SH Town Square Franchising, Inc. U.S. Privacy Policy  (updated Dec 16, 2019)

SH Town Square Franchising, Inc. dba “Town Square”  or “we”, “us”, or “our”) appreciate your interest in this website and other Town Square websites (the “Site”).

Your privacy is important, and we are committed to protecting the personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) that you disclose to us. We want you to understand our practices with respect to how we gather and use the information we collect from visitors to the Site. This Privacy Policy covers our collection, use and disclosure of information we collect through our Site and our social media properties (as more fully described below) and how that information may be used or shared by us, our affiliates, independently owned and operated franchisees and third parties.

This Privacy Policy is subject to change. If we make any material changes we will notify you by means of a notice on the Site prior to the change becoming effective.  We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically and to make note of the date of the most recent revision. If you disagree with the way we intend to use the Personal Information you provide to us, you may opt out of these uses by following the instructions below. By using our Site, you agree to the terms of the Privacy Policy in effect at that time and as may be updated from time to time.

If you have questions or complaints regarding our Privacy Policy or practices, please contact us at Town Square, 9708 Belair Rd, Nottingham, MD 21236, info@townsquarecorp.net, or 888-532-0904.

Information We Collect

We collect both Personal Information and non-personally identifiable information through the Site to help us to learn more about how our visitors use the Site, to measure areas of interest, and to provide our users with important information on our network of independently owned and operated Town Square® franchise businesses (the “Network”) and our and/or our Network’s services. Collection of information allows us to build features and functionality that will enhance your experience. You are not obligated to provide us with Personal Information to use the Site. However, we do require that you register and provide certain Personal Information to send us inquiries, to receive information about our Network and how to become an independently owned and individually operated franchise, and to receive newsletters and other special offers. We collect non-personally identifiable information using General Tracking Information and Click Path Tracking (cookie technology) described below.

Collection of Non-Personally Identifiable Information

1. General Tracking Information

We keep track of the pages visited by each user. Our web server automatically collects some information about you when you request pages from our server, including your IP address using first-party cookies or identifiers, and third-party cookies or identifiers. Your IP address is a number that is used by computers connected to the Internet to identify your computer so that data (such as the web pages you request) can be sent to you. We aggregate this data with data on the pages visited by other users to track overall visitor traffic patterns. We use this information to improve our Site by making it more responsive to the needs and preferences of our users. This information does not identify you personally.

2. Click Path Tracking

Technologies such as cookies, beacons, tags and scripts are used by Town Square and our affiliates, our marketing, testing and quality assurance partners, and/or our analytics, information technology and web monitoring service providers. These technologies are used in analyzing trends, administering the Site, tracking users’ movements around the Site and to gather demographic information about our user base. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis.

As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. Mobile applications may also use cookies. We may combine this automatically collected log information with other information we collect about you. We do this to help improve the services we and/or our Network offer you and to help improve marketing, analytics, or Site functionality.

We use local storage to store content information and preferences. Third parties with whom we partner may provide certain features on our Site or display advertising based upon your web browsing activity use local storage to collect and store information. Various browsers may offer their own management tools for removing local storage / HTML5 LS.

3. Use of Non-Personally Identifiable Information.

We may share non-personally identifiable information in the aggregated form with third parties who are providing research services that, in turn, will help to enhance the experiences of the Network’s clients.

Collection of Personal Information

If you choose to register on our Site, you will be asked to provide Personal Information which may include your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number. Except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy, we do not actively share Personal Information gathered from our web servers. When you register, we may place your name in our mailing list and may send you an e-mail to the address you have provided to confirm your registration on our Site.

