TBTLA

The Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association is committed to protecting the privacy of its members and customers. This Privacy Statement, together with our Terms of Use and Conditions, and any other underlying agreements or terms, sets out the basis on which any data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. By using our website and/or providing us with information, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Statement. This Privacy Statement also describes the manner in which we process, use and disclose information that you provide to us.

 

We update this Privacy Statement from time to time so please review this Privacy Statement regularly. If we materially alter our Privacy Statement, we will notify you of such changes by posting a notice on our website and/or contacting you at the e-mail address provided to us. Your continued use of the website will be deemed your agreement that your information may be used in accordance with the new policy. If you do not agree with the changes, then you should stop using the website, and you should notify us that you do not want your information used in accordance with the changes.

 

Information We Collect

Collection of Information

In operating our website, we may collect and process the following data about you:

  • Information you provide to us when you submit a Membership Application or otherwise register on our website, including your name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address, institution affiliation, credit card number, checking account number, customer code, gender or date of birth, as well as the category of membership you choose.
  • Information you provide to us when you create a TBTLA Profile page, including your name, photograph, e-mail address, URL, and publication information.
  • Information provided to us when you communicate with us for any reason.

 

This personal information is collected and used by TBTLA staff for the purpose of facilitating a relationship or business transaction.

By submitting a telephone number to us you agree that a representative of TBTLA may contact you at the number you provide, potentially using automated technology (including texts/SMS messaging) or a pre-recorded message. Your consent is not an obligation to receive any of our products and/or services.

Information is also collected by the TBTLA web server and is used to compile general website usage statistics, to supply statistics to institutions regarding use of the TBTLA’s electronic products, to analyze and improve the performance of the website, general administration of the website, to facilitate access to restricted website services or to verify access rights to TBTLA shared documents

Such information includes:

  • IP address of computer
  • Browser-related information
  • Locations visited on the website
  • HTTP cookies

IP Address

An IP address may be considered personal information in certain countries, including the EEA (defined below). TBTLA does not use this information to identify a person; however, we may use and disclose it as necessary in the event of a security concern or incident. This information is deleted when no longer needed for our business purposes.

 

HTTP Cookies

An HTTP Cookie is a piece of data that is stored by your browser in either your computer's memory or on your computer's hard drive. Cookies may be considered personal information in certain countries, including the EEA (defined below). TBTLA uses cookies to keep track of user-session identity on the website, such as document download or maintaining access to restricted website services via the TBTLA Web Account. Cookies are also used to track the effectiveness of various services provided on the TBTLA website. Browsers generally allow you to disable cookies. Services on the TBTLA website that require a login to a TBTLA web account require that cookies are enabled. For more information on our use of cookies, see the section below "How We Use Cookies."

  

How We Use and Disclose Your Information

General

The information that we collect and store relating to you is primarily used to enable us to provide our services to you in the best possible manner. The use of your personal information in the following ways is necessary for the legitimate interests of TBTLA:

  1. To provide you with information relating to our services.
  2. To provide third parties with statistical information about the users of our website.
  3. To monitor and conduct an analysis of our website traffic and usage patterns.
  4. As necessary in order to investigate, respond to, and address any issues raised by, any complaint made by you.
  5. As otherwise stated, when your information was provided or collected; and/or
  6. As otherwise required to enforce the terms of any contract between you and us or to comply with legal or regulatory obligations or requests.
  7. To analyze trends.

 

Where applicable, we may disclose your personal information to any affiliated business entities or third parties who use your personal information to provide services to us. This includes third parties involved in the administration and operation of our services. We may also disclose your personal information to other third parties, such as:

  1. Where we sell any or all of our business and/or our assets to a third-party, whether through bankruptcy proceedings or other sale or merger.
  2. To auditors, contractors or other advisors auditing any of our business processes.
  3. Where we are legally required to disclose your information.
  4. When we are contractually obligated to disclose it.

Where required, processing performed by anyone other than TBTLA will be governed by a data processing agreement in the form required by law, preserving any and all of your statutory data protection rights.

Email

The TBTLA does not sell, trade or rent e-mail addresses to other organizations, or use or disclose them for marketing purposes, except as described below. Certain e-mail addresses may be published in both print and electronic TBTLA documents including the TBTLA website. TBTLA website may generate e-mail for the following types of communication:

  1. Notification e-mail to which the individual may subscribe and unsubscribe.
  2. Transactional e-mail, which is the result of a business transaction initiated with TBTLA.
  3. Relationship e-mail, which is sent as an informational service because of a relationship with TBTLA
  4. Commercial e-mail, which is sent to promote TBTLA product or service (You may opt not to receive this type of e-mail).
  5. Correspondence from TBTLA staff as a result of a communication initiated by a member or customer.

