About Shockwave - Privacy and Legal

Privacy Policy

At Atom Entertainment, Inc. ("Atom Entertainment"), we respect your right to privacy and we understand that visitors to Atom Entertainment Sites need to control the uses of their personal information. The privacy policy below details the measures taken by Atom Entertainment to protect your privacy in connection with your use of www.shockwave.com and other sites owned and operated by Atom Entertainment ("Atom Entertainment Sites"). Atom Entertainment does not intend to collect any personal information from children under 13 unless Atom Entertainment believes such collection to be permitted by law; please read below for Atom Entertainment's policy with respect to children under 13.

How is my personally identifiable information used by Atom Entertainment?

Customized experience. Atom Entertainment gathers user information to provide you with a customized experience on our sites. Your user information helps us tailor the content, services, goods and advertising to your current and future needs. For this reason, we may ask you to register or to provide personal information when you post high scores, write reviews, download free software, enter a contest, order products, subscribe to a newsletter and/or visit certain areas of an Atom Entertainment site. If you choose not to register you may not have access to areas that require personal identification.

E-mail. If you register with Atom Entertainment Sites or purchase products from us, from time to time we may e-mail you with messages about our services or third party products and services we believe may be of interest to you, such as new products, features, services, special offers and updated information. The newsletters may contain code that enables our database to track your usage of the newsletters, including whether the email was opened and/or what links (if any) were clicked. We will combine that information with other information we have about you and may use that information to improve your site experience and/or provide customized e-mail communications to you. In addition, if you register with an Atom Entertainment site or purchase products you may automatically receive emails confirming your registration and/or purchase and providing you with necessary information relating to the access or use of your registration and/or purchase. With the exception of the emails described in the preceding sentence which are necessary to provide customer support and deliver products and services to you, you may opt-out of receiving email from us as described below under "What are my options to control the use of my personally identifiable information?".

When does Atom Entertainment collect my information, including personally identifiable information?

Registration. When you register, Atom Entertainment asks for your e-mail address, a user selected user name, and other information. Once you are a registered user you can update your profile and may be able to provide additional preferential information (e.g. a member name, a nickname, and certain user preferences). (Atom Entertainment's policy with respect to children under 13 is below)

Order Forms and Products Store. Atom Entertainment also uses an order form for users to request information, products and services. For that order form, we collect a user's contact information (e-mail address) and necessary financial information to process the order (i.e. credit card number). Contact information from the order (including email) is used to deliver digital products and information from Atom Entertainment. Atom Entertainment may use third parties to accept and process orders and credit card purchases for merchandise and products, including software, with the information from consumers used solely to process payment transactions on behalf of merchants and to be shared only with the merchant who originated the transaction, vendors, processors, banking institutions, and credit card associations as necessary to process payment transactions.

Special Contests or Promotions. Atom Entertainment may occasionally present a special contest or promotion that is sponsored by another company. To qualify for entry in that contest or promotion, we may ask you to provide personal information. If we plan to share that information with the sponsor(s) or with others, we will provide a statement to that effect in the contest or promotion terms.

IP Address. All communication on the internet takes place between pairs of IP Addresses. Our Web servers will log the IP address that any connection is made from. We may use these IP addresses to help diagnose technical problems or prevent abuse of our systems or other site users. Your IP address may also be used to gather aggregate demographic data and target advertisements accordingly.

Cookies. A "cookie" is a small line of text that is stored with your Web browser for record-keeping purposes and to help us provide better service to you. Your browser has options to accept, reject, or provide you with notice when a cookie is sent. We use cookies to save your password (in an encrypted format) on your machine so you don't have to re-enter it each time you visit our site. We also use cookies to deliver content specific to your interests and track your downloads and purchases from the Atom Entertainment Sites.

Banner Advertisements. We use an outside company to serve advertisements on our site. In the process of serving advertisements, cookies are placed in your browser's cookie file and may use information, such as IP addresses but excluding your name, address, email address or telephone number, about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements on this site and other Web sites about goods and services that may be of interest to you. By delivering ads on the Atom Entertainment Sites, our ad serving vendor is able to record what ads a user -- identified by the unique cookie -- has seen, and what Atom Entertainment site pages the user was viewing when the ads were delivered. This Web usage information is combined with other ad delivery information (e.g., what type of operating system your computer uses) collected from your visits to Atom Entertainment Sites and other sites not affiliated with Atom Entertainment. This non-personally identifiable information is used as part of the ad serving process for reporting and to select and direct the ads you see online at Atom Entertainment Sites and other sites not affiliated with Atom Entertainment. Unlike the cookies Atom Entertainment uses in other parts of our site, cookies received with banner ads are collected by our ad serving vendor and we do not have access to this information. Additionally, some ads served are generated by other third party ad serving systems that also may place a cookie or transparent GIF files on your browser to provide web usage information to those third parties.

