Penny Auctions Canada

Penny Auctions Canada Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy, Definition: A Privacy Policy is a legal document that discloses some or all of the ways a party gathers, uses, discloses and manages a customer's data. The contents of a Privacy Policy will depend upon the applicable law and may need to address the requirements of multiple countries or jurisdictions.

Our Privacy Policy and Commitment

At Penny Auctions Canada we know how important it is to protect your personal information. Whether you are shopping with us online or just visiting, we want to make every customer experience safe and secure. In keeping with that aspiration, we have developed this Privacy Policy to explain our practices for the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information.

This Privacy Policy applies to our Online Store and/or Online Auction Web Site, and all other channels in which Penny Auctions Canada collects and uses your personal information.

Who is Penny Auctions Canada?

Pennyauctionscanada.COM ("Penny Auctions Canada") is the Online or Web-based auction provider of every day consumer and business products and merchandise. Pennyauctionscanada.COM is the wholly-owned and operated subsidiary of Penny Auctions Canada Inc., a Province of Ontario, Canada legal entity holding a Corporation status. This Policy applies to Penny Auctions Canada Inc., and all of its divisions.

What Information Does Penny Auctions Canada Collect?

At Penny Auctions Canada, we collect two types of information: personal information and non-personal information. The types of information we collect depend on the nature of your interaction with us

Personal Information:

Personal information typically includes your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. You can always choose not to provide us with any of your personal information. However, if you make this choice we may not be able to provide you with the product, service, or information that you requested. For example, we can only offer you a Bid package if you have provided us with certain financial information. With your consent we may use your personal information for a number of different purposes, for example to:

fulfill requests for products, services or information
provide customer services
administer contests or promotions
offer new products and services
measure and improve the effectiveness of our Web Site or our marketing endeavours
tailor our online offerings to your preferences
we may also collect and summarize customer information in a format that no longer identifies the individual for statistical purposes

Non-Personal Information:

Non-personal information does not identify you as an individual. For example: we may ask you for your postal code to assist us with planning our correspondence distribution.

We may collect certain non-personal data when you visit our Web Site, such as the type of browser you are using or the referring URL.
We may collect and summarize customer information in a non-personal, aggregate format for statistical and research purposes.
We may, for example, summarize our data to determine that a certain percentage of contest entrants are male, aged 18 to 25.

How is Your Personal Information Used?

Penny Auctions Canada may use your personal information for a number of different business purposes. For example to:

fulfill your specific requests for products, services or information;
provide customer support to assist you with your questions or complaints;
conduct surveys in order to improve our services;
measure and improve the effectiveness of our Web Sites or our marketing endeavours;
detect and protect against fraud and error;
track and analyze your purchases and preferences to better understand your product and service needs and eligibility;
tailor our online content offerings based on your preferences;
if you ask us, to offer and promote additional products and services we offer;
for other purposes as described in this Privacy Policy.

Your Implied Consent

In some cases, your consent is implied if we ask you to provide personal information with a stated purpose. For example, we can only deliver the product you have purchased if you provide us with your address and phone number.

Your Express Consent

In other cases, we will ask you to give your express consent to use your personal information to advise you of products or services that may be of interest. You always have the opportunity to "opt out" of having your information used for this purpose. For example, when you subscribe to the Penny Auctions Canada newsletter, we will also ask for your express consent to send you promotional information.

Withdrawing Your Consent

If you have "opted in" or subscribed to one of our newsletters or mailing lists, we will always provide you the opportunity to "opt out" or unsubscribe. For example, each e-mail we send you will tell you how to decline further e-mail.

Information Penny Auctions Canada Collects Directly from You

Listed here are some further examples of the ways that we collect personal information directly from you and how we use it.

On-Line Store and/or Auction Purchases

When you purchase a Penny Auctions Canada product or service, you may need to provide us with contact and payment information (such as credit card information) so that we can process your request. Examples where we need contact information include delivery services, product servicing, in-home installations, warranty coverage, and rebate requests. If we collect this information, we will also ask for your consent to use this information to send you promotional information on products and services.

Returns and Exchanges

Our goal is to ensure that you are completely satisfied with your purchase and to this end, Penny Auctions Canada offers a Return Policy inside our Purchase Terms and Conditions. For Penny Auctions Canada to continue to offer our Return Policy, we ask for personal information such as your name, address, and telephone number for the purposes of detecting and preventing fraud. You may also be asked to produce photo ID for verification purposes only.

