Privacy Policy

Privacy matters! If you are a merchant, your customers need to understand how you (and how ShipEarly) collects and processes their personal information. Accordingly, if you use the Services, you agree to post an up-to-date and accurate privacy policy on your storefront that complies with the laws applicable to your business. You also agree to obtain consent from your customers for the use and access of their personal information by ShipEarly and other third parties. In addition, if you are collecting any sensitive personal information from your customers (including information relating to medical or health conditions, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership or sexuality), you agree to obtain affirmative, express consent from your customers for the use and access of sensitive personal information by ShipEarly and other third parties. To help you get started on creating your own privacy policy, please request one for your store from support@shipearly.com.

Why we process your information

We use your information for a range of purposes connected to the provision and improvement of our services (for example, to process your subscription payments to use the ShipEarly platform), or where we or someone we work with needs to use your Personal Data for a reason related to their business (for example, to provide you with a service).

Depending on whether you are a merchant, consumer, partner, or visitor, please refer to our supplemental privacy policies, as relevant, to understand our purposes for processing, and categories of recipients for processing for each type of Personal Data.

We rely on different legal bases to perform such processing. For example, we rely on:

• performance of a contract to use your name and contact information to provide you with our services including to set up your account and contact you about issues with the platform
• legitimate interest to use information about how you access ShipEarly websites to prevent fraud, provide reporting and analytics, and improve our services
• compliance with a legal obligation to use copies of government-issued identification that you provide us to comply with different laws such as “know your customer”, anti-money laundering or anti-terrorism laws
• consent to use your name and email address to send you marketing messages (where no other legal basis is available or appropriate)

Your rights over your information

We believe you should be able to access and control your Personal Data no matter where you live. Depending on how you use ShipEarly, you may have the right to request access to, correct, amend, delete, port to another service provider, restrict, or object to certain uses of your Personal Data. We will not charge you more or provide you with a different level of service if you exercise any of these rights. Please note that a number of these rights apply only in certain circumstances, and all of these rights may be limited by law.

Where ShipEarly acts as processor or service provider of your Personal Data on behalf of ShipEarly merchants, you need to directly contact the merchant you interacted with. For more information about how merchants collect and use your data when you visit and make purchases in their stores, review the specific merchant’s terms and privacy policy. In some cases, we may offer tools and assistance to merchants to help fulfill these requests.

If you are a merchant, consumer, partner, website visitor or other individual that ShipEarly has a direct relationship with or for whom ShipEarly processes your Personal Data as a Data Controller, please submit your data subject request to support@shipearly.com. We may require you to provide additional documentation to verify your identity and may use third parties to assist us with this process. Further information about rights available to US residents can be found below under the header “United States Regional Privacy Notice”.

If you are not happy with our response to a request, you can contact us to resolve the issue. If you are located in the EEA or UK, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection or privacy authority at any time.

Finally, because there is no common understanding about what a “Do Not Track” signal is supposed to mean, we don’t respond to those signals in any particular way.

What information do we collect from merchants and why?

• We collect your name, company name, address, email address, phone number(s) and payment details (for example, your credit card information).
  • We use this information to provide you with our Services; for example, to confirm your identity, contact you, provide you with advertising and marketing, and invoice you. We also use this information to make sure that we comply with legal requirements.
• We collect data about the ShipEarly websites that you visit. We also collect data about how and when you access your account and the ShipEarly platform, including information about the device and browser you use, your network connection, your IP address, and information about how you browse through the ShipEarly interface.
  • We use this information to give you access to and improve our Services; for example, to make our platform interface easier to use. We also use this information to personalize the Services for you; for example, by shifting the order of apps in the ShipEarly app store to show you apps we believe may be of interest to you. Finally, we may use this information to provide you with advertising or marketing.
• Upon completing the sign-up process for the Services, and depending on your location, we may create a Payment Processing account on your behalf. If you activate an account, we collect your business address, business type, business ID number, date of birth (if you are an individual business owner), bank account information and government-issued identification information, such as your Social Security Number or your Social Insurance Number or, alternatively, if you are Canadian merchant and elect not to provide your Social Insurance Number, a copy of your government-issued identification.
• We collect personal information about your customers that you share with us or that customers provide while shopping or during checkout.
  • We use this information to provide you with our Services and so that you can process orders and better serve your customers.
• Where we need to verify your identity (for example, if there are concerns around identity theft, or if you call into support and we need to authenticate your account), we may request that you provide us with government-issued identification information.
• We use some of the personal information you provide us to conduct some level of automated decision-making — for example, we use certain personal information to help us screen accounts for risk or fraud concerns.
• We will also use personal information in other cases where you have given us your express permission.

