Privacy policy

Privacy Policy

We at Gloria’s Shito are dedicated to providing you the best experience while we share Ghanaian culture with our customers by offering a little taste of Ghana. We care about our customers who access our website, purchase from our online store, and use our services. That is why, we take privacy and privacy concerns seriously. Please review our Privacy Policy to understand what data and information we collect from you, how we collect, and what we do with the data and information. 

SECTION 1 – OVERVIEW

Gloria’s Specialty Foods, LLC  ( “we”, “us”, and/or “our”) owns and operates the Gloria’s Shito brand, website, online store and other related services (collectively, the “Services”). We committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This privacy policy applies to and describes how we collect, store, use, and share personal data and other information about you or provided by you  through our Services. References to “you” means the person whose personal data we collect, use, and process. We will manage your personal data only as described below and consistent with applicable laws. By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understand this privacy policy.

We care about the protection and confidentiality of your information. When you use our website and our Services, you may provide us with information. We process this information only as described in this Privacy Policy. We may also use information about your visit to our Website to promote our Services, but we will never use or disclose the content of your conversations for marketing or advertising purposes.

Our store is hosted on Shopify Inc. They provide us with the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you. By accessing or using any part of the website, you agree to be bound by the terms of service, privacy policy, and other policies of Shopify Inc.

SECTION 2 – INFORMATION COLLECTED

When you use our Services, we collect certain information that would be kept and used by us as described in this Privacy Policy. There are two main categories of information we collect and they are the information we collect automatically and information you provide us.

Information We Collect

We automatically log the following information about you, your computer or mobile device, your network, and your interactions over time with our Services and our communications:

Device and network data. We collect certain login information stored on your device such as your computer’s or mobile device’s operating system, manufacturer and model, browser, IP address, device and cookie identifiers, language settings, mobile device carrier, and general location information such as city, state, or geographic area. We also collect information from crash reports and system error logs as well as information regarding what websites or products you view, and search terms. 

Usage data. We collect information about how you use the Services, such as your interactions with the Services, the links and buttons you click, and page visits.

We use cookies, web beacons (e.g., pixel tags), log files, and local storage technologies (e.g., HTML5) to collect some of this information. Additional information from Google Analytics or other analytics vendors, like website visitor or app user behavior and demographics, analytics information, log files cookies, pixel tags, web beacons, and other usage information, like the time of day or how often you use each tool, will also be collected. 

Our advertising partners may also use such technologies to collect limited information about your device and interactions with the Services, such as the links you click, pages you visit, IP address, advertising ID, browser type, and other non-sensitive information.

Information You Provide

Through your use of the Services, you may provide us with the following information:

Account information. This includes your name, email address, and password. If you choose to log in using another service, we receive information about the service you used to log in and — depending on your chosen account settings — details about you, including your name, email address, or unique user identifiers.

Payments and transactions. When you make purchases through the Services, we and/or our third-party payment processor, such as Shop Pay or Google Pay, collects your payment information. We maintain a record of your purchases, the items you select, information about your subscription (including items and frequency) and any other information related to your use of our Services. Such information collected includes but are not limited to name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including credit card numbers, email address, and phone number.

Surveys and assessments about your experiences Surveys about our Services (if applicable)

Communications, content, including comments, and other information you post, upload, and share with us, our website or on our website. 

Email address, emails, other personal data you provide to us, including any personal identifiers or attachments you share.

Cookies

We use “cookies” to collect information about you and your activity across our site. A cookie is a small piece of data that our website stores on your computer, and accesses each time you visit, so we can understand how you use our site. This helps us serve you content based on preferences you have specified. We use a number of different cookies, including functional, performance, advertising, and social media or content cookies. Cookies make your browsing experience better by allowing the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login and region selection). This means you don’t have to re-enter this information each time you return to the site or browse from one page to another. Cookies also provide information on how people use the website, for instance whether it’s their first time visiting or if they are a frequent visitor. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our website. 

We use the following cookies to optimize your experience on our Site and to provide our services, alongside any other necessary cookies like those from our third party partners. 

The length of time that a cookie remains on your computer or mobile device depends on whether it is a “persistent” or “session” cookie. Session cookies last until you stop browsing and persistent cookies last until they expire or are deleted. Most of the cookies we use are persistent and will expire between 30 minutes and two years from the date they are downloaded to your device. You can control and manage cookies in various ways. Please keep in mind that removing or blocking cookies can negatively impact your user experience and parts of our website may no longer be fully accessible. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can choose whether or not to accept cookies through your browser controls, often found in your browser’s “Tools” or “Preferences” menu. For more information on how to modify your browser settings or how to block, manage or filter cookies can be found in your browser’s help file or through such sites as www.allaboutcookies.org. Additionally, please note that blocking cookies may not completely prevent how we share information with third parties such as our advertising partners. 

