This policy documents our commitment to safeguarding your privacy and describes our collection, use and disclosure of the information that we may collect.
Effective Date: August 2019
Lithia Motors, Inc. and its dealers (together, "Lithia" or "we") respect your individual privacy. This Privacy Policy documents our commitment to safeguarding your privacy and describes our collection, use and disclosure of the information that we may collect from you through the web sites www.lithia.com, www.lithiacares.com, www.lithiajobs.com, www.lithiacareers.com, and through any of our dealership web sites (each a "Site" and collectively the "Sites"). This Privacy Policy covers the following areas:
By accessing or using the Site(s), you consent to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please do not access or use the Site(s). We may modify or update this Privacy Policy periodically with or without prior notice by posting the updated policy on this page. You can always check the "Effective Date" date at the top of this document to see when the Privacy Policy was last changed. If we make any material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by reasonable means, which may be by e-mail or posting a notice of the changes on our Sites prior to the changes becoming effective. We encourage you to check this Privacy Policy from time to time. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY, YOU MUST STOP USING THE SITES AFTER THE LAST EFFECTIVE DATE OF SUCH CHANGES.
By using this Site, you further acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by Lithia's Terms of Service .
Lithia collects two different types of information through the Sites: anonymous information and personal information.
Personal information. Some of the services we provide through the Site(s) requires generic information that is not personally identifiable, such as our vehicle matching feature, which simply requires that you provide information about vehicles (make, model, body style, color, and other vehicle features) you are interested in, or a zip code, or location (U.S. State or range from a given location) where you would like to search for available vehicles (See the "Anonymous Information" section below for more information about our collection of such information).
However, when you use or access some other specialized services available on the Site, we may require the submission of certain personal information. For example, our Sites use a variety of contact forms, chat functions, and tracking phone numbers for visitors to request information about our products and services. In order to provide our services to you, we may request that you provide us with the following personal information:
In limited circumstances, such as when a visitor fills out an online credit application, we collect unique identifiers (like a social security number), and/or financial information (like age, income level, bank account or credit card numbers). We use this information to get in touch with our prospective customers about their requests, and to send them additional information about our products and services. Additionally, we may further use your information to reconnect with you after our initial communication to provide you with notices or information about any new products and services we have to offer.
We also use your IP address and cookies to help identify you after you have created an order or otherwise have provided personal information to us. Note that once you submit personal information, some of it may be contained in or linked to a cookie (such as IP address, phone number, email address, zip code, etc.). The only time that we receive such personal information is when you volunteer it by submitting it to us.
We use cookies with personal information so that our Site can remember you, enhance your online visit with us, and provide you with the information you're most likely to need. For instance, when you return to our web Site, cookies identify you and prompt the Site to provide your username (not your password), so you can sign in more quickly. Cookies also allow our Site to remind you of your past vehicle search interests and website activity and to suggest similar products and services. In some cases, cookies may improve your shopping experience and we use information gained through cookies to track your website activity and to deliver you content specific information
The financial information we collect is used to check the qualifications of our prospective customers and bill for products and services ordered. If you apply for financing or wish to purchase or lease a car through our online system, we may collect personal information such as your name, address, driver's license number and state, social security number and other credit information. This information goes into a secure database and is used solely to provide the service you requested. The collection, use and storage of your financial information for credit checks, for arranging credit and loans or for purchasing products and services may be subject to additional privacy policies and if so, you will be notified of them at the time of any such collection, use or storage of your financial information as required by law.
Our online surveys may ask visitors for contact information (like an email address or phone number) which they may voluntarily provide. We also may run contests on our Site in which we ask visitors for similar contact information in order to participate. We use contact information from our surveys and contests to send information about products and services to these participating visitors.
