NCMEC website terms and conditions and privacy policy
Last Revised: May 10, 2013
Please read these Website Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy (collectively, "Site Terms") carefully before using NCMEC's websites (the "Sites"). By using the Sites, you agree to be bound by the Site Terms. If you do not agree with the Site Terms, do not use the Sites.
WEBSITE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
General
The Site Terms apply exclusively to your access to and use of the Sites, including but not limited to www.missingkids.org, www.netsmartz.org, www.nsteens.org, www.kidsmartz.org and form a binding agreement between you and NCMEC. You also agree to be bound by any additional terms that may be posted regarding individual sections of the Sites. Please review NCMEC's Privacy Policy, which also applies to your use of the Sites.
By using the Sites, you agree that (a) all information you submit, if any, is truthful and accurate; (b) you will not submit any personal information if you are under 13 years old; and (c) your use of the Sites does not violate any applicable law or regulation.
NCMEC reserves the right to modify any Site Terms or any policy relating to the Sites, at any time and in its sole discretion. Modifications will be effective immediately upon posting on the Sites. Your continued use of the Sites after the posting of modifications to the Site Terms will constitute your acceptance of such revisions. You should review the Site Terms and applicable policies from time to time to understand the terms and conditions that govern your use of the Sites. If you do not agree to the revised Site Terms, you must stop using the Sites.
Use of Content from the Sites
Unless otherwise indicated, NCMEC or its partners own all content on the Sites, including without limitation all copyrights, trademarks, service marks, designs, text, graphics, layout, logos, pictures, audio/video clips, information or data (collectively, the "Content"). All Content owned by NCMEC is protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws.
Unless otherwise identified as a Permissible Use, no Content can be used commercially, resold, redistributed, reproduced, displayed, republished, digitized, translated, modified, publicly displayed, publicly performed or used for other than its intended purpose. Additionally, you must refrain from any: (a) derivative use of the Content; (b) use of data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods or (c) framing, inline linking or mirroring any portion of the Sites.
Nothing in the Site Terms or Privacy Policy should be construed as conferring in any way any license or right to any of NCMEC's intellectual property rights. NCMEC may terminate your access to the Sites at any time for any reason. You agree that NCMEC shall not be liable to you or any third party for terminating your access to the Sites. Your obligations under the Site Terms, which by their nature are intended to survive termination (such as indemnification) shall survive termination of your access to the Sites.
Permissible Use of NCMEC Banners, Missing Child Posters and Links
NCMEC encourages your use of NCMEC banners, NCMEC missing child posters and links to the Sites (the "Permissible Uses") to promote its mission as the nation's clearinghouse on issues concerning missing and exploited children. For more information on the Permissible Uses, please visit www.missingkids.org/Cybertipline.
You may engage in the following activities relating to the Permissible Uses provided that your use complies with and you agree to the following terms and conditions:
- You will not modify the Content in any way unless specifically authorized in writing by NCMEC.
- You will not delete or alter any copyright, trademark or other intellectual property or proprietary notices contained in the Content.
- You will not use the Content: (i) for any commercial, fundraising or sponsorship purpose; (ii) in any way that may create the impression NCMEC benefits from the sale of your goods or services; or (iii) in any way that may create an impression of endorsement, affiliation, partnership or sponsorship by NCMEC of any individual, entity, product, goods, services, program, event or website.
- You will not use the Content in any way that may tarnish NCMEC's name or reputation, including without limitation any use that NCMEC in its sole discretion determines to be lewd, obscene, vulgar, harassing, defamatory, offensive, objectionable or inconsistent with NCMEC's mission.
- You agree to immediately remove, destroy or refrain from using the Content if instructed to do so by NCMEC.
For further information about Permissible Uses please contact NCMEC's Office of Legal Counsel at The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 333 John Carlyle St, Suite 125, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone number 800-843-5678; legal@ncmec.org.
Reprint Requests
Requests for permission to use or reproduce any NCMEC publications must be submitted to NCMEC's Office of Legal Counsel. Such requests are reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis only so long as the terms and conditions identified in the Reprint Request Form are followed. For further information about Reprint Requests please contact NCMEC's Office of Legal Counsel at The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 333 John Carlyle St, Suite 125, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone number 800-843-5678; legal@ncmec.org.
