PRIVACY POLICY
This privacy notice was last updated on March 22, 2023.
We take your privacy very seriously. This Privacy Policy sets forth Brahmin Leather Works, LLC’s (“Brahmin”) policies with regard to your personal information and pertaining to your use of the brahmin.com (the “Site”).
We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are subject to various laws in the United States and the General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom), and we are responsible as “controller” of that personal information for the purposes of those laws.
By using this Site, you are agreeing to the terms set forth in this Privacy Policy and consent to Brahmin’s use of your personal information for the purposes described below. You also agree to the Terms of Use for the Site. The “Site” includes by definition, and this Privacy Policy applies to, the Site itself, and any mobile app, web pages, interactive features, other applications, widgets, blogs, social networks, social network “tabs,” or other online or wireless offerings that link to this Privacy Policy, whether accessed via computer, mobile device or other technology, manner or means.
Personal Information
For purposes of this Privacy Policy, “Personal Information” means any information by which you can be personally identified, which includes your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and payment information. Brahmin collects Personal Information only when you voluntarily submit such Personal Information to us, such as when placing a product order through the Site, when registering for Brahmin’s Loyalty Programs (described in the Terms of Use), or when entering a contest. Brahmin does not intend to sell, share or rent information obtained on this Site other than as discussed in this Privacy Policy.
We may collect and use the following personal information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household:
| CATEGORIES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION | SPECIFIC TYPES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED |
|---|---|
| Identifiers | Real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, social media identifier, visitor’s domain name (or that of its access provider), Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, web-browser or personal computer employed while visiting Site or other similar identifiers |
| Information that identifies, relates to, describes, or is capable of being associated with, a particular individual | Individual’s name, signature, address, telephone number, method of payment, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information |
| Commercial information | Products purchased, obtained, considered, or consuming histories or tendencies, including but not limited to, the time of the visit. |
| Internet or other electronic network activity information | Browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with the Site, application, or advertisement |
| Geolocation data | Postal address, Internet Protocol Address, web-browser or personal computer employed while visiting Site or other similar identifiers |
| Audio, electronic, visual or similar information | Recording of telephone calls, Internet chats, emails, interactions on social media, and voicemails |
| Professional or employment-related information | Individual’s profession, employer, length of employment, and current state of employment |
| Inferences drawn from any of the information identified above to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes | Information provided by a user when creating a Brahmin Rewards Account |
This personal information is required to provide products to you. If you do not provide the personal information we ask for, it may delay or prevent us from providing products to you.
How Your Personal Information is Collected
We collect most of the personal information directly from you—in person, by telephone, text, via our Site, via our social media accounts, or email. However, we may also collect information:
- Directly from a third party;
- From a third party with your consent (e.g., your bank);
- From cookies on our website; and
- Via our IT systems, including:
- Automated monitoring of our websites and other technical systems, such as our computer networks and connections, communications systems, email and instant messaging systems.
How and Why We Use Your Personal Information.
Under data protection law, we can only use your personal information if we have a proper reason for doing so, e.g.,
- For the specific purpose for which it was volunteered and have given consent (for example, to purchase a product, to enter a contest, or to comment on our products or Site, etc.);
- To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations; or
- For our legitimate interests or those of a third party.
A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests.
The table below explains what we use (process) your personal information for and our reasons for doing so:
| WHAT WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR | OUR REASONS |
|---|---|
| To provide products to you or for the specific purpose for which it was volunteered | For the performance of selling, shipping and returning products to you or to take steps at your request before selling, shipping or returning products to you |
| Marketing our products and services to: existing and former customers; third parties who have previously expressed an interest in our services; third parties with whom we have had no previous dealings. | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to promote our business to existing and former customers |
| To prevent and detect fraudulent, abusive or unlawful use against you or Brahmin | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to minimize fraud that could be damaging for us and for you |
| Conducting checks to identify our customers and verify their identity | To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Gathering and providing information required by or relating to audits, enquiries or investigations by regulatory bodies | To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Ensuring business policies are adhered to, e.g. policies covering security and internet use | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can deliver the best service to you |
| Operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training and quality control | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best service for you at the best price |
| Ensuring the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to protect trade secrets and other commercially valuable information To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Statistical analysis to help us manage our business, e.g. in relation to customer base, product range or other efficiency measures | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best products and services for you at the best price |
| Preventing unauthorized access and modifications to systems | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to prevent and detect criminal activity that could be damaging for us and for you To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Updating and enhancing customer records | For the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. making sure that we can keep in touch with our customers about existing orders and new products |
| Statutory returns | To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Ensuring safe working practices, staff administration and assessments | To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures and working efficiently so we can deliver the best service to you |
| External audits and quality checks, e.g. for ISO or Investors in People accreditation and the audit of our accounts | For our legitimate interests or a those of a third party, i.e. to maintain our accreditations so we can demonstrate we operate at the highest standards To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
Promotional Communications
We may use your personal information to send you updates (by email, text message, telephone or post) about our products, including exclusive offers, promotions, contests or new products.
