Privacy policy

Woman washing dishes

PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: 09/12/2024

Privacy Policy Overview

Venus Laboratories DBA Earth Friendly Products (“EFP,” “us” or “we”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Privacy Policy (“Policy”). This Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you access or use our website https://www.ecos.com (the “Website”), or the related products, content, activities, features and services available on or through the Website (the “Service(s)”), and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.

In this Policy, “personal information” means any information by which you can be identified or contacted, such as your name (first and last), mailing, billing or other physical address, email address, telephone number, billing information, etc., as well as any information associated with the foregoing.

This Policy applies to information we collect on this Website; in email, text and other electronic messages between you and this Website; through mobile and desktop applications you download from this Website, which provide dedicated non-browser-based interaction between you and this Website; and when you interact with our advertising and applications on third party websites and services, if those applications or advertising include links to this Policy. It does not apply to information collected by EFP offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by EFP or any third party, nor does it apply to any third party application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the Website or Services.

Please read this Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with the terms of this Policy or our Terms of Use posted on the Website, which are expressly incorporated herein by reference and made a part of this Policy, your choice is not to use the Website or Services. By accessing or using the Website or Services, you agree to this Policy. This Policy may change from time to time. Your continued use of the Website and Services after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the Policy periodically for updates.

U.S. Governing Law

The Website and Services are designed for U.S. audiences and governed by and operated in accordance with the laws of the United States. We make no representation that the Website and Services are operated in accordance with the laws or regulations of, or governed by, other nations, and we do not warrant or imply that the Website and Services are appropriate for use outside of the United States. By using the Website or Services, you certify that you meet the age and other eligibility requirements set forth in our Terms of Use. If you do not meet such age and other eligibility requirements, please discontinue using the Website and Services immediately, as your continued use indicates that you are agreeing to the collection, use, disclosure, management and storage of your information as described in this Policy.

If you are located outside of the United States, you use the Website and Services at your own risk and initiative, and you are solely responsible for compliance with any applicable local, national and international laws. By using the Website, Services and/or providing us with any information, you: (a) consent to the transfer and processing of any information to and in the U.S., (b) acknowledge that U.S. law may provide a lower standard of protection for personal data than the laws of your location, and (c) understand that we will collect, transfer, store, process, manage and/or handle your information in accordance with this Policy and U.S. law. Consequently, to the fullest extent permitted by law, you hereby waive any claims relating to the processing of your information in accordance with this Policy that may arise under the laws and regulations of any other country or jurisdiction.

Children Under the Age of 13

The Website and Services are not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on the Website or Services, make any purchases through the Website, use any of the interactive or public comment features of the Website or Services, or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at info@ecos.com.

Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It

User-Provided Information: You may be required to provide personal information to access or use certain parts of the Website or Services including, without limitation, when you subscribe to a newsletter or email list, fill out a form or survey, place an order or make a purchase, participate in any of our programs, special events, contests or promotions, submit an employment application, contact us with a comment, testimonial, question or complaint, report a problem with the Website or Services, etc. If you do not provide the requested personal information, you may not be able to access or use the features of the Website or Service where such information is requested.

Depending upon the nature of the transaction, the personal information collected may include your first and last name, billing, mailing, physical or shipping address, telephone number, email address, fax number, date of birth, age, gender, occupation, marital status, employment history, interests, purchase history, payment card information, or other demographic information. Emails and Social Media Sites: If you correspond with us by email, mail or via social media, we may retain the content of your communication or posting, the email or social media account address from which it is sent, and our response. Content and other information in or related to emails sent by you to EFP or postings on any of EFP’s social media pages or accounts, blogs or other third party sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest may be used as testimonials or for other marketing purposes in accordance with our Terms of Use. Please be aware that when you receive a receipt acknowledging your email, upload to one of our social media pages or accounts, or submission of a form, it means that the message, uploaded item, or form has been routed into the Internet, and not that it has been received by us. We collect information automatically using technology when you visit the Website or social media pages or when you open one of our emails as described in this Policy.

Third Parties: We may also collect personal information about you from other third parties, such as demographic firms, to make our future products, services and marketing efforts more efficient and personalized for you. We may combine all information that you provide to us or we collect over time with information obtained from other sources and may disclose this information within our corporate family of companies or our service providers.

Cookies Information: When you visit the Website, we may send one or more cookies – a small text file containing a string of alphanumeric characters – to your computer that uniquely identifies your browser and lets us help you log in faster and enhance your navigation through the Website. A cookie does not collect personal information about you. We use both session cookies and persistent cookies. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive after you close your browser. Persistent cookies may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Website. Persistent cookies can be removed by following your web browser’s directions. A session cookie is temporary and disappears after you close your browser. You can reset your web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some features of the Website or Services may not function properly if the ability to accept cookies is disabled.

