Hometown University is a content site owned and operated by Hometown Quotes.
At Hometown University, we value your privacy. You trust us and our members to serve your insurance needs and we take this responsibility very seriously and maintain standards to reasonably secure your private information. Your use of Hometown University’ website and any personal information you provide via the website remains subject to this Privacy Policy. All information transmitted to HometownUniversity.com via its website or its affiliate’s websites are deemed to be the property of HometownUniversity.com. We may share your personally identifiable information: (i) with the qualified network of HometownUniversityagents in order to provide you with insurance quotes; (ii) as authorized by you; (iii) as permitted by this Privacy Policy; and (iv) as required by law.
BY VISITING HOMETOWNUNIVERSITY.COM AND REQUESTING INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION OR USE ANY OF THE SERVICES OR PRODUCTS OFFERED OR PROVIDED ON ANY OF THE WEBSITES REFERRED TO IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS PRIVACY POLICY CHANGES FROM TIME TO TIME AND CHANGES ARE EFFECTIVE UPON POSTING. PLEASE CHECK BACK FREQUENTLY FOR UPDATES AS IT IS YOUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY TO BE AWARE OF CHANGES. WE DO NOT PROVIDE NOTICES OF CHANGES IN ANY MANNER OTHER THAN BY POSTING THE CHANGES AT HOMETOWNUNIVERSITY.COM.
Information for California Consumers
The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) affords certain rights and protections to California residents. This section is intended to further describe (i) the categories and sources of data that Hometown University collects, sells or shares; (ii) the purpose for collection; (iii) the types of third parties to whom Hometown University discloses that information; and (iv) details about how California residents can exercise their rights under the CCPA.
Categories of Data Hometown University Collects.
Hometown University collects the following CCPA categories of data: (i) identifiers, such as a name, email address, telephone number, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, IP address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number; (ii) personal identifiers under Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e), such as insurance policy number, education, employment status, bank account information, credit card or debit card number, financial information, medical information, health insurance information; (iii) protected classification characteristics under California law, such as age, marital status, medical condition, gender, veteran or military status; (iv) commercial information, such as products or services obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies; (v) internet activity, such as browsing history and search history information; (vi) geolocation data; (vii) professional or employment information, such as consumer-reported current or past job history; (viii) inferences drawn from some of the information above (e.g., email open rates and time).
Hometown University generally collects the above data as Technical Data or Provided Attributes. For example, Hometown University does not create user profiles to determine the gender, marital status or employment status of consumers. Hometown University receives each of those categories of data only as self-reported data from the consumer.
Data Sources.Hometown University:
Hometown University collects Technical Data and Provided Attributes from consumers who land on or engage with our Sites, our call centers or other Hometown University owned-properties (e.g., in response to emails from or on behalf of Hometown University).
Partners and Third Parties:
Consumers who visit websites owned by our Media Partners may be redirected to our Sites. In some cases, we may gather data directly from Media Partner websites, or Media Partners or other third parties may post data to our Sites or otherwise transfer data to us. This may occur via display ads, click listings, inquiry forms or telephonic transfers from Media Partner call centers. Our Advertising Partners may also provide us with data.
Service Providers:
Hometown University engages service providers to perform a variety of functions (e.g., verifying consumer consent, validating email addresses or phone numbers).
Authorization:
We require all parties from whom we receive data, whether they are Partners, Service Providers or other third parties, to represent and warrant to us that they have appropriately obtained the data provided to us and have the authority to share the data with us.
Purpose for Data Collection.
As described above in “Data Use,” Hometown University primarily uses the data it collects to connect consumers with Advertising Partners who can provide information about the products and services those consumers are seeking.
Categories of Third Parties with Whom Hometown University Discloses Personal Data.
In addition to the sharing for the primary use described in “Data Sharing,” we may share your data with other Hometown University businesses, service providers, and third party websites.
Categories of Data Sold.
As described above in “Data Use” and “Data Sharing,” Hometown University may transfer Technical Data, Provided Attributes and Third Party Data to Advertising Partners who can provide the consumer with information about the products and services they are seeking. We may receive a fee for the transfer of that data or when the consumer purchases a product or service.
CCPA Rights.
