Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY


MERLA LLC., with registered office in Delaware (USA), the company directly operating the selling of products offered on the website www.mer-la.com  (the “Website”), recognise the importance of maintaining the confidentiality, integrity and security of your personal information (hereinafter “Personal Data”), and hereby inform you that any Personal Data which you may provide to us through the Website, as well as any Personal Data which you may provide at a MERLA store, will be processed in compliance with current applicable laws on data protection and with any specific local regulations applicable from time to time together with the principles and general rules of conduct contained in the Code of Ethics adopted by the MERLA LLC.

  1. Type and source of data

Browsing data
During their normal operation, the computer systems and software procedures used to operate our Website collect certain personal data (log files). The transmission of such data is inherent to the use of internet communication protocols. This information is not collected in order to be associated with specific data subjects. However, due to its nature, this information can allow users to be identified by means of its processing and integration with data held by third parties. Such information includes the IP addresses or domain names of the computers you use to visit our Website, URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) of the resources requested, the time of the request, the method used to submit the request to the server, the size of the file obtained in reply, the numerical status code of the server reply (successful, error, etc.) and other parameters concerning the user's operating system and computer environment. This data is used with the sole purpose of obtaining anonymous statistical information on the use of our Website and to guarantee its correct operation.

Cookies
Our Website uses cookies to ensure its efficient functioning and to improve our services. Cookies are small text files that are sent to terminal you use to access to the Internet (usually to your browser) by the websites you visit. Cookies are stored in your computer or device to be recognized by those websites on your subsequent visits. For more information on cookies, on the types of cookies used on our Website, on how to disable them and on how you can revoke your consent, see our Cookie Policy.

Personal Data voluntarily provided by the data subject
MERLA collects and processes the Personal Data that you directly and voluntarily provide through our Website when (i) you place online orders, (ii) register to our Website, (iii) and/or you use other functionalities available on the Website (for example: to subscribe to our newsletter, to send a request to our Client Service, to book an appointment in store, to connect or interact with us through social networks, etc).
MERLA may also collect and process the Personal Data that you may provide at a MERLA’s store when you purchase our products or use our services or choice to register into the MERLA customer database by filling in and signing our customer card (“Customer Card”), as well as during any of your interactions with our Client Service or our sales staff.
If you decide to register to the Website through the social login function, please be informed that MERLA will have access to the Personal Data of your social account (for example, your email address and your public profile) in accordance with the privacy settings of the applicable social media platform. For more information, please refer to the related privacy statements on the applicable social media platform; MERLA does not oversee or control such social media services or user profiles on these platforms and does not establish privacy settings or rules regarding how Personal Data is used on such platforms.
The items of Personal Data collected may include personally identifiable information (title, first and last name, location and date of birth), contact, shipping and billing details (delivery and billing addresses, email, telephone), details of purchases and/or other information regarding you that you may decide to provide us during the interactions with our Client Service or with our sale staff.
Furthermore, when you voluntarily send an e-mail through our Website and/or to the addresses indicated in our Website, we collect your e-mail address as well as any additional Personal Data contained in your message, so that we can reply to any request.
If you call our Client Service team or our Client Service team contacts you with the details you have provided to us, please note that calls may be recorded for quality assurance and record-keeping purposes.
In addition, we may also obtain information about you as a result of authentication or identity checks. MERLA uses this information to identify you as a customer, to process your order, to deliver products and services and/or to process payments.
Your credit card data (including credit card numbers and other payment information) are provided to our payment services providers who process payment details further. MERLA does not store or maintain your credit card data or use it directly.

Personal Data of minors
You must be at least 16 years old (or older depending on your country or state of residence) in order to provide us with Personal Data and at least 18 years old to purchase products from our Website.
MERLA protects the Personal Data of minors in accordance with the relevant national laws and regulations. If MERLA discovers that it has collected Personal Data about a minor without the prior consent of a verifiable parent or legal guardian, it will de-activate the minor’s account and try to delete the data as soon as possible.

  1. Purpose and legal bases of the processing
    Your Personal Data may be processed and used for the following purposes:

(a) to respond to all your requests and to manage your relationship with MERLA.
(b) to fulfil your purchase orders and perform all management activities connected with it (including administrative management of the contract, delivery of goods, payment processing, management of any claims and litigation, and fraud prevention), and to comply with any applicable legal or regulatory obligations.
(c) to manage your online account profile and give you access to areas and service reserved for registered users in the Website.
(d) to send by email the newsletters and other marketing communication regarding the MERLA’s products, services, initiatives and events as a result of your subscription to the service.

