Privacy Policy
Updated: October 5, 2023
American Greetings respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your Personal Information while providing a fun and safe online experience. Through our products and services, we want to serve and delight consumers every single day by providing creative and meaningful ways to socially connect and make the world a more thoughtful and caring place.
This Privacy Notice applies to all websites, mobile applications or apps, social features or networking, online services, widgets, downloads, or other outlets (the “Platform” or “Service”) that are owned or controlled by American Greetings and that post or include a link to this Privacy Notice, regardless of whether accessed by computer, mobile device, or otherwise. The Platforms for our products and services include, but are not limited to websites and apps found at: americangreetings.com and bluemountain.com, operated by AG Interactive, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Greetings. This Notice does not apply to employment-related personal information collected from California-based employees, job applicants, contractors, or similar individuals.
Purpose of This Privacy Notice
This Privacy Notice explains how we look after your Personal Information whenever that information is provided to us. This includes when you request information from us, contact us (or we contact you), buy products and services from us, use the Platforms, or connect with us via social media or link to or from our websites. It also tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you. It has been updated to include additional data protection requirements for residents of the European Union (“EU”), United Kingdom, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway or Iceland under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the laws of China under the Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”) and the laws of Hong Kong under the Personal Data Privacy Ordinance (“PDPO”), as amended by the Personal Data (Privacy) (Amendment) Ordinance of 2021 and other relevant data protection laws, including the United States (“U.S.”) laws, such as, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), as amended, supplemented, or otherwise modified from time to time, including by virtue of the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) (collectively referred to as “Data Protection Laws”).
This notice forms part of our Terms of Service. It should also be read in connection with our Cookie Policy and any other applicable policy posted in connection with or linked to our Platforms.
By accessing and otherwise using the Platforms, you agree to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Notice, and agree to the applicable Terms of Service, which are incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, please do not access or use our Platforms or otherwise provide us with your Personal Information.
Summary
For ease of navigation, you can click on one of the links below to jump directly to the listed Section.
WE FULLY DESCRIBE OUR PRIVACY PRACTICES WITH RESPECT TO THE PLATFORMS BELOW IN THIS PRIVACY NOTICE. THIS SUMMARY HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING OUR COLLECTION AND PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION, AND REGARDING THIRD PARTIES WHO MAY COLLECT CERTAIN INFORMATION WHEN YOU USE THE PLATFORMS. PLEASE REVIEW OUR FULL PRIVACY NOTICE BEFORE USING OUR PLATFORMS.
We primarily use the information we collect in connection with your relationship with our family of American Greetings’ brands and to provide a more tailored experience for you on our Platforms, including your interactions with Customer Service. Some of our Platforms may request location information, and we typically use that information to notify you of stores or American Greetings’ branded products near you. For more information visit, how we use the information we collect.
The Platforms collect certain information regarding how you access and use the Platforms, and we may utilize third parties to collect and analyze this information on our behalf. For more information visit, the information the Platforms automatically collect.
We will not rent or sell to or share your Personal Information with third parties or non-affiliated American Greetings’ companies, except to provide the products and services you’ve requested or without your specific consent. For more information visit, how and when we disclose information to third parties.
The Platforms may contain content served by third parties, and we work with third-party service providers to conduct analytics. These third parties may collect certain information about your use of the Platforms or other websites or apps. These third parties may set and access their own tracking devices (including cookies, web beacons, and embedded scripts) and may otherwise collect or have access to information about you and your online activities. Some of these companies are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) or the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising. You may want to visit here or about ads, which provide information regarding targeted advertising and offers an “opt-out” by participating companies. For more information visit, third-party analytics and advertising service providers; online tracking.
We may offer certain Social Networking Features on or through the Platforms, which may allow you to share information or make certain information public. For more information visit, social networking features; public information.
Effective of January 1, 2020, California residents have expanded privacy rights under the CCPA as outlined in this Privacy Notice, and Section VIII (F), California Residents – PRIVACY NOTICE.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
B. Information the Platforms Automatically Collect
C. Do Not Track
D. Information You Provide About Third Parties
E. Information Third Parties Provide About You
II. HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT
III. HOW AND WHEN WE DISCLOSE INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES
A. General Statement Regarding Information Disclosure
B. Third-Party Service Providers
C. Your Consent or Request That We Disclose your Information
D. Contests, Sweepstakes and Promotions
E. Sharing Between American Greetings’ Companies; Business Transitions
F. Administrative and Legal Reasons
IV. THIRD PARTY ANALYTICS AND ADVERTISING SERVICE PROVIDERS; ONLINE TRACKING
V. THIRD PARTY CONTENT AND LINKS TO THIRD PARTIES
VI. SOCIAL & INTERACTIVE FEATURES; PUBLIC INFORMATION; RETENTION
B. Social Networking Features; Public Information
D. Testimonials
VII. OTHER MATTERS
A. Location of our Platform and our Services
B. EU-US & Swiss-US Privacy Framework Compliance
E. Changes to the Privacy Notice
H. Nevada Residents Rights and Other Rights Under U.S. Privacy Laws
I. For Platform Visitors Outside the U.S.
VIII. CONTACTING US; EU REPRESENTATIVE; CN REPRESENTATIVE
INFORMATION COLLECTION
The Platforms may request that you provide certain personal information, which is information that may reasonably be used to identify you as a specific individual, directly or indirectly (“Personal Information”). It does not include information where your identity has been removed, deidentified or made anonymous. We may collect, use, store, and transfer different kinds of Personal Information, which we have grouped together as follow.