The CCPA affords certain rights and protections to California residents including: (i) the right to request that we delete any “personal information” that we have collected from you (“Right to Delete”); (ii) the right to request that we disclose the categories and/or specific pieces of personal information collected and sold (“Right to Know”); and (iii) the right to direct us not to sell their “personal information” (“Right to Opt-Out”). “Personal information” is defined under the CCPA as “information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household.” California residents who would like to submit a Request to Know, Delete, or Opt-Out should send us an email at privacy@hometownuniversity.com. You may also submit a Request to Know by calling our toll-free number (800)-820-2891. For more information about making a request see our CCPA Rights and Information page. Upon submission, you will be asked to verify your email address. If we are able to verify your Request to Know or Delete, (e.g., that you are a California resident and that we have or have sold, as the case may be, your “personal information”), we will respond within 45 days of your submission (or such additional time period as the law allows us).
User Direct Information:
Each time you provide information via the website, HometownUniversity.com may obtain and collect personally identifiable information provided by you, including, but not limited to, your name, email address, mailing address, social security number, credit card information, and telephone number. You may also provide us with information that, when combined with personally identifiable information, provides us with a better idea of who you are, including but not limited to your gender, birthday, marital status, and education level (collectively referred to as “Personal Information”). If you choose to access our website, use our services or purchase our products, we may require you to provide Personal Information as indicated on the forms throughout the site.
Survey Information:
HometownUniversity.com may collect information from you when you voluntarily complete a HometownUniversity.com survey, order form, or a registration page either online by using the internet, offline by providing this information through the mail, in person or using a telephone. This information may be collected by surveys, order forms, or registration pages operated by third parties. This method of collection is collectively known as a “Survey.” In such Surveys, HometownUniversity.com or a third party may ask you to provide personal identifiable information including your name, email address, street address, zip code, telephone numbers (including cell-phone numbers and carriers), birth date, gender, salary range, education and marital status, occupation, social security number, employment information, personal and online interests, and such other information as may be requested from time to time. HometownUniversity.com may also collect such information concerning you from another source and uses that information in combination with information provided from our website. Completing the Surveys is completely voluntary.
Third-Party Information:
HometownUniversity.com may collect information from you when you provide information to a third party and HometownUniversity.com subsequently acquires the information from the third party. Such information may include, but is not limited to, your name, email address, street address, zip code, telephone numbers (including cell phone numbers and carriers), birth date, gender, salary range, education and marital status, occupation, industry of employment, personal and online interests, and such other information as the you may have provided to the third party. When acquiring this information, HometownUniversity.com seeks assurances from the third party that you agreed to provide and have such information acquired by HometownUniversity.com. If you did not give express permission, or you would like to remove your permission, you may suppress all of your information by sending a notification to us at info@HometownUniversity.com.
Cookies, Web Beacons, and Other Information Collected Using Technology:
HometownUniversity.com currently uses cookie and web beacon technology to associate certain Internet-related information about you with information about you in its database. Additionally, HometownUniversity.com may use other new and evolving sources of information in the future.
Cookies:
“Cookies” are a feature on your browser software. If enabled, we may write cookies that may store small amounts of data on your computer about your visit to any of the pages of this website. Cookies assist us in tracking which of our features appeal the most to you and what content you may have viewed on past visits. When you visit this site again, cookies can enable us to customize our content according to your preferences. We may use cookies for the following: keep track of the number of return visits to this site; accumulate and report aggregate, statistical information on website usage; deliver specific content to you based on your interests or past viewing history; save your password for ease of access to our website. You can disable cookies, although our website may not function properly for you. Your browser preferences can be modified to accept or reject all cookies or request a notification when a cookie is set. We also use cookies to improve the performance of our advertising on other websites. Although you may not opt out of receiving online advertisements generally, you may control the collection of data on our site used for targeted HometownUniversity.com advertising during your visits to other websites.
Web Beacons:
A web beacon is a programming code that can be used to display an image on a web page but can also be used to transfer your unique user identification to a database and associate you with previously acquired information about an individual in a database. This allows HometownUniversity.com to track certain websites you visit. Web beacons are used to track online behavioral habits for marketing purposes to determine products or services you may be interested in. In addition to using web beacons on web pages, HometownUniversity.com may also use web beacons in email messages sent to individuals listed in HometownUniversity.com’s database.
