The Hoop Fund is closing its doors
After two years of working to crowdfund producer microloans and promote fair trade products, we have decided to close our doors.
Please read the full announcement here.
The Hoop Fund Terms of Use (Last updated March 11, 2011)
→ Scroll down to privacy policy → Terms of Use & Privacy Agreement (PDF)
Welcome to The Hoop Fund, LLC (together with its officers, directors, agents, employees, partners and their respective affiliates, collectively, "The Hoop"). These Terms of Use ("Agreement") govern all transactions between you and The Hoop, as well as your use of the www.jointhehoop.com or www.hoopfund.com websites (the "Website") and all The Hoop services. By using the Website, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use, whether or not you become a lender, participate in The Hoop's microlending program (the "Program") or otherwise use the Website (in each such capacity, a "User"). If you wish to become a lender, participate in the Program or otherwise become a User of the Website, you must read all of the terms and conditions in, and linked to, these Terms of Use (including the Privacy Policy). If you do not agree with all of these terms and conditions, please do not participate in the Program or use this Website.
1. Participation in the Program
The Hoop manages the Website, which matches you and other persons (each, a "Lender" and, collectively, "Lenders") with producer groups in various countries (each, a "Borrower" and, collectively, "Borrowers") in need of affordable capital. In most instances, these Borrowers are considered "high risk" by traditional lenders for a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the Borrowers' lack of credit history, financial instability, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, use of the loan proceeds for entrepreneurial endeavors and the risks inherent in a "start up" business, and geographic location.
1.1. No Guarantee. By participating in the Program or otherwise using this Website, you hereby acknowledge and agree that (a) The Hoop makes no representation, warranty, covenant or guarantee that any funds you lend to a Borrower via the Website will be repaid in whole or in part and (b) loans made via the Website (each, a "Loan") are unsecured and bear a high risk of non-repayment. Loans made via the Website are philanthropic in nature with no offered rate of return and, as such, are not intended as, and cannot be considered as, an investment in a financial instrument or security.
1.2. Loan Disbursement. You understand that Loans can be made directly to Borrowers or through Field Partners that work with Borrowers. The Hoop identifies Field Partners as retail and/or consumer brands and/or administrative partners that work directly with producer communities. Loan requests are posted in cooperation with such Field Partners and are, before being listed on the Website, converted to US Dollar amounts as necessary and then rounded up to the nearest 25 US Dollar increment, to help streamline the loan transaction process. Funds loaned by you, the Lender, will be delivered to Field Partners for ultimate disbursement to, or backfilling of loans to, the Borrower(s) you have selected. A Field Partner may voluntarily choose to pre-fund your Borrower in the short-term from its own funds in anticipation of receiving your Loan as backfill. This helps reduce the time the Borrower needs to wait until the Loan is funded on the Website and the funds delivered on a net billing basis to the Field Partner. The Hoop serves as a middle-man in the process and aggregates funds from multiple Lenders via the Website and delivers 100% of these funds on a net billing basis (excluding the interest earned, if any, on such funds while they are held in an User loan funds account (a "Hoop Account") , which interest is contributed to fund The Hoop's operations) to the Field Partner(s) for disbursement to the Borrowers selected for funding on the Website. Please note that many Field Partners require mandatory savings as part of their loan transaction process to serve as collateral and which may help ensure that Borrowers are able to accumulate cash and represent a good risk. In certain cases, mandatory savings (and loan fees) are netted against the Loans forwarded by The Hoop.
Field Partners are solely responsible for screening and sourcing each Borrower, posting requests for Loans on the Website and making all Loan disbursements, and The Hoop (a) expressly disclaims any responsibility to screen or source any Borrower or any Field Partner or monitor the disbursement of Loan proceeds from the Field Partner(s) to the Borrower(s), and (b) shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to such screening or selection of Borrowers or Field Partners and the disbursement of Loan proceeds from the Field Partner(s) to the Borrower(s), and you shall hold The Hoop harmless from, any and all liabilities with respect to, or resulting from such screenings, selections and disbursement of Loan proceeds from the Field Partner(s) to the Borrower(s).
