Micro Center

Micro Center is an American computer department store.

3.4/10

How we calculate ratings →

Handling

Does the policy allow personally-targeted or behavioral marketing? Yes, but you may opt-out

4/10

Does the service allow you to permanently delete your personal data? No

0/5

Does the service allow third-party access to private personal data? Yes

0/10

This may come in the form of outright data sharing or by using local third-party analytics software (such as Google Analytics, which collects a plethora of user information).

Note that whether the policy allows sharing aggregated user data does not affect this question.

If the personal data is encrypted when it passes through the third-party, it does not count as third-party access (as the data is inaccessible to that party).

If personal data has been made public by, for example, posting it to a blog, it does not count as private personal information (and is therefore not considered by this question).

Score

Yes

The policy allows sharing personal data with third parties (not just critical service providers), and does not explicitly list the third parties.

Yes, all parties specified (including non-critical service providers such as advertisers)

30%

Yes, not all parties specified (but only to critical service providers)

70%

Yes, all parties specified (only to critical service providers)

80%

100%

Citation

Third party service providers:
Micro Center retail stores and Micro Center Online may provide your name, address and email address to reputable organizations that help us to fulfill services to you on our behalf. For example, we may use such third party service providers to authorize credit card transactions, ship packages, activate gift cards and warranties, schedule and perform product installations, administer service programs, help us maintain records and analyze sales data, augment and improve the accuracy of our customer records, and distribute print and digital communications to you with our offers or important information on our behalf. None of these third party service providers are authorized to use your information for any purpose other than to provide the above stated services for which they contract with us to perform.

Links to Third Party Sites:
Micro Center Online contains certain links and ads to third party websites, such as our vendors’ websites and links to other websites intended to facilitate our customers’ shopping experience. We are not responsible or liable for the privacy practices or content found on these websites. We recommend that you check the privacy notice of each website you visit. Links to third party websites are provided solely for your convenience and any submission of data to such websites shall be at your sole risk.

Other Partner Companies
We may occasionally share your name, mailing address and purchase information on a limited basis with select companies that offer products and services that may be of interest to you. We never share email addresses or telephone numbers with any of these third-party companies. If you prefer that we do not share your information with outside partner companies, you may so indicate as noted in the unsubscribe section below.

When does the policy allow law enforcement access to personal data? When reasonably requested

3/5

Score

Always

This includes cases in which law enforcement either runs the service or has a known backdoor into (or relationship with) the service.

Not specified

When reasonably requested

60%

Only when required by a court order or subpoena

80%

N/A (no personal data to share)

The service would have no personal data to share with law enforcement.

100%

Never (special legal jurisdiction)

The service operates in a jurisdiction in which sharing data with law enforcement is never required.

100%

Citation

Notwithstanding the above policies, we reserve the right to disclose your personal information to appropriate third parties if we are required to do so by law or we believe that such action is necessary: to comply with legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order; to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our website and/or Micro Center Online; to protect Micro Electronics, Inc.'s rights and property; or during emergencies, such as when we believe someone's physical safety is at risk.

Transparency

Does the policy outline the service's general security practices? Yes

2/3

Score

Somewhat

The policy provides only a very vague overview of its security practices.

30%

Yes

60%

Yes, including audits

"Reviews," "monitoring," etc. also count as audits.

80%

Yes, including independent audits

Independent "reviews," "monitoring," etc. also count as independent audits.

100%

N/A

The service doesn't collect any personal information.

100%

Citation

Micro Electronics, Inc. and Micro Center Online are concerned about your privacy and the security of your important personal information. We always use industry standard encryption technologies when transferring and receiving any data that you exchange with our site. We employ the same industry-standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology that is used by major banks and stock brokerage firms to conduct business via the Internet. This encryption procedure "scrambles" the information you send us and makes online transactions extremely safe.

Sensitive information, such as financial information, will only be collected through secure web pages. Most browsers will display a green "padlock" icon indicating you are browsing on a secure page.