IP Addresses:
HometownUniversity.com automatically tracks certain information based upon your behavior on the site. We may use this information to do internal research on our user’s demographics, interests, and behavior to better understand, protect and serve you and our community. This information may include the URL that you just came from (whether this URL is on the site or not), which URL you go to next (whether this URL is on the site or not), your computer browser information, and your IP address. Your Internet Protocol (“IP”) is a unique Internet “address” which is assigned to you by your Internet Service Provider (“ISP”). For local area network (“LAN”), DSL, or cable modem users, an IP address may be permanently assigned to a particular computer. IP addresses are automatically logged by web servers, collecting information about a user’s traffic patterns. While the IP address does not identify an individual by name, it may, with the cooperation of the ISP, be used to locate and identify an individual using the web. Your IP address can, however, reveal what geographic area you are connecting from, or which ISP you are using. Finally, other websites you visit have IP addresses, and we may collect the IP addresses of those websites and their pages.
Computer Profiles:
HometownUniversity.com may also collect and accumulate other anonymous data which will help us understand and analyze the internet experience of our visitors. For instance, HometownUniversity.com may accumulate visitor data relating to referring domain names, the type of browsers used, operating system software, screen resolutions, color capabilities, browser plug-ins, language settings, cookie preferences, search engine keywords, and JavaScript enablement. When you provide us with Personal Information, we are able to use such visitor data to identify you.
Data Analysis:
Data analysis technology may be employed from time to time if used by a client of HometownUniversity.com.
New Technology:
The use of technology on the Internet, including cookies and web beacons, is rapidly developing. As a result, HometownUniversity.com strongly encourages individuals to revisit this Privacy Policy for any updates regarding its use of new technology.
No Information Collected from Children:
HometownUniversity.com will never knowingly collect any Personal Information about children under the age of 13. If HometownUniversity.com obtains actual knowledge that it has collected Personal Information about a child under the age of 13, that information will be immediately deleted from its database. Because it does not collect such information, HometownUniversity.com has no such information to use or to disclose to third parties. HometownUniversity.com has designed this policy in order to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”).
General Use of Personal Information: The following paragraphs in this section describe how HometownUniversity.com currently uses Personal Information, but HometownUniversity.com may change or broaden its use at any time. As noted in this Privacy Policy, HometownUniversity.com may update this policy from time to time. HometownUniversity.com may use Personal Information to provide promotional offers to individuals by means of email advertising, telephone marketing, direct mail marketing, online banner advertising, and package stuffers, among other possible uses.
HometownUniversity.com uses your Personal Information for the following general purposes:
Customer Service:
HometownUniversity.com uses your Personal Information to improve its services to its customers.
Insurance Quotes:
HometownUniversity.com uses your Personal Information to provide you with insurance quotes. By submitting your Personal Information you are requesting an insurance quote, and you are authorizing the recipients of your information (the agents) to use it in a manner deemed necessary to provide you with an accurate quote on your insurance. Furthermore, by submitting a form with your telephone number, you are consenting for HometownUniversity.com and all authorized agents to contact you even if your name is on a Federal or State “Do Not Call List.” In order to provide you with insurance quotes, you authorize HometownUniversity.com to provide your Personal Information to local and national insurance agents and to third-party agent networks. Therefore, you authorize those insurance agents to contact you by phone and email and expressly authorize those insurance agents to contact you by phone even if your name appears on the National Do Not Call Registry or any State “Do Not Call” registries.
Marketing:
As further described in this Section, HometownUniversity.com will use your Personal Information for any marketing and survey purpose on behalf of HometownUniversity.com and its affiliates and subsidiaries to send information to you about additional goods or services that may be of interest to you. In addition, HometownUniversity.com will disclose your Personal Information to third-party agents and independent contractors to help us conduct our marketing and survey efforts and to share with other companies in connection with marketing efforts, including but not limited to direct marketing. You may have no relationship with these other companies.
Complying with Legal Process:
HometownUniversity.com will use or disclose your Personal Information in response to subpoenas, court orders, warrants, or legal process, or to otherwise establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims or, in the event you violate or breach an agreement with HometownUniversity.com., HometownUniversity.com will use and disclose your Personal Information if we believe you will harm the property or rights of HometownUniversity.com, its owners, or those of HometownUniversity.com’s other customers. Finally, we will use or disclose your Personal Information if we believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of HometownUniversity.com’s acceptable use policy, or as otherwise required by law when responding to subpoenas, court orders and other legal processes.
