Privacy Policy
Pay Attention. This is important.
Cotton Bureau respects your privacy and wants to give you a powerful online experience that you can trust. This Privacy Policy explains our information practices and how we process your information to provide our services. It refers to the Cotton Bureau Website (the "Website") and governs all of our data collection and usage policies. If you use or visit the Cotton Bureau Website, you are signifying to Cotton Bureau, Inc. ("Cotton Bureau") that you agree to the data practices described in this Privacy Policy.
Collection of your Personal Information
When you create an account as a seller or customer, we must collect some of your personal information to provide, support, improve, and market our services. Some of the ways that we may collect personal information include information that you provide us directly; information about you that we automatically collect from log data, IP addresses, and aggregated user data; cookies; information that you give us about your friends; and your chat histories.
Types of Information We Collect
We collect personal information regarding our users (collectively "Individuals").
Account Information You Provide. When you create an account on our Website, we collect your e-mail address. You also have the option to provide information in your profile, such as your name, home or work address and telephone number. When you place an order on the Website, we collect your name, shipping address and billing address and phone number. Your payment information is processed by our order processing partner and not by us.
If you sell designs on the Website, we need to collect some additional information for payment and tax purposes. This includes the country of your citizenship, your residence in the U.S, your PayPal account address or your bank account information where you will receive payments, your taxpayer address, your taxpayer ID, your entity type (e.g., sole proprietor, corporation, partnership) and your entity name. We do not store sellers' bank account information. Sellers may also choose to include their name, image, location, bio and Twitter and Instagram account handles on their seller page, Please note that the Website is publicly accessible, and any information you add to your bio or your seller profile will be visible to anyone who visits the Website.
Communications with Us. We may collect your email address, phone number or mailing address when you choose to request information about our services, register for our newsletter, request to receive customer or technical support, or otherwise communicate with us.
Registration for Sweepstakes or Contests. We may run sweepstakes and contests. We ask those who enter in the sweepstakes or contests to provide contact information (e.g., an e-mail address). If you participate in a sweepstakes or contest, your contact information may be used to reach you about the sweepstakes or contest, and for other promotional, marketing and business purposes. All sweepstakes/contests entry forms will provide a way for participants to opt out of any communications that are not related to awarding prizes.
Demographic Data. Cotton Bureau also collects anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites.
Automatically Collected Information: For maintenance, quality of service purposes, and for general statistics, our Website collects information about computer hardware and software automatically. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring Web site addresses. Please also see our section on Cookies for additional information on information we automatically collect using web technologies.
Postings on the Website. Cotton Bureau may offer publicly accessible pages or forums where you can post comments or other content. You should be aware that, when you disclose information about yourself through these features, it will be publicly available and will not be subject to the privacy protections in this privacy policy.
Information from Other Sources. We may receive information about you from other sources, including through third-party services and organizations to supplement information you provide. For example, if you access our Services through a third-party application, such as a social networking site ("SNS"), we may collect information about you from that third-party application that you have made public via your privacy settings. Information we collect through SNS accounts may include your name, your SNS user identification number, your SNS user name, location, sex, birth date, email, profile picture, and your contacts on the SNS. This supplemental information allows us to verify information that you have provided to us and to enhance our ability to provide you with information about our business, products, and Services.
Use and Disclosure of your Personal Information
Cotton Bureau collects and uses your personal information for the purposes described in this policy.
To Provide Services. We use your personal information to operate our Website and to give you the services and support that you request from us. We may also use your personal information to inform you of other products or services available from Cotton Bureau and its affiliates.
For Administrative Purposes. We may use your personal information for various administrative purposes, including developing new products and services, verifying your identity, communicating about individual accounts, processing payments, and enforcing our Terms of Service.
For Research. We may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered. We may engage third-party service providers to conduct such surveys on our behalf. The information collected will be used for research and reporting purposes to help us better serve purchasers and sellers by learning more about their needs and the quality of the products and services we provide.
