart as you browse, there is no need to submit Personal Customer Information.

    In the following instances, however, we do need you to actively submit Personal Customer Information: when you want to create an account or complete an order.
    • Creating a Referral Institute Account. You can create a password-protected Referral Institute account to complete an order or to save items in your shopping cart. To create an account, we require that you provide us with the following Personal Customer Information: your email address (which may not be associated with another active Referral Institute account), and your first and last names. You will also have to create a password.
    • Completing an Order. If you have a Referral Institute account that you want to use to complete an order, we will require you to access that account. We will then use the Personal Customer Information stored in that account to complete the order, or require you to input additional Personal Customer Information such as payment information.

How we use and share Personal Customer Information

Referral Institute does not share Personal Customer Information with third-party service providers, vendors or subcontractors.

  • Credit card companies. Credit card transactions are handled by a third-party financial institution and their vendors, which receive the credit card number and other personal identifying information only to verify the credit card numbers and process transactions.
  • Law Enforcement Investigations. Referral Institute may release Personal Customer Information when we believe, in our good judgment, that such release is reasonably necessary to comply with law, enforce or apply the terms of any of our policies, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Referral Institute, our users, or others.

Communications from Referral Institute

As a Referral Institute account holder, you may receive the following communications from Referral Institute:

  • Communications related to transaction, account and website maintenance activities. By creating a Referral Institute account or making a purchase without a Referral Institute account, you may receive communications from us relating to: order confirmations; order updates; order problems; important website information and material changes to site policies and account management procedures.

Placing an Order Without a Referral Institute Account

You can place an order at Referral Institute without an account at any time. You will need to submit an e-mail address and other Personal Customer Information such as billing address, shipping address, and payment information. Afterwards, with the use of your e-mail address and order number, you will be able to view certain order information in the Order Status section of our website such as the billing address, shipping address, some payment information and order total. If you do not wish to have this information displayed with the use of your e-mail address and order number, please place your order using a Referral Institute account which provides the added security level of password-protected access to such information.

Underage customers

Our products and services are marketed for purchase by adults or with the consent of adults. This is why Referral Institute requires a credit card that has been authorized for use to complete purchases on our site.

Linking to third-party web sites

When you click on links and banners on our site that take you to third-party web sites, you will be subject to the third parties' privacy policies. While we support the protection of privacy on the Internet, Referral Institute cannot be responsible for the actions of any third-party web sites. We encourage you to read the posted privacy statement of any and every site you visit, whether you are linking from our site or browsing on your own.

Changes to Privacy Policy

Referral Institute reserves the right to modify or amend this policy at any time by posting the revised Privacy Policy on our site. The changes will only affect the information we collect after the effective date of the change to our Privacy Policy unless we clearly express otherwise The changes made in this version affects all information we have collected prior to such date.