ohio farm bureau federation

Privacy Policy for ofbf.org

Ohio Farm Bureau Federation is a member of American Farm Bureau Federation®, a national organization of farmers and ranchers including Farm Bureau® organizations in 49 other states and Puerto Rico, and is responsible for Farm Bureau membership and programs within the State of Ohio. Ohio Farm Bureau Federation programs and services are available only to Farm Bureau members within Ohio. The political views expressed in these pages represent Ohio Farm Bureau Federation's positions on various issues as they relate to Ohio. The positions of the national Farm Bureau organization collectively are expressed through American Farm Bureau Federation.

"Farm Bureau" and the "FB" logo are registered service marks of American Farm Bureau Federation and are used by Ohio Farm Bureau Federation under a license agreement between the two organizations.

Links
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation provides links from its Web site to other Web sites as a convenience. The linked sites are not under the control of Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, and it is not responsible for and does not necessarily endorse the content of any linked site.

Reuse of Material
Any news release or story written by the Ohio Farm Bureau may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced in its entirety as long as the reprint or other reproduction credits Ohio Farm Bureau Federation as its source. For information about reusing or reproducing other material on this site, contact us by telephone at 614-246-8232 or via e-mail at info@ofbf.org

Privacy Issues
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation does not, without your knowledge and permission, collect information about you by reason of your visit to its Web site, nor does it resell or distribute any site-visitor data, including information that may be collected as a natural by-product of your visit. Please direct any questions concerning this policy to info@ofbf.org

Disclaimer of Liability
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and its affiliates do not warrant that this Web site, its host server or any linked sites are free of computer viruses or other harmful components. You use these sites at your own risk. This Web site and material are provided on an "as-is" basis without any warranty of any kind. Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and its affiliates make no warranty about the accuracy, reliability, completeness or timeliness of the material, information, services, software, text, graphics, links or anything else appearing on or related to this Web site.

Terms and Conditions of Use

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE. BY USING THIS SITE, YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE, PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS SITE.

A. Welcome. This site is owned and operated by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation ('we,' 'us,' 'OFBF,' or 'Farm Bureau'). OFBF has the right at any time to change or discontinue any aspect or feature of the Web Site, including, without limitation, the content, hours of availability, and equipment needed for access or use of the Web Site. These Terms of Use apply to all users of the Web Site, including visitors, advertisers, and members.

B. Equipment. You shall be responsible for obtaining and maintaining all telephone, computer hardware, and other equipment needed for access to and use of the Web Site and all charges related thereto.

C. Security. We use industry-standard efforts to safeguard the confidentiality of all information, regardless of whether it identifies you or not. Our security includes use of firewalls, secure socket layers, and encryption. Your password (when available) is a component of our security system. As such, it is your responsibility to protect it. Do not share your password with any third parties.

D. E-Mail Policy. At various points in the Web Site, we provide visitors the opportunity to contact us via e-mail. E-mail messages are not encrypted. You acknowledge and agree that by providing OFBF with any personal or confidential user information through the e-mail function, you consent to the transmission of such personal or confidential user information through the public Internet, and understand that there are risks that this information could be viewed by other parties. You agree to adhere to procedures that we may establish to enhance the safety and confidentiality of transmissions of personal data over the Internet.

E. Restrictions on Use.

A. You shall use the Web Site for lawful purposes only. You shall not post or transmit through the Web Site any material that (i) violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others, (ii) is unlawful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane or otherwise objectionable, or (iii) encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, gives rise to civil liability or otherwise violates any law. You shall not: (i) post or transmit through the Web Site any material that contains advertising or any solicitation with respect to products or services without OFBF’s express prior approval, or (ii) use the Web Site to advertise or perform any commercial solicitation, including, without limitation, the solicitation of users to become subscribers of other on-line services. Any conduct by you that in OFBF's discretion restricts or inhibits any other user from using or enjoying the Web Site will not be permitted.

B. The Web Site contains copyrighted material, trademarks and other proprietary information, including, without limitation, text, software, photos, video, graphics, music and sound, and certain contents of the Web Site are copyrighted under the United States copyright laws. You may not modify, publish, transmit, display, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works, or in any way exploit, any of the content, in whole or in part. No copying, redistribution, retransmission, publication, or commercial exploitation of downloaded material will be permitted without the express written permission of OFBF and the copyright owner. In the event of any permitted copying, redistribution, or publication of copyrighted material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution, trademark legend or copyright notice shall be made. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading copyrighted material.