We recognize that not all users wish to receive ads targeted to their interests and we put the wishes of our users first. For us at Atom Entertainment, the most important thing is that you make the choice that is best for you.

Links to Other Sites. The Atom Entertainment Sites contain links, including banner and other ads, to other Web sites. Atom Entertainment is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites. The Atom Entertainment Sites may also link to Web sites that feature Atom Entertainment trademarks and names along with trademarks and names of other companies. You should look at the privacy policy on that co-branded Web site, as the co-branded Web site may not be under Atom Entertainment's control.

Digital Rights Management. Applications you use or download from the Atom Entertainment Sites may contain third party digital rights management systems ("DRMS") which may allow for communication between your software and the third party and utilize security features (e.g., preventing distribution of or access to the applications in the event of unauthorized use). These DRMS are subject to their own license agreements and you agree that Atom Entertainment shall not be responsible for any loss or damage of any sort relating to the use of the DRMS or your dealings with such third parties. The applications may also contain DRMS produced by Atom Entertainment which allow for communication between the applications you use or download and our systems and which collect information describing your computer system in order to prevent illegal or unauthorized use of the applications. More specifically, the DRMS for applications licensed from the Atom Entertainment Sites and the subscription service may transmit the following pieces of information, along with other information, when you either enter a purchase key or sign in with your subscription service user name and password: Operating System, CPU Version Information (including serial number from a serial-number-enabled Pentium III), BIOS Version Information, NetBIOS Computer Name, DOS HD Serial Number, Hard Drive Size / Geometry, S.M.A.R.T. IDE HD Serial Number, Network Card MAC Address, IP Address and Size of Physical Memory.

Information from Other Sources. For reasons such as improving member experience and providing customized communications to our users, we may receive information about you from third party sources and our web logs (see the "Web Logs" section below) and add it to the information that we have received from you.

Weblogs. Web logs automatically record anything a web server sees, which may include email addresses you enter into a form or pages viewed by a user at a particular IP address. If you are not a registered user of an Atom Entertainment Site or if you have elected to Opt-Out of receiving email from us, we will not use the information from web logs to market to you. If you are a registered user of an Atom Entertainment Site and have not elected to Opt-Out of receiving email from Atom Entertainment, we may use web log information about your use of the Atom Entertainment Sites in order to inform you about content, products, or services in accordance with your email options.

Who does Atom Entertainment share information with?

We will not share your personally identifiable information with third parties, aside from entities that perform services for us, such as fulfilling orders or processing payment, that either are bound to comply with our privacy policy or have privacy policies that protect your information unless you have "opted-in" to such sharing. If you have previously opted-in to such sharing under a prior privacy policy version, you are still considered to have opted-in under this Privacy Policy. As stated, and whether or not you have opted-in, Atom Entertainment may use third parties to accept and process orders for merchandise and products, including software, and such third parties may get access to your personal information for the purposes of providing services or products to you on Atom Entertainment's behalf. In addition, if you Opt-Out, as discussed below, we may share that information with third parties who send emails on our behalf so that they do not email you.

However, Atom Entertainment may disclose information you provide if required to do so by law or if we have a good faith belief that disclosure is necessary to (1) comply with the law or with legal process served on Atom Entertainment; (2) protect and defend the rights or property of Atom Entertainment; or (3) act in an emergency to protect someone's safety.

We may request demographic information from you (for example, your age, education level or household income) from time to time. We will not share that information in a manner that identifies you as an individual with any other entity, unless we let you know that at the time of collection or we have your permission. When we share demographic information with third parties, we will give them aggregate information only.

In the event that Atom Entertainment is acquired by another company, your personal information may be part of the assets transferred to the acquiring party.

What are my options to control the use of my personally identifiable information?

If you provide us with your e-mail address, and do not opt-out of receiving e-mail from us, we may e-mail you with information from Atom Entertainment, including information about selected third parties. If you do not want to receive information from Atom Entertainment, you may decline to receive it (or "Opt-Out") either when you provide personal information to Atom Entertainment or you may sign in and update your profile (or complete our E-mail form at http://www.shockwave.com/help/contact_us.jsp). You may also choose to Opt-Out from certain types of email by following the unsubscribe instructions that appear on each newsletter. You may also contact Atom Entertainment by postal mail at the address below. Note that you might be signed up for multiple email preferences, and you should be sure that you unsubscribe only from the ones you no longer want to receive. Please note that there might be a brief delay between when you submit your request to Opt-Out and when it is processed and reflected in our systems; accordingly you might continue to receive emails from us for a few days after you unsubscribe. We maintain records of those users who Opt-Out of specific email options so that we do not email them with respect to those types of emails and we may share this information with third parties who send emails on our behalf so that they do not email you; this information may also be contained in web logs (see above).

