KEYSTONE COOPERATIVE PRIVACY POLICY

Keystone highly regards the privacy of individuals who visit our web sites and therefore we follow the privacy standards which have been adopted by the United States. This statement sets forth the important information which individuals who visit these sites need to know about how Keystone uses personal information from web site visitors.

Please read this policy carefully. By visiting a Keystone web site and using the services provided on that site, you are indicating your agreement as to the use of your personal information as set out in this Policy. This policy does not apply to any other Keystone services or dealings with users or customers and does not apply to third-party sites which may be linked to the Keystone site.

Collection of Information

Keystone web sites collect personally identifiable information only from individuals who voluntarily choose to provide the information through the web site. (In this Policy the foregoing information is referred to as “Personal Information.”) That Personal Information may be collected in several different ways:

Some sites may permit users to request a “user i.d.” and password which can be used on future visits to the site. Visitors to the site may be asked to supply their name, geographic location and some information about their business or occupation or other reason for interest in the site. In addition, some sites permit users to supply an e-mail address to sign up for Keystone newsletters. Other sites may include feedback or comment forms whereby users can submit questions or comments to Keystone. (In this Policy, the foregoing information is referred to as “User Information.”)

Some sites may permit users to enter into transactions with Keystone or to take advantage of services provided by Keystone to its customers through that site. On such sites, users will be required to provide detailed information necessary to enable Keystone to process the transaction and to provide the goods or services requested by the visitor. Visitors may be requested to provide financial information, including credit card or bank information, in connection with such transactions.

Some Keystone web sites may provide chat rooms or discussion forums where users may register and post messages or comments. Participation in such discussion areas is entirely voluntary. No information which a user posts in such an area is private, inasmuch as it will be accessible to other users of the same area. Thus, any Personal Information which a user chooses to post in such an area will not be subject to this Privacy Policy.

From time-to-time our site may request additional information from users by means of surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose whatever additional information may be requested. Information requested through surveys and contests may include additional demographic information. (In this Policy, the foregoing information is referred to as “Survey Information.”)

In addition to the foregoing Personal Information, each site automatically logs information about a visitor from the browser used to access the site (e.g., Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.). This includes information about the I.P. address of the visitor, the pages in the site which are visited from that address and the web site which the user visited just prior to the Keystone site. (In this Policy, the foregoing information is referred to as “Visit Information.”) While some jurisdictions consider IP addresses to be personal information, none of this Visit Information is used by Keystone for direct or indirect identification of the individual user who is accessing the Keystone site. Visit Information will be used by Keystone to diagnose problems with its web servers, to administer, design and construct its web sites, to track visitor movements on the web sites and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use only.

A cookie is a small data file that web sites commonly write to the site visitor’s hard drive when a site is visited. A cookie file contains information that can identify a return visitor each time he or she visits our site. The data is encrypted for added security. Keystone’s web sites may use cookies as a way to measure activity and traffic patterns on the site in order to continually improve the visitor’s experience. Cookies also provide visitors the convenience of not having to log in a password more than once on a Keystone site, thereby saving the visitor time while on our site.

A browser can be set to warn the users before accepting cookies. Users can choose to refuse cookies by turning them off in the browser. Users do not need to have cookies turned on to visit our web site, but may need them to use certain customizable features of our web site such as automatically displaying local weather and crop forecasts, accessing certain areas of our web site, and transacting business on our web site.

While we take all reasonable steps to protect the privacy of our website visitors, we cannot promise that the current limitations of our online applications programming will address every browser setting or honor every personal browser preference.

Further, our online service providers or business partners may implement technologies that allow for the collection of personally identifiable information over time and across websites. We recommend that you review each privacy policy posted on the websites that you visit to better understand privacy practices on those websites.

How Keystone uses your Personal Information

Generally, we use personal information from our sites in the following ways:

to provide the products, information and services customers request;
for security, credit or fraud prevention purposes;
to provide you with effective customer service;
to provide you with a personalized experience when you use our sites;
to display personalized advertising when you visit our sites;
to contact you with special offers and other information we believe will be of interest to you;
to contact you with information and notices related to your use of our sites;
to invite you to participate in surveys and provide feedback to us;
to better understand your needs and interests;
to improve the content, functionality and usability of our sites;
to improve our products and services;
to improve our marketing and promotional efforts; and
for any other purpose identified in a applicable privacy notice or other agreement between Keystone and you.

