Information About You.

The information that you provide directly to us and that we obtain from others is what we need to serve you, our affiliates and business customers. This information may include your contact details (such as name, postal and email addresses, phone number, social media handles and other online aliases); information specific to the Service you request (such as financial information when you apply for credit that is passed directly to financial institutions); details about your vehicle (such as performance and location information) information about your Dealer transactions (including phone calls, chat transcripts, and other details); contact information of individuals with whom you would like to share FordDirect content; social media information; demographic and household information; your responses and engagement with our Services; and other information you may choose to share with us by interacting with our Services or with our affiliates, business customers, suppliers or other businesses that share information with us.

Information About Your Device.

The information we collect by automated means also helps us, our affiliates and our business customers provide and tailor various products and services. Examples of information we collect by automated means include the following:

Usage Information.

We and our suppliers may automatically collect your usage activity, preferences, and browser details (such as your IP address and browser type), as well the ID and type of the device you use to connect or interact with our Services, and other details about your use or interaction with our Services. This may also include the collection of information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or online services and across devices that you use.

Location Data.

Some of our Services may collect imprecise geolocation data to provide or improve our Services and location-related functionality, such as the location of your nearest Dealer, and your imprecise location while at a Dealer or near a Dealer’s location. We may link location data to other information we have collected about you.

Chat Modules.

We may collect certain categories of personal information from you when you use our interactive chat module. In addition to the information, you may enter into the chat box or live chat feature, the categories of personal information include, but are not limited to, name, phone number, email, mailing address, and other identifiers you may provide. Additionally, we may also store any transcripts from such conversations and link those transcripts with your personal information.

We may also collect information from you to perform data analytics and thereby enhance your experience and help improve the functionality of our tools and digital advertising in an effort to present to you only relevant products and services. Such information includes, but is not limited to, IP address, pixel tags, browsing history, viewing behavior, clicks, online activity, and other analytics. By interacting with the chat module, you understand and agree that we may use this data to communicate with you about Services.

You also consent to our collection and analysis of all personal information provided as part of the chat module and understand that we utilize a supplier to process, analyze, and store the content of the chat on our behalf. By using the chat module, you are consenting to us disclosing and sharing with the chat module supplier or any advertising and marketing suppliers of any personal information you provide.

Information You Provide.

We and our suppliers collect the information you voluntarily provide to us in connection with using our Services, including through product inquiries (including phone calls, chat transcripts, and other details), requests for vehicle information, financing requests, technical services or questions, product registration and support, events and promotions, job applications (FordDirect only), and other inquiries and transactions. Our suppliers also may collect information from you, including, for example, when you participate in our contests, sweepstakes, surveys, and other promotions. Some portions of the Services may allow you to submit comments, reviews, ratings and other content.

Information We Obtain From Affiliates, Business Customers, Suppliers and Others.

We may obtain information about you from outside sources. For example, our affiliates, Dealers, and Dealer Associations that deploy FordDirect products and Services and suppliers may share with us certain information you provided to them or collected by using their website. They may also inform us whether you have been approved for credit and related information. We also may obtain demographic, user preferences, imprecise geolocation and other information about you from other parties. If you engage via social media with us, our affiliates, our business customers, or our suppliers, the social media platforms may share certain information with FordDirect. You may be able to adjust your social media privacy settings to limit the sharing of your social media data.

Information We Obtain by Automated Means.

We may collect information about your use or interaction with our Services or about the devices you use to connect or interact with the Services by automated means, including tracking technologies. These tracking technologies may include “cookies,” which are small lines of text/data that are written onto your device by a website. Most browsers allow you to block and delete cookies. However, if you do that, the Services may not work properly. FordDirect and suppliers acting on our behalf may use cookies, pixel tags, beacons, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi monitoring and other technologies to operate the Services. Cookies we use may redirect you to other websites. With your consent, we may also use video technologies to capture your demographic information and engagement with our Services in order to present you with a more personalized experience.

Browser cookie controls.

Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can go to your browser settings to learn how to delete or reject cookies. If you choose to delete or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our website. If you choose to delete cookies, settings and preferences controlled by those cookies, including advertising preferences, may be deleted and may need to be recreated. You can also choose to limit the information shared with social media, advertising, and analytics partners.

Mobile advertising ID controls.

Apple and Android mobile devices each generate an advertising identifier that can be accessed by apps and used by advertisers in much the same way that cookies are used on websites. Each operating system provides options to limit tracking and/or reset the advertising ID.

Data Collection and Use By Third Parties

Our Services may include third-party advertising, promotions, co-branded features, links to other websites, and other programs offered by or in collaboration with third-party businesses, such as Adobe, Facebook (Meta), Microsoft, and Google. These third party-businesses may collect information from you when you interact directly with them or through their tracking technologies on our Services. Information may be collected about you across time and services and associated with the various devices you use. This information may be used for analytics, advertising, and marketing purposes, including to measure the effectiveness of ads, personalize or optimize advertising content, and track users who click on the links made available through the Services. For example, we incorporate the Bing Universal Event Tracking (UET) pixel from Microsoft Bing Ads on our website, which is used for user tracking and data sharing with third parties for advertising and marketing purposes, and to measure ad effectiveness. Third-party businesses may act as our suppliers, or in many contexts, independently decide how to process your information. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with and consult their privacy policies and terms of use. To learn more about the privacy practices of some of the largest third-party businesses, we encourage you to review Adobe’s Privacy, Facebook’s Data Policy, Microsoft’s Privacy Statement, and Google’s Privacy Policy.

