Privacy Policy

Please read the following to learn more abut our privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”). This Privacy Policy applies to the use of “GMLS websites” and includes all areas (public and private) of GMLS’ websites, www.guyana-mls.com, and all areas of our Membership, MLS and Public Records databases.   In order to operate the GMLS service, (“GMLS” or “we”), must ask you to provide us personally identifiable information about yourself. This Privacy Policy describes the personally identifiable information we collect and how we use that personally identifiable information. GMLS takes the privacy of your personally identifiable information very seriously and will use your personally identifiable information only in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy. Additionally, in order to enhance the protection of your privacy and our compliance with this Privacy Policy, GMLS has agreed to notify you of:

• What personally identifiable information of yours is collected by GMLS.
• How the personally identifiable information is used, and to whom the personally identifiable information may be disclosed.
• What choices are available to you regarding collection, use and distribution of the personally identifiable information.
• How you can correct any inaccuracies in the personally identifiable information.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, you should first contact GMLS using our Contact Form.

A. INTRODUCTION

Definitions

“Personally identifiable information” is information, that is not otherwise publicly available, which can be used to distinguish or trace your identity, such as your name, phone number, e-mail address, credit card number, etc. alone, or when combined with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to you, such as date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc. “GMLS websites” includes all areas (public and private) of GMLS’ website, www.newjerseymls.com, www.guyana-mls.com, and all areas of our Membership, MLS and Public Records databases.  A “Cookie” is a small amount of data, often including an anonymous unique identifier, transmitted to your browser from a website, which includes electronic data about you and your computer. “Cookies” are stored on your computer’s hard drive.

Notification of Changes

This policy may be revised over time as new features are added to GMLS’ products and services, GMLS websites, or as we incorporate suggestions from you. We will post the amended Privacy Policy prominently on our website so that you can always review what personally identifiable information we gather, how we might use that personally identifiable information, and whether we will disclose it to anyone. The GMLS websites includes links to some third party websites. These sites are governed by their own privacy statements, and GMLS is not responsible for their operations, including but not limited to their information practices. If you submit personally identifiable information to or through these third party websites, you should review the privacy statement of these sites before providing them with personally identifiable information.

B. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Listing Data and Images

The nature of GMLS’ business is the gathering and sharing of data to facilitate real estate transactions, between member real estate professionals. When you enter a listing into the MLS system, the content and images associated with that listing become part of the copyrighted MLS listing database compilation. The use of the content and images is governed by GMLS’ Rules and Regulations. Use the link at the bottom of the page for a copy of GMLS’ Rules and Regulations.

Required Information (“Agent Information”)

To become a GMLS member, you must provide a variety of personally identifiable information, including but not limited to your name, address, phone number and e-mail address. In order to pay your invoice through GMLS, you must provide a credit card or debit card. You have the option to allow us to keep that credit card on file in order to facilitate easier electronic payment in the future or for direct debiting purposes.

Optional Information

If you choose to purchase optional products you may be asked to provide additional personally identifiable information about yourself. If you utilize optional features offered from GMLS, such as E-Cards or flyers in GMLS’ MLS system, you may submit, at your option, additional personally identifiable information (like personal photos) for optimum use of that service. GMLS may also collect similar personally identifiable information if you apply for a GMLS job or enter a GMLS contest.

Transaction Information

When you use GMLS to pay your invoice, we ask you to provide information related to each transaction, including the amount of the transaction, the particular invoice you wish to apply payment to, and your e-mail address. We retain this information for each of your transactions through GMLS. We also collect the Internet address (IP address) of the computer or device you use to access your GMLS account. Website Traffic Data Because of the way that World Wide Web communication standards work, when you arrive at or leave GMLS websites, we automatically receive the web address of the site that you came from or are going to. We also collect statistics on which pages of our website you visit while you are on GMLS’ websites, the type of browser you use and the times you access our websites. We use this data only to try to understand your preferences better and to manage the load on our servers, so as to improve our service and your experience with GMLS.

Our Use of “Cookies”

“Cookies” are small files of data that we send to your computer to allow us to recognize you as a GMLS customer if you return a GMLS site using the same computer and browser. We send a “session cookie” to your computer when you log in to GMLS by entering your username and password. These cookies allow us to recognize you if you visit our various sites during the same session, so that you don’t need to re-enter your password multiple times. They also track the functions you performed while on our site. Once you log out or close your browser, these session cookies expire and no longer have any effect.

Help Desk Correspondence

If you send us correspondence, including e-mails and faxes, we may retain such correspondence in the records of your account. We may also retain Help Desk correspondence and other correspondence from GMLS to you. We may retain some of these records in order to measure and improve our member service, and to investigate violations of our Rules and Regulations. We may, over time, delete these records.

Questionnaires and Surveys

From time to time, we may offer optional questionnaires and surveys to you for such purposes as collecting demographic statistics or assessing your interests and needs. The use of the data collected will be explained in detail in the survey itself. If we collect personally identifiable information from our members in these questionnaires and surveys, the members will be given notice of how the personally identifiable information will be used prior to their participation in the survey or questionnaire. Non-member (Property/Land Agent to customer) Personally Identifiable Information and Communications You have the option to create customer and/or client contact information in the MLS system, which by its nature contains personally identifiable information on an individual who is not a GMLS member GMLS will not use customer/client personally identifiable information or disclose that personally identifiable information to third parties. When you send an e-mail through GMLS’ MLS system to a customer or client, we retain a copy of that e-mail, including, for example, the recipient’s name and e-mail address. We do this so you can see a complete record of your communications. Although this personally identifiable information is stored, we will not market to the non-member in any way at any time. GMLS will not disclose any customer or client personally identifiable information to third parties. When you send an e-mail through GMLS’ MLS system to a customer or client, that customer or client must choose to subscribe or unsubscribe from receiving e-mails from you. GMLS will not share the customer’s or client’s choice to subscribe or unsubscribe with any GMLS member, other than the member who initiated the request. GMLS does, however, reserve the right to share all customers’ subscription choices with any ISP (Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.) if necessary to establish the legitimacy of GMLS’ MLS e-mail.

C. OUR USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

Listing Data and Images

When you enter a listing into the MLS system, the content and images associated with that listing become part of the copyrighted MLS listing database compilation. Ownership of GMLS’ MLS database compilation and each GMLS member’s “fair use” thereof is governed by GMLS’ Rules and Regulations. Use the link at the bottom of the page for a copy of GMLS’ Rules and Regulations. The property owner personally identifiable information included in a listing is not used by GMLS or disclosed to any third party.

Internal Uses

We use the personally identifiable information we collect about you in order 1) to provide our services and process your transactions, 2) to provide member service, 3) to determine your eligibility to receive offers for special features, products, and personally tailored communications and 4) to improve our products, services, and security. We give access to personally identifiable information about you to those employees who we believe reasonably need to come into contact with that personally identifiable information to provide products or services to you, or in order to do their jobs, such as fulfill customer service requests. We require our employees to protect the privacy of personally identifiable information about our members.

Disclosure to Other Licensees

If you are a registered GMLS member, your name, office, office address and office phone/fax number are displayed to others when they perform a Member or Office Directory search using GMLS data. If you are a Broker/Owner, you may have access to additional personally identifiable information for each agent in your office such as their individual GMLS account information: fees paid, owed, etc. 

Disclosure of Financial Data

Your credit card number, bank account, and other financial personally identifiable information will only be revealed to the extent necessary to process your transactions, unless we are required to disclose such personally identifiable information pursuant to a validly issued subpoena or other form of legal process.

Disclosure to Third Parties

GMLS will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information to third parties except in the limited circumstances described below, or unless you provide your express permission. These third parties are limited by law or by contract from using the personally identifiable information for secondary purposes beyond the purposes for which the personally identifiable information is shared. We may disclose the personally identifiable information we collect, as described above, to companies that perform marketing services on our behalf. These companies are subject to confidentiality agreements with us as well as other legal restrictions that prohibit them from using the personally identifiable information except to market the specified GMLS-related products or services, unless you have affirmatively agreed or given your prior permission for other uses. We also disclose personally identifiable information to our Property/Land Agent Associations. This is done in order to verify your application and your standing in the Association, which may directly affect your type of GMLS membership. These Associations may use this personally identifiable information to market other products and services which may be of interest to you. In order to deliver certain services to members, our service providers may have access to your personally identifiable information for use for a limited time in connection with these business activities to ensure optimum use of the service. Where we utilize third parties for the processing of any personally identifiable information, we implement reasonable contractual and technical protections limiting the use of that information to the GMLS-specified purposes. We share aggregated statistical data with our business partners or for public relations. For example, we may disclose that a specific percentage of our members live in a particular area. However, these aggregated statistical data is not tied to personally identifiable information.

