PRIVACY POLICY
Effective Date: March 25, 2025
This policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes how www.gottex-swimwear.com (the “Site”) collects and uses the information of its users. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully, as it applies each time a user accesses the Site and uses their services. By using and accessing the Site, you accept the terms of this Privacy Policy.
The Site is operated by Swimsuit Commissions Corp., with an address at 550 7th Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10018 (“Gottex” or “we”). The words “user”, “you” and “your” in this Privacy Policy refer to a user of the Site.
By using the Site, you represent that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy, the Site’s Terms and Conditions of Use, Terms and Conditions of Sale, and the Return Policy (collectively, the “Website Policies”). If you do not agree with the Policies, please do not access or use the Site. Gottex reserves the right to modify and/or discontinue the Site, at any time, for any reason and without notice.
I. Types of Information We Collect from Users and How We Collect it
When you use the Site, we may collect your (i) personal information (data that personally identifies you), or (ii) aggregate information, concerning your use of the Site and your account activity (e.g., number and times of logins, most frequently visited pages, IP address, etc.), which does not personally identify you.
We collect the categories of personal information outlined below from the following sources:
A. Information Provided by You
The categories of personal information we may collect from you include:
• Account Information. We may collect personal information that you provide when you register for an account to use our services and purchase our products, which may include your name, email, password, account preferences, such as preferred language, and any other information necessary to set up your account;
• Inquiries. We may collect personal information that you provide when you contact us and inquire about our services and products, such as your name, email, phone number, and any other information you provide;
• Purchases and Orders. We may collect personal information that you provide when you place an order through the Site to purchase our products, such as your name, email, shipping address, billing address, phone number and any other information you provide. We may also collect details about the transaction, such as product details, purchase price, quantity, and the date of the transaction. Further, when you make a purchase with us directly online or decide to store your payment information with us, we also need to collect credit card or other payment information. [Please note that we do not collect and maintain your payment information directly, instead we utilize a third-party payment processor to collect and facilitate all online payments on our behalf. Additionally, if you choose to store your payment information on your account, such information will be stored by the payment processor and not with us directly. Please see the section on how we share information with our payment processor below for more information;
• Promotions and Loyalty Program. If you enter a contest, sweepstakes, or other promotion, or complete a survey, or join our loyalty program, we collect information about you, such as your name, username, date of birth, address, email address, phone number, and ZIP code and any other information that needs to be provided to participate in the promotion, as described by the relevant terms in each instance.
• Marketing Communications. If you sign up to receive news or alerts from us, via email [or text message] we collect your [name, email, phone number and applicable interests and communication preferences] in order to send you regular updates about the products and services we provide. By providing your email address to Gottex, you might be automatically enrolled in our newsletter, subject to your right to opt-out of our marketing communications as outlined below. You will not receive text messages from us unless you opt-in to receive such communications.
Please be aware that if you do not allow us to collect certain personal information from you, we may not be able to deliver certain services to you, and some of our services may not be able to take account of your interests and preferences. If collection of personal information is mandatory, we will make that clear at the point of collection so that you can make an informed decision whether to provide your information.
B. Automatically Collected Information
When you access or use our Site, some information not associated with specific users, such as device type, location information, IP address, cookie identifiers, webpage traffic, and access time is automatically collected in order to ensure the Site’s functionality. Once your user profile is created, anytime you log in, we will collect additional information and add it to your user profile, such as the products you have ordered, and any other information that may be available from time to time.
Cookies. The Site uses cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s computer for record keeping purposes. Cookies can be either session cookies or persistent cookies. A session cookie expires when you close your browser and is used to make it easier for you to navigate our Site. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time.
We use cookies to identify you when you access the Site, to personalize your experience on the Site, to provide ads, marketing communications and social media features, to analyze our traffic and customers’ interactions with advertising banners, and to identify repeat visitors for statistical purposes. We also share information about your use of the Site with our social media, and advertising partners, who may combine it with other information that you have provided to them or that they have collected from your use of their services.