We have a legitimate interest in processing your personal information for promotional purposes (see above “How and why we use your personal information”). This means we do not usually need your consent to send you promotional communications. However, where consent is needed, we will ask for this consent separately and clearly.
We will always treat your personal information with the utmost respect and never sell it with other organizations outside of Brahmin for marketing purposes.
You have the right to opt out of receiving promotional communications at any time by:
- Not initially selecting to receive such communications;
- Contacting us directly (see “How To Contact Us” below);
- Using the “unsubscribe” link in emails or “STOP” number in texts; or
- Updating your marketing preferences on our Data Subject Rights Request.
If you are a subscriber to our print products, you will continue to receive information and communications pertaining to your subscription(s) even where you have opted out of marketing communications, unless you specifically request not to receive.
We may ask you to confirm or update your marketing preferences if you instruct us to provide further products in the future, or if there are changes in the law, regulation, or the structure of our business.
Brahmin will notify you by email to provide you with significant announcements about the Site, Site functions, about any account you create, about any Customer Content (defined in the Terms of Use) that you post on the Site, about any transaction you have requested, or about any other significant developments that may affect your use of the Site. You may not opt out of such communications.
Who We Share Your Personal Information With
We routinely share personal information with:
- Our affiliates, including companies within the Brahmin group;
- Service providers we use to help deliver our products to you, such as payment service providers, warehouses and delivery companies;
- Other third parties we use to help us run our business, such as marketing agencies or website hosts;
- Third parties approved by you, including social media sites you choose to link your account to or third-party payment providers; and
- Our banks.
We only allow our service providers to handle your personal information if we are satisfied that they take appropriate measures to protect your personal information. We also impose contractual obligations on service providers relating to ensure they can only use your personal information to provide services to us and to you. We may also share personal information with external auditors, e.g. in relation to ISO accreditation and the audit of our accounts.
We may disclose and exchange information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.
We may also need to share some personal information with other parties, such as potential buyers of some or all of our business or during a re-structuring. We will typically anonymize information, but this may not always be possible. The recipient of the information will be bound by confidentiality obligations.
Personal Information We Disclosed for a Business Purpose
In the preceding 12 months, we have disclosed for a business purpose to one or more third parties the following categories of personal information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household:
- Identifiers (e.g., a real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, or other similar identifiers);
- Information that identifies, relates to, describes, or is capable of being associated with, a particular individual, including, but not limited to, his or her name, signature, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information;
- Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law;
- Commercial information (e.g., records of products purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies);
- Internet or other electronic network activity information (e.g., browsing history, search history, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with an Internet Web site, application, or advertisement);
- Geolocation data;
- Audio, electronic, visual or similar information;
- Professional or employment-related information; and
- Inferences drawn from any of the information identified above to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.
Where Your Personal Information is Held.
Information may be held at our offices and those of our third-party agencies, service providers, representatives and agents as described above (see above: “Who We Share Your Personal Information With”).
Some of these third parties may be based outside the European Economic Area. For more information, including on how we safeguard your personal information when this occurs, see below: “Transferring Your Personal Information Out of the EEA”.
Aggregated Data
We may share data that does not identify you individually, in the aggregate (“Aggregate Data”). Aggregated Data may be derived from your Personal Information, but it is not considered Personal Information by us or under the law as long as it does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your Personal Information such that it can identify you, we treat the combined data as Personal Information, and it will be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Examples of how we may aggregate information include, but are not limited to, collecting demographic information about our audience to make decisions about types of events, or we may aggregate technical information to track the performance of certain advertisements.