Your Personal Information may be used to communicate with you about your use of our sites, to let you know about changes to our services or our site or to provide services to you or to improve our understanding of what visitors want and need to see on the sites. In particular:

User Information may be used by Keystone primarily to enhance the usability and friendliness of the Keystone web sites and to ensure that the information which is provided is timely and relevant and meets the needs of our visitors. Keystone may also use the information which visitors voluntarily furnish through these sites to provide information and promotional material to persons who have visited the Keystone sites and to process specific requests for information which visitors may make. (See “Opting In / Opting Out” below if you do not wish to receive such materials from Keystone.)

Transactional Information will be used by Keystone to process and complete the transaction for goods or services requested by the visitor.

Survey Information will be used in a manner similar to User Information but will be used primarily in aggregate form to provide Keystone with information on customer needs, product design, market demand, etc.

Also, you should know that your Personal Information, as well as Visit Information collected at a Keystone site, may be used by Keystone security personnel if deemed necessary to protect Keystone from a threat or other perceived security risk and such information may be shared with law enforcement authorities if appropriate.

Sharing and Disclosure of Your Information

Keystone may share Personal Information with others for a number of purposes:

We may provide contact information to our trade partners, advertisers and other interested parties so that they may contact you directly to furnish you information about their products and services. (As used in this Policy, “Trade Partners” means businesses not owned or operated by Keystone but which provide compatible goods or services which may be desired by or potentially useful for visitors to the Keystone web sites.) (See “Opting In / Opting Out” below if you do not wish to receive such materials from Trade Partners.)

We will provide aggregated data about products and services purchased, visitor interests, demographics and other information collected from our web site to our Trade Partners, advertisers and other interested parties so that they can learn what products and services are most popular to our customers. Aggregated data will be in anonymous group statistical form and not associated with any individual person.

We may use a credit card processing company to bill web site visitors for products and services which they request.

We may partner with other parties to provide specific services. When the user signs up for these services, we will share names or other contact information that is necessary for the third parties to provide these services. These parties will not be allowed to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing these services.

Keystone may also share Personal Information about web site visitors with third parties under the following circumstances:

When you consent to disclosure;
To comply with law, court orders, subpoena or legal process;
To enforce or apply Keystone’s agreements or protect Keystone and its rights,
By operation of law, when such Personal Information is transferred as a part of sale of assets including the assets represented by this site; or
In the event that Keystone, or substantially all of its assets, are acquired outside of the ordinary course of business, and such Personal Information may be one of the transferred assets.

Children and Privacy

Keystone does not knowingly collect information from or about children age 13 and under.

Opting In / Opting Out

Upon registering at any Keystone web site which collects Personal Information, visitors may be given an opportunity to determine whether they wish to receive promotional materials from Keystone or from Trade Partners. The manner and method in which a Keystone site permits users to opt out of receiving such materials will be described on the individual site collecting that Personal Information. If the user would like to “opt out” at a later time, he may do so by following the instructions on the site where the original request was made or the instructions contained in the e-mail messages delivering such materials to him.

Correction/Updating of Personal Information

If there is an issue with the accuracy of Personal Information, please contact Keystone through the website and provide an email link or contact information to request those changes; generally, user requests for an update of Personal Information will be honored within a reasonable time after we receive a request. However, no changes to personal information will be permitted where the change would result in incorrect information or would alter a transaction with us already completed.

Retention of Personal Information

Keystone will periodically delete Personal Information collected from visitors to its web sites if it is no longer needed for any purpose for which the information may be used or disclosed under the terms of this Policy.

Security

Keystone takes precautions to protect users’ information. Our safeguards include technical means and policies and procedures that our staff is trained to follow. In any event in which a Keystone web site is hosted by a third party, these safeguards shall also apply. If as a registered user you receive a password, you should keep it confidential because it is the key to access to the information held by Keystone about you. If you leave your computer’s internet browser running and someone else uses your computer, they will be able to access your account; thus, if your computer is not physically secure remember to shut down your browser, remove browsing history and cookies before you leave it.

We try to reduce the likelihood of accidental disclosures and unintended access and modification of account information, but it is impossible to eliminate this possibility completely. When users submit sensitive information via the website, their information is protected both on-line and off-line.

All of our users’ information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Keystone employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Any time new policies are added; our employees are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our customers’ information is protected.

Protecting Your Own Privacy

Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online – for example on message boards, through email, or in chat areas – that information can be collected and used by others. Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and/or any account information.

Changes to Policy

If Keystone decides to change its privacy policies and practices, we will post those changes to our Privacy Policy on our website in advance of the changes taking effect, so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify users. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. We will continue to be able to use information in accordance with the Privacy Policy under which the information was collected.

Contacting Keystone

Each Keystone web site provides a Contact Us section to facilitate feedback from site visitors. Please use this facility to notify us if you have any questions, concerns or complaints about the manner in which your personal information has been collected or handled by Keystone, or contact Keystone’s offices.

Policy Last Updated February 2024