Updated policy below
Last Update: February 5, 2024.
Emco Corporation and its divisions, business units, affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively “Emco“), respects and values the privacy of every individual, including suppliers, customers, and those who visit our sites. We take great measures to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of Personal Information.
- OVERVIEW
This Privacy Policy applies to the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information by Emco. It addresses the application of this Policy, providing and withdrawing consent, how we collect, use, retain and disclose Personal Information, and security safeguards. For information regarding what Personal Information may be collected, please see the “Collection of Personal Information” section below. For information regarding the parties to whom Personal Information may be shared, please see the “Limited Use and Disclosure of Personal Information” section below. For information regarding the purposes for which Personal Information may be collected, used or disclosed, please see the “Use of Personal Information” section below. For information regarding the risk of harm and other consequences, please see the “Security Safeguards’ section below.
This Policy is broken into sections for ease of review, but should you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or your Personal Information, please contact the Chief Privacy Officer (see the “How to Contact Emco” section below).
- SCOPE
Emco is one of Canada’s largest national distributors of products for the residential, commercial and industrial construction markets. Emco collects Personal Information from customers, suppliers and other individuals in order to conduct its business, maintain records, and provide goods and services to these parties. Emco offers products in the distinct categories of plumbing, HVACR (heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration), industrial, and waterworks. For more information regarding our company, please see www.emco.ca.
For the purpose of this Privacy Policy, “Personal Information” means any information about an identifiable individual. Personal Information does not include any information that is solely used to communicate with you in relation to your employment, business or profession, such as your name, position name or title, work address, work telephone number, or work electronic address (i.e., business contact information).
This Privacy Policy applies to the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information by Emco, including Personal Information we collect or receive through:
- our business;
- our community events and promotion;
- our other services;
- our websites and social media accounts;
- our mobile and other software applications or services
(collectively, our “Services”).
The Services contain links to or may be linked to by third-party websites or digital media platforms or services (the “Linked Sites”) that are not controlled or operated by Emco. The Linked Sites are maintained by the third parties who have their own privacy policies and their own terms and conditions of use. This Privacy Policy does not apply to any of the Linked Sites and Emco is not responsible for any Personal Information disclosed through those Linked Sites or for the privacy practices of any operators or sponsors of the Linked Sites. To determine how Personal Information will be treated when accessing or using the Linked Sites, you must read the website privacy policy, if any, that applies to each of the Linked Sites.
At times, with notice to you, we may partner with third parties in the course of delivering certain Emco products and services. Any Personal Information disclosed to any third party for their purposes is dealt with in accordance with their privacy policies. Individuals are encouraged to review the privacy policies maintained by these third parties to understand how their Personal Information will be used by those entities.
- REVISIONS TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
Please note that Emco may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in its privacy practices by providing you with notice of the change. Notice includes but is not restricted to posting a link to the new Privacy Policy, posting a new Privacy Policy at https://emco.ca/privacy, or sending you a link to the new Privacy Policy via contact information you have provided to us. Such change will be effective with respect to your use of the Services after Emco has given notice of the change. Please review the Privacy Policy periodically to see whether it has changed. Any use of the Services by you after we provide notice to you constitutes your acceptance of those modifications.
- CONSENT
Except where the law permits or requires, Emco only collects, uses and discloses your Personal Information with your consent, which may be express or implied. By providing your Personal Information to Emco, accessing or using the Services, or purchasing or selling any products and services from or to Emco, you are providing your consent that Emco may collect, use and disclose your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
If you provide Emco or our service providers and agents with Personal Information of another individual, you represent that you have all necessary authority and/or have obtained all necessary consents from such person to enable us to collect, use and disclose such personal information for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy.
If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not continue to interact with us, use or access the Services or purchase or sell products and services to or from Emco.
Subject to legal and contractual requirements, you may refuse or withdraw your consent to certain collection, uses and disclosures of Personal Information at any time by making a written request to the Emco Profit Centre with which you do business or Emco’s Chief Privacy Officer (see the “How to Contact Emco” section below). If you refuse or withdraw your consent, Emco may not be able to provide you or continue to provide you with products and services or may be unable to process returns, exchanges or refunds. If you wish to withdraw your consent, you may have to provide identification acceptable to Emco.
Please note that we may need to retain certain information for recordkeeping or legal compliance purposes and/or to complete any transactions that you began prior to receiving your request.
- COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Emco collects Personal Information in a variety of ways including directly from you when you provide it, indirectly from your devices and online use, and from other third parties. We describe these ways in more detail below.
