Thank you for visiting the Obdii.net website (“Site”). At OBDII.NET Limited (“OBDII.NET”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), we are committed to respecting your privacy and ensuring your online safety. We understand the importance of protecting your personal information and have implemented policies to safeguard it. This Privacy Policy is designed to transparently explain how we collect, use, and protect your information when you visit our Site.
Understanding Our Privacy Practices
This Privacy Policy outlines the following key aspects of our data handling practices:
- Information Collection: How we gather your personal data.
- Data Usage: How we utilize your personal information.
- Data Disclosure: Under what circumstances we may disclose your information.
- Security Measures: The steps we take to secure your personal data.
- Your Choices: Your options regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information.
Please note that this Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected through this website and does not extend to offline data collection. For details regarding offline data handling, please refer to the “Offline Collection, Use & Disclosure of Information” section. Furthermore, OBDII.NET is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites linked to or from our Site. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of those websites separately.
By accessing and using the OBDII.NET Site, you signify your acceptance of the practices detailed in this Privacy Notice. We encourage you to read this policy carefully to understand your rights and our commitment to protecting your privacy.
Key Questions Answered in this Policy:
- How does OBDII.NET collect information about me?
- How does OBDII.NET use my personal information?
- How are cookies and other technologies used to collect information?
- Does OBDII.NET ever share my personal information?
- How secure is the information OBDII.NET collects about me?
- Are children permitted to use OBDII.NET?
- How does OBDII.NET handle information collected offline?
- Where can I find updates to this Privacy Policy?
How Does OBDII.NET Collect Information About You?
OBDII.NET collects information from our Site users through various methods, all aimed at enhancing your shopping experience and providing you with efficient service. Our goal is to offer a personalized, meaningful, and streamlined experience each time you visit obdii.net. The information we collect allows us to:
- Enhance User Experience: Quickly access and display information you have previously provided, saving you time and effort.
- Improve Site Navigation: Help you efficiently locate the information, products, and services you are seeking.
- Personalize Content: Create and deliver content that is highly relevant to your interests and needs as an automotive professional or enthusiast.
- Keep You Informed: Alert you to new products, services, and updates from OBDII.NET, ensuring you stay ahead in the automotive diagnostics field.
Information Collection Methods:
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Registration and Ordering: To access certain features of the OBDII.NET Site or to purchase products, all customers are required to complete an online registration form. This form requests personal information, including but not limited to:
- Your Name
- Gender
- Shipping and Billing Addresses
- Phone Number
- Email Address
- Credit Card Number (for transactions)
- Country of Residence
- Organization’s Country of Operation (if applicable)
This data is crucial for order processing, billing, internal marketing analysis, and for effective communication regarding your orders and site-related updates. Collecting country information also aids in complying with international laws and regulations.
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Email Addresses (Voluntary Submission): Throughout the OBDII.NET Site, you have the option to voluntarily submit your email address for various purposes, including:
- Subscribing to free promotional notifications and updates about obdii.net.
- Requesting alerts for new product arrivals or brand introductions relevant to your interests in OBDII tools.
- Signing up for our email newsletter to receive industry insights, product news, and special offers related to obdii.net and automotive diagnostics.
- Participating in promotional contests: Participation is entirely voluntary and requires you to disclose contact information for prize notification and awarding. We may publicly announce the names and cities of contest winners on the Site.
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Log Files (Automatic Collection): Similar to most website servers, the OBDII.NET server automatically logs the Internet URL from which you access our Site. We may also record:
- Your Internet Protocol (IP) Address: This can help identify your computer’s location on the internet.
- Internet Service Provider (ISP)
- Date and Time Stamp of your visit
This log data is utilized for system administration, order verification, internal marketing analysis, and diagnosing system issues to ensure a smooth and secure experience on obdii.net.
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Product Reviews (Voluntary Submission): When you submit product reviews on OBDII.NET, we request your email address and general location. While your email address is kept confidential, your location will be visible to other users to provide context to your review. Any additional personal information you choose to include in your product review will be publicly accessible to other Site visitors, allowing for community feedback on OBDII products and services.
How Does OBDII.NET Use Cookies and Other Technologies for Information Collection?
OBDII.NET utilizes cookies and web beacons to enhance site functionality and user experience. These technologies are standard practices for websites and help us to understand user behavior and preferences on obdii.net.
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Cookies: Cookies are small text files that your web browser stores on your computer’s hard drive. They are widely used to improve website functionality and user experience. OBDII.NET uses cookies to:
- Accelerate Navigation: Cookies help remember your preferences and settings, speeding up your browsing experience on the Site.
- Track Site Usage: We analyze cookie data to understand how users interact with our Site, which pages are most visited, and how users navigate through obdii.net. This helps us improve site design and content.
- Recognize Users and Access Privileges: Cookies can help us recognize you when you return to the Site and remember your user access privileges, making your experience more seamless.
- Enable Product Selection and Purchase: Cookies are essential for maintaining your shopping cart and enabling you to add and purchase products on the Site.
- Record Browsing Activity and Purchases: We track browsing history and purchase behavior to offer personalized product recommendations and improve our marketing efforts related to OBDII tools and services.
