BJ’s Autohaus PRIVACY STATEMENT/CDC/ADA/SAFEGUARD: (Updated: 02/22/2023)

Welcome to BJ’s Autohaus (“www.CarsHoustonTX.com,” “we,” “us” or “our”). Our dealership takes your privacy seriously and is committed to safeguarding your privacy both online and at our dealership. We abide by all the CDC standard policies at BJ’s Autohaus, as well as ADA compliance.

 

ADA Compliance:

We are wanting to ensure that our website and dealership are accessible to all our potential customers. We continuously makes modifications to increase the accessibility and usability of this website, by the main international standards organization for the Internet. Accessibility and usability are not always possible in every area of the website or for those visitors using assistive technologies and devices. Please be advised that our efforts are ongoing, and we continue to improve our designs based upon your feedback.

 

CDC Guidelines:

At BJ’s Autohaus, we respect social distancing, wearing masks if asked, and disinfecting all the interior vehicle surfaces for customers have become standard. We want our customers to feel safe and secure when purchasing their next vehicle from BJ’s Autohaus.

Because we do gather certain types of information from visitors to our sites and dealership, we have developed a Privacy Statement to help you understand the terms and conditions surrounding the collection and use of that information. This Privacy Statement discloses the types of information we gather, how it is used and shared, and how you can gain access to and edit any personal information that we have collected about you at any time. When we collect personal information from visitors, BJ’s Autohaus will make every reasonable effort to avoid excessive or irrelevant collection of data. By visiting BJ’s Autohaus website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the terms and conditions of this Privacy Statement. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Statement, please do not use the Services. Your use of the Services is also governed by our Terms of Use.

PLEASE NOTE THE ARBITRATION PROVISION SET FORTH BELOW, WHICH REQUIRES, EXCEPT WHERE AND TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, YOU TO ARBITRATE ANY CLAIMS YOU MAY HAVE AGAINST BJ’S AUTOHAUS ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE, AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT FOR A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED IN A CLASS OR CONSOLIDATED CAPACITY.

 

Information Collected:

We collect the following categories of information from and about you: Usage Information: Anytime you visit our sites, we may gather certain information regarding the means you use to access our sites. This information may include the type and version of your browser, your service provider, your IP address, and any search engine you may have used to locate the sites. We use this information to help diagnose problems with our server, administer the sites, and compile broad statistical data. In addition, we gather certain navigational information about where you go on our sites. This information enables us to determine which areas of the sites are most frequently visited and helps us to tailor the sites to the needs and interests of our online visitors. Such information is gathered by us in the aggregate and will not be associated with a specific individual without that individual's consent.

Information Voluntarily Provided on the Sites: We may collect information you voluntarily provide to us (i.e., contact information such as name, e-mail address, etc.), such as when you enroll in one of our courtesy e-mail reminder for vehicle-related services (“E-Mail Reminder Services''), schedule service appointments, request information, or use any of the other interactive portions of our sites (i.e., our used car appraisal tool, express store, etc.). The personal information you provide to us will be shared with BJ’s Autohaus and may be used for their own marketing purposes.

Information Provided at Our Dealership: We may collect information you voluntarily provide to us at our dealership, for example, if you test drive a car, purchase a car, or bring your car in for service. Such information may include contact information, such as your name, e-mail address, payment information, and insurance information, as well as other information about your car. We may collect financial information if you wish to obtain financing for a car purchase.

Information Collected from Other Sources: To help us better understand and respond to your needs and interests, we may in the future receive information about you from other sources, such as third-party referral sites. We will ask any provider of such information to represent and warrant that the information has been gathered and maintained in accordance with all state and federal laws. Any such information will be maintained by us in accordance with the standards set forth in this Privacy Statement along with other personal information you have provided.

Use of Information Collected:

We use the information we collect from you for the following purposes:

To provide our Services.

To tailor your experience on the sites.

To improve user experiences by making our Services easier to use and navigate.

To send you marketing communications.

To respond to your requests and inquiries.

To comply with CDC/legal and/or safety requirements.

For other legitimate business purposes.