1.3. Loan Collection and Repayment. Loans are repaid directly by the Borrower(s) to the Field Partner(s). As Borrowers repay the Loans, the Field Partner(s) will post a record of such repayments actually received by the Field Partner(s) to the Website and it is the responsibility and obligation of the applicable Field Partner(s) to pay over such collected Loan payments to The Hoop. Repayments may be made in periodic installments, depending on the terms of the applicable Loan. Any amounts actually received by The Hoop from a Field Partner(s) as repayment by the applicable Borrower(s) will be distributed among the Lenders on a pro rata basis in accordance with the amounts loaned by such Lenders to such Borrower(s). These distributions may, in The Hoop's sole discretion, be made periodically or in one lump sum once 100% of all Loan proceeds for a particular Loan have been received. If, for any reason, the Field Partner(s) are unable to collect Loan repayments directly from the Borrowers or if The Hoop, for any reason, is unable to collect Loan repayments directly from the Field Partner(s), repayment of your Loan could be at risk of partial or total delay or non-repayment and a loss of some or all of your principal could occur. You hereby acknowledge and agree that neither the Field Partner(s) nor the Borrower(s) will have any direct contractual obligation to make any principal payments on your Loan and that The Hoop is obligated to repay only such Loan principal to the extent actually received by The Hoop from a Field Partner with respect to a Borrower. Neither The Hoop, its Field Partner(s) or any Borrower will have any obligation to pay interest on the Loan or other fees or amounts (other than as expressly set forth above) to you or any other Lender in connection with any Loan you make. At this time, The Hoop does not charge interest on any Loans posted on the Website. However, you should note that Field Partners may charge interest and fees to Borrowers to, for example, cover their operational expenses.
1.4. Tax Deductibility. You understand that The Hoop is a for-profit limited liability company and not a non-profit corporation. You further acknowledge that you are making a loan and not donating any money, and you are not eligible to receive a tax deduction as might otherwise be available in connection with a charitable contribution to a tax-exempt public charity. You also understand that you are solely responsible for determining the proper tax treatment for any Loan you make through the Website and the Program. The Hoop has not and will not provide any tax or legal advice to you in connection with any Loan you might make. These Terms of Use do not attempt to define the tax implications of participating in the Program. If you participate in the Program, you should consult with your own accountants, tax and legal advisors.
1.5. Loan Records. Records of each Loan you make (including these Terms of Use and any repayment history) will be kept by The Hoop and, upon your written request, will be made available to you at any time throughout the term of the Loan. The amount of funds you have available in your Hoop Account that is available to be lent ("Hoop Credit") can also be accessed via your The Hoop online profile created upon registering at the Website.
1.6. Principal Loss Scenarios. You understand and hereby consent (without any prior notice thereof) to any restructuring of the repayment plan for your Loan and/or, in The Hoop's sole discretion, any extension of the length of the term of your Loan in order to increase the chances that your Loan is repaid. The Hoop will generally deem a Loan to be in default if The Hoop determines that collection of funds from a Field Partner for such Loan is doubtful or a repayment on the Loan is six (6) months past the originally scheduled repayment date (for any expected repayment, including interim repayments), although case by case differences may exist based on pending prospects for repayment of the Loan. In this case, each applicable Lender will have the option to recover whatever principal has been repaid up to that point. If for any reason less than 100% of your Loan is repaid, you agree that The Hoop and its Field Partners shall have no liability therefor, and you hereby release and forever hold harmless The Hoop and its Field Partners for any loss you may incur. You should consult with your accountant and/or tax advisors to determine the appropriate tax treatment of such a loss.
1. 7. Insufficient Lender Funds. In the event that you make a Loan and your payment does not clear (e.g., a PayPal payment does not validly deliver to The Hoop the full amount of the intended Loan, or your payment provider reverses a payment originally intended for The Hoop), you agree that The Hoop may, in its sole discretion, (i) offset the amount of the insufficiently funded Loan against your Hoop Credit or (ii) withdraw and cancel your insufficiently-funded Loan from your Hoop Account as not paid in full.
1.8. User Account Inactivity; Instructions for Remaining Hoop Credit; Escheat. The Hoop welcomes its Users' active participation in The Hoop Program. However, there may be occasions when a User becomes "inactive" for an extended period of time (i.e., a User does not log in to his or her Hoop Account or there are no credits/withdrawals thereto). Therefore, The Hoop may implement Website features pursuant to which you may instruct The Hoop in advance as to how you wish any Hoop Credits to be handled in the event your account were to become inactive for a period of 24 or more consecutive months. In such a case of User inactivity, you may instruct The Hoop to: (i) automatically donate remaining Hoop Credits to The Hoop's general operating expenses to further The Hoop's philanthropic mission or (ii) return remaining Hoop Credits to you via The Hoop's standard account withdrawal process.
