Privacy Policy

Date of Last Revision: June 20, 2023

The FoodStory Brands affiliated websites (“FoodStory Brands”, “we”, “us”, and “our”) takes the privacy of those visiting our websites (“you”) very seriously.  We provide this Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) because you have the right to know what information we collect, how it is protected and used, and the circumstances under which it may be disclosed.  This Policy describes our use and sharing of personally identifiable information, which includes your full name, email address, mailing address, or telephone number (“PII”) that you may voluntarily provide to us if and when you register for certain services.  The term “User” refers to visitors and to those who register for certain services.  This Policy applies to the services offered by us on our websites, including any FoodStory-branded website, foodstorybrands.com. The FoodStory Brands website (foodstorybrands.com), any other website that posts this Policy (collectively, the “Website”), and any other features, content, or applications offered from time to time by us in connection with the Website (collectively, the “Services”).

 

I. Personally Identifiable and Other Information We Collect

We collect information from Users of the Website.

A. Information About Our Users

The minimum age to register for the Services is 13 years old.  We do not knowingly collect PII from children under the age of 13.  Children under the age of 13 should not provide any information on the Website.  We ask that parents supervise their children while the children are online.

Users may wish to request information about us or our products, participate in our Services (such as contests, offers, and surveys), or submit suggestions, photos, videos, and other information to us.  In connection with each of those items, you may be asked to provide information that could identify you personally, such as your name, company, title, phone number, email address, mailing address, and/or credit card number.  In addition, if you wish to register for certain Services, download certain information, or upload information like photos and videos, you may be required to provide certain additional information that can identify you personally, such as your member name or user name, your password, contact information, occupation, workplace, interests, age, marital status, education, and children, and other information.  Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any passwords they are given to access our Website and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under their passwords.  Information that you voluntarily provide that is not required by us is provided by you in your sole discretion.

We may supplement the information we collect about you online with outside records from third parties to enhance our ability to serve you, tailor our content to you, and offer you opportunities to purchase products or services that we believe may be of interest to you. We may combine the information we receive from those sources with information we collect through the Website. In those cases, we will apply this Policy to any PII received, unless we have disclosed otherwise.  If you send someone else a communication from the Website, such as sending an article to a friend, we use the information you provide (typically, names and e-mail addresses) on a one-time basis to facilitate the communication and we do not use it for any other marketing purpose unless we obtain consent from that person.

B. Aggregated Data

We compile anonymous, aggregated statistics from Users for a variety of internal and marketing purposes.  Such purposes include benchmarking, determining appropriate levels of hardware, determining the number of employees that will be needed to provide the Services to our Users, and reporting the number of Users and/or websites that use the Services.  This anonymous, aggregated data is not used in any way that can identify an individual person or User.

 

C. Website Viewing Information

 

1. Cookies

We use cookies to make the Website easier to use and more useful.  When you visit the Website our servers send a cookie to your computer.  By themselves, cookies do not personally identify you, but instead simply recognize the web browser you are using.  If you do not otherwise affirmatively provide PII about yourself to us, either by, for example, registering with us, responding to a promotional offer, or filling out a form, you will remain anonymous to us.

There are two types of cookies: session and persistent.  Session cookies disappear from your computer when you close your web browser or turn off your computer.  Persistent cookies remain on your computer after you close your browser or turn off your computer.  You can remove persistent cookies by following the directions provided in your Internet browser’s “help” file.  If you have chosen to identify yourself to us then we use session cookies containing encrypted information to allow us to uniquely identify you.

We use persistent cookies that only we can read and use to identify browsers that have previously visited the Website.  When a User provides us with PII, a unique identifier is assigned to them.  This unique identifier is associated with a persistent cookie that we place on the User’s web browser.  We are very careful about the security and confidentiality of the information stored in persistent cookies.  For example, we do not store account numbers or passwords in persistent cookies.  If you disable your web browser’s ability to accept cookies, you will be able to navigate our Web Site, but you will not be able to successfully use certain of the Services.

Some of our business partners (e.g., advertisers) may use cookies on our Website.  We have no access to or control over these cookies.  See “Third Party Advertisers.”

2. Log Files

As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files.  This information does not identify individual users.  Log files include internet protocol (‘IP’) addresses, device (your computer or other device used to access the Website) identifiers browser type, internet service provider, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data.  We use this information to analyze trends, to administer the Website, to see how users move around the Website, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole.  We do not link this automatically-collected data to PII.  Whenever we associate non-personally identifiable information or a device identifier with your Personal Information, we will treat it as Personal Information. We collect certain anonymous information from your visit to the Website via industry standard and commercially available web analytics solutions.

