The Better Business Bureau
Online Privacy Policy

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) Serving Metro Washington DC & Eastern PA is committed to maintaining your confidence and trust, and accordingly maintains the following privacy policy to protect personal information you provide online.

BBB's Commitment to Online Security

Physical, electronic and managerial procedures have been employed to safeguard the security and integrity of personal information. Personal information is accessible only by staff and volunteers designated to handle online complaints or requests. All BBB agents and contractors with access to personal information obtained on the BBB web site are also bound to adhere to this policy.

Personal Information that BBB May Collect Online

The BBB collects the following types of personal information: names, postal and e-mail addresses, phone and facsimile numbers, and complaint information. The BBB may also collect business information from sole proprietorships that apply for membership or program participation, some of which might constitute personal information, as well as personal information from individuals acting solely in their business capacity. The BBB's complaint form is hosted by the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB), which processes your complaint according to its own privacy and security policies.

The BBB does not collect or maintain information from those actually known to be under the age of 13, and no part of our site is structured to attract anyone under the age of 13.

How BBB May Use Personal Information Collected Online

The BBB will not use your personal information other than for the purpose for which it was submitted without your consent. We use personal information to reply to inquiries, handle complaints, provide operational notices, and in program recordkeeping. We also process consumer requests related to equote participation. At certain points where personal information is collected on our site, there may be a box where you may indicate you would like to be on a list to receive information about other BBB programs and services and about ways to support the BBB and its Foundation. At any time you can add or remove your name from this mailing list by contacting us at info@dc.bbb.org.

How Your Information May Be Shared

In order to process complaints against businesses, the BBB will transfer complaints received online to the company complained about. It is also possible that a complaint, request or inquiry will be more appropriately handled by another BBB, in which case the request or inquiry will be transferred to the proper BBB. By completing a complaint form or sending us a request or inquiry, you are allowing us to forward your information to the proper business and also to the proper BBB, if necessary. Without submission of the requested information, the BBB will not be able to share your information and process your complaint. The BBB never sells or rents personal information.

We will also release personal information to appropriate governmental authorities under the following circumstances:

• Where release is required by law (for example, a subpoena) or regulation, or is requested by a government agency conducting investigations or proceedings;
• Where our records indicate a company may be engaged in fraudulent activity or other deceptive practices that a governmental agency should be made aware of;
• Where warranted by a company's failure to participate in the BBB's advertising self-regulatory process; or
• Where your communication suggests possible harm to others.

Help Us Keep Your Personal Information Accurate

If your personal information changes or you would like to review the personal information we may have on file, please email us with the new information or your review request at info@dc.bbb.org.

Computer Tracking

Our web site is not set up to track, collect or distribute personal information not entered by its visitors. Our site logs do generate certain kinds of non-identifying site usage data, such as the number of hits and visits to our site. This information is used for internal purposes by technical support staff to provide better services to the public and may also be provided to others, but again, the statistics contain no personal information and cannot be used to gather such information.

Problems

If you have issue with regard to the BBB Serving Metro Washington & Eastern PA's compliance with this privacy policy, you may contact us at info@dc.bbb.org. If we are unable to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, you may elect to bring it to the attention of the CBBB.