Visitor Agreement

DIAMOND CERTIFIED WEBSITE

Welcome to our website. This site is maintained as a service to our visitors. By using this site, you agree to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use. Please review these terms and conditions carefully. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, you should not use this site.

  • Agreement. This Agreement (the “Agreement”) specifies the Terms and Conditions for access to and use of www.diamondcertified.org (the “Site”) and describe the terms and conditions applicable to your access of and use of the Site. This Agreement may be modified at any time by American Ratings Corporation upon posting of the modified agreement. Any such modifications shall be effective immediately. You can view the most recent version of these terms at any time at www.diamondcertified.org. Each use by you shall constitute and be deemed your unconditional acceptance of this Agreement.
  • Privacy. Your visit to our site is also governed by our Privacy Policy. Please review our Privacy Policy.
  • Ownership. All content included on this site is and shall continue to be the property of American Ratings Corporation or its content suppliers and is protected under applicable copyright, patent, trademark, and other proprietary rights. Any copying, redistribution, use or publication by you of any such content or any part of the Site is prohibited, except as expressly permitted in this Agreement. Under no circumstances will you acquire any ownership rights or other interest in any content by or through your use of this site.
  • Intended Audience. This website is intended for adults only. This website is not intended for any children under the age of 18.
  • Trademarks. The marks, Diamond Certified®, American Ratings Corporation, Ratings Dashboard and design and other marks, are either trademarks or registered trademarks of American Ratings Corporation. Other product and company names mentioned on this Site may be trademarks of their respective owners.
  • Site Use. American Ratings Corporation grants you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive license to use this site solely for your own personal use and not for republication, distribution, assignment, sublicense, sale, preparation of derivative works, or other use. You agree not to copy materials on the site, reverse engineer or break into the site, or use materials, products or services in violation of any law. The use of this website is at the discretion of American Ratings Corporation and American Ratings Corporation may terminate your use of this website at any time.
  • Compliance with Laws. You agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding your use of the website. You further agreed that information provided by you is truthful and accurate to the best of your knowledge.
  • Indemnification. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold American Ratings Corporation and our shareholders, officers, partners, employees, and affiliates, harmless from any liability, loss, claim and expense, including reasonable attorney’s fees, related to your violation of this Agreement or use of the Site.
  • Disclaimer. THE INFORMATION ON THIS SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN ”AS IS,” ”AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THIS SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. AMERICAN RATINGS CORPORATION DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY EXPRESS WARRANTIES, STATUTORY WARRANTIES, AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF: MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. TO THE EXTENT YOUR JURISDICTION DOES NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON WARRANTIES, THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE SHALL BE TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITE.
  • Limitation of Liability. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL AMERICAN RATINGS CORPORATION BE LIABLE OR RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL (INCLUDING DAMAGES FROM LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOST PROFITS, LITIGATION, OR THE LIKE), SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR OTHER DAMAGES, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATING TO THE SITE, YOUR SITE USE, OR THE CONTENT, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SITE AND/OR CONTENT IS TO CEASE ALL OF YOUR SITE USE.You may have additional rights under certain laws (including consumer laws) which do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, or the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. If these laws apply to you, the exclusions or limitations in this Agreement that directly conflict with such laws may not apply to you.The Diamond Certified® symbol is not a promise of a company’s future performance or your actual satisfaction with that company. We endeavor to perform the rating process accurately and without bias according to the description supplied by our organization. Furthermore, we believe that the methodology used to ascertain this rating and award Diamond Certified® is a fair representation of the qualifying company’s high customer satisfaction level during the period of the rating. Since, we rely on multiple sources of information and each company’s performance can change over time we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided herewith. The content and materials provided are provided “As Is” and without warranties of any kind either expressed or implied. Under no circumstances, including, but not limited to negligence shall we be liable to you or any other entity for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages. The Diamond Certified® symbol does not mean that a certified company will meet every individual’s subjective markers for satisfaction. We do back our certification with a Performance Guarantee, which is our sole guarantee provided users of any information related to Diamond Certified®.
  • Use of Information. American Ratings Corporation reserves the right, and you authorize us, to use and assign all information regarding site uses by you and all information provided by you in any manner consistent with our Privacy Policy.
  • Copyrights and Copyright Agent. If you believe your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide a notice containing all of the following information to our Copyright Agent:
    • An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
    • A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
    • A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Site;
    • Your address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
    • A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
    • A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.Our Copyright Agent for Notice of claims of copyright infringement on the Site is Joy Lanzaro, who can be reached at joylanzaro@diamondcertified.org or at American Ratings Corporation, 504 Redwood Blvd., Suite 210, Novato, CA 94947.
  • Links. We welcome links to our service. You are free to establish a hypertext link to this site so long as the link does not state or imply any sponsorship of your site by us.
  • No Framing. Without our prior written permission, you may not frame, or in-line link, any of the content of this website, or incorporate into another website or other service any of our intellectual property. Requests for permission to frame our content or in-line link to our website may be sent to joylanzaro@diamondcertified.org
  • No Endorsements. We are not responsible for, and cannot guarantee the performance of, goods and services provided by companies included on our Site or others to whose sites we link. A link to another Web site does not constitute our endorsement of that site (nor of any product, service or other material offered on that site).
  • Applicable Law. You agree that the laws of the state of California without regard to conflicts of laws provisions will govern these Terms and Condition of Use and any dispute that may arise between you and American Ratings Corporation or its affiliates.
  • Severability. If any provision of this Agreement shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the mini-mum extent necessary so that this Agreement will otherwise remain in full force and effect.
  • Termination. American Ratings Corporation may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without notice, for any reason.
  • Contact Information.
    American Ratings Corporation
    504 Redwood Blvd., Suite 310
    Novato, California 94947
    (800) 738-1138
    info@diamondcertified.org

Privacy Policy

By using this site, you agree to Visitor Agreement.

