Online Privacy Policy Agreement

Effective Date: 07/1/2023

This Online Privacy Policy describes the types of information that HuggaBuddies collects through your use of HuggaBuddies’ website (and the service(s) provided through our website), https://huggabuddies.com/, HuggaBuddies’ mobile application(s), and all other downloadable software, tablet applications, web applications, and other online and offline services provided by HuggaBuddies (collectively, the “Services”). This Policy does not apply to information collected about you through any other means.

This Policy covers:

What Personal Information is collected by HuggaBuddies through the Services.
How HuggaBuddies uses this Personal Information.
With whom HuggaBuddies may share Personal Information.
What choices are available to you with respect to the collection, use and sharing of your Personal Information.
What types of security procedures are in place to protect against the loss or misuse of your Personal Information under our control.

By accessing or using the Services, you consent to our use of your Personal Information as described in this Policy. “Personal Information” for purposes of this notice is the information that identifies you as an individual or relates to you as an identifiable person.

Information We Collect

We collect information from adults over the age of 18 in two ways. First, you may provide us with certain information when you submit forms, request information, register as a user, upload information or content, or otherwise contact us through the Services. Second, we collect certain information as you use the Services.

1. Information You Provide to Us

We may collect Personal Information from you when you submit forms, register as a user, upload information or content, or request information through the Services. If you do not want us to collect this information, please do not provide it. We directly collect the following types of information that you provide to us:

Identifying information. We may collect Personal Information, including your name, email address, phone number, credit card information, and mailing address.
User generated content. When you provide comments or feedback or make submissions of content or information using the Services, including video or images, we may collect that content and associate it with you.
Customer service interactions. To ensure the quality of your interactions with our personnel, we may monitor, document and retain communications between you and our personnel.

2. Information We Collect from You When You Use the Services

When you use the Services, we collect information about the particular ways in which you use the Services. The following is a summary of the types of information we collect when you use the Services:

Usage Information; Use of Cookies and Other Technologies

We collect information about your activity through the Services. For example, we may collect information about:

the web pages you visit;
the date and time of your visit to or use of the Services;
your usage and activity data related to the Services;
your browser type;
the Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer or mobile device to the Internet;
your computer or mobile device and connection information, such as your browser type and version, operating system, and platform; and
your device identifier.

We (or service providers on our behalf) may collect the above information through the use of technologies, including “cookies” and “web beacons,” which automatically collect information from you when you use the Services.

Cookies are small amounts of data that are stored within your Internet browser, which save and recognize your browsing habits. We use both session cookies (which track a user’s progression during one site visit) and persistent cookies (which track a user over time). Web beacons are web page elements that can recognize certain types of information on your computer or mobile device, such as the time and date you viewed a page, which emails are opened, which links are clicked, and similar information.

We use cookies to help us provide you with a more personalized experience and to improve the Services and/or our products or services.

The following is a list of cookies that we currently use:

_session_id, unique token, sessional, Allows Shopify to store information about your session (referrer, landing page, etc.).
_shopify_visit, no data held, Persistent for 30 minutes from the last visit, Used by our website provider’s internal stats tracker to record the number of visits
_shopify_uniq, no data held, expires midnight (relative to the visitor) of the next day, Counts the number of visits to a store by a single customer.
cart, unique token, persistent for 2 weeks, Stores information about the contents of your cart.
_secure_session_id, unique token, sessional
storefront_digest, unique token, indefinite If the shop has a password, this is used to determine if the current visitor has access.

Most Internet browsers allow you to block or delete cookies and other similar technologies from your browser. If you do not agree to the use of cookies or similar technologies, please disable or delete them by following the instructions for your browser set out here: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/, or use automated disabling tools where available. However, if you reject or disable cookies, you may still use the Services, but your ability to use some features of the Services may be limited.

Location Information

When you use the Services we may collect information about your location. With your permission, we may also collect information about your precise location using methods that include GPS, wireless networks, cell towers, Wi-Fi access points, and other sensors.

"Do Not Track” Requests

Your Internet browser and mobile device may allow you to adjust your browser settings so that “do not track” requests are sent to the websites you visit. IF YOU DO NOT WANT US TO AUTOMATICALLY COLLECT INFORMATION FROM YOU WHEN YOU USE THE SERVICES, EITHER NOW OR FOR FUTURE BROWSING SESSIONS, REFRAIN FROM USING THE SERVICES. WE DO NOT CURRENTLY RESPOND TO DO NOT TRACK (“DNT”) SIGNALS.

