Last Updated: December 18, 2019
Sonic Automotive, Inc., either directly or through one of its
dealership affiliates ("Dealership," "we," "us," or "our") operates the
Website. This Privacy Policy is designed to assist you in understanding
how we collect and use the information you provide us and to assist you
in making informed decisions when using the Website and visiting our
Dealerships ("Services"). Please be sure to read this entire Privacy
Policy before using or submitting information to the Website or in
person at our Dealerships. The protection of your information is
important to us, and we want to be clear about how and when we might
share your information with anyone else. Use of this Website for any
purpose signals that you agree to the terms and conditions as set forth
herein. If you disagree with any portion of this Privacy Policy, now or
as amended by us, your only option is to not use the Websites, mobile
applications, or online services governed by it.
PLEASE NOTE THE ARBITRATION PROVISION SET FOURTH BELOW,
REQUIRES, EXCEPT WHERE AND TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, YOU TO
ARBITRATE ANY CLAIMS YOU MAY HAVE AGAINST DEALERSHIP ON AN INDIVIDUAL
BASIS. ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE,
AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT FOR A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND
THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE
CAPACITY.
Our Dealerships take your privacy seriously and are committed
to safeguarding your privacy. Because we do gather certain types of
information from visitors to our Websites, mobile applications, online
services, or our dealerships, we have developed a privacy policy to help
you understand the terms and conditions surrounding the collection and
use of that information. This Privacy Policy discloses the types of
information we gather, how it is used, and how you can gain access to
and edit any data that we have collected about you at any time.
PRIVACY POLICY
Our Dealership respects the privacy of individuals who visit
our Websites, mobile applications, online services, send us e-mail,
telephone us, or visit our dealerships. Accordingly, our Privacy Policy
applies to both online and offline collection of personal information by
our Dealerships.
Our Dealership maintains a strict "no-spam" policy.
Subscribers to our e-mail services (or any other feature/service found
on our Website) will not receive unsolicited e-mail messages from us.
Our dealership collects information online primarily to provide our
visitors with a more relevant experience on our Websites. When doing so,
we will make every reasonable effort to avoid excessive or irrelevant
collection of data. Our Dealership will take reasonable physical,
electronic and managerial measures to safeguard and secure any
information you provide to us (e.g. data will be stored in protected
databases on secured servers with restricted access). Our Dealership
will not share any information you have provided to us with anyone
without your consent other than to provide the service you have
requested. At the time you register for any such service, you will be
notified of, and asked to consent to, the sharing of your information
with any particular third party necessary to the provision of the
requested service.
The information within this Website is provided "as is." No
warranty is expressed or implied to the fullest extent permissible by
applicable law. Dealership and any of its providers of information do
not warrant error-free or uninterrupted service of this Website.
Non-Personally Identifiable Data:
Anytime you visit our Website, we may gather certain
non-personally identifiable information regarding the means you use to
access our Website. This information may include the type and version of
your browser, your service provider, your IP address and any search
engine you may have used to locate the. We use this information to help
diagnose problems with our server, administer the Website, and compile
broad statistical data. In addition, we gather certain navigational
information about where you go on our Websites. This information enables
us to determine which areas of the Websites are most frequently visited
and helps us to tailor the Websites to the needs and interests of our
online visitors. Such information is gathered by us in the aggregate and
will not be associated with a specific individual without that
individual's consent.
Information Voluntarily Provided:
Any information you provide to us when you enroll in one of
our E-Mail Reminder Services, request information, use any of the other
interactive portions of our Websites, purchase or lease a vehicle or
service a vehicle with us (including applying for financing or a lease),
is securely maintained on our Website server and internal systems. This
information may be used to provide you with information you have
requested about our company, our products and our services, or to
provide you with special notices. You may opt out of receiving future
communications at any time (see opt-out Procedures below). This data may
also be used to tailor your experience on our Websites by providing
content that is relevant to your interests and geographic region.
