PRIVACY POLICY
READ BEFORE DISCLOSING INFORMATION Last Updated on: December 15, 2011
- Ganz is committed to protecting personal information of its Website users and clients.
- This policy applies to all information that identifies a particular individual.
- By continued use of the Website or clicking “I agree” you consent to the collection and processing of your and/or your child’s personal information.
- Personal information will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the form of consent required by law.
- We may gather non-personal information for analytical purposes by means of cookies, beacons and other technology.
- Ad companies collect anonymous data. You can opt out.
- We don’t collect personal information from children under 13.
- Use of personal information is limited.
- We take steps to protect personal information.
- We keep personal information for a reasonable period of time only.
- Parents are urged to supervise their children’s activities online.
- Protect your personal information from disclosure on social communication networks.
- We provide links to third party websites only as a convenience. Make sure to review their privacy policies.
- You have control over your personal information.
- You can ask privacy questions.
- The Privacy Policy may change. Review frequently.
Ganz is committed to protecting personal information of its Website users and clients.
Ganz, an Ontario partnership, together with its successors and assigns, is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of personal information entrusted to us.
We comply with applicable laws regarding collection of information from children, including the United States’ Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and the EU Data Privacy Directive. These and other applicable laws have special requirements regarding notification to parents and legal guardians (either of which is called a “parent” in this Privacy Policy) of what personal information is being collected from their child and how that information is used and shared. We also adhere to the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising.
When you provide us with your or your child’s personal information, you acknowledge that the information will be stored and processed on servers located in Canada. In the future, our business may require that we contract with service providers outside Canada to carry out certain functions on our behalf such as data back-up or storage. In such situations, such service providers will be contractually obliged not to disclose your and/or your child’s personal information except where authorized to do so by law or by Ganz. Should a need to transfer your and/or your child’s personal information arise, we will ensure that the selected service providers meet our privacy standards before we enter into contracts with them. We will also require them to secure and maintain confidentiality over your information.
This policy applies to all information that identifies a particular individual.
This Privacy Policy is applicable to personally identifiable information (“PII”) of all users collected, stored or distributed through the website or mobile game, on which it is posted (collectively and individually, “Website”). When this Privacy Policy uses the term “PII”, we mean information that identifies a particular individual. When certain other non-identifiable information is directly associated with PII, this other information also becomes PII for purposes of this Privacy Policy. Some jurisdictions may call personally identifiable information “personal data” or “personally identifying information,” and may include opinions about or related to a user within the definition of PII. We sometimes refer to PII in this Privacy Policy as “personal information.”
Ganz collects personal information that is voluntarily provided by you when you order a product, enter promotions such as sweepstakes or skill contests, answer our polls or surveys, register as a member on the Website, sign up for additional services on the Website, or communicate with us by mail, telephone or electronically. The type of information we collect and maintain may include your name, mailing address, email address, telephone number, gender, date of birth, purchase history, credit card number, chat room communications, complaints you may have about our products or services, a record of promotions offered to you, your Ganz product preferences.
By continued use of the Website or clicking “I agree” you consent to the collection and processing of your and/or your child’s personal information.
By continued use of the Website and/or clicking the “I agree” button below, you signify your consent to the collection and processing of both your personal information and your child’s user account information, and any resulting correlation of such information, as set forth in this Privacy Policy.
Personal information will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the form of consent required by law.
We reserve the right to collect, use, and disclose your and/or your child’s personal information without consent where required or permitted by law. Otherwise, personal information will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the form of consent required by applicable law and its use will be limited to the objectives for which it was collected as described herein. The form of your consent can vary from implied consent to express consent, depending on the circumstances and sensitivity of the information collected. We will rely on implied consent when we can reasonably conclude that you have given your consent by your action (e.g. by giving us your name and contact information so that we may send you the items ordered) or inaction (e.g. by not exercising an ability to opt-out). This Privacy Policy identifies the purposes for which your personal information is collected, used and disclosed. Additional consent will be obtained from you should we wish to use or disclose your personal information for any additional purpose.
We may gather non-personal information for analytical purposes by means of cookies, beacons and other technology.