Trademarks
1-800-THE-LOST®, 2 SMRT 4U®, BLOG BEWARE®, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY TIPLINE®, CLICKY LIVE®, CLICKY'S WEB WORLD®, CYBERTIPLINE®, DELIVER ME HOME®, DON'T BELIEVE THE TYPE®, HDOP: HELP DELETE ONLINE PREDATORS®, HELP DELETE ONLINE PREDATORS®, I-360®, KNOW THE RULES®, LOCATER®, CVIP®, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN®, NETSMARTZ®, NETSMARTZ411®, NETSMARTZKIDS®, NSTEENS®, PICTURE THEM HOME®, PROJECT ALERT®, SEX OFFENDER TRACKING TEAM®, TAKE 25®, THINK BEFORE YOU POST®, TYPE SMART. POST WISELY®, USE YOUR NETSMARTZ® and UYN® and other trademarks, service marks, names, logos or slogans contained on the Sites and owned by NCMEC may not be copied, imitated or used, including any use involving metatags or "hidden text," in whole or in part, without the written authorization of NCMEC.
Sites Linked From This Site; Third Party Content
The Sites contain links to or frame certain third party websites and also contain or link to certain third party information, materials, communications or other content (collectively, "Third Party Content"). Third Party Content is not under NCMEC's control. NCMEC does not authorize links to or use of Third Party Content. NCMEC does not endorse or assume responsibility or liability for or make any representations or warranties regarding Third Party Content or any products or services offered by third parties on the Sites or in Third Party Content. NCMEC does not intend links on the Sites to be referrals to or endorsements of the linked entities or their products or services. Your use of Third Party Content or any third party products and services is at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of the owner of such content.
Feedback and Materials
Questions, comments, suggestions, materials or other communications regarding the Sites or any NCMEC programs (collectively, "Feedback") sent to NCMEC via any medium, including but not limited to email, facsimile or regular mail, shall be deemed non-confidential and become the sole property of NCMEC. You hereby assign all rights in the Feedback to NCMEC. NCMEC shall have no obligations of any kind relating to the Feedback. Without limiting the foregoing, NCMEC shall be free to reproduce, use, disclose, exhibit, display, transform, create derivative works from and distribute the Feedback to others without limitation, acknowledgment or compensation to you. You expressly waive any moral rights you may have in the Feedback.
Disclaimers; Limitation of Liability
All content on the Sites is provided on an "as is" basis without express or implied warranty of any kind, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. NCMEC makes no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any content available through the Sites and makes no representations or warranties that use of the Sites will be uninterrupted or error-free.
In no event shall NCMEC be liable to you or any third party for any losses, including without limitation direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or special damages, arising out of or in any way connected with access to or use of the Sites or an inability to access or use the Sites, even if NCMEC has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless NCMEC, its officers, directors, employees, volunteers and agents (collectively, the "Indemnified Parties") from and against any claims, damages, costs, actions, demands, liabilities, settlements and expenses (including without limitation attorney fees) arising out of or related to your access to or use of the Sites or your inability to access or use the Sites.
Termination; Modification or Removal of Content
Notwithstanding any Site Terms, NCMEC reserves the right, without notice and in its sole discretion, to discontinue the Sites or any services offered through the Sites and to terminate your access to the Sites at any time without notice. In addition, NCMEC reserves the right to delete, edit or modify any and all Content contained on the Sites and any services offered through the Sites at any time without notice.
Governing Law and Jurisdiction
The Site Terms and your use of the Sites are governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without resort to conflict of law provisions. You irrevocably and unconditionally consent and submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the Commonwealth of Virginia over any action or proceeding relating to the Site Terms.
Miscellaneous
The Site Terms set forth the entire understanding and agreement between you and NCMEC with respect to the subject matter hereof. If any provision of the Site Terms is deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then such provision is deemed severed from the Site Terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. No waiver of any Site Terms shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition. NCMEC reserves the right to seek all remedies available at law and in equity for violations of the Site Terms. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.
