VetFran WEBSITE TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY
The International Franchise Association Foundation (“IFA FOUNDATION”) maintains this site (the “Site“) for your personal entertainment, information, education, and communication use. By browsing the Site, you agree that you have read and you understand the following Terms of Use and Privacy Policy in its entirety, including any updates that may be posted on the Site from time to time. IFA FOUNDATION reserves the right to revise the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, at it sole discretion, by updating this posting. The revised terms will take effect the date they are posted on the Site. If we materially change our practices with regard to personal information collected under prior Terms of Use and Privacy Policies, we will endeavor to notify you and give you the opportunity to opt out of changes with regard to that previously collected information. Your continued use of the Site shall be deemed to be your acceptance of the modified terms. Please review these posted terms on a regular basis.
If you need assistance with the Site, or if you have any questions regarding these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, please contact: webmaster@franchise.org.
Terms of Use
1. Content Provided on the Site
You should assume that everything available on the Site is copyrighted unless otherwise noted and may not be used except as provided by these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may download one copy of any IFA FOUNDATION-owned materials that are displayed on the Site for your non-commercial, personal use provided you retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained on the materials. Please note that some of the materials provided on the Site are materials provided and owned by third parties. If you would like to download or otherwise use any of these third-party materials, you must obtain consent from the owner of those materials. Except as otherwise provided by these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, you may not distribute, modify, transmit, use, or re-post any of the content provided on the Site, including any part of the Site’s text, images, audio, and video, for any purposes, without IFA FOUNDATION’s or the third-party owner’s written permission.
Any content posted on the Site expresses only the views of the author of the content and does not necessarily reflect the views of IFA FOUNDATION. While we use reasonable efforts to include accurate and up to date information on the Site, we do not make any warranties or representations regarding the accuracy of the Site’s content, including any content posted by users of the Site. You agree that IFA FOUNDATION will not be held liable for the contents, accuracy, completeness or validity of any information posted on the Site.
The trademarks, trade names, logos and service marks (collectively the “Intellectual Property”) displayed on the Site, including all registered and unregistered Intellectual Property, are owned by us and by third parties. Nothing contained on the Site should be construed as granting by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any Intellectual Property displayed on the Site without our written permission or the written permission of the proper third party. Your misuse of the Intellectual Property displayed on the Site, or any other content on the Site, except as provided in these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, is strictly prohibited. You are also advised that we will aggressively enforce our intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law, including by seeking of criminal prosecution.
2. Membership
You may apply to become a member of IFA FOUNDATION by completing the membership application available at: http://www.franchise.org/join.aspx. The membership application will ask you to provide personal information including your name, company name, physical address, and email address. After you submit the membership application a username and password to access your account via the Site will automatically be generated and emailed to you. Please note that this does not mean that you have been granted membership in IFA FOUNDATION. IFA FOUNDATION will contact you separately regarding whether you have been granted membership. If you are not granted membership, IFA FOUNDATION will cancel any pending orders; however, your online account will remain active.
You should take measures to protect your password. IFA FOUNDATION is entitled to act on instructions received under your password and account, including any purchases made through your account, and IFA FOUNDATION is not liable for losses that are incurred through the use of your password by any third party.
3. Termination of Membership
Membership fees are nonrefundable.
A member can terminate his or her membership at any time by contacting the membership department at 1-202-628-8000. If you chose to terminate your membership, membership fees that you have paid will not be refunded to you in whole or in part.
IFA FOUNDATION reserves the right to terminate the account of members who infringe copyright or any other intellectual property right, who violate these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, or for any other reason deemed appropriate in IFA FOUNDATION’s sole discretion. If IFA FOUNDATION terminates your account, membership fees that you have paid will not be refunded to you in whole or in part.
4. Forums
You may register to participate in any forum provided on the Site without registering to become a member of IFA FOUNDATION. To register to participate in a forum you must provide your company name and physical address. A username and password will be automatically generated and emailed to you. You will not be permitted to access other member-only areas of the Site without becoming an IFA FOUNDATION member.
Although IFA FOUNDATION may from time to time monitor or review discussions, chats, postings, transmissions, and bulletin boards provided on the Site, IFA FOUNDATION is under no obligation to do so and assumes no responsibility or liability arising from any information posted via such forums, including any liability for defamation, libel, slander, omission, falsehood, obscenity, pornography, profanity, danger, or inaccuracy. You agree that you will not use the Site to post any material or links to any material, which include material, which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive or a person’s privacy or otherwise violate any law. You also agree that you will not post any copyrighted material without the express permission of the copyright holder. IFA FOUNDATION will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity of anyone posting any such information or materials.
You grant IFA FOUNDATION a perpetual, world-wide, royalty-free license to distribute, copy, adapt, reproduce, transmit and otherwise use content and information you post on the Site for any purpose and in any media now known or hereinafter developed. You expressly agree that IFA FOUNDATION is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any posting or communication you send to IFA FOUNDATION without compensation and for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to developing and marketing products and services using such information.
5. No Warranty
Your use of and browsing on the Site are at your risk. Neither IFA FOUNDATION nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the Site is liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages arising out or your access to, or use of, the Site. Without limiting the foregoing, everything on the Site is provided to you “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IFA FOUNDATION makes no representations or warranties and assumes no responsibility, and shall not be liable for, any damages to, or viruses that may infect, your computer equipment or other property on account of your access to, use of, or browsing on the Site or your downloading of any materials, data, text, images, video, or audio from the Site or that the Site will be uninterrupted, secure, or free of errors.
