Privacy policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: June 5, 2023

In this privacy policy ("Policy"), we (The Honest Kitchen, Inc.) explain how and why we collect, use, and disclose your information, including personal information, that we collect through theHonestKitchen.com Web Site (the "Web Site" or “Site”).

For California residents and residents of other states with similar privacy laws to the California Consumer Privacy Act, please see the section at the end of this Notice entitled Important Additional State-Based Privacy Information (the "States Rights Section").

Any dispute over privacy is subject to this Policy and our Terms of Use including its applicable limitations on damages and the resolution of disputes. Our Terms of Use are incorporated by reference into this Policy. If you do not agree with this Policy or our Terms of Use, you must stop using our Services.

 

NOTICE OF INFORMATION COLLECTED

We collect information directly from you, automatically as you use our Web Site, and from other sources. The type of information that we collect about you varies based on your interaction with our Site and services and may include:

  • Identifying Information and Customer Records: such as your name, email, postal address, telephone number, IP address, financial information;
  • Commercial Information: such as purchase history;
  • Internet or Other Similar Network Activity: such as usage information (about your use of our Site);
  • Geolocation Information: such as information about your approximately location based on your IP address;
  • Inferences Drawn from Other Personal Information: such as inferences about you based on purchase history;
  • Sensitive Information: such as your username to access your account.

We collect this information as follows:

Information that We Collect Directly From You: We collect identifying information, financial information, demographic information, purchase history/customer records, and other information as described below when you use our Site or otherwise interact with us. In particular, we collect information from you when you take the following actions:

  • Create an Account: You may create an account on our Site. We will collect your name, email address, and other information that you choose to provide (e.g., whether you have a cat or a dog).
  • Make a Purchase: When you make a purchase from us, we will collect your name, billing and shipping addresses, email, phone number, payment card information, and items purchased.
  • Post a True Story: We love hearing about your pets! If you post a true story, we will collect your pet's breed, health condition, pet's name and photo, and any other information that you choose to provide to us.
  • Sign Up for our Newsletter: We collect your email address if you request our newsletter.
  • Post to our Services or Our Social Media Pages: You may post your photos or other content, such as reviews, to our Services, as indicated, and on our social media pages.
  • Rewards Program: If you sign up for our rewards program, we collect your name, email, order information, whether you create true story, submit a product or Site review, or refer a friend.
  • Sign Up for Our Texting Program: We collect your mobile phone number if you choose to participate in our text messaging program .
  • Participate in a Survey: If you choose to provide feedback, such as participating in a survey, we will collect this information from you, which may include your contact information and your feedback.
  • Contact Customer Service: We collect information about you when you contact our customer service department, whether by phone, mail, or email. This includes your name, contact number, and scope of your inquiry.
  • Participate in Promotions: If you participate in a promotion, then we will collect the information that you submit as part of your entry. We may offer promotions in connection with other entities, and, in some cases, our promotions will be governed by additional or different privacy notices; we will notify you at the time of collection if your data will be subject to an additional or different policy.

 Information We Collect About You From Other Sources:

  • Your Friends: We may collect information about you if your friends purchase a gift or product for you or if they refer you to our Site.
  • Social Media: If you post information on our social media pages, we may collect the information that you post. We also may obtain information about you through your social media pages that you have made public if you mention us in a post. Our collection of information about you is governed by the social media page and not this policy. We do not typically associate your social media information with the personal information we collect about you.
  • Internet Service Providers, Operating Systems, Analytics Providers: As stated above, we collect data automatically through your use of our Site and our services. This information may come from internet service providers, operating systems, and analytics providers that provide services on our behalf.
  • Advertising Networks: We engage (either directly or through a marketing agency) advertising networks to assist us with our targeted advertising. These advertising networks typically do not provide information back to us about you as an individual, but we may learn more broadly about the success of our advertising campaigns through these entities.

