Privacy Policy

(last revised June 2025)

Scientific Design and Information, Inc. (“SDI”) is committed to protecting the privacy of its visitors, users, and registrants (“users”) to its website at www.hometheaterhifi.com (the “Website”) and their respective information. This Privacy Policy describes SDI’s privacy practices with respect to information collected by this Website.

Your use of our Website constitutes your acceptance of our privacy practices as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or SDI’s information practices, please contact SDI at 650-363-0814 or send an email to [email protected]. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THIS PRIVACY POLICY, SDI DOES NOT GRANT YOU ANY LICENSE OR OTHER RIGHTS TO USE THE WEBSITE, AND YOU SHOULD EXIT THIS WEBSITE.

The Website is managed by SDI and its third party website management, hosting service providers, and other service providers (each, a “Provider”), each of which is required to comply with the terms of this Privacy Policy.

SDI reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time and will provide notification of any material changes to this Privacy Policy through the Website.

1. Collection of Information

Currently, SDI collects only the names and email addresses of users who voluntarily register for SDI’s online newsletter and uses this information solely to send the newsletter to those users. SDI does not sell, share, or rent this information to third parties except as necessary to administer the Website as disclosed herein. SDI may store this information itself or arrange for storage in databases maintained by SDI’s Providers.

If a user’s personally-identifiable information changes or if a user desires to terminate his/her newsletter registration, he/she can correct, update, or remove all information provided to SDI via the registration information page or by emailing [email protected].

SDI may also collect additional information about your use of the Website through cookies, web beacons, pixel tags, or other similar technology, as set forth below in Section 2. Information collected using these technologies is used solely to maintain and improve our Website.

2. Website Tracking; Cookies

SDI may track certain user information solely to administer the Website and to analyze data for trends and statistics on an aggregated basis, provided that aggregated information will not be linked in any way to user-identifiable information. SDI may collect user information through the use of cookies, pixel tags, web beacons, or other similar technologies, including IP addresses, geolocation information, time zone, usage times and volume, and information about the device you are using (for example, device type, device ID, characteristics and status, browser type, screen size, internet bandwidth, and operating system and application), language preference, URL click stream. We may use the following types of cookies:

  • Strictly necessary cookies. Our Website requires the use of these cookies to properly operate or provide necessary functions relating to the services you request. They include, for example, cookies enabling you to securely access our Website. These are persistent cookies that generally last 30 days.
  • Analytical/performance cookies. These cookies allow us and our Providers to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our Website when they are using it. This helps us improve how our Website works by, for example, ensuring that users can easily find what they need on our Website. These cookies generate aggregate statistics that are not associated with an individualized profile, and are persistent cookies that generally last 30 days.
  • Functionality cookies. These cookies enable helpful but non-essential Website functions that improve your Website experience. By recognizing you when you return to our Website, they may, for example, allow us to personalize our content for you, greet you by name, or remember your preferences. These are persistent cookies that generally last 30 days.

If a user disables cookies on his or her browser, some or all parts of our Website may not be accessible or function as intended.

SDI may also use web beacons or pixel tags that, for example, enable SDI to count the number of users who have visited a certain page on our Website and for other related statistical information.

SDI may use the following types of tags:

  • Advertising tags. Used for advertising and retargeting, tracking user actions, and supporting ad delivery on the Website.
  • Analytics tags. Collects Website usage data, user behavior data, and website performance metrics.
  • Utility/Service tabs. Enables core Website functions and integrates external functions (such as email, calendars, or authentications)
  • Social media tags. Enables integration between the Website and SDI’s social media accounts.

SDI does not currently permit any third party to access and use the Website to track any user’s logins and movements, including to and from the Website, or to collect any user’s personal information.

3. Use and Sharing of Collected Information

SDI shares user information with its Providers solely to enable those Providers to provide the Website, SDI’s newsletters, and related services on SDI’s behalf.

