caninecolumn.com

Privacy Policy

Last updated: January 1, 2023

This Privacy Policy details how CanineColumn.com, along with its affiliates (collectively referred to as “CanineColumn.com,” “we,” “our,” or “us”), collects, uses, processes, transfers, and discloses personal information from visitors to caninecolumn.com and any other website that links to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Sites”). This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) clarifies the type of information we collect from individuals that visit our websites (each, a “Site”) or use our mobile applications (each, an “App”), including tools such as chat available through our Sites and Apps, where this Privacy Policy is posted or otherwise connect with us offline, such as via telephone (“Offline Services”, and collectively with all Sites and Apps, the “Services” or individually, a “Service”), and how we store, use, disclose and protect such information. By using or accessing our Services, you agree to the collection, storage, use, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. When we use the term “including”, it shall mean “including but not limited to”.

  • INFORMATION WE COLLECT
  • HOW WE UTILIZE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT
  • COOKIES AND INTEREST-BASED ADVERTISING
  • INFORMATION WE DISCLOSE
  • YOUR OPTIONS
  • DATA RETENTION PERIOD
  • DATA SECURITY MEASURES
  • INFORMATION FROM MINORS
  • LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES, APPS, OR ONLINE SERVICES
  • HOW TO UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION
  • CHANGES TO THIS POLICY
  • CONTACT INFORMATION
  • CALIFORNIA PRIVACY NOTICE
  • PRIVACY NOTICE FOR COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, UTAH, AND VIRGINIA
  • INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Information you provide to us. We collect and maintain information that you may provide to us through your use of our Services, including your name, shipping address, billing address, payment card information, telephone number(s), email address(es), and purchase/return/exchange data and pet information. For instance, when you:

  • create an account, write reviews, and/or make online purchases, you will be asked to provide information necessary to facilitate the transaction, such as contact and payment information;
  • seek assistance from our customer service team or veterinarians through email, telephone, automated and live chat sessions, SMS or any other channels, we may ask you questions about your pet or otherwise collect and record additional information from or about you during those interactions;
  • participate in our contests, sweepstakes, or other promotions, you may be asked for information necessary to fulfill the promotion;
  • post comments or other content in publicly-available forums on our Services (e.g., Product reviews, Q&A forum), anything you post will be available to us as well as visitors to our Services;
  • We may also collect information about your pet(s), including name, breed, gender, birthdate, size, weight, prescriptions, veterinary and pet health information, pet insurance information, and photos.

If you interact with us on a social media site or “like” us on Facebook, we will have information about you as permitted by that social media platform. We may also collect information about your pet, such as name, type, breed, or age, and we use this information to tailor Services that are more specific to you and your pet. When you apply to become a pet writer on our Sites or App, we collect your name, address, clinic information, websites, and your biographical information. We use this information to communicate with you (including communications regarding business, offers, or product opportunities), to evaluate your application, analyze our pet writer needs and practices, or otherwise manage our hiring process and administration.

Information we collect automatically. We may use technology to automatically obtain other information about you and your devices when you visit our Sites, use our Apps, or view our advertisements online. For more information, see the “Cookies and Interest-Based Advertising” section of this Privacy Policy below. This information helps our Sites and Apps function properly and supports our marketing and analytics efforts. This information includes, but is not limited to, device type; device settings; Internet browser information; operating system information; IP address; mobile device identifiers; software version; phone model; phone operating system; mobile phone carrier information; precise geolocation data; the date, time, and length of your stay on our Sites and Apps; and the referring website, specific pages accessed, and other actions you take on our Sites and Apps. Additionally, your chats, phone/video calls, and other interactions with our customer service team or veterinarians may be recorded. We may obtain other information from you from time to time by providing appropriate notice.

We also use a third-party session replay service that records users’ interactions with our Sites and Apps, including users’ clicks, mouse movements, and scrolls.