Information that you may provide us includes but is not limited to:
• Name
• Mailing address
• Email address
• Date of birth
• Social Security Number
• Drivers License Number
• Passport Number
• Telephone number
• Username
• Password
• Information regarding your lease or finance terms and monthly payment amounts, that we may obtain from third party sources
• Information regarding the condition of and mileage on your
vehicle, its vehicle identification number, which is collected when you
bring your vehicle to our Dealerships' service department or collision
center, or that we may obtain from third party sources
• Usage information, such as how you and your device interact
with our Website (e.g., the pages you visit or the search terms you
enter)
• Other information, such as your car preferences, or
information regarding your potential trade-in vehicle, that you provide
or that we may obtain from third party sources
• Geolocation information
• Information regarding your current and former employer(s), including your position, salary and salary history
• Information regarding your current and former residence(s)
• Fingerprints
• Gender
When you use social media platforms, applications or tools
that enable features like audio or video content (sometimes known as
"plugins"), or other features that are operated or offered by other
companies (sometimes known as "third parties") and are integrated into
our services or allow you to connect to our services, we may collect
information from those third parties. This may include payment services,
login services or review platforms. Please refer to the privacy
settings of the social media platforms or third party features you use
to manage how information is shared.
If you provide personal information to us, online or at one
of our Dealerships, for the purposes of our assisting you with obtaining
financing or leasing from a third party finance source, additional
federal laws may apply to our treatment of that information, and we ask
that you carefully review the Privacy Notice addressing information you
share for financial purposes. Credit Application Privacy Notice
Our mobile applications may collect precise information
about the location of your mobile device via your device's GPS or
cellular connectivity, but only with your express consent. Once you have
consented to the collection of such precise location information via
your mobile device, you may adjust this consent by managing your
Location Services preferences through the settings of your mobile
device. We may also be able to infer your location from other
information that you provide or information that we collect passively,
such as the known locations of nearby WiFi networks.
We use the information we collect from you for the
following purposes: to provide our services; to send you marketing
communications; to respond to your requests and inquiries; to improve
user experiences by making our website easier to use and navigate; and
for other legitimate business purposes.
Information Collected from Other Sources:
To help us better understand and respond to your needs and
interests, we may in the future receive information about you from other
sources. We will ask any provider of such information to represent and
warrant that the information has been gathered and maintained in
accordance with all state and federal laws. Any such information will be
maintained by us in accordance with the standards set forth in this
privacy policy along with other personal information you've provided.
Disclosure of Personal Information:
Our Dealership understands the importance of your privacy. We
collect and maintain the personal information of our consumers for our
use and our subsidiaries. We do not sell, rent, or trade consumer
information to third parties, other than as described below, and never
without your consent. Third parties may collect personally identifiable
information about your online activities over time and across different
websites when you use this website.
Business Partners:
Our Dealership may partner with select retailers and other
companies at various times to provide expanded services to our Website
visitors. As part of such a relationship, we may share with these
companies the use of certain interactive Website functions (i.e. the
E-Mail Reminder Service). Information provided by Website visitors
through the use of such interactive functions may be available to both
our Dealership and our partners. We may share information about you and
about your vehicle(s) with the manufacturer of the vehicle(s). Vehicles
collect and use different types of information for various purposes. If
you have any concerns or questions about such information, you should
review the data collection and opt out procedures of your vehicle
manufacturer, and any third party applications with access to your
vehicle's data, prior to buying, leasing or trading a vehicle.
Agents:
Our Dealership may use other companies and individuals to
perform certain functions on our behalf. Examples include administering
e-mail services and running special promotions. Such parties only have
access to the personal information needed to perform these functions and
may not use or store the information for any other purpose. Subscribers
or Website visitors will never receive unsolicited e-mail messages from
agents working on our behalf.
Business Transfers:
In the event that our Dealership sells or transfers a
particular portion of its business assets, consumer information may be
one of the business assets transferred as part of the transaction. If
substantially all of the assets of our Dealership are acquired, consumer
information may be transferred as part of the acquisition.
Compliance with Law/Safety:
Our Dealership may disclose specific personal information
based on a good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to comply
with or conform to the law or that such disclosure is necessary to
protect the users of our Websites, the Websites themselves, or the
public.
With Consent:
Other than as set forth in this Privacy Policy, you will be
notified when any personally-identifiable information about you may be
shared with third parties, and you will be given the opportunity to
decline to share that information.