When do we collect this information?

• We collect personal information when you sign up for our Services, when you access our Services or otherwise provide us with the information.
• We also partner with third parties who provide us information about merchants or prospective merchants, for example to help us screen out merchants associated with fraud.

Where we send your information (International Data Transfers)

We are a Canadian company, but we work with and process data about individuals across the world. To operate our business, we may send your Personal Data outside of your state, province, or country, including to the United States. This data may be subject to the laws of the countries where we send it. We take steps to protect your information when we send your information across borders.

Where we transfer personal data outside of its country of origin, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and data processing agreements (DPAs) to ensure an adequate level of protection.

Depending on whether you are a merchant, consumer, partner, or visitor, please refer to our supplemental privacy policies, as relevant. We work with subprocessors for cloud hosting, content delivery, data analysis, internal logging, fulfillment services and email transmission among others to provide you with our services. See a list of subproccesors.

Finally, while we do what we can to protect your information, we may at times be legally required to disclose your Personal Data (for example, if we receive a valid court order).

How long do we retain your information

We will retain your Personal Data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we have collected it. To determine the appropriate retention period, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of your Personal Data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your Personal Data, the purposes for which we process your Personal Data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means and the applicable legal requirements. We will also retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our policies. If you stop using our services or if you delete your account with us, we will delete your information or store your information in an aggregated and anonymized format.

Depending on whether you are a merchant, consumer, partner, or visitor, please refer to our supplemental privacy policies, as relevant, for further details on the retention of your Personal Data.

Our use of Machine Learning

One of the ways in which we are able to help merchants using ShipEarly is by using techniques like “machine learning” (some laws, including certain EEA and UK laws, may refer to this as “automated decision-making”) to help us improve our services. When we use machine learning, we either: (1) still have a human being involved in the process (and so are not fully automated); or (2) use machine learning in ways that don’t have legal or similarly significant effects (for example, reordering how apps might appear when you visit the app store).

How we protect your information

Our teams work tirelessly to protect your information, and to ensure the security and integrity of our platform. We also have independent auditors assess the security of our data storage and systems that process financial information. However, we all know that no method of transmission over the Internet, and method of electronic storage, can be 100% secure. This means we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your Personal Data.

• We follow industry standards on information security management to safeguard sensitive information, such as financial information, intellectual property, employee details and any other personal information entrusted to us. Our information security systems apply to people, processes and information technology systems on a risk management basis.
• We perform annual audits to ensure our handling of your credit card information aligns with industry guidelines. We are certified as a PCI DSS Level 1 compliant service provider, which is the highest level of compliance available, and our platform is audited annually by a third-party qualified security assessor.
• No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your personal information.

How we use “cookies” and other tracking technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website and when providing our services. For more information about how we use these technologies, including a list of other companies that place cookies on our sites, a list of cookies that we place when we power a merchant’s store, and an explanation of how you can opt out of certain types of cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.

What information do we collect from our merchants’ customers and why?

• We collect our merchants’ customers’ name, email, shipping and billing address, payment details, company name, phone number, IP address, information about orders you initiate, information about the ShipEarly-supported merchant stores that you visit, and information about the device and browser you use.
  • We use this information to provide our merchants with the Services, including supporting and processing orders, risk and fraud screening, authentication, and payments. We also use this information to improve our Services.
• We use some of the personal information you provide us to conduct some level of automated decision-making — for example, we use certain personal information (for example, ip addresses or payment information) to automatically block certain potentially fraudulent transactions for a short period of time.

When do we collect this information?

• We collect this information when you use or access a store that uses our Services, such as when you visit a merchant’s site, place an order or sign up for an account on a merchant’s site.
• We also collect this information when you opt into pre-fill your checkout information.
• Additionally, we partner with third parties who provide us information about our merchants’ customers, for example to help us screen out merchants associated with fraud.

