P.E.D.A.L. does not reveal any
information you give us to anyone else, not even our other members. Any
information you give us will be used only to allow our headquarters to contact
you.
We use your mailing address to send meeting notices and schedules. We use your
email address for the same purposes and to send an occasional "urgent
warning" when we think our members might want to take action on a timely
issue of importance to cyclists.
When we send email to our membership, we send it "Blind Carbon Copy
(bcc)". That way, each member receives a message addressed only to him,
with no list of other members.
Occasionally, someone contacts us looking for a cycling contact, such as a
riding partner, and we may think you're a good candidate. Our policy is to call
you first and give you the new person's contact information (with their
permission, of course).
Our website's one commercial feature, the Electronic Magazine Stand, (which we
highly recommend as a way to purchase discount magazine subscriptions for any
magazine, not just Bicycling) may use information you give them just as any
commercial site would. The only information they get from P.E.D.A.L. is that
you accessed them through our website; that's how we get our small fee.
Since you've read this far, you're obviously concerned about your privacy - or
extremely bored. If you've ever read one of these privacy statements before,
you know that they usually start out telling you how the site honors all
regulations, values your privacy, loves children and pets, always salutes the
American flag, and every other irrelevant thing they can think to bore you to
tears before they get to the point. The point is always this: Everybody you
do business with, whether on the Internet or not, will use any information you
give them any way they please.
Have you read your credit card agreement? It says they'll use any information
you give them in any legal way they choose. That only precludes making charges
you didn't authorize. They know where you shop, how much money you spend, and
when you spend it. How will they use this information and who will they give it
to? Since the information is considered business information and not private
information, government agencies do not need a court order to demand
information from your credit card company.
You probably think your phone calls are private, too. Wrong. Yes, it takes a
court-ordered wiretap to actually listen to your calls, but whom you call is a
different matter. With modern computer technology, the phone company records
the numbers you dial and the number of the phones that call you. Your phone
company considers this information that they own and that they can use any way
they like. The government does not need a court order to get this information.
It's not just long distance calls; it's every call you place.
Don't forget you have no privacy about your medical needs. When you accepted
your medical insurance, you signed an agreement allowing them to have all your
medical records and to use them any way they see fit.
Does your employer have an "employee assistance program" offering
"private" counseling referrals? Be sure to read the fine print. The
"counselor" may actually have a contract with your employer to reveal
whatever you tell her to your employer. Information that employees have
divulged to such counselors has been used as evidence in termination
proceedings!
Feeling paranoid yet? We won't even mention Internet privacy. We'll leave the
explanation (and a great demonstration) to
Privacy.net. We're sure you'll find it enlightening.
Enough ranting for now. If you want to learn more about your privacy, here are
a few websites to get you started:
Privacy.net
The Privacy Page
Privacy Times Magzine
Privacy Rights Organization
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