Use of Cookies, Web Beacons and Other Technologies:
Our Dealership may use a browser feature known as a "cookie",
web beacons (also known as pixels), and other technologies to collect
information when you use our services. Cookies are small files placed
on your hard drive that assist us in providing you with a customized
browsing experience. Our Dealership uses cookies to provide you with the
convenience of not having to reenter information, such as user IDs and
passwords, multiple times during your visits to our Websites. Cookies
can also be utilized to help us provide you with information targeted to
your interests, based upon your prior browsing on our Websites. The
"help" section of the toolbar on most browsers will inform you on how to
prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the
browser notify you upon the receipt of a new cookie, or how to disable
the use of cookies completely. Cookies alone generally cannot be used to
identify you. But if you choose the "Remember Me" feature or similar
features, a cookie will store information that helps remember you, such
as your username.
Our Websites have been designed to take advantage of the use
of cookies. Should you configure your browser to decline their use,
certain features of our Websites may not function correctly and you may
be required to renter any user IDs and passwords more frequently. We may
also share information that we collect with third parties, such as
service providers, advertisers, and advertising companies as described
in this Privacy Policy. Certain third party content providers,
advertisers, and advertising companies may also place cookies on your
computer or mobile device. Those cookies are controlled by the third
parties and are not governed by this Privacy Policy. Some of our
services and communications may contain tiny electronic images known as
web beacons. We use web beacons to assist us in delivering cookies on
our services and to allow us to count users who have visited those
pages. We may include web beacons in promotional email messages in order
to determine whether messages have been opened and acted upon.
Accessing Our Websites from Outside of the United States:
If you are visiting our Website from a location outside of
the U.S., your connection will be through and to servers located in the
U.S. Any information you provide during your visit will be processed and
maintained on our Web server and other internal systems located within
the U.S.
External Links:
Our Websites contain links to other sites. Our Dealership is
not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such
websites. To help ensure the protection of your privacy, we recommend
that you review the privacy policy of any site you visit via a link from
one of our Websites.
Passwords:
The personal data record created through your registration
with our Website can only be accessed with the unique password
associated with that record. To protect the integrity of the information
contained in this record, you should not disclose or otherwise reveal
your password to third parties.
Public Forums:
Our Websites may make chat rooms, forums, message boards,
and/or news groups available to its users at various times. Please
remember that, unless otherwise stated, any information that is
disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should
exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information in
these areas.
Opt-out Procedures:
You may opt-out of receiving future communications from our
Dealership by making the request using the contact information provided
below. We will process your request as soon as possible in accordance
with applicable law, but please be aware that in some circumstances you
may receive a few more messages until the request is processed.
Additionally, we may send you information regarding our Services, such
as information about changes to our policies and other notices and
disclosures required by law. Generally, users cannot opt-out of these
communications, but they will be primarily informational in nature,
rather than promotional.
Children's Privacy:
We care about children's privacy. Our services are not
directed to, nor do we knowingly collect information from, children
under the age of 18. We will not knowingly allow children under 18 to
register for or purchase our products or services. If we discover that
we have received any information from a child under 18, we will take
reasonable steps to promptly remove that information. If you believe we
have collected information from anyone under 18 without parental
consent, please contact us via any of the channels listed below.
Browser-Based Do Not Track:
Some browsers incorporate a "Do Not Track" (DNT) feature
that, when turned on, signals to websites and online services that you
do not want to be tracked. Because there is not yet an accepted standard
for how to respond to a DNT signal, we do not currently respond to DNT
signals on this website or on websites where we provide advertisements,
content, or other services.
Security:
We implement reasonable security measures to ensure the
security of your personal information. Please understand, however, that
no data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100%
secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any
information you transmit to us and you understand that any information
that you transfer to us is done at your own risk. If we learn of a
security systems breach we may attempt to notify you electronically so
that you can take appropriate protective steps. By using the Services or
providing personal information to us, you agree that we can communicate
with you electronically regarding security, privacy and administrative
issues relating to your use of the Services. We may post a notice via
our website if a security breach occurs. We may also send an email to
you at the email address you have provided to us in these circumstances.
Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive
notice of a security breach in writing.
Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate:
Except where and to the extent prohibited by law, by using
the Services, you and Dealership agree that, if there is any
controversy, claim, action, or dispute arising out of or related to your
use of the Services or the breach, enforcement, interpretation, or
validity of this Privacy Policy or any part of it ("Dispute"), both
parties shall first try in good faith to settle such Dispute by
providing written notice to the other party describing the facts and
circumstances of the Dispute and allowing the receiving party thirty
(30) days in which to respond to or settle the Dispute.
