Limited-Time Special - Costco Auto Program

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Our Privacy Commitment:

Thank you for visiting Costco Auto Program and for reviewing our Privacy Policy. We want to ensure that you are well informed of the measures we have in place to protect any collected personal information. Your trust is a top priority and is embedded in everything we do. Costco Auto Program is committed to data privacy, data security and transparency in our data practices and processes.

The Costco Auto Program’s Commitment to Privacy

Updated as of: January 1, 2023

The Costco Auto Program is operated by Affinity Auto Programs, Inc. (“CAP”, “we”, “us” or “our”). CAP is an independent company, not an affiliate of Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco”). CAP respects your right to privacy and your ability to make informed choices about the information we collect and use about you. This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”), which is separate from Costco’s privacy policy, describes our policies and practices regarding the collection, use and disclosure of information about you as part of the Costco Auto Program and our technology platforms, including, without limitation, our website, mobile application, call center, text and chat communications, customer surveys, interactive features and social media pages (collectively, the “CAP Site”). This Privacy Policy applies to information collected from the CAP Site and offline unless different terms are specified in an online or other form or contract we provide you.

Additionally, please note that Section 1 of this Privacy Policy, which describes our collection and use of information through the CAP Site, also serves as our Notice at Collection for California residents for purposes of the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”).

This Privacy Policy has been designed to be reasonably accessible to people with disabilities. If you experience any difficulties accessing the information in the Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacyrequests@CostcoAuto.com.

NOTICE AT COLLECTION; COLLECTION AND USE OF INFORMATION
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
DISCLOSURES OF INFORMATION TO OTHER ENTITIES
YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS
HOW WE COMMUNICATE WITH YOU
SECURITY OF INFORMATION
OTHER SITES
INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
CHANGES AND POLICY UPDATES
MINOR CHILDREN
CONTACT US

1. NOTICE AT COLLECTION; COLLECTION AND USE OF INFORMATION

We collect two types of information: Personal Information and Other Information.

Personal Information is any information:

That identifies or can be used to identify you
That relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked (directly or indirectly) with you;
That can be used to authenticate you;
That can be used to provide access to an account through the CAP Dealer Portal if you are an employee, owner, director, officer, or manager of a participating Costco Auto Program dealer.

The table and language below summarize the categories of personal information we have collected over at least the last 12 months, the purposes for collection and use of that personal information, and how long we keep each category of personal information.

WE DO NOT “SELL” YOUR INFORMATION as the term “sell” is traditionally understood. NONETHELESS, “sale” under the CCPA interpreted does include the activities set out in this Privacy Policy. To comply with the applicable law of the definition of such activity we have included the following statements. We sell, and share for targeted advertising, the following categories of personal information: commercial information, device, internet, and network activity information, general location data, and inferences. Under certain U.S. State Privacy Laws, you may be able to request that we not sell or share for targeted advertising, Personal Information about you for targeted advertising. If you would like to opt-out of the sale and sharing of these categories of personal information, please click Your Privacy Choices

Categories of Personal Information We Collect	Our Business or Commercial Purposes for the Collection and Use of Your Personal Information
Personal Identifiers, such as your name, email address, telephone number, home address, and Costco Membership Number.	We use this information: With your vehicle request and zip code to locate a participating dealership in your area; To respond to your questions and requests; To provide you with access to certain areas and features of the CAP Site; To verify your identity and your inquiries (for example, we use your Costco Membership Number to verify your membership with Costco and to determine the Costco cash card amount you may be entitled to through a promotion); To tailor content, advertisement, and incentives we provide you; and To provide you with market updates and other promotional information (as described below).
Commercial Information, such as the vehicle makes and models you search for, vehicle makes and models purchased, and whether you search for new or used vehicles.	We use this information: Using your vehicle request and ZIP code to locate a participating dealership in your area for the specific make and model requested; To respond to your questions and requests; To tailor content, advertisements and incentives we provide you; To provide you with market updates and other promotional information; and To improve the CAP Site and for internal business purposes.
Device, Internet, and Network Activity Information, such as imprecise geolocation data derived from a zip code or IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, application version, the pages served to you, previous page views, the site from which you linked, the time and date of your visit to the CAP Site, your use of features on the CAP Site and your inquiries, IP address, cookie ID, and Mobile Ad ID.	We use this information: To respond to your questions and requests; To provide you with access to certain areas and features of the CAP Site; To tailor content, advertisements and incentives we provide you; To provide you with market updates and other promotional information; To improve the CAP Site and for internal business purposes; and To administer the CAP Site.
Inferences drawn from the information identified above to create a profile reflecting your preferences.	We use this information: To tailor content, advertisements and incentives we provide you; To provide you with market updates and other promotional information; To improve the CAP Site and for internal business purposes; and As otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent.