For Marketing. We may use your information to provide you with materials that may be of interest to you, as permitted by applicable law. We also keep track of the pages our customers visit on the Website, in order to determine what Cotton Bureau services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within Cotton Bureau to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area. Cotton Bureau may also share purchasers' information with sellers from whom they purchase shirts. Cotton Bureau does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to other third parties.
For Emails and Newsletters. When you provide us your email address, we may send you periodic emails or newsletters about our or our business partners' products and services or upcoming special offers/events we believe may be of interest. You can opt-out of receiving these communications at no cost by following the instructions in the "Opt-Out" section below.
Anonymous and Aggregated Information. We may use personal information and other information about you to create anonymized and aggregated information, such as de-identified demographic information, de-identified location information, information about the computer or device from which you access our services, or other analyses we create. We may use this to measure visitors' interest in and use of various portions or features of the services. Anonymized or aggregated information is not personal information, and we may use this information for research, internal analysis, analytics, and any other legally permissible purposes. We may share this information within Cotton Bureau and with third parties for our or their purposes in an anonymized or aggregated form that is designed to prevent anyone from identifying you.
Other Uses. We may also use personal information for which we have a legitimate interest, such as direct marketing, individual or market research, anti-fraud protection, or any other purpose disclosed to you at the time you provide personal information or with your consent.
Use of Cookies and Other Web Technologies
Like many website owners and operators, we use automated data collection tools such as Cookies and Web Beacons to collect certain information.
"Cookies" are small text files that are placed in your browser by a web server when you access the Website. We may use Cookies to identify that youâve logged in to the Services and to tell us how and when you interact with our Services. We may also use Cookies to monitor aggregate usage and web traffic routing on our Services and to customize and improve our Services. For example, if you personalize Cotton Bureau pages, or register with our Website or services, a cookie helps Cotton Bureau to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses. Although most browsers automatically accept Cookies, you can change your browser options to stop automatically accepting Cookies or to prompt you before accepting Cookies. Please note, however, that if you donât accept Cookies, you may not be able to access all portions or features of the Services.
"Web Beacons" (also known as web bugs, pixel tags or clear GIFs) are tiny graphics with a unique identifier that may be included on our Services for several purposes, including to deliver or communicate with Cookies, to track and measure the performance of our Services, to monitor how many visitors view our Services, and to monitor the effectiveness of our advertising. Unlike Cookies, which are stored on the device, Web Beacons are typically embedded invisibly on web pages (or in an e-mail).
We may also use Cookies and Web Beacons provided by trusted third parties to help us track and measure usage of the Website so that we may continue to improve it and so that we may advertise Cotton Bureau products to you when you visit other sites. The third party Cookies and Web Beacons on our Website include:
- Google. Google Analytics, a service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Please visit https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/ for more information. You can opt out of Googleâs collection and processing of data generated by your use of the Services by going to https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
- Facebook. We may use certain tools offered by Facebook, Inc. ("Facebook") that enable it to collect or receive information about actions users take on our Site and elsewhere on the internet through use of Cookies, Web Beacons and other storage technologies in order to provide measurement services, targeted ads and other services. Please see the Facebook Data Policy, available at: https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.
Because there is not yet agreement on a standard for browser-based or other Do Not Track technologies, we do not respond to browser Do Not Track signals.
Third-Party Websites and Social Media
The Website may contain links to other websites and other websites may reference or link to our Site or other Services. These other domains and websites are not controlled by us, and we do not endorse or make any representations about these websites or social media platforms. We encourage our users to read the privacy policies of each and every website and application with which they interact. We do not endorse, screen or approve, and are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such other websites or applications. Visiting these other websites or applications is at your own risk.
Third-Party Payment Processing
When you make purchases through our service, we process your payments through a third-party application, the third-party application may collect certain financial information from you to process a payment for Cotton Bureau, including your name, email address, address and other billing information.
