American Shea Butter Institute

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At The American Shea Butter Institute, we respect our clients and understand that you are concerned about privacy, so we've instituted policies intended to ensure that your personal information is handled safely and responsibly. We also have posted this privacy policy to let you know what kind of information we collect, how it is handled, with whom it may be shared, what choices you have regarding our use of your information, and how you may access some of the data you provide to us.

As we continue to develop our Web site and take advantage of technologies to improve the services we offer, this policy likely will change. We therefore encourage you to refer to this policy on an ongoing basis so that you understand our current privacy policy.

What Information Do We Collect?

We collect various types of information depending upon how you use our site.

When you order from us, we collect your name, address, email address, phone number, and credit card number (with expiration date). We also gather information on the person listed in the ship to section and will retain a record of your purchases.

When you join our online mailing list, we collect your email address only.

This information is gathered to make the visit better for our valued customers.

At Checkout, we collect the above information, as well as a credit card number and a billing and shipping address.

What Are Cookies and Do We Use Them?

A cookie is a small piece of information sent by a Web site that is saved on your hard disk by your computer's browser. It holds information a site may need to interact with you and personalize your experience. On this website, we use two kinds of cookies: session cookies and persistent cookies.

Session cookies exist only for as long as your browser remains open. Once you exit your browser, they go away. We use session cookies to maintain information we need to have in order for you to shop at the American Shea Butter Institute. For example, the Session ID cookie that we ask your browser to hold retains the ID for your shopping cart. Without the Session ID cookie, you can't add items to your cart and carry it to Checkout.

Persistent cookies, in contrast, last from visit to visit; they do not go away when you exit your browser. At the American Shea Butter Institute, we are preparing to use persistent cookies to give you a more personalized experience and to help you navigate our site more efficiently. We will use your information to enhance your site experience. However, you can use our site without accepting a persistent cookie. To do so, you should set your browser options to reject persistent cookies. Alternatively, you can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, which gives you the opportunity to decide whether you want to accept it or not. In many instances, the Help button on your browser toolbar will tell you how you can take these steps.

In a physical store, we can observe which aisles and departments are most heavily trafficked and determine what displays or sales are the most successful. Then, we can identify ways to improve the customer experience. Similarly, on the Web, cookies help us develop a similar understanding so that we can continue to improve the arrangement, product offerings, and merchandise placement you see on our site.

How Do We Use Your Information?

We may use your information in a number of ways, including the following:

To improve the content on our Web site. For example, we may use cookies to find out which parts of our site or our products are visited most often.

For marketing and promotional purposes. For example, we send out emails to our customers about products or events that we think may be of interest to them. We also may send you offers for discounts or free services on our site.

Do We Share Your Information?

No, we value your privacy and your business! Your information will never be shared with a third party.

Is My Information Secure?

The American Shea Butter Institute is committed to doing its best to maintain the security of information collected on our site. To try to prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place the appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Private account and customer information is located on a secured server behind a firewall; it is not directly connected to the Internet.

Encryption is a process by which a message or information is scrambled while it is in transit to our site. It is based on a key that has two different parts, public and private. The public part of the key is distributed to those with whom you want to communicate. The private part is for the recipient's use only. So long as you use a browser that allows for encryption, when you send personal information to us, you use a public key to encrypt your personal information. If your information is intercepted during the transmission, it is scrambled and very difficult to decrypt. Once we receive your encrypted personal information, we use the private part of our key to decode it.