 

Disclosure of Person Information:

We collect and maintain the personal information of our consumers for our use. We do not disclose consumer information to third parties, other than as described below, and never without your consent.

 

Business Partners:

Our dealership may partner with select retailers and other companies at various times to provide expanded Services, such as to offer financing and/or certain loyalty programs. As part of such a relationship, we may share with these companies the use of certain interactive site functions (i.e., the E-Mail Reminder Service). Information provided by users of the Services with such interactive functions may be available to both our dealership and our partners.

Agents: Our dealership may use other companies and individuals, such as dealership management system providers, customer relationship management system providers, and marketing partners to perform certain functions on our behalf. Examples include administering e-mail services and running special promotions. Such parties only have access to the personal information needed to perform these functions and may not use or store the information for any other purpose. Subscribers or site visitors will never receive unsolicited e-mail messages from agents working on our behalf.

 

Business Transfers:

If our dealership undergoes a direct or indirect reorganization process including, but not limited to, mergers, acquisitions, and sales of all or a particular portion of its business assets, consumer information may be one of the business assets transferred as part of the transaction.

 

CDC/Compliance with Law/Safety:

Our dealership may disclose specific personal information based on a good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to comply with or conform to the law or that such disclosure is necessary to protect the users of our Services, our sites, or the public.With Consent: Other than as set forth in this Privacy Statement, you will be notified when any personal information about you may be shared with third parties, and you will be given the opportunity to decline to share that information.

 

Use of Cookies:

When visiting our sites, our dealership may use a browser feature known as a “cookie.” Cookies are small files placed on your hard drive that assist us in providing you with a customized browsing experience. Our dealership uses cookies to provide you with the convenience of not having to reenter information, such as user IDs and passwords, multiple times during your visits to our sites. Cookies can also be utilized to help us provide you with information targeted to your interests, based upon your prior browsing on our sites. Different cookies are used to perform different functions, which we explain below:

Some cookies are essential to enable you to move around our sites and use their features, such as accessing secure areas of our sites. Without these cookies, we cannot enable appropriate content based on the type of device you are using.

Analytics. Personal information collected via cookies for analytics purposes may include information about your browser, network, and device; web pages you visited prior to coming to our sites; IP address; clicks; internal links; pages visited; scrolling; and searches. We use this information to learn about site traffic and activity. BJ’s Autohaus uses Google Analytics to measure how you interact with our sites. Google also provides instructions on opting-out of Google Analytics as well.

 

Targeted Advertising:

Cookies may be placed by our third-party advertising companies. These companies may use aggregated statistics about your use of our sites and third-party media to provide you with advertisements about goods and services that you may be interested in. The “help” section of the toolbar on most browsers will inform you on how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you upon the receipt of a new cookie, or how to disable the use of cookies completely. As our sites have been designed to take advantage of the use of cookies, should you configure your browser to decline their use, certain features of our sites may not function correctly, and you may be required to renter any user IDs and passwords more frequently.

 

Third-Party Advertising:

As stated above, BJ’s Autohaus may use advertisers, third party ad networks and other advertising companies to serve advertisements on the sites. These third parties use cookies and other similar technologies to collect or receive information from our sites and elsewhere on the Internet and use that information to provide you with targeted ads. Note that opting out does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the company or companies from which you opted-out will no longer deliver ads tailored to your preferences and usage patterns.

 

Collection and Use of Information from Children:

Our Services are not intended for children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, and none of our Services are designed to attract children. If BJ’s Autohaus learns that a person under the age of 13 has provided personal information to us, we will delete such personal information as soon as possible.

 

Accessing Our Sites from Outside the United States:

If you are visiting our sites from a location outside of the U.S., your connection will be through and to servers located in the U.S. Any information you provide during your visit will be processed and maintained on our server and other internal systems located within the U.S. You acknowledge that by providing your personal information to us, your personal information (i) will be used for the uses identified above in accordance with this Privacy Statement, and (ii) may be transferred to the U.S. as indicated above, in accordance with applicable law.

 

External Links:

Our sites contain links to other websites. Our dealership is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such third-party websites. To better protect your privacy, we recommend that you review the privacy policy of any third-party website you visit via a link from one of our sites.

