Print
The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota (BBB)
is committed to maintaining your confidence and trust, and
accordingly maintains the following privacy policy to protect your
personal information.
Personal Information that the BBB May
Collect
The BBB collects the following types of personal information:
names, postal and email addresses, phone and fax numbers, billing
information, and complaint and inquiry information. The 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.
The BBB does not collect or maintain information from those
actually known to be under the age of 13, and no part of our
website is structured to attract anyone under the age of 13.
How the BBB May Use Personal Information
Unless you consent, the BBB will use your personal information
for the purpose for which it was submitted such as to reply to
inquiries, send a monthly consumer newsletter, 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.
At certain points where personal information is collected on our
site, there may be a box where you may indicate you would like to
be on either a mailing list to receive a BBB Newsletter,
information about other BBB programs or services and about ways to
support the BBB and its Foundation. At any time you can add or
remove your name from a BBB list by contacting us at unsubscribe@thefirstbbb.org.
How Your Information May Be Shared
In order to process complaints against businesses, the BBB will
transfer 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 for CBBB to research industry marketplace
practices. Just as in any research we may do, BBB 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 ask@thefirstbbb.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.
The BBB's Commitment to Security
The 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 the BBB.
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. The BBB
uses non-identifying cookies to provide easier site navigation and
access to forms. You can still use the 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 the BBB's compliance with this
privacy policy, you may contact us at ask@thefirstbbb.org.
Social Media Sharing.
#BBBis100