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Privacy Policy

Last revised & date effective: December 10, 2015 (Previous versions can be viewed here.)

1. Overview

This privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) governs Our relationship with You and is in addition to and not in derogation of the Terms of Use for the Website, accessible here. The Terms of Use are incorporated by reference into Our Privacy Policy. By accessing, visiting, or using the Website or the Services You agree with and consent to Our collection, use, and disclosure of Your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use.

Capitalized terms that are not defined in this Privacy Policy shall take the same meaning as assigned to them in the Terms of Use.

This Privacy Policy covers what information We collect, how it’s used, how You can edit the information you share with us, and how You can remove your information from the Website. This includes, but is not limited to, any private personal information (“Personally Identifiable Information” or “PII”)  that you provide, that is personally identifiable to You (like Your full name, address, postal/zip code, or phone number), and that is not commonly or publicly available.

This policy also covers any information that is automatically collected by the Website, for example through Google Analytics, browser cookies, log files, images, and links.

This policy does not apply to practices of companies or people that are not owned/controlled or employed/managed by Textillia, aka “third parties”.

Your privacy is very important to us - if you have any concerns that are beyond what is covered in this document, please email us at [email protected] or write to us by mail at:

TEXTILLIA SEWING COMMUNITY LTD.
1424 Commercial Dr.
PO Box 21525 Little Italy
Vancouver, BC
V5L 3X0
Canada

2. Introduction

We are committed to preserving the privacy of your Personally Identifiable Information. Some parts of the Site can be accessed without logging in, in which case no PII is collected (non-personally identifiable information such as your IP address, and data about your browser, location, and Website use is still collected). If you register to become a Member of the Site, You will need to submit more information to register.

We will never sell Your Personally Identifiable Information to third parties. We will only share your Personally Identifiable Information with third parties with your consent, and to the extent necessary to run the Services, if someone’s personal safety or property is threatened, or if required by law (for example, if the information is subpoenaed by a court of law). Some elements of the Site may be embedded third party services or widgets, such as videos, payment processing services, “share” and “like” buttons for social media like Pinterest and Facebook, and our Mailchimp e-newsletter signup. If you have any concerns about the privacy implications of using these services, please review the Privacy Policies and Terms of Service for those services on their respective websites/applications.  By using the Website you agree that We will not be liable in any manner for any injury, cost, damage, loss or breach of Your personal privacy that you may suffer as a result of the actions of these third-party providers, and agree to indemnify and hold Us harmless for any costs incurred by Us in relation to the same.

3. Collection of information

There are several types of information that we may collect from You in operating the Site and Our Services directly, indirectly, automatically, or through a third party service, including:

  • Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as your full name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and payment information;

  • Information about businesses You own or work for, such as address, logo, owner and staff names, and products You’ve created;

  • Records of any correspondence with Us via email, social media, or through the Site;

  • Details about Your usage of the Site and Our Services acquired through services like Google Analytics or the Site itself, including location data, site usage data, transactions, communication data, IP address, incoming and outgoing pages, time on the Site, pages visited, language, other activity on the Site, and information about Your browser;

  • Your or Your business’ social media usernames, website and blog URLs, and RSS feeds; or

  • Text, images/photos, and information You submit on behalf of Yourself or your business about your sewing projects (“Projects”), products you use or create (“Patterns”, “Fabrics”, “Fabric Collections”, and “Thread”), the business itself (“Designer”, “Shop”, or “Company), your Member profile (“Member Profile”), and any other comments or forum posts are as a whole considered user-submitted site content (“User Content”), and must only be submitted if You have the rights or explicit permission to do so.

4. Member Information

To register as a Member of the Site, You will need to provide Us with a valid email address, and a username and password of Your choosing. Displaying any PII such as Your real name on the Site to other Users is strictly optional; if You prefer to use it only under a pseudonym or username, you are welcome to do so, simply do not fill out any optional information such as your real name or location. In this case, Site administrators (“Admins”) will still be able to access your PII, but regular Members will not.

