At Hostboard we provide a Web-based application service that engages businesses and individuals to build, join and participate in customized and personalized online communities. Although Hostboard is primarily targeted at adults, we welcome the participation of children in our communities with the consent of the child's parent(s) or legal guardian.

Hostboard is intended as a "family friendly" site where children should not be exposed to objectionable material. However, we can not be responsible for content posted on our site that is objectionable. We allow the posting of digital images, sounds, and links to other web sites. Our policy is that no pornographic or otherwise offensive material is allowed on the site. Profanity by default is not allowed and is heandeled by our extesive online filter. However moderators of message boards do have the ability to over ride these settings at their discretion. Because of this we have compiled links to additional tools to let you help monitor and control the content viewable by your child, which can be found here.

It is possible though for a user to post material in violation of these rules. Although it is impossible to review everything we do have a team of Site Administrators who randomly surf our site viewing content at various times every day. When a violating post is noted it is removed or modified to remove objectionable material. While we attempt to remove such material as soon as possible, it does not prevent any user from being exposed to an offensive post prior to it being detected and removed or modified. These instances are very rare and normally are detected in less than one hour. The chances of this are minimized because a person must become a registered member before they can post any material on the site.

If a member posts objectionable material, these recourses will be used based on the nature of the offense: 

• A user may be contacted via electronic mail to engage in conversation with Administrators regarding the matter.
• A user may be suspended from posting messages until such time as agreement is reached between Administrators and the member regarding acceptable content.
• Administrators may cancel a user's membership.

• A User ID. This may be a user-chosen "nickname" or a person's real first name, last name, or any combination thereof. We do not allow members to use identities that we deem offensive. We do run a profanity filter against new user signups which eliminates some common profanities, although this is not fool-proof.
• A user-chosen password to access the site. This password can not be accessed by any other user and only by the Administrators of the site by downloading and examining files stored on the server. Under normal circumstances the site Administrators do not know a user's password. We encourage users to choose a password other than that used for other personal Internet or non-Internet applications or use.
• An electronic mail address. A user may enter any e-mail address they choose when they register as a member. This can be a e-mail address provided by their Internet Service Provider, a web-based e-mail address provided by services such as Hotmail.com, Yahoo.com, Geocities.com, Mail.com, Netscape.com, or any other such provider, or any other e-mail address held by the user.

Also, a user may choose to allow Administrators to send them e-mail messages. This normally consists of a monthly newsletter but Administrators may also send e-mail to members regarding changes at this site or other news deemed important. We normally do not contact members more than once per month. If a user has chosen to allow us to contact them via e-mail and later wishes to withdraw consent to do so, they can edit their profile and un-select the option allowing us to contact them. To do so, visit user profile.

The operators of Hostboard do not sell our members' e-mail addresses or make them available to any other parties.

• The location where a member lives. (City, State, Province, or Country)
• The members occupation.
• The URL of a member's web site.
• Any personal interests that the member may wish to share with others.
• ICQ Number. (ICQ is a program that many Internet users use to communicate and exchange files. The number is used to identify a user so that others may contact them. Such contacts are totally independent of the Hostboard web site.)
• Personal Signature. (A small message that will appear at the bottom of messages that the member posts on this site.)

Hostboard does not require a child (or any member) to disclose more information than is reasonably necessary to participate in any activities on this web site. 

We do not use personal information for any reasons other than to identify messages posted on this web site and to communicate with our members. We do not actively use personal information in marketing ventures. This site does contain advertising, but it is often railroad or model railroad related and is targeted at all users in general and never to any specific user based on personal information provided to us by a particular member. We may also carry other advertisements, none of which we consider unhealthy to children. Parents may wish to review the web site to determine if any advertisements are personally objectionable. We do not allow advertising for anything pornographic or otherwise controversial or extreme. We carry advertisements only for businesses that we believe to be honest and reputable. We do not carry advertisements that ask a user to spend money on speculative ventures such as lotteries, gambling, or "get rich quick" schemes. A parent may also e-mail for a list of all businesses advertising on Hostboard at any specific time, as well as information about they type of business that they are engaged in.

Any personal information that a child posts on this site is the responsibility of the parent. We ask that parents advise their children regarding issues of privacy, and their personal family practices on-line. We advise our members to use careful discretion regarding personal information, and not to give out any personal information that is not necessary in the use of our web site. We are not responsible if a child voluntarily reveals their name, address, or other personal information to other users in our message boards.

A parent may view all posts made by their child on Hostboard if they know the child's User ID. To view your child's posts, visit Search and enter your child's User ID or membership number. Click on "Search," and the posts made by the child will be displayed. The parent may click on any of the links to see not only the posts made by the child, but also the interactions with other users in regards to the child's posts.

The parent or child may delete any of the posts made by the child if they know the child's User ID and password. Follow the instructions above to find the child's posts. If the parent finds a message or content in a message that should not be present, they may edit the message to remove, change, or add information, or, delete the message entirely. To do this, the parent (or child) should locate the message and note the small icons directly above the individual message, and just to the right of the date and time of the post. The third icon from the left allows you to edit or delete a message. You may only edit/delete messages posted by you or your child and you must know the password. When you click on the third icon from the left you will be taken to the "edit page" where you may add or remove content from the message, or delete it completely.

If you have problems with this process or you believe that someone has interacted inappropriately with your child on this web site, e-mail at once. Please provide specific details of the problem and copy the URL (the page's web address) from the top of your web browser and paste it into your message so we may find the exact page quickly.

As parental consent is required for a child under 13 years of age to register as a member on this site, we encourage parents to participate in the registration process and to make note of the child's User ID and password. If a parent does not know the child's password, but does know their e-mail address, simply visit Lost Password and enter the child's e-mail address. The password will be electronically mailed to that address.

If you, as a parent or legal guardian, want to have your child's membership on Hostboard terminated, e-mail and provide the child's User ID and password for confirmation. We would appreciate any details as to your objection of your child's participation if you feel that Hostboard is an unhealthy environment for any reason.

These Administrators are the principal operators of this web site and are the only persons who have access to any personal information collected from the users of this site:

If your child is already a member of Hostboard, e-mail if you wish to know what information we have gathered about or from your child. You must include your child's Hostboard User ID or e-mail address used to register on our site so we can properly identify them from our database of members.

Our Cookie Policy:

"Cookies" are small files generated by a web site that are stored on a user's computer. Most interactive web sites use cookies to aid in the interaction process with the user. On Hostboard, a user may choose to allow us to "set" a cookie on their computer. The cookie will reside on the user's computer for one year from the date of their last visit to Hostboard, and then it will automatically expire.

• To remember the User ID of the member so that they do not have to type it each time they log in to Hostboard.
• To remember the password of the member so that they do not have to type it each time they log in to Hostboard.
• To remember the date and time of the member's last visit to Hostboard. This is useful for the member as our web site displays information based on their last visit allowing them to easily see new content since that time.
• The preferences that the member has chosen, such as how they want information displayed to them by the web site.