Privacy Policy
Effective Date: April 20, 2026 | Last Revised: April 20, 2026
1. Scope and Applicability
This Privacy Policy ("Policy") is issued by Austin Peppers, a sole proprietorship organized and operating under the laws of the State of Texas ("Company," "we," "us," or "our"), and governs the collection, use, disclosure, retention, and protection of personal information obtained through the website located at austinpeppers.com and any associated subdomains, mobile interfaces, or digital properties (collectively, the "Site"), as well as through any offline interactions related to our products and services.
This Policy applies to all visitors, registered users, and customers (collectively, "you" or "User") and constitutes a legally binding agreement between you and the Company. By accessing or using the Site, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and consent to the practices described herein. If you do not agree to this Policy, you must discontinue use of the Site immediately.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Information You Provide Directly
We collect the following categories of personal information that you voluntarily submit:
Identity Data: first name, last name.
Contact Data: billing address, shipping address, email address, telephone number.
Transaction Data: details of products purchased, order history, and payment records. Payment card data is processed exclusively by our third-party payment processor (Shopify Payments) and is not stored on Company servers.
Account Credentials: username and encrypted password if you create an account.
Communications Data: records of correspondence submitted through contact forms, email, or live chat.
Marketing Preferences: your preferences for receiving marketing communications.
2.2 Information Collected Automatically
When you access the Site, we automatically collect:
Technical Data: IP address, browser type and version, device identifiers, operating system, time zone setting, and geographic location derived from IP address.
Usage Data: pages visited, referring URLs, clickstream data, session duration, and search queries entered on the Site.
Cookie and Tracking Data: as described in Section 6 below.
2.3 Information from Third Parties
We may receive personal information about you from analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics), payment processors (e.g., Shopify Payments), and advertising networks, consistent with their respective privacy policies.
3. Legal Bases for Processing
We process your personal information on the following legal bases:
Contractual Necessity: processing required to enter into or perform a contract with you, including fulfilling orders and processing payments.
Legitimate Interests: processing necessary for our legitimate business interests, including fraud prevention, site security, and improving our services, provided such interests are not overridden by your rights.
Legal Obligation: processing necessary to comply with applicable law, regulation, court order, or governmental authority.
Consent: where you have given express consent, including for marketing communications. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
4. How We Use Your Information
We use collected personal information for the following purposes:
To process, fulfill, and communicate regarding your orders, including shipping notifications and delivery confirmations.
To create and manage your account and authenticate your identity.
To respond to customer service inquiries and resolve disputes.
To send transactional communications required for order fulfillment.
To send promotional and marketing communications where you have opted in, in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7701 et seq.
To personalize your experience and deliver relevant content and product recommendations.
To conduct analytics, monitor Site performance, and improve our products and services.
To detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent transactions and other illegal activity.
To comply with legal obligations, including tax reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
5. Disclosure of Personal Information
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may disclose personal information to the following categories of recipients solely as necessary to operate our business:
Service Providers: third-party vendors who process data on our behalf under written data processing agreements, including payment processors (Shopify Inc.), shipping carriers (USPS, UPS, FedEx), and email service providers. These parties are contractually restricted from using your data for any purpose other than providing services to us.
Legal and Regulatory Authorities: where required by applicable law, subpoena, court order, or to protect the legal rights, safety, or property of the Company, its customers, or the public.
Business Transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, asset sale, or other corporate transaction, provided the successor entity agrees to honor this Policy.
6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies, web beacons, pixel tags, and similar tracking technologies to operate the Site and analyze usage patterns. Cookies are categorized as follows:
Strictly Necessary Cookies: essential for Site functionality, including session management and cart persistence. These cannot be disabled.
Performance/Analytics Cookies: collect aggregated, anonymized data about Site usage (e.g., Google Analytics). These are enabled by default but may be disabled.
Marketing/Targeting Cookies: used to deliver relevant advertisements. These are deployed only with your consent where required by law.
You may configure your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. Disabling certain cookies may impair Site functionality. Where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent before deploying non-essential cookies.
7. Data Retention
We retain personal information for no longer than necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, subject to the following minimum retention periods:
Transaction and Order Records: seven (7) years, in compliance with federal and Texas tax recordkeeping requirements.
Account Information: for the duration of your account, plus two (2) years following account closure.
Marketing Consent Records: for the duration of our marketing relationship, plus three (3) years.
Customer Service Communications: three (3) years from date of resolution.
Upon expiration of applicable retention periods, personal information will be securely deleted or anonymized.
8. California Residents — CCPA / CPRA Rights
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (collectively, "CCPA/CPRA") affords you the following rights:
Right to Know: you may request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, our business purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we share information.
Right to Delete: you may request deletion of personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to Correct: you may request correction of inaccurate personal information.
Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as defined under the CCPA/CPRA.
Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: we do not use sensitive personal information beyond the purposes authorized under the CCPA/CPRA.
Right to Non-Discrimination: we will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA/CPRA rights.
To submit a verifiable consumer request, contact us at info@austinpeppers.com. We will respond within forty-five (45) days of receipt of a verifiable request, with one potential extension of an additional forty-five (45) days where reasonably necessary.
9. Nevada Residents
Nevada residents may, pursuant to Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 603A, opt out of the sale of covered information. As stated herein, we do not sell personal information. Nevada residents may nonetheless direct opt-out requests to info@austinpeppers.com.
10. Children's Privacy — COPPA
The Site is not directed to children under the age of thirteen (13). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6501 et seq. ("COPPA"). If we become aware that we have inadvertently received personal information from a child under 13, we will delete such information from our records promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has submitted personal information to us, please contact us at info@austinpeppers.com.
11. Security
We implement commercially reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. All payment transactions are transmitted using Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption. However, no data transmission over the Internet or electronic storage system is guaranteed to be 100% secure. We do not warrant that unauthorized third parties will never be able to defeat our security measures.
In the event of a data breach that triggers notification obligations under applicable state law, including the Texas Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 521.053, we will provide required notifications in accordance with applicable law.
12. Third-Party Links
The Site may contain links to third-party websites, including WikiPepper.org and social media platforms. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such third-party sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party site you visit.
13. Changes to This Policy
We reserve the right to modify this Policy at any time. Material changes will be communicated by updating the "Last Revised" date at the top of this page and, where required by law, by providing additional notice (such as an email notification or a prominent notice on the Site). Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Policy.
14. Contact — Privacy Requests
All privacy-related inquiries, requests, or complaints should be directed to: Austin Peppers — Privacy South Texas info@austinpeppers.com
We will acknowledge receipt of all requests within ten (10) business days and respond substantively within the timeframes required by applicable law.