How We Use the Information We Collect

We may use information collected from or about you for any of the following purposes:

developing, providing and improving the Services and/or HuggaBuddies’ other products and/or services;
assisting with the provision of services and fulfillment of any orders or requests for information made through the Services;
sending you information and promotional materials about our products and services and the Services, as well as our company in general;
responding to information requests;
complying with regulatory requirements for the maintenance of records;
conducting internal reviews of the Services to help us better understand visitors’ and customers’ uses of the Services;
protecting the security and integrity of the Services;
complying with court orders and legal process, and to enforce this Notice; and
any other legal, business or marketing purposes that are not inconsistent with the terms of this Notice.

How We Share Your Information with Third Parties

We may share the Personal Information we collect in connection with the Services with third parties, as described below:

1. Third Parties Who Provide Services or Information Through the Services

We may share your Personal Information with third parties who provide third party products or services or information through the Services. Such third parties may use the information to fulfill product or service orders, develop and improve their products or services, and contact you about product or service orders, future products or services, or their company in general.

2. Service Providers

We may share your Personal Information with our third party vendors, suppliers and other service providers who provide services to us or on our behalf, such as operating and supporting the Services, performing marketing or consulting services, assisting us with the preparation and mailing of our business and marketing communications, and with processing and fulfillment functions. Examples of such third parties include website developers, hosting service providers, and auditors. These third party service providers may use your Personal Information for their own marketing purposes.

We use a third party payment processor, Shopify, to handle payment transactions. You can read about Shopify’s privacy practices in the Shopify privacy notice accessible at the following link: https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy.

3. Third-Party Analytics Providers

We may share Personal Information with our advertising and analytics partners, such as Google Analytics. The privacy policies of these third party companies apply to their collection, use and disclosure of your information. These third parties may combine your information with the information of other consumers for purposes of conducting studies and/or analytics. For more information about Google Analytics, including how to opt out, please go to: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

4. Our Affiliates

We may share some or all of your information with our subsidiaries and corporate affiliates, joint venturers, or other companies that are or may become under common control with us. We will require these entities to comply with the terms of this Policy with regard to their use of your Personal Information.

5. Transfer or Assignment in Connection with Business Transfers or Bankruptcy

In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy or other sale of all or a portion of our assets, any user information owned or controlled by us may be one of the assets transferred to third parties. We reserve the right, as part of this type of transaction, to transfer or assign your Personal Information and other information we have collected from users of the Services to third parties. Other than to the extent ordered by a bankruptcy or other court, or as otherwise agreed to by you, the use and disclosure of all transferred user information will be subject to this Notice. However, any information you submit or that is collected after this type of transfer may be subject to a new privacy policy adopted by the successor entity.

6. Response to Subpoenas or Court Orders, or Protection of Our Rights

We may disclose your information to government authorities or third parties if:

you have given us permission to share your information;
we are required to do so by law, or in response to a subpoena or court order;
we believe in our sole discretion that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect against fraud, or to protect our property or other rights, or those of third parties, or the public at large; or
we believe that you have abused the Services by using the Services to attack or gain unauthorized access to a system or to engage in spamming, or in any other manner that violates applicable laws or any applicable terms of use.

7. Aggregate Information

We may share aggregated or de-identified information without restriction.

How Long We Retain Your Information

We retain Personal Information for a reasonable time period to provide the Services. Personal Information is then archived for time periods required or necessitated by law or legal considerations. When archival use is no longer required, Personal Information is deleted from our records.

We retain your account information, including Personal Information in your account, while your account is active. If you delete your account, your account information will be deleted. We may also choose to delete your account if it has remained inactive for an extended time period. Please note we may retain your information, including Personal Information, within our internal systems for backup, audit, or other purposes.

Your Choices

We provide the opportunity to opt out of receiving communications from us and our partners at the point where we request information about you. In addition, you may unsubscribe or opt out of receiving communications from us by clicking the unsubscribe link on any email marketing communication you receive.

You may also opt-out of our automatically collecting information from you, as described above.

Note that even if you opt out from receiving communications from us, we reserve the right to send further communications to you for the sole purpose of processing or fulfilling any orders or support requests you made to us prior to opting out.

How We Protect Your Information

We have implemented commercially reasonable measures designed to secure your Personal Information from unauthorized access, use, alteration and disclosure. However, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. You acknowledge that: (a) the limitations of the Internet are beyond our control; (b) the security, integrity and privacy of information and data exchanged between you and us cannot be guaranteed; and (c) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party. HuggaBuddies has no responsibility or liability for the security of information transmitted via the Internet.

California’s Shine the Light Law

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits any users who are California residents to request and obtain from us a list of what personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year and the names and addresses of those third parties. Requests may be made only once a year and are free of charge.

Accessing, Correcting and Updating Your Information

You may have the right to access the Personal Information we collect about you. You may also have the right to correct any errors contained in that information. For details, please email us at contact@huggabuddies.com.

If you have registered for an account, you may also access, change or delete information that HuggaBuddies has collected in connection with the account by logging into the account using your username and password.

