Aquastar Privacy Policy – Your Privacy Rights
Aquastar Privacy Policy Overview
At Aquatsar, we appreciate the trust you place in us when you choose to visit our website and we take that responsibility seriously. This Aquatsar Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) describes how we collect and use personal information about you when you visit our website or call us on the phone.
By “personal information”, we mean information that directly identifies you, such as your name, address, or email address. In this Policy, “we” and “our” mean Aquastar, and “you” means any person who visits our website.
What Information We Collect
We collect a variety of types of information. Examples include:
- Contact information, such as your name, address, phone number, or email address;
- Purchase information, such as the items you purchase, items you have altered or custom made (including measurements), payment method and payment information (such as debit or credit card number and information), billing and shipping address, and contact information (such as for receipts or order updates);
- Preference information, such as your contact and marketing preferences, and brand and merchandise interests;
- Profile and account information, which may include Contact, Purchase, and Preference information as well as your account password, information about wish list items, items in your online shopping cart or saved for future purchase, registry information, product review information, gift card, and other information about your profile or account;
- Demographic information, which may include age or birthdate, gender, ZIP code, and other information about you;
- Video recordings and photographic information of you when post reviews on our website;
- Call recordings including information about your call and that you share when you call us on the phone;
- Location information of your device that you use with our website, if your device settings allow us to collect location information; and
- Device and browsing information, including information about your phone, tablet, computer, or device, and online browsing activity (collectively, “automatically collected information”). Automatically collected information may include IP addresses, unique device identifiers, cookie identifiers, device and browser settings and information, and Internet service provider information. Automatically collected information also may include information about when and how you access and use our website, such as the date and time of your visit or use, the websites you visit before coming and after leaving our website, how you navigate and what you search for using our website, the website pages and items you view using our website, and the items you purchase.
How We Collect Information
We collect information on our website and during calls with you. We also obtain information from you and from third parties. For example, we collect and obtain information:
- You provide, such as when you make a purchase, interact with a salesperson, visit or contact us, register for a Rewards or online account, participate in a contest or sweepstakes, respond to a survey, engage in a promotional activity, register to attend an event or appointment, apply for employment, or sign up for emails or marketing;
- From third parties, such as service providers that we use, analytics companies, advertising networks and cooperatives, demographic companies, third parties that provide us with information about you and the different devices you use online, and other third parties that we choose to collaborate or work with. Our store is not hosted on a third-party site.
- From social media platforms and networks that you use in connection with our website, or that share or allow you to share information with us, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. For example, if you use functionalities, plugins, widgets, or tools from social media platforms or networks in connection with our website (e.g., to log into an account, or to share inspiration, finds, purchases, and other content with your friends and followers on social media), we will collect the information that you share with us, or that those social media platforms or networks share with us. For more information about social media platform and network privacy practices, please review the privacy policies and settings of the social media platforms and networks that you use;
- Using cookies and automatic collection methods. For example, we and third parties we work with may collect information from the computer, tablet, phone, or other device: that you use to access our website; or that you use to open an email or click on an advertisement from us. This collection includes automatically collected information, and generally does not include personal information unless you provide it through our website, or you choose to share it with us. Methods we use include:
—cookies (which may be session-based or persistent, and are typically small data files that are stored on your hard drive or in connection with your Internet browser);
—web beacons or tags (small images embedded into websites or emails that send information about your computer, tablet, phone, or other device when you visit our website or open an email we send to you);
—website log files (which we tend to create automatically in connection with access to and use of our website); and
—other technologies (which may be similar to or different than the methods noted above).
How We Use Information
We use the information that we collect to conduct our business and to provide you with the best possible products, services, and experiences. We also may combine any or all of the information that we collect or obtain. Examples of how we use information include:
- To provide you with products and services, such as to: fulfill your orders and process your payments; process, maintain and service your account(s) and memberships; and to provide you with products and services that we think you will like;
- To respond to you, such as when you: place an order; call us; make a request or inquiry; enter a contest or sweepstakes; complete a survey; or share a comment or concern;
- For personalization of your experiences with us, including to: remember your interests and preferences; customize the products and services we share with you; facilitate your interactions with our stylists and salespeople; track and categorize your activity and interests on our website, including by identifying the different devices you use; and to enrich your experience in our stores and on our website;
- For marketing and advertising, such as to: send you marketing and advertising communications; check creditworthiness; and to customize the marketing and advertising that we show you (we offer choices about marketing and advertising as noted in the Your Choices section below);
- For analytics, such as to: understand how you use our website; understand how you shop with us; determine the methods and devices used to access our website; and improve our website;
- For our business purposes, such as: to operate and improve upon our business and lawful business activities; to maintain our programs, accounts, and records; for research; to determine your satisfaction with our products and services; to detect and prevent fraud or misuse of our services; and for any other business purpose that is permitted by law;
- For legal and safety purposes, such as to: defend or protect us, our customers, you, or third parties, from harm or in legal proceedings; protect our rights; protect our security and the security of our customers, employees, and property; respond to court orders, lawsuits, subpoenas, and government requests; address legal and regulatory compliance; and notify you of product recalls or safety issues.