Furthermore, if you register to the MERLA LLC customer database (e.g. as a result of your online account registration or filling in the Customer Card) your Personal Data will be managed together with the details of your purchases online and/or in stores, for the following purposes:

(e) to confirm your identity as a registered MERLA LLC customer and, consequently, to provide a global customized customer care service and post-sales assistance and allow you to access exclusive services and benefits reserved for registered members (e.g. preservation of your purchase order history, simplified procedures for product repair and warranty, commercial discounts, pre-sale and other promotional events, etc.).
(f) profiling: to perform individual or group studies, surveys, statistical analysis and market research with regards to your preferences for “MERLA” and the other brands, products, and services of the MERLA LLC, so that a personalised service can be offered and cultural and recreational activities may be promoted based on customers’ interests;
(g) marketing: to contact you and/or send you (by post, telephone, e-mail and any other form of electronic communication or digital means including social networks platforms and other instant messaging applications) information and promotions, including commercial information, newsletters, advertising, catalogues and invitations to events concerning “MERLA” and the other brands, products and services of the MERLA LLC.

The Personal Data processing referred to in subsections (a), (c) (d) and (e) is necessary to provide the service requested by the data subject. The processing referred to subsection (b) is necessary to execute the contract with the data subject or the related pre-contractual measures and to fulfill the connected legal obligations of an administrative and fiscal nature. Further, the data processing referred to in subsections (f) and (g) is based on the prior consent of the data subject.

  1. Nature of the provision of personal data
    The provision of Personal Data is optional.
    However, if you wish to make a purchase order for products offered on our Website, register to the MERLA LLC customer database, receive information on MERLA LLC’s products and services, and/or use any other services offered on the Website, you need to fill in all mandatory fields of the relevant forms, otherwise MERLA cannot proceed with the contractual services requested.
    The provision of your Personal Data for the purposes of profiling and marketing indicated at letters (f) and (g) of section 2 above is subject to your prior express consent. If you withhold your consent, we may not be able to proceed with the indicated purposes, including the ability to offer you a personalized service, inform you of any initiatives that may interest you and/or send you any other commercial information on products, initiatives and events of the MERLA.
  2. Processing Methods
    Your Personal Data will be processed by suitable electronic or automated means and computerised tools, or manually and on hard copy, exclusively for the purposes for which they have been collected and guaranteeing the security and confidentiality of any processed information through the adoption of appropriate measures to prevent the alteration, cancellation, destruction, unauthorized access or processing or actions not in accordance with the purpose of collection. Your Personal Data will be processed by the MERLA’s internal staff committed to the confidentiality and duly authorised to do so under their respective job duties.
  3. Transfer and disclosure of data
    Whenever necessary and/or instrumental to the above purposes, your Personal Data may be processed on behalf of MERLA by other entities engaged by MERLA in the correct and regular pursuit of the described purposes, including:
  • Third parties service providers, consultants and firms providing advisory and/or consulting activities, or performing related services that are instrumental to data processing on behalf of MERLA (e.g. service providers, carriers, IT technicians or any other suppliers appointed by MERLA to carry out and/or manage any promotional campaigns for MERLA’s products and services, etc.).

These third parties will act on behalf of MERLA as data processor and are under a contractual obligation of confidentiality of the personal information.
As MERLA is part of an international network your Personal Data may be transferred abroad, even temporarily, in accordance with applicable legislation by adopting all appropriate security measures and safeguards to ensure an appropriate level of data protection and security.
Your Personal Data will not be used for third-party advertising purposes or for the promotion of products, services or initiatives by entities other than the MERLA LLC, nor shall they be disclosed to unknown persons under any circumstances.

  1. Retention period
    Your Personal Data will be processed and stored for: (a) as long as required to carry out the purposes for which the Personal Data were collected, (b) in accordance with the storage periods provided for by the applicable laws, or (c) until you revoke your consent to the processing/storage of your Personal Data, if applicable. After the conclusion of such period(s), and where there is no legal or business purpose for retaining your Personal Data, it will be automatically and permanently erased or made anonymous.
    In particular, regarding the data processing of registered members into MERLA LLC customer database:
  • Personal Data collected for the purposes of customer management to offer personalized services and advantages reserved for registered members, are kept for a period of 7 years from the date of your last interaction with the MERLA LLC; and
  • Purchase details are kept for a period of 7 years from the date of purchase.
  1. Data Controller and contacts

For the purposes referred to in Section 2 letters (a) to (d), the Data Controller is
MERLA LLC
8 The Green

13173

Dover, DE 19901

  1. Your rights
    Please note that you may exercise your rights under the applicable data protection laws at any time by contacting the Data Controller or the Group Data Protection Officer at the addresses indicated in the previous paragraph, including the right to request information as to whether your Personal Data is being processed and as to the characteristics of the processing, the right to rectification and erasure of your Personal Data, to limitation of the data processing and/or the right to object to the processing, and/or to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority or take legal action if you believe there is non-compliance with the provisions of the applicable laws.
    You also have the right to withdraw your consent for the processing of your Personal Data by MERLA at any time, without charge. The withdrawal of your consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on your consent before its withdrawal.
    MERLA reserves the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time. The Privacy Policy currently in force is the one published on the Website.