PCC Privacy Policy

Effective date: March 28, 2017
Updated: March 8, 2018

What information we collect

We collect information that you provide to us when you sign up for membership or events, when you shop in our stores, and when you email or call us. We also collect information automatically, such as transaction data in the stores, cookies when you access our website, or usage data when you log into your account.

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How we use that information

PCC uses that information to provide better services to you by keeping your membership information up to date, processing sales and returns in store, analyzing trends and usage patterns, and responding to your comments or questions.

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How we share your information

PCC does not sell your information. Period. In some cases we may share your information in order for us to work with 3rd parties to conduct business functions. For example, we work with a third party payment processing service to process credit card payments in our stores.

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How you can control your information and privacy

PCC takes reasonable security measures to safeguard the information you share with us. There are things you can do to control the information you share or receive when dealing with us or other organizations.

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Since 1953, PCC has been dedicated to creating a cooperative and sustainable environment for our members and patrons in which the natural and organic food supply chains thrive. We do this in part by informing and inspiring members and shoppers about food, wellness, the cooperative business model and environmental issues.

As a PCC member or shopper, your trust means a lot to us. This privacy policy explains how information about you is collected, used and disclosed by PCC when you become a member of PCC, access or use our websites or other online or mobile services or applications (which we call our “Services”), shop in our stores, or otherwise interact with us.

We may supply different or additional notices of our information practices specific to certain programs or activities. In addition, we may change this privacy policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the effective date above and, in some cases, we may provide you with more prominent notice (such as adding a statement to our homepage or sending you a notification).

What information we collect

Information you provide to us

We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information when you become a member of PCC; shop in our stores; access and use our Services; sign up for or participate in classes, events, newsletters, promotions, surveys, sweepstakes or mailing lists; engage with us over social media platforms; and when you email, call or otherwise communicate with us.

The types of information we may collect include your name, address, phone number, fax number, email address, ZIP code, photos, videos, social media usernames, payment information, demographic information, information about your shopping and purchases, information about your interests and preferences and any other information you choose to provide. If you sign up for a PCC Cooks class, we may collect additional information from you, such as health and dietary information and emergency contact information.

In some cases, we may also collect information you provide about others, such as when you purchase a gift card for someone and request that we deliver it to them, purchase and ship products to someone, or register someone else to attend a PCC Cooks class. We will use this information to fulfill your requests and communicate with that person regarding the transaction, if applicable, but we will not send marketing communications to these individuals unless they separately consent to receive these types of communications from us.

Information we collect automatically

We may also automatically collect information about you when you use or access our Services or transact business with us, including:

  • Transaction information. When you purchase or return a product or register for events or classes, we collect information about the transaction, such as product details, purchase price and the date and location of the transaction.
  • Usage and log information. We obtain information about your use of our websites, including the type of browser you use, access times, pages viewed, the page you visited before navigating to our Services and browsing activity.
  • Device information. We may collect information about the computer or mobile device you use to access our Services, such as your device’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, hardware model, operating system, unique device identifiers, browser type and mobile network information.
  • Location information. We may collect information about the precise location of your device when you consent to the collection of this information. For more details, please see Controlling your information and privacy preferences below. We may also collect information about your approximate location each time you access our Services.
  • Information collected by cookies and other tracking technologies. We may use cookies, web beacons and other tracking technologies to collect information about you or your interaction with our Services, including information about your browsing activity, purchase behavior and other engagement with our Services. For information about how to manage cookies and other tracking technologies, please see Controlling your information and privacy preferences below.

Information we collect from other sources

We may also receive information about you from other sources and combine or link that with information we have about you. For example, we may collect demographic information from third party sources and information from third party social media platforms (such as Facebook) if you log into our Services using your social media account credentials or if you make certain content and information publicly available, such as photos, videos and profile information.

How we use your information

We use the information we collect about you for a variety of purposes, including to:

  • administer your membership and communicate with you about your membership and the co-op (including special offers only available to members, annual meetings and board elections);
  • provide and deliver products and services, process transactions and send you related information, including confirmations, recall notices, invoices, updates, security alerts and support and administrative messages;
  • respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service;
  • communicate with you about products, services, offers, promotions, classes, contests, news, surveys, upcoming events and other information we think may be of interest to you;
  • investigate and prevent fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities;
  • provide, maintain and improve our Services;
  • monitor and analyze trends, usage and activities;
  • conduct research and analysis, including through surveys and focus groups;
  • personalize our Services and provide advertisements, content or features that are targeted toward your interests;
  • process and deliver contest, promotion and sweepstakes entries and prizes;
  • link or combine with other information we receive from third parties to help understand your needs and provide you with better service; and
  • carry out any other purpose conveyed to you when the information was collected.