To help us better understand our markets, we may gather non-personal information for analytical purposes on an anonymous, aggregate basis. This information is not kept, used or disclosed at the individual level, but may be disclosed to third parties on an anonymous, aggregate basis. We may collect such information through unique identifiers such as cookies (which may be HTML files, Flash files, or other technology), web beacons, or similar technologies for routine system administration purposes, to make our Websites more interesting and useful to you, or to manage content delivery. For instance,
- We use technology to track traffic patterns on the Website. Once you have logged into the Website, we track your activities by using logs of database transactions and server interactions. We also use this information to understand which areas of our Websites are most appealing or least appealing or to deliver content that is specific to your country or area of residence;
- We use cookies, small text files stored on your hard drive, not our Website, which allow you to store your password without having to constantly re-enter it. Cookies also help us to tailor messages that better match your needs and interests, and they allow us to better understand how users in general use our sites, which in turn helps us to focus our resources on features that are most popular with our users. Please note that Flash cookies operate differently than browser cookies and cookie management tools available in a web browser will not remove Flash cookies. To learn more about and manage Flash cookies, visit www.adobe.com and make changes at the privacy setting panel. You are always free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, but some parts of our sites may not work properly if you do.
We do not collect, use or disclose your personal information to third parties for online behavioral advertising purposes.
Ad companies collect anonymous data. You can opt out.
From time to time, we may use third-party advertising service provider to serve ads on the Website. These companies may use cookie-based ad serving technology for the purpose of (i) ad delivery and reporting; and (ii) re-targeting and/or online advanced targeting. Furthermore, to monitor usage or transfer of content to another site or location and to collect advertising metrics, such third parties may include in the content web beacons or clear GIFs. Clear GIFs (a.k.a. web bugs, beacons or tags) are small graphic images placed on a web page, web-based document, or in an e-mail message. Clear GIFs are invisible to the user because they are typically very small and the same colour as the background of the web page, document or e-mail message. Because your web browser must request such content from the third parties’ servers, such third parties can track your usage, or set their own cookies, just as if you had requested a web page from their site.
Although the third-party advertising service providers may not have access to tracking technologies set by Ganz, or any of your personal information collected on the Website, they may themselves set and access their own tracking technologies and/or they may otherwise have access to information about you. The use of such technology by these third parties is within their control and not ours. Even if Ganz has a relationship with the third party, it does not control its sites or policies and practices regarding your information.
This Privacy Policy does not cover any use of information that third-party advertising service providers or advertisers may collect from you. We encourage you to investigate and ask questions directly of them in this regard. If you would like more information about the practices used by third-party advertising service providers and advertisers and to know your choices about not having the information gathered used by these companies, visit http://networkadvertising.org.
We don’t collect personal information from children under 13.
Some of the Websites operated by Ganz are not intended for children under the age of 13 and we do not knowingly collect information from children under this age on the Website.
For those Websites which may appeal directly to children under the age of 13, we incorporate into this Privacy Policy additional children’s privacy provisions. When your child is asked to provide personal information, we will first collect your (the parent’s) email address and use this information to contact you (the parent) by email to notify you that your child wishes to provide personally identifiable information to us, describe the purposes for which the personal information is collected, and provide you with an opportunity to consent to such disclosure of personal information.
We will collect no more personal information from your child than is reasonably necessary for your child to participate in an online activity.
- Registration. During the registration process, the child may be asked to set up a user name and password. Your child should not use any personally identifiable information as his or her user name, as this user name may be visible to others on the Website.
- Surveys and Feedback: We may collect aggregate information in connection with surveys or other online activities that allow your child to give us feedback. We do not collect any personally identifiable information in connection with surveys or feedback requests, nor is the information provided connected to any personally identifiable information we may have about the child.
- Site Management: We may collect information through technology (such as logging IP addresses) for routine system administration purposes, to make our Website more interesting and useful to you and your child, or to manage content delivery. For instance, we collect IP addresses and use technology to track traffic patterns on the site. Once your child has logged into the website, we track your child’s activities by using logs of database transactions and server interactions. We also use this information to understand which areas of our website are most appealing or least appealing and to deliver content that is specific to your country or area of residence. Our site may also use cookies, which are pieces of information that a website sends to your child’s computer while he or she is viewing the website. Cookies provide information to the site so that the site will remember the user. These technical methods may involve the transmission of information either directly to us or to our third party service providers who are subject to the protections described in this Privacy Policy. None of the information collected through these methods is connected to or associated with any other information about your child.
- Email Communication from You: If your child contacts us by email or enters an email address when participating in a contest, we use the email address (which is personally identifiable information) only to respond to your child’s specific request or question or to notify them of their winning the contest, after which the address is deleted.
