Preface

This Privacy Policy statement is designed to clearly identify and explain the extent to which your privacy is protected as you visit the various web pages on www.StrawsWholesale.com. We at Straws Wholesale are committed to protecting your privacy at all costs and assure you that every step will be taken to ensure that you are duly protected with respect to any confidential information you share with us. A few exceptions, however, do apply which we have explained below. They pertain to legal compliance over which Straws Wholesale has no control.

Introduction

You are currently browsing the Internet website www.StrawsWholesale.com. The website is owned and operated by Straws Wholesale, a division of AK & H Bros, and is located at 6524 NW 55^th Street, Coral Springs, Florida 33067, USA, referred to henceforth as “the website.” The privacy and confidentiality of website visitors and customers is of great importance to the company. This is why Straws Wholesale brings to you its Privacy Policy Statement.

It is our unqualified written commitment to you that your privacy will always remain one of our primary priorities and concerns. This privacy statement governs the website’s privacy policy as it applies to:

• Customers, users, and Internet website visitors who visit the website without transacting any commercial activities, businesses or do not make any purchases
• Site visitors and prospective customers who formally go through the registration process on the website in order to transact business on this website with Straws Wholesale
• Website visitors who utilize the products and services provided to website visitors and customers by the company

The Various Categories of Personally Identifiable Data

Definition

“Personally Identifiable Data” refers to those types of information that can be used to either identify or can be leveraged to place, identify, contact, communicate with or locate the person or persons to whom the information pertains. This includes but is not limited to:

• Your Name and any pen names or aliases if applicable
• Your physical postal address or your physical mailing address
• Your landline phone number
• Your cellular phone number
• Your email address or addresses
• Your government-issued identification number such as a social security or TIN number
• Your fax number if applicable
• Your personal and confidential financial information such as bank and credit card/debit card information
• Your Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram or login and password information if you choose to exercise the option of using your social media platforms to log into our website when such a facility becomes available on StrawsWholesale.com
• Any other information that can help us authenticate your identity

“Personally identifiable data” does not include information that has been gathered anonymously. It also does not include standard demographic or geo information that has been gathered from website visitors or customers without authenticating their identity.

Personally Identifiable data gathered from Authorized Customers, Website Visitors, and Users

Straws Wholesale gathers the following information only from those customers who are able and willing to engage in a formal business relationship with us:

Name

Address

Email address

Phone number

Credit card information as and when applicable

Bank information if applicable when you place an order for our products or services online

References if applicable

Note

Although we may collect personal financial data about you such as your credit card number, debit card number or bank account number on our website in a usual circumstance, we are never able to display, view, gather or archive it because this information is gathered directly by the financial institution authorized to process your credit or debit card. The processing mostly happens on their websites and not ours.

No personally identifiable data is ever gathered from those website visitors who visit the website for the primary purpose and intent of reviewing the website’s content and resources.

The main purpose of capturing any personally identifiable data is to formally transact business. Personal information will never be sold, exchanged or traded with a third party. Customers are obligated to share this personally identifiable information with Straws Wholesale only after having read and understood the Terms of Use, contract statements, and other relevant documentation featured on this website. It is shared with the owners of this website in full cognizance and every effort will be made to update this information in a timely manner.

Basic non-identifiable personal data is gathered in an automated environment from all website visitors and includes but is not limited to the following areas of information:

• Method used to arrive on our website
• Date and time of arrival and departure on the website
• Amount of time in minutes spent on the website
• Search engine, social media platform or Internet directory used to arrive on the website
• Arrival via external web pages that link to this website
• The website’s landing and exit pages along with the various inner pages used by website visitors and customers
• Geographical data about website visitors and customers
• Time zone and local time of website visitors and customers including registered users of the website
• Other analytics information that may be provided to Straws Wholesale without compromising the website visitor’s or customer’s identity generally provided by third-party sources

External Entities and organizations that are authorized to Process Personal Information

In addition to Straws Wholesale, several third-party service providers and service vendors such as banking institutions, credit card companies, payment gateway service providers, SSL encryption service providers, credit card insurers, credit card processors, clearinghouses, and other financial entities are also authorized to capture this data from our customers on our behalf so that business may be transacted smoothly and professionally without any interruption. This activity is conducted in strict accordance and compliance with prevailing laws and statutes and in no way will jeopardize your privacy.

