AOLbyPhone™ Terms of Service
Thank you for subscribing to AOLbyPhone™. Your use of the AOLbyPhone service is governed by AOL's Terms of Service as supplemented by the additional terms below (collectively, "Terms of Service").
By registering for AOLbyPHONE, you SIGNIFY electronically THAT YOU agree to these Terms of Service.
Do not register or use AOLbyPhone if you do not agree to these terms.
Billing: You agree to pay the applicable monthly fee for the service based on the plan offered to you. If your AOLbyPhone plan includes a free trial, please review your trial offer carefully. Under some plans (including offers to military personnel), the service will expire at the end of your free trial. Please see plan offer details for more information. Under other plans, AOL will begin to bill you the applicable monthly fee for the AOLbyPhone service to the same account you currently use to pay charges on your AOL account. To avoid being charged the AOLbyPhone service monthly fees, you should contact 1-866-265-4415 and cancel your registration. You agree to review these Terms of Service periodically at http://help.byphone.aol.com/terms_of_service/ to keep apprised of the then-current version of these terms.
Telephone charges: You obtain access to the AOLbyPhone service by dialing the toll free number 1-800-AOL-1234 (1-800-265-1234) within the continental United States. You are, however, responsible for any telephone toll charges you incur when dialing outside the United States. You are responsible for any other connection charges you may incur when calling AOL's toll-free number or when making long distance calls using the AOLbyPhone service, such as, charges you may incur if you use a cellular or mobile phone.
Parental Controls: The AOLbyPhone service is designed for use by adults over 18. AOL Parental Controls do not work in connection with access to AOLbyPhone. Therefore, you should supervise any use of your screen name or any of your other AOL account screen names by others, especially children.
Outbound Calling Features: The following supplemental terms apply to you if you have added any outbound calling features to your AOLbyPhone service. You understand and agree that the pricing and characteristics of any outbound calling feature will depend on the package and price plan selected by you. You will have a number of calling minutes each month to place calls to most locations in the United States and Canada by dialing the toll free number 1-800-AOL-1234 (1-800-265-1234) within the continental United States. This toll number may be subject to change. You are responsible for any other connection charges you may incur when calling AOL's toll-free number or when making long distance calls using the Service, such as charges you may incur if you use a cellular or mobile phone. You are responsible for any telephone toll charges you incur when dialing outside the United States. The number of monthly calling minutes will depend on the package and price plan selected by you. You will not be entitled to any credits or carryover minutes. This is not standard telephone service and is not a replacement for standard telephone service. AOL makes no warranty as to the availability, completion, clarity or overall quality of any particular phone call made using the outbound calling features. AOL has no knowledge or control over the content of any conversations made through the AOLbyPhone service. You understand and agree that you may be exposed to content that is offensive, indecent or otherwise objectionable and that you are using AOLbyPhone at your sole risk. AOL will not be liable for any type of communication made through the service. YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANY SERVICE CREDIT OR OTHER REMEDY AS A RESULT OF ANY UNAVAILABILITY OF THE OUTBOUND CALLING FEATURES OR ANY OTHE ASPECT OF THE AOLbyPHONE SERVICE.
Outbound calling features for personal use only. The outbound Calling feature is intended for residential or home office use only; therefore, you may not use the Service in any manner to:
- Create a paid-for voice over Internet protocol hosting or termination service;
- Use the Service for governmental activities;
- Use the Service for auto-dialing, continuous or extensive call forwarding, fax broadcasting or fax blasting;
- Transfer or resell the Service to another, including without limitation, charging others to use the Service; or
- Make solicitations or conduct surveys, whether for commercial or non-profits purposes.
You may not use the Service in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair AOL's servers or networks, or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of the service. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any services, user accounts, computer systems or networks through hacking, password mining or any other means. AOL may take any legal or technical actions to prevent the violation of this provision and to enforce this Agreement.