 Information We Collect Automatically: We automatically collect information about you when you use our services (usage information). The type of information that we collect varies depending on the settings of your web browser or device, but it may include the pages you view on our Site; the date and time you access our Site; how long you use our services; the type of web browser you are using (for example, Firefox or Chrome); the type of device you are using (for example, whether you are using a mobile device); and your Internet Protocol address; device ID; your location information (collected, e.g., through our analytics providers such as Google). Our service providers also may track your behavior through links that you click on our Site. See the section below titled Cookies and Tracking for more information. We do not typically associate this information with the personal information that we collect about you. We collect this information from:

  • Internet Service Providers, Operating Systems, Analytics Providers: As stated above, we collect data automatically through your use of our Site and our services. This information may come from internet service providers, operating systems, and analytics providers that provide services on our behalf.
  • Advertising Networks: We engage (either directly or through a marketing agency) advertising networks to assist us with our targeted advertising. These advertising networks typically do not provide information back to us about you as an individual, but we may learn more broadly about the success of our advertising campaigns through these entities.

OUR USE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We use your information for a variety of business and commercial purposes, including, personal information:

  • Transactional Purposes: to provision the requested services and orders; to establish and update your account; and for other transactional purposes.
  • Customer service/communications: to provide you with a personalized shopping experience; for technical support to answer your inquiries; to provide product updates/recalls and similar purposes.
  • Marketing/Advertising: for marketing purposes, including to provide you with special offers, promotions, news, and newsletters; to contact you about products we think may interest you; to target advertisements to you; to administer contests, promotions, and other offers; and for other marketing, advertising, and promotional purposes. Our marketing communications with you may include communications via postal mail and email. We, and our service providers, also use your information to determine the success of our advertising campaigns, regardless of the marketing and advertising channel.
  • Administration: for administrative purposes, including to manage our inventory; to help us better understand how our customers access and use our Site, including the pages viewed, ad impressions clicked, or other Site activity; to maintain security and operability of our Site (including for debugging purposes); to provide reports to prospective partners, service providers, regulators, and others; to implement and maintain security, anti-piracy, fraud prevention, and other services designed to protect you and us; to enforce this Policy, our Terms of Use, and other policies.
  • Research and development/Analytical purposes: for research and development purposes, including to analyze trends, improve our Site, products, and customer experience; to understand what parts of our Site are most popular or to improve upon our Site; to understand our customer demographics; and for other research and analytical purposes.
  • Legal compliance: to comply with applicable legal or regulatory obligations, including to respond to a subpoena or court order; to cooperate with law enforcement or other governmental investigations; and as part of legal proceedings.
  • Protection of us and others: where we believe it is necessary to protect us and others, including, without limitation to detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, security incidents, or other issues where we believe it is appropriate to protect us and others.
  • Additional Note Regarding Aggregated and Deidentified Data: We may use data in aggregated and deidentified form for research, analytics, marketing, and any other purposes.

SHARING OF INFORMATION

We share your information, including personal information, with the following entities:

  • Corporate Relatives. We may share all categories of information we collect about you with any current or future parent company, affiliate, subsidiary or division.
  • Service Providers. We may share all categories of information we collect about you with our service providers or others who perform functions on our behalf. For example, we share your information with service providers who host our Site, coordinate mailings, analyze aggregate information about our customers, assist us in detecting and deterring fraud, security incidents, or other unlawful activity, and for other business purposes as described above in how we use your information. We also permit service providers to collect information about you online through cookies and other tracking tools; please see Cookies and Tracking and Analytics Providers/Advertisers sections below. As part of our commitment to quality customer service, occasional communications may be sent on behalf of The Honest Kitchen, by an independent ratings and review service provider. Active, regular customers' email addresses will be used by this service one time only, for the express purpose of independently evaluating our processes, including The Honest Kitchen's general service, courtesy, selling, and shipping of actual orders placed, and will not be owned, shared or used for any other purpose by the service provider.
  • Carefully Selected Partners. If you choose to enter a joint promotion, then we may share Identifier and Customer Record information (and other information that you provide to us in connection with that promotion) with the other party. The promotions may be subject to an additional or different privacy notice.
  • Site Users. Information you public share on our Site may be visible to other users of the Site. For example, if you post a review, a True Story, pictures, or other content on our Site, the contents of your post (including any pictures that you post) as well as other information may be available to all visitors to our Site.
  • Analytics Providers/Advertisers. We may share all categories of information we collect about you with analytics providers and advertisers to assist us in implementing and evaluating relevant advertising. Often the information that we share is collected from you through cookies and other tracking technologies set forth on our Sites and Apps. We also may disclose certain information (such as your email address) to Facebook Custom Audience, which may use it to target advertising to you. See Opt-out of Interest Based Advertising below.
  • Internet Service Providers/Operating Systems and Platforms: We may share all categories of information collected about you with ISPs and operating systems to assist us in managing your preferences.