Identity Data includes first name, last name, username or similar identifier.
Contact Data includes billing address, home address, email address and telephone numbers.
Financial Data includes payment card details, zip code, expiration date, and security code (collected and tokenized by our payment processor).
Transaction Data includes details about products and services you have bought from us, and details about your purchase history, including payments received, and when you have requested information or asked questions, communication and call data, including with Customer Service, membership dates, card-sending history, including Recipient Data (defined below) and personal messages or sentiments that you enter for card sending.
Profile Data includes your username and password, products and services bought by you, information about your preferences, interests, inquiries, feedback, and survey responses, and demographic information (including, your gender, ZIP code, or marital status).
Recipient Data includes the first name, last name, email address, or significant dates (such as birthdays or anniversaries) that you provide for card sending.
Usage Data includes information as to how and where you use our Platforms.
Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences as to whether you are happy to receive marketing from us.
The Platforms may also enable you to transmit files or otherwise provide information to American Greetings. Please note that files you transmit may contain metadata, which may contain Personal Information. For example, photos you transmit could include metadata indicating where (GPS coordinates) and when (date and time) the photo was taken.
If you choose to sign-up or log-in to the Platform using a third-party service such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Google, or link your American Greetings’ account to a third-party service, we may collect information from the service – for example, your public or social media profile information (such as nickname or user name), and email.
We also collect, use, and disclose “Aggregated Data” (as that term is defined here and in applicable Data Protection Laws), such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your Personal Information but is not considered Personal Information in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. If we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your Personal Information so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as Personal Information, which will be used in accordance with this Privacy Notice.
Information the Platforms Automatically Collect
We and our third-party service providers collect certain information about your use of our Platforms (“Usage Data”). Usage Data may include the browser and operating system you are using, the URL, advertisements, or search terms that referred or otherwise led you to the Platforms (if applicable), aspects of the Platforms that you use or visit, the products or services you access or view, the types of greeting cards that you send, and the time of day you accessed the Platforms, among other information.
Usage Data also includes the IP address or other unique identifier (“Device Identifier”) for any computer, mobile phone or other device (any, a “Device”) used to access the Platforms. A Device Identifier is automatically assigned to your Device, and our servers identify your Device by its Device Identifier. Please note that your IP address is included in the header information of every ecard notification email that we send for your ecards. Some mobile service providers may also provide us or our third-party service providers with information regarding the physical location of a Device used to access the Platforms. Usage Data is generally non-identifying, but if we associate it with you as a specific and identifiable person, we treat it as Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Notice.
The methods used to collect Usage Data may include:
A cookie or local storage is a data file placed on a Device when it is used to visit a Platform or otherwise access our online content. Cookies may be used for many purposes, such as remembering you and your preferences and tracking your visits to the Platforms. If you do not want to accept cookies, you can block them by adjusting the settings on your Internet browser. You can find more information about cookies and how they work by visiting the website allaboutcookies.org.
A Flash Cookie is a data file placed on a Device via the Adobe Flash plug-in that may be built-in to or downloaded by you to your Device. Flash cookies may be used for various purposes, such as enabling a Flash feature and remembering your preferences. Flash cookies may not be deleted when you delete other types of cookies from a Device. For more information about Flash and the privacy choices Adobe offers, visit macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager.html.
If you choose to disable cookies on your Device, some features of the Platforms or our content may not function properly. In order to enjoy the Platform fully, below is information about one such vendor we use for our Services our Platforms.
Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics for aggregated, anonymized website traffic analysis. In order to track use of our Platforms, Google drops a cookie (_ga) with a randomly-generated ID in your browser for logged-in users (a UserID). This UserID is anonymized and contains no identifiable information like email, phone number, or name. We also send Google your IP Address. We use Google Analytics to track aggregated website behavior, such as what pages you looked at, for how long, and so on. This information is important to us for improving overall user experience and determining a Platform’s effectiveness. You can learn about Google’s practices here, and opt out of them by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, available at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. This opt-out feature, however, only works on your desktop browser and not on a mobile device. For mobile apps, you may be able to limit certain advertising practices using the settings on your phone, tablet or other mobile device. You may also download the AppChoices app at https://youradchoices.com/ to opt out of the delivery of interest-based advertisements in participating mobile apps.
Our Platforms use other third-party performance and remarketing cookies, and further information on those third-party cookies is located in our Cookie Policy or can be obtained by contacting us at help@americangreetings.com.
Small graphic images or other web programming code called web beacons (also known as, pixel tags, 1x1 GIFs, or clear GIFs) may be used on the Platforms or in our emails and may be invisible to you. Web beacons may be connected to your Personal Information, if you have provided it. Web beacons may be used for various purposes, such as counting visitors to the Platforms, monitoring how users navigate the Platforms, counting how many emails that were sent were actually opened, or counting how many times a link was accessed.
The Platforms may also use global positioning systems (“GPS”) software and other location-based technologies, like iBeacons, to locate you so we may verify your location, deliver you relevant content based on your location, as well as allow you to disclose your location to others as part of the Services we provide. We may determine your approximate or exact location information to provide location-based services. In addition to traditional GPS location-based services, some of the retailers and others we work with may install other types of location-tracking technology. These technologies emit a signal that we can use to detect to pinpoint your proximity to those locations (such as, how close you are to retail locations and products) or otherwise interact with the Platform (such as, to send you helpful information, offers, and discounts).
