MERSEA Privacy Notice

Last Updated: November 15, 2024

Effective Date: November 3, 2024

1. Introduction.

This Privacy Notice explains how MER-SEA & CO., LLC ("MERSEA," "we," "our," or "us") collects, uses, and discloses Personal Data about you including through your use of our Services. This Privacy Notice also explains your privacy rights and the options you have regarding your Personal Data. If you have questions about our privacy practices, please feel free to contact us using the contact information provided in Section 19 of this Notice.

2. Our Services.

MERSEA offers a curated selection of travel essentials and artisan goods tailored for those who appreciate sustainability, design, and craftsmanship. Our products are available through our website at https://mersea.com (the "Site") which hosts our online storefront and our wholesale shop, and in women's clothing stores that stock our products. Together, our Site and the other resources and services we provide to Site visitors, retail customers, wholesalers, and other contacts such as product sales and returns, special offers, our rewards program including referrals, customer service, marketing, and other services are our "Services". Please keep in mind that some Services mentioned specifically in this Notice may not be available at this time.

3. What is Personal Data?

In this Notice, "Personal Data" or "Data" refers to any information that identifies, or can reasonably be associated with or linked (directly or indirectly) to an individual. Some laws also define Personal Data to include information that could identify or be linked to a specific household or device. Anonymous statistics or de-identified information are not considered Personal Data because they don't identify individuals. Generally, (except in California) Personal Data also excludes information exchanged when a person acts within their role as an employee or representative of an organization. In addition, publicly available information is not protected as Personal Data. Please note that, outside of this Notice, Personal Data may also be referred to as "personal information."

4. When does this Notice apply to your Personal Data?

Unless otherwise indicated, MERSEA follows this Notice with respect to Personal Data obtained from or about individuals in the United States. In certain cases, we may provide different or additional notices about our data practices. For example, if you reside in a U.S. State with a consumer privacy law, Section 17 of this Notice applies to you in addition to the rest of this Notice.

This Notice applies when MERSEA acts as the "Controller" of the Personal Data we collect through our Services, both online and offline. To be clear, this Notice does not cover Data that our customers collect and share with MERSEA where we are not the Controller, but rather a "Processor" or "Service Provider." 

Our Site may contain links to other websites, applications, and services from third parties (like YouTube, for example). The privacy and data security practices of third-party sites are governed by the privacy policies of those third parties, and not by MERSEA.

5. MERSEA's Relationship with You.

Site Visitors and Retail Contacts.
MERSEA acts as a Controller when you visit our public-facing Site. In addition, if you made a retail purchase from MERSEA, registered an account with us, signed up to our mailing list or text message list, or if a friend refers you to us through our referral program, MERSEA acts as the Controller of the Personal Data associated with your MERSEA orders, account, purchases, communications with us, and any other use of our Services.

Wholesale Customers and Other Business Contacts.
If you interact with MERSEA or its Services on behalf of an organization, such as your employer or a business that you own or manage, that organization is the Controller and MERSEA acts as the Processor. Any Personal Data generated during these interactions is a part of your organization's account with us, and is governed by its policies, not ours. Please direct any privacy inquiries to your organization's administrator. 

However, please note that MERSEA is the Controller of Data from non-business interactions with us, such as your visits to the Site or interactions with us or our Services in your personal capacity.

If you are a MERSEA employee, job applicant, or contractor, any Data we collect from you in that capacity, including through your use of the Site or our Services for those purposes, is governed by our internal policies, not this Privacy Notice.

6. Children and Teens under 18.

Our Services are not geared toward or intended to solicit, collect or process Personal Data from any individual under the age of 18, and we do not knowingly collect, sell, or share the Personal Data of anyone under the age of 18.  Please contact us if you believe information regarding your child under age 13 has been collected by us through our Services.

7. Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It.

Some of the information we collect is personal to you. Other information is anonymous. For information about your choices for the collection, use, and disclosure of your Personal Data, please see Section 10 of this Notice. Additionally, if you reside in a U.S. State with a consumer privacy law, Section 17 also applies to you.

We collect the following categories of information:

• Identifying Information: We collect this type of Data when someone chooses to share it with us, for example:
• During account registration, you provide your name, email address, and a password you create. If you order a product from us, we also ask for your mailing address, phone number, and payment information. 
• When you contact us by online form, email, mail, or phone, we may keep a record of the message or conversation, including your contact information and what was discussed. 
• If you opt-in to MERSEA Mobile promotional SMS alerts or sign up to our mailing or email list, we collect the contact information you provide and create a record of your sign-up.
• We collect product reviews you post on the Site, including any photos you add. We also get information when you post to us on a third party service where we have a profile or presence.
• We may receive your information if someone you know provides it to us through our referral program. 
• We may also collect information in other interactions, such as when you respond to a survey, participate in a sweepstakes or promotion we sponsor, or report a problem with our Site or Services.
• Device and Usage Information: We collect information about the device you use to access our Services and your interactions with our Services. Examples include:
• Technical information like your device and browser type, operating system, system configuration, and unique device identifiers.
• Information about how your device has interacted with our Site, including the pages accessed, links clicked, date and time stamps associated with usage, referring website, search engine queries used to get to our Site, content viewed, shared, or captured, and other technical information.
• We may capture keystrokes in real-time as you type into text fields on the Site. We may obtain your consent on your first use of the service.
• We may look at how often a user comes to the Site and where it was accessed from based on IP address (broad geographic location –e.g. country or city-level location). 
• We also collect information about how you use our Site, like your account activity, searches and browsing on our Site, and transaction details, including whether a Know Your Customer check was completed (if applicable).
• Internet or other Network Activity Information: This type of Data is collected when you browse our Site, other websites, or open our emails. This may include technical information like your IP address, device ID, and details about what you viewed.
• Event Information: We may collect information you provide to us during an interaction at an industry event or trade show.
• Account Credentials: We collect account access credentials and passwords to protect our Services and your security, to the extent permitted or required by applicable law. We do not use this Data for the purpose of inferring characteristics.
• Demographic Information: We collect demographic information when you participate in a contest, promotion, or survey. For instance, we might ask about gender, zip code, or other details.
• Location Information:
• We detect where the Site is accessed from based on IP address, which gives us a general idea of device or network location, like country or city. 
• When you visit our store locator page at  https://mersea.com/pages/store-locator, your device settings control what location information you can share with us. 
• If you have turned off location services for your browser or device, we collect information based on text you input to the "enter a location" text field and search radius settings you request.
• If location services are enabled, our "Find My Location" feature will collect real-time geographic location as determined by your device and browser settings. We will receive approximate geolocation unless you have enabled precise geolocation, in which case we will receive precise geolocation. This location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you. We may obtain your consent on your first use of the service.
• Commercial and Transaction Information: When you order a product or service from us, pay a bill, or make a return, we collect transaction information including your mailing address, phone number, email address and payment information. If you check the box asking us to save your information for faster checkout, we do so. We also collect information such as details about products purchased, obtained, or considered, added to cart or wish list, purchase price, and date and location of the transaction or other interaction. We may collect information about purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies.
  