Additional Uses. We may also use all of the Personal Information noted above:

if we determine a policy violation has occurred, to enforce our rights, or to enforce agreements;
if we believe such processing is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action regarding the rights and property of ours or our affiliates;
to enforce our rights or to protect against unauthorized access to our systems or other inappropriate use of our services, products, or other services;
to comply with laws, regulations, court orders and subpoenas or similar requests for information by authorities;
to protect our safety, your safety and the safety of others;
to perform audits;
to contact you about the CAP Site or policy updates;
for research and analytics, including to identify usage trends and to improve and update our products and services;
as otherwise described to you at the point of collection or pursuant to your consent; and
to assist us in fraud prevention or investigation, all on the basis of our legitimate interest in the continuation of our commercial activities and the protections of our rights.

Vehicle Purchase and Lease Agreement. With your consent, we may collect and use your vehicle purchase or lease agreement in order to conduct price verification and program compliance audits with our dealerships and vehicle manufacturers, customer support, and the Additional Uses noted above.

De-identified Information. To the extent we possess de-identified information, we will maintain and use the information in deidentified form and not attempt to reidentify the information, except that we may attempt to reidentify the information to confirm the information is truly de-identified.

Retention. We will retain your Personal Information for as long as is needed to carry out the purposes we’ve described, or as otherwise required by law. The criteria used to determine the applicable retention period for your Personal Information includes the length of time we have an ongoing relationship with you as applicant or consumer and whether there is a legal obligation to which we are subject that requires us to retain your Personal Information.

2. SOURCES OF INFORMATION

We collect or receive information from the following sources:

Participating Dealerships and Vehicle Manufacturers: We collect and store personal identifiers, vehicle purchase or lease agreement, and commercial information from participating dealerships and/or vehicle manufacturers in order to conduct price verification and program compliance audits with our dealerships and vehicle manufacturers, customer support, and the Additional Uses noted above.
Directly from you: We collect and store the Personal Information that you provide us, such as when you request to be referred to a participating CAP dealer to receive member pricing on a desired vehicle or to receive a discount coupon or voucher for parts and service; provide other information, such as information about your vehicle preferences (e.g., vehicle make, model and/or your desired vehicle options); register at the CAP Site for an OEM promotion or opt-in to receive text messages, emails or other incentives or communications; contact us for any reason (such as when you speak with a CAP customer service representative); or provide feedback by participating in a member survey.
Automatically from your devices: We use cookies, pixel tags and similar technologies to automatically collect information when you visit the CAP Site or interact with our ads and other online content. Cookies are small bits of information that are stored by your Device’s web browser. Pixel tags are very small images or small pieces of data embedded in images, also known as “web beacons” or “clear GIFs,” that can recognize cookies, the time and date a page is viewed, a description of the page where the pixel tag is placed, and similar information from your Device.
From Other Sources: We may receive information about you from other sources and may combine that information with the other information we collect or receive about you. For example, you may choose to participate in another party’s application or social media site through which you allow us to collect (or the other party to share) information about you, including Personal Information. We may also receive information from partners and service providers, including partners and service providers that provide us information that is publicly or commercially available. We may match the information we collect about you through the CAP Site with information collected from other parties in order to enhance our ability to serve you, to tailor our content to you and/or to offer you opportunities to purchase products or services that we believe may be of interest to you.

3. DISCLOSURES OF INFORMATION TO OTHER ENTITIES

During at least the past 12 months, we have disclosed your Personal Information outlined in the table above to the following categories of entities:

