Privacy Policy
Updated July 12, 2008
World Shop Gourmet is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy applies to the World Shop Gourmet Web site and governs data collection and usage. By using the World Shop Gourmet website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement.
Collection of your Personal Information
World Shop Gourmet collects personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address or telephone number. World Shop Gourmet also collects anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites.
There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected by World Shop Gourmet. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring Web site addresses. This information is used by World Shop Gourmet for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the World Shop Gourmet Web site.
Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through World Shop Gourmet public message boards, this information may be collected and used by others. Note: World Shop Gourmet does not read any of your private online communications.
World Shop Gourmet encourages you to review the privacy statements of Web sites you choose to link to from World Shop Gourmet so that you can understand how those Web sites collect, use and share your information. World Shop Gourmet is not responsible for the privacy statements or other content on Web sites outside of the World Shop Gourmet and World Shop Gourmet family of Web sites.
Use of your Personal Information
World Shop Gourmet collects and uses your personal information to operate the World Shop Gourmet Web site and deliver the services you have requested. World Shop Gourmet also uses your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from World Shop Gourmet and its affiliates. World Shop Gourmet may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered.
World Shop Gourmet does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties. World Shop Gourmet may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases, your unique personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone number) is not transferred to the third party. In addition, World Shop Gourmet may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to World Shop Gourmet, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.
World Shop Gourmet does not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent.
World Shop Gourmet keeps track of the Web sites and pages our customers visit within World Shop Gourmet, in order to determine what World Shop Gourmet services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within World Shop Gourmet to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.
World Shop Gourmet Web sites will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on World Shop Gourmet or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of World Shop Gourmet; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of World Shop Gourmet, or the public.
Use of Cookies
The World Shop Gourmet Web site use "cookies" to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.
One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize World Shop Gourmet pages, or register with World Shop Gourmet site or services, a cookie helps World Shop Gourmet to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same World Shop Gourmet Web site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the World Shop Gourmet features that you customized.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the World Shop Gourmet services or Web sites you visit.
Third-Party Web Beacons
We use third-party web beacons from Yahoo! to help analyze where visitors go and what they do while visiting our website. Yahoo! may also use anonymous information about your visits to this and other websites in order to improve its products and services and provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by Yahoo!, click here.
Security of your Personal Information
World Shop Gourmet secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. World Shop Gourmet secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other Web sites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
Changes to this Statement
World Shop Gourmet will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect company and customer feedback. World Shop Gourmet encourages you to periodically review this Statement to be informed of how World Shop Gourmet is protecting your information.
Contact Information
World Shop Gourmet welcomes your comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that World Shop Gourmet has not adhered to this Statement, please contact World Shop Gourmet at info@WorldShopGourmet.com. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.