The
Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois is committed
to maintaining your confidence and trust, and accordingly maintains
the following privacy policy to protect your personal
information.
BBB’s
Commitment to Security
BBB
encrypts billing information wherever requested online. Personal
information is accessible only by staff and volunteers designated to
handle complaints or requests. All BBB agents and contractors with
access to personal information are also bound to adhere to this
policy as part of their contract with BBB.
Personal
Information that BBB May Collect
BBB
collects the following types of personal information: names, postal
and e-mail addresses, phone and facsimile numbers, billing
information, and complaint and inquiry information. BBB may also
collect business information from sole proprietorships that apply for
accreditation or program participation, some of which might
constitute personal information, as well as personal information from
individuals acting solely in their business capacity. BBB’s online
complaint form is hosted by the Council of Better Business Bureaus
(CBBB), which processes your complaint according to its
own privacy and security policies.
BBB
does not collect or maintain information from those actually known to
be under the age of 13, and no part of our site is structured to
attract anyone under the age of 13.
How
BBB May Use Personal Information
Unless
you otherwise consent, BBB will use your personal information for the
purpose for which it was submitted such as to reply to inquiries,
handle your complaints and process billing and business requests
related to program participation, and we will use such information to
provide operational notices, and in program recordkeeping and to
conduct research on industry marketplace practices. Our research may
lead to the publication of aggregate demographic data but will not
result in the reporting or publication of any personal information
provided to us.
How
Your Information May Be Shared
In
order to process complaints against businesses, BBB will send
complaints received to the company complained about. It is also
possible that a complaint, request or inquiry will be more
appropriately handled by another BBB, in which case the request or
inquiry will be transferred to the proper BBB. By completing a
complaint form or sending us a request or inquiry, you are allowing
us to forward your information to the proper business and also to the
proper BBB, if necessary. Consumer inquiries may be forwarded by
email, and consumers should recognize that this method of
transmission may not be secure. BBB may also share your personal
information with the CBBB to research industry marketplace practices.
Just as in any research we may do, CBBB research will not result in
the reporting or publication of any personal information. BBB never
sells or rents personal information.
We will also release
personal information under the following circumstances:
- Where
release is required by law (for example, a subpoena) or regulation,
or is requested by an agency for governmental investigative purposes
or governmental proceedings;
- Where
our records indicate a company may be engaged in fraudulent activity
or other deceptive practices that a governmental agency should be
made aware of;
- To
appropriate governmental authorities, where warranted by a company’s
failure to participate in BBB’s advertising self-regulatory
process; or
- To
appropriate persons, where your communication suggests possible harm
to others.
Help
Us Keep Your Personal Information Accurate
If
your personal information changes or you would like to review the
personal information we may have on file, please email us with the
new information or your review request at info@chicago.bbb.org. Let
us also know the department or BBB program that led to your
submission of personal information so we may efficiently locate your
information.
Computer
Tracking and Cookies
Our
web site is not set up to track, collect or distribute personal
information not entered by its visitors. Our site logs do generate
certain kinds of non-identifying site usage data, such as the number
of hits and visits to our site. This information is used for internal
purposes by technical support staff to provide better services to the
public and may also be provided to others, but again, the statistics
contain no personal information and cannot be used to gather such
information.
A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent
to your browser from a Web server and stored on your computer's hard
drive. BBB uses non-identifying cookies to provide easier site
navigation and access to forms. You can still use BBB site if your
browser is set to reject cookies. Our cookies do not generate
personal data, do not read personal data from your machine and are
never tied to anything that could be used to identify
you.
Problems
If
you have a complaint about BBB’s compliance with this privacy
policy, you may contact us at info@chicago.bbb.org.