C. You shall not upload, post or otherwise make available on the Web Site any material protected by copyright, trademark, or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner of the copyright, trademark, or other proprietary right, and the burden of determining that any material is not protected by copyright rests with you. You shall be solely liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from such a submission. By submitting material to any public area of the Web Site, you automatically grant, or warrant, that the owner of such material has expressly granted OFBF the royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, display, translate and distribute such material (in whole or in part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed. You also permit any other user of the Web Site to access, view, store, or reproduce the material for that user's personal use. You grant AFBF the right to edit, copy, display, publish, and distribute any material made available on the Web Site by you.

D. Access to the Web Site, other than to portions open to the public, is controlled by individual passwords. Individuals may not share their passwords with anyone else or permit their passwords to be used to provide anyone else with access to non-public portions of the Web Site.

E. The foregoing provisions of this Section are for the benefit of OFBF, its subsidiaries, affiliates, and its third party content providers and licensors and each shall have the right to assert and enforce such provisions directly or on its own behalf.

F. Disclaimer of Warranty; Limitation of Liability.

A. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE WEB SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. NEITHER OFBF, ITS AFFILIATES NOR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, THIRD PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS OR LICENSORS WARRANT THAT THE WEB SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; NOR DO THEY MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE WEB SITE, OR AS TO THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION, SERVICE OR MERCHANDISE PROVIDED THROUGH THE WEB SITE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY INFORMATION OR TOOLS PROVIDED ON THE WEB SITE SUCH AS CALCULATORS, NEWS, WEATHER INFORMATION AND MARKET DATA.

B. IN NO EVENT WILL OFBF, OR ANY PERSON OR ENTITY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING OR DISTRIBUTING THE WEB SITE OR THE CONTENT INCLUDED THEREIN, BE LIABLE IN CONTRACT, IN TORT (INCLUDING FOR ITS OWN NEGLIGENCE) OR UNDER ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING STRICT LIABILITY) FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, CONSEQUENTIAL OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, LOSS OF USE OR SIMILAR ECONOMIC LOSS, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEB SITE. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY TO ALL USE OF AND CONTENT ON THE WEB SITE. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, IN WHICH EVENT THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE. IN NO EVENT SHALL OFBF'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING ITS OWN NEGLIGENCE) OR UNDER ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING STRICT LIABILITY) EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU, IF ANY, FOR ACCESSING AND/OR USING THIS WEB SITE.

C. THE ABOVE DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY APPLIES TO ANY DAMAGES OR INJURY CAUSED BY ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INACCURACY, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER VIRUS, COMMUNICATION LINE FAILURE, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, ALTERATION OF, OR USE OF THIS WEB SITE, WHETHER FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORTIOUS BEHAVIOR (INCLUDING STRICT LIABILITY), NEGLIGENCE, OR UNDER ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION. YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AFBF IS NOT LIABLE FOR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS OR THIRD-PARTIES AND THAT THE RISK OF INJURY FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU.

G. Copyright Infringement. Pursuant to Title 17, United States Code, Section 512(c)(2), notifications of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to Service Provider's Designated Agent. ALL INQUIRIES NOT RELEVANT TO THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE WILL NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE.

H. Marks. All page headers, custom graphics and button icons are service marks, trademarks, and/or trade dress of OFBF and/or AFBF. All other trademarks appearing on the Web Site are the property of their respective owners. Unauthorized use of any trademark, service mark, or logo appearing on the Web Site may be a violation of federal and/or state trademark laws.

I. Monitoring; Loss of Information. OFBF shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the content of the Web Site including any chat rooms and forums, to determine compliance with these Terms of Use and any operating rules established by OFBF and to satisfy any law, regulation or authorized government request. OFBF shall have the right in its sole discretion to edit, refuse to post, or remove any material submitted to or posted on the Web Site. Without limiting the foregoing, OFBF shall have the right to remove any material that OFBF in its sole discretion finds to be in violation of the provisions hereof or otherwise objectionable. OFBF assumes no responsibility for the deletion of or failure to store electronic-mail messages, chat comments, or other information submitted to the Web Site.

J. Violations of Rules and Regulations. We reserve the right to seek all remedies available at law and in equity for violations of the rules and regulations set forth herein, including the right to block access from a particular Internet address to this Web Site.

K. Indemnification. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless OFBF and its affiliates, their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, successors and assigns from and against any and all claims, actions, demands, damages, costs, liabilities, losses and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the Web Site in violation of these Terms of Use or any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation.

