Overview

The information we request, such as your name, mailing address and e-mail address will be used to fulfill your requests for information and assistance regarding Brother products and services. If you indicate an interest in receiving updates we may periodically send you information about other Brother products and services that we feel may be of interest to you. If your specific request is part of a collaborative marketing program with one of our selling partners or requires action by them to fulfill your request, we may pass your contact information to them for follow-up. However your information will otherwise be used only by Brother International Corporation, its parent and subsidiary companies. We will not sell or make your information available to other companies who want to tell you about their products without your consent. As our privacy policy continues to evolve we will continue to place the latest version on this web site.

This privacy statement policy has been created to explain how the Brother International Commercial Division collects and utilizes information obtained your site visits. This privacy statement covers the web sites operated by the Commercial Division that includes, but is not limited to, sites of the following domains and sub-domains:

http://commercial.brother.com
http://www.brothercommercial.com
http://www.brotheroffice.com
http://www.brotherreseller.com
http://government.brother.com
http://www.brothergovernment.com
http://education.brother.com
http://www.brothereducation.com

This Privacy Policy covers only information that is collected through this Web site, and does not cover information that may be collected through software downloaded from the site or when collected from other sites that may be linked to this one.

If users have questions or concerns regarding this statement, they should first contact the Brother International Commercial Division Webmaster by using our General Feedback Form.

Information Collection and Use

Information Collection
Brother International Commercial Division collects information from our users at several different points on our Web site:

Registration
In order to use some areas of this Web site, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user is required to give contact information (such as name and email address). We use this information to contact the user about services on our site for which he has expressed interest. It is optional for the user to provide some information, and unique identifiers (such as, username and password), but encouraged so we can provide a more personalized experience on our site.

Request for Services
This site contains several areas where a visitor may request services (for example to request a quote, evaluation loaner, or reseller referral) offered by Brother or to provide feedback. To fulfill these requests Brother may collect some required information as well as optional information that will help us satisfy your requests.

Profile
We store information that we collect through registrations, cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or third parties to create a profile of our users. A profile is stored information that we keep on individual users that details their viewing preferences. Consequently, collected information is tied to the users personally identifiable information to provide offers and improve the content of the site for the user. This profile is used to tailor a user's visit to our Web site, and to direct pertinent marketing promotions to them. Select information from your profile may be shared together with 3rd parties if required to satisfy your request. (See "Sharing" below.)

Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user's hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions.

Cookies may be used to customize delivery of content or enable special convenience features on our site. For example, by registering for our site, a cookie may be set so that users would not have to log in a password more than once or re-enter their contact information into forms, thereby saving time while on our site. If users reject the cookie, they may still use our site but may have to log in again to access some areas of our site. For example, the user will not be able to take advantage of materials available in our download areas without registering and accepting the resultant cookie. Persistent cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. See the "Profile" section.

Log Files
Like most standard Web site servers we collect and analyze log files. Information collected includes anonymous data like IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on our site. This information is used in aggregate to analyze and improve our web sites. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information. (Please note that while IP addresses can be tied to personally identifiable information, this is not a practice we utilize at this time.) We use WebTrends software to analyze site activity but not to capture personal information. (More information on WebTrends can be obtained from their web site: http://www.webtrends.com)

Security
This Web site takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is protected both online and off-line.

When our registration form asks users to enter personal information (such as name address, phone, e-mail, etc.), that information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL. While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just 'surfing'.

While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we take additional measures to protect user-information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our technical support team or a sales representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Our employees must use password-protected access to all databases. Furthermore, these employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Any time new policies are added, these employees are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our users' information is protected. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure environment, in a secure facility within Brother International Corporation.

Communications from Brother

Special Offers and Updates
We send all new members a welcoming email to verify password and username. Established members will occasionally receive information on products, services, special deals, and a newsletter. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the option to not receive these types of communications. Please see the Choice of Opt-in / Opt-out sections.

Service Announcements
On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account. However, these communications are not promotional in nature. [Users may opt-out of these communications. Please see our Choice of Opt-in / Opt-out section.]

Customer Service
We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone, in accordance with the user’s wishes.

Sharing

These are the instances in which we will share users' personal information:

In specific instances where a visitor's request requires action by one of our Authorized Reseller Partners, the Commercial Division may forward information from the customer's profile. For example, to fulfill a request for quotation, Brother may forward the pertinent details such as contact information, intent to purchase (time, quantity, models, etc.) as well as any special requests. Your information is forwarded only for this specific one-time use and once transferred is subject to the policies of the reseller partner.

For some marketing activities Brother may enlist the help of a 3rd party provider who may temporarily need to handle your information but will not be given rights to use for non-Brother purposes. For example, during a direct mail campaign, where we may send you announcements per your permission preferences, we may use a 3rd party mailing house. In this case mailing lists are transferred to the 3rd party for the specific purpose of addressing the marketing materials. However, this personal information may not be used by the 3rd party for any other use.

Brother International Commercial Division may also provide your information to other Brother business units in order to fulfill your requests. For example, product support requests will be forwarded to our service group for follow-up action while product registration data will be warehoused in a central company-wide database.

Legal Proceedings
Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.

Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable)
We share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. For example we may on a periodic basis present information such as the number of visitors, areas of interest, relationship to Brother, etc. This is not linked to any personally identifiable information.

Third Party Advertisers
Brother International Commercial Division does not use any 3rd party advertising on our sites.

Links
This Web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we, Brother International Corporation, are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. We distinguish these 3rd party web sites by methods such as either opening them in a separate browser window or within a frame indicating the area within is not part of our site. In these instances the privacy policy of the Brother International Commercial Division web site will not apply. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that you visit. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.

Surveys & Contests
Occasionally our site may invite users to participate in surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code). Contact information will be used [shared with the contest or survey sponsors to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site. Users' personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties unless we give prior notice and choice. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests, they may not use users' personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

Enhancement of Marketing Profile
We occasionally may purchase third party marketing data and add it to our existing user database, or aggregate data from several internal sources, to better target our advertising and provide pertinent offers we think our users would be interested in. We use this information to enhance or overlay the 'profile' of individual users and make every attempt to enforce our customers opt-in/opt out preferences.

Your Control Options*

Choice of Opt-in / Opt-out
Our users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask for information. For example, our site registration form has an opt-in/opt-out feature ("Keep Informed") so users who want access to our registered members areas, but don't want any marketing material, can keep their email address off of our lists.

Join or Opt-out of our mailing lists*

*These features apply only to web sites administered by the Brother International Commercial Division.

Users who no longer wish to receive our e-mail communications may opt-out of receiving these by following the instructions included with each e-mail. We also offer an opt-out mechanism for all communications on the Keep Informed page, or the user may contact us at 1-866-455-7713 to opt-out.

Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service, we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users' personally identifiable information. Contact us by telephone at 1-866-455-7713.

Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, accessible from the BrotherOffice.com homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected. In some cases we may also email users, who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices. However, if users have opted out of all communication with the site, or deleted/deactivated their account, then they will not be contacted.

Your Consent
By using our web site, you consent to the collection and use of this information as outlined in this privacy policy.

Contact Information
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact the Commercial Division Webmaster:

Click here for Feedback Form

Phone 1-866-455-7713
Fax 908-575-3747

Postal Address Brother International, Commercial Division Webmaster, 100 Somerset Corporate Blvd, Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807

Web site URL (http://commercial.brother.com)