Privacy Policy

This page discloses the privacy policy of AF Books®. We are concerned about your privacy and the security of your important personal information. We want you to be aware of what kind of information we obtain from you, how we use this information, and how you can control its use. By using this site or making purchases at our stores, you consent to this Privacy Policy.

How is personally identifiable information collected?

Customer information is collected during sales transactions primarily for customers in our stores through our in-store checkout process and other in-store contacts such as sweepstakes or contest entry forms. Information is collected through online checkout process and for customers who register at our online Preference Center.

To opt-out of any communications from AF Books or other companies, refer to the subscribe/unsubscribe sections below.

What personally identifiable information is collected?

In order to provide you superior service, communicate marketing promotions which we believe will be of interest to you, and to administer our business, AF Books® retail stores may gather the following personal information (except where prohibited by law): salutation, name (first/middle/last), billing and shipping addresses, company name (if applicable), email address, phone/fax number (if applicable), payment type (VISA, Check, Cash, etc.), and other information you would provide voluntarily.

How is the collected information used?

AF Books® retail stores use your personally identifiable information to provide superior service in the following areas: to process, fulfill and track online orders and in-store pickup reservations; bill your credit card for purchases; respond to your customer service inquiries or requests; provide requested services such as rebate redemption and warranty coverage; offer information regarding products and services based on your interests or past purchases; hold contests, giveaways, drawings and promotions; administer shopping or reward club accounts; conduct and administer surveys; mail marketing/sales material via email or postal mail; set up commercial accounts; sign up for new credit card promotions; or use it for other general business purposes to further enhance our business relationship with you.

To enhance your AF Books experience, we may also collect aggregate information as to which pages you visit, search terms used, etc. - in order to measure the effectiveness of our website and identify areas for improvement (product selection, site performance and/or to streamline the purchasing processes).

How do we use cookies and technology in our website?

AF Books requires that cookies be enabled on your web browser. Cookies are used to store temporary data such as Customer ID, Order ID, etc. A Cookie is a small text file that Microsoft web servers send to your Internet browser. AF Books uses 'temporary' session cookies to store login & ID information. Your browser saves this file temporarily to your hard disk. These temporary cookies are a secure and safe way of storing temporary data and can only be read by the web server that created them. Microsoft web servers use cookies to identify your connection, so you do not need to enter the same information repeatedly. When you close your browser, the temporary cookie is deleted.

Who are the third party entities with whom we may share your personally identifiable information?

WE NEVER SHARE ADDRESS, EMAIL ADDRESSES OR TELEPHONE NUMBERS WITH ANY THIRD-PARTY COMPANIES.

How do I subscribe to/ unsubscribe from AF Books® emails or postal mailings?

There are various methods for letting us know if you would or would not like to receive AF Books® postal or email promotions. (Please note that if you opt out of our email marketing communications, you may still receive business-related communications such as order and shipping confirmations, or other administrative communications.)

By the Web

Go to our website (www.afbooks.com) and click on the “NewsLetter” or “Contact Us” link. This will take you to where you can sign up to receive our various marketing promotions or request to no longer receive specified marketing promotions.

All promotional emails we send you also contain a link allowing you to opt out of these specific emails in the future. Click on the relevant link and follow the simple instructions.

By Letter

Write to us and let us know what you would like to receive or not receive. You can send your letter to:

AF Books

20523, S. LaGrange Rd, Frankfort, IL 60423

Note: Please be sure to include your full name, address, phone number and email address and tell us specifically if you wish to start or stop receiving our emails or mailings. This will allow us to correctly identify you in our systems and process your request.

By Email

Email us at afbooks_frankfort@sbcglobal.net

Note: Please be sure to include your full name, address, phone number and email address and tell us specifically if you wish to be added to our newsletter or stop receiving. This will allow us to correctly identify you in our systems and process your request.

In-Store

While visiting our retail stores, you may request to subscribe to or unsubscribe from our postal mailing lists. Please note; in order to adhere to legal guidelines involving unsubscribing from eMail, we cannot record your eMail preferences in store; this can only be accomplished through one of the other methods described above.

If you opted out of receiving our postal or email marketing communications, please allow us a reasonable period of time to honor your request, as some promotions may already be in process. For email subscriptions, please allow up to a maximum of 10 business days for us to make the requested changes. Removal from our print advertising list may take up to 4 - 5 weeks, depending on the mailing cycle updating process.

Of course, you always have the option to re-subscribe to our mailing lists. Simply, go to our website (www.afbooks.com) and click on the Newsletter link.

How do we protect the security of your AF Books ® order information?