L. Third Party Content. OFBF is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and users of the Web Site. Accordingly, OFBF has no more editorial control over such content than does a public library, bookstore, or newsstand. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers and users, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of OFBF. In many instances, the content available through the Web Site represents the opinions and judgments of the respective information provider or user. OFBF neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Web Site by anyone other than authorized OFBF employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. Notwithstanding the foregoing, OFBF reserves the right to monitor, edit, and sort content supplied by third parties.

M. Changed Terms. OFBF has the right at any time to change or modify these Terms of Use, or any part thereof, or to impose new conditions. Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by any means including, without limitation, posting on the Web Site, or by electronic or conventional mail, or by any other means. Any use of the Web Site by you after such notice shall be deemed to constitute acceptance of such changes, modifications, additions or deletions.

N. Linked Internet Sites. THE LINKS IN THIS WEB SITE WILL LET YOU LEAVE OUR WEB SITE. THE LINKED SITES MAY NOT BE UNDER OUR CONTROL, AND THE CONTENT AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET SITES LINKED TO THIS WEB SITE MAY NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT OUR OPINION. WE ARE PROVIDING THESE LINKS TO OTHER INTERNET SITES AS A CONVENIENCE TO YOU, AND ACCESS TO ANY OTHER INTERNET SITES LINKED TO THIS WEB SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE INCLUSION OF ANY LINK DOES NOT IMPLY THAT WE RECOMMEND OR ENDORSE THE LINKED SITE, OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS AS TO THE VERACITY OR RELIABILITY OF THE INFORMATION OR SERVICES PROVIDED IN THE LINKED SITE.

O. Governing Law; General Provisions. These Terms of Use shall be construed in accordance with applicable laws of the State of Ohio, without regard to any conflict of laws rules, and you hereby consent to exclusive jurisdiction of OFBF's choosing for any cause of action, claim, liability, demand or dispute arising out of your use of this Web Site or its Terms of Use. We operate this Web Site from our offices within the United States of America. We make no representation that the information in this Web Site is appropriate or available for use in other locations, and access to this Web Site from territories where the contents of this Web Site may be illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access this Web Site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. No waiver by either party of any breach or default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not be given any legal import.

Cookies
In order to provide more customized service or to address security hazards, we occasionally use a feature of your browser called a 'cookie.' A cookie stores your member ID, and allows us to keep track of where you are in the site. A cookie is a small data file that the Web Site writes to your hard drive. We also use cookies for a number of administrative purposes; for example, to store your preferences for certain kinds of information or to store a password so that you do not have to input it every time you visit our site. We do not store any of your personal information in cookies. A cookie cannot be read by a Web Site other than the one that set the cookie. A cookie cannot read any other data off your hard drive, pass on a virus, or read cookie files created by other sites. Cookies do not contain any information that will enable anyone to contact you by telephone, e-mail, or other means. You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. Your ability to interact with our Web Site, however, will be limited if cookies are disabled or refused.

Security
We use industry-standard efforts to safeguard the confidentiality of all information, regardless of whether it identifies you or not. Our security includes use of firewalls, secure socket layers, and encryption. Your password is a component of our security system. As such, it is your responsibility to protect it. Do not share your password with any third parties.

General
This Privacy Statement is incorporated into and subject to the terms of the Services Agreement and Terms of Use. If you have any questions or concerns about privacy, please send an e-mail to info@ofbf.org. We may change this Privacy Statement over time to address new issues and to reflect changes to the internet and to our site. Your continued use of the Web Site following the institution of any such changes denotes your acceptance of those changes.

Third Party Collectors of Information
This Privacy Statement addresses only the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. Any information you disclose to a third party, such as other users or advertisers, is subject to that party's Privacy Statement. We encourage you to ask questions before you disclose your personal information to others.