SDI does not share, sell, rent, or trade any user information with third parties for promotional purposes, including targeted advertising to SDI’s users. SDI does not currently permit the collection of personal or tracking information by third parties through advertising technologies deployed on the Website, nor does SDI share personal information collected from the Website with any third parties (other than its Providers). SDI will share only aggregate and anonymous information with its Providers for marketing, research, or similar purposes. For example, SDI uses Google Analytics, which is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Website. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. Users can opt out of his/her use of the Website being used by Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visit activity. For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms web page: https://policies.google.com/privacy

SDI reserves the right to use or disclose user information if required by law or court order or if SDI reasonably believes that use or disclosure is necessary to protect SDI’s rights. SDI may also transfer users’ information to a third party in the course of a sale or reorganization of SDI’s business or assets.

4. Surveys and Giveaways

From time to time, the Website may request contact and/or demographic information (i.e., zip code, gender, birthdate, or age) from users for surveys or giveaways. Participation in any such survey or giveaway is completely voluntary, and the user is under no obligation to participate or to disclose any information. Survey information will be used to monitor and/or improve the use and functionality of the Website. If any manufacturer that advertises on the Website offers users the opportunity to participate in a sweepstakes, that sweepstakes will be hosted on the manufacturer’s website and governed by that manufacturer’s terms of use and privacy policy.

5. Security

Subject to the terms herein, SDI employs industry-standard administrative, technical, organizational and physical measures in compliance with applicable laws and regulations to protect the security of its user information and to protect against unauthorized access thereto or unauthorized use or disclosure thereof. However, no Internet or email transmission is ever fully secure or error-free and, as set forth in the Terms of Use, SDI makes no warranty and assumes no liability for any such transmission or any damages incurred in connection therewith. If you have any questions about SDI’s Website security, please contact [email protected].

SDI cannot and does not guarantee or warrant the security and privacy of information provided by users on or through the Website. Each user discloses personal information on or through our Website wholly at his/her own risk and each acknowledges that he/she is aware of the security and privacy risks involved, including limitations of the security, privacy and authentication measures in the Website, threats of external interference such as eavesdropping, breaking passwords and hacking, and contamination by viruses.

In accordance with Section 2 of the Terms of Use, each user, on behalf of himself/herself and his/her heirs, executors, legal representatives and other successors in interest, hereby releases and discharges SDI from any and all liability or responsibility for any damages suffered by that user arising out of any disclosure of his/her personally-identifiable information other than as a result of SDI’S willful misconduct.

6. Public Forums and Testimonials

SDI may provide bulletin boards, blogs, or chat rooms on its Website. Any personal information that a user chooses to submit in such a forum may be viewed, read, collected, and/or used by others who visit these forums and may be used to send unsolicited messages. SDI is not responsible for personal information that any individual chooses to submit in these forums.

SDI, at its option and in accordance with SDI’s terms of use and privacy policy, may post testimonials on the Website that contain information such as user names.

The Website’s bulletin boards, blogs, chat rooms, or other comment features are provided by Disqus, and use of such bulletin boards, blogs, chat rooms, or other comment features may require you to create and log into an account with Disqus. Use of these features are subject to Disqus’s Terms of Service (https://help.disqus.com/en/articles/1717102-terms-of-service) and Privacy Policy (https://disqus.com/privacy-policy/),

7. Links to other Websites

The Website contains links to third-party sites, and SDI has no control over any such sites or their respective privacy practices. Links to such other sites are provided by SDI solely as a convenience, and SDI neither endorses nor bears any responsibility for or control over any third- party site, any other third-party link contained herein, or for the privacy policies and practices of any third-party. SDI encourages each user to read the terms of use of each and every website that he or she visits.

8. California Do Not Track Disclosures

Various browsers offer a “Do Not Track” option; however, SDI does not presently recognize or process Do Not Track signals from different Web browsers. For more information on Do Not Track, please visit http://www.allaboutdnt.org/.

9. Children Under Thirteen

Children under the age of thirteen should not provide any personal information on this Website. SDI is committed to protecting children’s online privacy; accordingly, SDI does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of thirteen, and SDI will not retain any information provided by a user under the age of thirteen if SDI becomes aware of such user’s age.