 

 We may also share your information in the following ways:

    • Business Transfers. We may share all categories of information collected about you with another entity if we or any of our current or future corporate relatives are acquired by or merged with another legal entity, if substantially all of our assets or the assets of one of our corporate relatives are sold or transferred to another legal entity, as part of a bankruptcy proceeding, or as part of a sale of a business or a similar transfer of assets.
    • In Response to Legal Process. We share all categories of information collected about you when we believe it is appropriate to comply with the law or a regulatory requirement; to comply with governmental, administrative, or judicial process or other similar requirement or order, such as a subpoena or court order; to cooperate with law enforcement or other governmental investigations (without necessarily requiring the law enforcement or government agency requesting the information to formally serve us with a subpoena); or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved. We also reserve the right to report to appropriate law enforcement or governmental agencies any activities that we believe are in violation of applicable laws, rules, or regulations without providing notice.
    • To Protect Us and Others. We may share all categories of information collected about you where we believe it is necessary to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce a contract; to protect the legal rights, Site, or safety of you, The Honest Kitchen; its corporate relatives, and their respective employees, clients, partners, agents, other users, or the public in general; to enforce our Terms of Use or this Policy; and to monitor and remediate security issues.
    • Aggregate and De-Identified Information. We may disclose aggregate and de-identified information that does not identify you for marketing, advertising, research, or other purposes.

OPTING-OUT

If you receive marketing communications from us that you do not want to receive, you can opt-out from receiving these communications by specifically telling us to stop sending them to you. To opt out of any email marketing, click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email. If you have opted in to receive text alerts, you may discontinue receiving these SMS offers by sending the SMS message "STOP" to the applicable short code.

 

SECURITY

For your security, account access on our Site may be encrypted with Secure Sockets Layer Protocol ("SSL") technology on both the client and server end by selecting the secure server option when prompted to do so. We take commercially reasonable measures designed to safeguard your data. Please note, however, that no measure is 100% perfect, and we recommend that you take measures to protect your own data. Regardless of the precautions taken by you or by us, "perfect security" does not exist on the Internet. We cannot ensure or warrant the ultimate security of any information you transmit.

Please note that e-mail may not be encrypted and cannot be considered a secure means of transmitting information. We do not ask you to submit your financial data, such as your credit card account numbers, or any other sensitive information via e-mail.

COOKIES AND TRACKING

We and our service providers use cookies and other mechanisms to track information about your use of our Site. We do not typically associate this information with the personal information that we collect about you nor do we attempt to identify you as a natural person through this information, though our advertising providers may.

  • Cookies. We or our service providers may use cookies to track visitor activity on our Site. A cookie is a text file that a website transfers to your device for record-keeping purposes. We or our service providers may use cookies to track user activities on our Site, such as the web pages you view and time you spend on our services. The help section on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your computer from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. Visitors to our Site who disable cookies may not be able to browse certain areas of the services. When you register at the Site, we may use a cookie to store a unique, random user ID. We may use this ID to identify you (not by name but through the ID) in our database and to track information while you are on our Site. Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Site. Cookies also enable you to enter the Site as a registered user without having to log on each time.
  • Clear GIFs, Pixel Tags and Other Technologies. Clear GIFs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in functionality to cookies, which are embedded invisibly on web pages. We or our service providers may use clear GIFs (also known as web beacons, web bugs, pixel tags, or action tags, among other names), in connection with our services to perform functions like tracking the activities of visitors to our services, helping us manage content, and compiling statistics about usage of our Services. We or our service providers may also use clear GIFs in emails to help us track email response rates, identify when our emails are viewed, and track whether our emails are forwarded.
  • Embedded Scripts. We may use embedded scripts, which is code designed to collect information about how visitors interact with a website, such as the website which linked them to our Site.
  • Analytics. We use services, such as Google Analytics, to evaluate the use of our Site. We deploy automated devices and applications to evaluate use of services. We use these tools to help us improve our services, performance, and user experiences. These entities may use cookies and other tracking technologies, such as web beacons or local storage objects (LSOs), to perform their services. To learn more about Google's privacy practices, please review the Google Privacy Policy at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/. You can also download the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on to prevent their data from being used by Google Analytics at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