1. What we do with the Personal Information We Collect

We require Personal Information from you to learn more about how you use the Site; to measure areas of interest in our Network and the services we and/or the Network provide(s); to understand the needs of our and our Network’s customers; to provide you with better service; and to help us with internal record keeping. If you register, your registration information may be used by Town Square, our independently owned and operated Franchisees, our affiliates and our third-party service providers or other partners for internal research purposes and may be compiled as part of our internal database system. In addition, both we and our independently owned and operated Franchisees, affiliates, third-party service providers and other business partners may send correspondence to or contact you using the e-mail, street address and/or phone number you provide to us when registering on our Site or which you provide to us through the Site. These communications may include, but are not limited to, newsletters, promotional offers, information on new features and services that we and/or our Network provide(s), franchise opportunities, employment opportunities with us at our corporate office or an independently owned and operated franchise business, Site updates, responses to your e-mails, inquiries, comments and opinions, surveys, and technical support. You may limit the contacts you receive by following the instructions in the “Opt-Out” Section below.

We and/or our Network will retain and use your information for as long as your account is active, as needed for the Network to provide you services, or as necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements.

2. Sharing of Personal Information

We will share your Personal Information with third parties only in the ways that are described in this Privacy Policy. We currently do not provide or sell any Personal Information to marketing research or bulk advertising sales companies or to any other third parties. We will share your Personal Information with our independently owned and operated Franchisees and affiliates who are bound to protect such information from disclosure or misuse. We may share your Personal Information with third-party businesses who offer services that we determine may be helpful to people who are or may be interested in the Network’s services or resources. As described above, you may limit this sharing by following the instructions in the “Opt-Out” Section below. We may also disclose Personal Information in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this Personal Information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may have breached our Terms of Use or who may be causing (whether intentionally or unintentionally) injury to or interference with our rights or property, other website users, or anyone else who could be harmed by such activities. We reserve the right to disclose your Personal Information to law-enforcement personnel and agencies when requested to do so, as required by law such as to comply with a subpoena, or if Town Square is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets.

We may also provide your Personal Information to or allow access to your Personal Information by companies that provide services to help us or the Network with our/its business activities, such as offering customer service, assessing quality and customer satisfaction, enabling website features, or assisting with hiring of employees. These companies are authorized to use your Personal Information only as necessary to provide these services.

3. Click-to-Chat Conversations

Any personal information that you share during any click-to-chat conversation will be considered Personal Information that may be used and retained in accordance with this Privacy Policy. As a click-to-chat conversation may not be a secure form of communication, please do not provide any social security numbers, credit card numbers, or other sensitive information during any click-to-chat conversation in which you elect to participate.

Links to Third Party Websites

Occasionally our Site may include a hyperlink (“Link”) or a banner advertisement (“Banner Ad”) containing a Link which allows you to connect to the home page of a third-party website (“Third-Party Site”). Town Square or the Network may provide these Links to you as a convenient method of accessing information that may be useful or of interest to you. This Privacy Policy and the practices that we follow under this Privacy Policy do not apply to Third Party Sites.

We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or opinions expressed on any Third-Party Site or for the privacy practices of any third party. We will not, and are under no obligation to, investigate, monitor or check the Third-Party Sites for accuracy or completeness, or for any obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, indecent, profane, defamatory or unlawful content or materials. Inclusion of any Link or Banner Ad to a Third-Party Site that is placed on our Site does not imply approval or endorsement of the Third-Party Site. You understand and agree that by clicking on a Link to a Third-Party Site you have left the Site, and the Town Square Privacy Policy stated on the Site is no longer in effect.

Social Media

Our Site includes social media sharing tools and features, such as Facebook Like, YouTube, Twitter and “share” buttons and widgets, and interactive mini-programs that run on our Site (each a “Feature” and, collectively, the “Features”). These Features may collect your IP address and which page you are visiting on our Site and set a cookie to enable the Feature to function properly. Features and widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Site.

We also maintain profiles or accounts with various social media providers, including, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google+ (collectively, “Social Media Properties”). Your interactions with these Social Media Properties and/or the Features are governed by multiple privacy policies. Our collection use and disclosure of information obtained through the Social Media Properties and/or the Features is governed by this Privacy Policy to the same extent as information gathered through the Site; however, the privacy practices of the applicable social media provider are governed by the applicable social media provider’s privacy policy. We encourage you to review the applicable social media provider’s privacy policy before interacting with a Social Media Property and/or Feature.

