At Paragon House, your privacy is very important to us. We appreciate our customers and understand the value of protecting your rights and making your on-line shopping secure. We hope to address all of your concerns through this list of privacy-related Frequently Asked Questions.

How safe is it to shop online?
Today, the Internet is actually the safest way of doing business with your credit card. We have made it safer to use your credit card on our site than it is to use it in more traditional ways, such as in retail stores or restaurants.

Trust Verification
The Paragon House website is verified as a trusted and secure website by COMODO, one of the largest international website verification firms. Once you process your order on the Paragon House website you are connected through a secure socket layer (SSL) on Paragon's server.

I've heard a lot about Secure Sites. What does that mean?
Before completing a transaction on any website, you should make sure it is a Secure Site. Being on a Secure Site means you are connected under the cloak of SSL security. You can tell if you are on a Secure Site if you see a padlock or key somewhere along the bottom of your browser's window. If the lock is closed or if the key is unbroken, you are dealing with a Secure Site.

What is SSL and how does it protect my privacy?
We use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology for mutual authentication, data encryption and data integrity—all to ensure secure transactions for our customers. SSL is the industry standard security protocol to encode sensitive information, such as your credit card number. SSL creates a shared digital key, which only lets the sender and the receiver of the transmission scramble or unscramble information. To everyone else, even the servers relaying the message, the SSL transmission is indecipherable. SSL encryption can only be broken by intercepting the encrypted message, recording it, and using a computer to try every possible combination until the key is cracked. Most keys range from 40 to 1,024 digits long...as you can imagine, the number of possible combinations can be into the billions and beyond!

Ok, so how about encryption?
Encryption is based on the mathematical scrambling and unscrambling of messages. The type of encryption we use assigns two keys—one is a public key and one is a private key. When you send us a message, you use our public key to encrypt your message. Once we receive your encrypted message, we use the private key to decode it. The same key cannot both encrypt and decrypt information. So, information encrypted using the private key can only be decrypted using the public key, and vice versa—ensuring the security of your information.

Does Paragon House provide my personal information to other companies?
No.

Does Paragon House collect my IP address?
Yes. We use this to identify your PC and your shopping cart, as well as to help us track your order. However, we will not use it for any other purpose and we will never make it available to a third party.

Why does Paragon House need my personal information?
We use your name, email address, phone number, mailing address and credit card information to process your orders. This information is stored in a secure database, and is only available to individuals with proper clearance.

What is your credit card fraud policy?
In the unlikely event that you ever experience unauthorized use of your credit card, promptly report the fraudulent activity to your credit card company. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you are only liable for the first $50 of the fraudulent charges. Please check with your credit card company to verify specific terms and conditions.

Will I receive mail from Paragon House?
We only send information about new books and specials to our customers who find it useful. You can opt-out of receiving future communications from us when you set up your account or at any time by updating your account information.

What are cookies and how do they affect my privacy?
Simply put, a "cookie" is a small file that serves as an identifier stored on your machine. Paragon House does not place cookies on your computer.

What if I still do not feel my online transaction is secure?
We will be happy to assist you with your purchase over the phone: (800) 447-3709 or (651) 644-3087; or by fax: (800) 494-0997 or (651) 644-0997.

Our site contains some links to other sites. Paragon House is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other websites. If you have any additional questions about our privacy practices, please contact: info@paragonhouse.com.