3. Clear Gifs (Web Beacons) and Embedded Scripts

We use clear gifs (a.k.a. web beacons) that help us better manage content on the Website by informing us what content is effective.  Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of web users.  In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user’s computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on web pages and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence.  We do not tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers’ PII.  We use clear gifs in our HTML-based emails to let us know which emails have been opened by recipients.  This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.  If you would like to opt out of these emails, please see “Choice and Opt-Out.”

Third-party applications (such as widgets) created by third-party developers may also be available on the Website.  Third-party applications are small bits of software, often with interactivity, that can be installed into Users’ profiles or shared with other Users.  However, we do not control the third-party developers, and cannot dictate their actions.  When a User engages with a third-party application, that User is interacting with the third-party developer, not with us.  We encourage Users not to provide PII to the third party’s application unless the User knows the party with whom it is interacting.  

An embedded script is programming code that is designed to collect information about your interactions with the Website, such as the links you click on. The code is temporarily downloaded onto your computer or device from our web server or a third-party service provider is active only while you are connected to the Website, and is deactivated or deleted thereafter.

II. Use of Information Collected

We use the information you provide to us to give you access to the information you request and to perform the Services; to enable you to participate in a variety of the Website’s features such as online entry sweepstakes and message boards; to improve the Website or our Services; to customize your experience on the Website or to provide you with specific content that is most relevant to you; to contact you with regard to your use of the Website; for internal business purposes; and, for purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information or as otherwise set forth in this Policy.  We may also use the information that you provide to us to contact you to further discuss your interest in our company and our Services, and to send information regarding our company or partners (such as marketing promotions and events).  We store any voluntarily provided email we receive for archival purposes and for our own marketing purposes if we feel that it is consistent with the nature of the inquiry.  The information is collected and stored in a manner that is appropriate for the nature of the data that we collect and the need to fulfill your request.   This information is not shared with third parties for their own use unless you specifically authorize such sharing.

When we collect credit card information, the sole purpose of the collection and use of that information is to effect transactions for the sale of products and services.  In some instances, purchases through a Website may not be handled by us but instead be handled by a third party, such as by PayPal, as described in Section III.B. below.

We may in the future allow Users to browse for certain non-PII information to help connect with other Users (e.g., interests).  We may also enable Users to publicly display some PII if they choose to do so.  Search engines may index the portion of a User’s PII that is voluntarily publicly displayed by a User.

If you have consented to receive promotional materials (e.g., newsletters) or notifications from us, we may periodically use your email address to send you such materials related to the Services.  If you want to stop receiving such materials from us you can change your profile settings.  In addition, you can opt out of, or unsubscribe from, reminder e-mails at any time by following the instructions contained in those e-mails.

Non-PII information you provide to us in response to (i) multiple choice questions like “interests;” (ii) information you add to open-ended questions; and, (iii) other non-PII about you, may be used to customize the online ads, special promotions, emails, and other marketing information you encounter to those we believe are aligned with your interests.  For example, based on your interests we might display an advertisement about one of our products or services that you may not be familiar with, or about an event that you may be interested in.  The information used for this feature does not provide your PII or identify you as an individual to third parties.

III. Information Sharing and Disclosure

A. Non-Personally Identifiable and Aggregated Information

As described elsewhere in this Policy, we may customize the advertising and marketing messages you receive on the Website or may work with outside companies to do so.  Your non-PII may be shared with these companies so this customization can be accomplished.  We prohibit these companies from sharing your non-PII with any third party or from using it for any other purpose.  Anonymous clicks, the number of page views calculated by pixel tags and aggregated demographic information may also be shared with our advertisers and business partners.

We may also perform statistical analyses of user behavior and characteristics in order to measure interest in and use of the various areas of the Website.  In addition, we may in the future inform advertisers of such information as well as the number of users that have been exposed to or clicked on their advertising banners.  We will, however, provide only aggregated data from these analyses to third parties.

We do not link aggregate user data with PII.

B.Personally Identifiable Information

We share PII with third parties in particular situations.

We may sometimes permit third parties to offer registration-based services through the Website.  We are not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties and users should check the applicable privacy policy of such parties when providing PII to them.

We may in connection with the Website use the services of third parties (i.e., technology consultants and CRM vendors), who may, in the course of providing services to us, be given access to the information you have provided to us. Each of these service providers is contractually obligated to provide services to us in a manner consistent with this Policy.