  

8. Sources of Data and Purpose for Use.

 This section outlines the sources and purposes for collecting the categories of Personal Data described in the "Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It" section above.  

For information about your choices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of your Personal Data, please see Section 10 of this Notice. Additionally, if you reside in a U.S. State with a consumer privacy law, Section 17 also applies to you.

A. Overview of our Data Sources
We collect Data from a variety of sources, including but not limited to:

• Directly: from the person who is the subject of the Personal Data.
• Indirectly: from our service providers, publicly available sources (such as voting records, business information, or social media), third-party advertisers, someone who referred you, and interactions related to us on social media or third-party services where we have a profile or a presence.
• Automatically: (directly or indirectly) from the device used when you visit the Site, or from cookies and other tracking technologies.
• Derived: information we infer about you based on what we collect.

B. Overview of our Data Use
Our main goal in collecting information is to provide and improve our Services and provide you with the best possible experience. For example, by using the information we collect, we can provide consumers and wholesalers with an easy to use and readily available forum to shop our curated collection of travel essentials and artisan goods.

We will also use your Personal Data for purposes including but not limited to the following:

• Product and Services Fulfillment.
• Enable you to participate in online transactions and leave product reviews;
• Complete, fulfill, manage, and communicate about purchases;
• Communicate about the Services or any experience and feedback related to the Services;
• Set up and service a user account, including our rewards program;
• Enable user-experience features, such as remembering recently viewed products, wish list, and cart;
• Provide customer service; 
• Help you find nearby brick-and-mortar stores that sell our products;
• Alert you about features and functions in our Services, including via text message if you signed up; and
• Enhance our products and Services.
• Internal Operations.
• Make our products and Services better;
• Conduct research and analytics for our operations and Services; 
• Improve the effectiveness of our merchandise, vendors, and Services;
• Compile, analyze and do research on our users' demographics and behavior; 
• Perform other logistics and operational activities; and
• We use, and share location data only to provide and improve our Services.
• Payment Processing.
• Process customer payments, chargebacks, and refunds;
• Address inquiries or requests about purchases.
• Security, compliance, legal obligations and fraud prevention.
  
• Detect, investigate and prevent activities that may be illegal or violate our policies;
• Protect our assets (on and offline) and prevent fraudulent activities;
• Validate credentials and authenticate user log ins;
• Protect the security and integrity of our Services and our data; and 
• Assist law enforcement and respond to legal/regulatory inquiries, if necessary.
• Marketing, promotions and advertising.
  
• Notify you of other products or Services we offer, including personalized offers sent text messages you subscribed to, or via mail or email;
• Personalize online content so it applies to your interests;
• Provide our rewards program, including referrals;
• Identify customer shopping preferences;
• Provide you with advertising targeted on your interests;
• Oversee sweepstakes, promotions, or surveys.
• Anonymized or De-Identified Uses.
• To the extent we anonymize or de-identify data, we will not attempt to re-identify it.

C. Information You Provide Directly to MERSEA.
We collect much of the information mentioned above directly from the individuals the information is about. For example, we collect information you share with us via email, during phone calls, in product reviews, in your account or profile details, for order contact or delivery, when you sign up for our emails or text messages, or complete activities for rewards points. 

The Personal Data we request, along with the reasons for its collection, will be explained at the time of request unless it is obvious from the context.

If you do not want to share your information, you can choose not to participate in a particular Service or activity.

D. Information Inferred or Derived about You.
We may derive information or draw inferences about you based on the information we collect. For instance, we might infer that you are interested in a certain product based on your browsing behavior and past purchases, or use your IP address to estimate your approximate location.


E. Information from Your Device.
We and third parties we hire to provide services—such as Site hosting, management, and development; web form and Site content management; Site security services; embedded content hosting (like our store locator, hosted by Google Maps); and marketing—may automatically collect certain information from your device when you visit our Site or use our Services. The data protection laws that apply in some states and countries, including those in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, may consider this information Personal Data.

Collecting this information provides a better understanding of the visitors who come to our Site, where they come from, and what content on our Site interests them. This information is used for our internal analytics, to improve the quality and relevance of Services to our customers and Site visitors, and to enhance the security of our Services. We also use this information to detect and prevent fraud, security threats, or other illegal or suspicious behavior on our Services.

F. Data from Cookies and Online Technologies.
Like most websites and other places on the Internet, our Site use cookies, web beacons, pixels and/or other online technologies (collectively, cookies) to collect information about you.

As part of offering and providing customizable and personalized Services, we may use these technologies to:

• Provide you with personalized content based on your use of our Site;
• Enable you to more easily use our Site by remembering information such as login and contact details, payment information, items in your shopping cart or wish list, and links or menus you have navigated through during a browsing session;
• Track activity on our Site, the products you are interested in, and how often you visit our Site; 
• Evaluate, monitor and analyze Site use and traffic patterns to help improve our online Services; and
• Assist us with ad reporting functions such as to learn which ads are bringing users to our Site.

Cookies or similar technologies can, if enabled, follow your use and behavior across the Internet over time to serve and enable targeted advertising, interest-based advertising, and cross-context behavioral advertising (generally referred to as “Targeted Ads” and “Targeted Advertising”). We may use your Personal Data to facilitate the delivery of Targeted Ads.

For further information about the types of cookies we use, why we use them, and how you can control cookies, please see our Cookie Notice.

G. Data from Third Party Sources.
Our Services may contain links to third party websites (such as Fluent by Voyant Beauty), embedded content from or about third party websites and services (like Google Maps), and buttons from third party websites and services (such as social media links and sharing buttons). These third party sources can collect Personal Data from you when you interact with our Services or other websites, and we may receive Personal Data about you from third party sources. These third party sources may include, but are not limited to our suppliers and service providers, third party web analytics services, and social networking platforms. 