When we send newsletters or marketing-related communications, we may embed pixel tags, cookies, or other technologies that report back to us how you interact with the email (e.g., whether an email message was opened, deleted or forwarded, whether a link was clicked). We use this information to understand our prospective customers and current customers better. If you do not wish to receive marketing emails from us, you may click on the “unsubscribe” link embedded in each such email, or you can contact us at privacy@caninecolumn.com and ask to be removed from our email marketing list.

Our Site contains content and plugins from social media sites like Facebook (“Like” button), Twitter (“Share to Twitter”), Pinterest (“Pin to Save”), and others. These plugins allow you to share information from our Sites to your timeline or account. When you connect to these services, the third parties may store and/or access data (including through the use of cookies and other similar technology) over which we do not have control. If you are logged into a social media website while visiting our Sites, the social media plugins may allow the social media website to receive information that you visited the Canine Column Site and link it to your social media account. Canine Column does not control these sites, and information collected is governed by the privacy statement of the third-party company. You may refer to the privacy policies of each such party to determine their privacy practices, including notice and choice provisions.

Information we obtain from other sources. We may receive information about you from other sources to, for example, help us correct or supplement our records, improve the quality of our Services, prevent or detect fraud, and support our marketing and analytics. Such sources may include information collected from payment processors, data brokers, third-party ad technology companies, veterinarians, insurance companies, shelters, and shipping carriers. We may use this information consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Third-Party Web Analytics Services. We use third-party web analytics services on our Sites and Apps, such as Google Analytics. The service providers that administer these services use automated technologies to collect data (such as IP addresses, cookies, and other device identifiers) to evaluate the use of our Services. To learn more about Google Analytics and how to opt out, please visit www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html.

HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION WE OBTAIN

We may use, process, and disclose the information we collect about you for our business purposes, including:

Fulfilling orders and addressing your inquiries and requests. We may use your information to assist you with transactions, such as completing your order, processing your payments, providing customer and technical support, including through the automated and live chat features on our Sites and Apps, maintaining transcripts of chat communications, obtaining veterinarian approvals and assistance, offering new products and services, and ensuring the proper delivery of the products and services you order from us.

Creating and managing your account, and communicating with you. We may use your information to create and maintain your account, including, where applicable, updating your pet profile with information provided by your veterinarian about your pet. Additionally, we may use your information to contact you about (1) updates to this Privacy Policy or our Terms of Use; (2) changes to our Services, products, and programs; (3) reviews, comments, or other feedback you provide about our products or Services; (4) issues with your orders; or (5) product recalls.

Enhancing and personalizing our products and Services. We may use your information to refine our products and Services, as well as to tailor our Services to your preferences and needs, customize your experience with us, and provide a consistent experience across the devices you use.

Analyzing Site and App trends and customer interests. We may use your information to examine the way you use our Sites and Apps and understand your interests, including by integrating information we receive from you and your devices with other information about you that we receive from other sources.

Delivering and refining marketing communications. We may send you promotions or offers via regular mail, email, text messaging, or other electronic channels, including ads on Social Media Services. We may use information, including information collected across different online services and from various devices you may use, for marketing and analytics purposes and to deliver marketing communications based on your behavior and interests.

Promoting our products or Services. If you complete a product review, submit feedback, or provide an image of your pet(s), we may use your submission for commercial purposes, to promote our products and Services, or to send you personalized content, including pet portraits, thank you notes, and holiday cards.

Administering promotions, such as sweepstakes and contests. We may use your information to manage sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions if you choose to participate.

Detecting and preventing fraud. We may use your information to protect against, identify, and prevent fraud and other criminal activity, claims, and other liabilities.

Complying with the law. We may use your information to comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements (including maintaining pet health records and authorizations), relevant industry standards, and our policies, including this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.

Other uses. We may use your information to operate, evaluate, develop, manage, and improve our business (including operating, administering, analyzing, and improving our Services; developing new products and services; managing and evaluating the effectiveness of our communications; conducting market research, aggregating and anonymizing data, and performing data analytics; facilitating the provision of services to Canine Column and its affiliates; and performing accounting, auditing, and other internal functions).