INTEREST-BASED ADVERTISING

We use services such as Google's AdSense and AdWords to help us provide advertisements to you that are tailored to you based on interests that you have expressed on our Site or elsewhere ("Interest-Based Ads"). Any advertisements served by Google, Inc., and affiliated companies may be controlled using cookies. These cookies allow Google to display ads based on your visits to this Site. Any tracking done by Google through cookies and other mechanisms is subject to Google's own privacy policies. You may decide to disable Google cookies by clicking on: www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/optout?hl=en. You can use Ads Settings to manage the Google ads you see and opt out of interest-based ads delivered by Google. You can also opt-out of targeted advertising through the following link: [LINK]. You also may opt out of receiving Interest-Based Ads from many third-party ad networks, such as those provided by members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI") and the Digital Advertising Alliance ("DAA"). For more information regarding Interest-Based Ads by NAI members and DAA members, including how to opt out of Interest-Based Ads provided by NAI and DAA members, please visit their respective websites: optout.networkadvertising.org and optout.aboutads.info. Please note that opting out of participating ad networks does not mean that you will not see advertisements at all and you will continue to receive advertisements on other websites and from companies that do not participate in the above programs. Even if you opt out of interest-based ads, you may still see ads based on factors such as your general location derived from your IP address, your browser type and recent, previous searches related to your current search.

We also use Facebook advertising, including Facebook Custom Audience. As set forth above and in the Cookies and Tracking section below, we may disclose certain information (such as your email address) to Facebook Custom Audiences (for more information on Facebook Custom Audience click here ) so that we can better target ads and content to you and others with similar interests on third parties' websites or media ("Custom Audiences"). We may also work with other ad networks and marketing platforms that enable us and other participants to target ads to Custom Audiences submitted by us and others. You may also control how Facebook and other third parties display certain ads to you, as explained further in their respective privacy policies or by using the opt-outs described in this paragraph.

Please note that even if you opt out of receiving marketing communications from us, we may still send you communications about your account or any products or services you have purchased from us and we will still respond to your inquiries and requests for information.

 

RETENTION PERIODS

We will generally retain information about you for so long as we have a legal or business purpose for it or a legal requirement to maintain it.  The criteria used to determine our retention periods include:

  • The length of time we have an ongoing relationship with you and provide services to you (for example, for as long as you are a client with us or keep using our services) and the length of time thereafter during which we may have a legitimate need to reference your personal information to address issues that may arise;
  • Whether there is a legal or ethical obligation to which we are subject (for example, certain laws require us to keep records for a certain period of time before we can delete them); or
  • Whether retention is advisable in light of our legal position (such as in regard to applicable statutes of limitations, litigation or regulatory investigations). Policy is effective as of March 2013 and was last reviewed as of the date noted at the top of this Policy. We may occasionally change this Privacy

CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

This Site is not directed at children under the age of 13 and does not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 13. If we receive actual knowledge that we have received such personal information without the required verifiable parental consent, we will delete the information from our database as soon as we practicably can. If you believe we might have information from or about a child under 13, please contact us by clicking here.