An embedded script is programming code that is designed to collect information about your interactions with the Platforms, such as the links you click on. The code is temporarily downloaded onto your Device from our web server or a third-party service provider, is active only while you are connected to the Platform, and is deactivated or deleted thereafter.
Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a preference available in many web browsers that allow you to inform websites that you visit that you do not want them collecting information about you. The Platforms do not currently support recognition of DNT signals sent by a browser, which means we may collect information about you. We operate, however, as described in this Privacy Notice whether or not a DNT signal is received. For more information regarding DNT you can visit https://fpf.org/thank-you-for-visiting-allaboutdnt-com/.
Information You Provide About Third Parties
The Platforms may permit you to provide Personal Information about third parties (“Recipient Data”), like mailing address, email addresses, or significant dates (such as, birthdays or anniversaries). If you use the Platforms to send an ecard, paper card, gift card, or any other content, we collect certain Personal Information about the recipient (such as, name, mailing address, and email address, as applicable). We may disclose the information regarding your transaction with third parties as necessary to process your transaction (i.e., to create, send or deliver the card). If you choose to provide Recipient Data we will store that information only in connection with your relationship with us (e.g., to send greeting cards).
Information Third Parties Provide About You
We may receive information about you from third parties. For example, if you are on another website and you opt-in to receive information from American Greetings, the other website will forward your contact and other information to us so that we may contact you as requested. Further, we may receive certain information about you from third parties if you engage the third parties in connection with our Platforms – for example, if you download one of our apps from an app store, make an in-app purchase, connect via Social Networking Features, or make a payment using a third-party payment provider like PayPal, consistent with the privacy policies of the applicable third parties.
HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT
We will only use your Personal Information for business purposes when and where the law allows us. We use information about you, including Personal Information, to: (1) allow you to use the Platforms or to provide related Customer Service support; (2) provide or offer you information, products, or services where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you; (3) send or display special offers or advertisements from AG Companies (defined in Section III E) and our business partners; (4) process your registration or requests, including verifying that information you provide is active and valid; (5) process a transaction you initiate; (6) improve the Platforms and our products, and for internal business purposes, including the measurement of Platform effectiveness; (7) contact you with regard to your use of the Platforms and, in our discretion, changes to our policies; (8) identify and protect against fraudulent activities, transactions, and abuse of the Platforms, and to protect the rights and property of American Greetings, its partners, and customers and where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party); (9) as otherwise described in this Privacy Notice, for purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information, or with your specific consent; and (10) for any other permissible purposes outlined in the Data Protection Laws.
When we refer to legitimate interests we mean the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service and products. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your Personal Information for our legitimate interests. We do not use your Personal Information for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law).
HOW AND WHEN WE DISCLOSE INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES
General Statement Regarding Information Disclosure
We do not rent, lease, or sell your Personal Information to third parties for money or their direct marketing purposes. We may disclose your Personal Information for the following purposes: (i) if you direct us to disclose Personal Information; (ii) to comply with your requests or consents; (iii) as part of a Business Transition; and (iv) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law. We may also disclose non-Personal Information, including non-identifying Aggregated Data, with third parties at our discretion.
We may disclose Personal Information with our service providers who perform services for us or on our behalf; and in some instances, our service providers may collect information from you directly. Such services may include, for example, hosting or maintaining the Platforms, providing customer service and support, monitoring the Platform, data storage or warehouse, sending email, direct mail or other communications, fulfilling orders, mailing paper cards or sending gift cards, providing marketing assistance, research or business intelligence services, providing analytics services, product safety or testing, processing payments or transactions, printing services, or performing other administrative services. When we disclose Personal Information for a business purpose, we enter a contract that describes the purpose and requires the recipient to both keep that Personal Information confidential and not use it for any purpose except performing the contract or complying with legal requirements.
Your Consent or Request That We Disclose Your Information
We will only share your information pursuant to your consent or at your direction.
We partner with third-party services (such as Facebook, Apple and Google) to offer you a seamless sign-up, log-in experience. We may disclose information about you with these third-party services if you choose to use these features.
We may offer the opportunity to receive information or marketing offers from one or more third parties, or to otherwise have your information shared with a third party. We may also offer you the opportunity to order products and services from a third party directly through the Platforms or in communications you may receive from American Greetings; and in this case, we will disclose that a third party will be fulfilling your order. If you choose to allow a third-party service to access your account, we will disclose certain information about you with the third party. If you agree to have us disclose your Personal Information and we do so, your Personal Information will be subject to the privacy practices of that third party. Please note that we are not responsible for the privacy policies and practices of third parties. If you later decide that you no longer wish to allow access, or to receive communications from a third party, you must contact that third party directly. We encourage you to read any posted privacy policy of the third-party website before using the service or website and providing any information.
Contests, Sweepstakes and Promotions
We may sponsor contests, sweepstakes or other promotions (any, a “Promotion”). If you choose to participate in a Promotion, you may be required to provide certain Personal Information. By participating in a Promotion, you agree to the official rules that govern that Promotion. The official rules may contain specific requirements of you, including, except where prohibited by law, allowing the sponsor(s) of the Promotion to use your name, voice, likeness or other indicia of persona in advertising or marketing associated with the Promotion. If you choose to enter a Promotion, your Personal Information may be disclosed to third parties or the public in connection with the administration of such Promotion, including, without limitation, in connection with winner selection, prize fulfillment, and as required by law or permitted by the Promotion's official rules, such as on a winners list.