6. Limitation of Liability
IN NO EVENT WILL IFA FOUNDATION BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF, ACCESS TO, RELIANCE ON, INABILITY TO USE OR IMPROPER USE OF THE SITE OR ANY INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS OR SERVICES AVAILABLE ON THE SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL OR REVENUE, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR LOSS OF DATA), EVEN IF ADVISED ON THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE.
Please note that some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages, so some of the above exclusions and limitations may not apply to you. Check your local laws for any restrictions or limitations regarding the exclusion of implied warranties and the limitation of liability.
7. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold IFA FOUNDATION harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney’s fees, made by any third party due to or arising in any way out of your use of the Site, any violation of these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, or the infringement by you, or another user of the Site using your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity, or claims arising out of any threatening, libelous, obscene, harassing or offensive material contained in any of your postings or communications.
8. Export
Software from this Site is further subject to United States Export Controls. No software from this Site may be downloaded or exported (i) into or to a national or resident of Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Iran, Syria, or any other country where the United States has embargoed goods; or anyone on the United States Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals; or the U.S. Commerce Department’s Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or using the software, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.
Privacy Policy
1. Collection and Use of Information
In order to operate the Site in an efficient and effective manner and to provide you with information that may be of interest to you, IFA FOUNDATION collects personal information, such as name, company name, physical address, and email address when you apply to become a member of IFA FOUNDATION and when you request to participate in a forum. Our collection of this information allows you to access the member sections of the Site when you are logged in to the Site, participate in forums and make purchases on the Site, as applicable. We also maintain a membership list which includes the name, physical address, phone number, and fax number of all IFA FOUNDATION members.
We will also collect additional information from users who make additional requests via the Site, such as registering for events, making membership fee payments, or making other purchases. The information collected may include, in addition to the personal information otherwise collected via the Site (as discussed above) credit card information, company listing information that is published on our website and twice a year in the Franchise Opportunities Guide.
You can always change any personal information that you submit to IFA FOUNDATION by logging in to your online account and making changes.
You agree that IFA FOUNDATION may use your personal information to contact you and to provide you with information that may be of interest to you, including print publications and email newsletters. By accepting these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, you expressly agree to receive such communications. If you do not wish to receive these communications, you can opt-out of any further receipt by following the opt-out procedures provided in such communications or by calling us at 1-202-628-8000.
2. Disclosure of Information
IFA FOUNDATION does not sell the information that it collects to any third parties for any reason. IFA FOUNDATION may disclose the information that it collects to third parties in order to fulfill a request that you have made via the Site, such as a purchase made on the Site, or as otherwise described in these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. In addition, IFA FOUNDATION provides a copy of its membership list to any IFA FOUNDATION member upon request.
Please be aware that when you publicly display personal information (for example, via a forum provided on the Site), that information can be collected and used by others. IFA FOUNDATION is not responsible for the collection or use of information that you publicly display.
IFA FOUNDATION may also disclose the information it collects as necessary to comply with the law or to cooperate with or seek assistance from law enforcement or to protect the interests of IFA FOUNDATION or other users of the Site. Such disclosures may be made with or without your consent or notice to you.
3. Cookies
IFA FOUNDATION uses cookies only for the protection and convenience of the users of the Site. IFA FOUNDATION may store non-personally identifiable information about you such as a session ID in a cookie that it places on your computer. Cookies enable IFA FOUNDATION to serve secure pages to a users without requiring the user to sign in to his or her account repeatedly. In addition, IFA FOUNDATION uses cookies to track a user’s behavior on the Site, including when a user is logged in to his or her account, changes that are made to a user’s account information, and purchases made by a user via the Site. IFA FOUNDATION uses this information for internal purposes only and does not share this information with third parties except as necessary to provide a product or service or make a change to account information requested by a user. You may have the ability to set your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent; however, some of the Site’s features or services may not function properly without cookies.
4. Third-Party Websites
The Site contains links to other websites not operated by or affiliate with IFA FOUNDATION, including links to purchase goods and/or services. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or security procedures of any websites linked to on the Site. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Site and to read the privacy policies of any other site visited.
5. Security of Information
IFA FOUNDATION uses appropriate industry practices to safeguard the confidentiality of your account information and to prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information as described in these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. However, no data transmitted over the Internet is 100% secure. Accordingly, while IFA FOUNDATION makes reasonable efforts to protect your personal information, any information that you provide to IFA FOUNDATION is transmitted at your own risk and you assume all responsibility and risk for your use of the Site, the Internet generally, and the information you may post or access and for your conduct on and off the Site.
6. California Privacy Rights
California law permits its residents to request and receive information about a business’ disclosure of certain categories of personal information to other companies for their use in direct marketing. If you are a California resident and a user of this Site, you can request a copy of this information from IFA FOUNDATION by sending an email to webmaster@franchise.org or a letter to IFA FOUNDATION at 1900 K Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20006. Please include your name and email address in email requests, and your name and physical address in mail request.
7. Children
IFA FOUNDATION does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 13 and this Site is not directed to children under the age of 13.