We also may use your information in other ways for which we provide specific notice at the time of collection or otherwise with your consent.

COOKIES AND PERSONALIZED ADVERTISING

Tracking tools we employ. We and our third-party ad technology partners may gather information about you and your devices over time and across various websites and online services by using tracking tools such as cookies, web beacons, clear GIFs, pixels, device identifiers, and other online data collection tools. We may use these automated technologies to gather information regarding your equipment, browsing behavior, and usage patterns. The information we may collect through these automated technologies is outlined in the “Information collected automatically” section of this Privacy Policy, above. We may use these automated technologies to:

  • verify your account and remember your password if you are a registered account holder
  • monitor the performance of our Services
  • learn more about how you interact with our Services and content
  • customize your experience on our Sites, Apps, and Social Media Services
  • optimize and personalize our Sites and Apps
  • make product recommendations, perform analytics, personalization, and provide you with relevant advertising content on our Services and third-party websites and online services
  • evaluate the effectiveness of the ads we display to you
  • conduct data analytics and research to help us enhance our Services and product offerings
  • and, better comprehend our Site visitors and App users and their respective interests.

Personalized advertising. We and our third-party ad technology partners may use cookies to understand the ads you view and interact with, as well as other actions you take on our Services. This enables us to offer you more valuable and relevant ads on both Canine Column-owned and operated Services and third-party websites, apps, and online services. Personalized ads, also known as targeted or interest-based ads, are presented to you based on information collected about your online activities, such as browsing or purchasing products on our Sites or Apps or visiting third-party websites, apps, or online services. In delivering personalized ads, we adhere to the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising established by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) (a coalition of marketing and online advertising organizations). See the “Advertising Preferences and Opt-Out” section of this Privacy Policy, below, for information on how you may opt out of such advertising.

Third-party ad technology companies may assist us in displaying content tailored to your interests and serve personalized advertising on our behalf. Additionally, some third-party ad technology companies may provide us with information about you (such as demographic data) from offline and online sources, which we may use to offer you more relevant and useful advertising.

Advertisers or third-party ad technology companies working on their behalf sometimes use automated technologies to serve ads that appear on our Sites and Apps. They automatically receive your IP address and other device identifiers when this occurs. They may also use cookies to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize ad content.

INFORMATION SHARING

We may disclose information about you with third parties for the purpose of conducting our business, when legally required, or with your consent, including:

Affiliates and Subsidiaries. We may share your information with our affiliates and subsidiaries for business, operational, promotional, marketing, or other purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Service Providers. We may share the information we collect about you with service providers who perform services on our behalf (e.g., order fulfillment, package delivery, postal mail and/or email communications, data analysis, telehealth services, session replay services, marketing research assistance, credit card payment processing, fraud detection, and customer service, including through automated and live chat features). Our service providers are prohibited from using your personal information for any purpose other than providing services to us.

Business Partners. With your consent and at your direction, we may share your information with our business partners (such as veterinarians, pet insurers, and animal shelters) so they can offer you the services you request or that may interest you

Other Third Parties. We may disclose your information to other third parties in connection with our marketing efforts to promote our Services or as directed by you.

Business Transfer. We may disclose, transfer, or assign your information to our affiliates or to one or more third parties in the event that we sell or transfer (or consider selling or transferring) all or part of our assets or business, including as part of an actual or contemplated merger, acquisition, or joint venture. In the unlikely event of our bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership, liquidation, divestiture, dissolution, or assignment for the benefit of creditors, we may transfer your personal information to a successor or a third party that purchases our assets arising from such circumstances. In such transactions, customer information generally is one of the transferred business assets but remains subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Policy.

Protection of CanineColumn.com and Others. We may disclose information about you to the government or other third parties to comply with applicable laws and regulations, governmental and quasi-governmental requests, court orders, subpoenas, and other legal processes. We may also disclose information to third parties if necessary to (i) enforce any of the Terms of Use for our Services or any investigation of potential violations thereof, (ii) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues, (iii) protect against harm to our Services, and (iv) protect our rights, property, or safety, or the rights, property, or safety of our users or others.

