APPLICATION OF THIS POLICY
Global Natural Stones LLC (GNS) recognizes the importance of
privacy and the sensitivity of Personal Information (as defined
below). GNS believes in protecting your privacy. This policy outlines
how we manage your Personal Information and safeguard your privacy.
By providing Personal information to us, you agree to the terms of
this policy. However, we are committed to continuous improvement and
value your input. We welcome your comments and/or suggestions on
improving this policy. If you have any concerns, please write to our
Privacy Officer at the address in this policy under the caption "Need
More Information?".
This policy does not apply to the practices of companies or other
entities that GNS does not manage or control. This policy does not
apply to information regarding corporations or other non-individuals.
DEFINITIONS
The following definitions are used solely for the purposes of
this policy:
"Contact Information" means information to enable an individual at a
place of business to be contacted and includes the name, position
name or title, business telephone number, business address, business
email or business fax number of the individual, but does not mean
information that is collected via a GNS Website or Online service
about an individual consumer who is a resident of California.
"Personal Information" means information about an identifiable
individual, excluding Contact Information, and includes things such
as gender, age, ethnicity, financial and credit information, health
information, consumer preference information, customer profiles, ID
numbers, and any other data assigned to an individual.
"Summarized Data" means records which have been stripped of
information identifying individuals, and which have been manipulated
or combined to provide generalized, anonymous information.
COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
This policy covers our treatment of Personal Information that we
collect, either through communications or interaction we may have
with you (such as e-mails, telephone conversations, face-to-face or
written correspondence) or through our website. This policy also
covers our treatment of any information shared with us by third
parties. Sometimes we may collect Personal Information about you from
other sources, provided that such sources confirm to us that they are
permitted to share such information, such information is publicly
available or the collection is required or authorized by law.
Examples of collection from other sources include collections from:
• a government agency or registry;
• a business, trade, or professional organization;
• your accountant;
• an employment agency or your current or previous employer.
USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
GNS may collect and use your Personal Information for the
following purposes:
• to administer and build your GNS account;
• to market new services and products that we believe will be of
interest to you;
• to collect a debt owed to GNS or its agents; or to pay a debt owed
by GNS;
• to help us make credit decisions about clients, prevent fraud,
check the identity of new clients and prevent money laundering;
• to help us make a decision with respect to employment or an
appointment with GNS; and
• as required or authorized by law.
DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
GNS does not and will not sell, rent, share or disclose
your Personal Information without first receiving your permission or
as disclosed in this policy. Under certain circumstances, GNS will
disclose your Personal Information:
• when you have consented to the disclosure;
• to fulfill the purpose for which the Personal Information was
collected;
• when the services we are providing to you require us to give
information to third parties, for example: providing
government-assigned identification numbers to customs brokers or
other third parties responsible for processing customs clearance for
shipments;
• if we engage a third party to provide services to us (such as
payroll processing, computer back-up services, archival file storage,
customer relationship management, advertising distribution) and the
third party is bound by confidentiality obligations;
• to relay an opt-out request to third-party marketing agency (see
"Opting Out " below);
• where it is necessary to collect a debt owed to GNS or its agents,
or to pay a debt owed by GNS;
• to respond to an emergency where the health or safety of any
individual is reasonably believed to be threatened;
• if the information is already publicly known; and
• when we are required or authorized by law to do so.
Except when we are required by law to disclose Personal Information,
where commercially practicable we will use contractual or other
arrangements to protect Personal Information disclosed to third
parties.
SUMMARIZED DATA
We may also use your Personal Information to generate
Summarized Data for internal use and for sharing with affiliates,
subsidiaries, advertisers and business partners. Your identity and
Personal Information will be kept anonymous in Summarized Data.
Summarized Data will be used for marketing and planning purposes.
CONSENT
By providing Personal Information to us, you voluntarily consent
to the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information as
specified in this policy. Without limiting the foregoing, we may on
occasion ask you to consent when we collect, use, or disclose your
Personal Information in specific circumstances, in which case we may
ask for your consent in writing although in some circumstances we may
accept your oral consent. Sometimes your consent will be implied
through your conduct with us if the purpose of the collection, use or
disclosure is obvious and you voluntarily provide the information. In
addition, we may collect, use and disclose Personal Information
without your consent when we are required or authorized by law to do
so.
WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT
Individuals have the right to withdraw their consent to
the collection, use, or disclosure of Personal Information at any
time, except where that withdrawal would frustrate the performance of
a legal obligation by GNS. Upon reasonable written notice given to
GNS (address to Privacy Officer at the address in this policy under
the caption "Need More Information?") all Personal Information held
by GNS that is identifiable to that individual will be removed from
our records and a notice of the impact of that removal will be
provided to the individual. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you
withdraw consent, GNS nonetheless reserves the right to retain,
collect, use and disclose Personal Information without your consent
where we are permitted by law to do so.
OPTING OUT
You may wish to opt out of receiving certain information or
marketing and promotional material distributed by GNS. You may do so
by selecting the opt-out or unsubscribe feature in our Online
communications including our online newsletter and product updates,
or by writing to GNS's Privacy Officer at the address in this policy
under the caption "Need More Information?".