Please note that you are free to change this pre-set option in your discretion and at any time in advance by contacting us contact@jointhehoop.com (although you understand any funds that have been auto-donated based on the then-existing preference setting shall not be cancellable or refundable once the auto-donation has taken place).
In the event that your account shows no activity for an extended period of time and (i) you have not indicated an instruction to The Hoop through an inactivity preference selection described above or (ii) the return of Hoop Credits to you is unsuccessful, whether due to invalid/incomplete information, your failure to claim the Hoop Credits after thirty (30) calendar days have passed from the day The Hoop has forwarded the Hoop Credits to you, a return of Hoop Credits back to The Hoop as unclaimed after The Hoop has attempted to forward them to you, or for any other reason internal or external to The Hoop, then The Hoop may determine it is appropriate to forward (i.e., escheat) the balance remaining in your inactive account to the state government of your state of residency. In such a case, The Hoop will determine your residency based on the state listed in your mailing address information that may have previously been made available to us. If your address is unknown or is outside of the USA, The Hoop may then find it is appropriate to forward (escheat) your funds to the State of California. If your funds are escheated to a state authority, you would have to contact the relevant state's unclaimed property administrator to reclaim such funds.
2. Proprietary Rights
"The Hoop"and the "The Hoop" logo are trademarks and service marks of The Hoop. The Hoop or its licensors own and retain all proprietary rights in the Program, the Website and all material and information posted thereon ("Content"). The Website contains the copyrighted material, trademarks and other proprietary information of The Hoop and its licensors. You may display and print limited copies of the Content for your personal, non-commercial use in connection with your participation in the Program (except as provided herein), but you may not alter, modify, publish, distribute, publicly display or sell any Content or other such proprietary information, or otherwise copy or transmit any Content or other such proprietary information without the express, written permission of The Hoop. In addition, to the extent you receive information from The Hoop, its Field Partners or the Borrower with respect to any Loan delinquency or default of a particular Borrower, you may not further disclose or otherwise provide such information to another party in a way that allows a personal identification of such Borrower, if such Borrower (either directly or through the corresponding Field Partner or The Hoop) has opted to have his or her identity withheld on the Website.
If you post any messages or other information on the Website, you agree that such messages and information shall be considered Content, and you agree to grant, and shall be deemed to have automatically granted to The Hoop an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid, worldwide license to: (a) use, copy, perform, display and distribute such information and content; (b) modify, alter, prepare derivative works of, and/or incorporate into other works, such information and content; and (c) grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You represent and warrant that you have the right, power and authority to grant the foregoing license.
To the extent you upload or post any photographs of yourself on the Website, you agree that such materials shall be considered Content for the purposes of the foregoing paragraph, and you agree to release, discharge and agree to hold harmless The Hoop from any and all claims or liability, whether known or unknown, including any and all claims in connection with the publication, production, processing, distribution or exploitation of such materials, including any claims of infringement of any rights of publicity or rights of privacy.
You acknowledge, consent and agree that The Hoop may, at its sole discretion and to the extent permitted by law, access, read, preserve and disclose your account information, usage history and submitted Content in order to: (a) comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; (b) respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third parties, including intellectual property rights; (c) enforce these Terms of Use and investigate potential violations thereof; (d) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues; (e) respond to your requests for customer service; or (f) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of The Hoop, its Users, or the public.
3. Acceptable Use
The Website is for use in connection with the Program and may not be used by you in connection with any other endeavors, commercial or otherwise, except as previously approved in writing by The Hoop. Your use of the Website and participation in the Program shall be in strict compliance with these Terms of Use, The Hoop's Privacy Policy, all other procedures and guidelines set forth on the Website and applicable law. You may not engage in advertising to, or solicitation of, any User, Field Partner, Borrower or any other person to buy or sell any products or services through the Website. Only authorized Field Partners and their authorized Borrowers may seek loans on the Website. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to any User, Field Partner, Borrower or any other Person. Illegal and/or unauthorized uses of the Website, including collecting the name, email address or any other personal or confidential information of any User, Field Partner, Borrower or any other Person by electronic or other means for any reason, including, without limitation, the purpose of sending unsolicited email and unauthorized framing of or linking to the Website, will be investigated and appropriate legal action will be taken, including, without limitation, civil, criminal and injunctive redress.
