Guiding Stars – Privacy Statement
Effective: February 10, 2025
Guiding Stars Licensing Company, LLC (“Guiding Stars”) respects your concerns about privacy. This Privacy Statement describes the types of personal information we collect on https://www.guidingstars.com (the “Site”) and our mobile application (the “App”), how we use the information, with whom we share it and the choices available to you regarding our use of the information. We also describe measures we take to protect the security of the information and how you can contact us about our privacy practices.
This Privacy Statement applies to the information we collect about you when you use our Site or App. It does not apply to websites or services provided by other entities, including affiliated entities; such websites and services are subject to their own privacy statements.
Information We Obtain
The types of personal information we may collect when you visit our Site or use our App may include:
- Contact information (such as name, telephone number, postal address, and email address);
- Information you provide when you interact with our social media pages, such as Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, which may include your name, profile picture, social media handle, email address, gender, age group, networks, friends list, language, birthday, education, work history, interests and likes. In some instances, we may communicate with you through these social media pages and may collect the information you provide in response to such communications. This Privacy Statement does not cover the privacy and security practices of these social media sites;
- Other information you choose to provide to us, such as through our “Contact Us” feature, “Food Finder” feature, newsletter signup, webinar feedback forms, or other registrations, forms or surveys.
Information We Obtain by Automated Means
When you visit our Site, interact with our social media pages, or open our emails, we may collect certain information by automated means, such as cookies, web beacons, web server logs and other technologies. Cookies are files that websites send to your computer to uniquely identify your browser or to store information or settings in the browser. A web beacon (also known as an Internet tag, pixel tag or clear GIF) links web pages to web servers and their cookies and may be used to transmit information collected through cookies back to a web server. The information we collect in this manner may include information about your equipment and other behavioral and technical data attributes, such as browsing, navigation and other actions and usage patterns on the Site, device IP address, unique device identifier, web browser characteristics, device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, clickstream data, and dates and times of website visits.
Our Site and emails include features that may collect different types of location information. For example, our Site may allow you to find a store. If you access the Site through a desktop device, you may be able to choose to have your browser provide us your general location information. The specificity of the desktop device location information can vary depending on the browser you are using and how you are connected to the Internet. Our emails also may use your IP address to determine the postal code where you are located when you open the email. The specificity of the location can vary depending on the device used to open our emails.
When you use our App, we also may collect certain information by automated means, such as through device logs, server logs and other technologies. The information we collect in this manner may include the device type used, the mobile operating system, device identifiers and similar unique identifiers, device settings and configurations, IP addresses, battery and signal strength, usage statistics, referring emails and web addresses, dates and times of usage, navigation and actions taken on the App, and other information and behavioral and technical data attributes regarding use of the App.
The automated collection technologies described in this section help tailor our services to you by (1) remembering your information so you do not have to re-enter it; (2) tracking and understanding how you use and interact with the Site and App; (3) tailoring the services to your preferences; (4) measuring the usability of the Site and App and the effectiveness of our communications; and (5) otherwise managing and enhancing the services.
How We Use the Information We Obtain
We may use the personal information we obtain about you to:
- Provide our services to you;
- Send you newsletters, emails or other communications if you elect to receive them;
- Administer your participation in surveys, contests, promotions or other programs;
- Help you find a store;
- Provide customer support, respond to your inquiries, and resolve disputes;
- Customize your experience with our Site and App, such as by providing personalized information;
- Protect against theft and prevent fraud, unauthorized activities, claims and other liabilities;
- Maintain and enhance the safety and security of the Site and App, Site and App users, including by detecting, preventing, and addressing technical issues on the Site and App, and preventing misuse of the Site and App;
- Facilitate your use of third party services, such as those designed to help you find recipes and plan meals;
- Operate, evaluate and improve our business (including managing the Site and App; developing new services; enhancing and improving our services; managing our communications; analyzing our services and user base; performing data analytics; and performing accounting, auditing and other internal functions); and
- Comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, industry standards and Guiding Stars policies and terms, including Terms & Conditions.
We also may use the information in other ways for which we provide specific notice at the time of collection.
