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Please note our Privacy Statement is being updated effective February 1, 2024. Click here to view the previous privacy statement.

FordDirect Privacy Statement

 

UPDATED DATE: January 5, 2024

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 1, 2024

 

SUMMARY OF PRIVACY STATEMENT

At FordDirect, we care about privacy and believe in providing transparency to consumers about our information handling practices. This Privacy Statement applies to personal information – information that identifies you or reasonably can be linked to information that identifies you – that FordDirect collects through your use or interaction with our websites, applications, social media, software, and other services provided by or on behalf of FordDirect (collectively, the “Services”). We will continue to share your information as described in this notice, even after the end of your relationship with us. FordDirect is a member of the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) and adheres to certain DAA principles.

INTRODUCTION

We care about privacy at FordDirect, and we believe in being transparent with consumers about our personal information practices. This Privacy Statement explains how FordDirect collects, uses, discloses, and protects your personal information, as well as your rights regarding your personal information.

FordDirect is dedicated to helping all visitors to our websites, including those that use and interact with our Services and connect with Ford and Lincoln dealers (“Dealers”), Ford Dealership Associations (“Dealer Associations”), and Ford Motor Company (and its affiliates and subsidiaries) to learn about Ford and Lincoln vehicles and related products and services.

This Privacy Statement applies to the personal information FordDirect collects about you through websites, applications, social media, software, and other services provided by or on behalf of FordDirect. When you use or interact with the Services, you expressly consent to our collection, use, disclosure and retention of your information as described in this Privacy Statement.

FordDirect’s Privacy Statement does not apply to the privacy practices of Dealers, Dealership Associations and Ford Motor Company (and its and its affiliates and subsidiaries) To learn more about their privacy practices, contact those specific Dealers, Dealer Associations and Ford Motor Company.

If a Service is co-branded or developed by another party (such as Dealer.Com) or linked to another party, such other party’s privacy statement may apply in addition to or in lieu of this Privacy Statement.

If you have any questions about our privacy practices, please contact us as set out in the “Contacting FordDirect” section below. If you are a California or Nevada resident, please see the relevant “Your California Privacy Rights”, or “Your Nevada Privacy Rights” section below for additional disclosures. If you are resident of Virginia, Colorado, or Connecticut, please see “Your Other State Rights” section below section below for additional disclosures.

Information We Collect

The information we collect through our Services may include:

  • Your contact information (name, postal or email address, phone number, etc.)
  • Your demographic information
  • Information about the device you use to connect or interact with our Services, including imprecise geo-location;
  • Details about your online activity, use and interaction with our Services
  • Your vehicle information
  • Your financial information (income, assets, employment information, etc.) for credit applications
  • Your shopping and other personal preferences
  • Social media details and any other information you choose to share on those platforms

How We Collect Information

We collect information about you from a variety of sources, including:

  • Details you choose to provide via our Services
  • From our affiliates
  • From our business customers
  • From other outside sources (ie, suppliers, third parties)
  • Automatically, from devices that you use to connect or interact with our Services

How We Use Your Information

We may use the information we collect to:

  • Provide the Services
  • Communicate with you
  • Provide and promote our products and Services
  • Advertise and market to you
  • Operate our business
  • Analyze the use of our products and Services
  • Facilitate FordDirect employee recruitment
  • Comply with applicable laws, rules and our policies

YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA")

The CCPA provides additional rights to California residents. These additional disclosures address those rights and apply only to California residents. If you are a California resident and the processing of personal information about you is subject to the CCPA, you have certain rights with respect to that information.

 

Categories of Personal Information.
Below please find the categories of personal information we have collected in the past 12 months:

Category Examples Collected Do we disclose for business purpose Do we sell or share
Identifiers A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, internet protocol address, email address or other similar identifiers YES YES YES
Commercial Information Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies YES YES YES
Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e) A name, signature, address, or telephone number YES YES YES
Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law Age or sex (gender) information YES YES NO
Internet or other similar network activity Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer's interaction with a website, application or advertisement YES YES YES
Sensory data Audio or similar information (from phone calls) YES YES NO
Non-precise geolocation data Imprecise location about an individual or device YES YES YES
Professional or employment related information Current FordDirect employment or performance evaluations YES YES NO
Inferences drawn from other personal information Profile reflecting a person's preferences, characteristics, predispositions, behavior, or attitudes YES YES YES

For more information on information we collect, including the sources from which we receive information, review the “Information We Collect” section above.

Purposes for Collecting and Using Personal Information

Generally, FordDirect may use some or all of the above categories of personal information for its business and commercial purposes. For more information with respect to how we use your information, review the “How We Use Your Information” section above.

Categories of Third Parties With Which We Sell or Share Personal Information

 

In the past 12 months, FordDirect has disclosed the personal information to the following categories of third parties:

  • Social media (eg Facebook, etc)
  • Website analytics providers (eg Google, Adobe etc)
  • Marketing and advertising partners
  • Dealers
  • Affiliates

Some of our disclosures of personal information may be considered a sale or share as those terms are defined under the CCPA. A "sale" is broadly defined under the CCPA to include a disclosure for something of value, and a "share" is broadly defined under the CCPA to include a disclosure for cross-context behavioral advertising. For details about your rights regarding sales and shares, please see below.