Anonymous Information. We also collect anonymous, aggregate information (such as a domain name or IP address) from all visitors to our Sites. For example, you may search our Sites for car models, prices and other information provided through our Sites without ever submitting your name, email address or any other personal information. The anonymous information that we do collect from your visit is never linked to any of your personal information until you voluntarily submit that personal information. Otherwise, the anonymous information is only used in the aggregate to generate statistical reports about the use of our Sites. We may provide this anonymous information in aggregate form to other parties or use it for our own insight or marketing purposes. Our use of this anonymous or aggregate information about our visitors and customers remains in a form that is not linked to any personal information, nor does it otherwise identify any particular visitor or customer. Our ability to use this information is not restricted in any way.
We also use "cookies" and web beacons to collect certain usage information from all customers and visitors to our Sites. A cookie, or web beacon, is a string of data our system sends to your computer and then uses to identify your computer when you return to our web Site. Normally, you can set your web browser to notify you when web sites use cookies and your web browser can allow you to accept or reject the cookie but most browsers are set to accept cookies unless you change the settings. When you receive the cookie, then it will be added to your computer in a file for storing cookies and used when you return to our Sites. Accepting cookies in no way gives us access to your computer or any personal information about you. Cookies are harmless, occupying just a few bytes on your hard drive. Cookies give us usage data, like how often you visit, where you go on the Site, and what you do while on the Site. However, until you submit personal information to us, cookies do not identify you personally.
Lithia does not sell, rent, or share personal information to or with any third party not affiliated with or owned by Lithia, except service providers who may assist us in such areas as our promotions, credit checks, data storage and order processing (See Agents and Vendors below). Lithia will never give or sell your personal information to unaffiliated third parties to be used for the purposes of sending you unsolicited commercial offers (such as spam).
We may, however, use your personal information to send you commercial offers from Lithia or its affiliated companies. You may opt out of these marketing campaigns by sending an email to concernresolution@lithia.com or by calling us at 888-416-9006.
We may also need to contact you for purposes other than marketing, for example to provide notice about the status of the Lithia Sites or the specific services you have requested. We also use this information to the extent necessary to enforce our web Site terms of service and to prevent imminent harm to persons or property. You may not opt-out of these kinds of communications. Consistent with our change policy (see Your Consent and Notification of Changes below), we will post any updates or notices about material changes in our policies on collection and use of your personal information to this Privacy Policy page, our Sites' homepage, and other places we deem appropriate for notifying our visitors and customers of the changes.
We will keep your personal information on our servers available for our active use for a period of eighteen (18) months from the date of collection. After such eighteen (18) month period, we will discontinue use of your personal information, and store it in a secure, encrypted database for archival purposes.
We store information that we collect through log files to create a generic profile of our visitors. Log files record internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser types, search engines, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the Site, diagnose any problems, track a visitor's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. Anonymous information from all visitors is collected but not linked to personal information. A profile is stored information detailing how aggregate visitors use the Site. It is used solely for internal purposes, to help us improve the experience of our visitors and customers. We do not share profiles with any third parties. For certain visitors who have submitted personal information, some otherwise anonymous information is connected to your Site activity and personal account.
This Site supplements the information that you provide with information that we obtain about you from third parties, such as credit bureaus and other sources. We will ask any provider of such information to confirm 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 Policy along with other personal information you've provided.
Lithia may use other companies and individuals to perform certain functions on our behalf. Examples include marketing, credit checking, data and network hosting, service reminders, verification of sales, order processing and fulfillment, administering contact information and 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. We obtain commitments from these agents and vendors working on our behalf (i) to employ appropriate data security programs and measures to protect your personal information, and (ii) to refrain from using any information provided by Lithia to send you unsolicited e-mail messages from third parties or similar communications and from sharing your information with unrelated parties.
We will disclose personal information when required by law, or if we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on us, (b) protect and defend our rights, or (c) protect the rights, property, and other interests of our users or others.
In the event Lithia or any of its dealerships goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, our customers' personal information may be part of the assets transferred. The information transferred or shared remains subject to the promises made in this Privacy Policy, unless you agree to new terms.
This Privacy Policy applies only to our Sites and information collected for us or by us through our Sites and through various features and online offerings on the Sites. It does not apply to any third party site or service linked to our Sites or recommended or referred by our Sites or by our staff. For information on a third party's information collection, use and disclosure practices, please review the privacy policy on the applicable third party's website. Lithia is not responsible for the websites, content or privacy practices of any third party.