Limits on Abuses. AOL may terminate or impose restrictions against any AOLbyPhone account that AOL deems in its discretion is inconsistent with normal residential or home office usage patterns or is otherwise in violation of this Agreement. Any usage in excess of 3,000 minutes per month may be presumed by AOL as being inconsistent with the restrictions outlined in this Agreement.
AOLbyPhone Service Privacy Policy
AOL is committed to protecting its members' privacy and securely stores any information we may have about you. In addition to AOL's Privacy Policy, the following explains how AOL collects, stores, and uses information you provide through your use of the AOLbyPhone service:
One feature of AOLbyPhone allows you to check your AOL e-mail by having AOL s computer system read your e-mail aloud to you. No person reads, reviews, opens or otherwise monitors your e-mail. The process is entirely automated.
In addition to the account number, password and other information you provide at registration, AOL's system automatically gathers information about which features of the AOLbyPhone service you use and how often you use them ("General Usage Information"). AOL may use General Usage Information to help personalize the AOLbyPhone service and enhance the speed at which you can access its features. For example, if you consistently use a certain feature of the service, AOL may use General Usage Information to shorten or customize the voice menu to reflect your familiarity with the service. Additionally, AOL may use General Usage Information to alert you to other features of the AOLbyPhone service. AOL may also use aggregate data based on its members' General Usage Information in order to determine how AOL members use different parts of the service and to improve the features and functionality of AOLbyPhone. AOL will not use General Usage Information for any other purpose other than to improve your experience on the AOLbyPhone service.
AOL may use your AOLbyPhone registration data to update its records concerning your AOL membership. AOL may use this registration data, as well as data about the kinds of products you buy from AOL or how frequently you use the service, to extend special marketing offers to you. However, as described in the main AOL privacy policy, you may choose not to receive these marketing offers. Finally, AOL may use other information you have voluntarily provided on other AOL services to help personalize your use of AOLbyPhone (for example, stock portfolios you establish on AOL or my.aol.com).
The telephone carrier you use to call the AOLbyPhone service, or another third party such as the manufacturer of your phone, may provide AOL with the phone number from which you are calling (unless you have instructed the carrier to block caller ID) and certain additional information, such as the location from which you are calling. AOL may use this information on a temporary basis during your session to personalize your AOLbyPhone experience, including, for example, to help deliver the local weather to you or to provide you advertisements about local products and services. AOL does not, however, store information provided by the telephone carrier.
AOL uses state-of-the-art technology to keep your individual information as secure as possible. AOL also has put in place privacy protection control systems designed to keep your personal data safe and private. Be aware, however, that if you call the AOLbyPhone service from a wireless phone, the call runs the same risk of being intercepted as with any wireless service. Similarly, when speaking on a phone in a public area, you should be aware that others might overhear information relating to your account login and PIN number. You should exercise appropriate care to protect this information, or use the keyboard features.
AOL will not share information you provide during registration or General Usage Information with third parties, except that AOL may share such information with partners who are working with AOL if doing so is necessary to provide the content or features of the service, or is necessary to complete a transaction you have requested. AOL may, however, release specific information about your account to comply with valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, or court order, on in special cases such as a physical threat to you or others.
In the future, the AOLbyPhone service may provide a calling service feature that will allow you to make short telephone calls in connection with your use of AOLbyPhone. For example, if you go to the Restaurant Guides area and find a restaurant at which you would like to make a reservation, you might be able to ask the AOLbyPhone service to initiate a call to that restaurant. After finishing the call, you would be able to return to the AOLbyPhone service by keying in "**" on your touchtone pad. AOL will not intercept, monitor, or record the contents of any telephone call made using the AOLbyPhone service, though it may keep a record of the telephone number or identity of the establishment you called through the service. The telephony service for this feature is provided by a third-party.
If the privacy policy for the AOLbyPhone service changes, AOL will post those changes at http://help.byphone.aol.com/terms_of_service/ so that you will always know what information AOL gathers, how it might use that information and whether it will disclose it to anyone.
Updated: 6-12-07