Data Transfers
We may share your information as described in this Privacy Policy; to comply with legal obligations; to protect and defend our rights and property) or with your permission.
Vendors and Service Providers. We may share any information we receive with vendors and service providers. The types of service providers (processors) to whom we entrust personal information include service providers for: (i) provision of IT and related services; (ii) provision of information and services you have requested; (iii) payment processing; (iv) customer service activities; and (v) in connection with the provision of the Site. We have executed appropriate contracts with the service providers that prohibit them from using or sharing Personal Information except as necessary to perform the contracted services on our behalf or to comply with applicable legal requirements.
Business Partners. Cotton Bureau may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases, we donât share your unique personal information with our partner. In addition, Cotton Bureau may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail on our behalf, provide customer support, arrange for deliveries, or send and receive payments. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to Cotton Bureau, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.
Displaying to Other Users. The content you post to the Website may be displayed on the Website, and other users may be able to see some information about you. We are not responsible for privacy practices of the other users who will view and use the posted information.
Interest-Based Advertising and Third-Party Marketing. We may allow third-party advertising partners to set tracking tools (e.g., cookies) to collect information regarding your activities (e.g., your IP address, page(s) visited, time of day). We may also share such de-identified information as well as selected personal information (such as demographic information and past purchase history) we have collected with Third-Party advertising partners. These advertising partners may use this information (and similar information collected from other websites) for purposes of delivering targeted advertisements to you when you visit non-Cotton Bureau related websites within their networks. This practice is commonly referred to as "interest-based advertising" or "online behavioral advertising. We may allow access to other data collected by the Site to facilitate transmittal of information that may be useful, relevant, valuable or otherwise of interest to you. If you prefer that we do not share your Personal Information with third-party advertising partners, you may opt out of such sharing at no cost by following the instructions discussed below in "Opting Out."
Disclosures to Protect Us or Others. We may access, preserve, and disclose your personal information, other account information, and content if we believe doing so is required or appropriate to: (i) comply with law enforcement or national security requests and legal process, such as a court order or subpoena; (ii) respond to your requests; (iii) protect yours', ours' or others' rights, property, or safety; (iv) to enforce [Company] policies or contracts; (v) to collect amounts owed to [Company]; (vi) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss or in connection with an investigation or prosecution of suspected or actual illegal activity; or (vii) if we, in good faith, believe that disclosure is otherwise necessary or advisable.
Merger, Sale or Other Asset Transfers. We may transfer all or some of the collected information discussed in this policy in connection with a corporate merger, acquisition, sale of assets, bankruptcy or other change in corporate status. If this happens, we will take steps to direct the transferee to use personal information in a way that is consistent with the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such personal information was collected.
Opting-out
Generally. You have the right to object to and opt out of certain uses and disclosures of your personal information. Where you have consented our processing your personal information, you may withdraw that consent at any time and opt out of further processing by contacting help@cottonbureau.com. Even if you opt out, we may still collect and use non-personal information regarding your activities on our Website and/or information from the advertisements on third-party websites for non-interest based advertising purposes, such as to determine the effectiveness of the advertisements.
Email Communications. If you receive an unwanted email from us, you can use the unsubscribe link found at the bottom of the email to opt out of receiving future emails. We will process your request within a reasonable time after receipt. Note that you will continue to receive transaction-related emails regarding products or services you have requested. We may also send you certain non-promotional communications about Cotton Bureau and our services and you will not be able to opt out of those communications (e.g., communications regarding updates to our Terms or this Privacy Policy).
Do Not Track ("DNT"). DNT is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. DNT is a way for users to inform websites and services that they do not want certain information about their webpage visits collected over time and across websites or online services. Please note that we do not respond to or honor DNT signals or similar mechanisms transmitted by web browsers.
