Privacy policy

Last updated: September 3, 2024

This Privacy Policy describes how A Distinctive Wave (the "Site", "I", "me", or "my") collects, uses, and discloses your personal information when you visit, use my services, or make a purchase from adistinctivewave.com (the "Site") or otherwise communicate with me regarding the Site (collectively, the "Services"). For purposes of this Privacy Policy, "you" and "your" means you as the user of the Services, whether you are a customer, website visitor, or another individual whose information I have collected pursuant to this Privacy Policy.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, including to reflect changes to my practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. I will post the revised Privacy Policy on the Site, update the "Last updated" date, and take any other steps required by applicable law.

How I Collect and Use Your Personal Information

To provide the Services, I collect and have collected over the past 12 months personal information about you from a variety of sources, as set out below. The information that I collect and use varies depending on how you interact with me.

In addition to the specific uses set out below, I may use information I collect about you to communicate with you, provide or improve the Services, comply with any applicable legal obligations, enforce any applicable terms of service, and to protect or defend the Services, my rights, and the rights of my users or others.

What Personal Information I Collect

The types of personal information I obtain about you depend on how you interact with my Site and use my Services. When I use the term "personal information," I am referring to information that identifies, relates to, describes, or can be associated with you. The following sections describe the categories and specific types of personal information I collect.

Information I Collect Directly from You

Information that you directly submit to me through my Services may include:

  • Contact details including your name, address, phone number, and email.
  • Order information including your name, billing address, shipping address, payment confirmation, email address, and phone number.
  • Account information including your username, password, security questions, and other information used for account security purposes.
  • Customer support information including the information you choose to include in communications with me, for example, when sending a message through the Services.

Some features of the Services may require you to directly provide me with certain information about yourself. You may elect not to provide this information, but doing so may prevent you from using or accessing these features.

Information I Collect about Your Usage

I may also automatically collect certain information about your interaction with the Services ("Usage Data"). To do this, I may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies ("Cookies"). Usage Data may include information about how you access and use my Site and your account, including device information, browser information, information about your network connection, your IP address, and other information regarding your interaction with the Services.

Information I Obtain from Third Parties

Finally, I may obtain information about you from third parties, including from vendors and service providers who may collect information on my behalf, such as:

  • Companies who support my Site and Services, such as Shopify.
  • My payment processors, who collect payment information (e.g., bank account, credit or debit card information, billing address) to process your payment in order to fulfill your orders and provide you with products or services you have requested, in order to perform my contract with you.

When you visit my Site, open or click on emails I send you, or interact with my Services or advertisements, I or third parties I work with may automatically collect certain information using online tracking technologies such as pixels, web beacons, software developer kits, third-party libraries, and cookies.

Any information I obtain from third parties will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Also see the section below, Third Party Websites and Links.

How I Use Your Personal Information

  • Providing Products and Services. I use your personal information to provide you with the Services in order to perform my contract with you. This includes processing your payments, fulfilling your orders, sending notifications related to your account, purchases, returns, exchanges, or other transactions, creating, maintaining, and managing your account, arranging for shipping, and facilitating any returns and exchanges. I may also enhance your shopping experience by enabling Shopify to match your account with other Shopify services that you may choose to use. In this case, Shopify will process your information as set forth in its Privacy Policy and Consumer Privacy Policy.
  • Marketing and Advertising. I may use your personal information for marketing and promotional purposes, such as sending marketing, advertising, and promotional communications by email, text message, or postal mail, and showing you advertisements for products or services. This may include using your personal information to better tailor the Services and advertising on my Site and other websites. If you are an EEA resident, the legal basis for these data processing activities is my legitimate interest in selling my products, according to Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.
  • Security and Fraud Prevention. I use your personal information to detect, investigate, or take action regarding possible fraudulent, illegal, or malicious activity. If you choose to use the Services and register an account, you are responsible for keeping your account credentials safe. I highly recommend that you do not share your username, password, or other access details with anyone else. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact me immediately. If you are an EEA resident, the legal basis for these data processing activities is my legitimate interest in keeping my website secure for you and other customers, according to Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.
  • Communicating with You and Service Improvement. I use your personal information to provide you with customer support and to improve my Services. This is in my legitimate interests to be responsive to you, provide effective services, and maintain our business relationship according to Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

