Policies
Privacy Policytop
Information Collection & Use
Meritology is the sole owner of the information collected on the web sites our corporate site ("meritology.com") and our Information Sharing Sites ("valuemadevisible.com" and "meritopedia.com" ). Meritology may collect personally identifiable information from our users at several different points on our Information Sharing Sites.
Registration
In order to contribute material to the Information Sharing Sites, you must first complete the registration form and create a user name and password. During registration you are required to give contact information such as name and email address. We use this information to authenticate that you are a real person (i.e. to keep out bots) and to contact you about the services on our site in which you have expressed interest, but we do not use this information for any other purpose, nor do we share this information with other organizations.
Uses of Information
Meritology uses this personal information only to authenticate, validate, and contact site users who want to contribute material (text, images, other) to Information Sharing Sites.
Communications from the Site
Generally, Meritology does not contact site users for marketing purposes.
Service-related Announcements
We will send you strictly service-related announcements on rare occasions when it is necessary to do so. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send you an email.
Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive them, you have the option to deactivate your account.
Customer Service
Based upon the personally identifiable information you provide us, we will send you a welcoming email to verify your username and password. We will also communicate with you in response to your inquiries, to provide the services you request, and to manage your account. We will communicate with you by email or telephone, in accordance with your wishes.
Profile
We do not store information on site user's actions or behavior (a.k.a. a “profile”). We do not tie your personally identifiable information to any user actions on the site. We do not share any information about you or your actions/behaviors with other third parties.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
Aggregate Information (non-personally identifiable)
We share aggregated demographic information about our user base with our advertisers on Information Sharing Sites. This information does not identify individual users. This aggregated information is used to guide advertising programs and to influence advertising rates.
We do not link aggregate user data with personally identifiable information.
Personally identifiable information
We do not share personally identifiable information with third parties.
Legal Disclaimer
We reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on our Web site.
Log Files
As is true of most Web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and click stream data.
We use this information, which does not identify individual users, to analyze trends, to administer the site, to track users’ movements around the site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole.
We do not link this automatically-collected data to personally identifiable information.
Cookies
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s computer for record-keeping purposes. We do not use cookies.
Some of our business partners (e.g., advertisers) use cookies on our site. We have no access to or control over these cookies. See “Third Party Advertisers.” This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by meritology.com and Information Sharing Sites only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.
Third Party Advertisers
The ads appearing on the Information Sharing Sites are delivered by Google, Amazon.com, Monster.com, and/or other advertising partners. These advertising partners may use cookies and clear GIFs on this site, which allow it to recognize a user's cookie when a user visits this site. The information that these advertising partners collect and share through this technology is not personally identifiable.
For more information about our third-party advertisers, or to learn more about the choices available to you regarding this anonymous information, please click Google's privacy policy, Amazon.com's privacy policy, and Monster.com's privacy policy.
Other
Links to Other Sites
This Web site contains links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by Meritology. Please be aware that we, Meritology, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies only to information collected by our web sites.
Contributing Material to Information Sharing Sites (Wiki or Blog)
If you contribute material (text, images, etc.) to a wiki or blog on Information Sharing Sites, you should be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users of these forums, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these forums. We reserve the right to terminate the accounts of visitors who use these services in a manner inconsistent with your Terms of Use.
Access to Personally Identifiable Information
If your personally identifiable information changes, or if you no longer desire our service, you may correct it by making the change on our member information page or by emailing customer.service@meritology.com or by contacting us by telephone or postal mail at the contact information listed here.
Security
We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
If you have any questions about security on our Web site, you can send email us at webmaster@meritology.com.
Business Transitions
In the event Meritology goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your personally identifiable information will likely be among the assets transferred. You will be notified via prominent notice on our Web site for 30 days of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information.
Changes in this Privacy Statement
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our home page.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us.
Confidentiality Policy top
In each phase of the consulting process, Meritology will take precautions to protect confidential and proprietary client information, including discussions, deliberations and records.
