Last revised: January 16, 2020
Our Commitment to Online Privacy
At Paladin Self Storage, we understand that online privacy isn’t as easy as hiding your embarrassing high school photos behind the closed self-storage door. We care about your online privacy and this Privacy Policy (“Policy”) aims to explain (without the legal nonsense) how we use your information and what rights you have when it comes to controlling your information.
By continuing to use the services of Paladin Self Storage, you agree to let us use your information in the ways discussed in this Policy. For this reason, it is very important that you stick it out and read this entire Policy. Like our storage services, we believe our privacy practices are top notch! However, if you disagree, we will be sad to see you leave.
Services This Policy Covers
This Policy applies to the online services owned by Paladin Self Storage, including our website, social media accounts and any future online services we develop. This Policy does not cover the practices of companies not owned by Paladin Self Storage. Sometimes, we may display a link to another company’s services. When you click on this link, you are leaving Paladin Self Storage and are no longer covered by this Policy. Since you are here reading this, you must have a particular interest in privacy policies; we highly recommend you add to your reading list the privacy policies of the companies we link to.
What Is Personal Information?
Personal Information is any information that may allow for an individual to be personally identified. For example, your name, email address, social security number, phone number, residential address and credit card details are all considered personal information. Other information, such as your interests, economic status, customer number, IP address, geolocation, education, and job title may also be considered personal information if that information, when combined with other information, is used to reveal your identity.
What Personal Information Does Paladin Self Storage Collect?
Paladin Self Storage only collects personal information from you when you voluntarily consent for us to collect and use it. You voluntarily consent for us to collect and use your personal information by:
- Registering for an online tenant account: Because the internet is amazing, the Paladin Self Storage website links to a third-party portal (powered by Web Self Storage) that allows for you to create an online account to reserve self-storage units, manage existing reservations and pay self-storage invoices online. To register for these online services, you are required to create a password and security questions, as well as provide your name, email address, phone number, and residential address. Don’t worry all passwords and security question answers are encrypted; this means we never see this information.
- Directly providing the information to us: In some circumstances, you may be asked by Paladin Self Storage to provide specific information so that we can help you with an inquiry or you may give information to us on your own accord. Such information may include personal information such as your name, email address, phone number or residential address. For example, you consent for us to use the information you have provided when you reach out to us by email or our social media accounts, when you use the “contact us” form on our website, when you interact with our support or customer service teams, or when you comment on our blog posts or social media posts. You should also be aware that the comments you make on our blog or social media accounts may also be accessible to the public. Are you okay with Mom or the creepy stranger down the road seeing your comments? If not, probably don’t post the information.
- Interacting with our services: You permit us to collect information such as your IP address, browser type, geolocation, device type, frequency of visits to our online services and network connection type while you use our online services. We may also receive some interest based information about you. We use cookies and third-party services, such as Google Analytics and Facebook Advertising Insights, to help us collect this information. We only use this type of information in anonymized and aggregated forms; this means that we are not able to identify you personally. For example, we may know that 500 avid chicken figurine collectors from Texas have interacted with our services, but we promise that we are not able to directly trace this information to YOU, the chicken lover in Texas reading this Policy. However, you should be aware that in some circumstances we may be legally required to hand over this information to law enforcement or regulatory authorities, who may then use this information to reveal your identity.
What About My Credit Card Information?
If you wish to pay your self-storage unit invoice through the tenant portal, you will be required to provide your credit card information. We use SiteLink Merchant Services, a PCI compliant third-party vendor to process credit card payments; this means we NEVER see your credit card information. You can find out more about SiteLink’s Merchant Services here https://www.sitelink.com/products/merchant-services and read their privacy policy here https://www.sitelink.com/privacy-policy. We have no control over and are not responsible for, Sitelink’s use or disclosure of your personal information.
What about the Cookies?
It’s time for us to talk to you about the cookies – and no, not the chocolate chip kind. Cookies are small files that we transfer to your computer’s hard drive through your browser.
- Types of cookies we use: We use both session cookies, that are erased once you exit your browser, and persistent cookies, that stay on your device for a set period of time or until you manually delete them.
- Why does Paladin Self Storage use cookies? We mainly use cookies to help ensure you have the best user experience possible and to give us insight into how we can make improvements to Paladin Self Storage. Cookies may also be used to ensure that you see advertisements relevant to your interests. Currently, we do not use targeted advertising on our website. However, we do use targeted advertising through Google Ad Words and Facebook. Google and Facebook use cookies on their platforms to collect information about your interests. When we advertise our services through their platforms, we are then able to select a targeted audience that we hope may be interested in our services. That is why you may see some ‘paid’ or ‘sponsored’ advertisements from Paladin Self Storage while using these platforms.
- Can I block cookies? Most browsers have an option to stop your computer from accepting cookies altogether or to stop certain types of cookies. As we mentioned, cookies allow for us to provide a number of Paladin Self Storage online features. So, if you do decide to block cookies, our online services (particularly our website) may operate a little strangely. If it is the targeted advertising that you are mainly concerned about, you can choose to specifically opt out of targeted advertising by going the following links:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
Google – https://adssettings.google.com
Digital Advertising Alliance – http://optout.aboutads.info/
You can also learn more about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org.
Why Does Paladin Self Storage Collect My Information?
