Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how Hmong Network (“we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, and discloses personal information of users on our website https://hmong.network (the “Site”) and mobile applications (the “App”). Our main purpose is to connect customers to Hmong-owned businesses around the United States and provide a platform for building community and networking among Hmong people. Please read this policy carefully.

Who We Are

Our website address is: https://hmong.network.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Cookies

• If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
• If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
• When you log in, we will set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me,” your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
• If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after one day.

Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who We Share Your Data With

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

How Long We Retain Your Data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue. For users that register on our website, we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What Rights You Have Over Your Data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where Your Data is Sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

What We Collect and Store

While you visit our site, we’ll track:

• Products you’ve viewed: we’ll use this to, for example, show you products you’ve recently viewed.
• Location, IP address, and browser type: we’ll use this for purposes like estimating taxes and shipping.
• Shipping address: we’ll ask you to enter this so we can, for instance, estimate shipping before you place an order, and send you the order!

We’ll also use cookies to keep track of cart contents while you’re browsing our site.

When you purchase from us, we’ll ask you to provide information including your name, billing address, shipping address, email address, phone number, credit card/payment details, and optional account information like username and password. We’ll use this information for purposes such as:

• Sending you information about your account and order.
• Responding to your requests, including refunds and complaints.
• Processing payments and preventing fraud.
• Setting up your account for our store.
• Complying with any legal obligations we have, such as calculating taxes.
• Improving our store offerings.
• Sending you marketing messages, if you choose to receive them.

If you create an account, we will store your name, address, email, and phone number, which will be used to populate the checkout for future orders.

We generally store information about you for as long as we need the information for the purposes for which we collect and use it, and we are not legally required to continue to keep it. For example, we will store order information for XXX years for tax and accounting purposes. This includes your name, email address, and billing and shipping addresses.

We will also store comments or reviews, if you choose to leave them.

Who on Our Team Has Access

Members of our team have access to the information you provide us. For example, both Administrators and Shop Managers can access:

• Order information like what was purchased, when it was purchased, and where it should be sent.
• Customer information like your name, email address, and billing and shipping information.

Our team members have access to this information to help fulfill orders, process refunds, and support you.

What We Share with Others

We share information with third parties who help us provide our orders and store services to you; for example:

Payments

We accept payments through PayPal. When processing payments, some of your data will be passed to PayPal, including information required to process or support the payment, such as the purchase total and billing information. Please see the PayPal Privacy Policy for more details.

When you use this site, several actions (e.g., commenting) trigger the dispatch of emails. They contain information about you associated with your email address. Which data are part of these emails depends on the action performed. These emails are stored and accessible to the site management as a log.

Back In Stock Notifications stores the following information when customers sign up to receive back-in-stock notifications:

• Customer email.
• Sign-up date.
• Notification date.

This information can be used to personally identify customers and is stored in the database indefinitely.

This website uses Advanced Ads Pro to place advertisements. The WordPress plugin may use multiple first-party cookies to ensure the correct integration of ads. These cookies store technical information but not IP addresses. Their use is linked to specific features and options when embedding ads.

How We Use Your Data

If you opt-in to receive marketing updates, we may use your personal information to provide you with product updates or marketing communications that we believe may be of interest to you. Personal data may also be used by our internal system to automate processes of our store.

What We Collect and Store

Cookies

We use cookies to remember who you are when browsing our site and to store the contents of your cart for the purpose of reminding you. These cookies will only be set when you consent to allowing additional cookies on our website.

• wp_automatewoo_visitor: Used to store a secure key that is unique to you – Expires after 2 years
• wp_automatewoo_session_started: Used to flag when you begin interacting with our website – Expires when you end the browser session
• automatewoo_do_cart_update: Used to store a flag when your stored cart needs to be updated – Expires when you end the browser session

Carts

We store a copy of your cart in our database for 60 days for the purpose of reminding you when your cart is abandoned.

Communication Preferences

We store your communication preferences, such as whether you have opted in to receive marketing communication. This data is retained until you request the removal of your data.

Communication Logs

We keep a log of some of the communication that we have with you, which may include marketing and transactional emails and/or SMS messages. These are kept for the purpose of improving our marketing and communication with you and other customers. These logs are retained until you request the removal of your data.

Pre-submit Data Capture

What We Share with Others

• Twilio: We use Twilio as our SMS delivery service. Your data may be transferred to Twilio for processing. For more information, please see the Twilio Privacy Notice.
• MailChimp: We use MailChimp for email marketing. Your data may be transferred to MailChimp for processing. For more information, please see the MailChimp Privacy Policy.
• Active Campaign: We use Active Campaign for email marketing. Your data may be transferred to Active Campaign for processing. For more information, please see the Active Campaign Privacy Policy.
• Campaign Monitor: We use Campaign Monitor for email marketing. Your data may be transferred to Campaign Monitor for processing. For more information, please see the Campaign Monitor Privacy Policy.
• Bitly: We use Bitly for link shortening. Your data may be transferred to Bitly for processing. For more information, please see the Bitly Privacy Policy.
• AgileCRM: We use AgileCRM as our CRM. Your data may be transferred to AgileCRM for processing. For more information, please see the AgileCRM Privacy Policy.

