Privacy Policy

Effective November 10, 2008.

At Spire, building your trust and protecting your privacy are our highest priorities. Recognizing that the relationship we have with you is our most valuable asset, we are committed to ensuring that you are not only comfortable sharing your information with us, but are 100% confident in Spire's abilities to keep your personal information safe. This policy represents our firm commitment to your privacy and explains the measures we take to protect your information. We appreciate the trust you place in us and hope this policy will help you make informed decisions about sharing your information. If you have any questions or concerns about our policy, please contact us.

Information we collect

In order to participate on Spire, we require that all account holders provide a username and email address. Once you have created an account, you will be asked to sign in with a username and password. Your username will be displayed to all Spire users. Your email address provided as part of registration will never be disclosed to other Spire users.

In addition, any other content becomes viewable by all visitors to Spire and by those with whom users share the content, so please do not include in any information that you do not want others to see.

We also track information related to user behavior on the site such as the pages you view, links you click, and the duration of your visits here. There is also certain standard information that your browser supplies to us when you visit the Spire website such as IP address, browser type, language, referring website addresses, and access time. This information helps us diagnose problems with our server, administer Spire, and otherwise provide the highest possible level of service.

How the information is used

Spire may use information we collect for the following general purposes: to communicate with you, to customize the advertising and content you see, to fulfill your requests for products and services, to improve the services we provide, to conduct research, to provide anonymous and aggregate reporting, to better understand our users interests, or to assist in the development of relationships with partners.

We may occasionally hire another company, or use a trusted partner, to provide limited services on our behalf, and at our direction, such as monitoring the availability of our website or facilitating an email marketing or ad campaign. These companies only have access to the information needed to successfully perform that service for us. They are contractually required to only use that information for a specific purpose, are not allowed to use it for any other purpose, and are required to maintain the confidentiality of the information.

Sharing information

Spire does not rent, sell, or share your personal information, or our user lists, with other people or nonaffiliated companies, except to provide products or services you've requested, when we have your permission, or under the following circumstances:

  • We respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
  • We believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of Spire's terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.
  • We transfer information about you if Spire is acquired by or merged with another company. In this event, Spire will notify you before information about you is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

We also may share aggregated data, as well as the number of users that have been exposed to, or clicked on, advertising, with third parties to help design and promote special content or marketing programs based on the demonstrated interests, trends and activities our members have shown on our website. This data does not identify you as an individual, but compiles statistical information as a whole.

How we protect your information

Spire incorporates industry-recognized safeguards, including firewalls, internal and external resources, and monitoring tools, coupled with security procedures, to secure your information. Our comprehensive data security strategy also includes training our employees on the importance of safeguarding your information.

How you control it

You may makes changes to your email address at any time by emailing inquiries@spire.com with the information you would like ammended. However, once you create your username, you will not be able to change it, so please take note when selecting your username. You may also decide, at any time, to stop the delivery of communications from Spire by following the specific instructions included in the communications. You may cancel your account at any time by sending an email to inquiries@spire.com with the word "cancel" in the subject line.

Spire contains links to other sites. Links to other sites may be provided by Spire or included in posts from other members. Because Spire cannot control the data management practices or policies of third parties, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and/or practices on other sites. When linking to another site, a user should read the privacy policy stated on that site. Our privacy policy only governs information collected on Spire.

Cookies

Similar to other websites, Spire uses cookies to enhance site functionality and the member experience. Cookies are small pieces of information that our website provides to your browser to identify you as a unique user. We use cookies to customize your visit to our website by remembering you and your preferences when you return. You can choose to decline cookies while at Spire, and most browsers allow for a simple procedure to either accept or reject the cookie feature, however, this may limit your ability to access or utilize certain areas or features on the Spire site.

How to reach us

We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy, or feel we have not given you a clear understanding of our privacy practices, please contact us by email or by mail at: Spire, 300 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210 ATTN: Privacy Officer

How you know when we have made changes to our Privacy Statement

We will occasionally make changes to this Privacy Statement and update the effective date at the beginning of this statement. If we make a material change that impacts how we will use your personal information, then we will notify you by email.