Google Analytics: We use a tool called “Google Analytics,” a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”) to collect information about use of the Website. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users visit the Website, what pages are visited, and what other sites were visited prior to coming to the Website. Google Analytics collects only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit the Website, rather than your name or other identifying information. Although Google Analytics plants a permanent cookie on your web browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit the Website, the cookie cannot be used by anyone but Google. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to the Website is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy. You can prevent Google Analytics from recognizing you on return visits to the Website by disabling cookies on your browser, however, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of the Website. You can opt out from being tracked by Google Analytics in the future by downloading and installing Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on for your current web browser at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

Log File Information: Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you access a web page. When you register with or view the Website, our servers automatically record certain information that your web browser sends whenever you visit any website. These server logs may include information such as your web request, IP addresses or other device identifiers, browser information, Internet Service Provider (“ISP”), operating system, location, date/time stamp, clickstream data, referring/exit pages and URLs, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, and other such information.

Clear Gifs Information: When you use the Website or Services, we may employ clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons) which are used to track the online usage patterns of our users anonymously. No personal information from your account is collected using these clear gifs. In addition, we may also use clear gifs in HTML-based emails sent to our users to track which emails are opened by recipients. The information is used to enable more accurate reporting, improve the effectiveness of our marketing, and make the Website better for our users.

How We Use Your Information

EFP uses information that is collected from Website visitors and customers to, among other things, better serve customers, improve the content of the Website and Services, and customize the shopping experience for Website visitors and customers. Specifically, we use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:

  • To provide the products, services, features, programs, content and information you request.
  • To contact you regarding products, services, programs, promotions or special events we believe may be of interest to you.
  • To operate, maintain, and provide to you the best possible features, products, services, content and functionality of the Website and Services, and overall customer experience.
  • To analyze visits to the Website and learn about the interests, preferences, demographics and behaviors of our visitors in aggregate (e.g., across the country) and also on a personal level, so we can improve our products, services and programs and deliver to you the type of content, features, products, services, programs and promotions that you are most interested in.
  • To process registration requests when you register for our programs, services or promotions, or otherwise administer your participation in our programs, services or promotions.
  • To respond to your questions, requests, comments or complaints, and determine your satisfaction with our products, programs and services.
  • To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection.
  • To notify you about changes to the Website or Services or provide you with notices about your account, including expiration and renewal notices.
  • To compare and review your personal information for errors, omissions and accuracy.
  • To prevent, detect or investigate any fraudulent, abusive or illegal act.
  • In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
  • For any other purpose with your consent.
  • We also use your personal information for our everyday business purposes such as security, payment processing, analytics, operations, fraud detection and prevention, reporting, making back-ups and legal compliance.
  • SMS Data Sharing: We do not share any of your personal SMS information with any third parties for marketing/promotional purposes.

EFP may develop special sites or administer promotions in cooperation with other companies. If you register at these “co-branded” sites or consent to receive email communications from our promotional partners, we may share your registration information (such as name and email address) with those companies.

We use cookies, clear gifs, and log file information to: (a) remember information so that you will not have to re enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the Website; (b) provide custom, personalized content and information; (c) monitor the effectiveness of the Website and Services; (d) monitor aggregate metrics such as the total number of visitors and traffic; (e) diagnose or fix technology problems reported by our users or engineers that are associated with the IP addresses controlled by a specific web company or ISP; and (f) help you efficiently access information.

User Content: Any personal information or content you voluntarily disclose for posting to the Website or Services (for instance, any content you post) (referred to herein as “User Content”) becomes available to the public via the Website and our business partners. User Content includes, but is not limited to, testimonials, reviews, comments, photos, videos, etc. If you remove User Content, copies may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other users have copied or stored your User Content.

EFP reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor the User Content you post on the Website or Services. EFP has the right to remove any such information or material for any reason or no reason including, without limitation, if in its sole opinion, such information or material violates, or may violate, any applicable law or our Terms of Use, or to protect or defend EFP’s rights or property or those of any third party. EFP also reserves the right to remove information upon the request of any third party.

EFP may use certain information about you and/or your User Content without identifying you as an individual to third parties. We do this for purposes such as analyzing how the Website and Services are used, diagnosing service or technical problems, maintaining security, and personalizing advertisements and promotions.

How We Share Your Information

Personally Identifiable Information: In certain circumstances, we may share your personal information with our trusted partners.

EFP Family: EFP may share personal information described in this Policy within the EFP Family. The EFP Family includes EFP Incorporated and our web shopping site affiliate. Any use of this information by the EFP Family will comply with this Policy.

