The BISSELL® group of companies (collectively “BISSELL”) has spent more than 150 years finding ways to make your home a cleaner place for you and your pets. This privacy policy (“Policy”) explains how BISSELL collects, uses and discloses personal information (also “PII”) of individuals who visit our website located at bissell.jp (the “Website”) in connection with BISSELL products available in Japan. The Website is an informational catalogue website only: BISSELL does not sell products or accept orders through the Website. This Policy also details our practices related to sharing PII, the measures taken by BISSELL to safeguard your PII, and your rights in relation to PII under applicable Japanese data protection laws. This Policy is subject to the Act on the Protection of Personal Information of Japan (“APPI”) and any other data protection laws applicable to BISSELL’s processing of your personal information.

Why Do We Collect Your Personal Information?

BISSELL collects personal information from and about you when you use our Website. That information helps us provide you with the most useful product information and website experience. We may use the information you share with us through the Website to tailor your experience (e.g. product information that may be relevant to you), respond to your questions, inform you of promotions (with your consent), direct you to our authorized distributor or our authorized after-sales service provider for consumer care matters in Japan, where appropriate, communicate with you when necessary or requested, address problems with or improve the Website, or protect the security or integrity of our business. BISSELL does not process personal information through the Website to complete product purchases, payments, order fulfilment or shipping.

What Type of Information Do We Collect?

1. Website Visitors

Generally, you are not required to provide us with any information to use the Website. However, you may choose to provide certain personal information when you contact us about our products or after-sales support in Japan. Where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent before processing your personal information; otherwise, we will process it solely for the purposes described in this Policy. Unless otherwise specified, we retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the relevant business purposes and comply with applicable legal requirements.

When you visit the Website, we and our service providers may automatically collect limited technical and usage information through cookies and similar technologies, such as your IP address, browser and device information, pages viewed, referring URL, and the date and time of your visit. We use this information to operate, secure and improve the Website and, where you have provided any required consent, to inform you of promotions, or measure Website performance and usage. Please see the “Cookies, Trackers, Web Beacons, and Similar Technologies” section below for further information.

2. Online Store Purchases

The Website is not a sales channel. If you choose to purchase from an authorized distributor after leaving the Website, the distributor’s collection and use of your personal information will be governed by its own privacy notice and terms.

Since the Website does not operate as an online store, BISSELL does not collect payment, billing, shipping or order information through the Website. If you use a link on the Website to visit an authorized distributor’s website or contact an authorized distributor to purchase a BISSELL product, that distributor will collect and process your personal information under its own privacy policy and terms. BISSELL is not responsible for the privacy practices of an authorized distributor or other third-party website.

BISSELL may receive limited information from an authorized distributor where necessary to address a product-safety issue, product recall, warranty matter, consumer-care inquiry, legal claim or other legitimate business purpose. The categories of information and the purposes for which the distributor collects and uses your personal information are governed by the distributor’s own privacy notice.

If BISSELL receives personal information from an authorized distributor for the purposes described above, we generally retain that information for as long as required to address the purpose, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by applicable law.

3. Consumer Care

Consumer care for BISSELL products in Japan is handled by BISSELL’s authorized after-sales service provider, the contact details for which is listed below. When you contact BISSELL or that provider about consumer care, we or the provider may request your name, contact details, product information, and information related to your inquiry. We collect this information to respond to your inquiry, offer support for BISSELL products, and fulfil warranty or other legal obligations where applicable. Where the authorized distributor and after-sales service provider collects your information directly, its processing of that information is governed by its own privacy policy.

We retain this personal information for at least the duration of an ongoing consumer support inquiry. In most cases, the maximum length of time we will retain information related to consumer care is 7 years.

4. Giveaways and Other Promotions

From time to time, we may conduct giveaways, campaigns, contests or other promotions (“Promotions”). During such Promotions, you may be asked to provide certain personal information, including your name, contact details and, where applicable, social media information. Providing this personal information is voluntary, but if you do not provide it, you may be unable to participate. We collect this information to administer the Promotion, contact winning participants and verify eligibility. Where we offer marketing communications, we will obtain any consent required by applicable law separately from your participation in the Promotion. Where your consent is given, you will retain the right to opt out or unsubscribe yourself at any time from such marketing and promotional communications.

We retain personal information related to a Promotion for as long as necessary for the administration of the Promotion and any related legal or regulatory requirements.

Do We Disclose Your Personal Information?

We may disclose personal information to third parties, service providers, the authorized distributor, and processors involved in operating and supporting the Website and BISSELL’s Japan consumer-care activities, including website hosting providers, analytics providers and, where applicable, advertising partners. We do not disclose personal information collected through the Website to logistics or payment providers for Website sales, because the Website does not sell or fulfil products. Information we share may include information you give to us and information we collect about you as noted above. Where third parties process personal information on our behalf, we require them to handle and protect it in accordance with applicable contractual and legal requirements.