SECTION 3 - HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION

We solely utilize your personal information for the intended purposes for which it was gathered. If an alternative use aligns with the original purpose, we may consider it. Depending on the specific purpose, we might employ multiple legal grounds to process your data. In cases mandated or allowed by the law, we may process your personal data even without your explicit knowledge or consent.

Managing Our Services

Ensuring the content and functionality of the Services are provided and updated. Fulfilling contractual obligations resulting from our agreement with you. Setting up your account and profile. Assisting with payments, transactions, premium feature purchases, and reward management. Addressing your inquiries, comments, feedback, or questions, and resolving issues. Maintaining our relationship with you by sending relevant administrative information about our Services. Performing analytics on our website and its usage to optimize the website. Providing products or services to you. Processing your payment information, arranging shipping. Communicating with you and providing you with invoices and/or order confirmations 

Monitoring

Preventing fraudulent activities, criminal behavior, and misuse of our Services while ensuring the security of our IT systems, architecture, and networks, which includes testing, system maintenance, support, and data hosting. Detecting and preventing fraudulent or abusive use of the service, resolving issues, enhancing the app experience, and providing service-related information.

Development, Marketing, and Advertising

Collecting, anonymizing, and deidentifying personal information. Performing analytics or using third party analytics such as Google Analytics on our website and its usage to optimize our Services and understand how our users use pir Services. Evaluating the usage and effectiveness of our Services. Enhancing and incorporating features into our Services. Formulating our business and marketing strategies. Improving product and service quality, as well as customer experience. Anonymizing reports, research, and analytics data. Use the information collected, provided, and generated to understand consumer demographics, preferences, and feedback.  Emailing you information that we think might interest you, such as details about our Services, features, and surveys. Displaying and tailoring advertisements about our Services on the internet.

Protection, Enforcement, and Compliance

Upholding and adhering to our terms and policies. Safeguarding our rights, as well as others' rights, privacy, safety, and property. Preserving the integrity of our Services. Verifying the age of registered users. Defending against legal claims and disputes. Retrieving payments owed to us. Maintaining records of transactions and complying with legal processes. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations and our commitments and obligations with applicable third parties we work with. 

Other Considerations

Pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), if you are a resident of the European Economic Area (“EEA”), we process your personal information under the following lawful bases: your consent; the performance of the contract between you and the Site; compliance with our legal obligations; to protect your vital interests; to perform a task carried out in the public interest; and for our legitimate interests, which do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms.

If you are a resident of the EEA, you have the right to object to processing based solely on automated decision-making (which includes profiling), when that decision-making has a legal effect on you or otherwise significantly affects you.

We do not engage in fully automated decision-making that has a legal or otherwise significant effect using customer data.

Our processor Shopify uses limited automated decision-making to prevent fraud that does not have a legal or otherwise significant effect on you.

Services that include elements of automated decision-making include:

• Temporary denylist of IP addresses associated with repeated failed transactions. This denylist persists for a small number of hours.

• Temporary denylist of credit cards associated with denylisted IP addresses. This denylist persists for a small number of days.

Please note that because there is no consistent industry understanding of how to respond to “Do Not Track” signals, we do not alter our data collection and usage practices when we detect such a signal from your browser.

SECTION 4 – SHARING INFORMATION

We only share your information if we deem it necessary to do so. 

Service Providers

We disclose your information to companies and individuals who assist us in providing services, operating the Services, or managing our business. These entities include service providers for functions such as hosting, information technology, customer support, email delivery, and website analytics. Additionally, we collaborate with marketing service providers to promote our Services, although we do not share the content of your conversations for marketing or advertising. For instance, we might provide your email address to marketing service providers to send marketing emails on our behalf and to help us identify potential users interested in our Services. We ensure that these marketing service providers agree not to use your email address for any other purpose. Our Services may link to third parties, like helplines or other resources. Any information shared with or otherwise collected by third parties is subject to the third party’s terms and privacy policy. We are not responsible for the processing of personal data by third parties relevant to these resources.

As a reminder, we use Shopify Inc. to power our online store. They provide us with the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you. By accessing or using any part of the website, you agree to be bound by the terms of service, privacy policy, and other policies of Shopify Inc.

Advisors and Partners

We may share information with professional advisors, such as lawyers, auditors, bankers, and insurers, where necessary in the course of the professional services that they render to us. We may share information with professional advisors, such as lawyers, auditors, bankers, and insurers, where necessary in the course of the professional services that they render to us. We may also partner with third parties. Providing your information to these third parties may be necessary to effectuate the implementation of new features, products, or other parts of our Services and may be governed by additional terms outside this privacy policy. Please note that any information shared with a third parties is also subject to their terms and privacy policy. We are not responsible for the processing of personal data by partner programs. We might utilize your personal data to generate de-identified and/or aggregated data, including approximate location details, information about your device used to access our Services and other analyses we conduct. De-identified and/or aggregated data lacks personal identifiers and falls outside the realm of personal data. As permitted by applicable law, we can utilize and share this data to any partners and other entities.