Order Fulfillment:
HometownUniversity.com will transfer your Personal Information to third parties when necessary to provide a product or service that you order from such third party while using HometownUniversity.com’s websites or when responding to offers provided by HometownUniversity.com.
Data Summary:
HometownUniversity.com may sell or transfer non-individualized information, such as summary or aggregated anonymous information about all persons or sub-groups of persons.
Third Parties:
HometownUniversity.com may provide your Personal Information to third parties with whom they have a business relationship for the purposes of securing the services and products you have requested or provide you with additional marketing materials from which you may choose additional products or services.
Contacting You:
By using our website, you consent to HometownUniversity.com, or a third-party affiliate with whom HometownUniversity.com shares information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, to contact you by phone or email for marketing purposes or regarding your account status and changes to subscriber agreements, privacy policy, or any other policies or agreements relevant to you.
Email and Unsubscribe Policy:
HometownUniversity.com uses Personal Information to provide promotional offers by email to individuals. HometownUniversity.com may maintain separate email lists for different purposes. If email recipients wish to end their email subscription from a particular list, they need to follow the instructions at the end of each email message to unsubscribe from the particular list. This website also allows visitors to unsubscribe from this offer so that they will not receive future messages. After unsubscribing we will discontinue sending the particular messages as soon as technically feasible. HometownUniversity.com’s unsubscribe process impacts only the future delivery of electronic mailings disseminated by HometownUniversity.com on its own behalf. You may still receive electronic mailings sent on behalf of third parties and your Personal Information may still be shared with third parties for use in offline marketing and data appends, including email appends. You should also note that unsubscribing from HometownUniversity.com’s electronic mailings will not automatically unsubscribe the subscriber’s information from any third-party business associates and licensees of the data. Since third-party associates and licensee partners maintain separate databases from HometownUniversity.com, and you will need to unsubscribe from each source individually, if desired. This allows you the freedom to pick and choose which subscriptions to maintain and which to discontinue.
Content of Email Messages:
In certain commercial email messages sent by HometownUniversity.com, an advertiser’s name will appear in the “From” line but hitting the “Reply” button will cause a reply email to be sent to HometownUniversity.com. The “Subject” line of HometownUniversity.com’s email messages will usually contain a line provided from the advertiser to HometownUniversity.com.
Solicited Email:
HometownUniversity.com may notify you by email of special promotions offered by the insurance agents and underwriters in our network and/or other service or product providers. By registering and using this website you are agreeing to receive email from HometownUniversity.com or from third parties with whom HometownUniversity.com shares information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, or to individuals who have agreed on a third-party website to receive email from third parties. As such, HometownUniversity.com does not send unsolicited email messages. As a result, United States statutes requiring certain formatting for unsolicited email are not applicable to HometownUniversity.com’s email messages.
Targeted Advertising:
HometownUniversity.com uses Personal Information to target advertising to an individual. When an individual is using the internet, HometownUniversity.com may use technology to associate an individual with that person’s Personal Information, and HometownUniversity.com attempts to show advertising for products and services in which the person has expressed an interest in the Surveys, indicated an interest by means of its technology, and otherwise. HometownUniversity.com may, at its discretion, target advertising by using email, direct mail, telephones, cell phones, SMS, text messaging and other means of communication to provide promotional offers.
Telemarketing:
By registering and using this website, you acknowledge that HometownUniversity.com uses Personal Information to advertise, directly or indirectly, to individuals using direct mail marketing or telemarketing using telephones and cell phones, expressly and you authorize HometownUniversity.com and its business associates to contact you by phone even if your name appears on the National Do Not Call Registry or any State “Do Not Call” registries.
Wireless Addresses:
If the e-mail address you provide to HometownUniversity.com is a wireless e-mail address, you agree to receive messages at such address from HometownUniversity.com or its business associates (unless and until you have elected not to receive such messages by following the instructions in the unsubscribe portion of this Privacy Policy). You understand that your wireless carrier’s standard rates apply to these messages.