Participating Dealerships and Vehicle Manufacturers: We disclose personal identifiers, general location information, and commercial information to participating dealerships and/or vehicle manufacturers so that they can provide you with incentives, promotional materials, and other materials that you request or that we think might be of interest to you. We share inferences with participating dealerships for the same purposes. For example, we may share your name, physical address, email address, phone number and requested vehicle information (such as make, model and vehicle features) with a participating dealership to help you with the purchase of your vehicle. However, CAP is not responsible for the privacy practices of these participating dealerships and/or vehicle manufacturers, which may use information about you for their own purposes.
Costco: We disclose personal identifiers, commercial information, and inferences to Costco for customer service, member tracking and satisfaction purposes, and so Costco can communicate with you about other products and services that you may be interested in. CAP is not responsible for the privacy practices of Costco, which may use information about you for its own purposes.
Service Providers and Contractors Performing Services on Our Behalf: We disclose all categories of Personal Information listed above to service providers and contractors that perform functions on our behalf (or on behalf of our partners), such as service providers and contractors that host or operate the CAP Site, analyze data, fulfill inquiries or provide customer service, or participate in or administer our promotions or provide marketing or promotional assistance.
Third Parties: We disclose commercial information, general location information, device, internet and network information, and inferences to our advertising and marketing third party partners. While on the CAP Site, you may also have the opportunity to opt-in to receive information and/or marketing incentives from someone else or to otherwise consent to the disclosure of information about you to a third party. If you agree to have your Personal Information disclosed to a third party you will be subject to the privacy policy and business practices of that third party. We are not responsible for any additional information you provide directly to these parties, and we encourage you to become familiar with their privacy practices and policies before disclosing information to them. We may also disclose or make available information with or to social media platforms, advertising networks, and ad tech companies.
Acquirers and Business Transfers: We may disclose or transfer all categories of Personal Information listed above as part of, or during negotiations of, any merger, acquisition, or sale of all or substantially all of the company or assets of CAP.
Government Authorities and Legal Disclosure: We disclose all categories of Personal Information listed above to comply with a legal obligation; when we believe in good faith that the law requires it; at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation; to verify or enforce our applicable policies; to respond to an emergency; or otherwise to protect the rights, property, safety, or security of third parties, visitors to the CAP Site or the public.
Consent: Upon receipt of a request from you and with your consent, we disclose your Personal Information to a participating Costco Auto Program dealership.

4. YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

A. Your U.S. State Privacy Rights

You have specific rights with respect to Personal Information under certain U.S. state privacy laws. For purposes of this subsection, the terms “consumer”, “Personal Information”, “business purpose”, “third party”, “sell”, and “share” have the meanings ascribed to them respectively in the applicable state law. To the extent provided for under the applicable laws, you may have the right to:

Access and Disclosure: You can request, up to two times every 12 months, that we disclose to you the categories of Personal Information we collected about you, the categories of sources from which we collected the Personal Information, the categories of Personal Information we sold or disclosed, the business or commercial purposes for collecting, selling, or sharing your Personal Information, the categories of third parties with whom we shared the Personal Information, and the specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you.
Delete and Correction of Your Personal Information: You may request that we delete certain records that contain Personal Information we have collected about you. This right is not absolute, and we may deny certain deletion requests in whole or in part based upon our record keeping practices and legal rights and obligations. We are under no obligation to store such Personal Information indefinitely and disclaim any liability arising out of, or related to, the destruction of such Personal Information.
How to Submit a Request: You can exercise the rights above by submitting a Data Request Form or by calling 877-722-4559. We may deny certain requests, or fulfill a request only in part, based on our legal rights and obligations. For example, we may retain Personal Information as permitted by law, such as for tax or other record-keeping purposes. Please note that in order to protect your personal information, you will be asked to provide information to match our records and verify your identity. If we are unable to match your information, we will not be able to process your request.
Your Privacy Choices (Opt-out of Targeted Advertising): To request that we not sell or share your Personal Information as described in the “Notice at Collection” section above, click Your Privacy Choices on the CAP Site or call us at 877-722-4559.
Opt-Out Preference Signals/Global Privacy Control: You can submit a request to opt-out of the selling and sharing of Personal Information about you through an opt-out preference signal. If you use an opt-out preference signal, we will apply the opt-out to the device or browser which sends the opt-out preference signal and to any consumer profile associated with that browser or device, including pseudonymous profiles. You can use an opt-out preference signal by downloading a supported browser or extension. If known, we will also treat the opt-out preference signal as a valid request to opt-out of the sale/selling for the user. Some web browsers may give you the ability to enable a “do not track” setting, an older request to block tracking of users by third parties. We may not take action in response to these older signals.
California Shine the Light Request - If you are a California resident, in addition to any rights and choices described in this Privacy Policy, you have the right to ask us once each year if we have shared Personal Information with third parties for their own marketing purposes. To make a request, please send us an email at privacyrequests@CostcoAuto.com. Please mark your inquiries “California Shine the Light Request.”
Sensitive Personal Information: We do not collect, use, or disclose Sensitive Personal Information.
Financial Incentives: We may collect Personal Information, like personal identifiers, online identifiers, and commercial information, in connection with a financial incentive, such as a rebate, discount, special pricing or other promotional offer. Our offers and incentives generally reflect the value of the relationships that we have with the individuals who participate in these programs. Participation in these programs is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time by electing not to participate or contacting us using the information in the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy.
Users Under 16: Note that CAP is not intended for users under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under the age of 16. Please see our section on Minor Children below for more information.