The types of information we may receive from these third parties includes information about how you interact with our Site and their services, and aggregated analytics. We use this information to help improve and sometimes offer our Services, share information and advertising, and to analyze aggregate click statistics and trends. For example, our service providers help us keep track of rewards points you earn by completing activities for rewards points. In addition, we may obtain analytics information from social networks that help us measure the effectiveness of our content and advertisements. We may also obtain aggregated information, including analytical results, about your use of the Site for fraud detection, prevention and reporting purposes.

• Additional Information about Data from Social Networking Plugins and Platforms.
  
• When you use social networking platforms (such as YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram) and plugins (such as "share," "pin," and "like" buttons) on our Services, information about you may be shared, including your activity on our Site, and 

  your connections on the social networking platform may be notified about your use of the MERSEA Site. Such services may enable tracking of your activity across multiple websites to deliver Targeted Advertising to you.  Please note that their privacy polices apply, and we encourage you to read them. 

• Additional Information about Analytics Services and Targeted Advertising by Others.
• Google, Inc. utilizes data collected by Google Analytics tools operating on our Site to examine how our Site is used, create reports on its activities, and share those reports with us and with other Google, Inc. services. In addition, Google, Inc. contextualizes and personalizes ads within its own advertising network to serve ads to you based on your visits to our Site and other sites on the Internet. You can prevent Google, Inc. from accessing future data about your use of our Site generated by the Google Analytics tools we use by downloading and installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on as instructed here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. For as long as the opt-out extension remains installed and active on the browser you are using, Google, Inc. will no longer receive data about your Site activity generated by the Google Analytics tools on our Site. We provide additional information on how to prevent collection of data generated by Google Analytics and other services (like Facebook) in relation to your use of our Site in our Cookie Notice under the "Service-Specific Information on Cookies and Online Advertising Choices" heading.
  
  

9. Sources of Data and Purpose for Use.

This section describes when and to whom we disclose the categories of Personal Data described in the "Information We Collect About You and How we Collect it" section above.  

In the circumstances described below, we disclose (or permit others to directly collect) information about you. Here are some of the ways that your Data may be shared: 

• With Your Consent.
  
  
• To Fulfill the Purpose for Which You Provided the Data.
  
  
• For Any Purpose Disclosed by Us in this Notice or when You Provided the Data.
  
  
• Data in the Aggregate.
  We may disclose “blinded” aggregated data and user statistics without restriction. Blinded data is data that does not identify any individual.

• To Service Providers.
  We may disclose Personal Data that we collect or you provide to service providers and other third parties we use to support our business. We occasionally hire other companies to provide limited Services on our behalf, such as packaging, delivering, or mailing, Site development and operation including managing user wish lists, carts, product reviews, form submissions, and browsing sessions; sending postal mail or email; tracking Site visitor activity for analytics; administering the rewards program by keeping track of rewards points you earn by completing activities on our Site and other websites; analyzing Site use; providing Site security; fraud detection; facilitating marketing by helping us understand what keywords, ads, and campaigns are most effective; personalizing content for Site visitors; processing payments; and processing data. We will only provide those companies the information they need to deliver the service, and they are contractually prohibited from using that information for any other reason. 
  
  We may share your Data with third party suppliers, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, and referral sources. For example, we may disclose Personal Data to a supplier to support the delivery or shipment of products ordered, for order fulfillment, to secure pricing, and to address other issues concerning products.
  
  We use software that may capture your keystrokes in real time as you type into text fields on the Site and share them with our service provider. By entering text data into a field on the Site, you consent to our technology service provider's access to the content of your input, recording the keystroke logging session, use of third party cookies in connection with the session, and to us and our technology service provider having access to the recording. 

• To Third Parties.
  We allow certain third-party advertising companies to collect Personal Data directly from you through your use of the Site. These companies use cookies to follow your use and behavior across our Site and the Internet over time to serve and enable Targeted Advertising, showing you ads that are more relevant to your interests based on information such as the pages you viewed, materials you downloaded, links you followed, your search queries, and any other online activities and behavior. Additionally, we may use this Data to improve our Services and provide useful information to our sales and marketing teams.
• Sweepstakes
  We may be legally required to disclose the names of sweepstakes winners. If you are a sweepstakes participant, please refer to the official rules of the specific sweepstakes you entered for further details.
  
• In Special Cases.
  MERSEA and our service providers may disclose, access, or monitor your Personal Data in special cases, such as the following:
  
• When we believe that we must disclose Data to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating our Terms of Service, or may be causing injury to or interference with our rights or property, other Site visitors or customers and their Data, or anyone else who may be harmed by such activities. 
• When we believe in good faith that the law requires it. 
• For administrative and other purposes that we deem necessary to maintain, service and improve our products and Services and our information security. This includes third party partners and service providers we use to enable the detection of devices connected with fraud and other types of information security vulnerabilities, to prevent fraud, security threats and illegal or malicious behavior, and to enhance security on our Site and other pages on the Internet. 
• In the event that we buy or sell businesses or assets. In such transactions, confidential customer Data generally is one of the transferred business assets. In the event of a transaction involving the sale of some or all of MERSEA’s businesses, customer and Site visitor Data may be one of the transferred assets and may be disclosed in connection with negotiations relating to a proposed transaction. In such case, the transferred Data may become subject to a different privacy notice.
  
  
  

10. Your Choices About our Collection, Use, and Disclosure of your Personal Data.

• Revoking Consent. If we are collecting, using, or disclosing your Personal Data with your consent, you can withdraw your consent to future use of your Personal Data on the grounds of consent at any time by following the instructions described in the relevant subsections, below.
• Account Information. You can directly manage certain information stored within your online account by logging in and viewing, changing, or deleting that information.
• Information Associated with an Email Address. To manage all of the Personal Data associated with your email address in our database, please contact us using one of the methods in Section 19 of this Notice.
• Cookies and Advertising. You may disable cookies in your browser or set your browser to warn you when a cookie is being sent. You may lose some features or functionality when you disable cookies. Remember, also, that disabling cookies is browser specific. If you log on using Microsoft Edge, you must also disable cookies in Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox or other browsers if you use those browsers at a different time.
  

  
  We provide additional information on cookies and online advertising choices in our Cookie Notice under the "Industry Programs" heading.