Sharing Between American Greetings’ Companies; Business Transitions
“AG Companies” are the parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates of American Greetings Corporation. We may disclose your information, including Personal Information, with AG Companies for a variety of purposes, such as to conduct Promotions, to offer special premiums, for business and operational purposes (such as, sharing databases and IT equipment) and any other purpose permitted by law. We may, and reserve the right to, disclose your information with any other company that is not presently, but becomes one of the AG Companies. American Greetings will facilitate payments through third-party partners, but we will not disclose your credit card information or other payment information with anyone, including AG Companies, without your express, specific permission.
We may also disclose and transfer your Personal Information: (i) to a subsequent owner, co-owner or operator of a Platform or applicable database; (ii) if an AG Company assigns its rights regarding any of your information to a third party; or (iii) in connection with a corporate merger, consolidation, liquidation, restructuring, the sale of certain of AG Company ownership interests, assets, or both, or other company change, including during the course of any due diligence process (a “Business Transition”). You acknowledge that a Business Transition may occur, and that any acquirer of an AG Company or its assets may continue to use your Personal Information, as described in this Privacy Notice.
Administrative and Legal Reasons
We may disclose your information, including Personal Information to third parties (i) if we are required to respond to subpoenas or other legal process or if in our opinion such disclosure is required by law; (ii) at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation; (iii) to protect and/or defend the Platforms or any of the AG Companies' rights and property, or to enforce the Terms of Service or other policies applicable to the Platforms; or (iv) to respond to an emergency or otherwise protect the personal safety or security of any of the AG Companies or any third party. We may also use Device Identifiers to identify users, and may do so in cooperation with copyright owners, Internet service providers, wireless service providers, or law enforcement agencies in our discretion. These disclosures may be carried out without notice to you.
THIRD PARTY ANALYTICS AND ADVERTISING SERVICE PROVIDERS; ONLINE TRACKING
We work with certain third parties (including network advertisers, ad agencies, and analytics companies) for a variety of business purposes. These purposes include providing us with information regarding traffic and use of the Platforms and our advertisements on the Platforms and across the Internet, and to engage in multi-site advertising. For example, if you click on an advertisement that led you to one of our Platforms, our service provider(s) may be able to tell us which advertisement you clicked on and where you were viewing the advertisement; or, you may be served American Greetings’ advertisements elsewhere online based on your visit to or use of the Platforms. Some of these third parties may collect Personal Information when you visit the Platforms or other websites or online services. Additionally, we may disclose certain information derived from your Personal Information with third parties to assist us in delivering content or advertising to you, both on the Platforms and elsewhere online.
These third parties may set and access their own tracking technologies (including cookies, web beacons, and embedded scripts) and may otherwise collect or have access to your Device Identifier, Usage Data and related information about you. These service providers may use that information for their own purposes, including to target advertisements to you, prevent you from seeing the same advertisements too many times and to conduct research regarding the usefulness of certain advertisements to you. We may disclose the Device Identifier and Usage Data about visitors with third party advertising companies, analytics providers and other vendors for similar purposes.
American Greetings does not control the information collection, use, or sharing practices of third-party analytics providers or advertisers. Some of these parties may collect your Personal Information when you access the Platforms or other online websites and services. While we may use a variety of service providers to perform advertising and analytics services, some of these companies may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) or the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising. You can visit NAI, which provides information regarding targeted advertising and the opt-out procedures of NAI members. You may also want to visit: https://optout.aboutads.info/, which provides information regarding targeted advertising and offers an opt-out by participating companies in the DAA Self-Regulatory Program.
THIRD PARTY CONTENT AND LINKS TO THIRD PARTIES
Certain content found on the Platforms may be hosted and served by third parties. The Platforms may also contain links to third party websites or apps that we do not control. This includes links from advertisers, reward programs, sponsors and partners associated with the Platforms. These links may use American Greetings logo or the logo of one of the AG Companies as part of a co-branding agreement (e.g., a third party may be selling or providing American Greetings’ products or services). In addition, American Greetings’ content may be included on web pages and websites that are not associated with us and over which we have no control.
These third parties may collect Usage Data through the use of their own cookies, web beacons, or embedded scripts, and they may also independently collect data or solicit Personal Information. American Greetings is not responsible for the privacy practices employed by any third party. We encourage you to read any posted privacy policy of the third-party website before using the service or website and providing any information.
SOCIAL NETWORKING FEATURES; PUBLIC INFORMATION
Community Forums
The Platforms may provide you the opportunity to participate and post content publicly through interactive features and through other communication functionality (“Community Forums”). You may choose, through such features or otherwise, to submit or post photographs (which may include metadata), videos, questions, comments, suggestions or other content (collectively, “User Content”). Please note that certain information, such as your name and other Personal Information, may be publicly displayed on the Platforms along with your User Content. Therefore, you should have no expectation of privacy with respect to your User Content on or through the Platform. Your User Content must not violate the privacy or other rights of others. You may not use false identifying information or contact information, impersonate any person or entity, or otherwise mislead us as to the origin of any User Content.
Anything you post to a Community Forum is public -- others will have access to your User Content and may use it or disclose it with third parties. Information or other content you choose to post or make available in the Community Forums may be viewed, collected and used by others. If you choose to voluntarily disclose Personal Information, that information will be considered public information and this Privacy Notice will not apply to such information. If you submit User Content, it may be published online or offline at any time. In addition, we may use your User Content and any excerpt from your User Content in connection with our advertising, marketing, publicity and promotional activities.
