Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how AquaMaris (referred to as "we", "us", or "our"), operating under the domain aquamaris-store.com, collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information when you use our ecommerce platform dedicated to Professional Aquatic Husbandry. Protecting your privacy is a priority, especially in the context of online transactions and sensitive customer data. Any questions or requests regarding this policy should be directed exclusively to contact@aquamaris-store.com.

1. Information We Collect

As an ecommerce business serving the professional aquatic husbandry sector (including aquarium equipment, water treatment supplies, aquatic animal health products, and husbandry tools), we collect various types of personal information to process orders, provide customer support, improve our services, and comply with legal obligations.

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you interact with our ecommerce store, you may provide us with the following categories of information:

  • Account information: Full name, email address, password (encrypted), and optionally phone number when you register for an account on aquamaris-store.com.
  • Order and transaction information: Billing address, shipping address, payment method details (credit card information is processed by our PCI-compliant payment processors — we do not store full card numbers), order history, purchase amounts, and product selections (e.g., filtration systems, UV sterilizers, professional testing kits).
  • Customer support communications: Any information you provide when you contact us via email (contact@aquamaris-store.com), including order numbers, product inquiries, return requests, or technical support for aquatic husbandry products.
  • User-generated content: Product reviews, ratings, testimonials, and forum posts (if enabled) related to your experience with our products.
  • Marketing preferences: Your choices regarding receiving promotional emails, newsletters, or special offers about professional aquatic husbandry.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you browse our ecommerce website, we automatically collect certain information via cookies and similar technologies (see our Cookie Policy for more details):

  • Device and browser information: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device identifiers, screen resolution, and language settings.
  • Usage data: Pages viewed, products clicked, search queries (e.g., "protein skimmer", "live rock substitute", "aquarium test kit"), time spent on pages, navigation paths, and referral source (e.g., search engine, social media, direct link).
  • Ecommerce interaction data: Items added to cart, abandoned cart information, checkout behavior, coupon usage, and purchase completion status.

1.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from trusted third-party sources to enhance our ecommerce operations, including:

  • Payment processors: Confirmation of payment status and transaction ID (but not full financial details).
  • Shipping carriers: Tracking updates and delivery confirmation for orders placed on our store.
  • Fraud prevention services: Risk assessment data to protect our customers and business from fraudulent transactions.
  • Analytics providers: Aggregated demographic or interest data that helps us understand our customer base (aquarium professionals, hobbyists, commercial hatcheries).

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected personal information for the following purposes related to our ecommerce and Professional Aquatic Husbandry operations:

  • Order fulfillment: To process, ship, and deliver products you purchase, including sending order confirmations, shipping updates, and invoices.
  • Customer service: To respond to your inquiries, handle returns or exchanges, provide technical support for aquatic husbandry products, and resolve disputes.
  • Account management: To create and maintain your user account, authenticate your identity, and remember your preferences (e.g., favorite product categories).
  • Payment processing and fraud prevention: To securely process payments, verify transactions, and prevent unauthorized or fraudulent activities.
  • Improving our ecommerce store: To analyze shopping trends, monitor website performance, and optimize product offerings (e.g., identifying which aquatic equipment is most popular).
  • Marketing and communications: To send you promotional emails, newsletters, and special offers (only if you have opted in). You may unsubscribe at any time.
  • Legal compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, court orders, or tax obligations (e.g., record-keeping for sales).
  • Security: To protect our website, customers, and business from cyber threats, attacks, and other malicious activities.

3. Legal Basis for Processing (for GDPR and similar regulations)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or other jurisdictions with similar data protection laws, we rely on the following legal bases for processing your personal information:

  • Contractual necessity: Processing is necessary to fulfill our contract with you (e.g., processing your order, delivering products, handling returns).
  • Legitimate interests: We have a legitimate business interest in improving our ecommerce services, preventing fraud, sending non-marketing communications, and analyzing customer behavior, provided that such interests are not overridden by your privacy rights.
  • Consent: For marketing emails, optional cookies, and certain data sharing activities, we obtain your explicit consent (which you may withdraw at any time).
  • Legal obligation: Processing is required to comply with legal and regulatory requirements (e.g., tax laws, consumer protection).

4. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. However, we may share your information with the following categories of recipients to operate our ecommerce business effectively:

  • Service providers: Third-party vendors who assist with payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, etc.), shipping and logistics (e.g., FedEx, UPS, DHL), email delivery, cloud hosting, analytics (Google Analytics), and customer support tools. These parties are contractually obligated to use your data only for the services they provide to us and to maintain its confidentiality.
  • Payment partners: Financial institutions and payment gateways that process transactions on our behalf. They receive only the information necessary to complete the payment (e.g., amount, billing address).
  • Legal and regulatory authorities: When required by law, subpoena, court order, or governmental request, or to protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of our customers or others.
  • Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email or prominent notice on our website of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information.
  • With your consent: For any other purpose disclosed to you and with your explicit consent.
Ecommerce note: We never share your personal information with unrelated third parties for their own marketing purposes without your explicit opt-in consent. All sharing is limited to the essential operation of our Professional Aquatic Husbandry ecommerce store.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (e.g., tax, accounting, or legal compliance). Specific retention periods:

  • Account information: Retained for as long as you maintain an active account with us. If you close your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within 90 days, except where retention is required for legal or fraud prevention purposes.
  • Order history and transaction records: Retained for 7 years to comply with tax and accounting regulations.
  • Customer support communications: Retained for 3 years from the date of last interaction to assist with warranty or product issues.
  • Marketing preferences: Retained until you opt out or unsubscribe, plus a reasonable period thereafter to honor your request.
  • Cookies and analytics data: Retained as described in our Cookie Policy (generally up to 26 months for analytics identifiers).

After the retention period expires, we will securely delete or anonymize your personal information so that it can no longer be linked to you.

6. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location (e.g., EEA, UK, California, Canada, etc.), you may have certain rights regarding your personal information. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@aquamaris-store.com. We will respond within the timeframes required by applicable law (usually 30 days).

6.1 Rights available to all users

  • Access and portability: You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you and receive it in a structured, machine-readable format.
  • Correction (rectification): You may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
  • Deletion (right to be forgotten): You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to legal exceptions (e.g., outstanding orders, tax obligations).
  • Restriction of processing: You may ask us to temporarily limit how we use your data under certain circumstances.
  • Objection to processing: You may object to processing based on legitimate interests (including direct marketing).
  • Withdraw consent: If we rely on your consent (e.g., marketing emails, non-essential cookies), you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before withdrawal.

6.2 California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, including the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to opt out of "sales" of personal information (we do not sell your data), and the right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights. To make a verifiable request, please email contact@aquamaris-store.com.

6.3 How to exercise your rights

To submit a request, please email contact@aquamaris-store.com with the subject line "Privacy Request" and include your full name, email address associated with your account, and a description of your request. We may need to verify your identity before processing the request (e.g., by asking you to confirm recent order details). Authorized agents may submit requests on your behalf with written proof of authorization.

7. Security of Your Information

We take the security of your personal information seriously, especially given the financial and transactional nature of ecommerce. We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

  • Encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our website is encrypted using TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocol. Sensitive data (such as payment credentials) is encrypted at rest.
  • Access controls: Only authorized personnel who need access to your data for legitimate business purposes (e.g., customer support, order processing) can view it.
  • Regular security assessments: We conduct vulnerability scans and penetration testing to identify and remediate potential risks.
  • PCI compliance: We adhere to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) for handling cardholder data.
  • Employee training: Our team members receive regular training on data protection and privacy best practices.

While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. If you believe your account or data has been compromised, please contact us immediately at contact@aquamaris-store.com.

8. International Data Transfers

Our ecommerce business is operated from servers located in various jurisdictions, and we may transfer your personal information to countries other than your own. For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), we ensure that adequate safeguards are in place for such transfers, including Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission. By using our website and providing your information, you consent to the transfer, storage, and processing of your data in countries that may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

9. Children's Privacy

Our ecommerce platform is intended for adults and professionals engaged in aquatic husbandry. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at contact@aquamaris-store.com. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

10. Third-Party Links

Our ecommerce website may contain links to third-party websites (e.g., product manufacturers, educational resources for aquatic husbandry). This Privacy Policy does not apply to those external sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such third parties. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any website you visit after leaving aquamaris-store.com.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our ecommerce practices, legal requirements, or the aquatic husbandry industry. The "Effective date" at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email (if you have an account) or by posting a prominent notice on our website. Your continued use of the ecommerce platform after the changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

12. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us exclusively at the following email address. We are committed to resolving any privacy-related issues in a timely and transparent manner.

Email: contact@aquamaris-store.com

For data protection inquiries, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority (if you are in the EEA), but we encourage you to contact us first so we can address your concerns directly.

Privacy Policy summary for aquamaris-store.com ecommerce: We collect personal data necessary for order processing, account management, and improving our Professional Aquatic Husbandry store. We do not sell your data. You have rights to access, correct, delete, or restrict processing of your information. Only essential third parties (payment, shipping, analytics) receive limited data. Contact contact@aquamaris-store.com for any privacy matters.