PRIVACY POLICY

Updated on Oct 18, 2024

POWERTEC USA PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy (this "Policy") describes how Southern Technologies LLC, through its registered brand POWERTEC USA and other brands it owns (referred to as "POWERTEC," "we," "us," or "our"), collects, uses, shares, and otherwise processes the information obtained from you, as well as the steps we take to protect and secure your data. If you have any questions about your rights under this Privacy Policy or any agreements with POWERTEC USA regarding your data, please contact us at info@powertecproducts.com.

This Policy mainly covers Personal Information collected, used, and disclosed by POWERTEC USA. However, it is subject to any specific terms and conditions outlined in any terms of use, end-user license agreements, or other agreements related to particular products, services, or collected data from POWERTEC USA. It is also important to note that this Privacy Policy applies to data collected, used, and maintained by POWERTEC USA and its subsidiaries, but not to its network of independent dealers and distributors, who may have their own privacy policies governing the information they collect from you.

Collection and Timing of Your Information

POWERTEC USA collects various types of Personal Information. This data is gathered when you provide it directly to us or through our dealers and representatives, as well as when you use certain services offered by POWERTEC USA.

Personal Information refers to details that can identify, locate, or contact you as an individual, along with other information related to you that we associate with this data. The types of Personal Information we collect include, but are not limited to:

Contact Information: Details that help us identify and communicate with you, such as your name, phone number, address, email address, and language preferences.
Transactional Information: Information about your interactions with us, our dealers, and business partners, including purchases, requested services, customer service inquiries, and account details.

Non-Personal Information Collection

“Non-Personal Information” refers to any data that does not identify or is not linked to an individual. This includes:

Cookies and other tools used anonymously; cookies gathering information on abandoned shopping carts, considered abandoned after one hour of inactivity or no purchase; anonymized data; aggregated data; business operations information, such as: operation-specific data, like location data, when kept anonymous; the name, form, and contact details of legal entities.

Additionally, POWERTEC USA may collect both Personal and Non-Personal Information from its authorized dealers and distributors as part of its regular business operations. This collection aids in providing services to authorized dealers and distributors and follows agreements between POWERTEC USA and these parties.

When data is described as “anonymized,” it means that it is no longer associated with any specific individual. When data is described as “aggregated,” it means that it has been combined with other data in such a way that no specific individual can be identified or linked to any specific action or information.

How We Use Your Information

Within the constraints and rights described in this Privacy Policy, POWERTEC USA utilizes your identifiable Personal Information for several purposes, including:

Order Fulfillment and Requested Services: To process and fulfill product or service orders, and to provide additional services you may request, such as product delivery, maintenance, warranty service, financing, leasing, or credit services.
Product and Customer Support: To provide support services, deliver upgrades, communicate product improvements, and manage repairs, product safety, and recalls.
Marketing and Surveys: To offer products, create content, and provide services from POWERTEC USA or its dealers, suppliers, or partners. This includes tailored offers based on your demographics, interests, and location; managing surveys, polls, sweepstakes, contests, loyalty programs, and other promotional events; and providing additional information that may interest you, such as company news, catalogs, announcements, reminders, and technical bulletins.
General Business Activities: To perform standard business operations, including payment processing, financial account management, product development, product safety, contract management, website administration, web-forum management, order or contract fulfillment, analytics, fraud prevention, corporate governance, reporting, and legal compliance.
As Disclosed at the Time of Collection: In any other manner described when you provide the information to us.

These purposes may be essential for POWERTEC USA to fulfill a contract with you, comply with legal obligations, protect vital interests of POWERTEC USA or another person, or pursue legitimate business objectives. When necessary, POWERTEC USA may seek your consent to process your Personal Information.

POWERTEC USA collects Non-Personal Information in the same way as it collects Personal Information, as detailed in this Privacy Policy.

Since Non-Personal Information does not identify you personally, POWERTEC USA may use and disclose it for any purpose. If POWERTEC USA combines Non-Personal Information with Personal Information, the combined data will be treated as Personal Information.

Furthermore, POWERTEC USA reserves the right to use anonymized and aggregated Personal Information to improve its products and services, create and publish reports, conduct statistical analyses about our customers and products, and engage in other activities that do not involve the disclosure of your identifiable information.

Disclosure of Your Information

We may share your information in the following ways:

Affiliated Companies and Business Partners: We may share Personal Information with our affiliated companies, suppliers, authorized dealers and distributors, and business partners as needed to achieve the purposes outlined above, or as you authorize or request.
Service Providers: We may also share Personal Information with our service providers to fulfill purposes on our behalf. These providers are bound by law or contract to protect your information to the same standard we do and to use it only in accordance with our instructions.
Business Transactions: We may disclose Personal Information when necessary to facilitate the sale or transfer of business assets, enforce our rights, protect our property, or safeguard the rights, property, or safety of others. This includes supporting external auditing, compliance, and corporate governance functions.
Legal Requirements: We will disclose Personal Information as required by law, such as in response to a subpoena, including to law enforcement agencies and courts in the countries where we operate.