Non-disclosure
Each client relationship is governed by a signed non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The NDA is a straightforward document describing the terms under which the client and Meritology will and won't disclose certain information. The NDA also provides a definition of confidential information, each party's obligations regarding the information and remedies if either party fails to live up to the agreement, either by design or by accident.
Generally, Meritology will retain confidential information in strictest confidence and will not use for any purpose other than our work for that client. We will not disclose any confidential or proprietary information to anyone outside of the client organization without express written authorization. This includes all information and know-how transmitted to Meritology that clients have designated as proprietary and/or confidential or that, by the nature of the circumstances surrounding the disclosure, ought in good faith to be treated as proprietary and/or confidential.
Client relationships
For marketing purposes, Meritology does share the corporate name of our clients unless requested not to do so. However, we do not reveal the details of our engagements or deliverables for those specific clients. We believe this practice enhances our client relationships because it improves mutual trust and confidence.
Independence Policy top
Meritology maintains sufficient independence from clients to avoid conflicts of interest. "Conflict of interest" is any condition where the interests of Meritology are not aligned with those of our clients, in the context of our consulting relationship, such that it might impair the quality of our services or their value to clients.
In general, Meritology and its staff will only benefit financially from engagements through payment or other consideration specified in engagement contracts. Likewise, Meritology and its staff will not financially benefit from any harm to a client, its business performance, or its performance in financial markets.
Because Meritology is a boutique consultancy focused on business value modeling, we generally have fewer independence and conflict of interest issues than broad-scope accounting and consulting firms.
Integrity
Meritology performs professional services in a way that would stand up to independent peer review. We are committed to applying the most appropriate and best available scientific and analytic methods and to apply them correctly and professional.
We do not perform engagements solely to produce the preferred results (i.e. value measurements). Clients must agree to accept the deliverables whether or not they produce results they prefer, as long as other terms of the engagement are fulfilled. We do not accept any engagement if it means compromising our commitment to correct methodology and professionalism.
Clients need to have confidence and trust in Meritology, especially that we do not have ulterior motives or agendas. Therefore, Meritology does not engage in projects that directly involve national security, criminal or civil investigations or litigation, espionage, surveillance, or competitive intelligence. We do not engage in any activity that involves assumed identities, hidden purposes, or intentions to mislead, even if the activities are not illegal.
Purposes
Meritology's Business Value Models (BVMs) are intended to guide management decision-making and to communicate management's strategy and plans to stakeholders. Our BVMs are not intended for tax purposes, regulatory compliance purposes (e.g. capital adequacy), or litigation purposes. Valuation models in these contexts need to be developed to comply with their own unique rules and regulations. Please seek an appropriate professional services firm for those purposes. Any use of Meritology's BVMs for these purposes will constitute a conflict of interest on the client's part.
Ownership Relationships
Any ownership (equity) relationship between Meritology (staff or contractors) and clients will be disclosed prior to the engagement if it exceeds the "5% threshold" (see below). Both parties must agree that this financial relationship does not constitute a conflict of interest given the scope of the engagement. Likewise, any ownership (equity) relationship between Meritology and a client's direct competitors will also be disclosed and will be mutually agreed to be non-conflicting prior to an engagement. Any changes of ownership that might constitute a conflict of interest will be disclose promptly.
The "5% threshold": Meritology and its staff may own common stock and other equity investments in client companies, their competitors, and related companies, as long as those holdings do not constitute more than 5% of their total holdings or more than 5% of the client's equity. Common stock holdings within these limits will not be considered to be conflicts of interest.
Competitor Relationships
Meritology is not prohibited from performing consulting engagements with a client's competitors, given that effective confidentiality practices will be maintained (see policies above). Our clients benefit from Meritology's deep and broad experience within an industry because that enhances our ability to model their business value more effectively.
Other
Many other personal or professional factors could lead to conflicts of interest. Meritology and its clients are expected to make a declaration of potential conflicts both prior to the start of an engagement and when changes occur, at the earliest possible moment. Both Meritology and clients are expected to err on the side of caution when disclosing potential conflicts of interest — when in doubt, we disclose.