Thank you for visiting 4Kids.com, 4Kidstv.com, 4Kids.tv and CW4Kids.com (collectively referred to as the "Sites"). 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. ("4Kids" or "we"), the owner of the Sites, encourages parents and guardians to spend time online with their children and to participate in the interactive activities offered on our Sites. 4Kids has developed its Sites to be an enjoyable experience for children of all ages. Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy, and to help ensure a rewarding online experience for all visitors, we provide this Privacy Policy summarizing our online information practices and explaining the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. 4Kids recognizes that some younger children may not understand some of the information contained on the Sites or how the Sites operate. Please discuss the Privacy Policy with your children so that they will better understand how to use the Sites and how to understand the information that they may be asked to provide. We may modify this Privacy Policy periodically, so please check back from time to time to review any updates to our Privacy Policy.
4Kids recognizes our obligation to our customers, community, online visitors and subscribers (collectively "Users" or "You") to adhere to the highest standards of decency, fairness, and integrity in all of our operations. We are dedicated to protecting consumer privacy on the Internet, especially the privacy of children. We have developed our privacy practices in compliance with the requirements established by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") and make every effort to comply with the guidelines established by the Children's Advertising Review Unit ("CARU").
1. Information Collection
A. 4Kids does not collect personally identifiable information on our Sites unless our Users voluntarily provide it to us during activities such as:
2. Use and Disclosure of Information
A. 4Kids uses or may use personally identifiable information that Users provide for internal purposes only such as the 4Kids registration, User profile, sending requested electronic postcards, emailing messages on their behalf, conducting contests or sweepstakes, developing of editorial content, marketing and promotional campaigns for the Website and responding to their questions. We use information we collect about others only to enable the User of our Sites to communicate with those other Users that they have listed as "friends" (e.g. sending them e-mails or game challenges).
B. 4Kids currently does not disclose personally identifiable information to third parties that Users provide, except from time to time we may transfer, disclose or share such information with third parties who may be engaged by us specifically to handle and deliver certain online activities (e.g. conducting contests and sweepstakes). Such third parties have access to personal information needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes. Additionally, in the event that all, or substantially all, of the assets relating to the Sites are transferred or sold to another entity, personally identifiable information submitted to us may be transferred to the acquiring entity. Finally, we may also disclose personally identifiable information to third parties in order to comply with laws or requests by law enforcement agencies, or to protect the rights, property or safety of our Sites, Users of our Sites and others.
C. In the event that 4Kids plans to post any information collected from a User for any purpose other than the activity for which it was collected, then the User shall be provided with prior notification of such posting and given the option of preventing such posting. If a User objects to such use for any reason, he/she may stop that use--either by e-mail request or by modifying his/her Registration information online.
D. 4Kids uses parents' e-mail addresses to notify them when we have received personal information from a User under the age of 13, such as in the case of a registration on any of the Sites or the collection of e-mail addresses from their children.
3. Review and Modification of Information
Any User who wishes to modify, correct, update or delete their registration information or stop receiving e-mail updates from the Sites, should log onto their account at http://www.4kids.tv/user/account. His/her account can be modified from the User's 4Kids account page. An account can also be deleted at any time under the control panel option labeled "delete account;" which can also be accessed on the User's My4Kids Profile Page. Users can also unsubscribe to any e-mails sent to them by simply clicking on the hyperlink "unsubscribe" in the email sent. Additionally, Users can e-mail 4Kids at webmaster@4kids.tv or contact 4Kids at 1-212-590-2100 with any problems or questions.
4. Special Privacy Policy for Users Under 13
4Kids has a special Privacy Policy for Users under the age of 13. We urge children to check with their parents or guardians before entering information on any website, and we urge parents and guardians to discuss this Special Privacy Policy with their children, including restrictions regarding the online release of personal information to anyone they don't know.