Certain functions on the Platforms may permit interactions between the Platform and a third-party website or interactive service (“Social Networking Features”). If you choose to use Social Networking Features (e.g., the “like button”, “share this card on Facebook”), certain information, which may include your Personal Information, may be publicly displayed, and the third -party website or interactive service used in connection with the Social Networking Features (and its users) may have access to information about you and your use of the Platform.
The Platform may also allow you to import contact information about yourself or third parties from a third-party website or interactive service. For example, the Platform may allow you to provide your login information to your email account so that the Platform may import your contacts or list of persons with whom you have communicated. By providing the login information in your account, you are consenting to American Greetings, or a party on behalf of American Greetings, importing your contacts or list of persons with whom you have communicated for using with the Platform. Unless you consent, we will not store the password you provide if you import your contacts from a third-party source.
We will only retain your Personal Information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for Personal Information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the Personal Information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your Personal Information, the purposes for which we process your Personal Information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. In some circumstances we may anonymize, hash, or de-identify your Personal Information (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
Details of retention periods for different types of your Personal Information are available in our Corporate Records Management Policy, which you can request from us here.
In some circumstances, you can ask us to delete your Personal Information by following the Request erasure right as outlined in Section VII.
OTHER MATTERS
Location of Our Platform and Services
We do not warrant or represent that this Policy or the Platform’s use of your Personal Information complies with the laws of every jurisdiction. Furthermore, to provide you with our services, we may store, process, and transmit information in the U.S. and other locations around the world, including countries that may not have the same privacy and security laws as yours. Regardless of the country in which such information is stored, we will process your Personal Information in accordance with this Policy.
EU-US Data Privacy Framework Compliance
American Greetings complies with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework program (“EU-U.S. DPF”) and the UK Extension to the EU-US DPF as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce. American Greetings has certified to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it adheres to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework program Principles (“EU-U.S. DPF Principles”) with regard to the processing of personal data received from the EU and the UK (including Gibraltar) in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF and the UK Extension to the EU-US DPF respectively. If there is any conflict between the terms in this Privacy Policy and the EU-U.S. DPF Principles, the Principles shall govern. American Greetings’ DPF program certification and this notice covers the following other legal US entities: AG Interactive, Inc., BMA Holdings, LLC, AGCM, Inc., Papyrus-Recycled Greetings, Inc. (the “Covered Entities”). To learn more about the Data Privacy Framework (DPF) program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/.
American Greetings receives Personal Information collected by certain AG Companies and transferred pursuant to the EU-US DPF Principles for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice. If any such affiliate collects Personal Information under a different privacy policy than this one, American Greetings will comply with the stricter policy. American Greetings is not certified under the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
Complaints and inquires
In compliance with the EU-US Data Privacy Framework program’s Principles, American Greetings commits to resolve complaints about your privacy and our collection or use of your personal information transferred to the United States pursuant to the DPF Principles. EU individuals with DPF inquiries or complaints should first contact American Greetings.
Independent recourse
American Greetings has further committed to refer unresolved privacy complaints under the DPF Principles to an independent dispute resolution mechanism, Data Privacy Framework Services, operated by BBB National Programs. If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your complaint, or if your complaint is not satisfactorily addressed, please visit https://bbbprograms.org/programs/all-programs/dpf-consumers/ProcessForConsumers for more information and to file a complaint. This service is provided free of charge to you.
If your DPF complaint cannot be resolved through the above channels, under certain conditions, you may invoke binding arbitration for some residual claims not resolved by other redress mechanisms. See https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/s/article/G-Arbitration-Procedures-dpf?tabset-35584=2
Onward transfer
American Greetings maintains contracts with third parties that process Personal Information within the scope of the DPF Principles. The contracts restrict their access, use, and disclosure of Personal Information in compliance with American Greetings’ EU-US DPF obligations. American Greetings may be liable for damages if such third parties fail to comply with their contractual obligations.
Federal Trade Commission authority
American Greetings is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Required disclosure
American Greetings may be required to disclose Personal Information in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including meeting national security or law enforcement requirements
- Contacting us. If we are not able to provide the information that you are requesting within 30 days of receipt of your request, we will provide you a timeline for providing the requested information. If we deny access to your Personal Information, we will explain why access was denied and give you contact information for further inquiries regarding the denial of access.
Use and choice
American Greetings will not process Personal Information about EU or UK individuals maintained in reliance on the EU-US DPF and/or the UK Extension to the EU-US DPF for purposes other than those for which the information was originally obtained or subsequently authorized by the EU or UK individual, unless the individual affirmatively and explicitly consents to the processing, or unless an exception applies. Those EU individuals may contact American Greetings at any time to withdraw consent, in which case the person's Personal Information will not be further processed. EU individuals may also contact us to opt out of American Greetings sharing Personal Information with most third parties, excluding those necessary for processing, as required by law, or as necessary to protect the AG Companies and its users.
Children's Privacy
The Platforms are intended to be appropriate for general audiences and are not directed to children. AG Companies do not knowingly collect information from persons younger than the age of sixteen (16) without seeking any required parental approval in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory obligations, including the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). In limited circumstances, we may ask users to provide age-related information in order to help us comply with laws like COPPA. For example, we may request a date of birth to determine whether COPPA requires us to obtain verifiable parental consent from a parent or guardian before setting up an account or allowing a user to access or use certain aspects, areas, or functionality of a Platform.
We would ask parents please to ensure that their children under the age of 16 do not provide us with Personal Information without your permission. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected information from a person younger than the age of 16, we will take commercially reasonable efforts to delete that information from our databases.
