Last Updated: April 15, 2025

Welcome to Big Sisters/Sisterhood! Your Privacy Matters

At Big Sisters/Sisterhood, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, store, and use your data when you visit our website. Your privacy rights and our commitment to data protection are paramount to us.  

If you have any questions or need more information about our Privacy Policy, please don’t hesitate to contact our friendly customer service team:

  • Phone: (314) 417-7481 (Note: Updated phone number)
  • Email: service@bigsistersisterhood.com
  • Mail: Attn: Customer Service, 400 Chesterfield Center Suite 400, Chesterfield, MO 63017

This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected through our website and does not cover offline data collection or other communication channels.

Your Consent

By using our website, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and consent to the way we collect, store, and use your information as described below.

Information We Collect

We collect different types of information to provide you with our services, personalize your experience, and fulfill your orders. This includes:

  • Contact Information: When you create an account or place an order, we collect your name, email address, phone number, shipping address, and billing address.
  • Payment Information: For processing your purchases, we collect necessary payment details, such as your debit or credit card information. Please note that this information is securely processed by our payment gateway, and we do not store your full payment card details on our servers.
  • Account Information: If you create an account, we store your username and password. For security, we require passwords with special characters.
  • Browsing Information: When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring/exit pages, date and time stamps, and clickstream data.  
  • Device Information: We may collect information about the device you use to access our website, such as the device type and unique device identifiers.  
  • Purchase History: We keep records of the products you have purchased from us.
  • Communications: If you contact us directly, we may store a record of our communication.
  • Marketing Preferences: If you subscribe to our email list or SMS messages, we collect your contact information and your preferences for receiving marketing communications. You can opt out at any time.
  • User-Generated Content: If you leave comments or upload media on our site, we collect that information.

How We Use Your Information

We use the collected data for various purposes, including:

  • To operate, maintain, and improve our website’s functionality and user experience.
  • To personalize your experience on our website.
  • To process and fulfill your orders, including shipping and billing.
  • To communicate with you about your orders, account, and customer service inquiries.  
  • To send you marketing and promotional communications (if you have opted in).
  • To analyze website usage and trends to improve our services and offerings.
  • To develop new products, services, features, and functionalities.
  • To detect and prevent fraudulent activities and ensure website security.
  • To analyze log files for trends, site administration, and demographic information (this data is not personally identifiable).

Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the duration of our business relationship, as required by law, or for other legitimate business purposes such as enforcing our agreements, resolving disputes, and detecting fraud.  

  • Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely for efficient follow-up comment moderation.
  • User profile information for registered users is stored as long as the account is active. Users can edit or delete their information (except their username).
  • Order information is retained for as long as necessary for order fulfillment, customer service, and legal compliance.
  • Marketing contact information is retained until you opt out.

Sharing Your Data with Third Parties

We may share your personal information with certain third parties to help us provide our services effectively. These include:

  • Payment Processors: To securely process your payments.
  • Shipping Providers: To deliver your orders.
  • Analytics Services: To understand website usage and improve our services.
  • Email Marketing Platforms: To send you marketing communications (if you have opted in).
  • Customer Service Tools: To assist you with inquiries and support.
  • Advertising Partners: As described in the “Third-Party Advertising Partners and Privacy Policies” section.
  • Legal and Regulatory Authorities: If required by law or legal process.

We ensure that these third parties have appropriate data protection measures in place.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience, analyze website traffic, and personalize content.  

  • What are Cookies: Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your browser.  
  • Types of Cookies We Use:
    • Essential Cookies: Necessary for the website to function correctly (e.g., shopping cart, login).
    • Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our website (e.g., pages visited, time spent). We use this information to improve our website.
    • Marketing/Advertising Cookies: May be used to track your browsing activity across websites to deliver targeted advertisements.
    • Preference Cookies: Allow our website to remember your preferences (e.g., language, login details).
  • Managing Cookies: You can control and manage cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.  
  • Cookie Consent Banner: We may implement a cookie consent banner to allow you to manage your cookie preferences.

Third-Party Advertising Partners and Privacy Policies

Our website may contain advertisements from third-party partners. These partners may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect information about your online activity to deliver targeted ads. We do not have control over these third-party cookies and are not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these advertising partners for more information on their practices and how to opt-out.

Your Privacy Rights

You have certain rights regarding your personal data, depending on your location and applicable laws, including:

  • Right to Access: You may have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Right to Rectification: You can request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
  • Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Under certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data.  
  • Right to Restrict Processing: You may have the right to request that we limit the processing of your personal data.
  • Right to Object to Processing: You can object to the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as for direct marketing purposes.  
  • Right to Data Portability: In some cases, you can request to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another controller.  
  • CCPA Privacy Rights (for California Residents): California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to request deletion of their personal information, and the right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information. We do not sell your personal information.  
  • GDPR Data Protection Rights (for individuals in the European Economic Area): Individuals in the EEA have the rights mentioned above.

Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of your privacy rights, please contact us using the contact information provided at the beginning of this Privacy Policy. We will respond to your request within the timeframes specified by applicable laws (typically one month). We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:  

  • Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption for transmitting sensitive information during checkout.  
  • Requiring strong passwords with special characters for user accounts.
  • Regular security assessments and updates to our systems.
  • Implementing access controls to limit who can access your personal information.

While we strive to protect your personal information, please understand that no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure.  

Children’s Privacy

Protecting the privacy of children is important to us. Our website is not intended for children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If you believe your child has provided us with such information, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to remove the information from our records.  

Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on our site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles). This content from other websites behaves as if you have visited those websites directly. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external websites.  

Sharing of Your Data (Specific Instances)

  • If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email for security purposes.

Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact us at:  

  • Email: service@bigsistersisterhood.com
  • Phone: (314) 417-7481
  • Mail: Attn: Customer Service, 400 Chesterfield Center Suite 400, Chesterfield, MO 63017

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will post the updated policy on our website and may notify registered users of significant changes via email. We encourage you to review this policy periodically for any updates.  

Thank you for trusting Big Sisters/Sisterhood with your personal information. We are committed to protecting your privacy.