EFFECTIVE DATE AND FUTURE CHANGES

This Policy is effective as of March 2013 and was last reviewed as of the date noted at the top of this Policy. We may occasionally change this Privacy Policy. If we do, we will post the changes on the Site and the changes will take effect as soon as posted. If we change our information practices in the future, we will post the changes to our Site. If you have questions about how your information is used, you should check back at our Site periodically or contact us by clicking here.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Please read this Policy carefully and feel free to contact us by sending us a message by clicking here. You can also contact us by telephone at (866) 437-9729 if you have any inquiries, complaints or questions regarding its contents.

STATES RIGHTS SECTION

In this section, we provide additional information to California residents and residents of other U.S. states that have enacted privacy laws similar to the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"). This section does not address or apply to our handling of publicly available information or other personal information that is exempt under the CCPA or other similar privacy laws.

Do We "Sell" or "Share" Personal Information?

Under the CCPA, a "sale" includes disclosing or making available personal information to a third-party in exchange for monetary compensation or other benefits or value. Additionally, under the CCPA, a business may be “sharing” personal information where information as transferred for purposes of cross-context behavioral advertising. Although we do not disclose personal information to third parties in exchange for monetary compensation, we may disclose or make available certain categories of personal information to third parties in order to receive certain benefits or services, such as when we make browsing information available to third party ad companies (through third party tags on our Site) in order to improve and measure our ad campaigns and reach users with more relevant ads and content. As defined by the CCPA, we may "sell" or “share” the following categories of personal information to advertising networks and data analytics providers as follows:

  •  Identifiers
  • Customer Records
  • Internet or other similar network activity

To opt-out of the “sale” or “share” of your information, please disable all optional cookies in Manage Cookie Preferences or submit a request through our form available here. Please also note that if we are engaged in a corporate transaction, we may disclose your information as part of that transaction. The CCPA does not consider such disclosure to be a sale.

  1. California and Other State Residents' Rights

Consumer Rights. In general, California residents, and residents of states with similar privacy laws, may have the following rights with respect to their personal information:

  1. Do-not-sell or share (opt-out):to opt-out of our sale or share of their personal information. While we may "sell" or "share" personal information as defined by the CCPA (although we do not sell information for any monetary compensation) and other similar state privacy laws, we do not sell personal information about consumers who we know are younger than 16 years old. California residents, and residents of states with other similar rights, may opt out of sales of their personal information by us, by using our preference manager to opt out of "sales" or "shares" via third party tags and cookies on our Sites. Please disable all optional cookies in Manage Cookie Preferences or submit a request through our form available here.
  2. Right of deletion:to request deletion of their personal information that we have collected about them and to have such personal information deleted, subject to certain exceptions.
  3. Right to know:with respect to the personal information we have collected about them, to require that we disclose specific to them regarding the collection of personal information (subject to certain exemptions). 
  4. Right to correct: any inaccurate personal information we may hold about you. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to correct inaccurate personal information, taking into account the nature of the personal information and the purpose for our processing.
  5. Right to non-discrimination:the right not to be subject to discriminatory treatment for exercising their rights under the CCPA.

Submitting Consumer Rights Requests. California residents, and residents of states with similar rights under the law, may submit requests to opt out of sales, requests to know (access), requests to correct, and requests to delete their personal information through our privacy form here

In addition, residents may opt of "sales" of their personal information by us by using our preference manager to opt out of "sales" or "shares" via third party tags and cookies on our Sites.

When you submit a request to know, to correct, or to delete, we will take steps to verify your request by matching the information provided by you with the information we have in our records. You must complete all required fields on our webform to verify your request. In some cases, we may request additional information in order to verify your request or where necessary to process your request. If we are unable to adequately verify a request, we will notify the requestor. Authorized agents may initiate a request on behalf of another individual online at the above link; authorized agents will be required to provide proof of their authorization and their identity and we may also require that the relevant consumer directly verify their identity and the authority of the agent.

Right to Appeal. You may have a right to appeal our decision regarding your consumer request. To make such a request, please contact by clicking here.

Financial Incentives. We may make available certain programs or offerings that are considered "financial incentives" under the CCPA. We do not currently offer any financial incentives.

Other California Privacy Rights. California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits users of our Web Site that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please contact us by clicking here.