When you first visit our Site, we provide you with a choice to either accept or deny certain cookies. If you choose to decline cookies, please note that some of the features and services of the Site may not function as well as intended. Even if you choose to accept cookies, you are always free to change your mind and revoke that consent. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies. Please note that the Site uses certain cookies that are fundamentally necessary for the Site to work and allow you to use the functions of our services. Without this type of cookies, you cannot receive the requested services. These cookies enable services that you have specifically requested and allow you to use the Site’s features (e.g., logging in). We need these cookies to provide you with our services and you cannot deny necessary cookies.
C. Third-Party Sources
We may receive personal information about you from our business partners and service providers (such as advertising partners, data analytics providers, and mailing lists providers), or other third parties to whom you have provided your information, and consented to the sale, rental or transfer thereof, and combine this information with other information we collect from you. Occasionally, we may obtain information about you from third parties such as a data aggregator or vendor who provide us with additional information about our existing customers.
Social Media. When accessing the Site through a third-party social media site and/or application, we may access some of your information from your social media account, such as name, email address, and profile picture. Please note that some aggregate information, that does not personally identify you, such as content viewed on the social media site/application, may also be collected by us if you access the Site through a third-party social media site. Further, if you have consented on a third-party social media site to sharing your personal information with other third parties, we may collect your personal information that is part of your profile or that you post publicly, such as your basic account information and any other additional information or activities that you permit the third party social network to share with third parties or that you post publicly on a Gottex social networking page.
Please note that this Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party social media sites, and you should always refer to the privacy policies of the relevant social media sites for information concerning their collection and processing of information.
D. Communications with Gottex
Customer Service. If you fill out a questionnaire or contact our Customer Service department by phone or by email, we will collect certain personal information from you, such as your name, address, email address and phone number. We may need to use your personal information to further contact you to respond to your inquiry or request.
Live Chat. If you use the live chat feature on our Site, we will collect certain information from you such as your name, email address, and information about why you are chatting with us. Some of that information may be considered sensitive personal information as it may reveal your gender, race, national origin, etc. We only collect this information in order to communicate with you, address why you are chatting with us, and ensure that you have a great customer experience. Our live chat is operated by a third-party service provider, who can use such information only in compliance with this Privacy Policy to provide customer service and for no other purpose.
Texts. If you have signed up to receive text messages from us, we may collect information from you through one of our inbound text messaging programs. You agree to receive recurring automated promotional and personalized marketing text (e.g., SMS and MMS) and other messages (e.g., cart reminders) from Gottex to the mobile telephone number you provided when signing up or any other number that you designate. Consent to receive automated marketing text messages is not a condition of any purchase. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary. Our text messaging program is operated by a third-party service provider, who can use such information only in compliance with this Privacy Policy and for no other purpose.
II. How We Use Your Information
Your information is processed using primarily electronic means and is used, without limitation, for the following purposes
• Order Fulfillment. We use information collected to process and ship your order(s), to inform you about the status of your order(s), facilitate any returns and to follow up with you about your satisfaction with the ordered products;
• Service. We use information collected to provide our services and to follow up with you about your satisfaction with the services;
• Account Activity. We may use information collected to maintain your account with us (e.g., account verification), including administering any programs associated with such accounts, to communicate with you regarding your account and for customer support purposes;
• Customization. We may use information collected to monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our products and services in order to manage and optimize your browsing experience. Further, we may use the information collected to provide you with product recommendations, offers, content and rewards that are tailored to your interests and profile, and to target advertisements to you on third-party platforms and websites. We may use also information collected to personalize your experience and save you time when you visit our Site (e.g., by remembering your login ID and password);
• Marketing. If you have signed up to receive our newsletter, we may use this information to send you marketing communications, such as email communications, mobile messages (including text and/or push notifications), and postal mailings. These communications may inform you about new products, special discounts and other news and special offers. On occasion, these communications may also contain information or offers about third-party products;
• Product and Site Development. We may use personal information to create non-identifiable information that we may use, alone or in the aggregate with information obtained from other sources, in order to help us optimally deliver our existing products and services, develop new products and services, or conduct statistical analyses to the functioning of the Site. From time to time, Gottex may perform research (online and offline) via surveys (directly or through third parties) to help us better serve our customers by learning more about their needs and the quality of the products and services we provide. Anonymized and aggregated information is used for a variety of functions, including the measurement of Site visitors’ interest in and use of various portions or features of the Site;