Questions
If you have questions regarding the Site Terms please contact NCMEC's Office of Legal Counsel at The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 333 John Carlyle St, Suite 125, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone number 800-843-5678; legal@ncmec.org.
PRIVACY POLICY
Maintaining the privacy of your personal information is important to NCMEC. This Privacy Policy describes how NCMEC collects and maintains personal information from the Sites. By visiting the Sites you consent to the practices described in the Privacy Policy. NCMEC's Privacy Policy does not apply to any third party web sites, and third party web sites may have their own privacy policies. NCMEC assumes no liability for how third parties may collect and/or use your personal information
Information NCMEC Collects
You may provide certain personal information, including but not limited to name, street address, email address, telephone number and payment information (when purchasing materials or making donations online), to NCMEC when visiting the Sites. NCMEC may use this personal information periodically to communicate with you concerning NCMEC issues, such as delivering information about upcoming events. NCMEC also collects your personal information if you submit information about a missing or exploited child case through NCMEC's CyberTipline or other portions of the Sites.
NCMEC also may collect technical data from visitors to the Sites, including but not limited to IP addresses and domain names, in order to track the number and frequency of visits NCMEC receives to certain pages of the Sites. NCMEC also may identify the external website link that brings you to the Sites. NCMEC does not associate this technical data with any personally identifiable information in NCMEC's databases unless a security intrusion or other unlawful activity is detected on the Sites.
Information Shared with Third Parties
If you make a report about a missing or exploited child on the Sites and submit personal information, NCMEC will forward that information to the appropriate law enforcement agency for review. If you submit credit card information on the Sites, NCMEC will forward that information to a service that processes the payment or donation. NCMEC occasionally may share aggregated information about visitors to the Sites, which will show visitor activity without identifying particular individual users.
Cookies
The Sites may use Cookies (small text files transferred to the computer you are using to browse the Sites) to enhance your experience when visiting the Sites. Cookies can facilitate navigation of the Sites, including but not limited to saving certain personal preferences regarding your use of the Sites. NCMEC uses cookies to increase the efficiency of certain searches you may conduct on the Sites. You can refuse to accept cookies and still use the Sites, but some portions of the Sites may not function properly without cookies.
Security
NCMEC maintains control of any names, mailing addresses, telephone numbers, or email addresses submitted by users of its website. Access to submitted names, mailing addresses, telephone numbers, or email addresses and personally identifiable information is restricted to NCMEC employees and authorized third party service providers who process donation payments. NCMEC and its authorized third party service providers comply with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards), adopted by the major credit card and financial companies to secure personally identifiable information. The PCI DSS protocols employed by NCMEC and its authorized third party service providers include but is not limited to: establishing appropriate technical, physical and organizational security procedures to protect personally identifiable information against loss, theft, unauthorized use, disclosure, or modification; limited access to storage areas and locked files; use and regular update of anti-virus software on all systems commonly affected by malware; and the use of encryption, secure servers, and unique computer workstation identification and passwords. NCMEC monitors these procedures regularly and when needed to ensure their continued effectiveness.
Information from Children Under the Age of 13
NCMEC requires the consent of parents or guardians in order for children under the age of 13 to use certain features of the Sites. Children under the age of 13 can view content and play certain games on www.netsmartz.org without any personal information being collected. NCMEC does not knowingly solicit or collect personal information from children under the age of 13 except for certain limited activities, such as to receive bulletins from NCMEC or enter a NCMEC contest. In all such instances, the child is required to provide their parent's or guardian's email address so NCMEC can obtain consent from the parent or guardian. At any time a parent or guardian can notify NCMEC that he or she no longer wishes the child to receive information from NCMEC. For more information, please visit www.netsmartz.org. NCMEC encourages children to visit the Sites and learn more about NCMEC's programs, but recommends that parents closely supervise their children's activities on the Sites and on all web sites and talk to their children about restrictions on submitting information online. If you are a child under the age of 13 and have information you would like to report to NCMEC about yourself or another child, please call 1-800-843-5678.
Questions
If you have questions regarding the Privacy Policy please contact NCMEC's Office of Legal Counsel at The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 333 John Carlyle St, Suite 125, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone number 800-843-5678; legal@ncmec.org.