Privacy and Cookies Policy
This Privacy Policy describes how HydroLand ("HydroLand," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and discloses your Personal Information when you visit or make a purchase from our website, www.hydroland.com.au (the "Site"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your Personal Information. By accessing or using our Site, you acknowledge and accept the practices and policies outlined in this Privacy Policy.
Information We Collect
When you visit the Site, we collect certain information about your device, your interaction with the Site, and the information necessary to process your purchases. We may also collect additional information if you contact us for customer support. In this Privacy Policy, we refer to any information about an identifiable individual (including the information below) as “Personal Information”. See the list below for more information about what Personal Information we collect and why.
- Device information
- Purpose of collection: to load the Site accurately for you, and to perform analytics on Site usage to optimize our Site.
- Source of collection: Collected automatically when you access our Site using cookies, log files, web beacons, tags, or pixels.
- Disclosure for a business purpose: shared with our processor Shopify.
- Personal Information collected: version of web browser, IP address, time zone, cookie information, what sites or products you view, search terms, and how you interact with the Site.
- Order information
- Purpose of collection: to provide products or services to you to fulfill our contract, to process your payment information, arrange for shipping, and provide you with invoices and/or order confirmations, communicate with you, screen our orders for potential risk or fraud, and when in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services.
- Source of collection: collected from you.
- Disclosure for a business purpose: shared with our processor Shopify. In addition to Shopify, we may also share this information with other vendors involved in our sales channels, payment gateways, shipping, and fulfillment apps, as necessary to fulfill our commitment to providing exceptional customer support.
- Personal Information collected: name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including credit card numbers or other accepted payment methods, to process your transactions securely and efficiently), email address, and phone number.
- Customer support information
- Purpose of collection: Our collection of customer support information is aimed at enhancing our support interactions and delivering personalized assistance that caters to the unique requirements of our customers.
- Source of collection: This information is gathered directly from customers when they reach out to us for support, either through email, phone, live chat, or other communication channels.
- Disclosure for a business purpose: We may share customer support information with third-party vendors who assist us in providing customer support services.
- Personal Information collected: In addition to the details mentioned above, we may collect other relevant information to better understand and address customer inquiries or issues.
- Purpose of collection: The primary purpose of collecting customer support information is to deliver effective and tailored support services.
- Source of collection: collected from you
- Disclosure for a business purpose: We may disclose customer support information to third-party service providers who help us deliver customer support services.
- Personal Information collected: The information collected may include additional details necessary to provide comprehensive assistance and resolve customer inquiries effectively.
Sharing Personal Information
We share your Personal Information with service providers to help us provide our services and fulfill our contracts with you, as described above. For example:
- We use Shopify to power our online store. You can read more about how Shopify uses your Personal Information here: https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy.
- We may share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful requests for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights.
Behavioural Advertising
As described above, we use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For example:
- We use Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Site. You can read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
- We share information about your use of the Site, your purchases, and your interaction with our ads on other websites with our advertising partners. We collect and share some of this information directly with our advertising partners, and in some cases through the use of cookies or other similar technologies (which you may consent to, depending on your location).
Please note that we carefully select and evaluate these services to ensure they uphold the highest standards of data protection and security. They are contractually bound to handle your Personal Information in a confidential and responsible manner.
For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at https://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.
You can opt out of targeted advertising by:
Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at: https://optout.aboutads.info/.
Marketing
We may use the personal information we have collected to promote and market our products and services to you through channels such as email and SMS. However, we will respect your choice and not use your personal information for marketing purposes if you opt-out of receiving such communications.
Please be aware that when you create an account with us, you agree to receive our marketing communications, and your details will be added to our marketing database for updates about HydroLand and our offerings. Additionally, you can choose to subscribe to our marketing communications by signing up on our website.
How to Unsubscribe
You have the option to unsubscribe from our marketing communications at any time using the following methods:
Emails: Click the "unsubscribe" link provided in any of our emails, usually located at the bottom of the email. Please note that if you have a HydroLand account, we may still need to send you important information about your account or purchases.
SMS: To unsubscribe from SMS marketing, you can simply reply with the stated response word, such as "STOP," or click on the opt-out link provided in the SMS we sent you.
Please remember that you can modify your preferences regarding marketing communications according to your preference.
Using Personal Information
We use your personal information to provide our services to you, which include: offering products for sale, processing payments, shipping and fulfillment of your order, and keeping you up to date on new products, services, and offers.
Controlling your personal information
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
- whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes
- if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by letting us know using our Contact Us information
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.
You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please email us this request using our Contact Us information.
If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
Automatic decision-making
If you are a resident of the EEA, you have the right to object to processing based solely on automated decision-making (which includes profiling), when that decision-making has a legal effect on you or otherwise significantly affects you.
We [DO/DO NOT] engage in fully automated decision-making that has a legal or otherwise significant effect using customer data.
Our processor Shopify uses limited automated decision-making to prevent fraud that does not have a legal or otherwise significant effect on you.