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your Personal Information from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we classify Personal Information as confidential information and limit access to your Personal Information to those employees, agents, contractors and select third parties who have a business need to know. Processors we appoint will only process your Personal Information on our instructions and they are subject to a contractual duty of confidentiality.
You should be aware, however, that transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected Personal Information breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
Changes to the Privacy Notice; Your Duty to Update Personal Information
We may change this Privacy Notice at any time without notice to you. We may also provide notice to you in other ways in our discretion, such as through contact information you have provided. Any changes will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Privacy Notice. Your continued use of our Platforms following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes. However, unless you consent, we will not use your Personal Information in a manner materially different than what was stated in our posted Privacy Notice at the time your Personal Information was collected.
If you have any questions, please contact us through our Customer Support here or via our Legal Department at legal@americangreetings.com.
It is important that the Personal Information we hold about you is accurate and current. It is your obligation to inform us if your Personal Information changes during your relationship with us.
Please be aware that information we collect through the Platforms may be transferred to and processed in the U.S., where the privacy laws may not be as comprehensive as those in the country where you reside and/or are a citizen. For residents or citizens of the European Economic Area (“EEA”), Switzerland and United Kingdom whenever we transfer your Personal Information, we look to ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:
Transferring your Personal Information to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for Personal Information by the European Commission, United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Officer, Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, Cyberspace Administration of China or other applicable data protection authority.
Where we transfer data to AG Companies, and when we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the data protection authorities (e.g., EU Standard Contractual Clauses, UK International Data Transfer Agreement) which give Personal Information the same protection it has in the exporting country.
Where we use providers based in the US, we may transfer data to them in accordance with an established data privacy framework (e.g., EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework once effective as set forth in Executive Order 14086), or other appropriate transfer mechanisms that provide similar protection to Personal Information shared between the Europe and the US.
By using the Platforms or providing us with any information, you acknowledge and consent to the transfer, processing, and storage of your information in the U.S., or such other countries as American Greetings may choose in its sole discretion. This Section VII-F constitutes separate consent for the purposes of data transfers. To the extent a regulator determines this Section does not satisfy the separate consent requirements to transfer Personal Information under the PIPL and similar Data Protection Laws, American Greetings shall work, in good faith, to obtain such separate consent from you.
California Residents – PRIVACY NOTICE
We are providing this California Consumer Privacy Act Notice (“CCPA Notice”) to supplement the information and disclosures already contained in our Privacy Notice. This CCPA Notice applies only to California Consumers visiting American Greetings’ Platforms. Any term defined in the CCPA has the same meaning when used in this CCPA Notice. In the event of a conflict between any other American Greetings’ policy, statement, or notice and this CCPA Notice, this CCPA Notice will prevail as to California Consumers and their rights under the CCPA.
Duration. For the purpose of this Section VII – G, the length of time American Greetings intends to retain each category of Personal Information, including Sensitive Personal Information, if any, is for as long as reasonably necessary to carry out American Greetings’ intended business purpose for such information.
1. Right to Know What Personal Information We Collect: We collect information about you as detailed in our Privacy Notice in Section I – INFORMATION COLLECTION. The chart below outlines the categories and illustrative CCPA-examples of Personal Information that American Greetings has collected and/or disclosed, as indicated, for a business purpose in the preceding 12 months.
A. Identifiers. A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers. Collected/Disclosed: Yes/Yes |
B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)). A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver’s license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information. Some personal information included in this category may overlap with other categories. Collected/Disclosed: Yes/Yes |
C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law. Age (40 years or older), race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or childbirth and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, veteran or military status, genetic information (including familial genetic information). Collected/Disclosed: Yes/Yes |
D. Commercial information. Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. Collected/Disclosed: Yes/Yes |
E. Biometric information. Genetic, physiological, behavioral, and biological characteristics, or activity patterns used to extract a template or other identifier or identifying information, such as fingerprints, faceprints, and voiceprints, iris or retina scans, keystroke, gait, or other physical patterns, and sleep, health, or exercise data. Collected/Disclosed: No/Not Applicable |
F. Internet or other similar network activity. Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application, or advertisement. Collected/Disclosed: Yes/Yes |
G. Geolocation data. Physical location or movements. Collected/Disclosed: Yes/Yes |
H. Sensory data. Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information. Collected/Disclosed: Yes/No |
I. Professional or employment-related information. Current or past job history or performance evaluations. Collected/Disclosed: Yes/No |
J. Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)). Education records directly related to a student maintained by an educational institution or party acting on its behalf, such as grades, transcripts, class lists, student schedules, student identification codes, student financial information, or student disciplinary records. Collected/Disclosed: No/Not Applicable |
K. Inferences drawn from other personal information. Profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes. Collected/Disclosed: Yes/Yes |
2. Right to Know Who We Share Your Personal Information With: As also explained in our Privacy Policy, Section III - HOW AND WHEN WE DISCLOSE INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES, we share your Personal Information with the following categories of CCPA third parties:
Affilates
Vendors and service providers, including for data analytics, payment processing, and marketing and advertising our products and services to you.
Third parties integrated into our Platforms.
Other third parties for whom we have obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
For the preceding 12 months, we have disclosed Personal Information in connection with the specific CCPA business and commercial purposes as follows:
To create, maintain, customize, and secure your account with us.
To provide, support, personalize, and develop our Platforms, products and services.
To process your requests, purchases, transactions, and payments and prevent transactional fraud.
To provide you with support and to respond to your inquiries, including to investigate and address your concerns and monitor and improve our responses (e.g., recorded Customer Service calls).