How Long We Store Your Information

POWERTEC USA will retain your Personal Information for as long as it is needed for the relevant purposes. For more details on POWERTEC USA's data retention policy and the duration for which your data might be stored, please contact us.

Website Data Collection, Cookies, and Similar Technology

When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information using technologies such as cookies, pixel tags, browser analysis tools, server logs, and web beacons.

We gather a variety of information from cookies and similar technologies. For example, we may collect data about the device you use to access our website, including your operating system type, browser type, domain, and other system settings, as well as the language your system uses and the country and time zone where your device is located. Our server logs may also record the IP address or a derivative of the device you use to connect to the internet. An IP address is a unique identifier that devices use to identify and communicate with each other online.

Often, the information we collect using cookies and other tools is used in a non-identifiable manner, without linking it to Personal Information. For instance, we use data collected about website users to optimize our websites and understand website traffic patterns. However, in some cases, we do associate the information collected through cookies and other technologies with your Personal Information. Additionally, if your geo-aware mobile device settings allow, our mobile applications may automatically collect location information. This Privacy Policy explains how we use all of this information when it is associated with your Personal Information.

POWERTEC USA has partnerships with third-party advertising companies to conduct tracking and reporting functions for our web processes. These third-party advertising companies may place cookies on your computer to display targeted advertisements to you. These companies should not collect Personal Information through this process, and we do not provide them with Personal Information as part of this process.

Your Data Control Preferences

You have the option to limit the information you provide to POWERTEC USA and the communications you receive from us. To opt out of marketing emails, you can contact us at info@powertecproducts.com. Alternatively, you can opt out of future marketing emails by clicking “unsubscribe” at the bottom of the marketing emails we send.

Please note that even if you opt out of receiving marketing materials, we may still need to contact you with important transactional information regarding your account or products. For example, even if you opt out of marketing emails, we will still send you purchase confirmations and product safety communications.

You can manage your cookie preferences and opt out of the use of cookies and similar collection technologies by adjusting the settings on your browser or interface, often referred to as “Do Not Track” settings. Since each browser and interface is different, refer to the “help” section of your browser or interface to learn about cookie preferences and available privacy settings. You can also control how your mobile device and mobile browser share location information with POWERTEC USA, as well as how your mobile browser handles cookies and related technologies, by adjusting your device’s privacy and security settings. Please consult the instructions provided by your mobile service provider or device manufacturer to learn how to adjust these settings. Generally, POWERTEC USA adheres to and requests that its service providers comply with the “Do Not Track” settings you select using your internet browser(s).

POWERTEC USA complies with applicable laws regarding your right to access, correct, and delete your Personal Information. If you have an online account, you may be able to log into it to access and update certain information you provided. For Personal Information not linked to an online account, to assist with opting out of communications, or if you need help updating or deleting your Personal Information, please contact us via email at info@powertecproducts.com. You can also write to us via the Contact Us section. If you send us a letter, please include your name, email address, and detailed information about the change you would like to make.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”)

The California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”) affords those who reside in the State of California certain rights as a data subject. If you are a resident of the State of California, we encourage you to read and learn about those rights on your own, but the following will help you to begin to understand them:

Knowledge: You have the right to know about the Personal Information POWERTEC USA collects about you and how it is used and shared.
Access: You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your Personal Information.
Opt-out: This allows you to opt-out of the sale or sharing of their personal information.
Correction: You can request us to correct inaccurate Personal Information that we have about you.
Limitation: You have the right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive Personal Information collected about you.
Erasure: In some cases, you may have the right to request that we erase your Personal Information in our possession.
Data Portability: This allows you to request a copy of your Personal Information that we may have and transfer that information to someone else without any interference from us. In some, cases you may be able to request that we transfer your Personal Information directly to a third party on your behalf.
Non-discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights.

The CCPS further provides California residents the right to direct us not to sell your Personal Information.

WE DO NOT SELL YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.

Information for California Residents

The types of Personal Information that POWERTEC USA collects from California residents are outlined above under “How and When Your Information is Collected,” and include contact information, transactional information, and financial account information. The purposes for which POWERTEC USA collects this Personal Information are similarly detailed above under “How We Use Your Information,” and include fulfilling orders and services you request, providing product and customer support, communicating offers and marketing, performing standard business tasks, and any other purposes disclosed at the time of collection.