Although The Hoop assumes no obligation to monitor the conduct of any User on or off the Website, it is a violation of these Terms of Use to use the Website or any information obtained from the Website in order to: (i) harass, abuse, or harm another person (including, but not limited to, using profanity in lender messages or joining lending teams in bad faith), (ii) prevent or exclude others, who are using the Website in compliance with these Terms of Use, from accessing, viewing or funding a particular Loan profile, or (iii) contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any User, Field Partner, Borrower or other Person without their prior explicit consent. In order to protect such persons from such advertising, solicitation or harassment, The Hoop reserves the right to remove content from the Website that violates acceptable use in The Hoop's sole discretion and restrict the number of emails or messages that a User may send to others through the Website in any 24-hour or other period to a number that The Hoop deems appropriate, in The Hoop's sole and absolute discretion.
The Website includes features and functionality whereby a User may post and transmit information, images and other materials. All such information, images and materials, whether publicly posted or publicly or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the User who originates such content. The Hoop assumes no obligation to monitor or control such posted or transmitted content and cannot take responsibility for such content posted or transmitted by a User. However, The Hoop reserves the right at all times (but will not have an obligation) to remove or refuse to post or distribute any content, and to restrict, suspend or terminate the participation of any User or any lending team from the Website and from all The Hoop services and Programs at any time, with or without prior notice. Without in any way limiting the foregoing, it is a violation of these Terms of Use to upload, post or submit any content, including, but not limited to, written materials or images, that in The Hoop's opinion is obscene, harassing, contains profanity, or may be hateful or offensive on racial, ethnic, sexual or any other grounds; is harmful, vulgar or distasteful; contains graphic or gratuitous violence; or is defamatory, libelous, or invades another person's privacy or proprietary rights.
4. Disclaimers
The Hoop is not responsible, and shall have no liability, for any incorrect or inaccurate Content posted on the Website or any liability, cost or expense you may incur in connection with the Program, whether caused by any User, Field Partner, Borrower or other Person or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Program. You also acknowledge and agree that Field Partners are not liable for content created and posted by The Hoop on the Website. The Hoop is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any User of the Website or any other Person. With respect to the Website, The Hoop assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, any communications.
Under no circumstances will The Hoop be responsible for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from any use of the Website or participation in the Program, any Content posted on the Website or transmitted to, or any interactions between, any Users of the Website, whether online or offline. The Hoop neither represents, warrants, covenants guarantees, nor promises any specific results from use of the Website or the Program.
THE WEBSITE, INCLUDING ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN IT OR ANY SERVICE OR ADVICE PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROGRAM, IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE AND WEBSITE-RELATED SERVICES.
The Hoop makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, with respect to any third party data provided to The Hoop or its transmission, timeliness, accuracy or completeness, including but not limited to implied warranties or warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The Hoop will not be liable in any way to you or to any other person for any inaccuracy, error or delay in or omission of any third party data or the transmission or delivery of any such third party data and any loss or damage arising from (a) any such inaccuracy, error, delay or omission, (b) non-performance or (c) interruption in any such third party data due either to any negligent act or omission by The Hoop or "force majeure" or any other cause beyond the control of The Hoop.
5. Limitation of Liability
You understand that any and all decisions made by you with respect to the Program are yours alone. The Hoop cannot and does not verify the accuracy of information from Field Partners, other Users or Borrowers. The Hoop shall not be responsible, or have any duty or obligation to, or liability for: (a) decisions or interactions resulting (directly or indirectly) from participation in the Program; or (b) any damages, costs, losses or expenses a User incurs as a result (directly or indirectly) of making a Loan to a Borrower or as a result (directly or indirectly) of utilizing the Program or information received in connection with the Program. In addition, in no event will The Hoop be liable to you or any third person for any damages, costs, losses or expenses, including any lost capital, lost profits or special, incidental, consequential or punitive damages arising from your use of the Website or participation in the Program, even if The Hoop has been advised of the possibility of such damages, costs, losses or expenses.
6. Disputes with other Field Partners, Borrowers
You are solely responsible for your interactions with any Field Partners, any other User (even to the extent prohibited hereby) or any Borrower and any disputes that may result from such interactions.
The Hoop reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and such persons.