To personalize your experience on our Platforms and to deliver content and product and service offerings relevant to your interests, including targeted offers and ads through our Platforms, third-party sites, and via email or text message (with your consent, where required by law).
To help maintain the safety, security, and integrity of our Platforms, products and services, databases, and other technology assets, and business.
For testing, research, analysis, and product development, including to develop and improve our Platforms, products, and services.
To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulations.
3. Right to Access/Request Information: You or your authorized representative have the right to request information about our collection, use, and disclosure of your Personal Information over the past twelve months, including what information we have collected, the purpose behind such collection, what third parties we disclose such information with, and the business purpose behind such sharing of Personal Information. To request this information, or a copy of your Personal Information, please email us here. You may make this request twice per 12-month period.
4. Correction: You can correct what Personal Information our Platform database currently contains by accessing your account directly, or by contacting us here to request that we correct or rectify any Personal Information that you have provided to us.
5. Right to Delete Your Personal Information: If you wish for us to delete all or some of your Personal Information, please contact us here. Please take note that some Personal Information (like your email address) is necessary to maintain an account through the Platforms. In addition, we may retain some Personal Information for as long as you have an open, permissioned account with us or as otherwise detailed in Section VI – E Data Retention.
6. Personal Information Sales or Sharing Opt-Out and Opt-In Rights: You have the right at any time to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your Personal Information. You can exercise this opt-out right by filling out our Data Rights Request Form. Once you have submitted an opt-out request, we will not ask you to reauthorize the sale or sharing of your Personal Information for at least 12 months. We will respond as soon as feasibly possible to your request, up to a maximum of 15 business days from the date they received your request to opt-out. We will process your opt-out preference signals in a frictionless manner, as required under the CCPA. Where applicable, we will ensure such changes are shared with trusted third parties.
7. Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information. If we collect any Sensitive Personal Information (as defined in the CCPA), you have the right to request that we limit the use of the Sensitive Personal Information to that use which is necessary to perform the services or provide the goods reasonably expected by an average consumer who requests those goods or services by contacting us here.
8. Portability. Upon request and when possible, we can provide you with copies of your Personal Information. When such a request cannot be honored, we will advise you accordingly. You can then choose to exercise any other rights under this Section VII-F.
9. Non-Discrimination Rights: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your rights under the CCPA. We will not deny you use of our Platform, charge you different prices or rates, or provide you a lower quality of products and services if you exercise your rights under the CCPA. We may, however, offer different tiers of our Platform services as allowed by applicable data privacy laws (including the CCPA) with varying prices, rates or levels of quality of the products or services you receive related to the value of Personal Information that we receive from you.
DO NOT SELL OR SHARE: We do not “sell” or “share” (as those terms are defined in the CCPA) your Personal Information in exchange for money; we may disclose, however, certain Internet and electronic network activity (e.g., cookies or tracking tags) information, as a Platform subscriber or user.
Additional Method to Send Request. In addition to sending a request using the links above, you may also contact us (toll-free) at: 800-711-4474.
Responding to Your Request. In accordance with the CCPA, we will respond to your request within forty-five (45) days, unless a shorter period is required under the CCPA. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.
In some cases our ability to uphold these rights for you may depend upon our obligations to process Personal Information for security, safety, fraud prevention reasons, compliance with regulatory or legal requirements, or because processing is necessary to deliver the services you have requested. Where this is the case, we will inform you of specific details in response to your request.
Retention. The Personal Information collected under this Section shall be retained for no longer than is necessary to provide our products and Services through this Platform. The criteria used to determine the period of time certain Personal Information will be retained shall be governed by (i) whether we use the Personal Information to provide Services to you; (ii) whether the Personal Information is critical for a transaction (e.g., using your postal address to ship our products); and (iii) American Greetings’ well-established data retention policy.
Other California Privacy Rights.
We do not share Personal Information as defined by California Civil Code Section 1798.83 (Shine the Light Law) with third parties for their direct marketing purposes absent obtaining your specific consent. If you are a California resident and you have questions about our practices with respect to sharing information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes and your ability to exercise choice, please send your request to the following email address: help@americangreetings.com or write to us at the following mailing address:
American Greetings Corporation
One American Boulevard
Westlake, OH 44145.
You must put the statement “Your California Privacy Rights” in the subject field of your email or include it in your writing if you choose to write to us at the designated mailing address. You must include your name, street address, city, state, and zip code. We are not responsible for notices that are not labeled or sent properly, or do not have complete information.
If you are a California resident under the age of 18, and a registered user of any Platform, California Business and Professions Code Section 22581 permits you to request and obtain removal of content that you have publicly posted. To make such a request, please send an email with a detailed description of the specific content to here. Please be aware that such a request does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information that you have posted and there may be circumstances in which the law does not require or allow removal even if requested.
Do Not Track Disclosure: The Platforms do not currently respond to Do Not Track signals of web browsers as noted above in Section I-C.
Nevada Resident Rights and Other Rights Under U.S. Privacy Laws
Nevada Rights: If you are a resident of Nevada, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of certain Personal Information to third parties who intend to license or sell that Personal Information. You can exercise this right by contacting us here with the subject line “Nevada Do Not Sell Request” and providing us with your name. Please note that we do not currently sell your Personal Information as sales are defined in Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 603A.
Other U.S. Privacy Rights. Under other U.S. Data Protection Laws, you may have rights similar or materially similar rights to those outlined in the California Residents- Privacy Notice Section VII(F). When applicable and upon effect, you (if a resident of Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Utah, or Virginia) may exercise applicable rights to your Personal Information by sending your request to the following email address: help@americangreetings.com.