Partners are individuals or businesses that have agreed to the terms of the ShipEarly Partner Program to work with ShipEarly to promote the Services by (a) referring clients to ShipEarly; or (b) developing apps using the ShipEarly Application Interface (API) for merchant use.

What information do we collect from partners and why?

• We collect your name, company name, website, twitter or other social media handles, phone number(s), address, business type, email address, PayPal Account, and GST/HST number.
  • We use this information to work with you, confirm your identity, contact you, pay you and to screen for risk, fraud, or other similar types of issues.
• We collect data about the ShipEarly websites that you visit. We also collect data about how and when you access your account and the ShipEarly platform, including information about the device and browser you use, your network connection, your IP address, and information about how you browse through the ShipEarly interface.
  • We use this information to give you access to and improve our Services; for example, to make our platform interface easier to use. We also use this information to personalize the Services for you; for example, by shifting the order of apps in the ShipEarly app store to show you apps we believe may be of interest to you.
• We collect personal information about your customers that you share with us or that they provide to us directly.
  • We use this information to work with you and to provide our Services to your customers.
• We will also use personal information in other cases where you have given us express permission.

When do we collect this information?

• We collect this information when you sign up for a partner account, when you sign up one of your customers for our Services, or when your customers sign up themselves. We also collect any additional information that you might provide to us.

What information do we collect and why?

• As you visit or browse the ShipEarly’s website, we collect information about the device and browser you use, your network connection, your IP address, and information about the cookies installed on your device. We also collect personal information submitted by you via any messaging feature available from any of our websites (“Messaging Feature”).
• We may also receive personal information when you purchase tickets or make other requests to ShipEarly via any of our websites.
• From telephone support users, we collect your phone number, call audio, and other personal information you provide us during our call. Pursuant to our Terms of Service, we may request additional documentation from you during our call to verify your identity.
• From chat support users, we collect your name, email address, information about the device and browser you use, your network connection, your IP address, chat transcript, and other personal information you provide us during our chat. Pursuant to our Terms of Service, we may request additional documentation from you during our chat to verify your identity.
• From forum users, we collect your name, email address, website URL, and other personal information you may post.

We use this information to verify your account, to provide and enhance our Services (including supporting or servicing your account, if applicable), and answer any questions you may have.

When do we collect this information?

• We collect this information when you visit the ShipEarly website, use Services offered on our websites or engage with us either by email, web form, instant message, phone, or post content on or through our websites (including forums, blogs and via any Messaging Feature). We also collect any additional information that you might provide to us.

• ShipEarly’s platform allows merchants to connect their stores with third party applications to alter or provide new functionalities in their store. Unless listed as “Made by ShipEarly,” ShipEarly is not responsible for and has no control over how these apps function. Merchants ultimately can control which apps they choose to use with their stores, and are responsible for making sure that they do so in compliance with relevant privacy and data protection requirements.

• We do not and will never share, disclose, sell, rent, or otherwise provide personal information to other companies (other than to specific ShipEarly merchants you are interacting with, or to third party apps or service providers being used by the merchants you are interacting with) for the marketing of their own products or services.
• If you are a merchant using ShipEarly’s Services, we do not use the personal information we collect from you or your customers to independently contact or market to your customers. However, ShipEarly may contact or market to your customers if we obtain their information from another source, such as from the customers themselves.

ShipEarly understands that you have rights over your personal information, and takes reasonable steps to allow you to access, correct, amend, delete, port, or limit the use of your personal information. If you are a merchant or a partner, you can update many types of personal information, such as payment or contact information, directly within your account settings. If you are unable to change your personal information within your account settings, or if you are concerned about data collected as you visit ShipEarly’s websites or use our support services, please contact us to make the required changes. If you are a merchant’s customer and wish to exercise these rights, please contact the merchants you interacted with directly — we serve as a processor on their behalf, and can only forward your request to them to allow them to respond. It’s important to remember that if you delete or limit the use of your personal information, the Services may not function properly.

If you have any questions about your personal information or this policy, or if you would like to make a complaint about how ShipEarly processes your personal data, please contact ShipEarly by email at support@shipearly.com, or by using the contact details below:

ShipEarly.com

2400 Nipigon Road

Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, P7C 4W1