The Distinguished

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: January 2025

This privacy policy has been compiled to better serve those who are concerned with how their "Personal Data" is being used online for the purposes of "The Distinguished" website.

Personal Data, as described in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR EC 679/2016), is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ("data subject"). An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, by reference to an identifier such as a name, identification number, location data, online identifier, or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

Sensitive personal information within the meaning of the GDPR, such as race, religion, political affiliations, union membership, health records, sexual orientation, or criminal record, is not collected by us during use of the site by any means.

Please read our privacy policy carefully to get a clear understanding of how we collect, use, protect or otherwise handle your personal identification information in accordance with our website.

What personal data do we collect from visitors?

When ordering or registering on our site, as appropriate, you will be asked to enter your phone number (MSISDN) to help you with your experience.

When do we collect information?

We collect information from you when you register or enter information on our website.

How do we use your information?

We may use the information we collect from you when you register, make a purchase, sign up for our newsletter, respond to a survey or marketing communication, browse the website or use certain other site features in the following ways:

  • To personalize your experience and allow us to deliver the type of content and product offerings you are most interested in.
  • To improve our website in order to better serve you.
  • To improve customer service (your data helps us respond more effectively to your customer service requests and support needs).
  • To administer a contest, promotion, survey or other site feature.
  • To quickly process your transactions.
  • To send periodic emails regarding your order or other products and services.
  • To follow up with you after correspondence (live chat, email or phone inquiries).

How do we protect your information?

We use regular malware scanning.

Your personal data is kept behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential. Additionally, all sensitive/credit information you supply is encrypted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.

We implement a variety of security measures when a user enters, submits, or accesses their information to maintain the safety of your personal data.

All transactions are processed through a gateway provider and are stored and processed securely on our servers.

Do we use cookies?

Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer's hard drive through your web browser, if you allow, that enables the site's or service provider's systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.

For example, we use cookies to help you remember your password on our website. They are also used to help us understand your preferences based on previous or current site activity, which enables us to provide you with improved services. We also use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.

We sometimes work with third parties to add features or advertisements to our website. These third parties may place cookies on your browser when visiting certain pages on our website, or collect cookies that have been previously placed, in addition to the URL of the page you visited. We do not control those third parties or their use of data. In some cases, we may provide you with tools to limit the data sent to third parties. This privacy policy does not cover the use of data by those third parties.

We use cookies for:

  • Understanding and saving user preferences for future visits.
  • Keeping track of advertisements.
  • Compiling aggregate data about site activity and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences in the future. We may also use trusted third-party services that track this information on our behalf.

If you prefer, you can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies via your browser settings. You can do this through your browser settings. Since each browser is a little different, look at your browser's help menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies.

If a user disables cookies in their browser:

If you turn off cookies, some website features will be turned off.

Third-party disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal data to outside parties unless we provide advance notice to users. This does not include website hosting partners and other parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or serving our users, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential.

We may also disclose your information when we believe disclosure is required to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect our or others' rights, property, or safety. However, non-personally identifiable visitor data may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other purposes.

Third-party links

We do not include or offer third-party products or services on our website.

We may from time to time include links to other websites and applications on the site as a service to you. Third-party websites and applications are operated by companies outside our control, and your activities on those sites and applications will be subject to the policies and practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy practices of these third parties before disclosing any personal identification information, as we are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites and applications.

Facebook Integration

To customize the site and simplify the registration process, we give you the option to link your account with Facebook. When you link your account, Facebook may share data about you with us, and we may share information about you with Facebook. In addition, "The Distinguished" website users who are your friends on Facebook will see your "The Distinguished" website username if you have linked your Facebook accounts.

We use standard and reasonable technological and procedural measures to protect the information you provide as described in this privacy policy. We urge you to protect your password by not sharing it with anyone else, and take measures to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure. For example, choose numbers and letter combinations that are difficult for a third party (or hacking software) to identify, and do not write down your password near your computer.

Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense advertising on our website.

Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our users based on previous visits to our site and other sites on the Internet.

Users may opt-out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google Ad and Content Network privacy policy.

We have implemented the following:

  • Remarketing with Google AdSense
  • Google Display Network Impression Reporting
  • Demographics and Interests Reporting
  • DoubleClick Platform Integration

We, along with third-party vendors such as Google, use first-party cookies (such as Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) or other third-party identifiers together to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions and other ad service functions as they relate to our website.

How long do we retain your personal data

In principle, we will retain your personal data for as long as users are active on our website and/or as long as required or permitted by applicable law. After that, we will remove your personal data from our systems and records and/or take steps to properly anonymize you so that you cannot be identified thereafter.

Your Rights

As a data subject, you have the right to request:

Right of Access

You have the right to receive confirmation from us as to whether your personal information is being processed or not, and in this case, you have the right to request access to personal information. The information accessed includes - among other things - the purposes of processing, the categories of personal information concerned, and the recipients or categories of recipients to whom their personal information has been or will be disclosed.

Right to Rectification

You have the right to obtain from us without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you. Taking into account the purposes of processing, you have the right to have incomplete personal data completed, including by providing a supplementary statement.

Right to Erasure

You have the right to obtain from us the erasure of personal data.

Right to Restriction of Processing

You have the right to request restriction of processing of your personal data.

Right to Data Portability

You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and you have the right to transmit this personal data to another entity without hindrance from us.

Right to Object

You have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, at any time to the processing of your personal data by us and we may be required to no longer process your personal data.

If you wish to exercise any of the above rights, you can contact the designated operator and we will contact you regarding your request.

Please note that we may request proof of identity, and we reserve the right to charge a fee where permitted by applicable law, for example if your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

We are committed to processing your requests with the utmost care and addressing any inquiries you may have in the shortest time possible within the time frames set out in applicable privacy law and the GDPR.

However, if you believe that our processing of your personal data conflicts with this privacy policy and applicable privacy law and the GDPR, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the applicable data protection authority in your country of residence.

Children

We take many special precautions to protect children's privacy. If you are a resident of the European Economic Area and under 16 years of age, you must not use the site for any purpose except with prior consent from your parents or legal guardian.

We may automatically collect some information (such as IP address, unique device identifier "UDID" of the mobile device, operating system, etc.) and use technology such as cookies to provide functionality and support our operations. We do not request more personal information than is necessary for a child to participate in an activity. Parents can contact us if they have any questions about the collection, use or sharing of their children's information.

We do not specifically market to children under 13 years of age.

Privacy Policy Modification

We reserve the right to change this privacy policy at any time.

If we decide to make a material change to the privacy policy, we will post a notice at least thirty (30) days before any material changes take effect, which you will be notified of, but you are encouraged to periodically review the contents of this privacy policy when using the website.