WORLD LINKS INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION AGENCY'S PRIVACY POLICY

Why A Privacy Policy?

World Links International Adoption Agency (‘World Links’) respects your individual privacy. This Privacy Policy ('Policy') embodies our commitment to its protection through adherence to fair electronic information practices. This Policy puts you, the individual, in control of how your personal information is processed. You have our promise that we will not electronically process your personal information in any way that is incompatible with this Policy.

This Privacy Policy protects your privacy by:

Informing you about:

Empowering you to choose:

Assuring you that World Links:

Getting to Know You

World Links works in a field where personal interaction and putting people in touch with other people is a basic need. That requires more than simply offering unique programs and qualified services. It also requires that we understand you, our families, and your needs. Indeed, we are in such a good regard because we have taken the time to get acquainted with each one of our families.

We get to know you primarily through the information you provide to us when signing up for, or using, one or more of our services. The information you provide ranges from basic contact information, to in-depth personal and financial information.

After you have signed up for our programs, we may be in communication with you about your family, questions you may have about services provided by us, or any other matter relating to those services. Those communications are essential to our relationship with you and to our ability to provide you with quality services that are responsive to your needs. At the same time, those communications give us helpful insights about you, your preferences and the ways in which we might improve our services. We therefore may maintain this information for future use.

For operational and quality assurance purposes, we take note of whether and how you use the information and services that we provide.

The information we receive from or about you is stored on systems designed to prevent the loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction of that information.

How We Put Information to Good Use

We use information about you for purposes of monitoring and improving our internal operations, as well as to ensure we: (i) recommend programs best fitted for you, (ii) administer your account in accordance with your agreements with us, and (iii) properly perform the services you have requested.

We also use the information we collect to monitor and improve our internal operations, as well as to improve the experience of our future families. For example, we may correlate Web site traffic information with data about individual users. This data helps us to determine how much our families use parts of the site, allowing us to enhance it to fit the needs of as many of our families as possible.

Finally, we use the information we collect to direct important notices and information affecting your account or services, as well as to provide general information that may be of interest to you, including newsletters, and announcements. You may opt-out of receiving information from us simply by notifying us of your desire. Note, however, that in order to fulfill our service obligations to you, we must continue sending you notices and other important information affecting your account or services.

With Whom We May Share Information

We are required by law to share certain information upon request from:

We may share certain information with your pre-placement, post-placement, or homestudy agency, if you choose one other than World Links. We may share your information with appropriate affiliates in order to provide best quality service.

Our Accountability to You

By signing up for our services, you obtain the protections of, and consent to the data processing practices described in, this Privacy Policy. When you sign up for our services, you also represent to us that you have provided notice to, and obtained consent from, any third party individuals whose personal data you supply to us with regard to: (i) the purposes for which such third party's personal data have been collected, (ii) the intended recipients or categories of recipients of the third party's personal data, (iii) which of the third party's data are obligatory and which data, if any, are voluntary, and (iv) how the third party can access and, if necessary, rectify the data held about them.

In addition to the privacy protections that we provide, our employees, agents and partners are independently responsible for ensuring compliance with this Privacy Policy, as described below.

Employee Accountability

Only those World Links employees that have a legitimate purpose for accessing and handling personal information obtained by us are given authorization to do so. The unauthorized access or use of such information by a World Links employee is prohibited and constitutes grounds for disciplinary action.

Additionally, our information management systems are configured in such a way as to block or inhibit employees from accessing information that they have no authority to access.

Notification of Changes

We will post any changes to this Privacy Policy 30 days before their effective date so you will always know what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. You are responsible for periodically checking our web site for changes to this Privacy Policy. You may opt-out of any posted change to our collection, use or disclosure of your personal information by sending an e-mail to privacy@wliaa.org