7. Governing Law; Resolution of Disputes; Arbitration and Waivers
This site is controlled and operated by, and these Terms of Use are managed by, The Hoop from its offices in the State of California, United States of America. Although this site can be accessed from other locations, by accessing this site you agree that these Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the State of California, USA, without regard to its choice of law or conflict of law provisions. If any dispute arises between you and The Hoop, including, without limitation, any dispute arising from or relating to the Website or the Program, you agree that all such disputes will be determined exclusively by final and binding arbitration, in accordance with the then existing commercial rules of the American Arbitration Association in San Francisco. The arbitration shall be heard and adjudicated by one arbitrator to be selected by you and The Hoop. Any award will be final, binding and conclusive upon the parties, subject only to judicial review provided by California statute, and a judgment rendered on the arbitration award can be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either you or The Hoop may seek any injunctive relief in a state or federal court in San Francisco, California, as may be necessary to preserve rights pending the completion of arbitration and The Hoop may seek any injunctive relief in a state or federal court in San Francisco, California, or another court of competent jurisdiction, at any time against any violations of Section 2 (Proprietary Rights) or Section 3 (Acceptable Use) of these Terms of Use.
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, BY AGREEING TO SUBMIT ALL DISPUTES TO BINDING ARBITRATION, YOU AND THE HOOP HEREBY WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY OR COURT TRIAL OF ANY CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR BASED UPON THESE TERMS OF USE OR ANY CONTEMPLATED USE HEREIN, INCLUDING CONTRACT, TORT, BREACH OF DUTY AND ALL OTHER CLAIMS, EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY PROVIDED ABOVE.
You waive, to the maximum extent not prohibited by law, any right you may have to claim or recover, in any legal action or proceeding, any special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages.
8. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold The Hoop harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorney's fees, made or incurred by any third party due to or arising (directly or indirectly) out of your use of the Website or participation in the Program or arising from your breach of these Terms of Use. The Hoop reserves the right to assume, at its sole expense, the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will fully cooperate with The Hoop in asserting any available defenses.
9. Term; Termination
These Terms of Use will remain in full force and effect while you use the Website, any The Hoop services, or participate in the Program as a User and, notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, these Terms of Use will remain in effect after your participation in the Program and status as a User is terminated. Whether or not you are and remain eligible to participate in the Program, use the Website or any The Hoop services, may be determined by The Hoop in its sole and absolute discretion. You may terminate your participation and status as a User at any time and for any reason by sending a written notice of termination to The Hoop along with instructions for the disposition of your then-available Hoop Credit and any additional credits that you may receive in the future (e.g., based on repayments of then-outstanding and active loans), such notice to be effective within 3 days of receipt by The Hoop. The Hoop may also terminate your participation in the Program and status as a User at any time and for any reason, effective upon transmission of notice to you at the email address you provide to The Hoop. Upon such a The Hoop-initiated termination, your available Hoop Credits shall be returned to you within 30 days of account termination and any Hoop Credit you may receive in the future shall also be returned to you in due course. If your participation in the Program and status as a User is terminated by The Hoop, you agree not to use the Website any further.
10. Entire Agreement; Severability
These Terms of Use, accepted upon use of the Website and further affirmed by becoming a User, contains the entire agreement between you and The Hoop regarding the use of the Website or the Program. These Terms of Use supersede any previous Terms of Use to which you and The Hoop may have been bound. These Terms of Use may be modified by The Hoop in its sole discretion from time to time and such modifications shall automatically become part of these Terms of Use and shall be effective once posted by The Hoop on the Website. Your participation in the Program and use of the Website will be subject to any such modifications. You should review the Website and these Terms of Use from time to time for any modifications. These Terms of Use may not be orally amended. If any provision of these Terms of Use are held invalid, the remainder of these Terms of Use shall continue in full force and effect. You may receive a written copy of these Terms of Use by emailing us at: contact@jointhehoop.com, Subject: Terms of Use. These Terms of Use were last updated on August 12, 2010.
11. Miscellaneous
These Terms of Use will be binding on, inure to the benefit of and be enforceable against the parties and their respective successors and assigns. Neither the course of conduct between parties nor trade practice shall act to modify any provision of the Agreement. All rights not expressly granted herein are hereby reserved. Headings are for reference purposes only and in no way define, limit, construe or describe the scope or extent of such section. Please contact us at contact@jointhehoop.com with any questions regarding these Terms of Use.
The Hoop Fund Privacy Policy
Thank you for visiting The Hoop Fund, LLC ("The Hoop" or "us"). We take privacy seriously and we value yours. The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to assist you in understanding the types of personal information we collect from you upon a visit to the www.jointhehoop.com or www.hoopfund.com websites (the "Website"), how such information may be used, and your ability to correct or modify the information you have provided to us.
This Privacy Policy is effective August 12, 2010. The Hoop may update or modify this Privacy Policy from time to time. If any changes are made, The Hoop will change the effective date listed above to reflect the date the updated or modified Privacy Policy goes into effect.