Security

To reduce the possibility of unauthorized access or disclosure, we have put in place several physical, electronic and managerial procedures to help protect the information we collect online. In addition, we use standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates to secure all pages used for inputting users’ Personal Information. However, due to the open communication nature of the Internet, no system can be completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of your Personal Information.

California Do Not Track Disclosure

Do Not Track is a web browser privacy preference that causes the web browser to broadcast a signal to websites requesting the user’s activity that such activity will not be tracked. Town Square’ Site does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Opt-Out

You may choose to have your name taken off our registration list, cease receiving correspondence or newsletters from us, limit our sharing of Personal Information with third parties who may offer services to you, or update or delete the Personal Information that you have provided to us via one of the following methods:

• Using the opt-out option in e-mails you receive from us;
• Sending us an e-mail at: info@townsquarecorp.net; or
• Writing to us at: SH Town Square Franchising, LLC, 9708 Belair Rd, Nottingham, MD 21236; or
• Calling us toll free at: 888-532-0904

We will respond to your request within 30 days.

International Visitors

This Site is hosted in the United States and is intended only for United States and Canadian visitors. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. We may share, as described in this Privacy Policy, your personal information with our affiliates, subsidiaries, independently owned and operated Town Square franchised businesses and third parties. Please be aware that your personal information may be transferred to and maintained on servers or databases located outside your state, province or country and that such information is processed and stored in the United States. By providing your personal information, you confirm your consent to having such personal data hosted and accessed in the United States.

Disclaimer

The data contained in our Site is for informational purposes only and is not represented to be error free. Town Square attempts to ensure that the data provided or otherwise displayed on our Site is accurate. However, the Site and its contents are provided on an “as is, as available” basis. Use of the Site and its contents is at your sole risk. Town Square does not warrant that any functions of the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Site will be free from viruses or other harmful components. Town Square makes no warranties, either express or implied, concerning the content of the Site, including the accuracy, completeness, reliability or suitability of the Site.

Guidelines for Children

We do not specifically collect information about children nor market our products or services to children. We have no reason to believe that the Site will attract children, or that children will access the Site or provide Personal Information.

Blogs

Testimonials

The Site may display personal testimonials in addition to other endorsements. Our Site may enable you to post public comments, feedback, or reviews, through a Third-Party Site. While the collection, use and disclosure of information you post on this Site is governed by this Privacy, personal testimonials posted publicly on a Third-Party Site are also governed by that site’s privacy policy. We encourage you to review the applicable site’s privacy policy before publishing such public comments, feedback or reviews. By publishing a personal testimonial through a Third-Party Site, you consent that we may post your testimonial along with your name.

Network customers may also submit a personal testimonial through other channels where consent to posting the customer’s name and testimonial is requested and provided prior to use. If you wish to update or delete your testimonial on our Site, you can contact us at info@townsquarecorp.net.

Referrals

We may offer a referral service.  If you choose to use our referral service to email a friend about the Site, we will ask you for your name, email address and your friend’s email address. We will automatically send your friend a one-time email inviting him or her to visit the Site and may use your friend’s email address in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Your friend may contact us at info@townsquarecorp.net to request that we remove this information from our database.

Termination of Use

You agree that we may, in our sole discretion, terminate or suspend your access to all or any part of the Site with or without notice and for any reason. Any suspected fraudulent, abusive or illegal activity may be grounds for terminating your access to and use of the Site, and if we believe that you have committed such acts, we may report you to appropriate law enforcement authorities.

Choice

We collect information for our independently owned and operated Franchisees. If you are a customer or employee of one of our Franchisees and would no longer like to be contacted by one of our Franchisees that use our service, please contact the Franchisee that you interact with directly.

Service Provider, Sub-Processors/Onward Transfer

Town Square may transfer Personal Information to companies that help us, and our Network provide our and the Network’s respective services. Transfers to subsequent third parties are covered by the provisions in this Privacy Policy regarding notice and choice and the franchise agreements with our Franchisees.

Franchisees

If you are accessing the Site as an independently owned and operated Franchisee, or as an employee or contractor of such Franchisee, your access and use of the Site is also governed by the franchise agreement applicable to your business, as applicable, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of the Site, or your dealings with the Site, please contact: