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Privacy Policy

Revised July 1, 2020

We care about our customers and visitors and know that your privacy is important to you. This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) is our way of sharing what information we collect, how and when we collect it, why we need it, how we use it, protect it and share it, and what choices you have regarding our collection and use.

Scope of application
This Privacy Policy applies to your use of our websites and mobile websites (together, the "Site") and covers our U.S. stores, any affiliates mobile applications and other locations where you may interact with us (together with the Site, the “Service”). The Service includes websites and mobile applications operated by Howard’s Appliances and its affiliated brands (“Howard’s”, “we” or “us”). This Privacy Policy also applies to the information you provide to us after being presented with or directed to this Privacy Policy. This could be, for example, when you share your information with our service representatives (e.g. a customer service agent, sales professional, or an installation or assembly professional) or send us a letter, email or chat.

Entering the Site constitutes your acceptance and agreement to the terms contained in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms set forth in this Privacy Policy, please do not enter the Site or use the Service. Before submitting information to the Service, please review this Privacy Policy carefully.

Information we collect
We collect personal information that you provide us, automatically when you use our Service, and from third parties.

Information you provide to us

You may provide the following information to us through our Services:

  • Personal and contact information, such as name, date of birth, email address, mobile/landline telephone number, home address, age, and gender.
  • Account and profile information when you create an account we collect information like your purchasing activity, product preferences, reasons for purchasing a product, family and lifestyle, interests, gender, and profile information.
  • Howard’s rewards, rebates or credit card number and related information.
  • Payment information, such as credit card information and billing address.
  • Information you post if you comment or otherwise provide information on one of our websites, for example, this may include posting a product review.
  • Information you provide through social media or other public forums.
  • Other information you give us when you communicate with us (via email, phone, through our Site or Service, or otherwise) including when you contact our customer services team, when you engage with our social media platform (for example by tagging us in a post on Instagram), when you sign up for a Howard’s membership, you participate in our surveys, contests, or promotions, or when you otherwise interact with us.

Information collected through automated means
We may use automated technology such as Tes and other tracking software to collect personal information from your computer system or mobile device when you use our Service. To learn more about these technologies and how you can control them, see our Cookie Policy.  We may collect the following information:

  • Log data and device information: such as details about how you’ve used the Site or the Service, IP address, access dates and times, hardware and software information, device information, device event information, unique identifiers, crash data, cookie data, location data and page/product views or clicks, whether you access our Site via a social media site.
  • Geo-location information: such as IP address, time zone setting, browser type and version, browser information such as pages you view and the links you click, and whether you access our website via a social media site or mobile GPS information. Additionally, when you use our free in-store Wi-Fi for your mobile device in a Howard’s store, we automatically collect your Media Access Control (MAC) address and location data.* If you do not want us to do this, please turn off the Wi-Fi capability within your mobile device settings.
  • Cookies and similar technologies: such as web beacons, pixels, and mobile identifiers.

*We use this information on an anonymous basis and do not use it to identify any particular user. We do not link this data to any other data that we hold about you.
Information from third-parties

Third parties may also provide us with additional information about you, including information from other platforms, publicly available information, information from our partners, service providers, and corporate affiliates, and information from third-party sites.

  • Other platforms: We may receive information about you from third-party platforms when you allow the third-party platform to share this information with us or allow us to obtain this information from the third party.
  • Publicly available information: We may collect information about you from publicly available sources and where permitted by applicable law or with your permission.
  • Our partners and service providers: We may receive information about you from our partners and service providers. For example, our payment processors may update your payment information, advertising partners may help us send communications to your address, and third parties may help us prevent fraud by verifying your contact information. In addition, our banking partner that issues Howard’s credit card(s) may provide us with information regarding whether you have such a card, related to any card reward or loyalty program, or resulting from prescreening you for card offers.
  • Third-party sites: Certain third-party sites embed a Howard’s plug-in, widget, or content, including through Howard’s branded buttons, badges, and slideshows and Howard’s co-branded content partnerships. Our plug-ins, widgets, embedded content, and pixels may collect information pursuant to our Cookie Policy. You may also choose to use our browser extensions, which collect the information described in this Privacy Policy.

When we collect your information

You share personal information with us in various ways. For example, we receive personal information when you:

  • Purchase products and services from us in store, online, or over the phone
  • Make a return or exchange.
  • Access our Site or Services. (To find out more about the use of cookies and how you can manage them, please read our Cookie Policy).
  • Use our in-store Wi-Fi services or have your Wi-Fi switched on in-store
  • Create an online account.
  • Apply for or join our Howard’s rebate, loyalty, or credit card programs.
  • Participate in surveys, competitions, promotions or certain discounts/coupons.
  • Contact our customer services team in store, online or over the phone.
  • Provide us your contact information so we can respond to your questions or concerns submitted through the in-store improvement function.
  • Submit an application for employment.
  • Interact with us on social media (by mentioning/tagging us or by contacting us directly).
  • Interact with our Site, such as when you visit our Site on a device, enable location-based features, or click on sponsored links or third-party advertisements on our websites or on other websites and online services.
  • Fill out a product registration form.
  • Request a catalog or subscribe to our email list.
  • Visit stores: Howard’s uses cameras in and around its stores for security and to improve our operations. We may retain an image of your likeness on our cameras or if you otherwise provide your picture to us.
  • Sign up for mobile notifications regarding updates at your local Howard’s store.