Advertising Partners

We disclose details concerning visitors to our website, including the links clicked, visited pages, IP address, advertising ID, and browser type, to advertising companies. We collect and share some of this information directly with our advertising partners, and in some cases through the use of cookies or other similar technologies. This sharing is done for interest-based advertising and other marketing objectives. By sharing this information, both we and our advertising partners can effectively target and deliver advertisements to you and other users. 

For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.

Authorities

We may share information with law enforcement, government authorities, and private parties, as we believe in good faith to be necessary or appropriate for the legal compliance and protection purposes.

Business transferees

We might disclose information to buyers and other pertinent parties in business dealings, which could include corporate divestitures, mergers, consolidations, acquisitions, reorganizations, sales, or other transactions involving all or a part of the business, assets, or equity interests. This also applies to scenarios related to bankruptcy or similar proceedings.

Disclosures for Protections

We have the right to access, preserve, and share any personal data linked to you with external parties if we genuinely believe it is necessary to abide by law enforcement or national security requests and legal procedures, including court orders or subpoenas; safeguard your, our, or others' rights, property, or safety; enforce our policies or agreements; or in the investigation or prosecution of suspected or confirmed illegal activities.

Selling Personal Information

We do not sell your personal information, as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”).

SECTION 5 – SECURITY AND PROTECTION

We employ various industry-standard security technologies and protocols to safeguard your data from unauthorized access, usage, or disclosure.

When you make a purchase, your payment information is protected by our industry-standard security technologies and protocols. If you do create an account, your is secured by a password to ensure your privacy and safety. It's essential to prevent unauthorized access by carefully choosing and safeguarding your password. Limit access to your computer or device and browser by logging out after using your account.

During transmission, all data are encrypted. We use standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, which encodes information for secure transmissions. Stored data are kept on secure servers and access to this data is safeguarded by multiple security layers, including firewalls, role-based access controls, and passwords.

We make commercially reasonable efforts to implement security measures aimed at preventing accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, or access to personal data. Despite our efforts, it's important to note that no technology or system can guarantee 100% security. In the event of a security breach leading to accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, or access to your data, we will promptly notify you once the issue is detected. As a result, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any personal data you provide to us. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we do not accept liability for unauthorized access, use, disclosure, or loss of personal data.

SECTION 6 -  STORAGE AND RETENTION

Our Services are based in the United States of America. If you are situated in a different jurisdiction, please note that the information you share with us might be transferred, stored, and processed in the USA. This jurisdiction may not have privacy laws as comprehensive as those in your residing country or your citizenship country.

We will keep your personal information only for the duration necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including meeting legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. We store personal data to personalize your experience with our Services, drawing on your past interactions and for the reasons mentioned earlier. We maintain the collected personal data for the duration of your use of our Services or as long as required to fulfill the purposes for which it was gathered. This includes providing our Services, resolving disputes, establishing legal defenses, conducting audits, pursuing legitimate business objectives, enforcing agreements, and adhering to relevant laws.

In determining the suitable retention period, we assess the quantity, type, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of unauthorized use or disclosure, the purposes for processing the information, whether those objectives can be achieved through alternative methods, and the relevant legal obligations.

SECTION 7 – YOUR RIGHTS

This section of the Privacy Policy outlines the rights you have regarding your information. 

Opt-out of Marketing Communications 

You have the choice to stop receiving marketing-related emails and other communications by following the unsubscribe instructions in the messages you receive or by reaching out to us using the contact information provided in the "Contact us" section below. Please note that you will still receive emails related to our Services and other non-marketing communications from us.

Selling Personal Information and Targeted Advertising

We collaborate with third-party advertising partners, enabling them to gather information about your visit to our Website through cookies and other tracking technologies. This information is utilized for displaying targeted advertisements across the internet, as detailed in the "How we share your information" section above. According to applicable laws, our sharing of information with these partners might be classified as a "sale" or "sharing" of personal data, or as "targeted advertising."

You have the option to opt out of these disclosures and restrict our use of tracking technologies, by contacting us. Additionally, certain internet browsers can be configured to transmit "Do Not Track" signals to the online services you visit. Please note that at present, we do not respond to "Do Not Track" or similar signals.

Information Requests

We provide you with various choices regarding the handling of your personal information under our control. Depending on your location and your interactions with our Services, you can request the following in relation to personal information:

Information: You can ask for details on how we collected and used your personal information, which we've already made available in this Privacy Policy.

Access: If applicable, you can obtain a copy of the personal information we've collected about you in a portable, machine-readable format.

