PublicGoods.com Privacy Policy


Last Updated:  October 17, 2023

 

PublicGoods.com collects customer information in an effort to enhance and personalize your shopping experience. This information allows us to operate the PublicGoods.com website (the “Site”) and communicate with our customers about our products, services and promotions.


The privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) described below covers the entire Site and the services we provide to you on the Site.  Phrases such as  (“we,” “us,” or “our” refer to PublicGoods.com ). Phrases such as “you,” “your” and other similar expressions refer to our customers, or the specific users of this Site. By visiting and using the Site, you accept the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

 

Information We Collect
PublicGoods.com requests and collects personal information from our customers to deliver the products and services you request and to help improve your shopping experience. The types of personal information we may collect from you can vary according to the method through which it was obtained.

 

Information You Provide to Us

We (and in some instances our service providers) receive and store any information you knowingly provide to us, such as:

  • Full name

  • Email address

  • Phone number

  • Shipping address

  • Billing information and payment details (such as billing address, credit card details, and other sensitive financial information, specifically for the purpose of completing your transaction)

  • Username and password for your PublicGoods.com membership

  • A record of your PublicGoods.com orders, purchase history, and shopping behavior and preferences

  • Information provided by you through your interactions with us in social media

  • Location and geographic information that could be collected if you use our mobile site.

  • Other details that you may submit to us or that may be included in the information provided to us by third parties who assist with the Site’s operation or provide services to us related to the Site.

  • You may also provide personal information about other people, such as their name and email address. When you select to email a friend your wish list, tell a friend about PublicGoods.com, or purchase a Gift Certificate for a friend, we will use their name and email address to send them a one-time email. This information is only used for the sole purpose of completing your request. We do not share your friend’s email information for any other purposes unless that friend creates a membership to PublicGoods.com. PublicGoods.com stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email and tracking the of success these programs. Your friend may contact us at service@publicgoods.com to request that we remove this information from our database.

 

Text Messaging and Notifications

By entering your phone number in the checkout and initializing a purchase, subscribing via our subscription form or a keyword, you agree that we may send you text notifications (for your order, including abandoned cart reminders) and text marketing offers. Text marketing messages will not exceed 30 a month. You acknowledge that consent is not a condition for any purchase.


If you wish to unsubscribe from receiving text marketing messages and notifications reply with STOP to any mobile message sent from us or use the unsubscribe link we provided you within any of our messages. You understand and agree that alternative methods of opting out, such as using alternative words or requests will not be accounted as a reasonable means of opting out. Message and data rates may apply.


For any questions please text HELP to the number you received the messages from. You can also contact us for more information. If you wish to opt-out please follow the procedures above.

 

Information Collected Automatically

As is true of most web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. We may combine this automatically collected log information with other information we collect about you through your use of the Site. We do this to improve marketing, analytics, and site functionality.

  • Tracking Technologies

Technologies such as: cookies, beacons, tags and scripts are used by PublicGoods.com and our marketing partners, affiliates, A/B testing, and analytics systems, such as Google Analytics. These technologies are used in analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movements around the site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. Our service providers may provide us with reports based on the use of these technologies on an individual as well as aggregated basis. We use cookies for many different functions on PublicGoods.com, including user authentication, our shopping cart, and to customize the user experience. PublicGoods.com uses cookies to help keep track of items you put into your shopping cart including when you have abandoned your cart and this information is used to determine when to send cart reminder messages via SMS Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. If you wish to learn more about cookies and how to manage them, you can consult this site: https://www.allaboutcookies.org/. If you reject cookies, you may still browse our site, but your ability to use most features or areas of our site may be limited.

  • Local Storage Objects (HTML5)

We use Local Storage Objects (LSOs) such as HTML5 to store content information and preferences. Third parties with whom we partner to provide certain features on our site or to display advertising based upon your Web browsing activity use LSOs such as HTML 5 to collect and store information. Various browsers may offer their own management tools for removing HTML5 LSOs. If you wish to learn more about LSOs and how to manage them, you can consult this site: https://www.allaboutcookies.org/.