In addition, California’s “Shine the Light” law allows you to request certain details regarding our disclosure of Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request or to ask questions or provide comments about this Privacy Notice for California Residents, please contact us.

We post any changes to this Privacy Notice on this page. While we may not directly notify you of significant changes, we encourage you to check this page periodically for updates. To the extent permitted by law, your continued use of our services after any changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of those changes.

*This does not apply to employment-related personal information collected from California-based employees, job applicants, contractors, or similar individuals.

GDPR Privacy

The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), particularly Articles 15 to 21, grants you several rights as a data subject. POWERTEC USA encourages you to familiarize yourself with these rights. Here is an overview to help you understand them:

Request Access to Your Personal Data: You have the right to access, update, or delete the information we hold within your account settings section. If you are unable to perform these actions yourself, please contact us.
Request Correction of Your Personal Data: You have the right to correct any incomplete or inaccurate information.
Object to Processing of Your Personal Data: This right applies when we rely on legitimate interests as the legal basis for our processing, and there is something specific to your situation that makes you object to this processing. You also have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Data for direct marketing purposes.
Request Erasure of Your Personal Data: You have the right to ask us to delete or remove your Personal Data when there is no valid reason for us to continue processing it.
Request the Transfer of Your Personal Data: We will provide your Personal Data to you or a third party you choose in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. This right only applies to automated information that you initially consented to us using or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
Withdraw Your Consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent to our use of your Personal Data. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide you with access to certain specific functionalities of the service.

You can exercise your rights to access, rectify, cancel, and oppose by contacting us. Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests.

If you are an EU resident and believe at any time that POWERTEC USA has violated any of your rights listed above, or if you think POWERTEC USA is not complying with one or more provisions of the GDPR, please contact us at info@powertecproducts.com.

You may exercise your rights of access, correction, cancellation and opposition by contacting us. Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests.

If you are a natural person residing in the EU and at any time you believe POWERTEC USA has violated any of your rights listed above, or if you believe POWERTEC USA is in violation of any of the provisions of the GDPR, please contact us at info@powertecproducts.com.

POWERTEC USA has implemented an information and data security program that includes administrative, technical, and physical controls designed to reasonably protect Personal Information.

POWERTEC USA is based in the United States of America. Personal Information may be accessed or transferred to the United States or to our controlled affiliates and data processors worldwide for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy. We access or transfer Personal Information in compliance with applicable laws. Furthermore, we safeguard the privacy and security of Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy, regardless of where it is processed or stored.

Privacy Policies of Third Parties

This Privacy Policy applies only to the collection, use, disclosure and retention of information and data by POWERTEC USA and its controlled affiliates. Other websites that you may access through this website have their own privacy policies and practices, which govern their use of information they collect or obtain from you. Our independent dealers, suppliers, and business partners also have their own privacy policies and practices. We encourage you to review the privacy statements provided by all such third parties before providing them with information or participating in their offers or promotions.

Children’s Privacy

POWERTEC USA is committed to protecting the privacy of children. Our website and services are not intended for, nor do we knowingly collect, personal information from children under the age of 13 in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). If we become aware that personal information from a child under 13 has been collected, we will take immediate steps to delete such information from our records.

If you are under 13, do not use this website or provide any personal information to us. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us at info@powertecproducts.com. We will promptly investigate and take appropriate action.

We also encourage parents and guardians to actively monitor their children's online activities to help protect their privacy and ensure a safe internet experience.

Forums and Plug-Ins to Social Media and Other Third-Party Services

Our website features a product review section where you can publicly post reviews. Any information you post will be accessible to anyone with internet access, and you have no privacy rights in these public postings. Any Personal Information included in your posting may be read, collected, and used by others. For example, if you include your email address in a product review, you may receive unsolicited messages. Please exercise caution and good judgment when posting any Personal Information.

Additionally, the POWERTEC USA website may contain links, plug-ins, APIs, and other tools that allow you to share content from our website or your own content through third-party social media or other services (such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and others). Any use of such third-party services, including links found on our website, will be considered public information and subject to the terms and conditions of those third-party services.

Furthermore, the POWERTEC USA website and software products may incorporate certain mapping software and documentation developed by Google, Inc. and licensed to POWERTEC USA. Customers acknowledge and agree that the use of such mapping software and documentation is subject to Google’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at http://www.google.com/policies/privacy.

Amendments and Changes to Our Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be amended and updated periodically to reflect new or different privacy practices. We will place a notice on our homepage when we make significant changes to this Privacy Policy. Additionally, if the changes will substantially affect how we use or disclose previously collected Personal Information, we may also notify you by sending an electronic notice (if we have your email address).

How to Contact Us

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy or any of our privacy practices, you can contact us at info@powertecproducts.com.