You will not have to pay a fee to access your Personal Information (or to exercise any of your other rights under applicable U.S. Data Protection Laws). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity or the identity of your appointed agent and ensure your right to access your Personal Information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that Personal Information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to enable us to deal with your request or to speed up our response.
We try to respond to all legitimate requests without unreasonable delay. However, it may take us longer to respond if your request is particularly complex or we have received a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
For Platform Visitors Outside the U.S.
Under applicable Data Protection Laws, such as the GDPR, individuals are afforded specific rights with respect to their Personal Information, or “personal data” as defined under the Data Protection Laws. For the purposes of this Policy, American Greetings operates as a data controller. As previously stated, any personal data we collect from you is processed in the U.S. and under the terms of this Policy.
Any personal data we collect from you is processed in the legitimate interest of our business and providing our services to you as the lawful means of such processing. You may always withdraw your consent to our use of your personal data as described below. We will only retain your personal data for the time necessary to provide you the information and services to which you have consented, to comply with the law and in accordance with your rights below.
The Data Controllers are:
NAME: American Greetings Corporation and its affiliates and subsidiaries
ADDRESS:
American Greetings Corporation
One American Boulevard
Westlake, Ohio 44145
EMAIL ADDRESS: help@americangreetings.com
You can exercise any of the following rights, subject to verification of your identity, by notifying us as described below:
- You may email us here to request a copy of the personal data our Platform databases currently contain.
Automated Processing and Decision-Making. You may email us here to request that we stop using your personal data for automated processing, such as profiling. In your email, please explain how you wish us to restrict automated processing of your personal data. When such restrictions are not possible, we will advise you accordingly. You can then choose to exercise any other rights under this Policy, to include withdrawing your consent to the processing of your personal data.
Correction or Rectification. You can correct what personal data our Platform database currently contains by accessing your account directly, or by emailing us here to request that we correct or rectify any personal data that you have provided to us. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause information to be incorrect. Where applicable, we will ensure such changes are shared with trusted third parties.
Restrict Processing. When applicable, you may restrict the processing of your personal data by submitting a request via email here. In your email, please explain how you wish us to restrict processing of your personal data. When such restrictions are not possible, we will advise you accordingly. You can then choose to exercise any other rights under this Policy, to include withdrawing your consent to the processing of your personal data. Where applicable, we will ensure such changes are shared with trusted third parties.
Object to Processing. When applicable, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data by submitting a request via email here. When such objections are not possible, we will advise you accordingly. You can then choose to exercise any other rights under this Policy, to include withdrawing your consent to the processing of your personal data. Where applicable, we will ensure such changes are shared with trusted third parties.
- Upon request and when possible, we can provide you with copies of your personal data. You may submit a request via email here. When such a request cannot be honored, we will advise you accordingly. You can then choose to exercise any other rights under this Policy, to include withdrawing your consent. Where applicable, we will ensure such changes are shared with any trusted third parties.
Withdraw Consent. At any time, you may withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal data through this Platform by notifying us via email here. Using the same email address associated with your Platform account, simply type the words “Withdraw Consent” in the subject line of your email. Upon receipt of such a withdrawal of consent, we will confirm receipt and proceed to stop processing your personal data. Where applicable, we will ensure such changes are shared with trusted third parties.
- If you should wish to cease use of our Platform and have your personal data deleted from our Platform, then you may submit a request by emailing us here. Upon receipt of such a request for erasure, we will confirm receipt and will confirm once your personal data has been deleted. Where applicable, we will ensure such changes are shared with trusted third parties.
Submit Complaints or Questions. If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact us at help@americangreetings.com. If you reside in an EU member state, United Kingdom, Switzerland or other jurisdiction with a comprehensive Data Protection Law you may also lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country, as permitted under applicable Data Protection Laws.
CONTACTING US; EU REPRESENTATIVE; CN REPRESENTATIVE
If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about your privacy and our collection or processing of your Personal Information, please contact us as follows:
CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT
American Greetings Corporation
c/o AG Interactive, Inc.
https://www.americangreetings.com/contact-us
By phone (toll-free): 800-711-4474 (between 9am and 5pm Eastern)
By email:help@americangreetings.com
Review our Frequently Asked Questions here.
LEGAL DEPARTMENT SUPPORT
By email: legal@americangreetings.com
EU REPRESENTATIVE
American Greetings has appointed its UK subsidiary, UK Greetings, Ltd. (Company Registration Number 3480710, VAT registration number 168966988) as its EU Representative. If you are located in the EU, and have any questions, comments, or complaints relating to our processing of your Personal Information, this Privacy Notice, or our Cookies Policy, please contact us through our EU Representative.
By email at GDPR.Enquiry@ukgreetings.co.uk
By mail to: Data Protection, UK Greetings Limited, Mill Street East, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, WF12 9
CN REPRESENTATIVE
American Greetings has appointed its China subsidiary, American Greetings Shenzhen, as its China Representative. If you are located in the PRC, and have any questions, comments, or complaints relating to our processing of your Personal Information, this Privacy Notice, or our Cookies Policy, please contact us through our China Representative.
By email at CNPrivacyContact@amgreetings.com
By mail to: Data Protection, American Greetings Shenzhen,Unit F & G, 28/F, World Finance Center No. 4003 Shennan Road East, Shenzhen, DG China, 518008
By Telephone: (+86) 755-8862-0522