We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you via this site.

For complete details, please see our Safe Shopping Promise.

Notes

Their "Safe Shopping Promise" page gives more details on how they secure data.

Is the policy's history made available? Only the date it was last modified

3/5

Does the policy require users to be notified in case of a data breach? Not necessarily

0/7

Will affected users be notified when the policy is meaningfully changed? No

0/5

Collection

Does the service collect personal data from third parties? Yes

0/10

Is it clear why the service collects the personal data that it does? Yes

10/10

Score

Somewhat

30%

Mostly

70%

Yes

100%

N/A

The service doesn't collect any personal information.

100%

Citation

Micro Center retail stores and Micro Center Online use your personally identifiable information to provide superior service in the following areas: to process, fulfill and track online orders and in-store pickup reservations; bill your credit card for purchases; respond to your customer service inquiries or requests; provide requested services such as rebate redemption and warranty coverage; offer information regarding products and services based on your interests or past purchases; hold contests, giveaways, drawings and promotions; administer shopping or reward club accounts; conduct and administer surveys; communicate targeted marketing/sales material via print and digital means; set up commercial accounts; sign up for new credit card promotions; or use it for other general business purposes to further enhance our business relationship with you.

Does the service allow the user to control whether personal data is collected or used for non-critical purposes? On an opt-out basis, but only for some non-critical data/uses

3/10

Some services allow users to opt-out or opt-in to of non-critical collection or use of personal data, such as collecting data for personalized advertisements.

Score

On an opt-out basis, but only for some non-critical data/uses

30%

On an opt-out basis, for all non-critical data/uses

60%

On an opt-in basis

60%

N/A (no data used for non-critical purposes)

100%

Citation

Google Analytics
Our Site uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). This analytical tool uses cookies and similar technologies to help analyze how users use the Site. The information generated about Site usage, including visitor IP address, is transmitted to Google. This information is then used to evaluate visitors’ use of the Site, compile statistical reports on website activity, and provide other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also collect information about Site visitors’ use of other websites. Google offers the ability to opt out from tracking through Google Analytics cookies; for more information, visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Advertisers
We use outside advertising companies ("Advertisers") to serve advertisements on the Site. Please be advised that such Advertisers may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser (including through use of pixel tags). If you would like more information about this practice and to learn about your choices in connection with these practices, please visit http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp and http://www.aboutads.info.

You can visit the Network Advertising Initiative website to opt out of third-party cookies.

Notes

NAI opt-out is at http://optout.networkadvertising.org/

Does the policy list the personal data it collects? Yes, generally

7/10

Score

The policy does not claim to not collect personal data, but it also doesn't provide any meaningful insight into the types of personal data it collects.

Only summarily

The policy uses overly vague language to provide a summary of the types of collected personal data.

30%

Yes, generally

All general categories of collected personal data are listed, though not all types of personal data are explicitly mentioned (for example, the list might use a phrase like 'such as' when listing types of personal data).

70%

Yes, exhaustively

All types of collected personal data are listed specifically

100%

N/A (no personal data is collected)

100%

Citation

In order to provide you superior service, communicate marketing promotions which we believe will be of interest to you, and to administer our business, Micro Center retail stores and Micro Center Online may gather the following personal information (except where prohibited by law): salutation, name (first/middle/last), billing and shipping addresses, company name (if applicable), email address, phone/fax number (if applicable), transactional information, payment type (VISA, Check, Cash, etc.), and other information you have provided or may provide in the future, or that we have received from 3rd parties.

To enhance your Micro Center Online experience, we also collect information as to which pages you visit, search terms used, etc. - in order to measure the effectiveness of our website and identify areas for improvement (product selection, site performance and/or to streamline the purchasing processes). We also collect this information to create a more personalized online shopping experience and personalized marketing campaigns based on your preferences.

Last Updated

December 7, 2020

Sources

Source #1 ↗

Contributors

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