LAST UPDATED: September, 2020
BIC USA Inc. (BIC) is committed to protecting your online privacy when visiting our websites or applications. The purpose of this policy is to inform you about the types of information we gather about you when you visit our websites or applications, how we use that information, whether we disclose it to anyone, and the choices you have regarding our use of the information.
For California residents, see below regarding your rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018.
BIC requires personal information from visitors to fulfill requests for BIC products. When you create an account or make a purchase on our website, we may ask you for personal information such as name, email, birth month and year, billing and shipping address, phone number, credit card information and password (for account holders). When you purchase a product on our website, we use your information and, if applicable, artwork you submit to process your order. In addition, we may contact you via e-mail, phone, or regular mail, if we have questions or comments regarding your order. When you set up an account, we use your information to create and manage your account. We do not store your credit card information and we use it only to process your order.
If you contact us via our Contact Us link on any of our websites, you may be asked to provide personal information including your first name and e-mail address so that BIC or an agency working on BIC’s behalf, may contact you to respond to your comments, questions or requests for information by you. Aside from a reply to an e-mail received by us, it is not our intent to contact you unless you request particular information. Although we will retain your contact information in our database, we will use it only to respond to your requests.
If you participate in BIC-sponsored on-line surveys, product reviews or promotions, including but not limited to: on-line coupons, rebates, sweepstakes, contests or re-occurring email communications from us, we may collect your name, username, address, zip code, phone number, age, date of birth, e-mail address, product preferences, hobbies and interests.
We use the information we collect for BIC business purposes such as creating a better user experience on our websites or applications; processing your order; entering you in our promotions and contacting you to respond to inquiries and/or if you are eligible to receive a prize pursuant to the promotion terms, rules or entry guidelines; and for internal research purposes. When you submit a product review, you become subject to the Terms of Use, Legal Notice and Privacy Policy, and your name and the review you submit may be posted on our website and on other third party websites.
If you visit any of our websites, use any of our applications, or participate in any BIC sponsored activities or on-line promotions, you may be asked whether you wish to receive future information from BIC and you may opt-in to receive this information by entering your email address and/or checking the appropriate opt-in box. If you choose to opt-in, your personal information will be kept in a secure database and will be used to send you future information relating to BIC. Also, in order to access coupons and deals, you may need to sign up to receive email communication from BIC. You will have the option to opt-out of receiving future e-mails from BIC by using the unsubscribe feature in each e-mail.
Some BIC websites may allow you to send, from the website, an e-mail inviting a friend to visit the Website (hereinafter "Electronic Messages"). Any names and/or e-mail addresses collected for Electronic Messages (data collected to deliver the Electronic Message to the recipient's e-mail addresses) are stored temporarily in a transaction log file for security purposes, and are deleted after a holding period. After that, all personally identifiable information relating to the transaction is deleted from our system.
We may use Google Analytics or other third party analytic tools to analyze user behavior which allows us to measure consumer interest in the various areas of our websites or applications for product and website/application development purposes. These third party analytic tools tell us aggregate and collected information such as, how the site/application was accessed and how long visitors stayed. This information is used for our own internal purposes to improve the content of the website/application, to enhance users’ experience when visiting, and to customize the content and/or layout. All information of user behavior described herein will be recorded on a group basis, and such analysis may be shared with our development consultants. This information is aggregated and not personally identifiable. To learn more about Google Analytics and how it uses your data, please visit http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html.
We limit access to the personal information collected on our websites and applications to only those employees and representatives of BIC or an agency working on BIC’s behalf who need to use it in the course of their assigned responsibilities and to companies that perform services for us (for example, our third party online payment gateway and review platform). These companies are obligated to keep the information confidential and use it to provide only the services we have asked them to provide. Third party providers maintain the information they need to perform their designated functions and we do not authorize such parties to use or disclose personal information for their own marketing purposes. Please note that your personal information may be maintained and processed by service providers located in foreign jurisdictions, whose data protection laws may differ from the jurisdiction in which you live. Except as specified herein, we do not share personal information about you with any third party without your permission and we do not allow third parties to collect personally identifiable information from users on our websites or applications.
The BIC websites and applications may contain links to other websites and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. BIC has no control over and assumes no responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of these websites and social media platforms. You should review the privacy policies of each website and application you visit. We may offer links to other sites; for example, coupons for BIC may be made available through a link to an agent that specializes in the distribution of on-line coupons. We are not responsible for the content or information collection policies of other sites or applications. If you visit another site or application, you should review their privacy and other policies.
Like many other commercial sites, our websites may utilize a standard technology called a "cookie" to collect information about how our websites are used. Cookies were designed to help a website recognize a user's browser as a previous visitor and thus save and remember any preferences that may have been set while the user was previously browsing the site. Our cookie cannot retrieve any other data from your hard drive or pass on a computer virus. Our websites may use cookies to enhance your visit. Cookies can securely store a user's password, personalize home pages, identify which parts of a site have been visited or keep track of your preferences. Our cookies may collect a domain name and track a path through our web pages.
We only use cookies to gather the information indicated in this policy and do not use cookies to gather personal identifying information about you without your consent. Most browsers include an option to clear existing cookies or reject new ones. If you elect to do this, portions of this website may not function as intended.
