Skip to main content
Online Policy

Online Policy

Nothing is more important to us than protecting the private information of our visitors. Our web sites adhere to a strict policy for ensuring the privacy of you and your family’s personally identifiable information (such as full name, address, e-mail address, telephone number) and preserving the integrity of this online medium.

Click here for the PBS North Carolina Donor Bill of Rights.

PBS North Carolina DMCA Compliance Policy and Notification Agent

Gathering and Use of Information

  1. We will not collect personally identifiable information from you, other than what you supply to us on a voluntary basis.
  2. To participate in some activities, you might be asked to provide some personally identifiable information. This could be in connection with, or include, the following:
    • contest or sweepstakes registration
    • subscription registration for sites or services which require subscription (such as email newsletters)
    • shopping transactions and/or online pledging
    • content submissions, community postings (i.e., forums or bulletin boards), comments and suggestions, surveys, voting
  3. PBS North Carolina will not willfully disclose your personal information to any third party without first receiving your permission, except as required by law.
  4. PBS North Carolina may use your personally identifiable information from activities explained above, for internal and marketing promotional purposes.
  5. We will always explain the extent of its use at the time you are asked to provide personal information. If you do not want this information to be collected or used by us for these purposes, you can simply "opt out."

 

User Generated Content

"Share Your Story" Submission Rules

  1. By participating in and submitting materials (the “Materials”) to “Share Your Story,” you agree that PBS North Carolina may freely use and reuse the Materials, edited as PBS North Carolina may deem appropriate, in any and all media now known or ever devised, in any and all versions, worldwide in perpetuity for any purpose, including—by way of example—outreach, promotion, publicity, marketing, or advertisement of PBS North Carolina and any of its programming services;
  2. You represent that you have obtained permission from any third parties appearing in the Materials necessary to allow PBS North Carolina to use the Materials as set forth above. You grant the rights in the Materials whether or not your Materials are selected for PBS North Carolina’s use. You warrant that you have such interests in the Materials as will lawfully permit you to grant all rights set forth herein and agree to indemnify and hold PBS North Carolina harmless for any suit or damage (including reasonable attorneys' fees) caused by PBS North Carolina’s exercise of rights granted herein.
  3. You agree not to make any claim against PBS North Carolina as a result of the use of or decision not to use the Materials, including—by way of example—any claim that such use invades any right of privacy, publicity, or both.
  4. You understand that you will not be paid any money or receive any form of compensation for giving PBS North Carolina these rights. You further understand you will not be reimbursed for any costs you may have incurred in connection with submitting the Materials.
  5. You represent that you are of legal age and freely consent to and accept these Submission Rules OR you are the parent or legal guardian of the participant, if the participant is a minor under 18 years of age, you consent to and accept these Submission Rules on his or her behalf.

 

Social Media Commenting Policy

PBS North Carolina uses social networking platforms to connect and interact with different audiences.

PBS North Carolina encourages respectful public engagement and communication about the content posted on social media accounts. The person who posts a comment is solely responsible for the content of the comment and any such comment is not reflective of the content, opinions, or views of PBS North Carolina or its staff.

To maintain a safe and respectful environment for the public to engage on PBS North Carolina’s social media accounts, PBS North Carolina reserves the right to remove any comment at any time.  

Some of the reasons a comment may be removed are listed below:

  • Abusive, vulgar, obscene, racist, threatening, or harassing comments.
  • Libel, slander, or personal attacks of any kind, including the use of offensive terms that target specific individuals or groups.
  • Spam, including content that promotes products or services or contains gratuitous links.
  • Makes unsupported accusations.
  • Comments that suggest or encourage illegal, dangerous, or destructive activity.
  • Duplicate posts.
  • Clearly off-topic.
  • Political campaigning or lobbying.

 

Moderating and posting comments normally occurs during normal business hours.

Repeat offenders may be banned from PBS North Carolina’s social media accounts.

 

Tracking and Use of Cookies

PBS North Carolina utilizes special software to track user activity on our site. This software is called a "cookie." Cookies contains no information about you—only a unique number with no meaning whatsoever outside of PBS North Carolina. PBS North Carolina uses this number to track the exposure of various areas of the service, specialized content offering, restricted forums and other online activities to determine future content.

PBS North Carolina does not know the name, e-mail address, phone number, or home address of anybody who visits the PBS North Carolina site. At no time does the cookie reveal above information (even if you have entered information in other areas of the PBS North Carolina site). You always have the option of opting out of volunteering information.

 

PBS North Carolina Children’s Privacy Policy

Because PBS North Carolina has special web sites for children such as the Kids Club site, PBS North Carolina must follow additional guidelines. We believe the following promises will improve the safety, value, and enjoyment of your child's visits to our site and our affiliated sites.

