Photonics USA LLC, (the “Company”) respects your personal privacy and is committed to adhering to federal and state privacy laws and industry guidelines in order to protect you and your identity. This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes how we handle the personal information of users of the Company’s web site (the “Website”). Please be sure to read this entire Privacy Policy before using, submitting, or uploading information and material to the Website.
If you are unwilling to accept the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy, we ask that you do not use the Website. By using the Website, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. When you submit information via the Website, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into and is a part of the Company’s Website Terms of Use.
The Company reserves the right to occasionally update this Privacy Policy. At such time, the Company will also revise the “last updated” date at the end of the Privacy Policy. For material changes to this Privacy Policy, the Company will notify you by placing prominent notice on the Website. We recommend that you periodically review this Privacy Policy.
1. Information the company collects from you
Active information collection
Like many other service providers and web site operators, we actively collect information from our visitors both by asking specific questions through the Website and by permitting you to communicate with us directly via e mail. Some of the information that you submit during the registration process may be personally identifiable (that is, information that can be uniquely identified with you, such as your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, etc.). Also, if the Company sells products directly through the Website, when you place an order, you may be required to provide financial information.
When you use the Website, we will not collect any personally identifiable information about you unless you provide it to us voluntarily. During the registration process you will be asked for both personal and demographic information, most of which is required in order to complete the registration. We will inform you which information is optional. If you opt not to register with the Website, you can still visit the Website, but you will not be able to post messages on the forums or chat areas or make a purchase. We also collect personal information when you enter into any promotions, sign up for newsletters and other e-mails or participate in any of our polls.
For purposes such as improving personalization of our services, we may receive information about you from other sources. Like the information you provide to us, we do not share this information with anyone except authorized third parties in connection with providing you with our services.
Passive information collection
As you navigate through a website, certain information can be passively collected (that is, gathered without you actively providing the information) using various technologies, such as navigational data collection. For example, when using the Photonics USA Website, we and/or our service providers may track IP addresses, use session and persistent cookies and assign internet tags. Our system may also automatically gather information about the areas you visit on the Website and collect operational information about the technology you use, such as your browser, operating systems, internet protocol address, system and application software, peripherals, internet service providers and the domain name of the web site from which you linked to the Website.
In addition, when you view the Website, we may store some information on your computer. This information will be in the form of a cookie or similar file and will help us in many ways. Most internet browsers enable you to erase cookies from your computer hard drive, block all cookies or receive a warning before a cookie is stored. However, if you choose to block cookies, you may not be able to access and use the Website in its entirety. The Company does not collect personally identifiable information automatically, but we may tie information collected automatically to your previously submitted personally identifiable information.
The Company reserves the right to use electronic images known as web beacons—also referred to as single-pixel gifs—that permit the Company to count users who have visited those pages and for other related statistics (e.g., recording the popularity of certain web site content and verifying system and server integrity). Web beacons are not used to access your personal information on the Website; they are solely used to compile aggregated statistics concerning the use of the Website. Web beacons collect only a limited set of information including a cookie number, the time and date of a page view and a description of the page on which the web beacon resides.
We passively collect information to understand what areas of the Website are most popular, which areas may require improvement and what technologies are being used by our visitors. This information helps us to update and improve the Website. We also use this information for security purposes, to detect and to block security breaches and to provide you with a safe online environment.
2. How the company may use and disclose information obtained through the Website
Except as otherwise stated, we may use information collected to improve the Website, to customize the Website to your preferences, to communicate information to you, for our marketing and research purposes and for any other purpose specified. In addition, we may make full use of all information acquired through the Website that is not in personally identifiable form.
Your contact information (e.g., e-mail addresses, phone number) will only be used for the purposes for which you supplied it to us (e.g., responding to your comments or requests for information, sending requested newsletters, etc.).
If you provide personally identifiable information to the Website, we may combine such information with other actively collected information unless we specify otherwise at the point of collection.
We may disclose personally identifiable information you provide via the Website to third parties, but only:
a. to contractors we use to support our business (such as technical support, web analytics and financial institutions), in which case we will require such third parties to agree to use it for the same purposes;
b. in the event of a sale, merger, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization, assignment or other transfer of the Company or the business of the Website to which the information relates, in which case we will require any such buyer to agree to treat it in accordance with this Privacy Policy and use it for the same purposes;
c. to respond to law enforcement requests, where required by applicable laws, court orders, or government regulations, or where the Company has reason to believe infringing material has been posted on the Website; and
d. in situations involving threats to the physical safety of any person.
The Company does not otherwise distribute to third parties your personally identifiable information. The Company, however, will have no liability for disclosure of information obtained due to errors in transmission or the unauthorized intervention of third parties.
The Company may provide aggregate statistics about its customers, sales, online traffic patterns and related information to reputable third parties, but these statistics will not include any personally identifying information.
3. What about third party services you access through the website There may be links on the Website provided to other websites and/or resources over which the Company has no control. These links are provided solely as a convenience to users and should not be construed as an affiliation with or endorsement by the Company. You access and use such other web sites, including the content, items or services on those websites, solely at your own risk.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that the Company does not own or control. You should always review the privacy policies of these companies. The Company makes no representations or warranties with respect to the content, ownership or legality of any such linked web sites or services.
4. Choices you have about how the company uses your information We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:
You may also send us an e-mail message at jdooley@photonics-usa.com to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. Should you elect to have all of your information deleted, we will also delete your user account. However, copies of your information may remain in back up storage for some time after your deletion.
5. How the company protects your information We work hard to protect your personal information. We use both technical and procedural methods to maintain the integrity and security of our databases. But you should keep in mind that no internet transmission is ever completely secure or error-free.
6. What the company does about children using the web site The Website is not intended for children. We will not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from visitors under the age of 18. We encourage parents to talk to their children about their use of the internet and the information they disclose online. If a child has provided us with personally identifiable information, a parent or guardian of that child may contact us via e-mail at jdooley@photonics-usa.com if they would like this information deleted from our records. We will use reasonable efforts to delete the child’s information from our databases.
7. How you can contact the company If you have submitted personally identifiable information through the Website or an interactive advertisement, or if someone else has submitted your personally identifiable information through the Website or an interactive advertisement, and you would like to have that information deleted from our marketing databases, please contact us via e-mail at jdooley@photonics-usa.com. We will then use reasonable efforts to remove your personally identifiable information from our files. You may also contract the Company to view your information. The Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to supply you with this information and correct any factual inaccuracies in this information.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the information practices of this Website, please contact us at jdooley@photonics-usa.com.
If this Privacy Policy changes; the revised policy will be posted on the Website. Please check back periodically, and especially before you provide any personally identifiable information. Changes will not apply retroactively to personal information that was collected before the changes to the Privacy Policy, except as may be required by law.
Photonics USA Privacy Policy September 2024