How we use your information

Howard’s does not sell your personal information to third parties without your prior consent. We use your personal information for business purposes: to make our products and services available to you; to personalize your shopping experience; to improve our operations; and for security and legal reasons. Some examples of how we use your personal information include:

  • Processing and fulfilling orders online or in-stores, including by facilitating the delivery of product orders.
  • Communicating with you regarding purchases.
  • Responding to your questions and comments.
  • Measuring your customer satisfaction.
  • Providing you with marketing material via SMS, mail and email (with your consent where required by law).
  • Displaying relevant advertising (on our Site and third-party sites) for us and other businesses and to evaluate the success of such advertising.
  • Analyzing shopping trends through account activity and purchase history to provide you a personalized browsing experience.
  • Sending Howard’s credit card, rebates or rewards members special promotions based on store spend or customer birthday and to award badges and similar designations and if you decide to participate, to administer surveys, contests, and promotions.
  • Allowing you to create a profile on our Site or in store which enables you to purchase Howard’s products and services online without having to fill in your personal information every time you shop online with us.
  • Improving our Site features and functionality including ensuring that our Site is presented in the most effective and relevant manner for you and your device, including setting default options for you such as language and store location. Also, to back up our systems, improve the security of our Site and Service, and to perform research and analysis for our business purposes.
  • Conducting checks for fraud or other illegal activity including to filter for spam and communications that violate our agreements with you.
  • Protecting our rights or property (or those of others).
  • Fulfilling our legal and compliance-related obligations; such as if we receive a legitimate request from a law enforcement agency; to prosecute or defend a lawsuit, arbitration, or similar legal proceeding; to respond to lawful requests by public authorities, including national security or law enforcement requirements.

We may use your communications generally for quality assurance purposes and training and to improve our Site and Service. We may use your communications to understand and help manage the quality of requests received, and responses sent. We may use automated technology to review your communications and improve user experience including scanning messages to detect spam, help facilitate communications to improve your user experience, and review telephone calls to our customer service representatives for quality control and training.
If you make purchases on the Site or through the Service as a visitor and subsequently create an account, for your reference, we will make information available to you about any prior purchases completed using the email address for your account.

Any use of your information that is incompatible with these uses will be disclosed to you so that you may opt out of, or agree to, such uses at your discretion.

When we share your information
We share your information with the following categories of recipients and in the following ways as an essential part of being able to provide the Site and Service and related services and offerings, including customer service, to you:

  • Companies and individuals that help us deliver our products to you, including product assembly and installation, waste removal, such as suppliers, payment service providers, logistics professionals, and delivery and freight companies. Your personal information may be stored and processed by our vendors and service providers in the United States.
  • Professional service providers who help us run our business, such as marketing companies, software vendors, consultants, and advertising partners. We use pixels and cookies in our work with customer database hosting providers, marketing agencies and advertising partners to place relevant content and advertisements for you on our own Site, as well as other websites, online media channels and apps, for more information please see our Cookie Policy.
  • Companies approved by you, such as social media sites, if you choose to link your accounts to us, and payment processors or financing providers and card issuing banks if you choose to use their services or offerings.
  • Government and law enforcement agencies, to (1) comply with a legal process, subpoena, order, or other legal or regulatory requirement; (2) enforce our Terms of Use or other policies; or (3) pursue available legal remedies or defend legal claims.
  • We may share your financial information including your credit, debit card or other payment information with third parties to ensure that your payment is safe and that your details are not being used fraudulently.
  • We may share your personal information in the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets.
  • We may use your personal information with your consent or as otherwise permitted or required by law.

We may anonymize your information and share such anonymized information with third parties for any purpose permitted by applicable laws. We also disclose non-private, deidentified, aggregate or otherwise non-personal information with third parties, including social media companies like Facebook and Twitter, and online advertising companies like Google and Bing, to deliver targeted advertising about other products and services for marketing purposes.

We share your information with third parties only as described in this Privacy Policy, with your consent, or as disclosed at the time we collect your information.

Financing Providers
If you chose to apply for a financing product offered by a financing provider, we collect some of your financing information on behalf of that provider. Once you have completed the application form, we send the data to the financing provider and delete it immediately from our systems, except for information we need to keep in order to provide services to you. We will not use your financing information for any other purpose.

Keeping your information safe
The security of your information is important to us. We have implemented various strategies, controls, policies and measures to keep your information secure and keep these measures under close review. If you have questions about the security of your information, please contact us as described below.

We also encourage you to protect your password and protect your computer to prevent unauthorized access to your account. Remember to sign out of your account and close your browser window if you are using a shared computer in a public place such as a library or an Internet cafe.