Importantly, OBDII.NET cookies are designed to be safe and cannot infiltrate your hard drive to gather confidential information. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser settings to refuse cookies or remove them. However, please be aware that disabling cookies may restrict your ability to use certain parts of the OBDII.NET Site.
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Web Beacons: Web beacons, also known as clear GIFs or action tags, are small electronic images embedded in web pages or emails. OBDII.NET uses web beacons to:
- Assist in Cookie Delivery: Web beacons can work in conjunction with cookies to help us deliver cookies effectively.
- Track Web Page Views: We use web beacons to count the number of times a page has been visited, which helps us measure the popularity of different sections of the OBDII.NET Site.
Any electronic image on the Site, including ad banners, can function as a web beacon. We may also utilize content or advertisements from third-party advertising companies, which may use cookies and web beacons to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns, such as tracking web page visits or the number of products purchased through their ads. It is important to note that any information collected by these third parties via cookies and web beacons is not linked to any personal information that OBDII.NET collects.
How Does OBDII.NET Utilize Your Personal Information?
OBDII.NET uses your personal information primarily to process your orders, provide excellent customer service, and improve your overall experience with our products and services.
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Internal Use: Internally, we utilize your personal information for several purposes aimed at improving our services and understanding our customer base:
- Order Processing and Fulfillment: To process your purchases of OBDII products and ensure accurate and timely delivery.
- Customer Service: To provide you with support, answer your queries, and resolve any issues you may encounter.
- Website Improvement: To analyze general visitor behavior on the Site, allowing us to enhance site content, layout, and functionality for a better user experience on obdii.net.
- Marketing and Outreach: To improve our marketing efforts, understand customer preferences, and develop targeted campaigns to promote OBDII products and services effectively.
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Communication with You: Communication is a key aspect of our relationship with our customers. We use your personal information to communicate with you regarding:
- Site Updates: To inform you about changes or improvements to the OBDII.NET Site and its functionalities.
- Order Communications: To communicate with you about your orders, including confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery information. Providing an email address is mandatory for order-related communications.
- Service Announcements: We may send you service-related announcements when necessary, such as notifications about temporary service suspensions for maintenance.
- Promotional and Informational Emails (Optional): With your consent, we may send you emails to:
- Notify you about new brands, product styles, or product arrivals related to OBDII tools and automotive diagnostics.
- Deliver our email newsletter featuring industry news, product updates, and special offers from obdii.net.
You have full control over your email preferences and can unsubscribe or opt out of receiving future promotional emails at any time. Please refer to the “Opt Out/Corrections” section for detailed instructions.
Does OBDII.NET Ever Share Your Personal Information?
At OBDII.NET, we are committed to protecting your personal information. Our core principle is that we sell merchandise, not information. We do not sell, rent, trade, license, or otherwise disclose your personal or financial information to third parties, except under very specific and limited circumstances:
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Third-Party Service Providers: Like most online retailers, OBDII.NET partners with third-party service providers to perform essential functions on our behalf. When we share information with these providers, it is solely for the purpose of enabling them to deliver their services effectively. Examples include:
- Shipping and Delivery Partners: We provide your name, shipping address, email address, and phone number to logistics partners such as DHL and UPS to ensure the successful delivery of your orders for OBDII products. We also use relevant customer information to monitor the quality of service provided by these third parties.
- Payment Processors: We must share your credit card number with financial services organizations, including credit card processors and issuers, to securely process payments for your purchases on obdii.net. We utilize state-of-the-art data encryption to protect all credit card submissions during authorization. (More details in the “Data Security” section below.)
These third-party service providers are contractually obligated to protect your personal information and are restricted from using it for any purpose other than providing services to OBDII.NET.
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Legal Requirements: OBDII.NET may be legally obligated to disclose your personal information in specific situations:
- Subpoenas, Court Orders, or Law Enforcement Requests: If we receive a valid subpoena, court order, or request from law enforcement officials conducting investigations, we may be required to disclose information.
- Legal Compliance: If we are otherwise legally required to disclose such information to comply with applicable laws and regulations.
- Protection of Legal Rights: We will also release personal information when necessary to protect our legal rights, enforce our Terms of Use, and other agreements to safeguard OBDII.NET and its users.
- Fraud Prevention: We may share information to reduce the risk of fraud, or to prevent fraudulent activities by users attempting illegal actions on our Site related to obdii.net.
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Business Transfers (Merger, Acquisition, or Sale of Assets): While it is not our standard practice to sell, trade, or rent personal information, business circumstances may arise where information disclosure becomes necessary:
- Mergers and Acquisitions: In the event that OBDII.NET is acquired by or merges with another company, or if we acquire another company, your personal information may be disclosed to the acquiring or merged entity.
- Sale of Assets: If OBDII.NET disposes of some or all of its assets, your personal information could be transferred to the acquiring company as part of the assets.
In such scenarios, your personal information would remain subject to the Privacy Notice in effect at the time of collection.
