Privacy Policy Overview
Athena Partners understands your need to maintain your privacy when using the Internet for information and resources. This Privacy Policy ensures that you are aware of our approach to privacy issues as well as the collection and use of data through our website.

Athena Partners holds deep respect for individual privacy and we are committed to ensuring that private information remains private. You do not need to submit any personally identifiable information to make general use of our website and we keep no records, other than general traffic statistics, of your visit without your explicit permission. Remember, though, that while we do everything in our power to protect information that you have shared with us, "perfect security" does not exist on the Internet.

We ask you for your personal information when you sign up for our mailing list, including your name, email address, and zip code. We use this information for administering our communications programs and it enables us to personalize our emails, to ensure correct email distribution and to tailor information for you based on your general location. When you sign up for our email list, you are giving us explicit permission to send periodic email communications to you directly. We also provide you with the opportunity to unsubscribe from receiving communications.

We also may periodically ask you various questions about your interests or preferences, either though emails or through interaction on our site, to help us maximize the value of our services to our users. We use this information to guide the future development of our products and our website and to develop new features or services. We analyze responses to such questions on an aggregate basis only; we never review individual responses in a personally identifiable form.

We do not sell or release personally identifiable information of any kind in our normal course of business operations. Any personally identifiable information shared with third parties will be done so only with your explicit written permission. We may need to share individual information with outside vendors for fulfillment purposes on sweepstakes and contests, but we also ensure that there is no further re-marketing using that information. Further, we may periodically share aggregated information about our users with partner companies. If you have given us your permission, we may share your information with partner companies for outbound communication and marketing, but we share such information only with your explicit opt-in authorization.

We use industry-standard efforts to safeguard personal information, and any information we receive from you is stored on secure databases.

For a complete discussion of the terms of our Privacy Policy, please see the FAQ below. Athena Partners may modify this Privacy Policy at any time. You are responsible for reviewing our Privacy Policy before using the site or providing any information, and should only do so under agreement to its terms. If you believe we have violated these policies, please notify us, and we will make every effort to promptly investigate and remedy the problem.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of information do we collect?
The information we collect falls into one of two categories - personally identifiable information and aggregated information. Personally identifiable information is information that can be associated to a specific user, for example an email address. Aggregated information is information that is not associated with a specific user, but anonymous information on many users, such as the number of visitors to the site in a month's time.

We collect personally identifiable information (such as name, email address and zip code) whenever you voluntarily submit it to the site. For example, when you sign up for our informational emails, information is collected to ensure correct distribution, for personalization and to assess where our users live. We also collect and store statistics and other information about the online activities of our visitors on an aggregated (collective) basis. For example, we track the number of unique visitors to our site, the number of people who view each page, the average visit length, and other information to learn which features are the most popular and to refine our design and marketing efforts.

How do we use the personal information we collect?
Athena Partners uses both personally identifiable and aggregated information to operate and enhance our site and programs. We use the personal information we collect for direct internal administration of our email programs and sweepstakes. We do not sell your personally identifiable information to third parties, and will not share it with partner organizations without your explicit opt-in.

Athena Partners uses aggregated information to track website traffic and usage patterns. This information is used internally to measure performance and to develop our content based on user needs.

Is the site secure so that my information is unavailable to other users?
Personal information that we collect is stored in secure operating environments that are not available to the public. Information we collect and store is protected by a firewall at our hosting location. Also, any information that we store at our business is kept secure, and only designated, authorized employees may obtain access to it. Remember, however, "perfect security" does not exist on the Internet.

We will do everything we can to protect you and your personal information, but we cannot fully ensure that your private communications and other personally identifiable information will not be disclosed to third parties. For instance, we may be forced to disclose information to the government or third parties under certain circumstances, or third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications. If we need to investigate or resolve possible problems or inquiries, we may use any information about you to help private entities, law enforcement, or other government officials as we believe necessary.

What about cookies?
Cookies are small files that a website transfers to your computer's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. The use of cookies is an industry standard, and many major websites use them to provide useful features for their users. Cookies in and of themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a user's computer. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies, but you can set you browser to refuse cookies if you desire. However, you may not be able to gain the full benefits of many websites if you do not accept cookies. You can find further information on cookies from internet sites such as www.cookiecentral.com.

We use cookies occasionally to administer pass-along sweepstakes programs; otherwise, our site does not utilize cookies for user tracking purposes.