Privacy Policy

Last modified: January 19, 2024

Introduction

empirical technology (“empirical” or “We” or “Us” or “Our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy.

This policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the website https://empiricalfoods.com/ (our “Website”) and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.

CCPA NOTICE: We adopt this notice to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). Any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this Privacy Policy.

This policy applies to information we collect:

On this Website.
In email, text, and other electronic messages between you and this Website.

It does not apply to information collected by:

Us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by empirical or any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries); or
Any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries), including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the Website

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 our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Website. By accessing or using this Website, you agree to this privacy policy. This policy may change from time to time (see Changes to Our Privacy Policy). Your continued use of this Website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.

Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It

We collect several types of information from and about users of our Website, including information:

By which you may be personally identified, such as name, postal address, e-mail address, or telephone number (“personal information”);
That is about you but individually does not identify you; and
About your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Website, and usage details.

We collect this information:

Directly from you when you provide it to us.
Automatically as you navigate through the site. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies.
From third parties, for example, our business partners.

Categories of Personal Information We Collect

The personal information we collect about you may include the following (as categorized by CCPA):

Identifiers you provide directly such as first and last name, email address, postal address, and/or phone number.
Personal information categories identified in the California customer records statute such as first and last name, email address, postal address, and/or phone number.
Identifiers collected through use of the services, such as unique online or device identifiers, IP address, device or session IDs and information regarding your system configuration (operating system and version), network, and connected hardware (e.g., computer or mobile device and carrier) and software applications (e.g., other applications installed on mobile device).
Internet and other network activity, such as browsing and search history; and interactions with a website or application.

If you submit a job application through the website, the personal information we collected about you may also include the following (as categorized by CCPA):

Identifiers such as social security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers
Personal information categories identified in the California customer records statute such as social security number, passport number, driver’s license or state identification card number, education, employment, employment history,
Employment information
Non-public education information
Protected classification characteristics under California law such as race, gender, or age

We do not collect commercial information; biometric information; geolocation data; sensory data, or inferences drawn from other personal information.

Information You Provide to Us

The information we collect on or through our Website may include:

Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Website. This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our Website, subscribing to our service, or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information when you report a problem with our Website.
Information you provide when you submit a job application through the Website.
Records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us.
Your search queries on the Website.

Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies

As you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including:

Details of your visits to our Website, including traffic data, location data, logs, and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on the Website.
Information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system, and browser type.

The information we collect automatically is only statistical data and does not include personal information, but we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways or receive from third parties. It helps us to improve our Website and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:

Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.
Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Website according to your individual interests.
Speed up your searches.
Recognize you when you return to our Website.

The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:

Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Website.
Web Beacons. Pages of our Website may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit empirical, for example, to count users who have visited those pages and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity).

Third-Party Use of Cookies

Some content or applications, including advertisements, on the Website are served by third-parties, including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers, and application providers. These third parties may use cookies to collect information about you when you use our Website. The information they collect may be associated with your personal information or they may collect information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content.

We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly. For information about how you can opt out of receiving targeted advertising from many providers, see Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information.

How We Use Your Information

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:

To present our Website and its contents to you.
To provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us.
To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it.
To notify you about changes to our Website or any products or services we offer or provide though it.
To assess job applications you submit through the website and contact you about job opportunities.
As described to you when collecting your personal information or as otherwise set forth in the CCPA.
For any other purpose with your consent.

Disclosure of Your Information

We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy:

To our subsidiaries and affiliates.
To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business.
To a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of empirical foods’ assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by empirical foods about our Website users is among the assets transferred.
To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it.
For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.
With your consent.

We may also disclose your personal information:

To comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request.
To enforce or apply our Website Terms of Use and other agreements, including for billing and collection purposes.
If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of empirical foods our customers, or others.

In the prior 12 months, we have not sold or shared for a commercial purposes or disclosed for a business purpose your personal information to third parties.

Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information

We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:

Tracking Technologies and Advertising. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent.
Disclosure of Your Information for Third-Party Advertising. If you do not want us to share your personal information with unaffiliated or non-agent third parties for promotional purposes, you can opt-out by sending us an email with your request to [socialmedia].

We do not control third parties’ collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. You can opt out of receiving targeted ads from members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) on the NAI’s website.

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your state of residence (such as residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Utah, or Virginia), your state laws may provide you with additional rights regarding our use of your personal information.

California Privacy Rights

The CCPA provides California residents with specific rights regarding their personal information. This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.

Right to Know and Data Portability

You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months (the “right to know”). Once we receive your request and confirm your identity (see Exercising Your Rights to Know, Correct, or Delete), we will disclose to you:

The categories of personal information we collected about you.
The categories of sources for the personal information we collected about you.
Our business or commercial purpose for collecting that personal information.
The categories of third parties with whom we share that personal information.
If we disclosed your personal information for a business purpose, the personal information categories that each category of recipient obtained.
The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you (also called a data portability request).

Right to Correct

You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate personal data we maintain about you.

Right to Delete

You have the right to request that we delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions (the “right to delete”). Once we receive your request and confirm your identity (see Exercising Your Rights to Know, Correct, or Delete), we will review your request to see if an exception allowing us to retain the information applies. We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to:

Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, or otherwise perform our contract with you.
Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 seq.).
Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent.
Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us.
Comply with a legal obligation.
Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

We will delete or deidentify personal information not subject to one of these exceptions from our records and will direct our service providers to take similar action.

Exercising Your Rights to Know, Correct, or Delete

To exercise your rights to know, correct, or delete described above, please submit a request by either:

Calling us at 605-217-8000
Emailing us at webadmin@empiricalfoods.com

Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a request to know, correct, or delete related to your personal information. You may also make a request to know, correct, or delete on behalf of your child.

You may only submit a request to know twice within a 12-month period. Your request to know, correct, or delete must:

Provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected personal information or an authorized representative.
Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you. We will only use personal information provided in the request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make it.

Response Timing and Format

We will confirm receipt of your request within ten (10) business days. If you do not receive confirmation within the 10-day timeframe, please contact webadmin@empiricalfoods.com.

We endeavor to substantively respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to another 45 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.

If you have an account with us, we will deliver our written response to that account. If you do not have an account with us, we will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option.

The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable. For data portability requests, we will select a format to provide your personal information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance.

We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:

Deny you goods or services.
Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services.
Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

Other California Privacy Rights

California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits users of our Services that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to webadmin@empiricalfoods.com

Additional State Privacy Rights

Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Utah each provide their state residents with rights to:

Confirm whether we process their personal information.
Access and delete certain personal information.
Data portability.
Opt-out of personal data processing for targeted advertising and sales.

Colorado, Connecticut, Montana, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia also provide their state residents with rights to:

Correct inaccuracies in their personal information, taking into account the information’s nature processing purpose.
Opt-out of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at webadmin@empiricalfoods.com.

Accessing and Correcting Your Information

You can review and change your personal information by sending us an email at webadmin@empiricalfoods.com to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. We cannot delete your personal information except by also deleting your user account. 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.

Data Security

We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website.

Children Under the Age of 13

Our Website is not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under age 13 may provide any personal information to or on the Website. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on this Website, register on the Website, 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 using the contact information provided below.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you by email or through a notice on the Website home page. The date the privacy 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 our Website and this privacy policy to check for any changes.

Contact Information

To ask questions or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, contact us at:

webadmin@empiricalfoods.com

891 Two Rivers Drive, Dakota Dunes, SD 57049

605-217-8000