  • We will not collect personally identifiable information from your child.
  • If your child sends us an e-mail with a question or comment, or enters one of our contests, we will respond using his or her e-mail, but will not store it for future communications.
  • If we know that your child is under the age of thirteen, we will collect your permission offline (by postal mail, fax or phone) before we mail any prizes or share your child's personal information with anyone else.
  • If your child submits stories, artwork, comments or anything else to us which is posted at our site, he or she will be identified only by first name, age and state.

 

You and your child's use of this site are conditioned on your having accepted these terms. You should check back at this policy frequently, since it is subject to change from time to time. Your continued use of PBS North Carolina's website following the posting of any changes to these terms shall mean you have accepted these changes. If you have any questions or concerns regarding above policies, send us an email at viewer@pbsnc.org.

 

Rules of PBS North Carolina’s Website

The following rules govern the use by you of PBS North Carolina’s website. The rules set forth herein apply to all materials, online communications and other information that is or becomes available on PBS North Carolina’s website. By signing on and using PBS North Carolina, you specifically agree to abide by these rules and any modifications thereto.

1. Personal Uses

You shall not post, publish, transmit, reproduce, distribute or in any way use or exploit any PBS North Carolina website information for commercial purposes or otherwise use the Information in a manner that is inconsistent with these rules and regulations.

2. User's Obligation to Abide by Applicable Law

In connection with the use of PBS North Carolina’s website, you shall abide by all applicable federal, state or local laws, including those pertaining to such areas as libel, slander, defamation, trade libel, product disparagement, harassment, invasion of privacy, tort, obscenity, indecency, and copyright or trademark infringement ("Applicable Law"). The Information available on PBS North Carolina’s website may include intellectual property that is protected under the copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws of the United States and/or other countries ("Intellectual Property Laws"). Such Intellectual Property Laws generally prohibit the unauthorized reproduction, distribution or exhibition of all text, photographic and graphic (art and electronic) images, music, sound samplings and other protected materials. The violation of applicable Intellectual Property Laws may give rise to civil and/or criminal penalties.

3. Disclosure of Online Communications

You are cautioned that any online communications may not be fully confidential. In addition, you should be aware that federal postal regulations do not protect electronic mail. You should be aware that some administrative personnel of PBS North Carolina may, in the course of their regular duties, have access to communications for technical or operational purposes. PBS North Carolina may also disclose any communications to the extent permitted or required by law.

4. Prohibition Against Rogue Programming

You shall not post, transmit or make available in any way through PBS North Carolina’s website any software or other materials which contain a computer virus, Trojan horse, time bomb, worm or other rogue programming ("Rogue Programming"). PBS North Carolina has no obligation to detect the presence of any Rogue Programming. Any downloading of software or other materials or any other use of the Information on PBS North Carolina is at your risk, and you are advised to take adequate precautions to minimize any loss to your system caused by Rogue Programming, including use of anti-virus programs and proper backup of files.

5. Disclaimer of Warranties

PBS North Carolina’s website is provided on an "as is" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation warranties of title, non-infringement, or implied warranties of merchant ability or fitness for a particular purpose. PBS North Carolina does not warrant that any information is complete or accurate, that PBS North Carolina’s website will be uninterrupted or error free, or that any information is free of rogue programming.

6. Limitation of Damages

Under no circumstances, including negligence, shall PBS North Carolina be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages that may result from the use or inability to use PBS North Carolina’s website, including, and without limitation, the use of, or reliance on, information available on PBS North Carolina’s website, interruptions, errors, defects, mistakes, omissions, deletions of files, delays in operation or transmission, non-delivery of information, disclosure of communications, or any other failure of performance.

7. Release and Indemnity

You hereby release and waive any and all claims and/or liability against PBS North Carolina from or in connection with your use of PBS North Carolina’s website. You also agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless, PBS North Carolina, from and against, any and all claims or liability, including costs and attorneys fees, arising from or in connection with your use of PBS North Carolina's website or failure to abide by applicable law.

8. Shopping on PBS North Carolina’s Website

If you wish to make purchases in shopping on PBS North Carolina website, you may be asked to supply certain information, including credit card or other payment mechanism information. You agree that all information you provide for purposes of making purchases will be accurate, complete and current. PBS North Carolina may change prices or institute new prices at any time. You agree to pay all charges incurred by users of your account and credit card or other payment mechanism at the prices in effect when such charges are incurred. You also will be responsible for paying any applicable taxes and shipping/handling relating to purchases.