How We Share Information
In general, we do not share personal information about you with third parties for third party marketing or advertising purposes. We do share personal information with third parties for other purposes. For example, we share personal information with:
- Third parties and service providers that provide products or services to us, that help us market or advertise to you (including co-branded marketing and advertising), or that provide products or services to you. We may use third parties or service providers to perform any of the actions or activities allowed under this Policy;
- Social media platforms and networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram that offer functionalities, plugins, widgets, or tools in connection with our website (e.g., to log into an account, or to share inspiration, finds, purchases, and other content with your friends and followers on social media). If you choose to use these functionalities, plugins, widgets, or tools, certain information may be shared with or collected by those social media companies—for more information about what information is shared or collected, and how it is used, see the applicable social media company’s privacy policy;
- Parties to business transactions such as those we deal with in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, sales of assets, reorganizations, divestitures, dissolutions, bankruptcies, liquidations, or other types of business transactions. In these types of transactions, personal information may be shared, sold, or transferred, and it may be used subsequently by a third party; and
- Additional third parties such as law enforcement, government entities, courts, or other third parties as required or allowed by applicable law, such as for the legal and safety purposes described under the “How We Use Information” Section above, or otherwise to help prevent harm or fraud to us, you, our customers, or other third parties. We also may share personal information with third parties upon your request or with your approval, though we may not be able to accommodate all requests.
Online Advertising and Third Parties We Work With
We work with third party companies for advertising purposes, including to: serve advertisements across the Internet; track and categorize your activity and interests over time on our website, and on third party websites and mobile applications; and to identify the different device(s) you use to access websites and mobile applications. We share information with these companies, and these companies may collect information—including automatically collected information when you use our website or mobile application—through the methods described in the “How We Collect Information” Section above (see “using cookies and automatic collection methods”). These third party companies also may possess or obtain information about you from your interactions: directly with the third party companies; with other websites, mobile applications, or companies that the third party companies work with; or from your interactions with advertisements the third party companies help to display to you. The information that these companies collect or that we share may be used to customize or personalize the advertisements that are displayed to you.
We may share personal information with the third-party companies we work with for our purposes, though in general we do not share personal information about you with third parties for third party marketing or advertising purposes. We may also share other information in our discretion, including automatically collected information, which may be used by third parties for third party marketing, advertising, and other purposes. For information about the choices you have about the online advertising practices described in this section, please see the “Your Choices and Access Requests” Section below.
Your Choices and Access Requests
We strive to offer you with choices about how personal information is used and shared. Your choices include:
- Online Advertising. We do not guarantee that all of the third parties we work with will honor the elections you make using those options, but we strive to work with third parties that do.
- Social Media Platforms and Networks. We encourage you to review your privacy options and settings with the social media platforms and networks you use to understand what choices you have about sharing information from those platforms and networks with us.
- Email Choices. You can opt out of marketing or advertising emails by utilizing the “unsubscribe” link or mechanism noted in marketing or advertising emails you receive from us or Aquastardistributors.com. You may also request to opt out of marketing or advertising emails by contacting us through one of the methods specified in the “Additional Information and Contacting Us” Section below and sharing the email address at which you are receiving marketing or advertising emails. To unsubscribe from marketing or advertising emails you receive, please utilize the “unsubscribe” link or mechanism noted in the marketing or advertising emails you receive from those brands, or visit the privacy policy associated with the brand that you are receiving emails from and use the choices provided therein.
- Direct Mail Choices. You may opt out of receiving marketing or advertising by direct mail by contacting us through one of the methods specified in the “Additional Information and Contacting Us” section below and sharing the name and mailing address that you would like to opt out. Please note that these requests may take up to 8-10 weeks to become effective.
- Telephone Choices (calls and texts). You may opt out of receiving marketing or advertising calls or text messages by contacting us through one of the methods specified in the “Additional Information and Contacting Us” section below and sharing the phone number that you would like to opt out. For text messages, you also may be able to text “STOP” in response to a text message that you receive.