AF Books® is concerned about your privacy and the security of your important personal information. We always use industry standard encryption technologies when transferring and receiving any data that you exchange with our site. We employ the same industry-standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology that is used by major banks and stock brokerage firms to conduct business via the Internet. This encryption procedure "scrambles" the information you send us and makes online transactions extremely safe.

When we transfer and receive certain types of sensitive information, such as financial information, you will be redirected to a secure server and we will notify you, depending on the type of browser you are using, through a pop-up screen or a yellow "padlock" icon displayed in the lower portion of the browser window. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you via this site.

How do we handle information related to children?

This site is not intended or designed to attract children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly or intentionally obtain any personally identifiable information from any person we know to be under the age of 13.

How can you contact us with questions regarding this Privacy Policy?

If you have questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy, you may contact us by writing to: AF Books, 20523 S. LaGrange Rd., Frankfort, Illinois, 60423. Please remember to include your postal address, email address and phone number with your correspondence.

How am I notified of Privacy Policy changes?

As we continue to grow our businesses and improve our services, we reserve the right to change or modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If there are changes or additions, we will post those changes here or in other formats we deem acceptable, so that you are aware of such changes. If this Privacy Policy changes in such a way that your personally identifiable information may be used or shared in a different manner, you will be given the opportunity to opt-out of having your information used or shared in that new manner. If you are concerned about how your information is used, please check back at this site periodically.

Disclosure exceptions:

Notwithstanding the above policies, we reserve the right to disclose your personal information to appropriate third parties if we are required to do so by law or we believe that such action is necessary: to comply with legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order; to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our website and/or AF Books Online®; to protect Micro Electronics, Inc.'s rights and property; or during emergencies, such as when we believe someone's physical safety is at risk.

In addition, as we develop our business, we may buy or sell assets or business offerings. Customer information, email addresses, and visitor information are generally among the transferred business assets in these types of transactions. We may also transfer such information in the course of corporate divestitures, mergers, or any dissolution, including, but not limited to, a bankruptcy proceeding.

Cookies

Like every major online vendor, we utilize "cookie" technology, but the information gathered with cookies is limited to Customer ID, Order, ID, the type of computer you are using and where you travel within our site. This type of tracking allows us to design and alter our site for efficiency and does not compromise your privacy. We set cookies to record certain information during your visit to AF Books®. In certain instances cookies do enable us to recall personally identifiable information about you, but only after you have voluntarily given us that information. Please consult our Privacy Policy so that you are apprised of what kind of information we obtain from you, how we use this information, and how you can control its use.

Don't be alarmed if your browser shows an alert letting you know that a cookie has been detected. A cookie is simply a very small piece of text placed on your hard drive that is recognized as you move throughout our site and each time you visit our site. The benefit to you is the ability to save items added to your Shopping Cart and store them on our server for future reference (up to 30 days). We use cookies strictly to help design a more efficient site as they tell us which pages are popular (or not), etc. Cookies do not tell us your name, address, credit card number or any other information that you may wish to keep confidential. If you have voluntarily given us personal identifiable information cookies enable us to recall it (and save you the trouble of entering it all over again) each time you visit our site.

Both Netscape and Internet Explorer default settings allow all cookies to be accepted. If your browser is not set to accept cookies, you will see a window every time a cookie attempts to be set, asking you to accept or decline. If you find this message to be annoying, change your browser default settings to accept cookies - see side bar.

Encryption

AF Books uses industry standard encryption technologies when transferring and receiving any data that you exchange with our site. We employ the same industry-standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology that is used by major banks and stock brokerage firms to conduct business via the Internet. This encryption procedure "scrambles" the information you send us and makes online transactions extremely safe. Despite what you may have heard, it is not a simple "hack" to intercept your personal info and decode it. Billions of dollars of transactions are conducted via the web every day.

In order to communicate securely on microcenter.com, you will need a browser with 128-bit SSL encryption. To determine if your version of Internet Explorer supports 128-bit encryption, click Help -> About Internet Explorer. "Cipher Strength" should be listed as 128-bit.

For AF Books® purchases, when we transfer and receive certain types of sensitive information over the Internet, such as financial information, you will be redirected to a secure server and we will notify you, depending on the type of browser you are using, through a pop-up dialogue box or a "padlock" icon displayed in the bottom of the browser window as well as the URL beginning with "https" instead of "http" in the address bar. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you via this site.

Email

When you purchase online from AF Books®, and provide us with a valid email address, we will contact you by email to confirm your order and to update you on the status of your order. You are instructed to review our Privacy Policy for additional information about how your email address (or any other personal information that you provide to us) may or may not be used by us.