Sewell Automotive Companies - Privacy and Safeguards Notice

 

Introduction

Thank you for visiting a website (including its mobile device-ready version) of Sewell Automotive Companies ("Sewell"). In this Privacy Policy, we refer to our websites as our "Websites." We hope that you find our Websites to be a useful part of your car-buying, servicing, or repair experience. Please note that this Privacy Policy describes our overall privacy practices for Websites. This policy also applies to information collected from consumers at Sewell dealerships.

Sewell is committed to respecting the privacy rights of our customers and all visitors to our Websites. We are publishing this policy to advise you what information Sewell may collect, how Sewell may use that information and how your information is protected.

Acceptance of Privacy Policy

As a condition to using the Websites, we require your approval to collect the data described below. By visiting any of our Websites, you agree that Sewell may collect and use this information as stated in this Privacy Policy. Do not use the site if you do not accept the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Updating Our Privacy Policies

Sewell reserves the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time. We will post those changes to this page so that users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it. We will use, share, and disclose all information in accordance with the privacy policy in effect at the time the information was collected.

After we make any change to the Privacy Policy, we will post the updated version of the policy on the Website. Your continued use of the site following the posting of such modifications will mean that you accept the amended Privacy Policy.

How We Use Collected Information

We collect information in a number of different ways:

Basic Web Information

We may collect information associated with your IP address, such as the time and date of a visit, the originating domain name, the browser type, the web address of the site from which you were linked (if any), and the particular pages or products viewed on the Websites.

Passive Information

We also may collect information from you passively. Sewell may use a variety of technologies including cookies.  A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to personal information, until a user provides that information (see below). If a user rejects or deletes the cookie, he/she may still use our site. However, the user may be limited in some areas of our site. For example, the user may not be able to receive notification of special offers.

Voluntarily Provided Information

We collect certain information that users voluntarily provide to us via the site, at the dealership or in other correspondence. For example, we collect the email addresses of those who contact us by email. We also collect information that you voluntarily provide to us in surveys. When you register as a member for the purposes of applying for credit, we collect your full name, phone number, email address, zip code and a password chosen by you. As described above, we use that information to serve you, to improve the content of our Websites, and to contact you for marketing purposes.

However, if you provide personal information to us for the purposes of a financial service, we will only share your information in accordance with our Financial Privacy Policy.

Information Received from Others  

Sewell may receive information from others, particularly if you elect to apply for credit or financing through Sewell. For example, we may receive consumer reporting agencies, credit references, employers and insurance agencies such as your credit history, credit worthiness and information that our dealerships obtain to verify employment history or that insurance coverage is in force.

Mobile Websites

When you use our mobile device-ready website (our "Mobile Websites"), we may collect additional information about you that is specific to your mobile device.

We use the information we collect to operate our Websites, to respond to your requests, and to manage your relationship with Sewell. For example, we use the information to provide you with the results of your searches; to provide you with important information and required notices; and to improve our Websites. If you have provided your email address as part of our credit application process, we use your email address to distinguish you from others and to reset your password if you report that it has been lost or stolen. We also use your email address and password to enable you to migrate your account to another device. We may also use information for marketing purposes. For example, we might send you information about newly available vehicles and special offers.

We maintain presence on several social networking platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, and we may also incorporate some third party social networking features onto our Websites. Through these platforms and features, we receive information about you, and this Privacy and Safeguards Notice applies to that information as well. In addition, third party social networking platforms have their own privacy policies which explain how the third parties that provide them will use and protect your information. In accordance with those policies (and your privacy settings within your social networking accounts) information about your activities on our Websites (such as "Mary Smith likes this car" or "John Smith viewed this customer review") may be published to your social network.

How we Combine Information

We may combine information. For example, we may combine information that we have collected offline with information we collect online. We may combine information we collect passively with information you provide to us. We may combine information about our transactions and experiences with you with other information we have collected from you.

We may also combine financial information we learn about you with other information we collect. Or we may combine information we get from a third party with information we already have. We may also combine previously anonymous information like IP address with other information we have collected to identify an individual.

Use of Third Parties' Services

We may use third parties' services in order to better understand our users' needs and optimize their experience. These third parties may use cookies and other technologies to gain user feedback on issues affecting website usage such as how long users spend on certain pages and what links are clicked. As part of these services, a user's IP address, device type, country location and other similar information may be collected by the third party and stored in an anonymized profile. Any third party used to collect this kind of data is subject to contractual confidentiality restrictions that forbid any data collected on our behalf from being sold.

Security

We take commercially reasonable steps to protect the information we collect online. However, as effective as these measures are, no security system is impenetrable. We cannot provide an absolute guarantee of the security of our information databases or that information that you choose to supply will not be intercepted while you transmit it from your computer, over the internet, or along other third party networks, and to our systems.