Short Message Service:
HometownUniversity.com may make available a service through which you can receive messages on your wireless device via short message service (“SMS Service”). Data obtained from you in connection with this SMS service may include your name, address, cell phone number, your provider’s name, and the date, time, and content of your messages. You represent that you are at least 18 years of age and the owner or authorized user of the wireless device on which messages will be received and that you are authorized to approve the applicable charges. In addition to any fee of which you are notified, your provider’s standard messaging rates apply to our confirmation and all subsequent SMS correspondence. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. HometownUniversity.com will not be liable for any delays in the receipt of any SMS messages, as delivery is subject to effective transmission from your network operator. SMS message services are provided on an “AS IS” basis. HometownUniversity.com may also obtain the date, time and content of your messages in the course of your use of the SMS Service. We will use the information we obtain in connection with our SMS Service in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If fees are charged to your wireless account invoice, we may provide your carrier with your applicable information in connection therewith. Your wireless carrier and other service providers may also collect data about your wireless device usage, and their practices are governed by their own policies. You acknowledge and agree that the SMS Service is provided via wireless systems which use radios (and other means) to transmit communications over complex networks. We do not guarantee that your use of the SMS Service will be private or secure, and we are not liable to you for any lack of privacy or security you may experience. You are fully responsible for taking precautions and providing security measures best suited for your situation and intended use of the SMS Service. We may also access the content of your account and wireless account with your carrier for the purpose of identifying and resolving technical problems and service-related complaints. HometownUniversity.com may use Personal Information to provide the services you’ve requested, including services that display customized content and advertising. HometownUniversity.com may also use Personal Information for auditing, research and analysis to operate and improve our technologies and services. HometownUniversity.com may share aggregated and non-Personal Information with third-party business associates. When HometownUniversity.com uses business associates to assist HometownUniversity.com in processing your Personal Information, HometownUniversity.com requires that they comply with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures. HometownUniversity.com may also share information with third parties, including but not limited to, when complying with legal process, preventing fraud or imminent harm, and ensuring the security of our network and services. You may remove your information from HometownUniversity.com’s database. If you remove your information from HometownUniversity.com’s database it will no longer be used by HometownUniversity.com’s for secondary purposes, disclosed to third parties, or used by HometownUniversity.com or third parties to send promotional correspondence to you. You may remove your information by sending your request in writing via email to info@HometownUniversity.com.
Profiles of Individuals:
HometownUniversity.com uses Personal Information to make a profile of an individual. A profile can be created by combining Survey Information and third-party information with other sources of Personal Information, such as information obtained from public databases.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act Compliance.
Agents: If you are an insurance agent or other service provider, in addition to the provisions of this Privacy Policy that are generally applicable to all of our users, your use of our website is also governed by any written agreement between you and Hometown Quotes. We use the information shared with us by our agents to help match agents with a consumer who is interested in learning more about such agent’s insurance products or services. We may also request additional information from agents in order to create an account, including information regarding applicable insurance licenses and method of payment.
Security:
HometownUniversity.com stores Personal Information in a database on its computers. Our computers have security measures (such as a firewall) in place to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under HometownUniversity.com’s control. Data transmitted through the HometownUniversity.com website, including Personal Information you submit, is protected using 1024-bit encrypted Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to make your connection to our server is completely confidential. SSL technology ensures that only you, HometownUniversity.com, and our third-party affiliates, as permitted under this Privacy Policy, can access the information you submit. The data you provide is immediately translated into code, and can only be decoded by HometownUniversity.com. SSL confirms the identity of the originating computer terminal and the recipient terminal, preventing unauthorized interception. Notwithstanding such measures, HometownUniversity.com cannot guarantee that its security measures will prevent its computers from being illegally accessed, and your Personal Information from being stolen or altered.
Affiliations/Merger/Sale:
HometownUniversity.com further reserves the right to disclose, transfer or sell your Personal Information to companies who are affiliated with HometownUniversity.com in HometownUniversity.com’s sole discretion. If HometownUniversity.com changes ownership through an acquisition, merger, sale or other change-of-business status, it reserves the right to transfer or assign the right to use your Personal Information collected from HometownUniversity.com’s websites.
Fraud Prevention:
If false or inaccurate information is provided, including in relation to a person’s identity and fraud is identified, details about this information, including customer Personal Information, will be passed to fraud prevention agencies. Law enforcement agencies may access and use this information. We and other organizations may also access and use this information to prevent fraud and money laundering, for example, when: checking details on applications for credit and credit-related and other facilities; managing credit and credit-related accounts or other facilities; recovering debt; checking details on proposals and claims for all types of insurance, and checking details of job applicants and employees. For further details of the relevant fraud prevention agencies please contact us as described in this Privacy Policy.