In these George Orwellian times, we think it is important to point out to you that we are no Big Brother company. We never collect your information for the purpose of selling, renting, trading or otherwise abusing it. We only use your information for the following reasons:
- To personalize our online features and content;
- To fulfill or enforce a contract that you have entered into with us;
- To help you efficiently access your information;
- To improve, monitor and test our services and new products or features;
- To prevent, investigate and address the misuse of our services;
- To learn about the types of people that are using our services and how we can better market to those people;
- To allow you to reserve a self-storage unit or check on an existing reservation;
- To allow you to pay your self-storage unit bill;
- To allow you to participate in social sharing including on social media and through our blogs;
- To respond to your inquiries and fulfill your requests;
- To comply with law enforcement and other regulatory authorities; and
- To communicate with you about our services and features.
Does Paladin Self Storage Share My Information with Third Parties?
As we already mentioned, the personal information black market is not a market we are involved with. We only share your information with third parties in the following ways:
- Other Companies in the Paladin Self Storage Network: Paladin Self Storage is not the only company owned by us. Sometimes we may share information with other in-network companies to carry out our daily business operations and to enable us to maintain and provide services to you.
- Agents: Although, we like to think that we can do it all, sometimes we hire other trusted companies and/or individuals to help us out with tasks. These agents may need your personal information to fulfill the work we have asked them to perform, but they do not have the right to use your personal information beyond what is necessary to complete the requested task. Three common agents that we use are Web Self Storage and FineView Marketing.
- New Owners: In the event that Paladin Self Storage is involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets, your information may be sold or transferred as part of that transaction. We will give you notice before there is a substantial change in our ownership and before any transfer of your personal information occurs.
- Law Enforcement: We may sometimes be required to share your personal information with law enforcement, lawyers or regulatory authorities. We will only share your information when we believe, in good faith, that sharing your information is necessary to protect Paladin Self Storage or users of our services. Examples include, where a legal warrant or subpoena has been issued to us, where we must report information due to a belief that fraud or misuse of our services has occurred, or where a user’s property or safety, or our property or safety, is at risk. In cases of fraud, we may also be required to share your information with the credit bureau and banks.
Will I Receive Emails from Paladin Self Storage?
- Emails you can opt out of: At Paladin Self Storage, we love to keep you updated on our new features and how we are evolving as a company. Don’t worry we never send you updates on Angela’s uncle’s dog’s 7th-month birthday. If you are already receiving these types of emails, it means that you consented to receive these emails either by clicking a little opt-in box or by otherwise letting us know that it was a-okay for us to use your email address in this way. Of course, you are always free to opt out of these emails by simply requesting for us to remove you from our e-mail
- Emails you will not be able to opt out of: There are some important emails from Paladin Self Storage that you will not be able to opt out of. For example, we may send emails to notify you that your credit card has been used to make a payment, that this Policy has been updated or that the storage facility has been hit by a meteorite (we expect some of these emails to be sent more than others).
Personal Information Retention and Your Rights
There is absolutely no hoarding going on here! Paladin Self Storage processes and stores your information within the United States and only keeps your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services. Under the law, you also have the right to request at any time for us to:
- Give you access to any personal information that we have processed;
- Correct any personal information that may have been incorrectly processed;
- Delete your personal information from our storage systems;
- Transfer your personal information to another service, when technically feasible; and
- Stop using your personal information in specific ways, by withdrawing the consent you have given us.
We will do our best to comply with your requests; however, sometimes there may be legal or contractual duties that stop us from being able to fulfill your wishes. For example, we may need to retain certain information to comply with our tax reporting obligations, or if the information is part of an active investigation, we may not be able to remove it from our systems straight away. Regardless, we will always respond to your requests and let you know the situation.
Keeping Your Information Safe
Paladin Self Storage is committed to protecting your personal information. We have physical, electronic and managerial systems and procedures in place to help safeguard your information. Unfortunately, just as the bubble wrap doesn’t always protect Grandma’s expensive vase while moving, no online system can guarantee complete security of your personal information. Third-party viruses or security failures may result in your personal information being compromised. You can help prevent unauthorized access to your information by using antivirus software, limiting access to your personal computer and changing your passwords from “123abc” to something a little less obvious. In the unlikely event that your personal information is compromised due to a security breach on our end, we will be sure to notify you within 72 hours of the breach coming to our attention.
Protection of Children
Our services are not directed, or intended, for children under the age of 13 years. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under this age limit and delete this information as soon as we become aware of it. However, we do admire all the 0-12-year-old’s out there contemplating their clutter-free future. If you live outside of the United States, your country may apply stricter age limits. In some cases, even if you are older than 13, you may not be legally allowed to access to our online services.
Changes Made to This Policy
Times change, and we change with them. Paladin Self Storage may modify this Policy from time to time. The date at the top of this Policy lets you know when this Policy was last revised. If Paladin Self Storage makes a change to this Policy that materially affects the way your information is used, an email will be sent notifying you of the change or changes to the Policy. Even though you probably won’t, you really should check back here occasionally to make sure you have read our latest policy. By continuing to access or use our services after the Policy changes, you allow us to use your information in the ways described in the updated policy.
Dispute Resolution
All disputes concerning our privacy practices are to be resolved by a good old-fashioned duel. If a duel is not agreeable to both parties, then by using our services, you agree to use independent mediation and/or arbitration services, rather than formal court proceedings, to have the matter resolved.
Contact Paladin Self Storage
If you ever have any questions about how we use your personal information reach out to us.