Black Gold Privacy Policy

1. General Information

This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) describes the types of data collected from you by Black Gold, including its affiliates and subsidiaries, (“Black Gold,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) and how we use it.  This Policy applies to Black Gold websites that display this statement (our “Sites”).

2. Your Agreement.

By using our Sites, you affirm that (i) you are at least eighteen (18) years old; (ii) you are a United States resident; and (iii) you have authority to agree to this Policy and are competent and capable of understanding, agreeing to, and complying with this Policy.

When you visit and browse the Sites, input information into the Sites, purchase product through the Sites, or otherwise use the Sites (referred to hereafter collectively as “use of the Sites” or a similar phrase), you signify that you have read, understand, and agree to the terms of our current Privacy Policy.  You agree that this Policy is supported by reasonable and valuable consideration (which consideration includes your use of the Sites), and you acknowledge your receipt of and the sufficiency of the consideration. If you do not agree with all of the provisions of this Policy, do not use our Sites.

3. Information Black Gold Collects.

When you use the Sites, Black Gold receives and collects information, including personal information.  “Personal Information” includes any information you provide us that could reasonably be used to personally identify you.  The data we collect depends on the products and features you use, and could include the following types of information, some of which may include Personal Information:

3.1 Information You Provide Directly to Black Gold.

• Self-Reported Information.  We collect your first and last name, email address, postal address, phone number, zip code, and other similar contact information.  We also collect your age, gender, country, and other similar demographic information.

3.2 Information from Third-Party Services.

When you use certain third-party services, such as Facebook or Twitter, in connection with your use of the Sites, we may collect information that you make available to us through those third-party services, including your account information.  We will only collect and use that information to the extent that such collection and use are permitted by third-party services.  Please review the privacy policies of third-party services before using them in connection with the Sites.

3.3 Technical Information.

We collect information about how you and your device interact with the Sites and our products, including, for example (1) referring source (i.e., the site you visited prior to visiting the Sites; (2) date and time of access to Sites; (3) Site pages visited and Site features used, and the order of use; (4) type of computer or other operating device accessing Sites, type of browser used to access Sites, and type of operating system you use; and (5) other similar information about the interaction between your browser and Sites.  We collect and store Technical Information through information-gathering tools such as cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies.

• Cookies. Cookies are stored in a computer or other operating device’s memory during a user’s browsing session.  The cookies we use in connection with our Site are automatically deleted from the user’s computer or operating device when the browser is closed and the session has ended.  These cookies usually store a session ID that does not personally identify the user, and they allow users to navigate the Sites efficiently.  These cookies provide us information about Site features used and activities conducted while using the Sites.  Generally, we use cookies to customize your experience while using the Sites. We may use cookies to compile aggregate data about user traffic and user interaction with the Sites so we can offer better experiences and tools in the future.

Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can block cookies at any time by changing the preferences in your browser and/or delete cookies from your hard drive or other operating devices. You can also have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie.  Please refer to your browser for information on how to disable and control cookies.  If you choose to block or delete cookies, our Sites may not function properly on your computer or other operating devices, and certain features may not be available to you.

In addition to browser cookies, we may use other locally stored objects (sometimes referred to as “flash cookies”) stored in your hard drive or other operating devices.  These flash cookies will not be deleted when you delete cookies from your browser, and even if you set your browser to not accept cookies, these cookies will still be stored on your hard drive or other operating devices when you use our Sites.  We may use this technology for purposes such as information security and fraud prevention, and to collect and store information about your preferences and navigation to, from, and on our Sites.  We do not use this technology for online behavioral advertising purposes.  If you choose to disable or otherwise control flash cookies, our Site may not function properly on your computer or other operating devices, and certain features may not be available to you.

• Web Beacons. We may use web beacons (also called clear GIFs or pixel tags) or similar technologies to collect technical information about your use of the Site and your viewing and use of emails we send to you.  Web beacons are graphic image files embedded in a web page, Site feature, or email that provide a presence on such web page, feature, or email and send back to its home server information from the user’s browser.  The information collected by web beacons allows us to statistically monitor how many people are using the Sites and opening our emails, and for what purposes.  For example, we might place a web beacon in a marketing email to notify us when a user clicks on the link in the email.  We do not collect Personal Information with web beacons, and we do not link information retrieved from web beacons directly with the Personal Information you have given us.

4. How Black Gold Uses Your Personal Information.

We will also use your Personal Information for the purpose stated when we ask for such Personal Information (e.g., to register a product or to enter a promotion).  We also use Personal Information as described elsewhere in this Policy, including to provide our Sites and their features and to send you communications.