Third Party Service Providers: We may disclose potentially personally identifying and personally identifying information to our employees, contractors (including website operators), affiliated organizations, service providers, promotional partners and other third parties that provide support services to us such as webhosting, web analytics (including analysis of online activity over time and across websites), technical support, mailing, emailing, shipping, marketing and administrating our services, programs, events, operations and promotions, fulfilling your orders and requests, or processing any other information on our behalf to provide services available at or through the Website and Services. We may store personal information in locations outside the direct control of EFP (for instance, on servers or databases co-located with hosting providers). These service providers only receive personal information if such information is needed to perform their function(s), and they are not authorized to use any personal information for any purpose(s) other than the purpose(s) set forth by EFP. We also require these third parties to maintain the privacy and security of the Personal Information they process on our behalf.

Special Events, Promotions and Partnerships with Third Parties: From time to time, we may join with third parties to provide specific products, services, programs, special events or promotions (such as surveys, contests or sweepstakes). If you choose to sign up for or participate in such services, programs, special events or promotions, EFP may share your personal information with third party partners. We will share only the information that is necessary for the third parties to provide these services or programs or otherwise participate in or administer the applicable event or promotion. Compliance with Law and Fraud Protection: We may, and you authorize us to, use and disclose any information: (1) we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, governmental request or legal process served on us or our affiliates; (2) to investigate, prevent or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities; (3) to enforce our Terms of Use, take precautions against liability, investigate and defend ourselves against any third party claims or allegations, assist government enforcement agencies, or protect the security or integrity of the Website and Services; (4) to exercise or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of EFP, our users or others; (5) to other companies and organizations for credit fraud protection and risk reduction; and (6) to enforce any agreement we have with you.

Business Transfer: As we develop our business, we may buy or sell assets or business offerings. User, email, and visitor information is generally one of the transferred business assets in these types of transactions. We may also transfer such information in the course of corporate divestitures, mergers, or dissolution. We fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who use the Website or Services for illegal activities. We reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we in good faith believe to be unlawful, as determined in our sole discretion. Release of your personal information for security purposes to any person or entity under any circumstances, including, without limitation, in connection with any government investigation or litigation, shall be based on a determination made solely by us, exercising our own discretion, permission for which is expressly granted by you to us in accordance with this Policy.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information: We may share non-personally identifiable information (such as anonymous usage data, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, number of clicks, etc.) with interested third parties to help them understand the usage patterns for certain services. We may also disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction. EFP may allow other companies, called third party ad servers or ad networks, to serve advertisements on the Website. These third party ad servers or ad networks use technology to directly send to your browser the advertisements and link that appears on the Website. They automatically receive your IP address when this happens. They may also use other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons) to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and to personalize the advertising content.

How We Protect Your Information
EFP uses commercially reasonable physical, managerial, and technical safeguards to preserve the integrity and security of your personal information consistent with industry standards. For example, we use encryption, passwords, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information against unauthorized access and disclosure. The Website is also certified by Geotrust, which verifies that the Website is authentic and that all transactions are secured by Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of the Website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

The security of your personal information is important to us, but please remembers that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially reasonable means to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure or warrant the absolute security of any information you transmit to EFP or the Website or Services, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission of information, EFP makes commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the security of our systems. However, please note that this is not a guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards. While we strive to protect your personal information and privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose online.

Compromise of Personal Information

In the event that personal information is compromised as a result of a breach of security, EFP will promptly notify those persons whose personal information has been compromised, in accordance with the notification procedures set forth in this Policy, or as otherwise required by applicable law.

Links to Other Websites and Social Media

We are not responsible for the practices employed by websites linked to or from the Website nor the information or content contained therein, and we make no warranty, either express or implied, concerning the content of any such site, including the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability thereof for any particular purpose, nor do we warrant that any such site or content is free from any claims of copyright, trademark, or other infringement of the rights of third parties, or that any such site or content is devoid of viruses or other contamination. EFP may provide links to other websites to you solely as a convenience, and the inclusion of linked sites does not imply endorsement by EFP of any of the linked sites. Please remember that when you use a link to go from the Website to another website, our Policy is no longer in effect. Your browsing and interaction on any other website, including those that have a link on the Website, is subject to that website’s own rules and policies. Please read over those rules and policies before proceeding. We do not ensure the security of your personal information if you visit websites not belonging to EFP. We further reserve the right to terminate a link to a third party site at any time.

We sometimes use content on the Website or Services that we obtain from third party sites or social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. The privacy protections provided on these third party sites and social media platforms are not part of our Policy and may differ from the privacy protections described in this Policy. If you upload content related to EFP or our Services on third party sites or social media platforms that share information with the general public, user community, and/or other third party sites, it may be used or shared by us on the Website or our social media pages and accounts to promote our products and services. Consequently, you should review the privacy policies of these third party sites before using them and ensure that you understand how your content may be used. We may also have “plug-ins” (such as the Facebook “Like” button) to third party sites or offer login (such as log in with Facebook) through a third party account. Third party plugins and login features, including their loading, operation and use, are governed by the privacy notice and terms of the third party providing them.