Our employees, agents, and contractors must have a business reason to obtain access to your PII.  We may share your PII with those who help us manage or provide the Services (e.g., message board administration, statistical analyses, data processing, and order fulfillment), or with outside contractors, agents or sponsors who help us with the administration, judging and prize fulfillment aspects of contests and promotions.

These outside contractors or agents may temporarily store some information on their servers, but they may only use your PII to provide us with a specific service and not for any other purpose.  We may also provide your PII to a third party in those instances where you have chosen to receive certain information and have been notified that the fulfillment of such a request requires the sharing of your PII.  We also may share your PII with companies that are affiliated with us if we have a business reason to do so.

If in the future we intend to share personally identifiable information with third parties acting other than as our agents or service providers, we will provide you with the opportunity to opt out prior to the sharing.

The information gathering and order processing for a Website may be handled by a third-party vendor, such as PayPal. They also guarantee not to share your personal information, and their credit transactions are handled with industry-standard SSL encryption to protect your information.

C. Agents and Service Providers

We use a credit card processing company when necessary to bill for products and services.  This company does not retain, share, store or use PII for any other purposes.

We use other third parties to provide shopping services and to assist with providing a community environment/social network, on our Website.  When you sign up for the Services we will share the PII that is necessary for the third party to provide the Services.

These third parties are prohibited from using your PII for any other purpose.

D. Law Enforcement and Assignment

We reserve the right to disclose your PII pursuant to a subpoena or other judicial or administrative order, when required by law, when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, the rights of our affiliated companies, the rights or safety of any individual or the public, and rights of our Users or any third party.  In addition, if we sell all or part of our business, make a sale or transfer of all or a material part of our assets, or are otherwise involved in a merger or transfer of all or a material part of our business, we may transfer your PII to the party or parties involved in the transaction as part of that transaction.

E.Co-branded Areas

Certain areas of the Website may be provided to you in association with third parties (“Co-Branded Areas”) and may require you to disclose PII to register for and access products and/or services. Such Co-Branded Areas will identify the third-party associates. If you elect to register for products and/or services at Co-Branded Areas you may be providing your information to both us and the third-party associates. Moreover, if you sign in to a Co-Branded Area with a username and password obtained on the Website, your Personal Information may be disclosed to the identified third-party associates for that Co-Branded Area and will be subject to the posted privacy policies.

F. Sweepstakes, Contests, and Promotions

We may offer sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions (together, a “Promotion”) through the Website that may require registration. By participating in a Promotion, you are agreeing to the terms, conditions or official rules that govern that Promotion, which may contain specific requirements of you, including, except where prohibited by law, allowing the sponsor(s) of the Promotion to use your name, voice and/or likeness in advertising or marketing associated with the Promotion. If you choose to enter a Promotion, PII may be disclosed to third parties or the public in connection with the administration of such Promotion, including, without limitation, in connection with winner selection, prize fulfillment, and as required by law or permitted by the Promotion’s official rules, such as on a winners list.

G. Your Created Content, Social Networking, and Public Information

The Website may permit you to submit writings, video, audio, graphics, photographs, pictures, information, questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, or other content, including PII (collectively, “Your Created Content”).  Your Created Content may be published online or offline in any media or format (currently existing or hereafter developed).  Others may have access to Your Created Content and may have the ability to share it with third parties. You may have the opportunity to engage in social networking through the Website, such as creating a public profile, sharing Your Created Content, and inviting others to connect with you.  We do not control who will have access to the information that you choose to make public and cannot ensure that parties who have access to such publicly available information will respect your privacy or keep it secure. This Policy does not apply to any information that you disclose publicly, share with others, or otherwise upload onto the Website. We are not responsible for the accuracy, use, or misuse of any content or information that you disclose or receive through the Website.

H. Name and Likeness

We may publish your name, voice, likeness, and other PII that is part of Your Created Content (or any portion of the content), and we may use the content, or any portion of the content, for advertising, marketing, publicity, and promotional activities. For full terms and conditions regarding Your Created Content that you submit to the Website, please review our Website’s Terms of Use.