Our Commitment to Privacy

The California Consumer Protection Act of 2018 (CCPA) provides consumers (California residents) with specific rights regarding their personal information.  Our privacy policy describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights, including your rights of access, your right of deletion, and your right to non-discrimination.

Your privacy is important to us.  We use a firewall and security certificate to protect the confidentiality of personal information.  We do not sell personal information to third parties.

Right of Access

You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information which will include:

  • The categories of personal information we collected about you
  • The categories of sources of the personal information we collected about you
  • Our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling that personal information
  • The categories of third parties with whom we share that personal information
  • The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you. Personal information is defined as:
    • Information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with you or your household. Personal information includes, but is not limited to, the following if it identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could be reasonably linked, directly or indirectly, with you or your household:
      • Identifiers such as a real name, signature, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, internet protocol address, email address, account name, social security number, driver’s license number or state identification card number, passport number, physical characteristics or description, telephone number, insurance policy number, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information, or other similar identifiers.
      • Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law.
      • Commercial information, including records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies.
      • Biometric information.
      • Internet or other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with an internet website, application, or advertisement.
      • Geolocation data.
      • Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information.
      • Professional or employment-related information.
      • Education information, defined as information that is not publicly available personally identifiable information as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
      • Inferences drawn from any personal information to create a profile about you reflecting your preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.

You have the right to request access to personal information for free, twice per year.  On receiving your access request, we will provide the necessary information normally within 45 days of receiving a verifiable consumer request, which time period may be extended once in accordance with the CCPA.  The disclosure will cover the 12 months preceding our receipt of your request and will be made in writing and delivered through your account with us if you maintain an account with us, or by mail or electronically at your if you do not maintain an account with us, in a readily useable format that allows you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance. We may require authentication of your identity that is reasonable in light of the nature of the personal information requested, but will not require you to create an account with us in order to make a verifiable consumer request. If you do maintain an account with us, we may require you to submit your request through your account.

Right to Deletion

You have the right to request that we delete any personal information that we hold on you.  When we receive a verifiable consumer request to delete your personal information, we will delete your personal information from our records and direct any service providers to delete your personal information from their records. This right does not apply where we need to retain the personal information in order to:

  • Complete the transaction for which the personal information was collected, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, provide a good or service requested by you, or reasonably anticipated within the context of a our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform a contract between you and us.
  • Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for that activity.
  • Debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
  • Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise that consumer’s right of free speech, or exercise another right provided for by law.
  • Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act pursuant to the Penal Code.
  • Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when our deletion of the information is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of such research, if you have provided informed consent.
  • To enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with your expectations based on your relationship with us.
  • Comply with a legal obligation.
  • Otherwise use your personal information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which you provided the information.
Non-Discrimination

You have the right to not be discriminated against you for exercising any of your rights under the CCPA.  Unless otherwise permitted by the CCPA or other laws, we will not:

  • Deny you goods or services
  • Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties
  • Provide you with a different level or quality of goods or services
  • Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services
  • Threaten you with any of the above

However, we may charge you a different price or rate, or provide a different level or quality of goods or services, if that difference is reasonably related to the value provided to us by your data.

We also may offer you financial incentives, including payments as compensation, for the collection of personal information or the deletion of personal information. We may offer a different price, rate, level, or quality of goods or services to you if that price or difference is directly related to the value provided to us by your data.  We will not use financial incentive practices that are unjust, unreasonable, coercive, or usurious in nature.  If we provide financial incentives, we will notice you of the same.  We may enter you into a financial incentive program only if you give us prior opt-in consent that clearly describes the material terms of the financial incentive program, and which may be revoked by you at any time.

How You Can Access Your Information

You can request disclosure or deletion of any categories of personal information we may have on file for you by calling 800-738-1138, via email to joylanzaro@diamondcertified.org, or on our website at info@diamondcertified.org.

To Unsubscribe from our Mailing List

To request deletion from mailing list, please call 800-738-1138 x 301 and leave your name and the address you’d like us to remove.  Your name and address will remain on file in order to ensure that it doesn’t appear on subsequent mailing lists.

Updates to Privacy Policy

This information will be updated at least once every 12 months. Updates to our Privacy Policy or procedures will be posted here. Any such changes will be effective immediately upon being posted, unless otherwise stated.

For More Information Regarding the CCPA

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?division=3.&part=4.&lawCode=CIV&title=1.81.5.

Effective Date

This Privacy Policy is effective as of January 30, 2020.

To Delete your Name and Address from Direct Marketing Mailing Lists

Consumers can register at the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) consumer website: www.DMAchoice.org for a processing fee of $2 for a period of ten years. Registering online is the fastest way to see results. DMAchoice offers consumers a simple, step-by-step process that enables them to decide what mail they do and do not want.

In addition, DMAchoice online offers registration for DMA’s eMail Preference Service (reduce your unsolicited commercial email);

Mail-in registration

If you do not wish to complete your registration online, you can register for DMAchoice by using the mail-in form that is online: fill out the DMAChoice Mail In Form with all required information, print it and mail to the address below.

Or, if you do not have access to the Internet, you can register by sending your name and address (with signature), along with a $3 processing fee (check or money order payable to DMA) to:

DMAChoice

DMA
PO Box 900
Cos Cob, CT 06807