Services that include elements of automated decision-making include:
- Temporary blacklist of IP addresses associated with repeated failed transactions. This blacklist persists for a small number of hours.
- Temporary blacklist of credit cards associated with blacklisted IP addresses. This blacklist persists for a small number of days.
Cookies
A cookie is a small amount of information that’s downloaded to your computer or device when you visit our Site. We use a number of different cookies, including functional, performance, advertising, and social media or content cookies. Cookies make your browsing experience better by allowing the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login and region selection). This means you don’t have to re-enter this information each time you return to the site or browse from one page to another. Cookies also provide information on how people use the website, for instance whether it’s their first time visiting or if they are a frequent visitor.
We use the following cookies to optimize your experience on our Site and to provide our services.
[Be sure to check this list against Shopify’s current list of cookies on the merchant storefront: https://www.shopify.com/legal/cookies ]
List of cookies we collect
Cookies Necessary for the Functioning of the Store
| Name | Function | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _ab | Used in connection with access to admin. | 2y |
| _secure_session_id | Used in connection with navigation through a storefront. | 24h |
| _shopify_country | Used in connection with checkout. | session |
| _shopify_m | Used for managing customer privacy settings. | 1y |
| _shopify_tm | Used for managing customer privacy settings. | 30min |
| _shopify_tw | Used for managing customer privacy settings. | 2w |
| _storefront_u | Used to facilitate updating customer account information. | 1min |
| _tracking_consent | Tracking preferences. | 1y |
| c | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| cart | Used in connection with shopping cart. | 2w |
| cart_currency | Used in connection with shopping cart. | 2w |
| cart_sig | Used in connection with checkout. | 2w |
| cart_ts | Used in connection with checkout. | 2w |
| cart_ver | Used in connection with shopping cart. | 2w |
| checkout | Used in connection with checkout. | 4w |
| checkout_token | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| dynamic_checkout_shown_on_cart | Used in connection with checkout. | 30min |
| hide_shopify_pay_for_checkout | Used in connection with checkout. | session |
| keep_alive | Used in connection with buyer localization. | 2w |
| master_device_id | Used in connection with merchant login. | 2y |
| previous_step | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| remember_me | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| secure_customer_sig | Used in connection with customer login. | 20y |
| shopify_pay | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| shopify_pay_redirect | Used in connection with checkout. | 30 minutes, 3w or 1y depending on value |
| storefront_digest | Used in connection with customer login. | 2y |
| tracked_start_checkout | Used in connection with checkout. | 1y |
| checkout_one_experiment | Used in connection with checkout. | session |
| checkout_session_lookup | Used in connection with checkout. | 3w |
| checkout_session_token_<<token>> | Used in connection with checkout. | 3w |
| identity-state | Used in connection with customer authentication. | 24h |
| identity-state-<<token>> | Used in connection with customer authentication. | 24h |
| identity_customer_account_number | Used in connection with customer authentication. | 12w |
Reporting and Analytics
| Name | Function | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _landing_page | Track landing pages. | 2w |
| _orig_referrer | Track landing pages. | 2w |
| _s | Shopify analytics. | 30min |
| _shopify_d | Shopify analytics. | session |
| _shopify_s | Shopify analytics. | 30min |
| _shopify_sa_p | Shopify analytics relating to marketing & referrals. | 30min |
| _shopify_sa_t | Shopify analytics relating to marketing & referrals. | 30min |
| _shopify_y | Shopify analytics. | 1y |
| _y | Shopify analytics. | 1y |
| _shopify_ga | Shopify and Google Analytics. | session |
| customer_auth_provider | Shopify analytics. | session |
| customer_auth_session_created_at | Shopify analytics. | session |
The length of time that a cookie remains on your computer or mobile device depends on whether it is a “persistent” or “session” cookie. Session cookies last until you stop browsing and persistent cookies last until they expire or are deleted. Most of the cookies we use are persistent and will expire between 30 minutes and two years from the date they are downloaded to your device.
You can control and manage cookies in various ways. Please keep in mind that removing or blocking cookies can negatively impact your user experience and parts of our website may no longer be fully accessible.
Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can choose whether or not to accept cookies through your browser controls, often found in your browser’s “Tools” or “Preferences” menu. For more information on how to modify your browser settings or how to block, manage or filter cookies can be found in your browser’s help file or through such sites as: www.allaboutcookies.org.
Additionally, please note that blocking cookies may not completely prevent how we share information with third parties such as our advertising partners. To exercise your rights or opt-out of certain uses of your information by these parties, please follow the instructions in the “Behavioural Advertising” section above.
Do Not Track
Please note that because there is no consistent industry understanding of how to respond to “Do Not Track” signals, we do not alter our data collection and usage practices when we detect such a signal from your browser.
Changes
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons.
Complaints
As noted above, if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us by e-mail or by mail using the details provided under “Contact” above.
Last updated: 20/09/2023