When you order from Bears Against MS,
we need your name, email address, shipping address
and sometimes your telephone number.
We use this information to process and ship your order
and send you a confirmation by email.
We maintain both an electronic and a hard copy
of this informtation for tax purposes.

When you join the Bears Against MS Customer Rewards Program,
we ask for your name, email address, shipping address,
telephone number, birthday and anniversary dates
and your bear and other interests.
We maintain this information in both a hard copy form
and on a computer database so that we can
provide you with the benefits of the program,
including sending you information on future special offers
and promotions that we think would interest you.
By joining our Customer Rewards Pprogram,
you are automatically added
to the Bears Against MS E-Newsletter mailing list.

You can also independently join our mailing list
by providing some of the same but more limited information
on the E-Newsletter sign-up form.
In that situation, the information you provide is only maintained
on an electronic database, not in hard copy form.

All communications sent to those on our mailing list database
(i.e. general emails, not those sent to only one individual)
provide an Opt-Out option (usually at the bottom of the email).
You can also ask to be removed from our mailing list
at any time by sending an email to Valerie Sewell at
valerie@bearsagainstms.com.
However, if you are a Customer Rewards member,
removing your name from our mailing list
will mean that you will no longer receive
all of the benefits of membership.

The computers where your information is stored
are protected by a firewall and anti-virus software.
The hard copy of your information is generally accessable
only by the two co-owners of Bears Against MS.

We hold the information you provide in the strictest confidence.
We will not sell, rent or give your personal information
to any other person or organization without your consent,
except as provided in the Exclusions section below.

Links to other websites are provided for the convenience of
Bears Against MS users and do not imply endorsement or affiliation.
In accessing a linked website, you should review that site's terms
and conditions of use and privacy policy
which may differ from those ofBears Against MS.

Cookies:
Cookies are small data files that are placed
on your computer when you visit a website.
Cookies are widely used by online service providers
in order to, for example, make their websites
or services work, or to work more efficiently,
as well as to provide reporting information.
Some cookies are strictly necessary to provide you
with some of the services available through our website
and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are necessary
to deliver the website, while you can block
or delete them by changing your browser settings,
you cannot refuse them without impacting
how our website functions.
Other cookies are used to enhance the performance
and functionality of our website but are non-essential to their use. However, without these cookies, certain functionality
may become unavailable.
Analytical cookies collect information that is used
either in aggregate form to help us understand
how our website is being used or how effective
our marketing campaigns are,
or to help us customize our website
in order to enhance your experience.
In some cases we make use of cookies and other tracking
technologies to collect Personal Infomation or to
collect other information that becomes Personal Information
if we combine it with other information.

Our On-Line Store:
Our on-line store uses secure servers
to protect the information you provide,
using advanced encryption techniques and firewall technology.

Credit Card Processing:
We do not process credit cards
through the Bears Against MS main website.
We also ask that customers not provide credit card information
via email or other unsecured methods
such as Facebook private messages.
Instead, customers who do not wish to use our on-line store
may provide their credit card information
directly to us via phone.
We then transfer the information, via secure server,
to our credit card processor, Shift4Shop.
Once we have done so and received confirmation
that the charge has been successfully processed,
we destroy (erase or cross-shread) the information.
We do not maintain credit card information on file,
even in cases, such as a layaway,
where we expect repeat payments.

Checks:
Checks received are in most cases
deposited to the Bears Against MS bank account
through our bank's secure mobile app.
After funds have cleared, checks are destroyed (cross-shreaded).

EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
The EU's GDPR went into effect on May 25, 2018.
Anyone covered by these regulations
(those resident in the EU or with an IP address registerd in the EU)
should read the Bears Against MS Privacy Policy
in full before providing any personal data to us.
Separate EU-compliant Customer Rewards Program application form
and mailing list sign-up form,
providing Opt-In acceptance for us to maintain your data,
as required by the GDPR,
has been available since May 25, 2018.

Exclusions:
There are times when it is necessary
for us to provide your information to others
in order to either process your payment,
ship the item purchased
or comply with state notification and reporting requirements.

1. When sending you a PayPal invoice,
if your information is not already on file with PayPal,
we provide them with the information you have provided to us.

2. When we process a credit card payment,
we provide the information you have provided to us
to our credit card processor, Shift4Shop,
over a secure server.

3. When preparing our shipping labels,
we provide your shipping information to either
Shipping Easy, Pirate Ship or Fed-Ex
depending on the shipping method used.
Fed-Ex and any overseas shipments also require
that we provide the recipient's contact telephone number.
Click here for Shipping Easy's Privacy Policy.
Click here for Pirate Ship's Privacy Policy.

4. When you purchase an item that is being shipped to you
directly from our cooperating Boyds retailer Beehive Gifts,
we provide them with your shipping information.

5. When you are added to the Bears Against MS
E-Newsletter subscription list, either through
the BAMS Customer Rewards Program application
or the E-Newsletter sign-up form,
certain information you provide - your name, email address,
general location (country or state, but not your address)
and your bear interests - is also provided
to Mail Chimp®, the company that processes
our newsletter distribution.
They have TRUSTe's Privacy Seal but if you want to check out
their whole Privacy Policy, here's a link to that page on their website.

6. We are required to provide certain customer information
(name, billing and shipping address and total annual purchase amounts)
to certain states to comply with their
sales and use tax notification and reporting requirements.

7. If necessary we will cooperate fully as required by law
or as requested by any law enforcement agency
in providing information about a customer.

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