• Promotional Communications. You may opt out of receiving recurring marketing communications from us by following the instructions in each marketing email or subscription service from us to let us know that you no longer wish to receive such communications from us. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as emails about your purchases, account, membership, or ongoing transactions.
• General. If you believe that any inaccurate or inappropriate information has been obtained or provided to others through your use of this Site, you should contact a representative of MERSEA using the contact information in Section 19 of this Notice.
  
  
  

11. Do Not Track Codes or Global Privacy Control.

Do Not Track (DNT) is a privacy preference that users can set in their web browsers. While the United States Federal Trade Commission has endorsed DNT, our Site does not support DNT codes. The Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal is a browser setting that has been endorsed by some State privacy regulators. It allows consumers to opt-out of Targeted Advertisements and/or the sale of Personal Data through a pre-determined signal. Our Site does not recognize the GPC signal at this time. We are working to do so and will update this Notice as soon as we are able to implement GPC functionality.

We provide additional information on enabling GPC in the "Browser Settings" section of our Cookie Notice.
 

12. How does MERSEA protect financial-related information?

Keeping your personal financial information private is very important to us. As a matter of policy and long-time business practice, we do not sell financial Data provided by our customers. Any statistics that we may provide to prospective partners regarding financial matters are provided in the aggregate only and do not include any personally identifiable Data about any individual person. We use third party payment processors to process payments and refunds, and do we do not collect or retain your payment card or bank account information.

13. What security precautions are in place to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of your information?

Your MERSEA account is protected by a password that you create, and we encrypt passwords and account registration information. Remember to sign out, close your browser, or lock your screen when you are away from your device to prevent unauthorized access to your account information. Because information sent through the Internet travels from computer to computer throughout the world, information you give us may be sent to servers outside of the country where you originally entered the information. While no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, our Site uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt Personal Data transfers. You can identify TLS in use on a page within our Site by the padlock symbol 🔒 or "https" in the URL. 

Information you disclose while using our Services (as with any non-secure site), such as by posting a public review or using e-mail, may potentially be collected and used by others. This may result in unsolicited messages from third parties or misuse of your information for various purposes, legal or illegal. While we strive to protect your Personal Data, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or from our Services, and you do so at your own risk. If we receive a nonpublic transmission from you, we use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure its security on our systems. We limit access to your Personal Data to those who reasonably need it to provide and improve our Services and process your information appropriately.

14. How long do we keep your Personal Data?

We store Personal Data for as long as necessary to carry out the purposes for which we originally collected it as disclosed to you in this Notice or elsewhere when Data is collected. The length of time we retain Personal Data will be determined based upon criteria such as: the length of time your Personal Data remains relevant; the length of time it is reasonable to keep records to demonstrate that we have fulfilled our duties and obligations; any limitation periods within which claims might be made; any retention periods prescribed by law or recommended by regulators; or the type of contract we have with you, the existence of your consent, and our legitimate interest or business need in keeping such information (for example, to provide you with a Service you have requested or to comply with applicable legal, tax, compliance, or accounting requirements).

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your Personal Data in accordance with our data retention policies, we will either delete or anonymize it or, if this is not possible (for example, because your Personal Data has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your Personal Data and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

15. International Data Transfers.

Your Personal Data may be transferred to, and processed in, countries other than the country in which you are resident. These countries may have data protection laws that are different to the laws of your country and, in some cases, may not be as protective. Specifically, our Site servers are located in the United States, and our third party service providers and partners operate around the world. This means that when we collect your Personal Data we may process it in any of these countries.

However, we have taken appropriate safeguards to require that your Personal Data will remain protected in accordance with this Privacy Notice.

16. What else should you know about your privacy?

Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose information online, that information is accessible to others. Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and/or any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you are online.
 

17. Privacy Rights for Residents of U.S. States with Applicable Privacy Law.

A. U.S. States with Applicable Privacy Laws.
Residents of certain U.S. states may have rights (now or in the future) under privacy laws in effect in their state, such as under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Colorado Privacy Act, Connecticut Data Privacy Act, Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act, Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act, Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act, Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act, Maryland Online Data Privacy Act, Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act, Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act, Nebraska Data Privacy Act, NewHampshire Privacy Act, NewJersey Data Privacy Act, Oregon Consumer Privacy Act, RhodeIsland Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act, Tennessee Information Protection Act, Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, Utah Consumer Privacy Act, Virginia Consumer Data Privacy Act, and any other U.S. privacy law and implementing regulations (collectively, State Privacy Laws). Some of these laws may not take effect until a future date.

While consumers may be covered by an applicable State Privacy Law, some of the State Privacy Laws may not apply to MERSEA due to the scope of our business and limited number of interactions with consumer residents in certain states. We will adhere to the privacy rights below to the extent that they apply to you and to us.

In general, the State Privacy Laws provide (now or in the future) consumer state residents with rights to:

• Confirm whether we process their Personal Data and access it (the Right to Know).
• Delete certain Personal Data.
• Correct inaccuracies in their Personal Data, taking into account the information's nature processing purpose (excluding Iowa and Utah).
• Obtain a Copy of their Personal Data (the Right of Data Portability).
• Opt-out of Personal Data processing for:
• Targeted Advertising (excluding Iowa); and
• Sales; and
• Either limit (opt-out of) or give consent prior to processing sensitive Personal Data

B.  Information for Employees of our Business Contacts.
The State Privacy Laws apply to U.S. 'consumers' who are natural persons acting in their personal or household capacities. The State Privacy Laws (other than the CCPA, for California residents), do not cover Personal Data collected in the business-to-business (B2B), workforce, or employment contexts. This means that if you interact with MERSEA as a job applicant, contractor, employee, or business representative of your organization, Data we collect or process from those interactions is generally not tied to Personal Data rights under State Privacy Laws. We may not process privacy requests in cases where these exceptions apply. 

However, to make inquiries or exercise your rights in Personal Data based on your interactions with MERSEA in your personal capacity, such as personal purchases or visits to the Site, you can contact MERSEA directly using one of the methods in Section 19 of this Notice.

C.  Our Collection, Use, and Disclosure of Personal Data.
As noted above in Section 7, we collect Data that identifies, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to a particular consumer (Personal Data or Data, also known as "personal information"). 

Below is a table that details our Data practices over the last twelve (12) months.