  • Do Not Track

Do Not Track is a voluntary program among Internet advertisers that is intended to give users the ability to opt-out of behavioral targeting and advertising. At this time, we do not respond to “do not track” settings.

 

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to provide you products and services, such as to fulfill your request for products or to help us personalize our offering to you. We also use your personal information to support our business functions, such as fraud prevention, marketing, and legal functions. Some examples include:

  • Processing, verifying, validating, and completing your transaction

  • Creating, managing, and maintaining your membership to this Site

  • Providing requested live customer support and services

  • Record keeping of your purchase history

  • Enabling communication via our Site, and social networks

  • Managing your participation in promotions

  • Sending email as appropriate

to either display advertising on our Web site or to manage our advertising on other sites. Our third party partners may use technologies such as cookies to gather information about your activities on this site and other sites in order to provide you with advertising on our Site based upon your browsing activities and interests. If you wish to not have this information used for the purpose of serving you interest-based ads, you may learn more about cookies and how to manage them by visiting this site: https://www.allaboutcookies.org/. Please note that you may continue to receive generic (as opposed to interest-based) ads on the Site. 



Information Sharing With Third Parties

PublicGoods.com does not sell the personal information of its users with any unaffiliated third parties for their promotional purposes. We share your personal information with third parties in the ways that are described in this privacy policy:

  • Payment, Shipping, Referral, & Other Programs

We use a third party payment processor and a third party shipping agent to ensure the payment and delivery of your purchased products. We also use a third party to administer our referral program. We may use other third party service providers for other services from time to time. We may also share Personal Information with third parties who assist us with our marketing and advertising services, and from time to time, partner with other trusted brands if we believe they offer products and services that may be of interest to you. 

  • Legal Disclosure

We reserve the right to disclose personal information to our service providers, the government, law enforcement agencies, or other third parties under certain circumstances where a formal request has been made (such as in responding to a court order, subpoena, or judicial proceeding) when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud or other criminal activity, or respond to a government request, as PublicGoods.com, in our sole and absolute discretion, deems necessary and appropriate. Moreover, in the event of a sale, merger, reorganization or transfer of some or all of PublicGoods.com’s assets, or dissolution or bankruptcy, your personal information may be transferred to an unaffiliated third party as part of or apart from other transferred assets or assets. Any transfer will then be governed by and be the responsibility of any purchaser of or successor to the transferred assets or assets. We shall notify you by a notice on the home page of any change in the information practices governing your personal information as a result of any transfer of assets or any asset change in ownership, and your choices in how your information is used.

  • Links to Third Party Websites

This Site contains links to other websites. PublicGoods.com does not control and takes no responsibility for the privacy practices or the content of these other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of each website you visit prior to disclosing your personal information.

  • User-Generated Content & Information Disclosure
Any personal information or image content you voluntarily disclose online in a manner that other Site users can view (including, but not limited to: product reviews, comments, on social media pages, and in connection with promotions) becomes publicly available, and can be read, collected, and used by other members or users of this Site to send you unsolicited messages. Your membership name, email, or other information may also be displayed when you post comments or upload images throughout the Site. PublicGoods.com is not responsible for the personal information users select to disclose in these forums. To request removal of your personal information, contact us at service@publicgoods.com. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why.
  • Social Media Features and Widgets

    Our website includes social media features, such as the Facebook Like button and widgets, such as the Share this button. These features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features and widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Site. Your interactions with these Features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.


    Your Choices

    You can access, update, change or correct the personal information you have provided to us by signing into your PublicGoods.com membership page or by emailing us at service@publicgoods.com.


    If you wish to cancel your account, delete, or request that we no longer use your information to provide services to you, contact us at service@publicgoods.com. You can choose to delete or not to provide us with any or all of the information we specify or request, but then you may not be able to create a membership with us or to take advantage of some or all of our Site’s features. We will retain your information for as long as your account is active as needed in the conduct of our business (including as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements), or as permitted under applicable law.


    We may send you newsletters and additional email messages about our products, services, and promotions that we feel may be of interest to you. If you no longer wish to receive these and other promotional communications from us, you may select the unsubscribe link which is present in each email.