From you directly: We may collect Personal Information when you provide your information to us directly. For example, Emco may collect information such as:
- Your name, email address, address, phone number, country of residence, password and other information that you provide to us when you purchase, order, return or exchange any of our products and services, request a quote or information about any of our products and services, request delivery, warranty or repair services, or provide us with comments or suggestions.
- Your name, email address, address, country of residence, phone number, qualifications for employment, employment history, education, assessments you complete, and reference and background check information when you apply for a job.
- Payment information, including payment card, account information and banking information on a cheque, if you make a purchase so that we can process the transaction.
- Financial and other information if you make an application for credit.
- Name, contact information and related information when you visit one of our locations, attend one of our events, sign up for a contest, complete a survey, place a service request (either online or over the phone), contact an employee at one of our Profit Centres or are injured on, or suffer or cause property damage on, Emco’s premises.
- Images, movements, actions, or other identifiable information about our customers and other visitors may be captured by video equipment monitoring our properties. The purpose of such monitoring is to enhance security, safety and reasonable use and enjoyment by all lawful users of the property.
From your devices: We collect Personal Information from your devices (including mobile devices), including:
- Through our digital Services our software applications and social media pages.
- Automatically when you use our Services on your device. This information may include your Media Access Control (MAC) address, type of computer or device, screen resolution, operating system name and version, device manufacturer and model, language, Internet browser type and version, and the name and version of the services you are using.
Automatically when you use our Services, via cookies and other digital markers:
- Cookies – Emco or other third parties may send a “cookie” to your computer. A cookie is a small piece of data that is sent to an individual’s Internet browser from a web server and stored on a person’s computer hard drive and that can be re-sent to the serving website on subsequent visits. A cookie, by itself, cannot read other data from the computer’s hard disk or read other cookie files already on the computer. Individuals may be able to choose whether or not to accept cookies by changing the settings of their Internet browser, but some functionality of the website may be impaired or not function as intended.
- Unique Identifier – We may assign users a unique internal identifier to help keep track of your future visits. We use this information to gather aggregate demographic information about users, and we use it to personalize the information users see on the website and some of the electronic communications users receive from us (if they have they provided their consent to receive such communications). We keep this information for our internal use, and this information is not shared with others.
From other third parties: We may also collect Personal Information from other sources, such as consumer reporting agencies, government agencies, and others. For example:
- We may collect credit information from banks and credit reporting agencies if you apply for credit;
- We may obtain information about you from previous employers and government agencies as part of a reference or background check if you apply for employment or a contract position with Emco; and
- We also may receive information about you from other sources, such as public databases, joint marketing partners, third-party repair or service Centres, and social media platforms.
- USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We identify to you the purposes for which we collect your Personal Information at or before the time of collection. We make this information available to you through this Privacy Policy and our Services. We do not collect, use, or disclose Personal Information for a new purpose that was not previously identified without, first, explaining the new purpose to you and, second, obtaining consent by notifying you of the new purpose and giving you the opportunity to withdraw your consent.
We collect and use Personal Information for many purposes, including to:
- Provide you with Emco products and services and related activities, such as identifying customers, suppliers and others with whom Emco does business and to establish and maintain a relationship with them;
- Provide customers with ongoing service, including to process orders, to ensure proper delivery, warranty issues, and to better assist customers when they visit or call Emco;
- Initiate, maintain, and improve our relationship with you by providing you with personalization of your experience, including things like remembering your interests and preferences, customizing our products and services, facilitating your interactions with our employees, tracking and categorizing your activity and interests on our website and mobile application, and enriching your experiences with Emco;
- Communicate with you, such as when you call us, make a request or inquiry, enter a contest, complete a survey, or share a comment or concern. As well, we use this information to respond to and investigate your inquiries, send you newsletters, brochures, alerts or other materials, to request and provide feedback, and to facilitate social sharing and communication;
- Facilitate a transaction and provide products and services, such as to complete and fulfill a purchase or order, to process a payment, process, maintain or service an account, have an order delivered, communicate regarding a purchase, and provide related customer service;
- Operate and improve our products, services and business and maintain our programs, accounts, and records;
- Perform analytics, such as to understand and improve how people use our Services (e.g. Google analytics), mobile applications, and products and services, generate insights and understand how people interact with us;
- Create statistics to further our business (these statistics do not contain any information that could potentially identify any individual customer, supplier or others with whom we do business);
- Consider you for employment; and
- Defend or protect ourselves, and our employees or third parties, from harm or in legal proceedings, protect our security and the security of our employees and third parties, address legal and regulatory compliance, notify you of safety and security issues (e.g. recalls) and complying with legal and contractual requirements.
- LIMITED USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We do not use or disclose your Personal Information for purposes that are not identified at the time of collection, except with your consent or as otherwise required or permitted by law.
