Children's Online Privacy Policy
- The Sears Promise
- What type of information does sears.com collect from children?
- What does Sears do with this information?
- How does Sears obtain verifiable parental consent from parents or guardians?
- How may I review the information that my child provided to Sears?
- Will I receive notice of changes to the Privacy Policy?
The Sears Promise
Sears.com Children's Online Privacy Policy
We value the trust you place in Sears, Roebuck and Co. ("Sears") and the companies which Sears owns and operates ("affiliates"). Accordingly, Sears adheres to the highest ethical standards in gathering, using and safeguarding children's online information that is entrusted to the company.
This privacy policy addresses Sears general policy regarding the following:
- collection of children's personal information
- use of children's personal information
- the method of obtaining parental consent
- the method of obtaining access to the child's information
Each Sears site that may be directed to children under 13 will contain a specific version of our Children's Online Privacy Policy that will address specifically each of the points listed above for that site.
What type of information does Sears collect from children?
Some Sears websites may collect online contact information from children under the age of 13 in order to respond once to a specific request from a child. For example, some Sears websites may allow children to submit questions and get a response from a Sears expert. Online contact information that is collected in this manner will be deleted after a response is made to the child.
Some Sears websites may collect online contact information from children under the age of 13 in order to respond more than once to a specific request from a child or to protect the safety of the child. For example, some Sears websites may collect online contact information to allow a child to sign up for an online newsletter. Each Sears website that collects such online contact information requires the child to provide either a parent's or guardian's e-mail address or a parent's or guardian's street address so that Sears can send the child's parent or guardian a notice regarding Sears children's online information practices. In such situations, the contact information is only used to respond to the child's request and to notify the child's parent or guardian that the child contacted Sears. Sears will not condition a child's participation in an activity on the provision of more information than is reasonably necessary for the activity.
Sears does not rent or sell customer information, including information provided by children, to outside marketers. In certain circumstances, Sears may share customer information with trusted service providers that need access to your information to provide operational or other support services. To ensure the confidentiality and security of this information, service providers must agree to safeguard all information in strict compliance with our policy.
In certain circumstances, sears.com may share your customer information with trusted service providers that need access to your information to provide operational or other support services. To ensure the confidentiality and security of your information, service providers must agree to safeguard your information in strict compliance with our policy. Additionally, when you apply for a Sears credit card on-line, Sears may share information about your application with credit bureaus. We also may provide information to regulatory authorities and law enforcement officials in accordance with applicable law or when we otherwise believe in good faith that the law requires it. In the event of a sale of all or part of one of our businesses, we may share customer information related to that business as part of the transaction.
How does Sears obtain verifiable parental consent from parents or guardians?
Some Sears websites may collect online contact information from children under the age of 13 for participation in promotions or ongoing programs. Each Sears website that collects such information uses reasonable efforts to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting such information from a child. Parents or guardians are required to demonstrate their consent for their child's participation in the promotion or program by submitting a signed consent form to Sears, by calling an 800-number, by submitting a credit card number, or by submitting an e-mail message. The method of parental consent will vary, depending upon the specific promotion or program. Additional consent mechanisms may be used in the future. Whenever parental consent is obtained, the parent or guardian will be asked to choose or be given an identification code so that Sears can identify and authenticate future requests from that parent or guardian.
How may I review the information that my child provided to Sears?
Parents or guardians whose children have provided information to Sears may review the information provided by their child by sending an e-mail message to webmaster@customerservice.sears.com or to the e-mail address listed on the sears.com site that collected their child's information. For verification and security purposes, Sears may request that such parental requests must contain the parent's or guardian's name and identification code as well as a valid e-mail address, a street address, or a phone number. Parents or guardians may also request that Sears delete their child's information. If such a parental request is received, Sears will make all reasonable efforts to delete the information from its files.
Will I receive notice of changes to the Children's Privacy Policy?
As mentioned above, this policy is subject to change and the changes will become effective immediately. If there are material changes to this policy, we will provide notice of the changes by posting the amended policy on sears.com and by revising the effective date of the Children's Privacy Policy textual link appearing at the bottom of the page.
Effective Date: July 1, 2004
