We respect and are committed to protecting your privacy. That is why we have adopted this Privacy Policy, which lets you know how your personal information is processed and used. We use your personal information only in ways that are compatible with this Privacy Policy. The following policies are only in effect for the Web pages, newsletters, discussion forums and lists and opt-in announcement lists owned and operated by Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association. (The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association's network includes all Web sites and certain other Internet media properties linked directly or indirectly from the MPIBA home page.)

What information are you collecting and how are you collecting it?

Every computer connected to the Internet is given a domain name and a set of numbers, that serve as that computer's "Internet Protocol" IP address. When a visitor requests a page from any Web site within the Mountains & Plains Network, our Web servers automatically recognize that visitor's domain name and IP address. The domain name and IP address reveal nothing personal about you other than the IP address from which you have accessed our site. We use this information to examine our traffic in aggregate and to generate visitation reports.

Will you disclose the information you collect to outside third parties?

We do not collect and evaluate this information for specific individuals. Our Web servers do not automatically record e-mail addresses of the visitors.

What are cookies?

From time to time, Mountains & Plains or its advertisers may send a "cookie" to your computer. A cookie is a small piece of data that is sent to your Internet browser from a Web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. A cookie can't read data off of your computer hard disk or read cookie files created by other Web sites. Cookies do not damage your system. We use cookies to identify which areas of Mountains & Plains' Network you have visited or customized, so the next time you visit, those pages may be readily accessible. Our advertisers may also use cookies to ascertain how many times you've seen an advertisement. Our advertisers and we may use this information to better personalize the content, banners, and promotions that you see on our site. You can choose whether to accept cookies by changing the settings of your Internet browser. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies, or allow your browser to show you when a cookie is being sent. If you choose not to accept these cookies, your experience at our Site and other Web sites may be diminished and some features may not work as intended.

What information do you collect when I register for something?

Mountains & Plains offers access to some services that require registration. We may use your registration contact information to send notification to you of our services by e-mail and/or postal mail.

What other information do you request?

We may also request your e-mail address or mailing address for the purposes of conducting a survey or to provide additional services (for example, subscriptions to e-mail newsletters, announcement lists or information about conferences and trade shows).

We may from time to time send e-mail announcing new services. Except as stated above, Mountains & Plains will not send you e-mail that you have not agreed to receive. If you choose to supply your postal address in an online form, you may receive postal mailings from other third party companies.

When you submit an online form, we may ask for your name, address, and e-mail address so that we can administer the process.

Mountains & Plains is not responsible for any breach of security or for any actions of any third parties that receive the information. We are not responsible for such third party privacy policies or how they treat information about their users.

What else should I know about my privacy when online?

The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Network contains many hyperlinks to third party Web sites and advertisements of third parties. Mountains & Plains is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such third party Web sites or advertisers. Mountains & Plains does not share any of the individual personal information you provide with the third parties to which Mountains & Plains links, except as stated elsewhere within this Privacy Policy, although Mountains & Plains may share general, aggregate data with such third parties (such as how many people use our site). Please check with those Web sites to determine their privacy policy.

Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online - for example through e-mail, discussion lists, or elsewhere - that information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.

Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your personal information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you're online.