At OpenSimWorld we collect different types of information about our users for three main reasons:

1. To help us to monitor and improve the services we offer.

2. To provide personalised services unique to individual users.

3. To use anonymous details about our users to sell appropriate advertising space on the site. This might mean showing an advertiser how many users we have on the site; it does not mean sharing an individual's details with an advertiser. Where we collect registration information from an individual, we will never share that individual's information with a third party, including an advertiser, without that user's explicit permission.

Our principles

We are absolutely committed to protecting your privacy. Our policy can be summarised in one sentence: we will not share your information with others without your prior consent. We have also established the following principles:

1. We will continue to invest in high-quality security and do our utmost to protect user privacy through the appropriate use of the latest security technology.

2. We will respect your email privacy. You will not receive unsolicited marketing mail from the Popdigs and/or from third parties screened by Popdigs News & Media Limited unless you have agreed to this. We will, however, mail you occasionally with information or queries about your registration, your subscription account or postings, for example, with reminders, warnings or copyright requests.

3. We will not pass on any individual user details (including your email address) for third party use unless we have your prior consent.

4. We always ensure that contractors we use in connection with the running of the website and services (for example hosting providers) are subject to strict contractual obligations. They are only able to process data on our behalf and in accordance with our principles and instructions and not for any other independent purpose.

5. Otherwise, we will only share anonymous aggregate statistics about our users, sales and traffic patterns with our advertisers.

6. Our site is accessible via the Internet and so may potentially be accessed by anyone around the world. Other users may access the site from outside the European Economic Area. This means that, where you choose to post your data on the site, this could be accessed from anywhere around the world and therefore a transfer of your data outside of the European Economic Area may be deemed to have occurred. You consent to such transfer of your data for and by way of this purpose. Where we or our contractors transfer data outside of the European Economic Area this is only ever done with the relevant protections required by law in place.

Should we elect to change our privacy policy we will post the changes here. Where the changes are significant, we may also choose to email all our registered users with the new details.

We also offer a 'My details' page, where you can update your personal information at any time. You can get to this page from most pages on the site - simply click on the 'My details' link at the top of the screen when you are signed in.

What information do we collect? We collect information on our users as follows: through cookies, through registration and where you choose to disclose data in postings.
The minimum information we need to register a user is an email address and a password. We will ask further questions for different services, including competitions. Unless stated, all registration questions are compulsory. We also ask some further, voluntary questions so we can gain a clearer understanding of our users. Your responses help us to sell appropriate advertising space and so keep the site free. They also enable us to personalise services for our users. We do not share this information with third parties unless you have specifically consented to this.

We also collect data listing which of our pages are most frequently visited and by which types of users.

How does OpenSimWorld protect customer information?

We invest in high-quality security and do our utmost to protect user privacy. Data Protection Legislation means we follow strict security procedures in the storage and disclosure of information which you have given us, to prevent unauthorised access.

Will OpenSimWorld disclose the information it collects to outside parties?

OpenSimWorld will not sell, trade or rent your personal information to others unless you have given us your permission. With your permission we will only share the information with carefully chosen, reputable and trustworthy third parties. Also, OpenSimWorld may provide aggregate statistics about our customers, sales, traffic patterns and related site information to reputable third-party vendors, but these statistics will include no personally identifying information. OpenSimWorld follows the relevant legal requirements and uses all reasonable precautions to ensure only responsible third parties see the information, however we are not responsible for any breach of security or any actions of any third parties who receive the information.

Please note that we reserve the right to access and disclose individually identifiable information to comply with applicable laws and lawful government requests, to operate our systems properly and to protect both ourselves and our users.

Any data processors with access to your data in providing services on our behalf are subject to contractual restrictions to ensure that your data is protected, and not used independently by such third party.