- Access Requests. If you have registered for an online account, we allow you to access and update certain personal information that you have provided to us by logging into your online account and using the features and functionalities available there. You may also make a request for access to personal information by sending an email or writing to us at the address specified in the “Additional Information and Contacting Us” section below. We are not able to grant all access requests, and we may request additional information from you in order to verify your identity before accommodating an access request.
Security and Fraud
We take steps to help protect the confidentiality and security of personal information you share with us through our website. In general, information transmitted through the Internet may not be perfectly secure, and we are unable to guarantee the security of your personal information.
We encourage you to take steps to help protect the confidentiality and security of your account and personal information, including by doing the following:
- Reviewing your Aquastar account periodically and immediately reporting any unexpected activity or unrecognized information;
- Installing the latest security updates and anti-virus software on your computer to help prevent malware and viruses;
- Using complex passwords (a minimum of 7 alpha/numeric cAsE sEnsitive characters);
- Not using the same password on more than one website;
- Not sharing your password with others;
- Password protecting your computer and mobile device; and
- Sign out/log off of website sessions so that your session is closed, especially when using a public computer.
You may come in contact with websites, emails or texts that try to lure you into providing personal information with an offer. Aquastar does not sponsor or endorse these offers. If you become aware of any potentially fraudulent activity on a website or in an email or text, please forward the information to [email protected] or call us at 1.800.352.4323 so that we can follow up.
Notices and Disclosures
- Links to Other Websites and Services. Our website may provide links to other Internet sites, content or videos (embedded or direct links) maintained by third parties. We are not responsible for the sites, content, or videos accessed via the links, and we have not reviewed the privacy practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy practices of those third parties.
- Browsers Do Not Track Signals. While we strive to offer you choices when you use our website, we do not promise that we will be able to receive or honor web browser Do Not Track signals.
- California Privacy Rights. California law entitles residents to ask us for a notice describing what categories of personal information we share with third parties for third parties’ direct marketing purposes. Unless you request us to or consent to us doing so, Aquastar does not sell any personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes. If you have questions about these practices, please contact us at [email protected].
- Children’s Privacy. Aquastar does not knowingly request or collect personal information from any person under 13 years of age without prior verifiable parental consent. If you believe that your child under the age of 13 has submitted personal information to Aquastar in connection with our website, and without prior verifiable parental consent, please contact us at [email protected] so that we can take steps to delete the personal information that she or he provided.
GDPR Privacy Rights
Aquastar is compliant with General Data Protection Regulation standards. European Union law entitles residents to:
- processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to individuals (‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’);
- collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes; further processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes shall not be considered to be incompatible with the initial purposes (‘purpose limitation’);
- adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed (‘data minimization’);
- accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay (‘accuracy’);
- kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed; personal data may be stored for longer periods insofar as the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes subject to implementation of the appropriate technical and organizational measures required by the GDPR in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals (‘storage limitation’);
- processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorized or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organizational measures (‘integrity and confidentiality’).
Unless you request us to or consent to us doing so, Aquastar does not sell any personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes. If you have questions about these practices, please contact us at [email protected].
International Customers
Purchases made through our website that customers choose to ship to locations outside of the United States are fulfilled by Aquastar. Personal information that you provide in connection with website orders that ship outside of the United States is provided to Aquastar.
If you provide personal information through our website separate from a purchase, you agree that the personal information will be transferred to and processed in the United States of America and any other country or jurisdiction at our sole discretion. The laws that apply to the use and protection of personal information in the United States or other countries or jurisdictions in which we transfer, or process personal information may be different than the laws and protections in your country.
Additional Information and Contacting Us
For additional information on privacy practices for the Aquastar family companies and affiliates, please use the following links:
- Aquastar Main Page
- Aquastar Privacy Policy
- Aquastar Terms and Conditions
If you have questions about this Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:
Aquasta
69 Florida St.
Farmingdale, NY 11735
1.800.352.4323
Updates to This Policy
We may make changes to this Policy, and may apply any changes to information previously collected, as permitted by law. When we make material changes to this Policy, we will notify you by posting the updated Policy on our website and placing a banner on the homepage, and we will update the effective date at the end of this Policy. Data collected under the prior policy will be treated differently under the new policy once changes are effective. If you do not agree to changes to the privacy policy, you must opt out upon notification. By opting out, you agree to stop using the website and the data collected will be treated under the previous privacy policy. Failure to opt out means that the user agrees to the changes of the privacy policy.
Effective Date
This Policy is effective February 10, 2020.