BISSELL may also disclose personal information in response to lawful requests from public authorities, to enforce its contractual or property rights, or where otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Information we collect may also be transferred in connection with the sale or merger of the company or any division or business line of the company to which the information relates.

We may compile or share anonymized, aggregated, or de-identified information for analytics, research, service improvement, and marketing purposes.

Your personal information may be shared with BISSELL group entities globally where necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Where we transfer personal information outside Japan, we will implement safeguards required under applicable law, which may include contractual protections and assessments of the recipient’s data-protection framework. You can contact us using the information below for further information about applicable safeguards.

How We Protect and Secure Your Personal Information?

Your personal information may be transferred to and processed by BISSELL group companies, our authorized distributor, our after-sales service provider, and service providers located in Japan or other countries where necessary to operate the Website, provide consumer care or product support, respond to inquiries, or support our business operations. Where personal information is transferred outside Japan, appropriate safeguards will be implemented in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Additionally, we appreciate the responsible disclosure of suspected cybersecurity vulnerabilities. If you are a cybersecurity researcher and believe you have discovered a vulnerability on our Website, please send your report to cybersecurity.reports@bissell.com. Although BISSELL does not currently offer a bounty program, we value your efforts in identifying potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Please include sufficient details in your report, such as the affected aspects of the Website, steps to reproduce the vulnerability, and any relevant proof of concept, screenshots, or logs.

We will acknowledge receipt of all vulnerability reports within 5 business days. In case our team requires additional information about your report, we will contact you. In our discretion, we will contact you and confirm remediation of the reported vulnerability. In most cases, legitimate vulnerabilities are remediated in less than 90 days.

In cases where the research was conducted in a responsible manner, it is our policy not to seek criminal or civil liability against cybersecurity researchers. For purposes of this section, “responsible” means:

1. Not exploiting the vulnerability beyond merely confirming and reporting on its existence;
2. Not affecting the confidentiality, availability, or integrity of the Website, or underlying data or content; and
3. Not further disclosing the method of exploiting the reported vulnerability without first seeking the express written consent of BISSELL.

Your Privacy Choices and Consent Preferences

BISSELL strives to maintain transparent data privacy practices. This Policy and your privacy choices are governed by applicable data protection laws. The rights described below are those available under applicable law; GDPR-specific rights do not apply unless the GDPR applies to BISSELL’s processing of your personal information as a matter of law.

a. Cookies, Trackers, Web Beacons, and Similar Technologies

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website asks your browser to store on your device when you visit it. Cookies may remember information about your visit, such as language preferences. We use first-party cookies and may use third-party cookies and similar technologies to operate and secure the Website, understand how visitors use it, and, where you have provided any required consent, measure the performance of our content and advertising. The Website does not use cookies to operate customer accounts, process purchases, or process payments.

You can configure your browser to block some or all cookies used by this website. We respect Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control signals sent by your browser ("browser signals").

To view or manage your preferences with regard to Cookies, Trackers, Web Beacons and Similar Technologies, use the Cookie Settings available on the website.

b. Unsubscribe from Marketing Communications

You can opt out of BISSELL marketing communications at any time by clicking “unsubscribe” at the bottom of each message or by contacting us as described at the end of this Policy.

You cannot opt out of non-marketing communications that are necessary to respond to a request you have made, provide consumer care or warranty support, notify you of a product recall or safety issue, comply with legal obligations, or provide technical or security notices.

c. How can I exercise my Individual Rights?

To exercise any rights available to you under applicable Japanese data protection laws, including, where applicable, requests for disclosure, correction, addition, deletion, suspension of use, erasure, suspension of provision to third parties, or other permitted requests, please contact us using the details provided in the “How To Contact Us” section below. GDPR-specific rights are available only where the GDPR applies to BISSELL’s processing of your personal information as a matter of law.

We may ask you to provide information reasonably necessary to verify your identity and to understand and process your request.

We will respond to your request within the timeframe required by applicable law. Where additional time is permitted and required, we will inform you accordingly.

Changes, Modifications, and Updates to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. Any updated version will be published on this website together with the revised “Last Updated” date at the top of this Policy. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to stay informed of any changes.

How To Contact Us?

If you have any questions, comments, requests or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or our handling of your personal information, please contact us at privacy@bissell.com. For questions about a purchase, payment, delivery, return or other transaction completed with an authorized distributor, please contact that distributor directly.

Contact Information:

BISSELL Japan Authorized Distributor and After-Sales / Customer-Service Contact:
VYPER JAPAN LTD.
1021-1 Hanazawa
Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-0022
Japan
Tel: +81 (0)238 49 7294
Email: info@vtj.co.jp

For website-related inquiries, you may also contact: japanteam@bissell.com

Other Contact Information:
BISSELL Singapore Private Limited
438B Alexandra Road
#05-07 Alexandra Technopark
Singapore 119968