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Non-Personally Identifiable Information: OBDII.NET may share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information with third parties, such as advertising partners. This type of information does not identify you or any specific user and includes:
- Website Traffic Statistics: For example, the number of daily visitors to a particular page on obdii.net.
- Order Volume Data: Such as the average order size placed on a certain date.
This aggregated data is used for analytical purposes and to improve our services and marketing strategies without disclosing any individual user’s personal information.
How Does OBDII.NET Secure Information Collected About You?
OBDII.NET takes data security seriously and implements a comprehensive range of measures to protect the confidentiality of your personal information. We employ physical, electronic, and administrative procedures designed to safeguard your data:
- Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Encryption: All financial transactions conducted through the OBDII.NET Site are protected using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. SSL technology encrypts your personal information, including credit card numbers, during transmission over the internet, making it highly difficult for unauthorized parties to intercept and decipher.
- Limited Employee Access: Access to your personal information is restricted to OBDII.NET employees who require it to perform specific job functions, such as customer service, order processing, and technical support. We ensure that only authorized personnel can access your sensitive data.
- Secure Third-Party Service Providers: We carefully select and partner only with third-party service providers who demonstrate a strong commitment to data security and implement adequate security measures to protect computer hardware and data. We conduct due diligence to ensure that our partners meet industry-standard security practices.
While OBDII.NET is dedicated to safeguarding your personal information and employs robust security measures, it is important to acknowledge that no data security system is entirely impenetrable. “100% security” is not currently achievable online or offline. We continuously strive to enhance our security practices to protect your data to the best of our ability.
What Choices Do You Have Regarding OBDII.NET’s Collection of Your Information?
OBDII.NET provides you with control over your personal information and offers several options regarding its collection and use:
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Correct or Update Your Personal Information: You have the ability to review and modify your personal information at any time. To correct or update your details:
- Log in to your “My Account” on the OBDII.NET Site.
- Submit a request through the online Customer Service section to update your information.
Keeping your information current ensures that we can provide you with the best possible service and accurate order processing.
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Opt Out of Email Communications: If you no longer wish to receive marketing or promotional emails from OBDII.NET, you can easily unsubscribe:
- Locate the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any marketing email you receive from us.
- Click the link and select the option to unsubscribe from the relevant email list.
This allows you to control the types of email communications you receive from OBDII.NET.
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Disable Your Account: If you wish to prevent any future purchases through your OBDII.NET account, you have the option to disable it:
- Contact our Customer Service team to request account disablement.
Disabling your account will prevent future transactions but may not delete all historical account information, which we may retain for record-keeping purposes and legal compliance.
Are Children Allowed to Use OBDII.NET?
OBDII.NET is committed to protecting children’s privacy and adheres to strict guidelines regarding the collection of children’s personal information.
- Children Under 13: We do not knowingly or intentionally collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Our Site is not directed at children under 13.
- Representation of Age: By using the OBDII.NET Site, you represent and warrant that you are either 18 years of age or older, or are accessing the Site under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian.
- Parental Guidance: If you are under the age of 13, please refrain from submitting any personal information to us. We strongly encourage you to rely on a parent or guardian to assist you when using the Site and making purchases of OBDII products.
If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will take steps to delete the information from our records as quickly as possible.
How Does OBDII.NET Use and Disclose Information Collected from You Offline?
The majority of information collected by OBDII.NET is gathered through our Site, and this Privacy Policy primarily addresses online data collection practices. However, OBDII.NET also recognizes the importance of protecting personal information collected offline.
- Offline Data Collection: OBDII.NET may collect personal information from you offline, such as through phone calls related to customer service or order inquiries.
- Offline Data Protection: We extend our commitment to data protection to offline data as well. Any personal information collected offline is treated with the same level of confidentiality and security as information collected online.
- Limited Offline Data Requests: When contacting you by phone regarding an order or payment, we will only request essential personal information necessary to process your order or resolve your specific issue. We minimize the collection of sensitive information offline.
- Secure Data Entry: If offline information needs to be stored in our systems, such as order details taken over the phone, we enter it into our database through secure SSL encryption, consistent with our online data security practices (refer to the “Data Security” section for more details).
While this Policy is not intended to cover every possible offline method of collecting or using personal information, OBDII.NET is committed to handling any offline collection, use, or disclosure of personal information in a manner that aligns with our online privacy practices and principles.
Where Can You Find Updates to This Privacy Policy?
To ensure you are always informed about our data practices, OBDII.NET will post any changes or updates to this Privacy Notice directly on this Site.
- Regular Review Encouraged: We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Notice to stay informed about how we collect, use, and protect your information. The “Last Updated” date at the top of the policy will indicate when the most recent changes were made.
- Notification of Significant Changes: For significant changes to this Privacy Policy that materially affect your rights or our data handling practices, we may provide more prominent notice, such as posting a notice on the Site homepage or sending you an email notification (if you are subscribed to our email list).
- Contact Us with Questions: If you have any questions, concerns, or require clarifications regarding this Privacy Notice or our data privacy practices, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are committed to transparency and are here to address your inquiries.
Thank you for trusting OBDII.NET with your personal information. We are dedicated to maintaining your privacy and ensuring a secure and positive online experience.