From time to time, GNS may engage a third-party marketing agency to
distribute advertisements to consumers who have expressed an interest
in receiving such material. For this purpose, the marketing agency
may use its own distribution list. This list is not under GNS's
control nor is it shared with GNS. While GNS takes steps to ensure
that the marketing agency lists only individuals who have provided
their informed consent for the marketing purpose, it is possible that
the individual may desire to opt-out from receiving further GNS
advertisements. In this case, the individual may send his/her opt-out
request in writing to GNS's Privacy Officer (at the address noted
above), providing enough detail to enable the requester's identity to
be confirmed. Upon confirming the identity of the requester, GNS will
relay the opt-out request to the marketing agency in question. In
such a case, however, the requester should be aware that his/her
opt-out request could cause the marketing agency to cease all further
advertising distributions to him/her. This could result in the
requester not receiving material or information that might be of
financial or other benefit from other organizations that also employ
the same agency. In relaying an opt-out request to a third-party
marketing agency, GNS therefore accepts no responsibility for any
consequences to the requester arising from the actions of the agency.
ACCESS TO AND CORRECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Individuals have the right to know what Personal Information GNS has collected about them, how that information is being used and
to whom it has been disclosed, as well as to verify and amend that
information if it is incorrect. An individual may make an
access/correction request by writing to GNS's Privacy Officer at the
address in this policy under the caption "Need More Information?"
Upon receiving the written request and a handling fee of US$10.00,
and where the identity of the requester can be confirmed, information
held by GNS that is identifiable to the requester, as well as
information on all use and disclosures of that information, will
normally be released to the requester within 30 days, except where
that release is not required or is prohibited by law. If necessary,
GNS will correct the Personal Information if requested to do so.
Where an access/correction request requires more extensive treatment,
we will advise the requester of the approximate cost of responding to
the request. The requester should provide enough detail to enable GNS
to confirm his/her identity.
CAN I BE DENIED ACCESS TO MY PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Your rights to access your Personal Information are not absolute.
We may deny access:
• when denial of access is required or authorized by law;
• when granting you access would have an unreasonable impact on other
people's privacy;
• to protect our firm's rights and property; or
• where the request is frivolous or vexatious.
If we deny your request for access to, or refuse a request to correct
Personal Information, we will explain why.
WEBSITE
You can visit the GNS website without registering for membership
or subscribing to any corporate communications.
We cannot guarantee the confidentiality or security of any e-mail
communications or information sent by you to us via the website. If
you wish to send us confidential information, please notify us first
to make arrangements.
Our website contains links to other sites, which are not governed by
this policy. You should read the individual privacy policies of such
websites, and make an informed decision whether or not to use these
sites based upon their privacy practices.
Like most other commercial websites, our website may monitor traffic
patterns, site usage and related site information. We may
automatically (i.e., not via registration) collect or compile certain
information when you access the website. Examples of this type of
information include the aggregate and unique number of visitors to
the website, the dates and times of visits to the website, IP
addresses and the domains/countries of visitors, the pages of the
website visited and the content accessed, the type and version of the
browser and operating system used to access the site, search engine
and search terms used within the website or to visit the website,
referring sites, and HTTP errors generated. We use this information
in order to assess the usage of our website and our marketing
efforts, to optimize our website, and to monitor our site's
performance. We may provide such information to our website
contractors for these purposes.
COOKIES
We are committed to providing personalized products and services to
you. In order to do so, GNS uses cookies to store information about
your web site visit. A cookie is a small amount of text that is sent
to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard
drive. We ask permission to place the cookie on your computer's hard
drive. If you agree by configuring your browser to accept cookies,
then your browser adds the text in a small file.
IS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION SECURE?
GNS takes all reasonable steps to ensure that your Personal
Information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access, modification
or disclosure. Among the steps we take in order to protect your
information are:
• premises security;
• restricted file access to personal information;
• deploying technological safeguards like security software and
firewalls to protect against hacking or unauthorized computer access;
and
• internal password and security policies.
RETENTION OF CONTACT INFORMATION AND PERSONAL INFORMATION
• Personal Information will be retained in accordance with this
policy only for as long as may be necessary or relevant for the
identified purpose of collection, or as may be required or permitted
by law, after which time it will be made anonymous or destroyed
unless you further consent to its continued retention.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
Since GNS regularly reviews all of its policies and procedures,
we may change this policy from time to time. GNS's privacy policy was
revised to reflect relevant privacy laws and regulations. GNS website
users or visitors may consult this privacy policy web page to view
any changes to this policy.
MISCELLANEOUS
This policy will be governed by the laws of the State of Ohio and
the laws of United States Of America applicable therein, excluding
any conflict of laws rules that would apply another body of law. This
policy constitutes and contains the entire agreement between you and
GNS with respect to its subject matter and supersedes any prior oral
or written agreements.
If any provision of this policy is held to be illegal or
unenforceable, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the
minimum extent necessary so that this policy will otherwise remain in
full force and effect and enforceable.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRIVACY
Ultimately, you are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of
your passwords and/or any Personal Information in your possession.
Always be careful and responsible regarding your Personal
Information.
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
Should you have any further questions or concerns about
the privacy of personal information at GNS, please snail mail to:
8868 Wildfire Court, Dayton, OH 45458 |
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