Our Web Site

While using our Web Site, you may be asked to voluntarily provide certain personal information (such as your name, email address, postal address, telephone number, or credit card information). We use this information to complete your transaction and to apply for access to certain special features and functions of the Web Site. If you choose not to provide requested personal information, you will not be able to use certain features of the Web Site and you will not be able to engage in transactions through the Web Site. With any of the services on our Web Site, we may also use your personal information to contact and correspond with you and to respond to your inquiries. With your consent, we may send to you, from time to time, email or other communications regarding goods or services we believe will interest you. All references to our Web Site in this Privacy Policy refers to Pennyauctionscanada.COM.

Customer Reviews

Penny Auctions Canada may provide a Customer Review functionality that will be provided as a rating system that offers you the chance to share your thoughts on a product. These reviews will be accessible to all Web Site visitors so please use discretion when posting information to them and do not post personal information.

Sign-Up for Newsletters or Updates

Penny Auctions Canada offers a variety of newsletters. You can choose to subscribe by visiting our Web Site or when shopping in our Online store. To enrol, we will collect your contact information (such as name and e-mail address). This information will only be used to send you the newsletter.

Participate in a Contest or Promotion

Penny Auctions Canada strives to provide our customers with pleasant shopping experiences. From time to time, we may run contests or promotions. If you participate, you may be asked for contact information as well as additional optional survey information (for example, product preferences). Personal information from contest entries will be used only to administer the contest and contact you if you win. For research and analysis purposes, we may also summarize contest survey information in a manner that no longer identifies individual participants. All contests and promotions are subject to this Privacy Policy and the rules that will be available with each particular campaign. Some contests are conducted by third parties and will be subject to the third party's policies.

Information Penny Auctions Canada Collects Automatically

Like many other Web Sites, Penny Auctions Canada automatically collects certain non-personal information regarding Web Site users that does not identify you. Examples include the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer, the IP address of your Internet Service Provider, the date and time you access the Web Site, the Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to the Web Site, the operating system you are using, the sections of the Web Site you visit, the Web Site pages read and images viewed, and the content you download from the Web Site. This non-personal information is used for Web Site and system administration purposes and to improve the Web Site.

Cookies

Pennyauctionscanada.COM, the "Web Site", uses "cookies", a technology that installs a small amount of information on a Web Site user's computer to permit the Web Site to recognize future visits using that computer. Cookies enhance the convenience and use of the Web Site. For example, the information provided through cookies is used to recognize you as a previous user of the Web Site (so you do not have to enter your billing information every time), to offer personalized Web page content and information for your use, to track your activity at the Web Site, to respond to your needs, and to otherwise facilitate and enhance your Web Site experience. You may choose to decline cookies if your browser permits, but doing so may affect your use of the Web Site and your ability to access certain features of the Web Site or engage in transactions through the Web Site.

Tracking Information

We may use non-personal information, beacons or pixel tags to compile tracking information reports regarding Web Site user demographics, Web Site traffic patterns, and Web Site purchases, and then provide those reports to advertisers and others. None of the tracking information in the reports can be connected to the identities or other personal information of individual users. We may also link tracking information with personal information voluntarily provided by Web Site users. Once such a link is made, all of the linked information is treated as personal information and will be used and disclosed only in accordance with this Policy.

Links to Other Web Sites

Our Web Site may contain links to other Web sites or Internet resources. When you click on one of those links you are contacting another Web Site or internet resource. Penny Auctions Canada, and/or Pennyauctionscanada.COM has no responsibility or liability for or control over those other Web Sites or internet resources or their collection, use and disclosure of your personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of those other sites to learn how they collect and use information about you.

Supplementing information

From time to time we may supplement information you give us with information from other sources, such as information validating your address or other available information you have provided us. This is to help us maintain the accuracy of the information we collect and to help us provide better service.

Does Penny Auctions Canada Share Your Information?

Penny Auctions Canada does not sell or rent our customers personal information to any other party. However, in the normal course of business we may share some of your personal information within our corporate family and with third parties acting on our behalf or as permitted or required by law. Some of these operations may result in personal information collected by Penny Auctions Canada being stored or processed outside of Canada and, as a result, your personal information may be accessible to law enforcement and regulatory authorities in accordance with the law of these foreign jurisdictions.

Disclosure to Service Providers

Penny Auctions Canada may use third parties to manage one of more aspects of our business operations, including the processing or handing of personal information. When we do use an outside company, we use contractual or other appropriate means to ensure that your personal information is used in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy. For example, we may share personal information with third parties to perform services on our behalf such as: fulfilling online orders, processing non-cash payments, sending marketing communications, servicing products, conducting research surveys, verifying and validating information that you have provided to us, delivering products, and providing customer support services. Penny Auctions Canada has taken precautions to prevent the fraudulent use of your information on our Web Site. Penny Auctions Canada has adopted industry standard authentication procedures to ensure your protection while shopping with us online. This includes, but is not limited to, contacting financial institutions or credit reporting agencies to ensure the authenticity of your credit card and to validate your credit card billing information. We will use reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal information is used in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy. If you do not wish us to provide your personal information to those service providers, we may be unable to process your transaction.