Cookies

Like many websites, I use Cookies on my Site. For specific information about the Cookies related to powering my store with Shopify, see Shopify's Cookie Policy. I use Cookies to power and improve my Site and Services (including remembering your actions and preferences), to run analytics, and to better understand user interaction with the Services (in my legitimate interests to administer, improve, and optimize the Services). I may also permit third parties and service providers to use Cookies on my Site to better tailor the services, products, and advertising on my Site and other websites.

Most browsers automatically accept Cookies by default, but you can choose to set your browser to remove or reject Cookies through your browser controls. Please keep in mind that removing or blocking Cookies can negatively impact your user experience and may cause some of the Services, including certain features and general functionality, to work incorrectly or no longer be available. Additionally, blocking Cookies may not completely prevent how I share information with third parties such as advertising partners.

My website also recognizes the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, which enables you to opt out of certain uses or disclosures of your information. If you notify me of your preference through GPC, I will treat such a signal as a valid request to opt out of sharing or targeted advertising for the associated browser or device. If I can associate the device sending the signal with a Shopify account, I will apply the opt-out request to the account as well. To learn more about Global Privacy Control, you can visit Global Privacy Control. Other than the Global Privacy Control, I do not recognize other “Do Not Track” signals that may be sent from your web browser or device.

How I Disclose Personal Information

n certain circumstances, I may disclose your personal information to third parties for contract fulfillment purposes, legitimate purposes, and other reasons subject to this Privacy Policy. Such circumstances may include:

  • Vendors and Service Providers: To vendors or other third parties who perform services on my behalf (e.g., IT management, payment processing, data analytics, customer support, cloud storage, fulfillment, and shipping).

  • Business and Marketing Partners: To business and marketing partners to provide services and advertise to you. My business and marketing partners will use your information in accordance with their own privacy notices.

  • With Your Consent: When you direct, request, or otherwise consent to the disclosure of certain information to third parties, such as shipping products to you or through your use of social media widgets or login integrations.

  • Affiliates: With my affiliates or within my corporate group, in my legitimate interests to run a successful business.

  • Business Transactions and Legal Compliance: In connection with a business transaction such as a merger or bankruptcy, to comply with any applicable legal obligations (including responding to subpoenas, search warrants, and similar requests), to enforce any applicable terms of service, and to protect or defend the Services, my rights, and the rights of my users or others.

In the past 12 months, I have disclosed the following categories of personal information and sensitive personal information about users for the purposes outlined in "How I Collect and Use Your Personal Information" and "How I Disclose Personal Information":

Category Categories of Recipients
  • Identifiers such as basic contact details and certain order and account information
  • Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute such as basic contact details and certain order and account information
  • Commercial information such as order information, shopping information and customer support information
  • Internet or other similar network activity, such as Usage Data
  • Geolocation data such as locations determined by an IP address or other technical measures
  • Vendors and third parties who perform services on our behalf (such as Internet service providers, payment processors, fulfillment partners, customer support partners and data analytics providers)
  • Business and marketing partners
  • Affiliates

I do not use or disclose sensitive personal information without your consent or for the purpose of inferring characteristics about you.

With your consent, I share personal information for the purpose of engaging in advertising and marketing activities, as follows:

I have “sold” and “shared” (as those terms are defined in applicable law) personal information over the preceding 12 months for the purpose of engaging in advertising and marketing activities, as follows.