YOUR OPTIONS

You have specific choices regarding the personal information we collect about you, as described below.

If you are a California consumer, for more information about your privacy rights, please see the section of this Privacy Policy called “California Privacy Notice,” below.

If you are a Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia consumer, for more information about your privacy rights, please see the section of this Privacy Policy called “State Privacy Notice,” below.

Regardless of your state of residency, we provide you with certain choices to manage how we use your information. To exercise your privacy options, such as the right to know/access, right to delete, right to correct, and other privacy choices. Please note that terms used in the privacy choices may have meanings attributable to them under specific state laws. Certain privacy rights may not be available in some states. Please see the state-specific privacy disclosures for further information.

Cookies: Most Internet browsers include a “Help” feature that will inform you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. If you set your browser to limit or remove cookies or otherwise block our use of cookies, some Site features may be unavailable or unable to function properly. Your device may not give you the ability to control cookies. If you wish to block cookies on our App, you may need to delete the App from your mobile device.

Email marketing opt-out: If you wish to opt out of any of our marketing email communications, you may contact our customer service representatives at the phone number or email address below, under the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy. You also may follow the “unsubscribe” instructions included in our promotional emails. Please note that removing user information from our database or “opting out” will not stop marketing or advertising content that is generated for distribution or is otherwise queued for transmission to you prior to the time when we can implement your request. If you unsubscribe from marketing communications, you may continue to receive transactional communications, such as email or text notifications about your order status, recall information, and other administrative information. Your information will remain in our database but will be marked as inactive so you do not receive marketing materials from us.

Interest-based advertising opt-out: You may opt out of receiving interest-based ads from us by visiting the DAA consumer opt-out page at https://www.aboutads.info/choices. You can also opt out of receiving interest-based ads from members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) by visiting the NAI consumer opt-out page at http://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1#!/. Opting out of receiving interest-based ads does not mean that you will no longer receive ads from us, but rather that the ads you receive may not be as relevant to your interests.

App opt-out: You may use the DAA’s AppChoices program to opt out of receiving certain in-app interest-based ads (see: https://youradchoices.com/appchoices). Your mobile device may also provide a device-level advertising preference feature that prevents your device from receiving in-app interest-based ads.

Do-Not-Track: Some Internet browsers have a “do not track” feature that lets you tell websites that you do not want to have your online activities tracked. Our Sites and Apps do not support “do not track” preferences that may be available in your browser and are not capable of satisfying the preference you set.

DATA RETENTION

We retain your information for the time period reasonably necessary to achieve the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or any other notice provided at the time of collection, taking into account applicable statutes of limitation and records retention requirements under applicable law.

DATA SECURITY

We employ reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures designed to safeguard the information we gather.

INFORMATION FROM CHILDREN

Our Sites and Apps are intended for a general audience and are not aimed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect or request personal information from children under 13 through our Sites and Apps. If we discover that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 online without the consent of the child’s parent or guardian, we will make all reasonable efforts to promptly delete such information.

LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES, APPS, OR ONLINE SERVICES

For the convenience of our Site visitors and App users, our Services may include links to third-party websites, apps, and online services that we believe provide valuable information. This Privacy Policy does not cover such third-party websites, apps, or online services. We recommend reviewing the privacy notices or policies of these third parties or contacting them directly for information on their privacy practices. Canine Column is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party services, regardless of whether they are linked to or otherwise connected to our Services.

UPDATING YOUR INFORMATION

You can correct or update certain information gathered about you through our Services by reaching out to us at the email address mentioned in the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy, below. After receiving a request from you, we will take reasonable steps to update or correct your information.

POLICY CHANGES

We reserve the right to modify our privacy practices and update and make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time and without prior notice. If we make any changes, we will change the “Last Updated” date above and post the new Privacy Policy here. You should regularly review this Privacy Policy for any changes. If we make significant changes, we will notify you by email or by posting a notice on this website before the effective date of the change.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at privacy@caninecolumn.com.