Introduction

Winters Industries respects your privacy. We will never rent or sell your personal information to any third party for marketing purposes.

But we do need to use some of your information for other purposes, and we created this Privacy Policy to make sure you’re aware of what information we use and to help you understand how and why we use this information. We also want to be clear that by using this website you are consenting to our collection, storage and use of your information as set out in this Privacy Policy.

We may need to update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect our changing business practices. We will publish any modified or updated versions on our website. This version was published on May 29th, 2015 and last amended on October 4th 2017.

The kinds of personal information we collect

To provide you with the Winter Industries service we need certain personal information. We need you to provide a username and email address for us to give you access to some parts of our website. You may also choose to provide additional personal information, including as part of your public profile or journal, such as your full name, age and date of birth, location or biography. Depending on the services you use, we may also need you to provide other personal information, such as your contact details, billing and payment information, tax status, and physical shipping address. We also collect the content and details of messages you send or receive via our BubbleMail service.

As a practice, we do not ask you to provide us with certain sensitive personal information — that is, information about your race, ethnicity, politics, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual preferences, health, or similar information. If you share or post this information, for example by mentioning it on your public profile or journal, or including it in the artistic works you upload, we will collect it in the sense that this information will be saved on our servers and may become stored in our databases. We will treat this sensitive information carefully, in the same way we treat all personal information we collect.

We primarily collect information through our website, including through sign-up forms, surveys and transaction databases. We occasionally collect information in person during research sessions. We also collect information when you contact us, including through email or our Facebook page, and through search advertisements.

When you choose to connect your social media account to your profile, we collect personal information from that social media website. For example, when you connect your Facebook account, we may collect the personal information you have made publicly available in Facebook, such as your name, profile picture, cover photo, username, gender, friend networks, age range, locale, friend list, and any other information you have made public. We may also obtain other non-public information from the social network website with your permission.

Cookies

To better understand how our visitors use our service and to help us provide a better experience, we may collect and store information either directly in log files and cookies, or via third party vendors, including Google, Facebook and Crazy Egg, that use web tracking technologies, including cookies and web beacons. This information may include pages that you have visited, your IP address, browser type and your operating system. You can choose to disable cookies, but please remember this may mean that parts of the website may not function correctly.

We use third party vendors to display relevant ads for Winter Industries or provide Winter Industries product recommendations at locations away from our website on the Internet. Some of these vendors, including Google and Facebook, use cookies to display ads or provide Winter Industries product recommendations based on your previous visits to the Winter Industries site. You can opt out of the use of your information for online behavioral advertising by NAI member companies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page. You may also click here to opt out of having your data used for online behavioral advertising by Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) member companies.

The third party vendors we work with may collect information about your online activities over time and on other websites or applications.

How we use your personal information

We generally collect and use your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected, like your username and email address to provide access to certain functions on our website, your banking and payment information to process orders and payments, and information about your use of Winter Industries to improve our website and for internal business purposes.

We may use some of your personal information for market research and marketing activities. We may send you promotional messages and useful information about Winter Industries, and these messages may be personalized based on your use of Winter Industries and other personal information you have provided to us. For example, we may let you know about interesting new designs based on your purchase history.

You can always opt out from receiving these types of messages in your account settings or via the unsubscribe link in marketing emails. You may still receive administrative messages from us.

How we disclose your personal information

We may share your personal information with third party service providers, including manufacturers and printers, shipping and logistics companies, banks and payment processing companies, email and web service providers, data storage providers and market research firms.

We disclose personal information to service providers located in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. As we ship into over 100 countries, we may disclose personal information to our shipping partners and service providers in other countries as well.

We may share information with governmental agencies or other companies assisting us to prevent or investigate illegal activity. If we believe in good faith that it is necessary to do so, we may also share information to respond to legal process (e.g., a court order or subpoena) to protect our property and legal rights and those of our users or if otherwise required by law. We may also disclose or otherwise transfer personal information to an acquirer, successor, or assignee of all or part of our business, including as a part of any merger, acquisition, sale, or bankruptcy.

How we keep your information secure

While we take reasonable steps to keep your information secure, no security system is impenetrable and, due to the inherent nature of the Internet, we cannot guarantee that information, during transmission through the Internet or while stored on our systems or otherwise, will be absolutely safe from unauthorized access by others. Your payments are handled over an encrypted connection or via a secure third party processor. Access to personal information on our databases is restricted to authorized staff. As appropriate, we require our service providers with access to personal information to sign agreements that require them to take steps to protect the information.

If you require help with using the Winter Industries service, our support team may ask you to confirm some of your private information, such as your name, delivery address, or other relevant identifying information. Winter Industries will never email you directly and ask for these details unless you have requested help or support.

International Transfers

Our services are hosted in the United States. If you choose to use the services from the European Union or other regions of the world with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, then please note that you are transferring your information outside of those regions to the United States for storage and processing. By providing your information, you consent to any transfer and processing in accordance with the policy.

Children’s privacy

Our website and services are not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will take steps to delete such information. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

Third-party services

The site may contain features or links to websites and services provided by third parties, such as social media networks. Any information you provide on third-party sites or services is provided directly to the operators of such services and is subject to those operators’ policies, if any, governing privacy and security, even if accessed through our site. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of third-party sites or services to which links or access are provided through the site. We encourage you to learn about the third parties’ privacy and security policies before providing them with information.

How you can access or correct your personal information or make a complaint

If you have any complaints, comments or questions about the way we collect and use your personal information, or if you would like to access or correct your personal information, please just tell us. You can also access and update some of your personal information by accessing your profile settings.