How we share your information

Providing good customer service to our shoppers and members is important to PCC and we are not in the business of selling or transferring data to others. We may share your information as needed for certain business functions, such as:

  • with third parties who complete transactions or perform services on our behalf, such as fulfilling and shipping orders, processing orders, preventing fraud or delivering email;
  • when you sign up for and participate in the interactive areas of our Services, certain information about you may be displayed publicly on our Services and on third-party sites, such as your username, comments, posts, photos, stories, wish lists, product reviews and any other information you choose to provide;
  • in response to a request for information if we believe disclosure is in accordance with any applicable law, regulation or legal process, or as otherwise required by any applicable law, rule or regulation;
  • to enforce our agreements, policies and Terms of Use, or to protect the safety, rights, and property of PCC, our members, employees, customers or any other person;
  • in connection with, or during negotiations of, any actual or proposed merger, acquisition, debt financing, sale of company assets, restructuring of all or a portion of our business, as well in the event of any insolvency, receivership or bankruptcy; and
  • with your consent.

We may also share aggregated or de-identified information, which cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

How we secure your information

PCC takes what we believe are reasonable security measures to protect information about you from loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. These measures include what we believe are reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards.

Third party features, advertising and websites

Third parties interact with our Services in various ways. These third parties are independent of PCC and this privacy policy does not apply to the information they may collect about you and your interaction with them through our Services.

Advertising, analytics and services

We allow third parties to serve advertisements that are targeted to your interests and we engage third parties to provide analytics services. These third parties may use cookies, web beacons and other technologies to collect information about your use of our Services and other websites, including your IP address, web browser, pages viewed, links clicked, time spent on pages and conversion information. The information collected by these third parties on our Services may be combined with other information they have independently collected from other websites or other online or mobile products and services relating to your activities across their network of websites. This information may be used by us and these third parties to analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests on our Services and other websites and better understand your online activity.

Our privacy policy does not apply to, and we are not responsible for, third party cookies, web beacons or other tracking technologies. For more information about how to opt out of having your web browsing information used in this way or to otherwise manage your online advertising preferences, please see Online Advertising Preferences below.

Social sharing features

Our Services may offer social sharing features or other integrated tools (for example, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter), which let you share actions you take on our Services with other media, and vice versa. When you use these features and tools, you may share information with your friends or the public, depending on the settings you establish with the third party that provides the social sharing feature. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, we encourage you to read the privacy policies of the third parties that provide these features.

Email-a-friend feature

Our Services include a referral feature that allows you to email a friend about PCC news, information, products, events and other items. We may use any email address you provide when using this feature to send an email on your behalf about the particular item you designated. You must have permission to provide us with your friend’s email address to use this feature and you and your friend must be United States residents.

Links to other sites

Our services may contain links to other sites. The sites we link to operate independently of PCC and have established their own privacy and security options. They may use their own cookies, web beacons and other technology to independently collect information about you. In addition, these third party websites may solicit personal information from you and may provide your information to third parties for uses that are different than the ways in which PCC uses your information.

How you can control your information and privacy preferences

Your information

You may either update or correct your member account information here on our website or by filling out a member update form and either mailing it to us or delivering it to any PCC location. You may update or correct your online account information by logging into your account and updating your information online. You may update or correct your PCC Cooks account by emailing us at pcccooks@pccmarkets.com. If you wish to deactivate your member account, online account or PCC Cooks account you may email us at privacy@pccmarkets.com. We may retain information about you as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.

Newsletters, emails and other promotional communications

You may opt out of receiving promotional communications from PCC by following the instructions in those communications. You may also remove yourself from our email list by clicking on the unsubscribe or update profile link presented in all promotional emails, including newsletters, we send to our customers. If you opt out of receiving promotional communications, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as emails about your purchases, account, membership or our ongoing business relations.

Location information

The settings of your Internet browser or mobile device may allow you to stop sharing your precise location with PCC or others. You can also stop our collection of location information in connection with mobile applications by following the standard uninstall process and removing all PCC applications from your mobile device.

Cookies and other tracking technologies

Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default, but you can usually change your browser settings to remove or reject cookies. Adobe Systems Inc. may set a “flash cookie” on your computer or mobile device when you view videos on our Services. To manage and disable “flash cookies,” visit Adobe Flash Player Manage, Disable Local Shared Objects. For more information about what cookies are and how they operate, including how to see which cookies have been set and how to manage or delete them, please visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org. Please note that if you choose to remove or reject cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of our Services.

Online advertising preferences

You can learn more and manage your online advertising preferences via the following links:

Please note that even though you may opt out using one or more of these options, you may still continue to receive generic ads.

Children’s privacy

We do not intentionally or knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, you should not provide information on our website or through our Services. If you become aware that a child under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information, please email us at privacy@pccmarkets.com.

United States law

PCC is based in the United States and the information we collect is governed by United States law. By accessing or using our Services or otherwise providing information to us, you are consenting to the transfer, processing, usage and storage of your information in the United States.

Contact information

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this privacy policy or about our privacy practices, please contact us at privacy@pccmarkets.com. You may also send your privacy-related comments or questions to the following address:

PCC Community Markets
Attention: Privacy Policy Compliance
3131 Elliott Avenue, Suite 500
Seattle, Washington 98121