    Under California’s “Shine the Light” law, California residents who provide personal information in obtaining products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us once a calendar year information about the customer information we shared, if any, with other businesses for their own direct marketing uses.  [We currently do not share such information with third parties for their own direct marketing uses.] If applicable, this information would include the categories of customer information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared customer information for the immediately prior calendar year. To request this information from PublicGoods.com please send an email message to service@publicgoods.com with “Request for California Privacy Information” on the subject line and in the body of your message. We will provide the requested information to you at your email address in response. Not all information sharing is covered by the “Shine the Light” requirements, and only information on covered sharing (if any) will be included in our response.

    Age Requirements

    PublicGoods.com is intended for users who are 18 years of age and older. If you are under the age of 18, you are not permitted to submit any personal information to us.

     

    Security

    We employ reasonable measures to assist us in protecting your personal information and credit card data. These safeguards help us to prevent fraud and unauthorized access to personal information, as well as maintain data accuracy.   However, as with all e-commerce businesses, we cannot guarantee absolute security of your information.

    Third Party Pixels and Cookies

    When you visit our website, log in, register or open an email, cookies, ad beacons, and similar technologies may be used by our online data partners or vendors to associate these activities with information they or others have about you, including your email address. We (or service providers on our behalf) may then send communications and marketing to these email addresses. You may opt out of receiving this advertising by visiting https://app.retention.com/optout. 

    The above excludes text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

     

    Mobile Terms of Service

    The Public Goods mobile message service (the "Service") is operated by Public Goods (“Public Goods”, “we”, or “us”). Your use of the Service constitutes your agreement to these terms and conditions (“Mobile Terms”). We may modify or cancel the Service or any of its features without notice. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we may also modify these Mobile Terms at any time and your continued use of the Service following the effective date of any such changes shall constitute your acceptance of such changes.

    By consenting to Public Goods’s SMS/text messaging service, you agree to receive recurring SMS/text messages from and on behalf of Public Goods through your wireless provider to the mobile number you provided, even if your mobile number is registered on any state or federal Do Not Call list. Text messages may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system or other technology. Service-related messages may include updates, alerts, and information (e.g., order updates, account alerts, etc.). Promotional messages may include specials, promotions, product launch, and other marketing offers (e.g., cart reminders).

    You understand that you do not have to sign up for this program in order to make any purchases, and your consent is not a condition of any purchase with Public Goods. Your participation in this program is completely voluntary.

    We do not charge for the Service, but you are responsible for all charges and fees associated with text messaging imposed by your wireless provider. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Check your mobile plan and contact your wireless provider for details. You are solely responsible for all charges related to SMS/text messages, including charges from your wireless provider.

    You may opt-out of the Service at any time. Text the single keyword command STOP to +18336402094 or click the unsubscribe link (where available) in any text message to cancel. You'll receive a one-time opt-out confirmation text message. No further messages will be sent to your mobile device, unless initiated by you. If you have subscribed to other Public Goods mobile message programs and wish to cancel, except where applicable law requires otherwise, you will need to opt out separately from those programs by following the instructions provided in their respective mobile terms.

    For Service support or assistance, text HELP to +18336402094 or email service@publicgoods.com.

    We may change any short code or telephone number we use to operate the Service at any time and will notify you of these changes. You acknowledge that any messages, including any STOP or HELP requests, you send to a short code or telephone number we have changed may not be received and we will not be responsible for honoring requests made in such messages.

    The wireless carriers supported by the Service are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. You agree to provide us with a valid mobile number. If you get a new mobile number, you will need to sign up for the program with your new number.

    To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree that we will not be liable for failed, delayed, or misdirected delivery of any information sent through the Service, any errors in such information, and/or any action you may or may not take in reliance on the information or Service.

    We respect your right to privacy. To see how we collect and use your personal information, please see our Privacy Notice.

    Privacy Policy Updates

    Public Goods may, at any time and without notice, modify and update this Privacy Policy by revising it on the Site. If we make any material changes we will notify you by means of a notice on this Site prior to the change becoming effective. Your continued use of the Site constitutes your acceptance of any such revisions. You should therefore periodically visit this page to review the current Privacy Policy.

    If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy standards please email service@publicgoods.com