Identifiers (such as name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, IP address, email address, account name, social security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or similar identifiers)
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We collect identifiers such as those listed above. We do not collect social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and passport numbers from Site visitors or customers.	Directly from individuals submitting Data to us; customer referrals; certain Data is automatically collected from Site visitors; business report providers; advertising and marketing partners; social media.	Performing Services and fulfilling orders; maintaining account information; rewards program administration; providing promotional mobile alerts and emails; customer referrals; providing customer service; verifying customer information; processing payments; providing advertising and marketing services; providing analytics; programmatic advertising; Targeted advertising; conversions; auditing related to customer interactions and transactions; security detection and enhancement; enhancing products and Services.	For as long as reasonably necessary to: maintain an active account; fulfill our obligations related to a transaction; provide a requested Service; protect our Site and Services from security threats or fraudulent activity; spot preferences and trends and otherwise analyze for the disclosed purposes; comply with applicable law and regulatory obligations; comply with a request or order from a government entity or law enforcement. We may also retain Data for the duration the user consented; or until the user asks us to delete the Data. We may also de-identify the Data and continue to use it for a longer period of time.	Marketing and advertising service providers and vendors; warehousing, packing, shipping, and delivery partners; cloud storage providers; social media partners and online search platforms; security services; payment and chargeback processors; suppliers; mailing and shipping services; government entities and law enforcement, if necessary.
Financial, medical, or health information (such as insurance policy number, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information)
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We collect certain financial information. We do not collect medical or health information from customers or Site visitors.	Directly from individuals submitting information to us.	Performing services and fulfilling orders; accounting purposes.	For as long as reasonably necessary to provide a requested product or Service; or to comply with legal, tax, compliance, or accounting requirements.	Technology service providers such as payment and chargeback processors, financial reporting companies, or address verification providers; government entities and law enforcement, if necessary.
Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law (such as race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, genetic information, disability, citizenship status, and military and veteran status)
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We collect date of birth from account holders enrolled in our rewards program. We may ask for demographic information such as gender in voluntary surveys. We do not otherwise collect characteristics of protected classifications from customers or Site visitors.	Directly from individuals submitting Data to us.	Performing Services including awarding rewards points each year on the date the customer entered, and administering surveys.	For as long as the customer is enrolled in the Rewards Program.; For as long as reasonably necessary to use survey responses for the purpose disclosed to the consumer. We may also de-identify the Data and continue to use it for a longer period of time.	Cloud storage providers; marketing and advertising service providers and vendors; government entities and law enforcement, if necessary.
Commercial information (such as transaction history, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, records of personal property, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies)
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We collect commercial information relating to product inquiries, purchases, and returns; and from product browsing, wish list, and cart activity.	Directly from individuals shopping the Site, submitting Data, engaging in orders, or making inquiries; advertising and marketing partners; MERSEA internal processes.	Performing Services and fulfilling orders; maintaining account, wish list, and cart information; providing customer service; verifying customer information; providing advertising and marketing services including MERSEA mobile SMS alerts (e.g. cart reminders); providing analytics; auditing related to customer interactions, transactions, and Site use; security detection and enhancement; enhancing products and Services.	For as long as reasonably necessary to:  demonstrate we have fulfilled our duties and obligations related to a transaction; maintain an active account, cart, or wish list; provide a requested Service; spot preferences and trends and otherwise analyze Data for the disclosed purposes; comply with applicable law and regulatory obligations. We may also retain Data for the duration the user consented; or until the user asks us to delete the Data. We may also de-identify the Data and continue to use it for a longer period of time.	Supplier sales and marketing representatives; warehousing, packing, shipping, and delivery partners; cloud storage providers; social media partners and online search platforms; marketing and advertising service providers and vendors; government entities and law enforcement, if necessary.
Biometric information (physiological, biological or behavioral characteristics, including images, voice recordings, keystroke patterns)
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We do not collect biometric information.	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Internet or other electronic network activity information (such as browsing history, search history, and information regarding an interaction with a website, application, or advertisement.)
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We collect electronic identifiers such as IP address, cookies, Site browsing and interaction activity such as how often you visit the Site and which pages you view, features you use, content you capture, download, or interact with, and links you follow; browsing and search history such as the links, ads, or search queries that led you to the Site; advertisement interaction information such as whether you made a purchase after interacting with an ad; and other device or browser identifiers.	Web browsers and devices; advertising and marketing partners; analytics providers; social media partners; technology vendors.	Performing Services and fulfilling orders; enabling Site functionality; maintaining account information; providing customer service; verifying customer information; providing advertising and marketing services; analytics; auditing related to customer interactions and transactions; security detection and enhancement; enhancing products and Services.	For the duration of the current browsing session, at minimum; or for as long as reasonably necessary to: spot preferences and trends and otherwise analyze for the disclosed purposes; to comply with a request or order from a government entity or law enforcement. We may also retain Data for the duration the user consented; or until the user asks us to delete the Data. We may also de-identify the Data and continue to use it for a longer period of time.	Marketing and advertising service providers and vendors; cloud storage providers; social media partners and online search platforms; security services; suppliers; third party advertising companies;  government entities and law enforcement, if necessary.
Geolocation
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We collect approximate or precise geolocation data as determined by device and browser location services settings, if enabled.	Web browsers and devices; embedded content technology provider.	To provide the embedded "Find My Location" map feature at https://mersea.com/pages/store-locator to generate information about retail stores near the Site visitor that sell our products.	n/a	Only the embedded content provider.
Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We allow product reviews that include photos.	Directly from individuals submitting Data to us, technology vendors.	Performing Services; providing customer service; providing advertising and marketing services; analytics; auditing related to customer interactions and transactions; security detection and enhancement; enhancing products and Services.	For for as long as necessary to provide information relevant to or promote the reviewed product; or until the user asks us to delete the Data.	The public in general; marketing and advertising service providers and vendors; cloud storage and providers; security services; government entities and law enforcement, if necessary.
Professional and employment-related information
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We may learn professional and employment related information from representatives of our business contacts; we do not solicit or intentionally collect professional and employment information from Site visitors, referral contacts, or retail customers but we may receive it as part of a product review or other communication.	Directly from individuals submitting Data to us.	Performing Services and fulfilling orders; Business-to-business commercial interactions including: performing services and fulfilling orders; maintaining customer or supplier account information; providing customer service; verifying business customer or supplier information; providing advertising and marketing services.	For the duration of the customer relationship or until the customer asks us to delete it; for as long as necessary to maintain the organization's business account information, or until that organization asks us to delete it.	Marketing and advertising service providers and vendors; cloud storage providers; security services; suppliers; government entities and law enforcement, if necessary.
Educational information
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
We do not collect educational Data but we may receive it as part of a product review or other communication.	Directly from individuals submitting Data to us, if any.	Customer interactions and transactions.	For as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose of the review or communication and otherwise in accordance with our internal information retention policies.	Cloud storage providers; government entities and law enforcement, if necessary.
Inferences drawn from any information identified above (such as to create a profile about preferences, characteristics, trends, predispositions, behavior, or attitudes)
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
MERSEA collects preferences and derives behavior and trends to create a customer profile; we may infer broad approximate location based on IP address.	Web browsers and devices; advertising and marketing partners; social media partners; technology vendors.	Performing Services to improve the customer experience; maintaining account information; providing customer service; verifying customer information; Targeted Advertising; auditing related customer-employee interactions and transactions; security detection and enhancement; product and Service enhancement.	For as long as reasonably necessary to: maintain an active account; spot preferences and trends and otherwise analyze for the disclosed purposes; for the duration the user consented; or until the user asks us to delete the Data.	Marketing and advertising service providers and vendors; security services; suppliers; government entities and law enforcement, if necessary.