Legal Disclosure

Penny Auctions Canada may disclose your information as permitted or required to by law; for example:

to a government institution or other person or entity that has asserted its lawful authority to obtain the information;
where we have reasonable grounds to believe the information could be useful in the investigation of unlawful activity;
to comply with a subpoena or warrant or an order made by a court, person or entity with jurisdiction to compel the production of information;
to comply with court rules regarding the production of records and information; and
to our legal counsel.

How does Penny Auctions Canada Protect My Information?

The security of your personal information is a high priority for Penny Auctions Canada. We maintain appropriate safeguards and current security standards to protect your personal information, whether recorded on paper or captured electronically, against unauthorized access, disclosure, or misuse. Although we cannot take responsibility for any theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, loss, alteration or destruction of data by a third party, we take reasonable precautions to prevent such unfortunate occurrences. For example, electronic records are stored in secure, limited-access servers; we employ technological tools like firewalls and passwords; and we ensure our employees are trained on the importance of maintaining the security and confidentiality of personal information.

Choosing a Password

When you create an online account on our Web Site, you need to select a personal password. To maximize your level of protection, you should choose at least 6 characters including a combination of both letters and numbers. You are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your password and any account information. Penny Auctions Canada will never send an unsolicited communication asking you for your password or requesting that you update your account credentials. To learn more about Phishing and email fraud, please read below:

Learn about E-mail Fraud

Phishing (also referred to as brand spoofing) is a type of scheme that uses fraudulent e-mail and web pages to gather personal, financial and sensitive information for the purpose of identity theft. Most commonly, users receive spam e-mail (mass e-mail messaging) and pop-up windows that appear to come from legitimate businesses. People have been tricked by these deceptive solicitations into sharing passwords and credit card, social security and bank account numbers. As an online user, you should always continue to take precautions including querying the origination of e-mails, the URLs that those e-mails purport to take you to, and paying close attention to the secure padlock icon on your Internet Browser. Additionally, you should always navigate the web using authentic Internet security software. The ONLY time Penny Auctions Canada collects your credit card information is when you are making an online purchase on our secure web site. If you think you were the recipient of a phishing e-mail where you provided some information, please contact your credit card company immediately to determine what recourse you have available to you. Penny Auctions Canada is committed to protecting and ensuring your personal information remains private. If you have any questions for Penny Auctions Canada, please contact us at privacy@pennyauctionscanada.com.

How Can You Verify Your Information?

You may check your information to verify, update, or correct it, and to have any obsolete information removed. If you created an account on one of our Web Site, you can access and change your online account profile yourself. You can also ask to review any of the information that we have retained, how we have used it, and to whom we have disclosed it at any time by contacting us as indicated below under the heading "Contacting Penny Auctions Canada". Subject to certain exceptions prescribed by law, and provided we can authenticate your identity, you will be given reasonable access to your personal information, and will be entitled to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and to have it amended as appropriate. You may also ask us to change your preferences regarding how we use or disclose your information, or let us know that you do not wish to receive any further communication from us.

When is Your Information Removed?

We keep your information only as long as we need it for legitimate business purposes and to meet any legal requirements. We have retention standards that meet these parameters. We destroy your information when it is no longer needed, or we remove your personally identifiable information to render it anonymous.

Contacting Penny Auctions Canada

Penny Auctions Canada is responsible for all personal information under its control. Our Privacy Manager is accountable for our compliance with the principles described here. If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about the privacy practices of our organization please contact us at the following:

Email: privacy@pennyauctionscanada.com

We will respond to your request or investigate your concern as quickly as we can, but no later than 30 days from the date of receipt of your query.

Important Reminder about email communications:

Please remember that email sent over the public Internet is not secure. If you send an email directly to us from your own email account the contents will not be encrypted. We strongly recommend that you do not send sensitive information (like a credit card number) to us via unencrypted email. Penny Auctions Canada is not responsible for any transmission by you of any personal information over the public Internet.

Unsubscribe

If you no longer wish to be contacted regarding promotions, new product and entertainment releases and how to make the most of the latest technology, send us an email to customerservice@pennyauctionscanada.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject heading.

Will this Privacy Policy Change? Last Update: March 01, 2010

To accommodate changes in our services, changes in technology, and legal developments, this Privacy Policy may change over time without notice to you. We may add, change, or remove portions of the Privacy Policy when we feel it is appropriate to do so. We encourage you to review our Privacy Policy periodically. Each time you submit personal information or use our services you agree to be bound by the then current terms of the Privacy Policy. Whenever we update the Privacy Policy we will change the date to indicate when the changes were made.