Disclaimer

Unfortunately, at Straws Wholesale, we have no direct or indirect control over how these third parties utilize this information. However, we do ask them (in writing) to disclose how they use the data provided to them by our website visitors and existing customers.

We use personally identifiable information also to communicate with website visitors and customers either in order to address their queries or to provide information about the website’s incentives, schemes, and promotional programs.

Website visitors and customers are abundantly provided with several options to opt out of all transactional arrangements that involve the transmittal and lawful use of relevant data. Website visitors and customers can use the “unsubscribe” link to opt out of any email communication sent to them. They can also adhere to the instructions listed in the email communication in order to opt out of future communications. Examples of such communication include and are not limited to:

• e-newsletters published regularly by Straws Wholesale
• Alerts published by Straws Wholesale
• Marketing collateral
• Email solicitations asking you to sign up for a specific service based on a subscription model such as a regular weekly or monthly supply of straws
• Single or double opt-in email messages sent to your inbox to promote a product or service
• Incentives and promotional messages, alerts, and announcements
• Information received from third-party sources which we believe is relevant and meaningful to our customer communities

Archival of Personally Identifiable Data

Personal data about customers and website visitors is stored in a highly secure environment. Only authorized personnel at Straws Wholesale have access to this information. The website has deployed several advanced processes and procedures to ensure that this information is in no way misdirected, misused, transferred, or forwarded to external destinations without our prior knowledge and approval. As the custodian of your personal data, we take care to protect your confidentiality and privacy.

Use of Cookies on StrawsWholesale.com

We use cookies on the website for several reasons. We use them in order to capture specific non-identifiable information about the surfing habits, choices and preferences of our customers and website visitors. Cookies also help us to track the movement of website visitors and customers on our website. We use cookies also to protect the security of the financial information our customers share with us. We also use state-of-the-art SSL encryption technology either directly or indirectly for this purpose as an additional layer of security. 256-bit encryption is deployed on this website whenever and wherever it is applicable.

Sharing Personally Identifiable Information with Third Parties

We share non-identifiable personal information with third parties primarily to enhance the quality, type and nature of the business transacted as well as the overall user experience. Third parties may include vendors of products and services, survey companies, rating companies and other organizations not directly involved with financial transactions entered into on this website.

Legal Obligation in accordance with National and International Statutes

Straws Wholesale is statutorily obligated to divulge personally identifiable information in order to comply with a court order, subpoena, or a request from a law enforcement organization directing us to disclose personally identifiable data. This form of legal compliance is not governed by geographical boundaries. We are further obligated to share this information in order to protect your financial and related ownership interests.

Verifying and Validating Inaccurate Information

You possess the right not only to update your personal data but also to correct any personal information that happens to be inaccurate. In order to do so, you should use the Contact Form on the Straws Wholesale website and send us the old information as well as the updated information that you believe should replace it. Financial data may have to be re-entered by you. It will automatically replace existing information on file with us. Please allow a reasonable amount of time for such updates to take effect. A confirmation email message will be sent to you once the modifications are completed.

Modifying the Straws Wholesale Privacy Statement

If we ever feel the need to modify or update this privacy policy statement, we will post a notice to this effect on this web page. However, if the change or modification involves disclosing personally identifiable data hitherto protected by this privacy policy statement, such information will not be divulged or released without your prior written permission. Please note that once you leave this website and transit to another website by using a link on the website, the privacy policy statement of that website and not ours will govern your access to that website. Please feel free to use the Feedback Form or the Contact Form on the Contact Us page to ask questions or seek clarifications.