D.  Right to Know and Data Portability
If you are protected by an applicable State Privacy Law, you have the right to request access and disclosure of certain information about our collection and use of your Personal Data as well as to have a copy of that Data (collectively referred to here as the right to know). Once we receive your request and confirm your identity (see Exercising Your Rights to Know or Delete), we will disclose the following information to you, per your request:

• The categories of Personal Data we collected about you.
• The categories of Personal Data we are processing, or have processed.
• The categories of sources for the Personal Data we collected about you.
• Our business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing the Personal Data.
• A list of the categories of third parties with whom we have shared your Personal Data, if any, and the categories of Personal Data shared with each category of third parties.
• A list of the categories of Personal Data we disclosed about you for a business purpose, if any, identifying the categories of persons or recipients that obtained each category of Personal Data.
• A copy (if requested) of the specific pieces of Personal Data collected and maintained in a commonly used electronic format.

If you are protected by the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act (which is currently in effect) or the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act (which will take effect on July 31, 2025), you have additional rights to obtain a list of specific third parties to whom we have disclosed any consumer's personal data. To obtain a copy of this information, be sure to indicate that you are an Oregon or Minnesota resident when you submit your request.

E. Right to Delete and Correct
If you are protected by an applicable State Privacy Law, you have the right to request that we delete the Personal Data collected or maintained about you, or correct inaccuracies in such Data, subject to certain exceptions (collectively referred to here as the right to delete). Once we receive a request and confirm the identity of the requestor and the data subject (see Exercising Your Rights to Know or Delete), we will review the request to see if an exception allowing or requiring us to retain the Data applies. We may deny a deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to:

• Complete the transaction for which we collected the Data, provide a good or Service requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with the consumer, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, or otherwise perform our contract with any consumer.
• Detect security incidents; protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity; or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
• Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
• Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
• Comply with applicable state law, including the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et. seq.).
• Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if informed consent was previously provided.
• Comply with a legal obligation.
• Other purposes as permitted under State Privacy Law.

Upon receipt of your verifiable request, we will delete or de-identify and/or correct any Personal Data not subject to one of these exceptions from our records and will direct our service providers to take similar action

F. Exercising Your Rights to Know or Delete
To exercise the rights to know or delete described above, please submit a request by either:

1. Calling us at (877) 310-0331
2. Emailing us at customerservice@mersea.com;
3. Submitting a request through the TLS encrypted web form available here. 

Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a request to know or delete related to your Personal Data. You may only submit a request to know twice within a twelve (12) month period. Your request to know or delete must:

• Provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected Personal Data or their authorized representative; and
• Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

Verifying Requests. We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Data unless we verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the Data relates to you. To protect your privacy and maintain security, we will take steps to verify your identity before complying with requests. For example, for requests to know and delete, we will attempt to match your identity to Data in our records. If needed, we may ask for additional information. The Data you provide will be used solely for identity or authorization verification purposes.

Authorized Agents. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf, but they must submit proof of authorization. We may deny requests if proof is inadequate. We will not process privacy requests from third-party services that haven't passed our verification process, because these services often request that we click on hyperlinks which we will not do for data security reasons. In addition, these services are also susceptible to spoofing and other phishing attacks. One of our highest priorities is to treat your Data safely and securely. If your state allows third-party agents for privacy requests, please have them contact us directly using the information above, and we will take steps to identify them and ensure that they are your agent. 

Responses to Requests. We will try to respond to your request within 45 days. If more time is needed (up to 90 days), we will notify you in writing with the reason for extension. Responses will be delivered by mail or electronically, at your option, and if we cannot comply with a request we will explain why in our response. For data portability requests, we will select a readily usable, electronic format to provide your Data that should allow you to transmit the Data to another entity.

We do not charge a fee unless requests are excessive, repetitive, or unfounded. If a fee is warranted; we will explain why and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

G. Sensitive Data Rights.
Sensitive Personal Data is a subtype of Personal Data consisting of specific Data categories described in the State Privacy Laws. 

We may collect, use, and disclose Data that falls within the "precise geolocation" sensitive Personal Data category if you visit our store locator page at https://mersea.com/pages/store-locator with precise geolocation enabled through the location based services on your device's browser and click "Find My Location" which acts as your consent for us to receive your precise geolocation as detected through our embedded content provider, Google Maps, who will also receive your precise geolocation and use it to generate and display information about retail stores near you that sell MERSEA products.

If we have used or disclosed your sensitive Personal Data with your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing your consent will not affect processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect use conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.

Precise Geolocation (such as your physical location within a small area 1,850 feet radius).
Information Collected or Processed	Categories of Sources	Business or commercial purpose for which it will be used	Intended Retention Period	Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data is shared
Real-time geographic location of a device linkable to an individual within 1,850 ft. radius.	Web browsers and devices; embedded content technology provider.	To provide the embedded "Find My Location" map feature at https://mersea.com/pages/store-locator to generate information about retail stores near the Site visitor that sell our products.		Only the embedded content technology provider.

 

If you are a California consumer resident, you have the right to limit our use and disclosure of sensitive Personal Data to only those uses which are necessary to perform the services or provide the goods you requested. However, MERSEA does not engage in activities that trigger this right. Although the CCPA categorizes collection, use, or disclosure of (i) precise geolocation data, and (ii) account login credential and passwords, as 'sensitive' when used to infer consumer characteristics, we do not use or disclose sensitive Personal Data for that purpose, nor do we sell or share it as defined by the CCPA and thus it is not subject to CCPA requests to limit. We may nonetheless ask for consent or provide notice and choice about how the Data is processed depending on the relevant context.