We may collect information about the services that you use and how you use them, like when you visit different parts of our site or applications and what selections you make on the services. We may also automatically collect certain technical information such as:
We may collect device-specific information (such as your hardware model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, and mobile information if you use a mobile device to access the site).
When you use our services or view content provided by us, we may automatically collect and store certain information in server logs. This information may include:
Some browsers have a “do not track” feature that lets you tell websites that you do not want to have your online activities tracked. These features are not yet uniform, and our website is not currently set up to respond to those signals for tracking on our website.
We may also use cookies, pixels, beacons, or other web tracking technologies to track the amount of time spent on our websites or social media platforms and whether or not certain content, such as a video, was viewed. We may work with a trusted third party to collect and process this information for us, based on our instructions and in compliance with our Privacy Policy.
We may also participate in interest-based advertising using similar technology. This means that you may see advertising on our website tailored to how you browse or shop, or you may see advertising for BIC on other websites based on your browsing behavior across websites. Some websites where we may advertise belong to ad networks that use your web browsing history to choose which ads to display on their network websites; these ads include advertising for BIC, but no personal information about you is shared with those third party ad networks. Other websites where you see our ads, such as Facebook, may use interest preferences that you have chosen on those sites, as well as registration and other information about you, to choose which ads to display to you. Some internet browsers, websites such as Facebook and mobile devices offer opt-outs for interest-based advertising. Please refer to the website that you are visiting, your browser and/or your device settings for additional information.
You can opt-out of receiving interest-based ads from third parties who are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) or who follow the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising by visiting the opt-out pages on the NAI website and DAA website. (http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/) and (http://www.aboutads.info/choices/).
You may have the opportunity to utilize third party applications, plugins and buttons on our websites, social media pages or on social media platforms. Consequently, your personal information may be shared with that third party social media platform and they may share data with us. We (or an agency working on BIC’s behalf) may use your information only as necessary to operate our application and will only have access to your information during your use of the application unless you contact us with questions regarding the application. In the event that you choose to provide your information to a third party social media platforms, your information will be governed by the policies of those third party social media platforms. We don’t exercise control over third party social media platforms. Those social media platforms may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, solicit personal information from you and follow different rules regarding the use of the information you submit to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of the other social media platforms you visit.
We may offer skills, actions and services through Amazon Alexa, Google Home and other voice operated platforms (“Voice Operated Applications”). You agree to use the Voice Operated Applications in compliance with our terms, all applicable laws, and any applicable voice operated platform policies, such as the Alexa Terms of Use available through the Amazon Skills Store and the Google Terms of Service available through the Google Home Application. You may have the ability to record your notes and content on the Voice Operated Applications. You are solely responsible for the notes and content you provide, and you agree that any notes and content will abide by the submission guideline restrictions set out in our Legal Notice. We will only use your notes and content for purposes of providing the Voice Operated Applications to you. The voice operated platforms may place their own cookies or other files on your device, solicit personal information from you and follow different rules regarding the use of the information you submit to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of the other voice operated applications you use.
BIC websites and applications are primarily designed and intended for adults. In accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we do not knowingly collect or store any personal information about children under age 13, and the BIC websites and applications are not designed to collect personal information from children under age 13.
BIC and its service providers may provide your personal information in response to a search warrant or other legally valid inquiry or order, or to an investigative body in the case of a breach of an agreement or contravention of law, or as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law. We may also disclose personal information where necessary for the establishment, exercise or a defense of legal claims, or as otherwise permitted by law.
Questions regarding this Privacy Policy, the accuracy of your personal information, the use of the information or any other questions regarding the BIC websites or applications may be directed to:
BIC USA Inc. Website Privacy Policy
One BIC Way, Suite 1
Shelton, CT 06484-6299
U.S.A.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) provides California residents with specific rights regarding their personal information. This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.
You have the right to request that BIC disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will disclose to you:
BIC does not sell your personal information.
For information on how we use your personal information, see section 2. Use of Personal Information Which We Collect, above.
You have the right to request that we delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your personal information from our records, unless an exception applies.
To exercise the access and deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us by either:
Only you or a person registered with the California Secretary of State that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your personal information. You may also make a verifiable consumer request on behalf of your minor child.
You may only make a verifiable consumer request for access or deletion twice within a 12-month period. The verifiable consumer request must:
We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you. In order to verify your identity, we may request that you provide us with your name, address, email address and/or order number. Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us. We will only use personal information provided in a verifiable consumer request to verify the requestor's identity or authority to make the request.
We endeavor to respond to a verifiable consumer request within 45 days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding the verifiable consumer request's receipt. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable.
We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:
However, we may offer you certain financial incentives permitted by the CCPA that can result in different prices, rates, or quality levels. Any CCPA-permitted financial incentive we offer will reasonably relate to your personal information’s value and contain written terms that describe the program’s material aspects. Participation in a financial incentive program requires your prior opt-in consent, which you may revoke at any time.
If you have any questions or comments about this notice, our Privacy Statement, the ways in which we collect and use your personal information, your choices and rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your rights under California law, please do not hesitate to contact us at: PIIRequest@bicworld.com.
This Privacy Policy is subject to change at our discretion. All changes will be posted as soon as they go into effect. Your continued access to and/or use of the websites or applications after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of, and agreement to, this Privacy Policy, as revised.
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