Cookies and Internet-Based Advertising. As noted above, you may stop or restrict the placement of cookies on your computer or remove them from your browser by adjusting your web browser preferences. The online advertising industry also provides websites from which you may opt out of receiving targeted ads from our data partners and our other advertising partners that participate in self-regulatory programs. You can access these, and also learn more about targeted advertising and consumer choice and privacy, at www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp, or http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/ and www.aboutads.info/choices/.
To be clear, whether you are using our opt-out or an online industry opt-out, these cookie-based opt-outs must be performed on each device and browser that you wish to have opted-out. For example, if you have opted-out on your computer browser, that opt-out will not be effective on your mobile device. You must separately opt out on each device.
Rights of Access, Rectification, Erasure, and Restriction
You may inquire as to whether Cotton Bureau is processing personal information about you, request access to personal information, and ask that we correct, amend or delete your personal information where it is inaccurate. Where otherwise permitted by applicable law, you may send an e-mail to help@cottonbureau.com or use any of the methods set out in this Privacy Policy to request access to, receive (port), seek rectification, or request erasure of personal information held about you by Cotton Bureau. Please include your full name, email address associated with your account, and a detailed description of your data request. Such requests will be processed in line with local laws.
Although we make good faith efforts to provide Individuals with access to their personal information, there may be circumstances in which we are unable to provide access, including but not limited to: where the information contains legal privilege, would compromise others' privacy or other legitimate rights, where the burden or expense of providing access would be disproportionate to the risks to the Individualâs privacy in the case in question or where it is commercially proprietary. If we determine that access should be restricted in any particular instance, we will provide you with an explanation of why that determination has been made and a contact point for any further inquiries. To protect your privacy, we will take commercially reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access to or making any changes to your personal information.
Data Retention
We retain the personal information we receive as described in this Privacy Policy for as long as you use our Services or as necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected, provide our Services, resolve disputes, establish legal defenses, conduct audits, pursue legitimate business purposes, enforce our agreements, and comply with applicable laws.
Security of your Personal Information
Cotton Bureau strives to use commercially acceptable practices to protect your personal information from unauthorized access both when it is in transit and stored on our servers. However, because no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
By using the Website or providing personal information to us, you agree that we may communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues relating to your use of the Website. If we learn of a security systemâs breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically by posting a notice on the Website or sending an e-mail to you. You may have a legal right to receive this notice in writing.
International Transfer
Cotton Bureau is a U.S. company and stores its data in the United States. This data is subject to U.S. laws. Thus, your information may be transferred to - and maintained on - computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, we transfer that information to the United States and process it there. By using our service, you understand and consent that your information may be transferred to our facilities and those third parties with whom we share it as described in this Privacy Policy.If you are from the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use, please note that you are agreeing to the transfer of your information to United States and to processing of your data globally. By providing your personal information, you consent to any transfer and processing in accordance with this Policy.
Childrenâs Privacy
The Website is intended for general audiences and is not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information without parental consent, please contact us here. If we become aware that a child under 16 has provided us with personal information without parental consent, we take steps to promptly remove such information and terminate the childâs account.
Redress/Compliance and Accountability
If you have any questions about our privacy practices, this Privacy Policy, or how to lodge a complaint with the appropriate authority, please contact Cotton Bureau by email at help@cottonbureau.com. We will address your concerns and attempt to resolve any privacy issues in a timely manner.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
Cotton Bureau may occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect company and customer feedback. When we make changes, we will notify you by making the revised version available on this webpage, and will indicate at the top the date of the latest revision. You should check this Privacy Policy on a regular basis, since revised versions will be binding on you. Any such modifications will be effective when we post the updated Privacy Policy. You understand and agree that your continued access to our Service after any posted modification to the Privacy Policy indicates your acceptance of those modifications.
Contact Information
Cotton Bureau welcomes your comments regarding our Privacy Policy. If you believe that Cotton Bureau has not adhered to our Privacy Policy or our Terms of Service, please contact Cotton Bureau at help@cottonbureau.com. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.
Revised May 25, 2018