 

Passwords:

The personal information record created through your registration with our sites can only be accessed with the unique password associated with that record. To protect the integrity of the information contained in this record, you should not disclose or otherwise reveal your password to third parties. You agree that you are responsible for all acts or omissions that occur on your account while your password is being used. Please let us know immediately if you believe your password or record has been compromised.

 

Security:

BJ’s Autohaus will take reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial measures to safeguard and secure any personal information you provide to us. Please understand, however, that no data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to BJ’s Autohaus, and you understand that any information that you transfer to us is done at your own risk. If we learn of a security system breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. By using the Services or providing personal information to us, you agree that we can communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy and administrative issues relating to your use of the Services. We may post a notice via our sites if a security breach occurs. We may also send an e-mail to you at the e-mail address you have provided to us in these circumstances. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing.

 

Public Forums:

BJ’s Autohaus may make chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups available to you at various times. Please remember that, unless otherwise stated, any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information in these areas. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USE BY OTHERS OF THE INFORMATION THAT YOU DISCLOSE IN PUBLIC POSTING AREAS.

 

Opt-Out Procedures:

Please note that anytime you provide BJ’s Autohaus with your e-mail address, you will be opted-in to receive both marketing and informational communications from our dealership. You may always opt-out of receiving future marketing communications from our dealership. Users may opt-out of receiving such communications through the unsubscribe link provided in each communication. When you unsubscribe from certain marketing communications, you may be given the opportunity to unsubscribe from other marketing communications on an individual level. Additionally, we may send you information regarding our Services, such as information about changes to our policies and other notices and disclosures required by law. Generally, users cannot opt out of these communications, but they will be primarily informational in nature, rather than promotional.

 

How We Respond to "Do Not Track" Signals: 

At this time BJ’s Autohaus does not recognize automated browser signals regarding tracking mechanisms, which may include Do Not Track instructions.

 

Assignment:

If all or part of our assets are sold or acquired by another party, or in the event of a merger, you grant us the right to assign the personal information collected via the Services.

 

Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate: 

By using the Services, you and BJ’s Autohaus agree that, if there is any controversy, claim, action, or dispute arising out of or related to your use of the Services or the breach, enforcement, interpretation, or validity of this Privacy Statement or any part of it (“Dispute”), both parties shall first try in good faith to settle such Dispute by providing written notice to the other party describing the facts and circumstances of the Dispute and allowing the receiving party 30 days in which to respond to or settle the Dispute. Notice shall be sent to:

BJ’s Autohaus, 5005 Telephone Road, Houston, TX 77087, or You, at the address we have on file for you.

Both you and BJ’s Autohaus agree that this dispute resolution procedure is a condition precedent that must be satisfied before initiating any litigation or filing any claim against the other party. IF ANY DISPUTE CANNOT BE RESOLVED BY THE ABOVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE, YOU AGREE THAT THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION FOR SUCH DISPUTE WILL BE DECIDED BY BINDING ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE, AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT FOR A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED IN A CLASS OR CONSOLIDATED CAPACITY. Other rights that you and we would otherwise have in court will not be available or will be more limited in arbitration, including discovery and appeal rights. The arbitrator, and not any federal, state, or local court or agency, shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute arising under or relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of this Privacy Statement, including any claim that all or any part of this Privacy Statement is void or voidable.

 

Choice of Law:

This Privacy Statement has been made in and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas, without giving effect to any conflict of law principles. Any disputes or claims not subject to the arbitration provision discussed above shall be resolved by a court located in the State of Texas and you agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action.

 

Changes to this Privacy Statement: 

BJ’s Autohaus reserves the right to change this Privacy Statement from time to time. When we do, we will also revise the “Last Updated” date above. If we make material changes to the Privacy Statement, we will notify you by placing a prominent notice on our sites and/or by sending you an e-mail at the e-mail address we have on file for you. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Statement to keep up to date on how we are handling your personal information.

 

Contacting Us:

If you have questions concerning this Privacy Statement or the privacy practices of our dealership, you may contact us: (713) 641-0980.