Categories of Personal Information We Have Sold or Shared

 

In the past 12 months, FordDirect has sold the following categories of personal information:

  • Identifiers
  • Commercial information
  • Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute
  • Internet or other similar network activity
  • Non-precise geolocation data
  • Inferences drawn from other personal information

Access/Right to Know

 

You have a right to request that we provide you with the following information:

  • Specific pieces of personal information that we have collected about you
  • Categories of personal information we have collected about you
  • Categories of sources from which the personal information is collected
  • Categories of personal information that we sold or shared or disclosed for a business purpose about you
  • Categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold or shared or disclosed for a business purpose
  • Business or commercial purpose for collecting, sharing, or selling personal information

Sensitive Personal Information

 

To the extent any of the personal information we collect is sensitive personal information, we collect, use, and disclose such sensitive personal information only for the permissible business purposes for sensitive personal information under the CCPA. We do not sell or share sensitive personal information.

Information Security

 

For information on how we safeguard your personal information, review the “Information Security” section.

Retention

 

For information on how long we retain your personal information, review the “Retention of Your Information” section.

Right to Correct

 

You have a right to request that we update or correct your personal information.

Opt-Out Signals

 

We have enabled the Global Privacy Control, which is designed to recognize opt-out preference signals. In order to process your request through an opt-out preference signal, you must use a browser or extension supporting the preference signal. If you choose to use an opt-out preference signal, you will need to turn it on for each browser and each device you use and reconfigure your settings if you delete or reset your cookies.

How to Exercise Your CCPA Rights.

You can exercise your other CCPA rights by submitting your request(s) through our Webform (you will be taken to a seperate page).

You can also exercise your CCPA rights by calling Ford Motor Company, toll-free, at 1-888-459-1291, Monday through Friday from 5:00 am until 8:00 pm Pacific time or Saturday from 5:00 am until 5:00 pm Pacific time. Our call center will be closed on Sundays and on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

If you want to exercise more than one of your CCPA rights, please submit a separate request for each CCPA right, which will help us handle your requests more effectively. Please be aware that we will process your requests in the order we receive them. We will endeavor to confirm receipt of your request within 10 days and respond to verified and valid requests within 45 calendar days.

Please be aware that there might be circumstances where we will not honor your request, as permitted under the CCPA. For example, if we are not able to verify your identity or you are not a California resident, we may not honor your access, correction, or deletion request. In addition, we may not delete your personal information if an exception under the CCPA applies.

If personal information about you has been processed by us as a service provider on behalf of a Dealer and you wish to exercise any rights you have with such personal information, please inquire with the Dealer directly. If you wish to make your request directly to us, please provide the name of the Dealer on whose behalf we processed your personal information. We will refer your request to the Dealer and will support them to the extent required by applicable law in responding to your request.

California "Shine the Light" Law

Under California’s “Shine the Light” law, California residents may also request that we provide to you:

  • A list of the categories of personal information about you that FordDirect has disclosed to third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes during the calendar year preceding your request
  • A list of the categories of third parties to whom we disclosed such personal information

To submit your request, please email dprivacy@forddirect.com. and reference “Shine the Light” in the subject line or write us at the postal address in the section below entitled “Contacting FordDirect.” FordDirect will provide the requested information to you via email or mail.

Your Nevada Privacy Rights

If you are a Nevada resident, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of personal information to third parties that is collected by FordDirect. To submit your request, please click: Webform (you will be taken to a separate webpage).


Your Other State Privacy Rights

This section applies to the laws of the following states which provides additional rights to the residents of these states:

  • Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA)
  • Colorado Privacy Act (CPA)
  • Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA)
  • Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA)

This section addresses those rights and applies only to the residents of the states listed above.

You have the following rights under these laws:

  • To confirm whether or not we are processing your personal data
  • To access your personal data
  • To correct inaccuracies in your personal data
  • To delete your personal data
  • To obtain a copy of your personal data that you previously provided to us in a portable and readily usable format
  • To opt out of the processing of personal data for purposes of targeted advertising, and the sale of personal data
  • To Opt out of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you. We do not process personal data for purposes of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning consumers

How to Exercise Your Rights

You can exercise your rights by submitting your request(s) through our Webform (you will be taken to a separate page) or calling our toll free number at 1-888-459-1291, Monday through Friday from 5:00 am until 8:00 pm Pacific time or Saturday from 5:00 am until 5:00 pm Pacific time. We will respond to your request within 45 days. We may require specific information from you to help confirm your identity and process your request. If personal data about you have been processed by us as a processor on behalf of a Dealer and you wish to exercise any rights you have with such personal data, please inquire with the Dealer directly. For information on how we process opt-out signals, review “Opt-Out Signal” section above

Categories of Personal Information

The categories of personal information can be found under “Your California Rights” section. In addition, this section lists the categories of personal information that we sell to third parties.

Purposes for Collecting and Using Personal Information

Generally, FordDirect may use some or all of the categories of personal information for its business and commercial purposes. For more information with respect to how we use your information, review the “How We Use Your Information” section above.

Right to Appeal

If we refuse to take action on a request, you may appeal our decision within a reasonable period of time by contacting us at dprivacy@forddirect.com and specifying you wish to appeal. Within 60 days of our receipt of your appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions. If the appeal is denied, you may submit a complaint to the Attorney General of your state as follows if required by applicable state law:

Contacting FordDirect

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about our information practices or this Privacy Statement, please email us at dprivacy@forddirect.com or write to us at:

FordDirect Legal Compliance and Privacy Department
Attn: Data Privacy
4 Parklane Blvd, Suite 140
Dearborn, MI 48126