G. Giving or Revoking Consent.
If we have collected and used your Personal Data with your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time using the same method by which you gave consent, or another method we have provided. Withdrawing your consent will not affect processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect the use conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.

I. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Data - Opt-Out Rights
Your State Privacy Law may provide you with the right to Opt-Out of the Sale or Sharing of your Personal Data, and the right to Opt-Out of use of your Personal Data for Targeted Advertising or Cross-Context Behavioral Advertising.

Please continue reading for details on our practices and instructions on how to opt-out.

We do not sell Personal Data of consumers in the traditional sense of the word "sell." MERSEA does, however, share Data in a way that is considered a "sale" under certain State Privacy Laws

ii. MERSEA Does Engage in the “Sharing” of Personal Data for Targeted Advertising.

We and others use cookies and other tracking technologies to show you ads promoting MERSEA on other sites and services. In this Notice, we generally use the term Targeted Advertising, but these activities may be considered "sales," "sharing," "targeted advertising," or "cross-context behavioral advertising" under State Privacy Laws or other applicable laws. The CCPA, for instance, defines “sharing” as cross-context behavioral advertising, which means disclosing Personal Data for purposes of serving you advertisements that are relevant to you based on your activity across our Services and other sites. Like many companies, we use outside services to help deliver interest-based ads to you.

iii. Opt-Out of Cookies on this Site.

You may disable cookies in your browser or set your browser to warn you when a cookie is being sent. You may lose some features or functionality when you disable cookies. Remember, also, that disabling cookies is browser specific. If you log on using Microsoft Edge, you must also disable cookies in Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox or other browsers if you use those browsers at a different time.
We provide additional information on cookies and online advertising choices in our Cookie Notice under the "Industry Programs" heading. Please note certain cookies and other technologies allow our Site to securely operate, provide a better navigation experience, and facilitate purchases you may choose to make from MERSEA. Those essential, functional, and analytic technologies provide you with a more efficient and functional experience, and help us to understand how you navigate and use our Site. When you refuse those supporting technologies, it will affect how our Site functions and whether our Site recognizes you as a prior user or not.

v. Opt-Out of Disclosure for Ads.

To opt-out of "sales," "sharing," "targeted advertising," or "cross-context behavioral advertising" associated with your email address, visit this form and submit the required information.
Note that some transfers of your Personal Data may not be considered “sharing,” and certain exemptions may apply under State Privacy Law or other applicable law. Your choices do not affect other disclosures of your Personal Data, as outlined in this Privacy Notice, such as when we process payments, provide services to you, or prevent fraud.

vi. We do not Use or Disclose Sensitive Data for Advertising Purposes.

We do not process or share sensitive Personal Data for cross-context behavioral advertising, for Targeted Advertising, and we do not sell it.

Right to Non-Discrimination and No Retaliation.

The State Privacy Laws provide consumers the right not be discriminated against by us for opting out or exercising privacy rights conferred by applicable State Privacy Laws. Unless permitted by applicable State Privacy Laws, we will not:

• Deny you goods or Services;
• Charge you different prices or rates for goods or Services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties;
• Provide you a different level or quality of goods or Services;
• Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or Services or a different level or quality of goods or Services.

However, we may offer you certain financial incentives permitted by applicable privacy laws that can result in different prices, rates, or quality levels. Any legally permitted financial incentive we offer will reasonably relate to your Personal Data's value and contain written terms that describe the program's material aspects. Participation in a financial incentive program requires your prior opt-in consent, which you may revoke at any time.

18. Updates to this Notice.

We may change this Privacy Notice from time to time so please check back often. If we make changes, we will notify you by updating the Effective and Last Updated dates at the top of this Notice. If we significantly change our collection, use, or disclosure practices, we may provide additional notice such as by adding a statement to our home page, by sending you a notification, or sending an email if you have provided us with an email address. Please note that some of the Services mentioned specifically in this notice may not be immediately available on the Site at this time.

19. Contact Information.

Who do you contact with questions or concerns about our Privacy Notice or to exercise your privacy rights?

If you need further assistance, please send an e-mail with your questions or comments to customerservice@mersea.com, call our toll free number at (877) 310-0331, or write us at:

MERSEA
Attn: Privacy
14710 West 105^th Street
Lenexa, KS 66215

 

 If you wish to appeal a denial or limitation of your privacy rights request, you may email us at customerservice@mersea.com. 

 

20. MERSEA Cookie Notice.

A. The Cookie Notice.
MERSEA respects the privacy of our Site visitors. This Cookie Notice is part of our Privacy Notice and provides you with detailed information about the cookies and other technologies we use and our purposes for using them. 

Like most other websites, our Site uses cookies in combination with other code such as pixels, scripts, tags, and beacons (collectively referred to herein as cookies) to distinguish you from other users of our Site. You can find out more about the different types of cookies used on our Site below. You should be aware that refusing certain types of cookies may impact your experience of our Site.


B. What is a Cookie?
We use the term "cookies" to refer to a variety of technologies including "web beacons" and "log files" in this Cookie Notice and throughout the MERSEA Privacy Notice. Just to provide clarity, here is some specific information about these technologies and how we use them: 

Cookies. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers a website asks your browser to store on your device hard drive. Cookies enable us to identify your browser as a unique user. Cookies may involve transmission of information from us to you and from you to us.  Cookies set by MERSEA are called “first-party cookies” (e.g. cookies placed by https://mersea.com). We also use third-party cookies, which are cookies set by a domain other than the current site you are visiting including cookies placed by our service providers. You can use www.whoishostingthis.com to identify a website's hosting provider which may help you understand the cookies running on that site.

Web Beacons. We also employ a software technology called a clear GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), also known as a pixel tag or Web beacon. A clear GIF is a line of code that we place on our Site or in e-mails which allows us to analyze our advertising and the general usage patterns of visitors to our Site. These help us better manage content on our Site by informing us what content or promotions are effective. 

Log Files. Like most standard website servers, we use log files. Log files document Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks. We utilize this information to analyze trends, administer the Site, prevent fraud, track Site navigation in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.

C. Your Choices Regarding Cookies

i. Browser Settings

Some browsers allow a "do not track" (DNT) setting to request that a web application disable its tracking of a user. When you choose to turn on the DNT setting in your browser, your browser will send a signal to websites, analytics companies, ad networks, and other web services to stop tracking your activity. 