4.1 Providing and Supporting our Sites

We use your Personal Information to provide and support the operation of our Sites, including:

• Customizing your use of our Sites.  We may use your Personal Information to customize and tailor your experience using the Sites and display content we think you might be interested in, according to your preferences.

4.2 Communications.

We may use your Personal Information to provide you information about Black Gold’s products or services that may be of interest to you, only if you have opted-in to receiving such information. We will never share your Personal Information with a third party for their own marketing or independent uses, except: (1) where you consent to such information sharing and (2) as described in this Policy.

If we use your Personal Information to send you marketing communications, we will provide you with an unsubscribe mechanism to opt out of receiving future marketing communications, or you can contact us to request that we not send you marketing communications. If you request that we not contact you for marketing purposes (either by using the unsubscribe mechanism or by contacting us), we reserve the right to contact you for non-marketing purposes relating to your account or other use of our Sites.

5. Information Shared with Third Parties.

Except in the circumstances described in this Policy, Black Gold does not share, sell, rent, license, trade, or otherwise transfer or disclose your Personal Information with or to third parties for their promotional purposes.  We may share de-identified, aggregated information without restriction.

5.1 Third-Party Service Providers. We share information with our third-party service providers who assist us by performing services related to the operation of our Sites (such as hosting, data storage, payment processing, and security) and conducting marketing on our behalf.  For more information regarding third parties who will have access to your credit card information, see Section 3.1.

5.2 Third-Party Analytics Services. We may use third-party analytics services to assist us in better understanding users of our Sites. For example, we use these services to track and analyze certain information, such as feature usage. We only ever provide these service providers with (or allow these service providers to collect on our behalf) the technical information described in Section 2.1.  We use the information collected from these service providers to make the Sites better and easier to use. The information we receive from these third parties may be re-associated with your Personal Information after we receive it back from these third parties.

5.3 Third-Party Advertising Partners.  We partner with third parties to select, deliver, and display ads to our Sites, as well as other sites and products serviced by these partners.  The ads we select may be based on your current location or the content you are viewing.  Other ads are targeted based on your likely interests or other information that we learn about you over time using demographic data, searches, interests and favorites, location data, and usage data from our Sites and the sites and services of our advertisers and partners.  We share information with these third parties to facilitate the selection and serving of advertisements.  Advertisers may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to personalize their advertising content and measure its effectiveness.

Our advertising partners may also serve ads to you via other sites (including ads for our products) based on information collected from you while using the Sites.  For example, when you visit a site serviced by one of our advertising partners, we may use “remarketing” services to target ads to you based on your prior use of our Sites.

5.4 Merger, Acquisition, or Sale. We may transfer your Personal Information to another entity if Black Goldis involved in a merger, acquisition, reorganization, restructuring, or other sale or transfer of all or any portion of its assets or business, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding in which information of our Sites users is among the assets transferred. In this event, we will, if allowed, use reasonable efforts to notify you when your information is transferred to a third party (this notification may be made via email to you or by posting a prominent notice on the applicable Site). Unless you consent otherwise, your Personal Information will remain subject to the promises made in this Policy, even after the transfer. But any information you provide after the transfer will likely be subject to a new privacy policy, and you should review that policy.

5.5 Required by Law.  Black Gold reserves the right to release your information if Black Gold believes in good faith that (i) such release is required to comply with any law, rule, or regulation, or any search warrant, subpoena, court order, or similar legal process; or (ii) disclosure is necessary to protect or enforce Black Gold’s rights or property, to protect the rights or property of others, to protect your safety or the safety of others, in emergency situations, to defend against legal claims, to enforce our contractual or other rights, or to take action regarding illegal activities or suspected fraud.

5.6 Public Areas of Sites.  As described in Section 2.1, the Sites contain areas where users can post User Content that will be viewable by other users of our Sites.  You should be aware that when you voluntarily disclose Personal Information on these areas of the Sites for public viewing, the information may be collected, stored, used, and disclosed by other users of our Sites.  Such activities are beyond our control, and we shall have no responsibility for or liability regarding the protection or security of such User Content. Do not post Personal Information that you want to keep private on these areas of the Sites.

6. Controlling Your Information.

6.1 Marketing Communications.  See Section 3.2 above regarding how to opt-out of receiving marketing communications.

6.2 Advertising.  Our third-party advertising partners may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) or the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA).  Both the NAI and DAA maintain consumer choices pages where you can opt out of receiving interest-based advertising from participating companies.

