VirtualCart® provides East meets West with its shopping cart database program and also provides security. The goal of VirtualCart security is to achieve one thing: To deliver credit card information from the customer to the merchant with the minimum possibility of exposure to prying eyes. VirtualCart's primary tool for this is the utilization of secure data encryption through SSL (Secure Socket Layers). VirtualCart encrypts the information between the customer and the cart, and then credit card information is retrieved by East meets West the same way. Although orders are emailed to East meeets West in the clear, VirtualCart strips off the last six digits of the credit card number, which can only be retrieved through the secure browser, thus completing the secure path.

PRIVACY

EAST MEETS WEST is strongly committed to protecting the privacy of consumers of its products and services.

EAST MEETS WEST strictly protects the security of your personal information and honors your choices for its intended use. We carefully protect your data from loss, misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

EAST MEETS WEST does not sell or release any information gathered on or through its website to third parties. All information gathered here will be used only by EAST MEETS WEST for internal marketing analysis and to improve our products, services and web sites.

EAST MEETS WEST only collects personally identifiable data, such as names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and the like, when voluntarily submitted by a visitor who requests that EAST MEETS WEST products or information be sent to him or her, either through a download or through a land carrier. The information we collect is used by us to follow up on these orders and is not shared with other organizations for commercial purposes. If you supply us with your postal address online you may receive periodic mailings of our products or information.
 

Web sites use cookies to simulate a continuous connection to that site. This makes it more convenient for users by allowing them to visit pages within a site without having to reintroduce themselves with each mouse click. Contrary to popular fears and misconceptions, cookies were not created to spy on or otherwise invade the privacy of Internet users. Cookies contain only information that users volunteer, and they do not have the capability of infiltrating a user's hard drive and sneaking away with personal information. The simple function of a cookie is that of helping the user navigate a web site with as little obstruction as possible. Cookies are small data structures used by a web site (server) to deliver data to a web client (user); request that the client store the information; and in certain circumstances, return the information to the web site. Web sites can thus "remember" information about users to facilitate their preferences for a particular site and allow the use of user passwords. The web site may deliver one or more cookies to the client. The client stores cookie data in one or more flat files on its local hard drive. Cookies allow web sites to maintain user information across HTTP connections. The current HTTP protocol is "stateless," meaning that the server does not store any information about a particular HTTP transaction; each connection is "fresh" and has no knowledge of any other HTTP transaction. "State" information is information about a communication between a user and a server, similar in many ways to frequent flyer profiles or option settings in desktop software. (For example, a preference for aisle or window seats is cookie-like information that a frequent-flyer program might store about its customers.) In some cases it is useful to maintain state information about the user across HTTP transactions. EAST MEETS WEST will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it or under the circumstances described below.

EAST MEETS WEST may also disclose account information in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating EAST MEETS WEST's Terms of Service or may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) EAST MEETS WEST's rights or property, other EAST MEETS WEST users, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities. EAST MEETS WEST may disclose or access account information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it and for administrative and other purposes that we deem necessary to maintain, service, and improve our products and services.

Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online – for example on message boards, through email, or in chat areas – that information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and/or any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you're online.