Cookies
Brahmin uses cookies to collect information around abandoned shopping carts. A cart is considered abandoned within one hour of inactivity/lack of purchase. Once the cart is considered abandoned, an SMS message will be sent as a reminder.
Communications With Others
This Site allows you to communicate with others through its online functions and participation in Loyalty Programs. You are not required to disclose your identity to others, and you do so at your own risk. Brahmin is not responsible for the privacy or security of information, personal or otherwise, which you choose to communicate or exchange through the public features of this Site.
Links
This Site may contain links to other websites. Brahmin is not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites. Brahmin encourages you to be aware when you leave this Site and to read the privacy statements of third-party websites. This Privacy Policy pertains only to Brahmin’s Site.
Protection of Minors
You must be eighteen (18) years or older to access this Site. If you are under eighteen (18) years of age, you are not permitted to access this Site for any reason. Due to the age restriction for use of this website, no information obtained by this website falls within the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 and is not monitored as doing so.
How Long Your Personal Information Will Be Kept.
We will keep your personal information while you have an account with us or while we are providing products to you. Thereafter, we will keep your personal information for as long as is necessary:
- To respond to any questions, complaints or claims made by you or on your behalf;
- To show that we treated you fairly; or
To keep records required by law.
We will not retain your personal information for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
If you have made product selection, such selection may be stored for up to 48 hours in order to allow you to resume such transaction.
If you have registered for a Brahmin account, your account information will be retained for as long as you maintain an active account. Your account and account information will be deleted if you do not log in for 24 consecutive months. Brahmin retains records of deletion for 90 days.
Contact information such as your email address or phone number collected online and offline during our interactions with you will be maintained for as long as we have an active relationship with you. We treat you as having an active relationship if: (1) you have interacted with Brahmin or updated your contact details or preferences within the last 36 months and (2) you have not made a deletion request.
For accounting and audit purposes, personal information related to customer orders, inquiries, returns, exchanges and repairs will be kept for a period of 7 years.
Keeping Your Personal Information Secure.
We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in an unauthorized way.
All Personal Information is stored in a central database on our Web Servers, protected by a secure firewall, and may be modified only when the proper e-mail address and password used in creating your account are supplied. All Personal Information is transmitted to and from our Web Servers using SSL encryption technology for every transaction. For more information on the security of our Site, please review information about SSL TECHNOLOGY on this page.
We limit access to your Personal Information to those who have a genuine business need to access it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorized manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
Your Rights Under the CCPA (California Residents)
You have the right under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and certain other privacy and data protection laws, as applicable, to exercise free of charge:
| Disclosure of Personal Information We Collect About You | You have the right to know: • The categories of personal information we have collected about you; • The categories of sources from which the personal information is collected; • Our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling personal information; • The categories of third parties with whom we share personal information, if any; and • The specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you. • Please note that we are not required to: (1) Retain any personal information about you that was collected for a single one-time transaction if, in the ordinary course of business, that information about you is not retained; (2) Reidentify or otherwise link any data that, in the ordinary course of business, is not maintained in a manner that would be considered personal information; or (3) Provide the personal information to you more than twice in a 12-month period. |
| Personal Information Sold or Used for a Business Purpose | Brahmin does not sell your personal information to anyone. In connection with any personal information we may disclose to a third party for a business purpose, you have the right to know the categories of personal information that we disclosed about you for a business purpose. You have the right under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and certain other privacy and data protection laws, as applicable, to opt-out of the sale or disclosure of your personal information. If you exercise your right to opt-out of disclosure of your personal information, we will refrain from disclosing your personal information, unless you subsequently provide express authorization for the sale of your personal information. |
| Right to Deletion | Subject to certain exceptions set out below, on receipt of a verifiable request from you, we will: • Delete your personal information from our records; and • Direct any service providers to delete your personal information from their records. • Please note that we may not delete your personal information if it is necessary to: (1) Complete the transaction for which the personal information was collected, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, provide a good or service requested by you, or reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform a contract between you and us; (2) Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity; or prosecute those responsible for that activity; (3) Debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality; (4) Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise his or her right of free speech, or exercise another right provided for by law; (5) Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act; (6) Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when our deletion of the information is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of such research, provided we have obtained your informed consent; (7) Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with your expectations based on your relationship with us; (8) Comply with an existing legal obligation; or (9) Otherwise use your personal information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which you provided the information. |
| Protection Against Discrimination | You have the right to not be discriminated against by us because you exercised any of your rights under the CCPA. This means we cannot, among other things: • Deny goods or services to you; • Charge different prices or rates for goods or services, including through the use of discounts or other benefits or imposing penalties; • Provide a different level or quality of goods or services to you; or • Suggest that you will receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services. Please note that we may charge a different price or rate or provide a different level or quality of goods and/or services to you, if that difference is reasonably related to the value provided to our business by your personal information. |
Transferring Your Personal Information Out of the EEA
To deliver services to you, it is sometimes necessary for us to share your personal information outside the European Economic Area (EEA), e.g.:
- With our offices outside the EEA;
- With your and our service providers located outside the EEA;
- If you are based outside the EEA; or
These transfers are subject to special rules under European and UK data protection law.