• Contests and Promotions. We may use information collected to administer the loyalty program, facilitate contests, sweepstakes, giveaway, competition, or other similar marketing campaign or promotion. To comply with sweepstakes laws, we may publish or share limited information about promotion winners (such as name and city of residence). For more information about our contests and other promotions, please see the official rules or details that will be posted with each promotion;
• Customer Service. If you have requested further information, contacted customer service or in any other way requested that we contact you, we will use your personal information to respond to such a request. We may also use your information to ensure we are providing the highest level of customer service, and to identify any potential gaps or potential improvements to the same. Further, we may use information collected to send you security alerts, support messages, and other transactional messages;
• General Business Purposes. We may use information collected for other general business purposes, such as to maintain the day-to-day operation and security of our Site, to protect the integrity of our business, and for analytics, auditing and technical assistance purposes. Further, we might use the information collected to secure online transactions, prevent fraud and payment incidents, and manage debt collection;
• Corporate Purposes. We may use information collected to evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Gottex’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by Gottex about our Site users is among the assets transferred; and
• Legal Purposes. We may collect and use personal information to enforce our contracts, including our Website Policies, to resolve disputes, to carry out our obligations and enforce our rights, and to protect our business interests and the interests and rights of third parties. We also collect information in order to comply with certain legal rules and regulations that we are subject to, and as required by law enforcement and/or regulatory authorities.
III. How We Protect Your Information
The Site uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) software and similar encrypting systems to protect your information when you purchase products on the Site. Only employees, contractors and agents of the Site operator may access user information on a need-to-know basis and only for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy.
We apply the necessary precautions to guarantee the confidentiality and security of your data and we ask our partners to maintain a similar level of protection as we provide for your personal data.
While we make reasonable efforts to ensure your information is processed and stored in a secure manner, we cannot guarantee the security of data transferred over the Internet and you assume the risk of any such transfer.
IV. Where We Store Your Information
Your information will be collected and stored in the United States.
V. Sharing Your Information
We will not sell or otherwise disclose your information, except as described in this section and other relevant sections of this Privacy Policy.
Generally, we share your personal information as necessary to provide the services or products you request. We also may share your personal information when required by law, to protect your rights and safety, and with your consent. Specifically, we may share your personal information with third parties, including:
• Affiliated Brands and Companies. We may share your information with companies affiliated with Gottex, including licensees and joint venture partners, who may be located outside the United States. These parties may only use your information in compliance with this Privacy Policy;
• Authorized Service Providers. We may retain third-party service providers in order to process your data in connection with the services provided on the Site. These services may include but are not limited to IT support, website hosting, customer service, payment processing, marketing communications, analytics, logistics, order fulfillment, financing, and fraud prevention. Third parties who perform these operations are only permitted to use the information provided to them to perform their function and for no other purpose;
• Advertising and Other Partners. We may allow third parties through an advertising network to target custom content and ads to you on the Site. We may also share your information with third-party companies Gottex partners with, in order to provide you with integrated services and for their own marketing purposes;
• Data Aggregators. We may disclose aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you, to data aggregators. We process, maintain, and use this information only in a de-identified fashion and will not attempt to re-identify such information, except as permitted by law;
• Successors in Interest. In the event there is a change in the corporate structure of Gottex including, without limitation, by merger, consolidation, sale, liquidation, transfer of substantial assets, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy, we may, in our sole discretion, transfer, sell or assign users’ information collected on and through the Site to one or more affiliated or unaffiliated third parties or successor in interest. Please note that the information can be used only in accordance with this policy after any such corporate event, unless the users otherwise agree;
• Professional Advisors. We may disclose personal information to our legal, financial, insurance and other professional advisors where necessary to obtain advice or otherwise protect and manage our business interests; and
• Law Enforcement. We may disclose a user’s information when required to do so to comply with applicable law or legal process or to respond to a request from law enforcement and/or regulatory authorities. We may also provide your information in situations where we believe disclosure is appropriate in connection with efforts to investigate, prevent, or take other action regarding illegal activity, suspected fraud or other wrongdoing, to protect and defend the rights, property, or safety of our company, our consumers, our employees, or others, or to enforce our Website Policies or other agreements or policies.