What about kids' personally identifiable information?

The Atom Entertainment Sites are general audience sites and are not directed to children under the age of 13. Atom Entertainment assumes products purchased through credit card means are purchased by adults. Atom Entertainment respects the privacy of parents and children and is committed to complying with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). On those areas of the Sites that ask for age, Atom Entertainment does not collect personal information from individuals who identify themselves as under the age of 13 except in those limited circumstances where Atom Entertainment believes that such collection is permitted under COPPA.

If a parent believes that his or her child has submitted personal information to Atom Entertainment, he or she can contact us via e-mail or postal mail as listed below. Atom Entertainment will promptly delete the information upon learning that it relates to a child under the age of 13. Please note that it is possible some of this information may remain archived in web logs and back-up archives after Atom Entertainment deletes the information from its active database (see the Web Logs paragraph above, and the Archived Information paragraph below).

Atom Entertainment believes that parents should supervise their children's online activities and consider using parental control tools available from online services and software manufacturers that help provide a kid-friendly online environment. These tools can also prevent children from otherwise disclosing online their name, address and other personal information without parental permission.

What else should I know about my privacy?

Security. Atom Entertainment has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. These include a firewall to prevent unauthorized access to our systems and maintenance of registration information in a separate database. Although we will exercise reasonable care in providing secure transmission of information between your computer and our servers, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted to us over the Internet and we accept no liability for any unintentional disclosure. We will protect the transmission of credit card information through industry standard, SSL (secure socket layer) encryption.

Chat Rooms and Other Public Areas. Atom Entertainment may offer chat, user reviews, multi-player games, bulletin board, or other public functions and any posting by you is considered public information available to other users. Any posting is governed by Atom Entertainment's Terms of Service. You should take care to not use personal information in your screen name or other information that might be publicly available to other users.

Tell a Friend. If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about our site or particular features or content, we ask them for the friend's name and email address. Atom Entertainment will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit an Atom Entertainment Site. Atom Entertainment stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email.

Your personal information is password-protected, and you should take appropriate measures to protect the secrecy of your password. If you use a computer in a public place or share a computer with others, remember to sign out and close your browser window when you finish a session with Atom Entertainment in order to prevent others from accessing your personal information.

Archived Information. Atom Entertainment maintains archives of its web logs, database, and other systems and information. Please note that it is possible some of this information may remain archived after Atom Entertainment deletes the information from its active database (see the Web Logs paragraph above). Atom Entertainment maintains archives for disaster recovery, legal and other non-marketing purposes.

How can I update my Profile?

You can help Atom Entertainment maintain the accuracy of your profile by notifying us when you change your name (only for gameblast), zip code, country of residence, age range, or e-mail address. If at any time you wish to update your information or stop receiving communication from Atom Entertainment, sign in to the applicable Atom Entertainment Site and then select 'update your profile' to change your newsletter preferences.

Contacting Atom Entertainment.

Atom Entertainment would like to receive your comments and questions about this Privacy Policy. Please address comments or questions regarding Atom Entertainment's Privacy Policy to us via e-mail or postal mail.

You can complete our e-mail form at: http://www.shockwave.com/about/copyrightCompliance.jsp.

You may also contact Atom Entertainment by mail at:

Atom Entertainment, Inc.
Attn: Privacy
225 Bush Street, Suite 1200
San Francisco, CA 94104 USA

Your California Privacy Rights.

Beginning on January 1, 2005, California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits our visitors who are California residents to request certain information regarding its disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an e-mail to businessaffairs(at)atom.com or write us:

Atom Entertainment, Inc.
Attn: Privacy
225 Bush Street, Suite 1200
San Francisco, CA 94104 USA

Acceptance of Privacy Policy.

Your use of the Atom Entertainment Sites, including any dispute concerning privacy, is subject to this Privacy Policy and Atom Entertainment's Terms of Service. By using the Atom Entertainment Sites, you are accepting the practices set out in this Privacy Policy and those Terms of Service. We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the changes on this page. Please check the revision date at the bottom of this page to determine if the policy has been modified since you last reviewed it. Your continued use of any portion of the Atom Entertainment Sites following posting of the updated Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of the changes.

Updated as of 05-14-08