FordDirect Omni application utilizes Google API Services to receive and transfer information to other applications. The use of Google API Services will adhere to Google API Services Data Policy, including the limited use requirements.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of Dealers, Dealer Associations, and their suppliers, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies, which may apply to these third-party programs.

Some of the ads you receive on websites are customized based on predictions about your interests generated from your visits to different websites. This type of ad customization is sometimes called “online behavioral” or “interest-based” advertising. The Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) provides a “AdChoices Opt-out" for certain companies (including FordDirect) that have agreed to provide that functionality. Note that using this opt-out only means that you will not be shown interest-based ads for the selected participants, and does not impact how the participants process your information. Also, the opt-out is limited to the specific browser from which you opt-out, and will reset if you clear your cookies.

A primary use of your information is to serve you, which requires certain sharing with our affiliates and business customers. The following are examples of the types of general purposes for which we may use your information.

Provide Products and Services.

We may, for example, use your information to complete a transaction you have asked us to do, including e-commerce transactions or “get a quote” or “find a dealer” requests, or to send you communications regarding products, service reminders or vehicle information. We may also, for example, use your information to provide you with an improved experience when interacting with us, our affiliates, Dealers and Dealer Associations.

Operate our Business and Develop New and Improve Our Existing Products and Services.

We may, for example, use information collected through cookies and similar technology to better understand how our Services are used, develop new offerings, or personalize your experience when using the Services.

Customer Service.

If you request support or other information, we may use your information to respond to your request. We may follow up with you to notify you periodically about important topics, like Services updates or changes to our Privacy Statement.

Advertising and Marketing.

We may use your information to let you know about current offers, invite you to participate in those offers and manage your participation in them. We also may use information about you, your use or your interaction with our Services to tailor our offers to your preferences or to offer you products and services that we believe may be of interest to you. Dealers, Dealer Associations and our affiliates may use your information for their own marketing purposes. Among other privacy choices described in this Privacy Statement, you may direct us to not send you email marketing communications by clicking on the unsubscribe link included in the emails you receive from us.

Recruitment and Job Applications.

We may use the information that you submit through FordDirect’s career site for the purpose of employment consideration. We may keep your information on file for future employment consideration.

Compliance with Legal Requirements, Rules and Internal Policies.

We may be required by law or internal data retention policies to maintain information about you for a certain period of time, or to notify you of a security breach. We also may be required by social media platform rules (such as Facebook) to handle the social media information you or the platform share with us in a certain manner.

A primary use of your information is to serve you, which requires certain sharing with our affiliates and business customers. This section describes the types of organizations with whom we may share your information.

Within FordDirect.

FordDirect may authorize access to your information within our enterprise, by our employees and other personnel, to fulfill our obligations to you and to operate our business.

Affiliates, Dealers, and Dealer Associations.

Our affiliates, Dealers, and Dealer Associations may access and use your information for the purposes we describe in this Privacy Statement. We may also allow our affiliates, Dealers, and Dealer Associations to have access to your information and to use aggregate statistics – statistics not linked by us to any specific consumer – about consumer behavior, sales, online activity patterns, and related Services information. Except as necessary to provide you with the Services, we will not provide our affiliates with personal financial information that we obtain when you use the Services to submit a request for credit.

All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent, which we receive from FordDirect employees, contractors, and/ or Dealer contacts. Such data will not be shared with any third parties, provided that the foregoing does not apply to sharing (1) with suppliers, consultants and other service providers who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf (and who will not use such information for their own purposes); (2) when we believe disclosure is required by any applicable law, rule, or regulation or to comply with law enforcement or legal process; and /or (3) when the user consents to our sharing of such information.

Suppliers.

We disclose personal information to suppliers working on our behalf for the purposes described in this Privacy Statement, including as necessary to provide functionality, products, and services to us and you in connection with the Services. FordDirect requires suppliers to process your information under the direction of FordDirect and in accordance with contractual restrictions and applicable law.

Marketing Partners.

We may share your information with our marketing partners when, for example, we participate in a co-branded promotion with another company. Other than as described in this Privacy Statement, we will not share your information with suppliers for their own marketing purposes. Except as necessary to provide you with the Services, we also will not provide our marketing partners with personal financial information that we obtain when you use the Services to submit a request for credit.

Analytics and Advertising.

We may share your information, including data collected through cookies and similar technology, with third-party businesses for analytics and advertising related purposes. Third-party businesses may act as our suppliers, or in many contexts, independently decide how to process your information. Please see the “Data Collection and Use by Third Parties” section for a description of how we work with third-party businesses.

Your Public Comments.

Some portions of our Services may allow you to submit comments, reviews, ratings and other content. This content may be displayed on the Services and may be viewable by other users of the Services or the public generally.

Mergers, Acquisitions or Insolvency.

If FordDirect should ever file for bankruptcy or merge with another company, or if FordDirect should decide to buy, sell, or reorganize some part or all of its business, FordDirect reserves the right to disclose your information, including to prospective or actual purchasers in connection with one of these transactions.

As Required by Law and Other Disclosures.

FordDirect may be required to disclose your information if it:

• Believes it is reasonably necessary to comply with legal process (such as a court order, subpoena, search warrant, etc.) or other legal requirements of any governmental authority;
• Would potentially lessen our liability in an actual or potential lawsuit or investigation;
• Is necessary to protect our or others' rights or property.