This website (“Chocholik.com”) is owned and operated by Chocholik. Chocholik.com recognizes the importance of maintaining the privacy of our customers (“Customers”), registered members (“Members”) and other website users (collectively “Users”), and we have posted this privacy policy (“Policy”) to describe our practices regarding the collection and use of information gathered through Chocholik.com. We may from time to time update this Policy and invite you to review this page periodically. In the event this Policy changes, we will inform you by posting an updated Policy on this web page. All changes will go into effect on the date that is posted in our Policy. The new Policy will apply to all past and current users of Chocholik.com and will replace any prior Policies.
1. What Information We Collect and How We Use It
Chocholik.com does not collect personally identifiable information from individuals unless they provide it to us voluntarily and knowingly. This means we don’t require Users to register or provide information to us in order to view our site.
If you choose to become a Member, we collect the following information about you: name, address, phone number, email address, username, password, birth date. We also collect the names, addresses, and phone numbers of those persons whom you add to your personal address book as a Member, which is only accessible by using the Member’s log-in information. We use the information you supply for the purpose of providing the services you have requested, and as described in this Policy. In addition, Chocholik.com may from time-to-time contact you via email or regular mail, unless you opt-out by following the instructions in the “opting out” section of this policy.
If you shop with us via Chocholik.com, we collect the following information about you: name, address, phone number, email address, billing information including credit card number and expiration date as well as the names, addresses and phone numbers of gift recipients (if any). We use your name, address, phone number, billing information/credit card information to process your order or otherwise described in this privacy policy.
The email address you provide is used for internal purposes, such as confirming and tracking your order or otherwise as described in this privacy policy. We may also contact you via email or regular mail from time-to-time to keep you up-to-date on the latest Chocholik.com news or to send you our latest catalog. Also, we may rent, share, sell or exchange your email or postal address with third parties that we think may be of interest to you. If you would like to opt out of receiving mailings from Chocholik.com or our third parties, please follow the instructions in the “opting out” section of this policy. Additionally, gift recipients may, from time to time, receive our latest catalog as well as offers from us regarding new products and services that we think may be of interest to them. We allow gift recipients the option to opt out of receiving future marketing related communications from us.
In certain instances we may disclose your personally identifiable information when we have reason to believe that it is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against persons or entities who may be causing injury to you, Chocholik or others. We may also disclose your personally identifiable information when we believe the law requires it. In the event of a merger, consolidation or sale or transfer of all or substantially all of our company or its assets, it is possible that all User information collected by Chocholik.com will be transferred to the purchaser or the new company.
2. Notification of Information Sharing / Third Party Advertising
We may share your personally-identifiable information, including your name, address, email address, as well as a record of any transactions you conduct on our website or offline with us with a third-party advertising partner and its service providers in order to deliver to you banner advertisements and other advertising tailored to your interests when you visit certain websites. Our advertising partner will make the data we provide to it anonymous. To learn more about the use of this information or choose not to have this information used by our third-party advertising partner by opting out please visit the Network Advertising Initiative by clicking here. Since Chocholik does not control these third party cookies, please check the privacy policy of the Internet advertising company or advertiser to see whether and how it uses cookies. Note that if you delete your cookies, use a different browser, or buy a new computer, you will need to renew your opt-out choice.
3. Cookies and Web Beacons
Chocholik.com uses “cookies”. A cookie is a small file that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. We use cookies to help us determine whether a User has visited Chocholik.com before or if they are new User. Cookies also allow Members to save time during checkout in return visits. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but they should also allow you to instruct your browser to prevent the use of cookies. Please note that if you disable cookies certain aspects of Chocholik.com will not function properly, such as the shopping bag. The cookie doesn’t track any personal information about you or provide us with any way to contact you, and the cookie doesn’t extract any information from your computer. Chocholik.com also tracks users with “web beacons”, a commonly used technology. This allows us to anonymously track purchases and other website information. These web beacons may be used to provide data to third parties for tracking purposes. However, no personal information is collected or transferred using web beacons on Chocholik.com.
We also use “web beacons” in our HTML-based emails to let us know which emails have been opened by recipients. This allows us to track the effectiveness of certain communications as well as the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. If you would like to opt-out of these emails, please visit the following URL: https://www.chocholik.com.
We work with a third party service provider to help us better understand how you use Chocholik.com. This third party service provider will place cookies on your computer to collect information. The information this third party service provider collects will tell us things like which search engine referred you to Chocholik.com, how you navigated around Chocholik.com, what you purchased and what traffic is driven by banner ads and emails. This information will help us to better serve you and provide you with more personalized information and product offerings. This third party service provider may only use your personal information to perform services for us and is contractually required to maintain all of the information it collects and analyzes for us securely and in confidence. This third party service provider may not share your personal information with anyone else, or use it for any other purpose, except on an aggregate, non-identifiable basis. For more information, view this third party’s privacy policy.
4. Sweepstakes/Promotions
Chocholik.com sometimes includes notices of sweepstakes or other promotions we are conducting, and we may permit you to enter electronically in some cases. If that occurs, we will use the information you provide for the purpose of conducting the promotion (e.g., to contact you if you’re a winner). In addition, we may participate in internet related promotions sponsored by third parties. In these instances, if you are a participant in such promotions, we may provide certain personally identifiable information to these third parties in furtherance of the promotion. These parties have agreed to hold this information in confidence, not use it for any purpose except to carry out the requested service, and honor Chocholik.com’s privacy and security policies in the way this information is handled.
5. Market Research
From time to time, Chocholik.com may also conduct questionnaires and surveys and we may contact you via email, postal mail or phone. Survey information is treated like all of the information we collect, and it is used to help us improve the appeal of our products and our site.
6. Live Customer Service Assistance
Chocholik.com offers Users live customer service assistance. Users of this service may disclose personally identifiable information to Chocholik.com. This personally identifiable information is used to help facilitate the customer service representative in assisting with the inquiries they receive from the User.
7. Third Parties Service Providers
Chocholik.com sometimes employs other companies and individuals to perform services for us. For example, we hire agencies to help administer consumer promotions, to analyze data, to fulfill orders you place, and to provide customer service. We may share your personally identifiable information with these parties, who have agreed to hold this information in confidence, not use it for any purpose except to carry out the requested service, and honor Chocholik’s privacy and security policies in the way this information is handled.
8. Security
Chocholik.com takes your privacy and security seriously. For this reason we have established security measures including locked doors and files, electronic security and managerial controls that limit the potential for misuse of information by employees, contractors and other third parties.