- Mail Communication from You: If your child wants to contact us by mail, and our site provides a submission form for such communication, you may do so using such submission form. The submission form may ask for your child’s user name and name of his or her game character, and your (the parent’s) name and signature.
- Chatting on the Site. When using scripted chat services on any of the Websites, members select pre-constructed messages from chat menus. Members CANNOT type in their own messages, and no personal information can be disclosed. Parental consent is not required for scripted chat. In the restricted chat area, messages are limited to words from our restricted dictionary, which attempts to exclude all numbers, common proper names and place names, and other personal information. If your child under the age of 13 requests access to the restricted chat area, he or she will be prompted to disclose your email address which we will use for the purpose of providing notice to you and requesting parental consent as required under applicable law. On some Websites, we may offer unrestricted chat – such chat is suitable to adults but is not recommended for children.
- Safety and Security: We may collect your child’s first name and email address and your email address where necessary for your child’s safety. We may also collect your child’s name and email address for the limited purposes of protecting the security and integrity of the site, taking precautions against liability, responding to the judicial process, or for law enforcement on a matter related to public safety.
Use of personal information is limited.
Ganz collects personal information for the following reasons:
- To provide you with the products or services you have requested, including processing your payment;
- To better understand you, to allow us to serve you better through enhanced products, customer service and directed promotional efforts of particular interest;
- To properly investigate and respond to any complaints, questions or concerns you may have about our products or services; and
- To determine your eligibility for our products and services.
If you opt in to receive offers, promotions or other information from Ganz, your information will be used to provide you with promotional offers for Ganz products that we believe may interest you and to solicit your opinion on our products and services. If you have opted in to receive these offers, we may also use your personal information to ensure that your contact information is accurate and up to date. Ganz does not collect, use or disclose your personal information for online behavioral advertising purposes.
Please note that certain information is required by Ganz to process payment and fulfill orders that you may place through a Website, and if you withdraw your consent to the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information for these purposes, Ganz will not be able to fulfill your orders.
Ganz may share your and/or your child’s personal information with the other members of the Ganz corporate group, and their respective successors and assigns, but only to the extent required to fulfill the purposes identified in this Privacy Policy. You may request that Ganz not share your and/or your child’s personal information with any of the other members of the Ganz corporate group by contacting us as described below. In addition to this inter-corporate sharing, Ganz may disclose personal information to third parties as follows:
- To Third Parties To Perform Processing and Other Specialized Services: At times, Ganz may use outside organizations to perform specialized services such as, but not limited to, contest management or payment processing. These service providers are only given the information needed to perform those services and they are bound contractually to protect the confidentiality, privacy and security of your information and to limit the use of your information to the service being provided.
- To Third Parties in the Event of Legal Reasons: We advise you that we may disclose personal information to the government or other legal or regulatory authorities (i) if so ordered by a court of law or (ii) for other legal reasons, such as (a) to comply with legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order; (b) to protect the company’s rights and property; (c) to investigate reports of fraud or of users sending material using a false email address or users sending harassing, threatening, or abusive messages; (d) to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our Website; or (e) in emergencies, such as when we believe someone’s physical safety is at risk. In some cases, disclosure may be required by law to be without notice to you.
- To a Third Party in the Event of a Significant Transaction or Other Event: In the case of any significant transaction or event involving Ganz or any of its related entities or divisions such as, by way of example, a sale, merger, amalgamation, financing, re-organization, liquidation, or insolvency, other parties to the transaction and their professional advisors may need to have access to Ganz’s customer lists and various databases as part of the due diligence process. In this event, Ganz would only provide such access under terms of a strict confidentiality agreement. Also, upon completion of the transaction or event, your personal information would be transferred to Ganz’s successor-in-interest to be used only for the purposes for which it was collected.
We take steps to protect personal information.
Ganz has implemented physical, electronic and administrative measures to protect your information from error, loss or unauthorized access. For example, we use industry-standard efforts, such as passwords, firewalls and Secure Socket Layers, to safeguard the confidentiality of your personal information contained on our computer systems. In addition, our employees and any third parties we use are contractually bound to protect the confidentiality of your information and access is restricted to those with a need to know the information to carry out the identified purpose.
We keep personal information for a reasonable period of time only.