What We Collect and Store

While you visit our site, we’ll track:

• Stores you’ve viewed: we’ll use this to, for example, show you vendor stores you’ve recently viewed.
• Products you’ve viewed: we’ll use this to, for example, show you products you’ve recently viewed.
• Location, IP address, and browser type: we’ll use this for purposes like estimating taxes and shipping.
• Shipping address: we’ll ask you to enter this so we can, for instance, estimate shipping before you place an order, and send you the order!

We’ll also use cookies to keep track of cart contents while you’re browsing our site.

When you purchase from us, we’ll ask you to provide information including your name, billing address, shipping address, email address, phone number, credit card/payment details, and optional account information like username and password. We’ll use this information for purposes such as:

• Sending you information about your account and order.
• Responding to your requests, including refunds and complaints.
• Processing payments and preventing fraud.
• Setting up your account for our store.
• Complying with any legal obligations we have, such as calculating taxes.
• Improving our store offerings.
• Sending you marketing messages, if you choose to receive them.

If you create an account, we will store your name, address, email, and phone number, which will be used to populate the checkout for future orders.

We generally store information about you for as long as we need the information for the purposes for which we collect and use it, and we are not legally required to continue to keep it. For example, we will store order information for XXX years for tax and accounting purposes. This includes your name, email address, and billing and shipping addresses.

We will also store comments or reviews, if you choose to leave them.

Who on Our Team Has Access

Members of our team have access to the information you provide us. For example, both Administrators and Shop Managers can access:

• Order information like what was purchased, when it was purchased, and where it should be sent.
• Customer information like your name, email address, and billing and shipping information.

Our team members have access to this information to help fulfill orders, process refunds, and support you.

What We Share with Others

We share information with third parties who help us provide our orders and store services to you; for example:

Payments

We accept payments through PayPal and Stripe. When processing payments, some of your data will be passed to PayPal and Stripe, including information required to process or support the payment, such as the purchase total and billing information.

Controlling Your Personal Data

Other users may be able to identify you, or associate you with your account, if you include personal information in the content you post publicly. You can reduce the risk of being personally identified by using the Service pseudonymously, though doing so could detract from the credibility of your contributions to the Service.  Please also note that the messages you send or receive using the Service are only private to the extent that both you and the recipient(s) of your messages keep them private. For example, if you send a message to another user, that user may choose to publicly post it. We may access, review, and disclose such messages in connection with investigations related to use of the Service, as well as with our efforts to improve the Service.

Data Retention and Account Termination

Information on how to close your account is available here. We will remove certain public posts from view and/or dissociate them from your account profile, but we may retain information about you for the purposes authorized under this Privacy Policy unless prohibited by law. For example, we may retain information to prevent, investigate, or identify possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service or to comply with legal obligations. We may also maintain residual copies of your personal information in our backup systems. Please note that businesses cannot remove their business pages, ratings, or reviews by closing their accounts. Hmong Network retains information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as otherwise permitted or required by law.

Your Choices and Rights

You may access certain information associated with your account and limit visibility of some personal information through your account settings. California residents have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to request disclosure or deletion of their data.

State-Specific Privacy Rights

Nevada Residents: Your Nevada Privacy Rights

Nevada residents have the right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information. To exercise this right, please contact us at hello@hmong.network.

Virginia Residents: Your Virginia Privacy Rights

Virginia residents have rights under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of their personal data in a portable and usable format. To exercise these rights, please contact us at hello@hmong.network.

Colorado Residents: Your Colorado Privacy Rights

Colorado residents have rights under the Colorado Privacy Act to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of their personal data, as well as the right to opt-out of targeted advertising, the sale of their personal data, and certain types of profiling. To exercise these rights, please contact us at hello@hmong.network.

Connecticut Residents: Your Connecticut Privacy Rights

Connecticut residents have rights under Connecticut privacy laws to access, correct, and delete their personal information. To exercise these rights, please contact us at hello@hmong.network.

European Residents: Your Privacy Rights and International Data Transfer

European residents have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of their personal data, as well as the right to object to or restrict certain data processing activities. To exercise these rights, please contact us at hello@hmong.network.

Contact and Changes

Please contact us at hello@hmong.network with any privacy questions or concerns. We may update this policy to reflect changes or additions to our services.

Data Breach

If we experience a data breach impacting your information, we will notify you within 72 hours and take appropriate steps under applicable laws.This policy is governed under California law.

Children’s Information

Our site and services are not directed at children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Please contact us if you believe we have, so we can take action.

Policy Updates

We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our data practices or relevant laws. Your continued usage of our Site or App after any changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.