VI. How Long We Store Your Personal Information For
Gottex retains your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected, provide our services, resolve disputes, establish legal defenses, conduct audits, pursue legitimate business purposes, enforce our agreements, and comply with applicable laws. When we are no longer required to retain the personal information as described above, we will destroy, erase, or de-identify it, unless we are legally required to maintain it for longer.
VII. Links to Third-Party Sites
The Site may contain links to third-party websites. We do not operate, control, monitor, endorse or guarantee those third-party websites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the collection and use of information by such third-party websites. We suggest that you carefully read the privacy policy and other policies of all third-party websites.
We provide hyperlinks to third-party websites only for the convenience of our users and it is not a recommendation that users access such third-party websites. We do not guarantee the services or goods provided and sold by such third-party websites to Internet users. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF ANY THIRD-PARTY WEBSITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND BY GOTTEX, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY OR NONINFRINGEMENT. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL GOTTEX BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING FROM ANY TRANSACTION BETWEEN YOU AND ANY THIRD-PARTY WEBSITE OR FOR ANY INFORMATION APPEARING ON THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES.
VIII. Changing, Updating, or Removing Your Information
You may update, correct or remove your personal information at any time and free of charge by emailing us at cs@gottexbrand.com. We may ask that you identify yourself and the information you wish to access, change or delete for security purposes, and we will comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable. By removing some of your information, you may not be able to access some of the Site’s features. We may keep some of your personal information if required by law and/or for record keeping purposes.
IX. Opting-Out of Our Marketing Communications
Email. You may unsubscribe from any marketing email communications by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” button included in all of our marketing communications or by contacting us at cs@gottexbrand.com. Note that you will continue to receive transaction-related emails regarding products or services you have requested. We may also send you certain non-promotional communications regarding Gottex and our services and, to the extent permitted by law, you will not be able to opt out of those communications (e.g., communications regarding updates to our Website Policies).
Text. To stop receiving text messages, reply “STOP” to any text message you have received from us. Note that you will continue to receive transaction-related emails regarding services you have requested. We may also send you certain non-promotional communications regarding Gottex and our services and, to the extent permitted by law, you will not be able to opt out of those communications (e.g., communications regarding updates to our Website Policies).
X. Do Not Track Settings
Our Site does recognize Do Not Track signals.
XI. Rights of California Residents
Pursuant to California Civil Code Sec. 1789.3, California resident users are entitled to know that they may file grievances and complaints with the California Department of Consumer Affairs, 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834; or by telephone at (800) 952-5210; or by email to dca@dca.ca.gov. For more information about protecting your privacy, you may wish to visit: www.ftc.gov.
[If you are a resident of California, you may request that we do not share your information with certain affiliates or third-party providers for marketing purposes, and/or you may inquire as to how we have shared your information with third-party providers for marketing purposes. In connection with such request, we will identify the types of information shared and provide you with the names and addresses of the third parties with whom the information was shared. If you would like to receive any such information, please contact us at cs@gottexbrand.com.
XII. Children’s Rights
We do not sell services for purchase by children. If you are under 18 years old, you may use the Site only under the supervision of a parent or guardian. In accordance with the Federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we do not knowingly collect, solicit or use personal information of children under the age of 13 provided without parental consent. Should we become aware that a user under the age of 13 has registered without verifiable parental consent, any such information will be deleted.
XIII. Updates to Our Privacy Policy
Gottex may amend or update all or any portion of this Privacy Policy, at any time, without notice, in its sole discretion. Please access this section regularly to verify if any changes were made to our Privacy Policy and to review the updated Privacy Policy.
XIV. Contact Information
If you have any questions or comments about this notice, the ways in which Gottex collects and uses your information described above, your choices and rights regarding such use, please do not hesitate to contact us at cs@gottexbrand.com or 844-643-9050.