• NAI Consumer Choices page – http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices
• DAA Consumer Choices page – http://www.aboutads.info/choices

California Residents: Under California Civil Code sections 1798.83-.84, California residents are entitled to ask for a notice identifying the categories of personal customer information that we share with our affiliates and/or third parties for marketing purposes, and providing contact information for such affiliates and/or third parties. If you are a California resident and would like a copy of this notice, please submit a written request to Black Gold ATTN: Marketing Department, 90554 Highway 99 N., Eugene, OR 97402.

6.3 Retention and Storage of Information.

See Section 3.1 above regarding retention of your credit card information to complete purchases you initiate through the Sites.  We may retain all other Personal Information in our databases until you ask us to remove your information from our databases.  Note that even after you ask that we remove your information from our databases, it may be impossible to remove some information, such as information tracked in our web server log files and information that may reside in backup files.  This residual information is retained to preserve the integrity of backed-up files and for business continuity purposes.  We may also retain certain technical information even after you request that we remove your information from our databases, for use in the aggregate and to analyze and improve the Sites.  Further, even after you request that we remove your information from our databases, we may retain Personal Information with any document retention policy and to comply with applicable laws, rules, regulations, or guidelines; to prevent fraudulent activity; to protect ourselves against liability; to resolve disputes; to enforce our contractual or other rights; to permit us to pursue available remedies and limit any damages that we may sustain.

6.4 Do Not Track

Black Gold does not track its users over time and across third-party websites to provide interest-based advertising and therefore does not respond to Do Not Track signals.  However, our third-party advertising partners may keep track of your browsing activities to provide interest-based advertising.  For more information about third-party interest-based advertising, please refer to 4.3 and for information about opting out of third-party interest-based advertising, please refer to Section 5.2.

7. Links to Third-Party Websites.

This Policy applies only to information collected through your use of our Sites. The Sites may contain links to other websites, products, or services that are not owned or controlled by Black Gold.  Black Gold is not responsible or liable for the privacy practices or other actions of these third parties or their websites, products, or services. These third parties may have their own privacy and security policies.  You should review such policies to determine what information about you may be collected and used when you use these linked websites, products, or services.

8. Security of Information; Disclaimer.

We have generally-accepted industry standard physical, electronic, and procedural security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction of information we collect and store.  These safeguards include secure login authentication for user accounts, encryption of data during transmission, firewalls, intrusion detection, vulnerability scans, and other security measures.  The safety and security of your Personal Information also depend on you.  You should not send us credit card information or other sensitive information via email, and you should not place orders with us via email, as this is not secure.  If you have an account, you are responsible for keeping your username and password confidential.  Please notify us if you become aware that your Personal Information is lost, stolen, or used without permission; we may disable access to your Site account in order to prevent an unauthorized third party from accessing your account.  Further, in the event of unauthorized use of your credit card, you should contact your card issuer immediately.

We cannot guarantee that your information will never be compromised. No Internet or wireless network transmission is ever 100% secure, and no security system can prevent all security breaches. While we employ reasonable measures to protect your information, we do not and cannot guarantee that there will be no unintended disclosures of your information or that unauthorized third parties will not defeat our security measures or use non-public information for improper purposes.

9. Children’s Privacy.

Our Sites are not directed to children under age thirteen (13), and children under age 13 are prohibited from using the Sites.  We do not knowingly collect information from (or permit the submission of information by) anyone under age 13.  If we learn that we have received information from a child under the age of 13 in violation of this Policy, we will delete that information from our files.

10. Contact Us.

If you have questions regarding this Policy, our privacy practices, or your information, please contact us.

Mail: Black Gold
Attn: Black Gold Support
461-B JETWAY DRIVE BELGRADE, MONTANA 59714
Email: [email protected]
Phone:  (888) 689-1289

11. Unenforceability.

If any part of this Policy is determined to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, pursuant to applicable law, then the invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, legal, and enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision, and the remainder of this Policy shall continue in full force and effect.

12. Policy Updates.

We may update this Policy at our discretion. We will post any new policy here, and you should review this Policy regularly to make sure you are aware of its terms. You can determine if this Policy has been revised since your last visit to our Sites by referring to the effective date.  We may provide notification of significant changes to this Policy through our Sites.  Your use of the Sites following a revision to this Policy constitutes your acceptance of and agreement to the Policy, as revised by us.