We keep your information for a period reasonably necessary to meet the purposes for which it was collected or to comply with any legal requirements, including statutory retention periods. When your personal information is no longer required for a specific purpose or legal requirement, it will be erased from our records.
Parents are urged to supervise their children’s activities online.
Ganz urges all parents and legal guardians to supervise their children’s exploration of the Internet and any online services, and to teach their children about protecting their personal information online. If you reside in the United States, we encourage you to visit http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec08.shtm for more information about COPPA and children’s privacy.
If you are a parent or legal guardian and will be purchasing licenses for codes to Website-related products or services and sending the purchased codes to your child, please be advised that such activity may correlate your child’s Website user account information to your personal information obtained during the purchase process. Although Ganz does not generally correlate this data, in rare circumstances this may be necessary to assist with your use of the Website, a service or otherwise. In compliance with applicable laws we must inform you of the possible correlation and obtain your consent to such correlation should it occur.
Protect your personal information from disclosure on social communication networks.
Please note that in online chat rooms and public user profiles, on message boards or in similar forums on the Website there is no expectation of privacy or confidentiality. Any personal information that you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users. Ganz is not responsible for personal information you choose to submit in these forums.
We provide links to third party websites only as a convenience. Make sure to review their privacy policies.
Users may, through hypertext or other computer “links,” gain access to other websites on the Internet which are not operated by Ganz. Ganz is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Ganz of the website linked to. GANZ ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY MATERIAL OUTSIDE OF THE WEBSITES OPERATED BY GANZ AND ITS AFFILIATES, INCLUDING ANY WEBSITES WHICH MAY BE ACCESSED THROUGH A LINK ON A GANZ OPERATED WEBSITE. Unless otherwise indicated on the Website, Ganz is not sponsored by or affiliated with the linked websites, and trademarks used in connection with the linked websites are not trademarks of Ganz. Ganz specifically disclaims responsibility for any inadvertent viewing by anyone under the applicable age of majority of any material intended for adults on a website accessed through a linked website. While Ganz may provide links from this Website to other websites owned and/or operated by Ganz or unaffiliated third parties, such sites are not part of this Website, and each is governed by a different set of terms. In addition, to the extent such linked websites are not owned or operated by Ganz or its affiliates, these sites also have different policies with respect to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information. Make sure to review their privacy policies.
You have control over your personal information.
You have control over how we collect, use and disclose your personal information. Any comments, questions or changes regarding the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information shall be directed to Ganz.
You may choose not to receive email from us, even after granting permission, by unsubscribing. Instructions on how to unsubscribe from emails that are not related to processing of your transactions with us are included in each such email.
A request of a copy of the personal information we keep about you, depending on the laws of your country, must be made in writing giving details with which Ganz can identify you. Information will be furnished in accordance with applicable law.
Personal information provided by email may not be secure, and by requesting a copy of your child’s personal information, you assume the risks associated with the email transmission of our reply. In the event that Ganz may, consistent with applicable law, decline to provide you or your parent or guardian with the information requested, and we choose to so decline, we will provide the reason why.
You can ask privacy questions.
If you have any questions or comments about Ganz’s Privacy Policy, want to advise us how you would like your and/or your child’s personal information not to be used or disclosed, or would like to access or update your personal information, please contact us at privacyofficer@ganz.com from your (parent’s) email. You can also write to Privacy Officer, Ganz, One Pearce Road, Woodbridge, Ontario, L4L 3T2, Canada; facsimile: 905-851-7427.
The Privacy Policy may change. Review frequently.
This Privacy Policy outlines the information usage practices of Ganz. By accessing, browsing or using this Website or by submitting your and/or your child’s personal information to Ganz, you signify your agreement to the terms and conditions of this policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not submit personal information to us. If at some point in the future, there is a material change to our information usage practices that affects your personal information, you will be notified of such change by a conspicuous posting on the Websites and will be prompted to elect whether or not you agree to the change. Depending on the changes made, you may be unable to utilize a Ganz service or Website if you choose not to agree to a modification to this Privacy Policy. If any future change affects our payment processing and order fulfillment functions, if you withhold your consent, we may not be able to continue to process payments or fulfill orders from you. Your acceptance of a revised policy, which may be communicated by clicking to indicate your consent for the continued provision of your personal information to Ganz following the effective date of any changes to this Privacy Policy shall mean that you have accepted those changes, subject to your continuing right to notify us at any time as to how you would like us to treat your personal information.