Privacy Statement

Last modified: Feb. 24, 2009

At OFBF we recognize that privacy is important. This Privacy Policy applies to all of the products, services and Web sites offered by OFBF Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliated companies. In addition, where more detailed information is needed to explain our privacy practices, we post supplementary privacy notices to describe how particular services process personal information.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please feel free to contact us through our Web site or write to us at

Webmaster
c/o Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Inc.
280 N. High St. – 6th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43218-2383

Information we collect and how we use it

We offer a number of services that do not require you to register for an account or provide any personal information to us. In order to provide our full range of services, we may collect the following types of information:

• Information you provide – When you sign up for a OFBF Account or other OFBF service or promotion that requires registration, we ask you for personal information (such as your name, email address and an account password). For certain services, we may also request credit card or other payment account information which we maintain in encrypted form on secure servers. We may combine the information you submit under your account with information from other OFBF services or third parties in order to provide you with a better experience and to improve the quality of our services. For certain services, we may give you the opportunity to opt out of combining such information.
• Log information – When you access OFBF services, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website. These server logs may include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser. Also, in order to protect you from fraud, phishing, and other misconduct, we may collect information about your interaction with our services. Any such information we collect will only be used to detect and prevent fraud or other misconduct.
• User communications – When you send email or other communications to OFBF, we may retain those communications in order to process your inquiries, respond to your requests and improve our services.
• Affiliated sites – We offer some of our services in connection with other web sites. Personal information that you provide to those sites may be sent to OFBF in order to deliver the service. We process such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. The affiliated sites may have different privacy practices and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.
• Other sites – This Privacy Policy applies to OFBF services only. We do not exercise control over the sites displayed as search results or links from within our various services. These other sites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit personal information from you.

OFBF only processes personal information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and/or the supplementary privacy notices for specific services. In addition to the above, such purposes include:

• Providing our services to users, including the display of customized content and advertising;
• Auditing, research and analysis in order to maintain, protect and improve our services;
• Ensuring the technical functioning of our network; and
• Developing new services.

You can find more information about how we process personal information by referring to the supplementary privacy notices for particular services.

OFBF processes personal information on our servers in the United States of America. We may process personal information to provide our own services. In some cases, we may process personal information on behalf of and according to the instructions of a third party, such as our advertising partners.

Choices for personal information

When you sign up for a particular service that requires registration, we ask you to provide personal information. If we use this information in a manner different than the purpose for which it was collected, then we will ask for your consent prior to such use.

If we propose to use personal information for any purposes other than those described in this Privacy Policy and/or in the specific service privacy notices, we will offer you an effective way to opt out of the use of personal information for those other purposes. We will not collect or use sensitive information for purposes other than those described in this Privacy Policy and/or in the supplementary service privacy notices, unless we have obtained your prior consent.

Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some OFBF features and services may not function properly if your cookies are disabled.

You can decline to submit personal information to any of our services, in which case OFBF may not be able to provide those services to you.

Information sharing

OFBF only shares personal information with other companies or individuals outside of OFBF in the following limited circumstances: • We have your consent. We require opt-in consent for the sharing of any sensitive personal information. • We provide such information to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies or other trusted businesses or persons for the purpose of processing personal information on our behalf. We require that these parties agree to process such information based on our instructions and in compliance with this Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures. • We have a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of such information is reasonably necessary to (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request, (b) enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations thereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or (d) protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of OFBF, its users or the public as required or permitted by law. We may share with third parties certain pieces of aggregated, non-personal information, such as how many users clicked on a particular advertisement. Such information does not identify you individually. Please contact us at the webmaster address provided below for any additional questions about the management or use of personal data.

Information security

We take appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure or destruction of data. These include internal reviews of our data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures, as well as physical security measures to guard against unauthorized access to systems where we store personal data.

We restrict access to personal information to OFBF employees, contractors and agents who need to know that information in order to operate, develop or improve our services. These individuals are bound by confidentiality obligations and may be subject to discipline, including termination and criminal prosecution, if they fail to meet these obligations.

Data integrity
OFBF processes personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected and in accordance with this Privacy Policy or any applicable service-specific privacy notice. We review our data collection, storage and processing practices to ensure that we only collect, store and process the personal information needed to provide or improve our services. We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we process is accurate, complete, and current, but we depend on our users to update or correct their personal information whenever necessary.

Enforcement
OFBF regularly reviews its compliance with this Privacy Policy. Please feel free to direct any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or OFBF’s treatment of personal information by contacting us through this Web site or by writing to us at

Webmaster
c/o Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Inc.
280 N. High St. – 6th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43218-2383

When we receive formal written complaints at this address, it is OFBF’s policy to contact the complaining user regarding his or her concerns. We will cooperate with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local data protection authorities, to resolve any complaints regarding the transfer of personal data that cannot be resolved between OFBF and an individual.

Changes to this Privacy Policy Please note that this Privacy Policy may change from time to time. Each version of this Privacy Policy will be identified at the top of the page by its effective date.

If you have any additional questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please feel free to contact us any time through this Web site or at

Webmaster
c/o Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Inc.
280 N. High St. – 6th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43218-2383