Internet browser cookie settings are usually found in the “settings,” “preferences,” or “options” menu of your browser. In order to understand more about these settings, the following links may be helpful. You can also use the “Help” option in your browser for more details.

• Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
• Cookie settings in Firefox
• Cookie settings in Safari
• Cookie settings in Chrome

Our Site is unable to recognize browser opt-out preference signals at this time. We are working to do so and will update this Notice as soon as we are able to implement GPC functionality.

You can prevent Google, Inc. from accessing future data about your use of our Site generated by the Google Analytics tools we use by downloading and installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on as instructed here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. This link provides instructions for installing an opt-out extension to your browser. For as long as the opt-out extension remains installed and active on the browser you are using, Google, Inc. will no longer receive data about your Site activity generated by the Google Analytics tools on our Site.

ii. Industry Programs

You can also take advantage of industry-sponsored programs allowing you to better manage how some companies advertise to you, including but not limited to the following resources: 

• The Global Privacy Control: https://globalprivacycontrol.org/ 
• The Network Advertising Initiative’s Opt-Out page: https://thenai.org/opt-out/
• The Digital Advertising Alliance’s WebChoices tool: https://optout.aboutads.info/

iii. Service-Specific Information on Cookies and Online Advertising Choices

• Adobe Marketing Cloud: If you would like more information on how to remove yourself from the tracking and reporting functions performed by Adobe Marketing Cloud, please visit the Opt-Out page at https://www.adobe.com/privacy/marketing-cloud.html. 
• Google and Google Analytics: For information on how Google Analytics uses data, please visit “How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services,” located at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. You may view Google's privacy policy here: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en, More information is located here: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/ (including information regarding how to control how information is shared through your Ads Settings) and here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.
• Facebook: Facebook provides information regarding the information it collects and how it is used in relation to advertising here: https://www.facebook.com/policy.php. You may opt-out of Facebook's collection and sharing of information here: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads.
• You may also opt-out of information sharing from other third party websites to using the information provided in their privacy policies.

D. How Long Do Cookies Last?
Except for Strictly Necessary cookies, the cookies we run on our Site will expire as follows:

• Session cookies: These allow website operators to follow a user’s actions through a browser session. A browser session begins when a user opens the browser window and ends when the browser window is closed. Session cookies are temporary. Once the browser is closed, all session cookies are deleted. We may use a session cookie, for example, to remember that you have already navigated through a particular menu.
• Persistent cookies: These remain on a visitor’s device for a time period set by the cookie. They are activated each time a user visits the site that created that cookie. We may also use "analytics cookies" that allow web analytics services to recognize your browser or device and, for example, identify whether you have visited our Site before, what you have previously viewed or clicked on, and how you found us. This information is provided anonymously for statistical analysis only. Analytics cookies are usually persistent cookies.

E. What Cookies Does MERSEA Use & Why?
The cookies used on our Site are categorized as follows:

• Strictly Necessary
• Functional
• Analytics
• Targeting

i. Strictly Necessary Cookies 

These cookies are necessary for the Site to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They allow you to move around the Site and use essential features. Without these cookies, we cannot provide the requested Services. 

We use Strictly Necessary Cookies for purposes such as to:

• Distinguish humans from bots;
• Precise Site content;
• Enable transactions;
• Identify and/or authenticate a user as being logged into the Site;
• Ensure a user connects to the right service if a change is made; 
• Detect spam, fraud, and abuse; 
• Apply privacy settings based on the Site visitor's region; and
• Security purposes.

You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies. However, if they are blocked, MERSEA cannot guarantee performance of the Site or security during a visit.

ii. Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enable enhanced functionality and personalization. Such cookies may be set by third-party providers whose services are added to our Site, such as embedded content on our site. Although important, these cookies are not required for your use of the Site. Without these cookies, certain functionality may become unavailable. 

We use Functional Cookies for purposes such as to:

• Enhance your shopping experience by showing you recently viewed items and wish-list adds;
• Maintain your shopping cart and wish-list when you are not logged in;
• Apply your preferred settings;
• Enhance search options; and
• Administer our rewards program.

iii. Analytics Cookies

Analytics cookies collect information about how you use our Site including pages visited and any errors experienced during your visit. Analytics cookies typically do not collect information that could specifically identify you and are only used to improve the Site, understand the interests of our users, and measure the effectiveness of content.

We use Analytics cookies for purposes such as to:

• Provide anonymous statistics on how the Site is used; 
• Understand how users reach our Site;
• Identify user-specific browsing and session details; 
• Recognize users across browsing sessions; and
• Improve the Site by measuring errors.

If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our Site nor will we know if there are errors in performance. Some analytics cookies are managed by third parties, such as Google Analytics.

iv. Targeting Cookies

Targeting cookies are used to help attract customers with targeted ads and can be shared with other advertisers so the performance of the ads themselves can be monitored and measured. Targeting cookies can also be used to build user profiles and for offering our customers the best suited ads for their needs.

• Social media cookies and tags are used by us and social media platforms to enable users of the platforms to share content and receive activity-based ads across our Site and theirs. This targeting is done by the platform under its own terms of use.
• Advertising cookies and tags are used to personalize the ads delivered to you on the Internet. These cookies collect data about online activity and allow ads to be displayed that may be of relevant interest to the user. These cookies also record which ads a user sees and whether a user engaged with the ad. These cookies help make sure that the ads you see are valuable to you and not repetitive.

If you do not add these cookies, then some of these services may not function properly. 

Applicable State Privacy Laws may provide you with the right to Opt-Out of the Sale or Sharing of your Personal Data, including any for Targeted Advertising. The CCPA, for instance, defines “sharing” to include certain sharing of your Personal Data for purposes of serving you advertisements relevant to you based on your activity across our Services and other sites. 

To learn more about interest-based advertising and how you may be able to opt-out of some of this advertising, you can visit the following resources at:

http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices 

http://www.aboutads.info/choices 

http://www.youronlinechoices.com 

These tools will only opt you out from receiving interest-based ads on that specific browser or device, but you may still receive interest-based ads on your other devices. You must perform the opt-out on each browser or device you use. These tools will not opt you out of non-Targeted Advertising.

As noted above, cookies can help deliver interest-based ads to you, 

To opt-out of "sales," "sharing," "targeted advertising," or "cross-context behavioral advertising" associated with your email address, visit this form and submit the required information.