Children’s Privacy

Generally

HuggaBuddies appreciates that further privacy protections may be required with respect to Personal Information HuggaBuddies’ collects from children using the Services. Some features of the Services are age-gated so that they are not available for use by children. For those features, HuggaBuddies does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13.

In any instance where Personal Information is knowingly collected from a child under the age of 13, we will retain that information only so for so long as is reasonably necessary to fulfill the activity or task for which the information was collected, for our internal security purposes and the security of our users, or as required by law. If at any time we discover that we have collected information from a child in a manner that is inconsistent with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), we will either delete the information or immediately seek parent or guardian consent.

Registration

If a particular feature of the Services allows children to register with HuggaBuddies, we may ask the child to provide certain information for notification and security purposes, including a parent or guardian’s email address, the child’s first name and gender, the child’s member or account username, and password. We may also ask for the child’s date of birth to validate their age.

Please note that children can choose whether or not to share this information with us, but certain features or functions of the Services cannot function without it. As such, if this information is not provided, the child may not be able to use these features or functions.

We will not require a child to provide more information than is reasonably necessary in order use the particular feature of the Services.

Parental Consent

Consistent with the requirements of COPPA, on any child-targeted feature of the Services, or in connection with any instance where we ask for age information and determine that the user is under the age of 13, we will ask for a parent or guardian email address before we collect any personal information from the child. We will not use parent or guardian emails provided as part of this process in order to market to the parent or guardian unless the parent or guardian has separately provided their express consent to receive such marketing communications or has separately participated in activities that allow for us to engage in such marketing activities.

In the consent email, we will explain what information we are collecting, how we plan to use it, how the parent or guardian can provide consent, and how any consent previously granted can be revoked. If we do not receive parental or guardian consent within a reasonable period of time after we send the email, we will delete the parent or guardian’s contact information, in addition to any information we have collected from the child in connection with the activity for which we are seeking consent.

Content Generated by a Child

Certain features of the Services allow children to create or use content and save it with HuggaBuddies. Some of these features do not require children to provide any Personal Information and as such may not require that we notify a parent or guardian or obtain parent or guardian consent. If any of these features allows a child to include or input Personal Information as part of any created content, we will either delete any such Personal Information as part of a pre-screening process, or we will seek parent or guardian consent.

Parental Choices

Parents or guardians can refuse to permit the collection of Personal Information from their children in association with a particular account at any time, and can further request that we delete any such Personal Information that we have previously collected. Such a deletion request may, however, result in the termination of the account.

Where a child has registered for an account, parents or guardians can access, change or delete information that HuggaBuddies has collected in connection with the account by: (i) logging into the child’s account using the child’s username and password; or (ii) contacting HuggaBuddies via email to contact@huggabuddies.com to request access to, change or delete the child’s personal information. Action will be taken in response to a valid deletion request within a reasonable period of time.

Please note that HuggaBuddies will take reasonable steps to verify a parent or guardian’s identify before granting access to a child’s account or other personal information.

Geolocation Data

If features of the Services that are directed toward children collect geolocation information that is sufficient to identify (or enable HuggaBuddies to identify) a particular street address, we will first seek parent or guardian consent via email.

Third Parties

HuggaBuddies does not currently permit any third parties to collect Personal Information from users of the Services that are directed to children under 13, or that we know children under 13 are using, except those third parties that may collect persistent identifiers, such as IP addresses, cookie information or other identifiers from devices or browsers, solely for the support of internal operations as described in this Policy.

Disclosures

We may share the Personal Information of children with our service providers if necessary for them to perform a business, professional, technical, or similar support function for us. We may further disclose such Personal Information if permitted or required by law, or in response to a law enforcement or public agency’s request. HuggaBuddies may further disclose such Personal Information if we believe such disclosure may prevent a crime from occurring or to facilitate an investigation related to public safety or to protect the safety of a child, to protect the security or integrity of the Services or any associated IT systems or functions or related technology, or to prevent or take precautions against potential or actual liability.

Use of Information Outside Your Country of Residence

The Services are directed to users located in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States and choose to use the Services or provide your information to us, you should be aware that we may transfer your information to the United States and process it there. The privacy laws in the United States may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. Your consent to this Policy followed by your submission of information to us through or in connection with the Services represents your agreement to the transfer of your information to the United States.

Changes to This Privacy Notice

We may change this Notice from time to time. If we decide to make a material change to this Notice, we will post it on this page. Your continued use of the Services after the posting of changes to this Notice will mean you accept these changes. In some cases, we may attempt to contact you through an email or other address you have provided, so we can give you choices about our using your information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection. If we make any material changes in our privacy practices that affect your Personal Information that is already in our possession, we will apply those changes to that older information only with your consent or as otherwise allowed by law.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Policy or our use of the information we collect from you in connection with the Services, email us at contact@huggabuddies.com

Online Privacy Policy Agreement | HuggaBuddies