Notice shall be mailed to: General Counsel, Sonic Automotive, Inc., 4401 Colwick Road, Charlotte, NC 28211
Both you and Dealership agree that this dispute resolution
procedure is a condition precedent that must be satisfied before filing
any demand for arbitration against the other party. IF ANY DISPUTE
CANNOT BE RESOLVED BY THE ABOVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE, YOU AGREE
THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION FOR SUCH DISPUTE WILL BE DECIDED BY
BINDING ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. ARBITRATION ON AN
INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE, AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT
FOR A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED
IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY. Other rights that
you and we would otherwise have in court will not be available or will
be more limited in arbitration, including discovery and appeal rights.
All such disputes shall be exclusively submitted to ADR Services, Inc.
(www.adrservices.com) for binding arbitration under its rules then in
effect, before one arbitrator to be mutually agreed upon by both
parties.
Both you and Dealership agree that any challenge to the
interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of this
Agreement to Arbitrate, including without limitation any claim that this
Agreement is void or voidable or to the prohibition against
consolidating the claims of others into a single proceeding, whether as a
class, a representative action or otherwise, is a gateway issue and
shall be determined by the state or federal court; and any substantive
claims shall not be decided by the arbitrator until after the gateway
determination is made by the court.
This arbitration policy has been made in and shall be
construed in accordance with the laws of the in which the Dealership is
physically located, without giving any effect to any conflict of law
principles.
In the event of a conflict between this agreement to
arbitrate and any other arbitration agreement between you and the
Dealership, such as an arbitration agreement contained in a retail
installment sales contract, lease agreement, repair estimate, or any
other agreement (Other Arbitration Agreement), the terms of the Other
Arbitration Agreement shall govern and prevail in each instance.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy from
time to time by posting a new Privacy Policy on this page. You are
advised to consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes, and
your continued use of the Website after such changes have been made
constitutes acceptance of those changes.
Contacting the Websites:
If you have questions concerning this Privacy Policy or the practices of these Websites, you may contact us.
Your California Privacy Rights
This PRIVACY POLICY FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS
supplements the information contained herein and applies solely to
consumers who reside in the State of California ("consumers" or "you").
We adopt this notice to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act
of 2018 ("CCPA") and other California privacy laws. Any terms defined in
the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this notice.
Notice at Collection
We are providing you with this notice under the California
Consumer Privacy Act (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.100(b)). The purpose of this
notice is to tell you 1) the categories of personal information to be
collected from consumers, and 2) how we use that information.
Categories:
Identifiers (such as name, address, SSN, passport number, driver's
license number, state identification number, phone number, email
address, Internet Protocol address, and other similar identifiers).
Business Purpose(s) for Use:
To assist you in purchasing and/or financing a vehicle, product, or
service; to process your transaction; to contact you regarding a past or
potential future transaction; to respond to your inquiry or request or
for other customer service reasons; to market to you; to improve our
products and services; for recall purposes; to comply with the law; for
fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Categories:
Information defined as "personal information" under the California
Customer Records Act (Cal. Civ. Code 1798.80) (such as insurance policy
number, signature, and financial information such as bank account and
credit/bank card information).
Business Purpose(s) for Use:
To assist you in purchasing and/or financing a vehicle, product, or
service; to process your transaction; to contact you regarding a past or
potential future transaction; to respond to your inquiry or request or
for other customer service reasons; to market to you; to improve our
products and services; for recall purposes; to comply with the law; for
fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Categories: Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law (such as language preference).
Business Purpose(s) for Use:
To assist you in purchasing and/or financing a vehicle, product, or
service; to process your transaction; to contact you regarding a past or
potential future transaction; to respond to your inquiry or request or
for other customer service reasons; to market to you; to improve our
products and services; for recall purposes; to comply with the law; for
fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Categories:
Commercial information, including records of products or services
purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming
histories or tendencies (such as whether you paid by cash, check, or
credit/debit card).
