BFT's Privacy Policy
Thank you for visiting the Ben Franklin Transit (BFT) website and reviewing our Privacy Policy. Your privacy is one of our top priorities. We view this Privacy Policy as a privacy partnership between BFT and you, our valued customer. The following policy applies only to the use of BFT’s website. Other websites operated have different policies. We strongly suggest that you read the privacy policy for each website that you visit, and any external site that you visit through a link appearing on this site.
We seek to protect your privacy to the maximum extent possible. However, because some of the information we receive through this website is subject to the Washington State Public Records Law, and due to the nature of Internet communications, we cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that you provide to us through this site may be made available to members of the public under that law. This Privacy Policy is designed to explain the specific privacy protections we provide to you at our website. This policy informs you of the information that we collect from you at this site, what we do with it, to whom it may be disseminated, and how you can access it. Based on this information, you can make an informed choice about your use of this site. You can maximize the benefits of your privacy partnership with BFT by making informed choices about whether to share personally identifiable information with us through this site.
Acceptance of this Privacy Policy
By using this website, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy. Without limitation of the foregoing, you understand and agree that (1) the information collected by BFT may be stored indefinitely, (2) BFT may store, access and use the information in any jurisdiction, including jurisdictions in which the privacy laws may be different and less protective than those in your home jurisdiction and (3) BFT will not share any information submitted to this site with any other organization or individual. Please do not use this website if you do not agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
BFT reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time but will not do so without posting the modified Privacy Policy on our website. We encourage you to review our privacy policy whenever you visit our website to make sure you understand how your information will be used.
What Information Does BFT Automatically Collect and How Is It Used?
When you visit our website, we automatically collect some basic information about your computer as part of the software operation of our website. The type of information we collect includes:
- User name
- IP address (your computer’s unique signature)
- Information about purchases made on our site or affiliated sites
- Navigation information
- Operation system (e.g., Windows, Macintosh)
- Browser software (e.g., Google Chrome, Internet Explorer)
- Internet Service Provider (e.g., Spectrum, Frontier)
We may use this information to compile statistics for the purpose of understanding the number of daily visitors, type and number of passes sold, the pages most frequently visited and how long visitors stay at each page. These aggregated statistics are used to help us to understand the needs of our users and to develop and continually improve our products and services to better serve those needs. We may also share this information in the aggregate with other third parties.
What are “Cookies” and how does BFT use them?
cookies are small text files that are sent to your computer from the servers(s) hosting BFT’s site and saved on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies allow BFT to personalize your experience on our website to make your experience more useful by enabling you to conveniently navigate around our website. We use cookies to track registration and transactional information regarding use of our website. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. If you prefer not to have cookies placed on your computer, most browsers allow you to decline cookies. However, if you do so, some of the conveniences they make possible may not be available, and certain portions of our website may not be accessible to you.
What Information does BFT Request You Provide and How is That Information Used?
When you place a request for a trip or other product or service on our website, BFT asks you to provide certain personal information. The types of personal information BFT collects include the following: your first and last name, telephone number, postal address, email address. We will also ask for credit card information from you in connection with purchases you may make through our website. This information is used to process any orders placed by you on the website, to customize our website and to understand the needs of our users so that we may better serve you. When you indicate that you want to purchase a pass through the BFT website, we will provide your order information to our Customer Service staff for processing. We do not sell or rent your personal information to others. We may provide to certain third parties aggregate statistics about our sales, products and services purchased through our website. This data will not contain any personally identifiable information about you.
BFT reserves the right to disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is reasonably necessary to (1) comply with legal process; (2) respond to any claims; or (3) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of BFT and our customers.
How You Can Opt Out
If, at any time, you wish to have your name and other personal information removed from our database, please let us know by writing to us at BFT, 1000 Columbia Park Trial, Richland, WA, 99352, Attention: Customer Service.
How is your Personal Information Stored and Protected?
The personal information you provide when you purchase any merchandise through our website is retained indefinitely by BFT and electronically stored in secure environments that are made inaccessible to the public as is reasonably possible. When you place orders or access your account information, we offer the use of a secure server. You may review, update or correct your personal information at any time by writing to us at BFT, 1000 Columbia Park Trail, Richland, WA, 99352, Attention: Customer Service.
Links to Other Websites
Links from our website are provided for your convenience only. BFT is not responsible for the content of any third-party website or the privacy practices of such third parties. In addition, any link from our website to another website does not indicate that BFT endorses the services or policies of such third-party website. you should always investigate the information practices of all websites that you access and carefully examine the privacy policies, if any of any websites appearing on or linking to or from our website. Personal information collected from the linked websites will be subject to the information practices of those websites.
Use of This Website by Minors
BFT does not intend to collect information from individuals who identify themselves as under eighteen (18) years of age. If you are under eighteen (18), you should not provide information on this website and should ask your parent or authorized guardian to do so for you. BFT will not collect information from those individuals who identify themselves as less than eighteen (18) years of age without verifiable consent from a parent or other authorized guardian. Credit card transactions initiated by minors are governed by your cardholder agreement.
Questions of Concerns
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is used, please write to us at BFT, 1000 Columbia Park Trail, Richland, WA, 99352, Attention: Customer Service.
Does BFT Share the Information with Anyone?
Unless a user consents to such distribution, BFT Will not sell, lease, or give away personally identifiable information to other governments, organizations, or private businesses within the limits of the law.
It’s important to know the law, as state and federal laws place a special burden on public entities such as BFT to assure the public’s right to access public records and information. Public information (as opposed to private information) involves information about activity that is regulated. For example, in purchasing a birth certificate online, a person’s name and birth date is public information (because births are regulated by the state), but the fact that you bought it with a certain credit card number is not (because means of purchasing is not regulated). Furthermore, public information would include correspondence with other agencies, including e-mails and website comments about shared processes, policies, activities, and other types of general correspondence. However, certain subjects fall under exemptions of the state’s public disclosure act, including employee benefit questions, welfare information, and other types of client specific data.
For details, see Revised Code of Washington 42.56.070, Documents and Indexes to be made public and the federal Freedom of Information Act.
Outside of legal requirements and extreme emergencies, information on the BFT website will not be released to anyone without the consent of the user.
Disclaimer Notice
Ben Franklin Transit (BFT) makes no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, currency, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of this website and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in its contents. In the event of a conflict between this Privacy Policy and the Public Records Act or other law governing the disclosure of records, the Public Records Act or other law governing the disclosure of records, the Public Records Act or other applicable law will control.
No warranty of any kind, implied, express, or statutory, including but not limited to the warranties of non-infringement of third party rights, title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and freedom from computer virus, is given with respect to this website or its links to other Internet resources. Although we have put in place security systems (as described in this Policy) that are designed to prevent unauthorized disclosure of your personally identifiable information, due to the nature of Internet technologies we cannot provide firm assurances as to the security of this information, and expressly disclaim any such obligation.
Site Privileges
You agree to refrain from activity that imposes an unreasonable burden on the Site, and we reserve the right, at our discretion, to limit the quantity on any item and/or to refuse service to any customer who violates these provisions.
Choice of Law and Jurisdiction
This Site is controlled and operated by BFT from its location in Richland, Washington. This Policy shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington, without regard to any conflict of law provisions. Any dispute arising under this Policy shall be resolved exclusively by the state of federal courts sitting in Benton County, Washington.