A. 4Kids does not collect personally identifiable information about any User under 13, including, without limitation, names and e-mail addresses without (x) notifying the parent via e-mail and giving the parent or guardian the option to remove their child's e-mail address and any other information pertaining to the child from the applicable database for that activity or (y) obtaining verifiable consent from that child's parent or guardian. A parent or guardian may permit a User under 13 to participate in activities on our Sites without consenting to the disclosure of the User under 13's personally identifiable information to third parties. Generally, personally identifiable information is collected only during activities such as:
B. 4Kids will obtain such verifiable consent from a parent or guardian of a User under 13 before the User will be permitted to register for an account on any of the Sites.. When registering the User is asked to provide his/her age, email address and the email address for his/her parent or guardian. 4Kids sends an email to the parent or guardian notifying the parent or guardian that the User under 13 has begun the registration process. The email from 4Kids will contain a link back to the website where the parent or guardian can grant the User under 13 permission to complete his/her registration. The parent or guardian will also receive a separate password to access, review and modify their child's account and Profile provided via email. Once approved, an email is sent to both parent and the User confirming the completion of registration. The User will then have the ability to: (1) create a 4Kids profile, (2) add friends to his/her 4Kids profile, (3) chat using pre-set, canned messages throughout the 4Kids site, (4) email within the Sites to other Users using pre-set, canned messages, (5) chat on moderated message boards and (6) challenge other Users to online games. The parent or guardian who wishes to modify, correct, update or delete their User under 13's registration information or 4Kids profile can log onto their child's account at http://www.4kids.tv/user/account. Their child's account can be modified from the User's 4Kids account page or deleted by clicking "delete account" under the control panel option. Upon deletion of a User's account, access to all membership, communities, avatar privileges and 4Kids.tv rewards points will be lost. Parents or guardians always have the option of calling us at 1-212-590-2100 or e-mailing us at webmaster@4kids.tv with any questions or problems with regards to consent.
C. 4Kids will not request from any User under 13, nor does 4Kids condition the participation of any User under 13 in any activity on the Sites, the collection of, or disclosure by the User under 13 of more personal information than is reasonably required for such User under 13 to participate in such contest or activity. For example, for sweepstakes and contests, only e-mail addresses are collected for the purpose of entering the online sweepstakes or contest on a one-time basis and are used to notify winners and winners' parents directly of the sweepstakes or contest once by e-mail. Notification and prizes will be sent to the User under 13's parent or guardian. All emails collected are deleted upon completion and fulfillment of the sweepstakes or contest.
D. For some activities, such as online polls, surveys, game challenges and message boards, we may ask a User under 13 to provide information that is not personally identifiable. This might include the User's first name only, user name, state of residence, age, gender, or favorite 4Kids TV character.
E. For any periodic newsletters offered by our Sites, we collect a User's e-mail address, and his/her parent or guardian's e-mail address. We then send an e-mail notification to the parent asking permission. If the parent wishes to deny permission for the child's receipt of any newsletter from the Sites, the parent or guardian simply needs to click on the hyperlink to unsubscribe. A parent or User can, at any time, be removed from the newsletter mailing list by following the instructions at the bottom of the newsletter. If such a removal request is made (or if the parent denies permission from the outset), any personal information collected for the newsletter subscription is deleted from our database.
F. For other activities, such as sending an electronic postcard or e-mail to a friend, we may also ask for personal information about other people. This is usually limited to a first name and e-mail address. E-mail addresses collected to send an electronic postcard or e-mail to a friend are deleted when the requested postcard or e-mail is transmitted.
G. 4Kids keeps any personally identifiable information we obtain through a contest or sweepstakes only until we have successfully selected the winner(s), awarded the prize(s), and completed the administration of the contest or sweepstakes as legally required; and such information will not be used for any other purpose. We will not publish the names, ages, images or other personally identifiable information of any contest winner under 13 without first obtaining the consent of such contest winner's parent or guardian.
H. The e-mail address of a User under 13 is never posted on any of the Sites. No personally identifying information should be submitted to, or posted at, the Sites by any User under 13 years of age without the consent of such User's parent or guardian.
I. We will disclose information that we maintain as required by law, such as, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena. We may also disclose such information in response to a specific law enforcement agency's request.
5. Chats, Message Boards/Forums and Blogs
Please keep in mind that whenever you give out personal information online (e.g. via message boards/forums, chats and blogs) that information can be collected and used by people you don't know. While 4Kids strives to protect its Users' personal information and privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose online and you do so at your own risk. Users under 13 may not participate in chatrooms, message boards/forums and blogs without prior verifiable parental consent. To prevent messages containing inappropriate or personally identifiable information, our message boards are moderated. Messages that do no follow the guidelines of the message board/forum will either be edited for content or simply not posted. Continued failure to comply with such guidelines could result in the suspension or termination of a User's 4Kids account.
6. About IP Addresses
4Kids collects IP addresses for the purpose of system administration and to report information to our advertisers. An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to the User's computer whenever the User is surfing the Web. When a User requests pages from these Sites, our servers log the Users' IP address. We do not link IP addresses to any personally identifiable information. This means that a User's session will be logged, but the User remains anonymous to us.
