Volition Tea — Privacy Policy
Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at Volition Tea. We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our practices to your personal information, please contact us at hello@volitiontea.com.
I. Scope of this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy describes the types of personal information collected, used and disclosed by Volition Tea LLC (“Volition Tea,” “us,” “we” or “our”) when you access or use the websites or mobile applications provided by us (collectively, the “Sites”). This Privacy Policy does not govern our collection of personal information through any website, mobile application, blog or other means, other than through the Sites.
By using the Sites, you explicitly accept, without limitation or qualification, our practices surrounding the collection, use, and sharing of personal information provided by you in the manner described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not access, browse, or use the Sites.
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy whenever you use or access the Sites to stay informed about our personal information practices and the ways you can help protect your privacy.
II. Personal Information We Collect
A. Information You Give Us
We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information when you register for a Volition Tea account, purchase tea or products made available through the Sites (collectively, the “Products”), or otherwise communicate with us.
The types of personal information we may collect from you may include:
Account Information: When you create an account on the Sites, you are required to provide information such as your name, e-mail address, mailing address, and telephone number. You may also be asked to provide a username and password.
We will use the information we receive only for the purposes that are described in this privacy policy or that are otherwise made clear to you on the relevant Website.
Payment Information: We may collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is stored by Stripe. You may find their privacy policy link here: https://stripe.com/privacy
Additional Information: Additional information that you provide to us, including through comments and feedback, messages, emails, posts to public discussion boards, or answers to surveys or questionnaires that you may submit.
B. Automated Information Collection
We may collect certain information about your use of the Sites through the use of tracking technologies or by other passive means. This “passively collected” information includes, but is not limited to, the domain name of the website that allowed you to navigate to the Sites, search engines used, the internet protocol (IP) address used, the length of time spent on the Sites, the pages you looked at on the Sites, other websites you visited before and after visiting the Sites, the type of internet browser you have, the frequency of your visits to the Sites, and other relevant statistics, including the following:
Log Information: When you access the Sites, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website. These server logs may include information such as your web request, IP address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request, your computer operating system, mobile device and mobile operating system, name of your internet service provider or your mobile carrier, and one or more cookies (small text files containing a string of characters) that may uniquely identify your browser
IP Address: IP address can reveal a web user’s general location (city, state, country).
Links: The Sites may include links in a format that enables us to keep track of whether these links have been followed by IP addresses. We use this information to improve the quality of our products and design.
URLs: When you visit or access the Sites, we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave the Sites. Additionally, advertisers receive the URL of the page you were on when you click on an ad on the Sites.
Cookies: When you visit or access the Sites, we send one or more cookies (small text files containing a string of characters) to your computer that uniquely identifies your browser. We use cookies to improve the quality of the Sites by storing user preferences and tracking user trends. Most web browsers accept cookies automatically, but can be configured not to do so or to notify the user when a cookie is being sent. If you wish to disable cookies, refer to your browser help menu to learn how to disable cookies. Please note that if you disable cookies, you may not be able to use some customized features available through the Sites.
Web Beacons: Web beacons (also known as “pixel tags” or “clear GIFs”) are 1×1 single-pixel graphics that allow us to count the number of users who have visited or accessed the Sites and to recognize users by accessing our cookies. We may employ web beacons to facilitate Sites administration and navigation, to track the actions of users of the Sites, to compile aggregate statistics about Sites usage and response rates, and to provide an enhanced online experience for visitors to the Sites. We may also include web beacons in HTML-formatted e-mail messages that we send to determine which e-mail messages were opened.
Aggregate Information: We may compile certain personal information and other information collected through the Sites on an aggregate basis. This information may include, without limitation, the number of people who have visited the Sites and other user demographics. Such aggregate information does not identify you individually.
III. How We Use Personal Information
Personal information collected through the Sites may be used by us for purposes of:
Fulfilling your orders and providing any other services you select through the Sites;
Responding to your questions and feedback;
Contacting you, whether by email, postal mail, or telephone with information about the Sites, our products, or our services;
For such purposes as you may authorize at the time you submit the information;
Auditing, research, and analysis to maintain, protect, and improve the Sites and our services;
Ensuring the technical functions of our network;
Improving and customizing the content and layout of the Sites;
Developing new products and services; or
Compiling personal information and other information collected through the Sites on an aggregate basis.
Posting testimonials on our Sites that may contain personal information. Prior to posting a testimonial, we will obtain your consent to use your name and the content of the testimonial. If you wish to update, or delete your testimonial, please let us know when we reach out to you for consent.
IV. Personal Information We Share
We do not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise share personal information collected through the Sites, except as described below:
In Connection with our Offerings. We may share certain personal information collected through the Site with (i) other users of the Site, and (ii) as you otherwise provide your consent. Information which you upload, post, e-mail, submit or otherwise transmit in connection with the Site to a public message board, chat area or other public area of the Site will be made public to users of the Site, including certain metadata related to such activities (such as timestamps). You are solely responsible for any such information you choose to post on or through the Site. All information that is posted to a message board, chat area, or other public area of the Site may be shared by us with others.