The United States does not have the same data protection laws as the United Kingdom and EEA. We will, however, ensure the transfer complies with data protection law and all personal information will be secure. Our standard practice is to use standard data protection contract clauses that have been approved by the European Commission.
If you would like further information, please contact us or our Data Protection Officer (see “How To Contact Us” below).
Your Rights Under the GDPR (EU citizens)
| Right to Access | The right to be provided with a copy of your personal information (the right of access) |
| Right to Rectification | The right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal information |
| Right to be Forgotten | The right to require us to delete your personal information—in certain situations |
| Right to Restriction of Processing | The right to require us to restrict processing of your personal information—in certain circumstances, e.g. if you contest the accuracy of the data |
| Right to Data Portability | The right to receive the personal information you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party—in certain situations |
| Right to Object | The right to object: (1) at any time to your personal information being processed for direct marketing (including profiling); and (2) in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal information, e.g. processing carried out for the purpose of our legitimate interests. |
| Right Not to be Subject to Automated Individual Decision-Making | The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you |
For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individual rights under the General Data Protection Regulation.
How to Exercise Your Rights.
If you would like to exercise any of your rights as described in this Privacy Policy, please:
- File out an inquiry form, Brahmin Data Subject Rights Request;
- Call us, toll-free, at 508-994-4000; or
- Email us at privacy@brahminusa.com.
If you are a California resident, you may make a CCPA request, no more than twice in a 12-month period.
If you choose to contact directly, you will need to provide us with:
- Enough information to identify you (e.g., your full name, address and customer or matter reference number);
- Proof of your identity and address (e.g., a copy of your driving license or passport and a recent utility or credit card bill); and
- A description of what right you want to exercise and the information to which your request relates.
We are not obligated to make a data access or data portability disclosure if we cannot verify that the person making the request is the person about whom we collected information, or is someone authorized to act on such person’s behalf.
Any personal information we collect from you to verify your identity in connection with your request will be used solely for the purposes of verification.
How to File a GDPR Complaint
We hope that we can resolve any query or concern you raise about our use of your information.
The General Data Protection Regulation also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in the European Union (or European Economic Area) state where you work, normally live, or where any alleged infringement of data protection laws occurred.
Modification and Severability
We may change this privacy notice from time to time–when we do, we will inform you via our Site or other means of contact such as email.
This Privacy Policy, the Terms of Use, Cookie Policy, and the Loyalty Programs Terms of Use posted on this Site supersede all previous agreements.
Brahmin may change or discontinue the Site; its content, services, functions or features; and modify the Privacy Policy, the Terms of Use or the Terms of Use for any of the Loyalty Programs at any time without notice. You can review the current Terms and Privacy Policy by clicking the applicable link. If any of these conditions shall be deemed invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, that condition shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining condition.
Disclaimer
While Brahmin has taken reasonable steps to limit the uses of information provided by you, we cannot guarantee that the information will remain permanently secure. There is always a possibility that your information could be lost due to technical problems or stolen from our databases. Brahmin is not responsible for any such loss or theft or any other unanticipated security breach.
How to Contact Us
Please contact us by post, email or telephone if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the information we hold about you.
Our contact details are shown below:
Data Protection Officer
Brahmin Leather Works, LLC
7 Alden Road
Fairhaven, MA 02719.
Telephone: 508-994-4000
Do You Need Extra Help?
If you would like this notice in another format (for example: audio, large print, braille) please contact us (see “How to Contact Us” above).