Notification Procedures

It is our policy to provide notifications, whether such notifications are required by law or are for marketing or other business related purposes, to you via email notice, written or hard copy notice, or through conspicuous posting of such notice on the Website, as determined by EFP in its sole discretion. We reserve the right to determine the form and means of providing notifications to you, provided that you may opt out of certain means of notification as described in this Policy.

Your Choices, Opting Out and Reviewing or Making Changes to Your Information

By providing EFP your email address, you consent to our use of your email address to send you Website and service related notices, including any notices required by law, in lieu of communication by postal mail. We may also use your email address to send you other messages including, but not limited to, newsletters, payment information, credit card update notifications, account status, legal updates, changes to features of the Website or Services, product updates, special offers or promotions, or other account information.

If you do not want to receive such email messages, you may opt out by: (1) following the unsubscribe instructions in any of our promotional emails; or (2) sending a written request to info@ecos.com. Opting out may prevent you from receiving email messages regarding product updates, improvements, special events, programs, promotions or offers. You may not opt out of service related emails, including information provided to or from EFP regarding a product purchase, warranty registration, product service experience or other transaction. Opting out does not affect our communications with you via telephone or email related to any ongoing transactions with us nor does it affect our use of your non-personally identifiable information as described in this Policy.

NOTE: Please allow up to ten (10) business days for us to process your opt out request. We may continue to send you transactional or operational communications.

You can ask to review, update or make changes to the personal information we maintain about you at any time by sending a written request to info@ecos.com. The list below describes types of requests you may make to us regarding information we have collected from you:

  • Request to Know: You may ask us to furnish you with (i) the specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you; (ii) the categories of personal information we have collected about you; (iii) the categories of sources from which we collect information about you; (iv) the business or commercial purposes for collecting information about you; or (v) the categories of third parties with whom we share or have shared personal information about you; (vi) the categories of personal information we have shared about you; or (vii) profiling or automated decision-making affecting you.
  • Request to Delete: You may ask us to delete any personal information that we have collected from you and to direct our service providers to delete your personal information from their records.
  • Request to Correct: You may ask us to correct or update your personal information that has been previously provided to us.
  • Request to Opt-Out of Sale: You may request that we not sell your personal information.
  • Request to Opt-Out of Selling or Sharing of Personal Information: You may request that we not sell your personal information or share your personal information to third parties for certain purposes.
  • Request to Opt-Out of Targeted Advertising: You may ask us not to target advertisements to you based on your behavior across contexts.
  • Request to Opt-Out of Sharing for Third-Party Marketing: You may ask us not to share your personal information with unaffiliated third parties solely for their independent direct marketing purposes (under California’s Shine the Light Law).
  • Request to Opt-Out of Profiling and Automated Decision-Making: You may ask us not to use your personal information in profiling or automated decision-making processes.
  • Request to Opt-Out of the Use or Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information: You may ask us not to use your sensitive personal information for certain purposes.
  • Request to Opt-In: After making an opt-out request listed above, you may choose to opt back in.

We may take a reasonable period of time to respond. If you request the deactivation or change of information on our system, such information may be retained in our backup systems for a period of time subject to technology restrictions, or as a precaution against systems failures. Some information may be retained for longer periods as required by law, contract or auditing requirements or as otherwise described in this Policy. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

It is our policy to post any changes we make to our Policy on this page. The date the Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up- to-date, active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting the Website and this Policy to check for any changes.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS

Your California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, California law may provide you with additional rights regarding our use of your personal information. To learn more about your California privacy rights, visit the Privacy Notice for California Residents.

California Do Not Track Disclosures

California Business & Professions Code Section 22575(b) (as amended effective January 1, 2014) provides that California residents are entitled to know how a website operator responds to “Do Not Track” (DNT) browser settings. DNT is a feature offered by some browsers which, when enabled, sends a signal to websites to request that your browsing is not tracked, such as by third party ad networks, social networks and analytic companies. We do not currently take actions to respond to DNT signals because a uniform technological standard has not yet been developed. We continue to review new technologies and may adopt a DNT standard once one is created. For information about DNT, please visit: www.allaboutdnt.org.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Policy, the practices of the Website, your dealings with the Website, or wish to update us with your preferences, you may contact us at: Venus Laboratories Inc., DBA Earth Friendly Products, 11150 Hope St. Cypress, CA 90630 or info@ecos.com or via our toll-free number: +1.800.335.ECOS (3267).

Follow us @ecoscleans