Service Providers. We work with third parties that provide services on our behalf. Such services may include payment authorization, shipping services, customer support, third-party equipment services, website hosting, marketing, and website usage analytics. We may share personal information and non-personal information with these third parties for the purpose of enabling them to provide these services. We do not bear any responsibility for any actions or policies of such third parties.
Consent. We may share personal information in accordance with any consent you provide.
Required by Law. We may disclose personal information or any information collected through the Sites if we are required to do so by law or pursuant to legal process, in response to a request from government officials or law enforcement authorities, or as necessary or appropriate in connection with an investigation of illegal activity.
Internet-Based Advertising and Content. We may participate in Interest-based and behavioral advertising. This means that you may see advertising or content on the Site tailored to how you engage, browse or shop, or you may see advertising for us on other websites, applications and social media based on your behavior across websites, applications and social media. We may target ads or content based on data we have collected, or data provided by third parties alone or in combination with the data we collect ourselves. If you choose to interact with specific third parties who advertise through the Site, the information you provide to them is subject to the conditions of their specific privacy policies. In connection with the foregoing activities, third parties, often called “ad servers” or “ad networks,” may place and access cookies, web beacons, or other tracking technology on your device to collect information about your use of the Site and your use of third-party sites. The information about your use of the Site may be combined with information about your use of third-party websites to provide targeted advertisements and content that may be of interest to you (this is known as “behavioral advertising”). The information they collect from the Site may identify you personally, or they may associate it with personal information collected in other ways or received from other third parties. We do not control these third parties or their use of cookies, web beacons, or other tracking technology.
By using the Site you agree to usage tracking and targeted, behavioral advertising. If you do not wish to have cookies track your usage for these purposes please see the Section II.B of this Privacy Policy to refuse all or some browser cookies or do not use the Site.
Some advertisers may provide you with the choice to opt-out of having your information used for behavioral advertising. If you would like more information about behavioral advertising, or for information about how to opt-out of behavioral advertising, please visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) consumer Web site at https://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising, and in particular, NAI’s Ad Network “Opt-Out” page at https://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/. Even if you opt-out of behavioral advertising, we may still collect and use information about your use of the Site to the extent otherwise permitted by this Privacy Policy (such as to analyze Site traffic and usage, conduct website analytics, administer the Site, etc.). In addition, if you opt-out of receiving behavioral advertising from a particular advertiser, the advertiser may still provide advertisements to you, but the ad will not be targeted to you based on your online activities.
V. Aggregate Information
We may compile personal information and other information collected through the Sites on an aggregate basis. This information may include, without limitation, the number of users who have registered for the Sites, demographic information about users of the Sites, and individual purchase preferences. Such aggregate information does not identify you individually. We may use aggregate information and share aggregate information with third parties for any of the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy, and for any other lawful purpose.
VI. Choices
A. Information You Provide
You can always choose whether or not to provide information on the Sites. However, if you choose not to disclose certain information, you may not be able to establish an account on the Sites, which may limit your access to certain functions of the Sites.
B. Communications From Us
If at any time you decide that you no longer wish to receive notices from us regarding the Sites, you may indicate this preference by contacting us at hello@volitiontea.com.
C. Do Not Track
Our Sites do not honor “do not track” signals or other mechanisms. However, as described in more detail in Section II.B of this Privacy Policy, you can configure your browser not to accept cookies or to notify you when a cookie is being sent.
VII. Information Storage and Security
We employ reasonable security precautions to help protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of personal information provided on or through the Sites. However, no method of transmitting or storing data is completely secure. As a result, although we strive to protect personal information about you, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us through or in connection with the Sites. If you have reason to believe that personal information is no longer secure, please notify us immediately by contacting us in accordance with the last section below.
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than the period of time in which users have an account with us.
VIII. A Special Note about Children
Children are not eligible to use the Sites, and we ask that minors (children under the age of 18) not submit any personal information to us. If you are a minor, you can use the Sites only in conjunction with your parents or guardians.
IX. External Links
The Sites may contain links to various websites that we do not control. When you click on one of these links, you will no longer be transacting business through the Sites. Third party websites maintain their own privacy policies, and we do not exercise any control over any of the third party websites that may be linked to the Sites. If you visit a website that is linked to the Sites, you should consult that website’s privacy policy before providing any personal information. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites, and we are not liable for their misuse of personal information about you.
X. Special Admonitions for International Use
The Sites are hosted in the United States and are intended for use by residents of the United States of America only. All matters relating to the Sites are governed exclusively by the laws of the State of Illinois in the United States of America and not the jurisdiction in which you are located. If you are located outside of the United States of America and you contact us, please be advised that any information you provide to us will be transferred to the United States of America and that by submitting information, you explicitly authorize such transfer.
XI. Updates to this Privacy Policy
We may change or update the Sites or any of our policies and procedures in our sole discretion. If we make changes to this Privacy Policy, we will provide notice of such changes, such as by providing notice through the Sites or updating the “Last Updated” date at the bottom of this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Sites signifies your continued assent to the terms of this Privacy Policy, as updated or amended at that time.
XII. Questions Regarding this Privacy Policy
If you have any questions or comments regarding this Privacy Policy, please send us an email at hello@volitiontea.com.
This Privacy Policy is effective as of October 8, 2021.
Last Updated: October 8, 2021