7. Use of Cookies: The 4Kids Cookies Policy
Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to an individual's hard drive for record keeping purposes. Cookies make web-surfing easier for a User by saving the User's passwords, purchases, and preferences. A cookie lets the computer remember that a User has registered, which allows us to speed up such User's future activities at our Sites. Similarly, any website store may use a temporary cookie to track which products a User has chosen to purchase while shopping. Letting the cookie do the record keeping saves the User the trouble of entering information over and over again during a single visit. You may occasionally get cookies from our Ad Server and/or third party advertisers. The Ad Server cookie is only used to track frequency limits on the ads. No personally identifiable information is stored on the Ad Server cookie. 4Kids does not control the cookies of our Ad Server and/or third party advertisers, and these cookies are not subject to the 4Kids cookie policy. The use of advertising cookies sent by Ad Servers or third party advertisers is standard in the Internet Industry. The use of cookies is an Industry standard, and you'll find cookies at most major websites. By showing how and when a User uses the Sites, cookies help us see which areas are popular and which are not. Many improvements and updates to the Sites are based on such data.
Certain ads appearing on the Sites may be delivered to you by a third party ad service provider. In the course of serving ads, the ad service provider may place or recognize their own unique cookie on our browser and may use non-personally identifiable information about your visit to the Sites, such as the number of times that you have viewed an ad.
8. How the Sites Do Not Use Cookies
The Sites never use cookies to retrieve information from your computer that was not originally sent in a cookie. Except as described in this Privacy Policy, the Sites do not use information transferred through cookies for any promotional or marketing purposes; nor is that information shared with any unaffiliated third parties. The Sites do not use cookies to identify specific individuals, except in such cases as online shopping (see above), sweepstakes and contest registration (where a cookie may allow you to enter a contest without registering again each time).
Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. If you'd prefer, you can set yours to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. However, it is possible that some areas of the Sites, such as any shopping, contest, and game area, may not function properly if you set your computer to refuse cookies.
9 Links to Other Sites
The Sites may contain banner advertisements or other links to other sites not controlled by 4Kids. These other sites may send their own cookies, collect data or solicit personal information to Users. 4Kids and its affiliates are not responsible for any failure on the part of any linked websites to comply with any Privacy Policy posted on our Sites or for any violation by such other websites of any contractual or other legal obligation to which the operator(s) of such linked website may be subject. In addition, other websites that may contain material not suitable for children may also link to the Sites without our knowledge or consent. The Sites will clearly display a "bumper" page to identify to children and parents or guardians when they are leaving the Sites and entering an advertiser's site. The bumper is a reminder to children to never give out information online without getting permission from a parent or guardian.
10. 4Kids Security Policy
The importance of security for all personally identifiable information associated with Users is of utmost concern to us. Only those employees who need access to your information in order to do their jobs and third parties assisting us in the programming and maintenance of the Sites are allowed access. Any employee who violates our privacy and/or security policies is subject to disciplinary action, including possible termination and civil and/or criminal prosecution. Further, 4Kids does not sell, rent or otherwise give personal information collected on its Sites to third parties.
11. Co-Branded Micro Sites
Web pages and/or micro websites included within the Sites may be co-branded with third party names, logos, and/or properties. These micro websites are operated or maintained by 4Kids. While such third parties are sponsors of these Web pages or micro websites, the third parties do not share in any personally identifiable information collected within those Web pages or micro websites.
12. Your Acceptance of These Terms
By using these Sites, you signify your consent to and agreement with the Online Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our Sites.
The Sites' content and features may be updated, reviewed, modified and supplemented. 4Kids reserves the right to change the information, features, products, policies, promotions, disclosures and disclaimers at any time. Changes to this Privacy Policy will be posted on the Sites. Please check the policy periodically for changes. At the end of the Privacy Policy we indicate the date of an update to the Privacy Policy. A User's continued use of the Sites after the posting of such changes will mean that the User has accepted such changes. Any parental or guardian consent provided to 4Kids will be deemed to apply to the revised Privacy Policy and new or modified features of the Sites. However, if there is a material change in our data collection, use or disclosure practices, we will obtain a new consent. Please note that parents or guardians should update their personal information to provide us current e-mail addresses.
13. California Privacy Rights
Pursuant to California Civil Code Section 1798.83, California residents have the right to request from a business, with whom the California Resident has an established business relationship with a customer, and has within the immediately preceding calendar year, whether the business has disclosed personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an e-mail to webmaster@4kids.tv or send a written request to CA Privacy Policy Coordinator, Legal Department, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., 53 West 23rd Street, 11th Floor New York, New York 10010
14. Questions
Questions regarding the Privacy Policy should be directed to the Privacy Policy Coordinator, Legal Department, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., 53 West 23rd Street, 11th Floor, New York, New York 10010.
© 2008 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This Privacy Policy has been updated as of September 9, 2008