Please do not submit any Personally Identifiable Information to the site that you are not comfortable submitting due to the small risk associated with storing PII online, even if this means you are not able to use or be a Member of the Site. Despite best security practices, there is always a chance of a security breach. If you are not willing to accept and assume this risk, please do not use the Site.  By using the Website you agree that We will not be liable in any manner for any injury, cost, damage, loss or breach of your personal privacy that you may suffer as a result of the actions of these third-party providers, and agree to indemnify and hold Us harmless for any costs incurred by Us in relation to the same.

By visiting the Site and/or becoming a Registered User or Member, You are agreeing to the terms of Our Privacy Policy. If You disagree with the Privacy Policy’s terms, do not use the Site or register as an Authenticated User, aka. Member. If You are not legally able to accept the terms contained in Privacy Policy, including due to not being of legal age to form a binding contract in your country of residence, then you may not use Our Services or the Site. If You are a parent or guardian whose minor child has provided us with Personally Identifiable Information in error, please email us at [email protected] immediately so we can remove it.

5. Cookies

By visiting the Site or using Our Services, the Site will store cookies to Your computer and read them from it. Cookies are small files that identify your individual browser to assist in the Site’s operation. Generally, no Personally Identifiable Information is collected via cookies. Some cookies are only saved while you’re using the Site, and others persist once You have left the Site. You can alter your preferences for cookies used for the Site in your web browser’s settings, and You can also delete cookies for the Site through Your web browser’s settings. If You have disabled cookies through your browser, some Site functions may not work properly. Google Analytics (see Web Analytics below) also uses cookies. Occasionally cookies from other third party sites or services will be contained in specific pages or widgets of the Website. Cookies from such third party sites are subject to the terms of service of those particular sites and You agree not to hold Us liable for any breach of Your privacy resulting from the use of such third-party cookies.

6. Log file

Log file information is automatically sent by Your computer and web browser and collected by the Site and Our web servers when you visit it. The server and the Site’s log files may collect information such as your IP address, what browser You use, which pages You visit and what actions you take on them, referring/exit pages, errors that occur, etc. This information generally cannot be traced back to any specific individual. Log files may be purged after a certain amount of time, or may be kept for an indefinite amount of time in backup files, at Our and/or our hosting company’s discretion. This information is generally used to fine tune Site performance and troubleshoot any issues that come up.

7. Web Analytics

The Site uses web analytics providers such as Google Analytics and other similar unobtrusive small files on the Site to track user behaviour for all visitors, including Registered Users aka. Members. The information collected is stored in the analytics services’ own databases and includes things like which browser a visitor use, how long a visitor spends on the site, which pages a user visits, the visitor’s location, the type of device used to access the Site, and the visitor’s referring/exit pages. The information collected is not directly tied to Your user account, but could be correlated with it based on your location or other user-specific behaviour. Similar analytics are used in Our newsletter which tracks opens, clicked links, time spent reading, and other metrics to provide us aggregated information on our readership. While some of the information collected may be tied to an individual User, the majority is aggregated anonymized information containing no data traceable to an individual User.

8. Links to other websites

We may provide links to other websites or resources over which We do not have control ("External Websites"). Such links do not constitute an endorsement by Us of those External Websites. You acknowledge that We are providing these links to you only as a convenience, and You further agree that We are not responsible for the content of such External Websites. Your use of External Websites is subject to the Terms of Use and privacy policies located on the linked to External Websites.

9. Usage of information

Your privacy is critically important to Us, and We will always work to protect your Personally Identifiable Information. We may use the Personally Identifiable Information we collect about you to do any of the following:

  • Contact You about information or issues related to the Site, including Service-related announcements, and legally required information;

  • Customize what content You are shown on the Site;

  • Make sure the Site operates as it should, as well as maintaining and improving the Site;

  • Implement and research new Site features and functionality;

  • Carry out Services You and other Users have requested of the Site;

  • Collate and report statistics and information which we may share with Members or third parties (any statistics or information provided to a third-party will first be anonymized, removing any PII); and/or

  • Diagnose technical issues, maintain security, or troubleshoot various issues.

At all times, your privacy will be our utmost priority. We will never do any of the following with your Personally Identifiable Information:

  • Sell it to a third party;

  • Provide it to any third parties without your consent for reasons unrelated to the functioning of Textillia, except if legally required to do so; or

  • Provide it to others on the site without your explicit permission.

