Privacy Policy

Effective September 25, 2008

Our Commitment To Privacy

Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. To make this notice easy to find, we make it available on our homepage and at every point where personally identifiable information may be requested.

The Information We Collect:

This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the HowTheMarketWorks.com website. On some pages, you can register to gain access to special features. The types of personal information collected at these pages are:

Virtual Trading registration:
  First Name
  Email address (not shown publicly)
  * See the Co-Registration note below

Message Boards profile:
  Email address (not shown publicly)
  Instant messenger numbers (optional)
  Occupation (optional)
  Location** (optional)
  About Me (optional)
  Trading Experience & Style (optional)

On some pages, you can submit information about other people. For example, you may want to refer this site to a friend, in which case you will need to submit the recipient's email address.

* Co-Registration: After registering for Virtual Trading you may be presented with several "co-registration special offers", which may require additional personal information, collected by the advertiser and advertising network. We do not collect or store that information.
** Location: Your state and country are automatically determined from your computer's IP address and shown on your Message Boards profile. To turn this off, simply edit your profile and delete that entry.

The Way We Use Information:

We use the information you provide about yourself when registering only to provide you access to special features or for us to contact you. For instance, when you log in to your Virtual Trading account, your Name will appear on the Account Summary page. We do not share this information with outside parties.

We use your Email Address to 1) give you a unique login name for Virtual Trading or the Message Boards, 2) to answer the email we receive from you, 3) to contact you if there is a problem with your account, or 4) to send educational newsletters. Such addresses are not used for any other purpose and are not shared with outside parties.

The Virtual Trading registration includes an option to receive free monthly educational newsletters via email. This is the default option but you may opt-out of these emails at any time by clicking on the link in any such emails. Again, such addresses are not shared with outside parties.

We use the information you provide about someone else only to send them the email you requested with the "Send to a Friend" feature. We do not share this information with outside parties.

We use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design our website and to share with advertisers. For example, we may tell an advertiser that X number of individuals visited a certain area on our website, or that Y number of men and Z number of women filled out our registration form, but we would not disclose anything that could be used to identify those individuals.

Finally, we never use or share the personally identifiable information provided to us online in ways unrelated to the ones described above without also providing you an opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.

Our Commitment To Data Security

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

How You Can Access Or Correct Your Information

You can correct factual errors in your personally identifiable information by sending us a request that credibly shows error.

To protect your privacy and security, we will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.

How To Contact Us

Should you have other questions or concerns about these privacy policies, please send us an email at email@howthemarketworks.com or visit the Contact Us page.