Correction: If your personal information is inaccurate or outdated, you have the right to request corrections.

Deletion: You can request the deletion of personal information that we no longer need for providing the Services or for other lawful purposes. You can also delete your account through your account settings.

Withdrawal of Consent: If we've collected and processed your personal information with your consent, you can withdraw your consent. This withdrawal won't affect the legality of any processing done before your withdrawal.

To make a request, please contact us using the information provided in the "Contact Us" section below. We might need specific details from you to confirm your identity. Depending on your location, you may empower an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf. Authorized agents must confirm their identity and authority according to applicable laws. You can exercise these rights without facing discrimination.

In certain situations, your choices might be limited. For instance, fulfilling your request might impede others’ rights, our ability to provide a requested service, or our ability to comply with legal obligations and enforce our legal rights. If you are dissatisfied with our response to your request, you can file a complaint through the contact details in the “Contact Us” section below. If you reside in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the right to complain to a data protection regulator where you live or work, or where you believe a violation has occurred.

Additional Rights

You also have the following additional rights:

The right to restrict or object to the processing of your personal data by us in some instances, including if you believe that the personal data held about you is inaccurate or our use of the personal data is unlawful.

The right to data portability which enables you to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to have that personal data transmitted to another data controller.

The right to get an electronic or paper copy of our records of your information.

The right to receive confidential communications containing your sensitive information by alternative means, like requesting that we contact you at a different email address or phone number.

The right to ask us to limit the sensitive information we use or share.

The right to receive a paper copy of this privacy policy.

GDPR Considerations

If you are a resident of the EEA, you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, to port it to a new service, and to ask that your personal information be corrected, updated, or erased. If you would like to exercise these rights, please contact us through the contact information below in this Privacy Policy. 

Your Personal Information will be initially processed in Ireland and then will be transferred outside of Europe for storage and further processing, including to Canada and the United States. For more information on how data transfers comply with the GDPR, see Shopify’s GDPR Whitepaper: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/your-account/privacy/GDPR. 

CCPA Considerations

If you are a resident of California, you have the right to access the Personal Information we hold about you (also known as the ‘Right to Know’), to port it to a new service, and to ask that your Personal Information be corrected, updated, or erased. If you would like to exercise these rights, including if you would like to designate an authorized agent to submit these requests on your behalf, please contact us through the contact information below in this Privacy Policy.

SECTION 8 -  YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

This section of the Privacy Policy details your responsibilities regarding your information. 

Protect Your Personal Data

It is your responsibility to safeguard your personal data by securing your device, email, and password. For best practices, refer to the guidelines provided by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in documents such as "How To Protect Your Privacy on Apps," "Online Security," and "How to Keep Your Personal Information Secure." For more detailed information on safeguarding your personal data, please consult our Security Overview.

Ensuring Children’s Information is Safe

Our Services are not designed for individuals under the age of 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you discover that your child has shared personal data with us without your consent, please get in touch with us. Should we find that we have inadvertently collected a child’s personal data in violation of applicable law, we will promptly restrict their access, delete the personal data (unless legal obligations require retention), and close the child’s account. 

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") mandates that online service providers obtain parental consent before knowingly collecting personally identifiable information online from children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly gather or request personally identifiable information from children under 13. If you are under 13, please refrain from attempting to register for the Services or sharing any personal details with us. Should we discover that we have unintentionally collected personal information from a child under 13, we will promptly delete the information and close the associated account. If you suspect that a child under 13 may have provided us with personal information, kindly get in touch with us.

Review Third-Party Privacy Policies

Our Services may include links to third-party websites or applications not covered by this privacy policy. We do not endorse, vet, or approve these external sites or applications and are not responsible for their privacy practices or content. Sharing personal data with third-party websites or applications is done at your own risk.

Regularly Review This Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy at any time, and if there are significant changes, we will notify you as required by law. Considering the evolving nature of our Services and business, periodic adjustments to this Privacy Policy may be necessary. We retain the right to update or amend this Privacy Policy without prior notice. We encourage you to visit this page periodically to stay informed about our privacy practices. The last update date is indicated above.

By continuing to use our Services after the new policy becomes effective, you acknowledge your acceptance of the updated privacy policy. We recommend that you regularly review the contents of this privacy policy to stay informed about any changes.

SECTION 9 - CHANGES TO TERMS OF SERVICE

You can review the most current version of the Privacy Policy at any time at this page.
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to update, change or replace any part of this Privacy Policy by posting updates and changes to our website. It is your responsibility to check our website periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to our website or the Services following the posting of any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes acceptance of those changes.

SECTION 10 - CONTACT INFORMATION
Please contact us to report any violations of this Privacy Policy or to ask us any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or our Services at gloriasshito@gmail.com.