Privacy Policy

by John R. Carlsen for Syncopated Systems

Last revised March 14, 2020

Syncopated Systems (hereinafter "Syncopated") respects the privacy and security of others, and attempts to demonstrate this respect through publicly disclosing its data-handling policies and practices below.

Syncopated operates a site accessible via the World-Wide Web, through which it may collect certain information obtained from those accessing the site.

In operating its Web site, Syncopated uses very common practices, products, and configurations, and encourages all users to become aware of the data collected about them by Syncopated and other Web site operators.

Regulatory Compliance

Syncopated is committed to operating in compliance with all laws, including those that pertain to the opertaion of its site, such as:

• CCPA: California Consumer Privacy Act (effective 2018/06/28)
• GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (effective 2018/05/25)
• CalOPPA: California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003 (effective 2004/07/01)
• USA PATRIOT: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (effective 2001/10/26)
• COPPA: USA (FTC) Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 USC §§ 6501-6506, effective 2000/04/21)
• ECPA: USA Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (18 USC § 2510 et seq., effective 1986/10/21)
• SCA: USA Stored Communications Act (18 USC §§ 2701-2712, effective 1986/10/21)

Syncopated publishes this policy in part to comply with requirements of the California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003 (CalOPPA).

Syncopated does not intend its site to be used by young children, nor does it direct young children toward its site. However, Syncopated does not provide any mechanism to exclude access by young children, and attempts to provide its material in a manner appropriate for audiences of all ages. (Syncopated makes these statements in part to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998.)

Syncopated does not track users and their usage of its Web site via any additional software and/or services (such as Quantcast), nor does it share this information with other parties.

Data Collection from Web Site Accessors

Through operation of its Web site, Syncopated may collect certain information obtained from those accessing the site.

Purpose of Data Collection

Syncopated uses the data it collects to improve the quality of service it provides through publishing information via its Web site.

Syncopated does not collect, use, sell or share personal data for direct marketing purposes.

Types of Data Collected

The types of data Syncopated collects through its Web site include:

• The type of operating system and Web browser used to access the site, as identified by the accessor's browser,
• The domain name and/or number of the accessor and related usage statistics including page(s) accessed, bandwidth used and length of session,
• If referred by a search engine used to find a particular page, the name of the search engine and the search phrase used, and
• If referred by another page, the address (uniform resource identifier) of that page, including references to pages not found ("not found" error 404); and
• Any data submitted by the accessor via the contact page.

Potential for Data Collection by Others

Internet data telecommunication provides a convenient mechanism for exchanging data at low cost by conveying data through and between networks of computers owned by companies, schools, governments, and other organizations. Any or all of these may – and likely do, to varying degrees – monitor the data that they convey. Therefore, Internet data traffic is technically an "open source" like books, newspapers, magazines or radio and television transmissions, and messages transmitted via Internet data are only as private or secure as those mailed on postcards.

Furthermore, government agencies may monitor Internet data traffic – including Internet telephony using Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) – through their own and other networks, as is clearly the case in the United States. (wiki:Room_641A)

For more information regarding Internet data security, please continue to read the portions of Syncopated's data security policies described below.

Data Security

In conducting its business, Syncopated regularly collects, stores and disposes of many types of information and other data, including those considered confidential, personal, secret, and so on. These are referred to herein cumulatively as sensitive data and include all design data and any résumés and curricula vitae submitted. Syncopated shall use these data only in accordance with its security policy, part of which is described below.

Whenever practical, sensitive data should not be transmitted across Internet connections, including via Internet electronic mail or the contact page on Syncopated's Web site. Instead, sensitive matters should be discussed in appropriate private and secure chambers. If in-person discuss is impractical, many of these matters may be discussed appropriately via wired telephony, which in the United States offers privacy protected by anti-wiretapping laws that prescribe strict punishments for this type of monitoring except as authorized by a properly-executed search warrant. (wiki:Secrecy_of_correspondence)

Retention without Dissemination

Syncopated shall exercise all reasonable care to protect all sensitive data (including the types identified above) from any reasonably-foreseeable unwanted dissemination. To this end, Syncopated shall not store sensitive data on computers it considers inherently insecure, including those running operating systems or other software produced or sold by Microsoft Corp., except to store a client's data as explicitly directed to do so by that client.

Syncopated reserves the right but disclaims any obligation to retain any submissions into perpetuity.

Disposition

Prior to their disposal, Syncopated shall appropriately destroy any copies of sensitive data.

Submitters or subjects of records may request that their data be purged. Unless there exists a sufficient conflicting need to retain records, such as for evidencing a particular claim of interest, Syncopated shall attempt to honor such requests expediently.

Warrant Canary

As of the latest revision of this policy as stated near the top of this page, Syncopated has not received a subpoena for user data, including any subpoena that would prohibit the disclosure of its existence, such as a National Security Letter (NSL).

The Usual Disclaimer

As is common among other organizations, Syncopated reserves the right to change its policies at any time and without notice.