Information Collected:
For each lender, participant in The Hoop's microlending program (the "Program") or other visitor to the Website (in each such capacity, a "User") our Web server automatically recognizes the User's domain name and e-mail address, whenever possible,.
We collect the e-mail addresses of those who post messages to our bulletin board, the e-mail addresses of those who communicate with us via e-mail, aggregate information on what pages Users access or visit, User-specific information on what pages Users access or visit, information volunteered by the User for an User loan funds account (a "Hoop Account"), such as survey information and/or Website registrations, and Users' names, passwords, postal addresses, telephone numbers and payment information (e.g., credit card number and billing address).
The information we collect is used to set up and allow Users access to their Hoop Accounts. It is also used to improve the content of our Website, customize the content and/or layout of our Website for each individual User, notify Users about updates to our Website, and contact Users for marketing purposes.
Cookies:
We use cookies to store User preferences, record session information, record User-specific information on what pages Users access or visit, alert Users to new areas that we think might be of interest to them when they return to our Website, record past activity at our Website in order to provide better service when Users return to our Website, and customize Website content based on Users' browser type or other information that Users send.
Sharing of Information:
The Hoop's service providers may be provided access to your pertinent information incident to their provision of services to The Hoop. All such access shall be under appropriate confidentiality agreements and limited to use to provide services to The Hoop. We share the information we collect with other reputable organizations to help them improve their products or services. Only with a User's granted permission will we make User email addresses available to other reputable organizations whose products or services we think you might find interesting.
The Hoop will not disclose your personally identifiable lending activity to any third party without your consent. The Hoop reserves the right to record and display anonymous lending activity on the Website and display the general regions where our lenders are located.
We do not have any relationships with ad server companies and such information as your domain type, IP address, or clickstream information will not be collected under any circumstances.
Communications from The Hoop and Others:
By establishing an account on The Hoop, you agree to receive emails based on your account activity (for example, confirmations of loans you have made, confirmation receipts for donations you have made, notifications of loan repayments you have received, statements on the amount of credit available in your Hoop Account, confirmation of email address or password changes, or customer service inquiries regarding activity in your Hoop Account).
By default, you will receive update emails on your loans that are sent by our Field Partners through the Website. The Hoop will not disclose your email address to our Field Partners; these emails are sent through a webform without any third party learning your email address. You can choose not to receive these emails through a preference on the Website.
By default, you may receive periodic newsletter emails from The Hoop. The frequency of these newsletters may vary but will be no greater than once per month. You can choose not to receive these newsletters through a preference on the Website.
If you provide us with your postal address, you may receive periodic mailings from us with information on new products and services or upcoming events, and mailings from other reputable companies. If you do not wish to receive such mailings from us, or would like us not to share your postal address with such companies, please let us know by sending us an email at contact@jointhehoop.com.
If you provide us with your telephone number, you will only receive telephone contact from us with information regarding your Hoop Account activity.
Correcting and Updating Information:
Upon request via email to contact@jointhehoop.com, and verification, we provide Users with access to the financial information (e.g., credit card account information), unique identifier information (e.g., User number or password), and transaction information (e.g., dates on which Users made purchases, amounts and types of purchases) that we maintain about them. Customers can have any inaccuracies in this information corrected by send us an email at contact@jointhehoop.com.
Security:
When we transfer and receive certain types of sensitive information such as financial information, we redirect Users to a secure server and will notify Users through a pop-up screen on our site.
Other Websites:
If you follow any links which remove you from the Website, this Privacy Policy does not apply to any such subsequent websites. The Hoop does not control the privacy policies or the privacy practices of any third parties.
Children's Privacy:
This Website is intended to be used by adults. It is not intended for children, and The Hoop does not want to collect any personal information for Users who are under the age of 13. The Hoop recommends that parents do not post, or permit others to post, any personally identifiable information with respect to persons under the age of 13.
New Uses of Information:
From time to time, we may use User information for new or unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in this Privacy Policy. If our information practices change at some time in the future, we will contact you before we use your data for these new purposes to notify you of the policy change and to provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. In addition, we will post the policy changes to our Website to notify you of these changes. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check our Website periodically.
Contact:
If you feel that the Website is not following the terms of this Privacy Policy, or if you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, you may contact us at:
The Hoop Fund, LLC
901 Mission Street, Suite 105
San Francisco, CA 94103
415.655.1940
Contact@jointhehoop.com