10. Storage of Information

In order to run the Site, We necessarily store your PII on web servers and in databases that are hosted by other service providers, and thus are outside of our direct control. The information We collect is saved in the Site’s database and file directory on webservers run by CanTrust Hosting Co-operative, and some information may be saved on the servers of third-party service providers that We use to help operate the Site. We select these service providers carefully, and may need to change service providers on occasion in the future, but will always prioritize your privacy when choosing who We work with. In the future, We reserve the right to expand or sell any assets or future business offerings, or merge, divest, or dissolve future corporate assets; typically this would include your PII stored within the Site. All Members will be notified should this happen, and be given the opportunity to edit or remove information prior to any changes in ownership.

Any Content You upload to the Site (aside from the private information in your User account) may be visible and available to other Members and the public. Though we ask all Users to respect the individual ownership of User Content, it still has the potential to be copied by anyone who can access the Content, and may be stored in archives of the Site or in external search engines or archives. These copies can persist even if you delete the original User Content on the Site, and this is completely outside Our control.

If you choose to send email or private messages through the Site’s contact forms, we will do Our utmost to keep those private, but do note that others may copy the message’s content, and that the content may persist in archives of the Site even once deleted. If you have concerns about the security of information in private messages, please do not use them and find an alternative means of contact such as secure messaging or email.

11. Data Encryption

Some pages on the Website use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and/or Transport Layer Security (TLS) technology to encrypt data that is being transferred. We do this with information such as account information, login and password information, and payment information provided to third parties. Textillia and its directors, officers, agents, employees, affiliated companies, contractors, and suppliers will not be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to Your personal information being compromised or disclosed and by using the Website as further set out in our Terms of Use; you indemnify Textillia against any and all damages resulting from the same.

12. Changing and deleting your information or account

You may edit or delete any User Content or Personally Identifiable Information You have uploaded to the Site at any time as long as Your Membership is active. If it is no longer active, please contact us to resolve the issue at [email protected].  

13. Children’s privacy

Children under the age of 18 or the age of majority in the jurisdiction of their residence (“Minors”) but over age 13 may use the Site with the consent and supervision of a parent or guardian, which includes assuming responsibility for the Minor’s adherence to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, as well as any actions they take on the Site, and consequences of those actions. If you are a parent or guardian of a Minor and consent to their use of the Site and its Services, you agree to be bound by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. If you are the parent or guardian of a child and you do not consent to their use of the Site, please inform us at [email protected] immediately so that we can deactivate or delete their account.

Textillia does not knowingly solicit or collect personal information  from children under the age of 13, nor permit them to register user accounts. Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to use the Site. Do not attempt to use the Site or our Services if You are under the age of 13. If you believe a child under the age of 13 has provided personal information to the Site, please contact us immediately at [email protected].

14. Security, phishing, and password recovery

If you lose your password, you can recover it using Your email address or username on the password recovery page. We will send you a link to reset your password, however We will never send Your password in plain text. When updating your password You will need to choose a new password and save it somewhere secure, like in a password manager application on Your computer. We recommend that in accordance with online security best practices, You use a unique, complex password for the Site, and protect access to your email account, in order to best safeguard Your own privacy.

You are responsible for ensuring the security of Your password. If Your Account is compromised or accessed by another individual You agree to notify us immediately. We will never request sensitive information such as Your password or credit card number via email. If You receive an email requesting this information from Us, please assume it to be a phishing attempt or scam, and notify us immediately at [email protected]. Do not under any circumstances click any links contained in the email. You agree not to hold Us liable for any breaches of Your privacy that occur due to negligence related your own account security, including stolen password.

If We discover that the Site’s security has been breached in a manner that could jeopardize the security of Your PII, We will notify all Members as soon as possible with the details of such a breach.

15. Changes to our Privacy Policy

From time to time, We may need to change our Privacy Policy. When we do this, We will update the date at the top of this page; revisions will be displayed indefinitely. We will also notify all Members via email. Any changes will be effective immediately, and Your continued use of the Site and Our Services constitutes Your agreement to the current version of the Privacy Policy.