INTRODUCTION
America’s Best Franchising, Inc. (“ABFI”) and its franchised properties have a strong commitment to providing excellent service to all of our customers, including respecting their concerns about privacy. We understand that visitors to our website may have questions about whether and how this website collects and uses information. Accordingly, we have prepared this statement to inform you of the privacy principles that govern americasbestfranchising.com (including americasbestinn.com and countryhearth.com and use herein of the term “this site” or “this website” or the like shall include any of such sites). Use of this website by you will be deemed as your acknowledgment and acceptance of this privacy statement.
BROWSING
Visitors who browse this website do so on an anonymous basis. We have not configured this website to collect any information from your computer without your input. This means that, unless you voluntarily and knowingly provide us with information, we will not know your identity, your e-mail address, or any other information identifiable to you.
INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP) ADDRESS
An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer every time you browse the Internet. When users request a page from our site, our servers log the user’s current IP address. We use IP addresses to help diagnose problems. We do not link IP addresses to anything personally identifiable. Thus, each user session is anonymous.
INFORMATION
When we need to collect information from you, we will ask you to voluntarily supply us with the information we need. For example, if you would like to make a reservation at one of our hotels, we will ask you for information such as name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, credit card type, credit card number, expiration date and room preference (non-smoking room or no preference) to process your reservation. We will use your e-mail address to send a confirmation and, if necessary, might use the other information to contact you for help to process the reservation. When we ask you for personal data when making a reservation or purchasing a gift certificate, including your name, address and credit card data, it is transferred over a Secured Socket Layer (SSL) line provided you are using a SSL enabled browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Netscape Navigator. This ensures that your information is encrypted as it travels over the Internet. This secure mode is enabled before any such information is transmitted from your computer. You will know you are in secure mode when the padlock icon in the lower right hand corner of the computer screen appears in the locked position. In addition, when accessing a secure server, the first characters of the site address will change from “http” to “https”. After information reaches us it is stored on a secure server that resides behind a firewall that is designed to block access from outside the Company.
We may also ask you to fill out an online customer survey, to obtain your suggestions or comments about your use of our services, or for similar purposes. Providing this information is voluntary. We also, at times, may use an interactive dialogue product to assist visitors while on certain web pages. The content of the dialogue is not identifiable to you unless you voluntarily provide us with your name or other information regarding your identity. The dialogue product is used only to facilitate your visit by providing the additional information you request, and the content will not be stored and used by us except for quality assurance and statistical analysis purposes, so that we can better anticipate our prospective customers’ needs.
COOKIES
Like many companies, from time to time we may use “cookie” technology on our Site. When you visit our site, the cookie tells us whether you’ve visited us before or are a new visitor, where you were referred from and also tells us if you booked. The cookie does not track any personal information about you or provide us with any way to contact you, and the cookie does not extract any information from your computer.
ABFI USE OF INFORMATION
We treat the information you provide to us as confidential information; it is, accordingly, subject to our company’s security procedures and strict corporate policies regarding protection and use of confidential information. Because laws applicable to personal information vary by country, our hotels or other business operations may put in place additional measures that vary depending on the applicable legal requirements. Information is generally processed and stored in the United States, in which data protection laws are not as comprehensive as in the European Union. Information gathered is used only for the purpose for which the information was collected and is not used or shared with other companies not affiliated with ABFI. The personal information you provide to us for making a reservation is made available to the applicable hotel for the purpose of meeting your reservation request. If you cancel your reservation, the information is stored for recordkeeping purposes only and is not accessed again. After completing your stay at a, America’s Best Inn & Suites or Country Hearth Inn & Suites hotel, the information you provide may be used for direct marketing by a America’s Best Inn & Suites or Country Hearth Inn & Suites hotel. ABFI may use the services of a third party for the sole purpose of sending communications to you and other users of our site.
DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION & OPT-OUT
ABFI will not sell, trade, rent or release information you provide through our site to entities outside of the ABFI family of companies and hotels, for use by such non-ABFI related-entities without your approval and giving you the opportunity to opt-out.
LINKS TO OTHER SITES
If you choose to leave this site via links to other non-ABFI, America’s Best Inn & Suites or Country Hearth Inn & Suites hotel sites, including those of advertisers, we are not responsible for the privacy policies or content of those sites, nor are we responsible for the cookies those sites might deposit on your hard drive.
MINORS
Our web sites do not sell products for purchase by children. If you are under 18, you may only use our web sites with the involvement of a parent or guardian.
LEGAL ISSUES
ABFI and its franchises will disclose personal information when required by law or in good faith belief if such action is necessary or desirable to comply with the law, protect or defend the rights or property of ABFI, the site or its users.
PRIVACY STATEMENT CHANGES
In the future, we may need to change the privacy statement for americasbestfranchising.com (including americasbestinn.com and countryhearth.com) and our franchised properties. All changes will be made here (or by such other means as we believe will result in your being made aware of such changes) so that you may readily know what information we gather, how we might use that information and whether we will disclose it to anyone. Changes in the privacy statement will only affect our treatment of information supplied by you to us following the effective date of such changes, i.e., for information supplied by you prior to the change in the privacy statement, we will continue to honor the obligations of the privacy statement, for such information, in effect when the information was originally supplied by you. Information entered or re-entered following a change in the privacy statement will be governed by the new privacy statement.