B. Promotional Communications and Newsletters

You may unsubscribe from certain email communications by clicking the “Unsubscribe” link provided at the bottom of an email sent to you by CAP. Please note that we reserve the right to send you certain communications relating to your use of the CAP Site and these transactional messages may be unaffected if you choose to opt-out from marketing communications.

C. Tracking Technologies

Cookies: Depending on the configuration options offered by the operating system, web browser, and other software on your Device, you may be able to decide if and how your Device will accept a cookie by configuring your preferences or options in your Device or web browser. If you choose to refuse, disable, or delete these technologies, some of the functionality of the CAP Site may no longer be available to you.
Interest-Based / Targeted advertising: CAP may use third-party network advertisers to serve advertisements and third-party analytics vendors to evaluate and provide us with information about the use of the CAP Site and viewing of our content. Ad network providers, the advertisers, the sponsors, and/or analytics service providers may set and access their own cookies, pixel tags and similar technologies on your Device, and they may otherwise collect or have access to information about you. On occasion, we and our network advertisers may target advertisements for products and services in which you might be interested based on your visits to both the CAP Site and other websites. We may use a variety of companies to serve advertisements. If you do not want to receive the benefits of targeted advertising, you may opt out of some network advertising programs that use information about you by visiting: the NAI Opt-Out Page and the DAA Opt-Out Page. Please note that even if you choose to remove information about you (opt-out), you will still see advertisements while you’re browsing online, including advertisements that are relevant to the content of the webpage or application page on which they are displayed and advertisements that are relevant to your current location. However, the advertisements you see may be less relevant to you and your interests. Additionally, many network advertising programs allow you to view and manage the interest categories they have compiled from your online browsing activities. These interest categories help determine the types of targeted advertisements you may receive. The NAI Opt-Out Page and the DAA Opt-Out Page each provide a tool that identifies its member/participating companies that have cookies on your browser and provides a mechanism to opt out of receiving cookies from those companies. Please note that if you opt-out of targeted advertising, we may still track your visits to the CAP Site for our own analytics, operations and security purposes.
Google: Google provides tools to allow you to opt out of the use of certain information collected by Google Analytics at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout, by Google Analytics for Display Advertising or the Google Display Network at https://www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/, or downloading the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Mobile Device: You may also limit our use of information collected from or about your mobile device for purposes of serving targeted ads to you by going to your device settings and turning off tracking for advertising purposes.

5. HOW WE COMMUNICATE WITH YOU

We may communicate with you regarding any matter related to the Costco Auto Program via mail, via telephone or via electronic communications, including via email to the email address you provide, via text message to the mobile phone you provide, or via the CAP Site.

To opt-out of receiving text messages, please follow the instructions in the body of the text message. Note that in order for you to receive communications via text message, you must maintain, at your own cost, a mobile device capable of sending and receiving text messages. Message and data rates may apply to each text message sent and received in connection with the Costco Auto Program. Please see your wireless provider to review your wireless plan details.

6. SECURITY OF INFORMATION

We take information security seriously and use certain reasonable security measures designed to help protect your Personal Information. However, no electronic data transmission or storage of information can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Please note that we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you use the CAP Site and provide us with information at your own risk.

7. OTHER SITES

The CAP Site may contain links to other websites or online services that are operated and maintained by Costco or third parties, and that are not under the control of or maintained by CAP. The inclusion of a link on the CAP Site does not imply endorsement of the linked site or service by us or by our affiliates.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to Costco’s activity or to any Personal Information you may disclose directly to Costco. We encourage you to review Costco’s privacy policy, available here.

8. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

The CAP Site is operated in the United States. If you are located in the EEA, Canada or anywhere else outside of the United States, please be aware that information we collect, including, without limitation, Personal Information, will be transferred to, processed and stored in the United States. The data protection laws in the United States may differ from those of the country in which you are located, and your Personal Information may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement in the United States according to laws of the United States. By using the CAP Site or providing us with any information, you consent to this transfer, processing and storage of information about you in the United States. Where required by law, we will transfer your personal data subject to appropriate or suitable safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses.

9. CHANGES AND POLICY UPDATES

Please note, we may change information on the CAP Site and/or this Privacy Policy at any time without prior notice to you, and any changes will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Privacy Policy on the CAP Site. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

10. MINOR CHILDREN

The CAP Site is a general audience website and we do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children younger than the age of sixteen (16). We will delete any Personal Information collected that we later determine to be from a user younger than the age of sixteen (16).

11. CONTACT US

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: Costco Auto Program, 10590 W. Ocean Air Drive, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92130, Attn: Privacy Policy.

Again, this CAP privacy policy and practices are separate from Costco’s practices. Please visit Costco’s privacy policy for information about how Costco uses information.

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