This privacy statement for CWS Asset Management & Sales (CWSAMS) details the company’s policies with respect to the handling of personally identifiable information submitted by the reader of this Privacy Policy (“you”) or otherwise collected by CWSAMS via the company’s website or in the course of providing services to CWSAMS customers. CWSAMS will use and disclose information only in accordance with the terms of this privacy statement.
We collect your IP address and standard web log information, such as your browser type and the pages you accessed on our website. This information is collected for the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of the company’s website and for security reasons. We may also use cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is stored on the user’s hard disk by a Web page server. One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. Information collected at this website is kept in our records only as long as is necessary to provide requested services to our clients.
The website contains various forms where your personal information is collected. When you complete and submit a form, send us an e-mail, CWSAMS may store the inquiries and their contents, including any personally identifiable information you may have provided. Any personally identifiable information you submit via a form is collected only with your knowledge and active participation.
CWSAMS never sells any personally identifiable information and never discloses personally identifiable information to any third parties except in compliance with a request of a law enforcement agency.
We use information collected from individuals to provide products or services, to respond to requests for information regarding our products and services, and for additional purposes that may be identified as or before the time that the information is collected. The information gathered may be used for general marketing purposes to enable us to better meet our customers’ needs.
We will not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required or permitted by law. Once the information is no longer required to fulfill its intended purposes, and is no longer required or permitted to be retained for legal or business purposes, it will be destroyed, erased, or made anonymous.
If you register for one of our online auctions we may ask you to provide certain financial information, including credit card information, used to qualify you to bid at our auction. Credit card information is entered on our secure website page (see ‘Security’ below), which is transferred to our credit card provider and is not retained by us.
CWSAMS takes several precautions to protect our users’ personal information. When users submit sensitive information, their information is protected both online and off-line.
We use industry-standard encryption software to protect sensitive credit card information online. We also protect user information off-line. Access to all of our users’ information, not just the sensitive information, is restricted within our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information.
CWSAMS is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI DSS”). PCI DSS is the bankcard industry’s most stringent security standard. Examples of CWSAMS’s security measures include: physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards; sophisticated security monitoring tools; documented security policies; use of strong encryption for transmissions of payment information to and from CWSAMS customers; restricted access of personally identifiable information; and, periodic security audits by third party security experts.