We may disclose Personal Information to third parties, including the following:
- To credit reporting agencies to review credit information when you apply for credit and to government institutions as required by law;
- To third party contest or promotions providers, or payment card providers if you elect to participate;
- To business partners for matters such as warranties and the purchase of products and services;
- To assist us in collecting any debt owed to us by you; and
- To our service providers who help us operate and maintain the Services and our service providers for payment processing, IT services, and customer service.
Each of our service providers is required to protect the privacy of your Personal Information, and to only handle your Personal Information for Emco’s purposes (and not for its own purposes).
On rare occasions, we may disclose Personal Information without your knowledge or consent where we have reason to believe we are required or permitted by law to do so (e.g. in response to a warrant or subpoena, in an emergency that threatens life or safety, etc.). When we are required or permitted by law to disclose Personal Information, we take reasonable steps to verify the lawful authority (where applicable) for the request and we disclose only the information that is legally required or otherwise permitted to be disclosed.
If Emco is a party to a business transaction (such as the purchase, sale of Emco or a part of an Emco), we may disclose your Personal Information to the other party or parties to the transaction and their advisors for the purposes of their due diligence investigations. If the transaction is completed, the parties to the transaction may use and disclose your Personal Information. Your personal information may be transferred to an organization that acquires all or part of Emco’s business. If an organization only acquires part of Emco’s business, Emco may also retain your personal information. Both Emco and the organization that acquires all or part of Emco’s business will use and disclose your Personal Information in compliance with this Privacy Policy.
- SECURITY SAFEGUARDS
We take reasonable steps to protect Personal Information against loss, theft, and unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification with administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the Personal Information. Unfortunately, no data transmission or storage system is guaranteed to be 100% secure and hackers and other malicious actors may attempt to intercept or access the personal information described in this Privacy Policy. If you have any reason to believe that your account, transaction or information is no longer secure, you should contact us immediately (see the “How to Contact Emco” section below.)
Emco or its service providers may store or process Personal Information in various jurisdictions across Canada and in the United States of America. As such, please note that your Personal Information may be transferred or disclosed outside of your jurisdiction of residence. Those jurisdictions may not have the same data protection laws as the ones that apply in your jurisdiction of residence, and under the laws of those other jurisdictions, in certain circumstances courts, law enforcement agencies, regulatory agencies or security authorities in those other jurisdictions may be entitled to access users’ Personal Information, including without limitation the USA PATRIOT Act and other laws of the United States. You acknowledge that when you provide us with your information, it may be processed and stored in these jurisdictions and the governments, courts or law enforcement or regulatory agencies of these jurisdictions may be able to obtain disclosure of your Personal Information pursuant to their laws. When we transfer Personal Information for processing by service providers in other countries, we will protect it as described in this Privacy Policy.
- RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Emco retains your Personal Information only as long as it is required for our business relationship or as required or permitted by law.
- MINORS
Emco does not knowingly collect or use Personal Information from children under the age of 14. If you are a parent or guardian of a child under the age of 14 and believe that they have provided us with Personal Information, please contact us immediately (see the “How to Contact Emco” section below).
- YOUR RIGHTS
We make reasonable efforts to ensure that Personal Information we use or disclose is as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the specified purpose. We rely on your assistance with this, and you should contact us if your information changes (see the “How to Contact Emco” section below).
Upon written request, we will inform you of the existence, uses, and disclosures of your Personal Information and give you access to that information, except where to do so would reveal confidential commercial information, or where permitted or required by law. Please direct your request to our Chief Privacy Officer (see the “How to Contact Emco” section below). If we are unable to provide access to all of the Personal Information that we hold about you, we will provide the reasons for denying access to you.
You will be required to provide sufficient information so that we can confirm your identity and process your request. We only use the information provided to address your request.
We will respond to all requests for access to information within 30 business days from the receipt of request.
If you find that the information provided to you is inaccurate or incomplete, you may contact our Chief Privacy Officer (see the “How to Contact Emco” section below) and we will amend this information, as appropriate. If we determine that it is inappropriate to amend your information, we will note this within our records.
You may have additional rights under certain circumstances and applicable privacy laws, including the right to restrict or object to the processing of personal data, request erasing personal data, and the right to make a complaint to a privacy regulator.
- HOW TO CONTACT EMCO
If you have any questions about Emco’s collection, use, retention, or disclosure of Personal Information, or if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact Emco’s Chief Privacy Officer:
2124 Oxford Street East
London, Ontario N5V 0B7
Tel: 519-453-9600
Fax: 519-645-2465
E-mail: privacy@emcoltd.com