Email that has a provision for opt-out will include instructions on how to do so. All inquiries regarding subscription-based e-mails should be directed to TBTLA staff department (see TBTLA contact information below).

Security

To secure your information, we have put in place commercially suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect on our website.

Specifically, for those accessing our website from the EEA and North America, (i) TBTLA website resides behind a firewall uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer, the industry-standard security protocol used to communicate with browsers) to transmit personal information; (ii) data is strongly encrypted during transmission to so that personal and payment information is secure; (iii) industry-standard data encryption techniques are used to protect personal information on TBTLA computers; and (iv) SSL-capable browsers typically have a symbol on the browser window to indicate when they are in a secure mode. In addition, the URL will begin with "https:" for all browsers. Access may be different if a user is accessing from a country outside the EEA and North America.

Nonetheless, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure and therefore we cannot guarantee the security of data sent to us electronically on our website, and transmission of such data is therefore entirely at your own risk.

How We Use Cookies

A "cookie" is a piece of text which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, this cookie file is stored on the hard drive of your computer. They present the content from our website in the most effective manner for you and your computer. When you use the website, cookies are set and accessed by or on our behalf for a number of purposes, including to:

  • access your information when you "sign in" to our website so that we can provide you with customized content.
  • identify you as a registered user of our website intended for a specific purpose so that you are able to use the website for its intended purpose(s) without having to re-enter your information each time you do so.
  • keep track of preferences you specify while you are using TBTLA' services.
  • estimate and report our total audience size and traffic.
  • conduct research to improve our website, our content and services; and/or
  • require you to re-enter your TBTLA password after a certain period of time has elapsed to protect you against others accidentally accessing your account contents.

All browsers have the ability to decline cookies. This can be done by activating the setting on your browser which enables you to decline the cookies. Please note that should you choose to decline cookies; you may be unable to access particular parts of our website.
We do not track our users across time or across websites. We do not use flash cookies on our website. We do not use cookies to target advertising or to share information with social networking sites or other services.

Please note that if you choose to continue with use of our website without taking any further action in relation to cookies, we will consider that you agree to the use of cookies as described above.

Third-Party Agents and Websites

TBTLA uses third-party agents for several business purposes, including credit card validation, hotel registration, and shipping. These agents are permitted to use your personal information only to provide TBTLA with a specific service and not for any other purpose. Please contact TBTLA staff (see TBTLA contact information below) if you believe this policy has been violated.

Additionally, please note that the only domain covered by TBTLA Privacy Statement is tbtla.us. The TBTLA website may contain links to other sites; however, TBTLA is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third-party websites. By accessing third-party websites through our website, you are consenting to the terms and privacy policies of those websites. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies whatsoever as we have no control over them.

Member Forums

TBTLA member forum is hosted on the TBTLA website. The inherent public nature of these forums dictates that TBTLA assumes no responsibility for protecting the information disclosed on them by users. Please exercise caution when disclosing personal information in this forum.

Users Only of Legal Age of Majority

Our website is designed and intended for those who have reached the age of majority (18 years of age). By using our website, you affirm that you are at least 18 years of age or older. We are not liable for any damages that may result from a user's misrepresentation of age.

No one under age 13 is authorized to submit or post any information, including personally identifying information, on our website. Under no circumstances may anyone under age 13 use our website. Parents or legal guardians of children under 13 cannot agree to these terms on their behalf.

Your Rights Regarding your Personal Information

You have the right to access the personal information that is held about you by TBTLA.
You also have the right to ask us to correct any inaccurate personal information we hold about you, to delete personal information, or otherwise restrict our processing, or to object to processing or to receive an electronic copy of the personal information you provided to us.

Please note that should you decide to provide us with your personal information and agree to have it published, you may request that we alter or delete your personal information prior to publication, but once a work is published in print or on our website, your personal information may not be altered or deleted. Additionally, your personal information may be re-released by others who have accessed your works and is therefore no longer under control of TBTLA and therefore cannot be altered or deleted.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at:

  • Contact TBTLA Staff (see contact information below);
  • By updating your TBTLA Membership Directory.

When contacting use, please provide your name, address and any works in question. We would be grateful if you could also provide brief details relating to your personal information, as these help us to more readily locate your data. For your safety, proof of identity will be required before responding to any request in this section.

CONTACTING US

We welcome you to contact us with any queries, comments, complaints or requests you may have regarding this Privacy Statement.

  • By e-mail: info@tbtla.us
  • By postal service: P. O. Box 10653 Tampa, FL 33679
  • By telephone: 813-403-7897