Keeping your information
In general, we will only retain your personal information for as long as is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. This means that the retention periods will vary according to the type of the information and the reason that we have the information. We may also keep some of your information as required to meet legal or regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, prevent fraud or abuse, enforce our Terms of Use, or for other permissible purposes.

When we no longer have a need to keep your information, we will either delete it from our systems or keep it in a de-identified form. Please note that copies of information that you have updated, modified, or deleted may continue to reside in our systems for a period of time, and we may maintain copies of this information as part of our business records.

Links to Third-Party Websites and Additional Terms
Our Site, Service, or social media may contain links to third-party sites that are not governed by this Privacy Policy. If you click on a link to a third-party site, you will be taken to a site we do not control. We are not responsible for the privacy practices used by third-party sites. We suggest that you read the privacy policies of those sites carefully.

Children's privacy
The Site and Service are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that we have information about your child, please contact us as described in the Contact Us section below, and we will work with you to address the issue. To learn more about how to protect your child online, visit the FTC’s www.OnGuardOnline.gov.

Your choices and rights

We respond to all requests we receive from individuals wishing to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws. Please contact us as described in the Contact Us section below if you would like to speak to us about any of your rights. We will consider your request in accordance with applicable laws.

Decisions about your privacy preferences
We want to ensure that all the information we have about our customers is correct and up to date. If you find that the personal information we have about you is inaccurate or needs updating (for instance, you may have changed your name or address) please update your profile.

You may opt-out of receiving marketing messages by using the opt-out mechanisms and links provided in each message. For your mobile device, you may opt out of precise location tracking and/or push notifications by changing your settings. (Note that opting out may affect your ability to fully use the application.) To avoid collection of your MAC address and location data while you are within the Howard’s store, turn off the Wi-Fi capability on your phone or other electronic device within your device settings.

International transfers

Our Site and Service are not marketed to or intended to be used by any non-U.S. resident. In order to provide you with the services you sign up for by creating an account or visiting our Site or using our Service, your personal information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S. (or any other country where we, our corporate affiliates, agents, and service providers operate). Please note that data protection and other applicable laws of the U.S. may not be as comprehensive as those laws or regulations in your country or may otherwise differ from the data protection or consumer protection laws in your country. By using the Site and Service, you consent to transfer of your information to our facilities as described in this Privacy Policy.

Additional information for California residents

This section provides specific information for California consumers to address the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). Under the CCPA, if you are a California resident you may have certain rights with respect to your personal information. If you would like to speak to us about, or exercise, any of the rights described below, please contact us as described in the Contact Us section below.

California privacy rights
California consumers may request that companies disclose certain information to the consumer about their collection and use of their personal information over the past 12 months. This right of access includes information about:

  • The categories of personal information collected.
  • The categories of sources for the personal information collected.
  • Our business or commercial purpose for collecting that personal information.
  • The categories of third parties with whom that personal information has been shared.
  • The categories of personal information that each recipient received.
  • The specific pieces of personal information collected.

California consumers may also have the right, subject to certain exceptions defined in the CCPA and other applicable laws and regulations, to request that a company delete any personal information that it has collected and retained, subject to certain exceptions.

Exercising your rights

To exercise the rights described above, California residents may submit a verifiable consumer request which must provide sufficient information that allows us to verify, to a reasonably high degree of certainty, that you are the person about whom we collected personal information and must describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.
Authorized Agent

Only you, or a person you have designated in writing as your authorized agent under applicable law, may make a verifiable consumer request or do not sell request related to your personal information. You may also make a verifiable consumer request or do not sell request on behalf of your minor child. If you wish to have an Authorized Agent make a request on your behalf, they will need to provide us with sufficient written proof that you have designated them as your Authorized Agent and we will still require you to provide sufficient information to allow us to reasonably verify that you are the person about whom we collected personal information.

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. 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 will disclose and deliver the required information free of charge within 45 days of receiving your verifiable request. The time period to provide the required information may be extended once by an additional 45 days when reasonably necessary and with prior notice. You may only make a verifiable consumer request for access or data portability twice within a 12-month period. Please be aware that not all information sharing is covered by the California privacy rights requirements and only information sharing that is covered will be included in our response. Consistent with the CCPA, except to the extent reasonably related to the value of your personal information, we will not treat California consumers differently for exercising their rights under the CCPA.

If you would like to speak to us about, or exercise, any of your rights, please contact us as described in the Contact Us section below.

Updates to this Privacy Policy
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we post modifications to this Privacy Policy, we will revise the "Revised" date at the top of this page. The modified Privacy Policy will be effective immediately upon posting on the Service. If we make significant changes that affect your information, we will provide you notice of such changes through the Site, the Service, by email, or some other means of contact. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or your rights under it please contact:

Address:

Howard's Appliances
Attention: Privacy Statement Personnel
901 E. Imperial Hwy.
La Habra, California 90631

Telephone:  855-997-9108
E-mail:  privacy@howards.com

 

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