Lithia takes commercially reasonable precautions to protect your personal information. For example, we encrypt communications through our Site with commercial strength encryption (Port 443) generally used by our industry. However, given the nature of the Internet and the fact that network security measures are not perfect, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information. We maintain notification procedures as part of our information security policy, to be used in the event of a data security breach. If we are required to provide notice to you of a data security breach, the notice will be provided in electronic form.
While we use encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also make an effort to protect your information off-line. All of our customers' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personal information. All employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Finally, the servers that store your personal information are housed in a secure environment.
When registering for access to a secure area of the Site, we may ask you to select a user name and password or use other login information. We will never ask you for a password or login information in an unsolicited phone call or in an unsolicited email. Also, remember to sign out of the registered Site and close your browser window when you have finished your visit. This is to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence when accessing your computer.
If you have any questions about the security at our Site, you can send a message to the webmaster at compserv@lithia.com.
If your personal information changes, you may contact us at the address below to correct, update or delete and deactivate our record of your personal information.
By using any of our Sites or submitting information to us online, you agree that we may collect and use this information as stated in this Privacy Policy at the time we collect the information. If we decide to change our Privacy Policy in any material way, for a reasonable time we will post a notice to this Privacy Policy page, on the Site's homepage and on any other pages or locations we deem important to alert you about the change in our privacy and information collection practices. In some cases, we may attempt to contact you through an email or other address you have provided to give you information and choices about our using your personal information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection. In addition, if we make any material changes in our privacy practices that affect your personal information already stored in our database, we apply those changes to the personal information in our possession only with your consent or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
Our Site provides visitors and customers the opportunity to opt-out of receiving specific types of communications from us and our partners at the point where we request information about the visitor or customer. In addition, you may unsubscribe or opt out of all future communications from us at any time by removing your contact and personal information from our marketing and communications databases by (1) calling the number listed below or (2) clicking the unsubscribe link on any email marketing communication you receive, (3) by sending an email to concernresolution@lithia.com or (4) by calling LithiaCares at 888-416-9006.
Lithia's Sites are intended for use solely in the United States by U.S. residents. Lithia makes no claims that the Site is appropriate for use outside of the United States. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from non-U.S. residents. Information gathered through the Site(s) will be transferred, used, and stored on servers stored in the United States. If you use the Site(s), you agree to the transfer, use, and storage of your Personal Information (as defined below) in the United States. If you believe that we may have any information from or about a non-U.S. resident, please email us at lithiacares@lithia.com or call us at LithiaCares at 888-416-9006.
If you are a California resident, please note that California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits you to request and obtain from us once a year, free of charge, information about the personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year. If applicable, this information would include a list of the categories of personal information shared and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared information in the immediately preceding calendar year.
If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to:
Lithia Motors, Inc.
Attn: California Privacy Rights
150 N Bartlett St
Medford, OR 97501
Lithia does not knowingly collect or use any personal information from children under the age of 13 and Lithia does not knowingly provide any personal information, regardless of its source, to any third party for any purpose whatsoever from visitors younger than 13 years old. No information should be submitted to or posted at the Sites by visitors younger than 13 years old.
This Privacy Policy applies to all visitors and customers of our Sites, including those consumers and/or customers who apply for and/or receive financing for personal, family or household purposes. If you become an inactive customer, or if we close or suspend your account, we will continue to adhere to the Privacy Policy in place when we collected your personal information so long as we retain it in our databases. We may delete any or all of your information at any time without notice to you for any reason or no reason unless otherwise required by law to retain it. You may have other privacy protections under state laws and we will comply with any applicable state laws when we disclose information about you. This Privacy Policy replaces our previous policy on this topic and any statements or disclosures to you about our information practices.
Lithia Motors, Inc.
Attn: Customer Relations
150 N Bartlett St
Medford, OR 97501
888-416-9006
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