Business Purpose(s) for Use:
To assist you in purchasing and/or financing a vehicle, product, or
service; to process your transaction; to contact you regarding a past or
potential future transaction; to respond to your inquiry or request or
for other customer service reasons; to market to you; to improve our
products and services; for recall purposes; to comply with the law; for
fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Categories:
Internet or other electronic network activity information (if you
visited our website, such as IP addresses, browsing, cookies, and search
history).
Business Purpose(s) for Use:
To assist you in purchasing and/or financing a vehicle, product, or
service; to process your transaction; to contact you regarding a past or
potential future transaction; to respond to your inquiry or request or
for other customer service reasons; to market to you; to improve our
products and services; for recall purposes; to comply with the law; for
fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Categories: Geolocation data (if you visited our website on a device that provides geolocation data).
Business Purpose(s) for Use:
To assist you in purchasing and/or financing a vehicle, product, or
service; to process your transaction; to contact you regarding a past or
potential future transaction; to respond to your inquiry or request or
for other customer service reasons; to market to you; to improve our
products and services; for recall purposes; to comply with the law; for
fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Categories: Professional or employment information (such as current employment information and employment history).
Business Purpose(s) for Use:
To assist you in purchasing and/or financing a vehicle, product, or
service; to process your transaction; to contact you regarding a past or
potential future transaction; to respond to your inquiry or request or
for other customer service reasons; to market to you; to improve our
products and services; for recall purposes; to comply with the Jaw; for
fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Categories: Education information.
Business Purpose(s) for Use:
To assist you in purchasing and/or financing a vehicle, product, or
service; to process your transaction; to contact you regarding a past or
potential future transaction; to respond to your inquiry or request or
for other customer service reasons; to market to you; to improve our
products and services; for recall purposes; to comply with the law; for
fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Categories:
Inferences drawn from the above categories, such as consumer
preferences, characteristics, attitudes, predispositions (such as if you
are predisposed to get service work performed by our service
department).
Business Purpose(s) for Use:
To assist you in purchasing and/or financing a vehicle, product, or
service; to process your transaction; to contact you regarding a past or
potential future transaction; to respond to your inquiry or request or
for other customer service reasons; to market to you; to improve our
products and services; for recall purposes; to comply with the law; for
fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Categories: Biometric data (such as a thumbprint/fingerprint).
Business Purpose(s) for Use: For fraud prevention purposes; for our auditing purposes.
Your Rights and Choices
The CCPA provides California residents with specific rights
regarding their personal information. This section describes your CCPA
rights and explains how to exercise those rights.
Access to Specific Information and Data Portability Rights
You have the right to request that we disclose certain
information to you about our collection and use of your personal
information over the past 12 months.
Opt-Out of Personal Information Sharing and Selling Rights
You have the right to request that we discontinue sharing or
selling any of the personal information that we collected about you and
retained, subject to certain exceptions in the CCPA.
Deletion Request Rights
You have the right to request that we delete any of your
personal information that we collected about you and retained, subject
to certain exceptions in the CCPA.
Non-Discrimination Rights
We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of
your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not deny you
goods or services, charge you different prices or rates for goods or
services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or
imposing penalties, provide you a different level or quality of goods or
services, or suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for
goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.
COLLECTION AND USE OF YOUR INFORMATION BY GM
When
you use this site, GM will have access to personal information you
enter on this site and to information about your browsing activities on
this site. When you indicate that you would like to receive more
information about GM and its products, services or offers, your name,
address, city, state, zip code, email address and telephone number will
be provided to GM. In addition, if you buy or lease a GM vehicle from
this Participating Dealer, the Participating Dealer may share
information about your vehicle purchase (such as vehicle identification
number (VIN), make, model, model year, date of purchase or lease and
service history) with GM as the vehicle manufacturer in accordance with
this dealership's privacy statement provided below. For more information
about how GM uses your information, please visit //www.gm.com/privacy.
Exercising Access, Data Portability, and Deletion Rights
If you have any questions or comments about our Privacy
Policy, the ways in which we collect and use your Personal Information,
your choices and rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your
rights under California law, please do not hesitate to contact us at:
• Website: sonicautomotiveprivacy.com
• Telephone: (800) 810-1827
• Mail: Consumer Privacy Request, Sonic Automotive, Inc., 4401 Colwick Road, Charlotte, NC 28211