 

I. Storage and Transfer of Information

The Website is operated in the United States and intended for users located in the United States. If you are located in the European Union, Canada, or anywhere else outside of the United States, please note that information we collect, including, without limitation, PII, will be transferred to, processed, and stored in the United States. The data protection laws in the United States may differ from those of the country in which you are located, and your PII may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement in the United States according to the laws of the United States. By using the Website or providing us with any information, you consent to this transfer, processing, and storage of your information in the United States. Please be aware that any information you provide to us or we obtain as a result of your use of the Website that is shared with our affiliates or vendors may be transferred to, processed, and stored at locations outside of the United States if those affiliates or vendors are located outside of the United States. Any information processed, transferred, or stored by affiliates or vendors that are located outside of the United States will be subject to applicable privacy laws in the country in which such affiliates or vendors are located. By using or providing your information to the Website you consent to the collection, transfer, storage, and processing of your information in this manner.

IV. Choice and Opt-Out

In certain instances, we provide you the opportunity to “opt out” of having your PII used for certain purposes when we ask for this information.  For example, if you sign up for the Services but do not wish to receive any additional marketing material from us, you can so indicate your preferences in your Profile.

If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications, you may opt out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each communication.  You may also update your profile on the sites that contain a profile and change your newsletter and promotional communications preferences.

You will be notified when your personal information is proposed to be collected by any third party that is not our agent or service provider, so you can make an informed choice as to whether or not to share your information with that party.

V. Changing Your Information

Users and Customers may update or change their PII by editing their profile through a registration form or otherwise.  We will make good faith efforts to make requested changes in our then active databases as soon as reasonably practicable. You may cancel or modify your communications such as newsletters that you have elected to receive from the Website by following the instructions contained within an e-mail or by logging into your user account and changing your communication preferences.

VI. Third Party Advertisers and Analytics Service Providers

The Website may use third parties such as network advertisers to serve advertisements on the Website and may use third-party analytics service providers to evaluate and provide us with information about the use of the Website and viewing of our content. Network advertisers are third parties that display advertisements based on your visits to the Website and other websites you have visited. The Site Website’s third-party ad network providers, the advertisers, the sponsors, and/or traffic measurement services may themselves set and access their own cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies on the device you use to access the Website and track certain behavioral information regarding users of your device through a device identifier.  These third-party cookies, web beacons and other tracking technologies are set to, among other things: help deliver advertisements to you that you might be interested in; prevent you from seeing the same advertisements too many times; and understand the usefulness to you of the advertisements that have been delivered to you. Any images (or any other parts of a web page) delivered by third parties in association with third-party cookies may serve as web beacons, which enable third parties to carry out the previously described activities. Third party cookies and web beacons are governed by each third party’s specific privacy policy, not this one.

VII Security

The security of your PII is important to us.  When you enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number) on our registration or order forms, we encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (“SSL”).

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the PII submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it.  No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however.  Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

VIII. Links to and Content From Other Sites

Our Web site may contain links to and content from other websites, and those third parties may collect web site usage information and information that identifies the computer or device you are using when web pages from the Website are sent to your browser.  We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of non-FoodStory entity-affiliated websites.  Non-FoodStory brand entity-affiliated linked websites are not under our control and we are not responsible for the contents of any such linked sites, any link contained in such linked sites, or any changes or updates to such sites.  We are not responsible for any transmission received from any non-FoodStory entity-affiliated websites including any webcasting or other method of transmission.  Links to non-FoodStory entity-affiliated websites are provided only as a convenience.  We do not endorse any link made available through our Web Site that is not a FoodStory entity-affiliated website.  We encourage all users of our Web Site to read the privacy policies of each and every website visited when linking directly from our Website.

This Policy applies only to information collected by the Website.

IX. Public Areas of the Web Site/Bulletin Boards/Chat Rooms

If you use a public area of the Web Site or a bulletin board or chat room on the Web Site, you should be aware that any PII you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users of these forums, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages.  We are not responsible for the PII you choose to submit in these forums.

In addition, if you provide to us directly, or you choose to post on the portions of the Web Site that are viewable by others, any comments, ideas, or suggestions that are accompanied by your name (which is PII), or your first name and your last name initial, we may use both your comments, ideas, and suggestions, and your name, for our marketing purposes without compensation or acknowledgment of any kind.

X. Changes in this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Policy at any time, so please review it frequently.  If we make material changes to this Policy, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our homepage.  Your continued use of the Web Site after we post a revised Policy constitutes your acceptance of the new Policy and its terms.  If, however, we materially change our practices regarding the collection or use of your PII, your PII will continue to be governed by the Policy that was in place at the time you provided the PII unless we provide notice to you of the changes in the Policy and you do not object to the change.

XI. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at the address below.

FoodStory Brands
Email: info@foodstorybrands.com