Legal Disclosures

We will disclose personally identifiable information that we in good faith believe is appropriate to cooperate in investigations of fraud or other illegal activity, or to conduct investigations of violations of our Rules and Regulations. Specifically, this means that if we conduct a violations investigation, and conclude that one side may have engaged in deceptive practices, we can give that person or entity’s personally identifiable information (but not bank account or credit card numbers) to parties who request it. We will disclose personally identifiable information in response to a validly issued subpoena, warrant, court order, levy, attachment, order of a court-appointed receiver or other comparable legal process, including subpoenas from private parties in a civil action. We will disclose personally identifiable information to your agent or legal representative (such as the holder of a power of attorney that you grant, or a guardian appointed for you). As with any other business, it is possible that GMLS in the future could merge with another company. If this occurs, the successor company would have access to the personally identifiable information maintained by GMLS, including member account information, but would continue to be bound by this Privacy Policy unless and until it is amended as described in Section A above.

Our Contacts with GMLS Members

We communicate with you on a regular basis via e-mail to provide requested services, and we also communicate by phone to resolve complaints or investigate suspicious transactions. We use your e-mail address to send you bills and notices of due dates, to send notices about important changes to our products and services, service announcements, confirmations of orders placed online, responses to member requests and to send notices and other disclosures required by law. Generally, you cannot opt out of these communications, but they will be primarily educational in nature rather than promotional. We also use your e-mail address to send you other types of promotional communications, including the GMLS newsletter, member surveys and notices of special third-party promotions. You can choose whether or not to receive these communications when you complete the registration process, or at any time thereafter, by changing your preferences in the “Add/Modify your Member Information” section of “User Preferences”. You can change your choices at any time.   In connection with independent audits of our financial statements and operations, the auditors may seek to contact a sample of our members to confirm that our records are accurate. However, these auditors cannot use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes. Internet Address Information We use IP addresses, browser types and access times to analyze GMLS, administer the site, improve site performance and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.

D. INFORMATION SECURITY

GMLS is committed to handling your personally identifiable information with high standards of security. We restrict access to your personally identifiable information to employees who need to know that personally identifiable information in order to provide products or services to you or to perform their jobs. We enforce physical and electronic measures to guard your non-public personally identifiable information. The security of your GMLS account also relies on your protection of your GMLS password. We require that you never share your GMLS password with anyone. If you do share your GMLS password with a third party for any reason, (other than by someone authorized by GMLS’ rules) you will be in violation of GMLS’ Rules and Regulations; the third party will have access to your account and your personally identifiable information, and you may be responsible for actions taken using your password. If you believe someone else has obtained access to your password, please log in to GMLS, change your password in My Profile, and contact us right away as described below. GMLS uses security questions to better verify your identity and better protect your sensitive information. The answers you provide will help in the authentication process if you should forget your login information. Additionally, GMLS collects forensic access data on login sessions including, but not limited to, keystroke dynamics, locations, time of day, devices, browsers, operating systems, and networks in order to further protect your password, ensure that your login credentials are validated, and secure your sensitive information.

Data Security and Encryption

The security of your personally identifiable information, is the core of our business and a top priority at GMLS. When paying fees in “Internet Member Services,” GMLS automatically encrypts your personally identifiable information in transit from your computer to ours using the Secure Sockets Layer protocol (SSL) with an encryption key length of 128-bits. Other pages where sensitive information is transferred and SSL is used include the Login page, Homepage and specific “Internet Member Services” pages. Once your personally identifiable information reaches us, it resides on a server that is heavily guarded both physically and electronically. Our servers sit behind an electronic firewall, so your personally identifiable information is available only to authorized computers. GMLS also uses a technique called “seeding” whereby we add personally identifiable information on artificial members into our member database. Should someone use member personally identifiable information for purposes not in accordance with our Rules and Regulations, GMLS staff will be notified and appropriate action will be taken.

E. ACCESSING AND CHANGING YOUR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

You can review the personally identifiable information you provided us and make any desired changes to such personally identifiable information, or to the settings for your GMLS account, at any time by logging in and changing your personally identifiable information in “Add/Modify your Member Information.” If/When you are no longer a GMLS member, we will mark your account in our database as “Terminated,” but will retain your personally identifiable information in our database.

F. CONTACTING US

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, GMLS’ information practices, or your dealings with GMLS, you can contact us using our Contact Form.