However, when we transfer and receive certain types of sensitive information, such as financial information, we redirect visitors to a secure server using industry standard encryption. Furthermore, once the information has been received by us, we use security procedures and policies commensurate with industry standards to safeguard against loss, theft, unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification and disclosure.

Sharing

Sewell does not rent or sell your personal information to any third party. We share information with third parties in accordance with applicable law, including:

·         With Affiliates. We will share information within Sewell Automotive Companies, which includes all of our affiliates.

 

·         With Service Providers. We will share information with third parties who perform services on our behalf. For example, we share information with vendors who send emails for us. We may also share information with companies that operate our websites or run a promotion. The information we share may include location information.

 

·         With Other Third Parties. We may share information, including personally identifiable information (but excluding any consumer financial information or other sensitive personally identifiable information) with our manufacturers, who may use such information for their own marketing and internal business purposes. Subject to applicable law, we may also share information with other third parties. For example, we may share information with third parties who co-sponsor a promotion. We may share information for other reasons we may describe to you.

 

We will also share information if you are a winner of a sweepstakes, contest, or promotion. For example, we may share your information if you win a sweepstakes or contest as part of a winner's list. We may also publish this winner's list publicly.

 

·         To Comply with Law or Protect Sewell's Interests. We will share information if we think we are required to do so by law or believe that we have to do so in order to protect our interests. For example, we will share information to respond to a court order or subpoena. We may share it if a government agency or investigatory body requests. We might share information when we are investigating potential fraud.

 

·         With Successors. Finally, we may share information with any successor to all or part of our business. For example, if part of our business was sold we may give our customer list as part of that transaction.

Links

Our Websites contains links to other sites. Please be aware that Sewell is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each Web site that collects personal information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by the Websites. In addition, links from the Websites do not imply that Sewell sponsors or endorses these other sites or any of the products or services described there.

Children

Sewell does not knowingly allow anyone under the age of 13 to participate in any services offered on our Web site which requires the submission of user information. If we learn that a user is under 13 and has submitted user information to us, we will delete that information as promptly as possible.

Advertising / Online Tracking

Sewell may use online advertising networks to serve ads on third-party websites.  You can opt out of receiving targeted ads from many websites by using the opt-out tools available through the Digital Advertising Alliance or the Network Advertising Initiative.  Please note that if you opt out, you may still receive online advertising, but the ads that you receive will be generic and not based on your online preferences or behavior. 

Use of Information

The Websites, including the information contained on the Websites, is protected by copyright and trademark laws under U.S. and International law. Sewell and/or third-party information providers own all information on this site, and you do not acquire any ownership rights by accessing, downloading or printing the information.

If you are a personal user, you may access, download and print information on this site for your personal, non-commercial home use only. If you are a company user, you may access, download and print information on this site for your company's internal use only. In either case: (1) you must retain all copyright and other proprietary notices on all copies of the downloaded or printed information, and (2) you may not modify the information, or reproduce, publicly display, distribute or otherwise use the information for any public or commercial purpose. The use of any information from this site on any other website or networked computer environment (including for purposes of establishing a link to this site) is prohibited.

Sewell does not grant you any express or implied right under any patents, trademarks, copyrights or trade secret information, other than the limited right to access, download and print information as described in the preceding paragraph. In particular, without prior written authorization from Sewell, you are prohibited from using or copying the name, mark, logo, picture or image of Sewell or any derivation thereof.

Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

The information within this site is provided "as is". No warranty is expressed or implied to the fullest extent permissible by applicable law. Sewell and any of its providers of information do not warrant error-free or uninterrupted service of this site.

THIS SITE, AND THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN, MAY CONTAIN INACCURACIES AND TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. SEWELL DOES NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THIS SITE, OR THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE, OR THE RELIABILITY OF ANY ADVICE, OPINION, STATEMENT OR OTHER INFORMATION DISPLAYED OR DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THIS SITE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ANY RELIANCE ON ANY SUCH ADVICE, OPINION, STATEMENT OR OTHER INFORMATION WILL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. SEWELL ALSO DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THIS SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

THIS SITE, AND THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN, ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NONINFRINGEMENT, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW FOR THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

IN NO EVENT WILL SEWELL, OR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATES OR ADVERTISERS OR SPONSORS BE LIABLE TO ANY ENTITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY LOST PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF INFORMATION OR PROGRAMS OR OTHER DATA ON YOUR INFORMATION HANDLING SYSTEM) THAT ARE RELATED TO THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE CONTENT, MATERIALS, AND FUNCTIONS OF THIS SITE OR ANY LINKED WEBSITE, EVEN IF ANY OF THEM IS EXPRESSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.