Category of Personal Information Categories of Recipients
Identifiers such as name, e-mail address and phone number Business and marketing partners
Commercial information such as records of products or services purchased Business and marketing partners
Usage Data Business and marketing partners

Third Party Websites and Links

My Site may provide links to websites or other online platforms operated by third parties. If you follow links to sites not affiliated with or controlled by me, you should review their privacy and security policies and other terms and conditions. I do not guarantee and am not responsible for the privacy or security of such sites, including the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of information found on these sites. Information you provide on public or semi-public venues, including information shared on third-party social networking platforms, may also be viewable by other users of the Services and/or users of those third-party platforms without limitation as to its use by me or by a third party. My inclusion of such links does not, by itself, imply any endorsement of the content on such platforms or of their owners or operators, except as disclosed on the Services.

Children's Data

The Services are not intended for use by children, and I do not knowingly collect any personal information about children. If you are the parent or guardian of a child who has provided me with their personal information, you may contact me using the contact details set out below to request that it be deleted.

As of the Effective Date of this Privacy Policy, I do not have actual knowledge that I “share” or “sell” (as those terms are defined in applicable law) personal information of individuals under 16 years of age.

Security and Retention of Your Information

Please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and I cannot guarantee “perfect security.” Additionally, any information you send to me may not be secure while in transit. I recommend that you avoid using insecure channels to communicate sensitive or confidential information.

The length of time I retain your personal information depends on various factors, such as whether I need the information to maintain your account, provide the Services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce other applicable contracts and policies.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights in relation to your personal information. However, these rights are not absolute, may apply only in certain circumstances, and in some cases, I may decline your request as permitted by law.

  • Right to Access / Know: You may have the right to request access to the personal information I hold about you, including details on how I use and share your information.
  • Right to Delete: You may have the right to request that I delete personal information I maintain about you.
  • Right to Correct: You may have the right to request that I correct inaccurate personal information I maintain about you.
  • Right of Portability: You may have the right to receive a copy of the personal information I hold about you and request that I transfer it to a third party, in certain circumstances and with certain exceptions.
  • Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing or Targeted Advertising: You may have the right to direct me not to "sell" or "share" your personal information or to opt out of processing your personal information for purposes considered "targeted advertising," as defined in applicable privacy laws. If you visit my Site with the Global Privacy Control opt-out preference signal enabled, depending on your location, I will automatically treat this as a request to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of information for the device and browser you use to visit the Site.
  • Restriction of Processing: You may have the right to ask me to stop or restrict the processing of your personal information.
  • Withdrawal of Consent: Where I rely on consent to process your personal information, you may have the right to withdraw this consent.
  • Appeal: If I decline to process your request, you may have the right to appeal my decision by replying directly to the denial.
  • Managing Communication Preferences: I may send you promotional emails, and you can opt out of receiving these at any time using the unsubscribe option in my emails. If you opt out, I may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those related to your account or orders you have made.

You may exercise any of these rights where indicated on my Site or by contacting me using the contact details provided below.

I will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights. I may need to collect information from you to verify your identity, such as your email address or account information, before providing a substantive response to your request. In accordance with applicable laws, you may designate an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf to exercise your rights. Before accepting such a request from an agent, I will require proof that you have authorized them to act on your behalf and may need you to verify your identity directly with me. I will respond to your request in a timely manner as required under applicable law.

Complaints

If you have any complaints about how I process your personal information, please contact me using the contact details provided below. If you are not satisfied with my response to your complaint, depending on where you live, you may have the right to appeal my decision by contacting me using the details provided or by lodging your complaint with your local data protection authority. For those in the EEA, you can find a list of responsible data protection supervisory authorities here.

International Users

Please note that I may transfer, store, and process your personal information outside the country you live in. Your personal information may also be processed by staff and third-party service providers and partners in these countries.

If I transfer your personal information out of Europe, I will rely on recognized transfer mechanisms such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or any equivalent contracts issued by the relevant competent authority of the UK, as applicable, unless the data transfer is to a country that has been determined to provide an adequate level of protection.

Contact

Should you have any questions about my privacy practices or this Privacy Policy, or if you would like to exercise any of the rights available to you, please email me at contact@adistinctivewave.com.

For the purposes of applicable data protection laws and unless explicitly stated otherwise, I am the data controller of your personal information.