Third-Party Analytics Services
We may use third-party analytics services on our Site and App, such as Google Analytics. The analytics providers that administer these services use technologies such as cookies, web beacons and web server logs to help us analyze your use of the Site and App. The information collected through these means (including IP address) may be disclosed to these analytics providers, and other relevant third parties who use the information to evaluate use of the Site and App. To learn more about Google Analytics and how to opt out, please visit Google’s Privacy & Terms page or Google’s Opt-Out Help page.
Online Tracking and Interest-Based Advertising
On our Site and App, we and third parties may collect information about your online activities to provide you with advertising about products and services tailored to your interests.
You may see our ads on other websites or mobile apps based on your visits to the Site or App because we participate in advertising networks. Such ad networks allow us to target our messaging to users considering demographic data, users’ inferred interests and browsing context. These networks track users’ online activities over time and across websites by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of cookies, web server logs, web beacons and other similar technologies. These ad networks use this information to show ads that may be tailored to individuals’ interests, to track users’ browsers or devices across multiple websites, and to build a profile of users’ online browsing activities. The information our ad networks may collect includes data about users’ visits to websites that participate in the relevant ad networks, such as the pages or ads viewed and the actions taken on the websites. Accordingly, we and our third-party vendors may collect information about our visitors’ online activities, over time and across third-party websites. This process also helps us track the effectiveness of our marketing efforts. To learn about how to opt out of interest-based advertising in the U.S., please visit the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Your AdChoices page, the National Advertising Initiative’s Consumer Opt Out page, and TrustArc’s Your Advertising Choices page. On your mobile device, your device settings may allow you to prohibit mobile app platforms (such as Apple and Google) from sharing certain information obtained by automated means with app developers such as Guiding Stars. Our Site is not designed to respond to “do not track” signals received from browsers.
Information We Share
We may share all categories of personal information we obtain about you with certain third parties as described in this Privacy Statement. We also may share personal information we obtain about you at your request.
We may share information we obtain about you with third parties that perform services on our behalf. Examples of these third parties include entities that assist us in:
- Administering our services;
- Responding to your requests;
- Delivering customized content [and advertising] to you;
- Performing statistical analyses of our services[, including through session replay]; and
- Providing customer support.
We may share personal information about you with our subsidiaries and affiliates for the purposes described in this Privacy Statement. We also may share personal information with service providers who perform services on our behalf based on our instructions. We do not authorize these service providers to use or disclose the information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf, comply with legal requirements or as otherwise permitted by law.
In addition, we may disclose information about you (1) if we are required to do so by law or legal process, such as a court order or subpoena; (2) in response to requests by government agencies, such as law enforcement authorities; (3) to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights; (4) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical or other harm or financial loss; (5) in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity or (6) otherwise with your consent or as directed by your representative. We also reserve the right to transfer personal information we have about you in the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets (including in the event of a merger, acquisition, joint venture, reorganization, divestiture, dissolution or liquidation).
Your Choices
You may at any time ask us to stop sending you emails or other communications by unsubscribing from our newsletter/mailing list by selecting the “Unsubscribe” link in our emails or by contacting us as described in the “How to Contact Us” section below.
How We Protect Personal Information
We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information you provide against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized access, destruction, loss, alteration, disclosure or use.
Children’s Personal Information
Our Site and App are designed for a general audience and are not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under the age of thirteen (13) through our Site or App. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under thirteen (13), we will promptly delete the information from our records. If you believe a child under thirteen (13) may have provided us with personal information, please contact us as specified in the “How to Contact Us” section of this Privacy Statement.
Links to Third Parties and Third-Party Features
For your convenience and information, our Site and App may provide links to other online services or third-party features, such as plug-ins of other websites, apps and services that may be operated by companies not affiliated with Guiding Stars (e.g., social plug-ins from Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube). The privacy practices of the relevant third parties, including details on the information they may collect about you, is subject to the privacy statements of these parties, which we strongly suggest you review. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites, apps or services.
Updates to Our Privacy Statement
This Privacy Statement may be updated periodically to reflect changes in our personal information practices. Changes to the Privacy Statement will be posted on this page. For significant changes, we will notify you by posting a prominent notice on our website and App indicating at the top of the Statement when it was most recently updated.
How to Contact Us
Should you have other questions or concerns about this privacy statement or our data collection practices, please call us at 1-877-233-0975. You may also send us an email using the Contact Us section of the Site or App.