Privacy Policy | The Cole Group

Introduction and Scope of this Privacy Policy

The Cole Group (the “Company,” “we,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy.This policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the website www.thecolegroup.com (our “Website”) and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information. This policy applies to information we collect:on this Website; andfrom email, text, and other electronic messages between you and this Website.It does not apply to information collected by:the Company offline or through any other means, including on any other website or other resource operated by Company or any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries); orany third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries), including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on our Website.Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how the Company will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Website. By accessing or using this Website, you agree to this Privacy Policy. This policy may change from time to time (see Changes to This Privacy Policy). Your continued use of this Website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check this Privacy Policy website periodically for updates.The terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in the Company’s Website Terms of Use, which is accessible at Terms of Use, unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy and incorporated herein by reference.

SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING THE WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY: Collection, Use and Disclosure of Your Personal Data When Done for Purposes of a Consumer Report

The Company is a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) that conducts background screening, including the preparation of “Consumer Reports” (as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act), for its authorized end-user clients under the provisions of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, state law equivalents, and international laws and regulations where applicable. When done for purposes of preparing a Consumer Report, the Company only collects personal data pursuant to written disclosure and authorization under the FCRA and other applicable laws, and only disseminates Consumer Reports to its clients as directed in a written authorization and when permitted by applicable law. If you are the subject of a background screening, the Company’s separate disclosures and authorizations that will be provided to you during the screening process by the potential employer or other authorized end-user which will control the provision and dissemination of certain information about you over general privacy policy statements contained herein that pertain to all users of the website.
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If you are undergoing a background screening with the Company, the background screening will involve verifying personal data that you have provided during the application process and the collection of additional information about you. Each end-user client applies their own background screening criteria, and Company only processes the services we are instructed to perform by the end-user client. Depending on the scope of inquiries requested by the end-user client the background check may in whole or in part include, obtain, and/or verify: your criminal history; employment history (to include dates of employment, my job title/position, and reason for leaving); social security number information; drug screen; education; academic and professional credentials; financial responsibility; driving records including Motor Vehicle Records (permitted by 18 US Code 2721 (b)(6)(9)(13)(14)); and previous background screenings. The Company may further collect any other information as authorized by you. [However, please note, The Cole Group does not inquire into or disseminate information related to a job applicant’s physical and mental medical condition and medical history, impairments, diagnoses, family medical history, injuries, workers’ compensation claims, civil rights, or personal injury lawsuits.].
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The information collected may be compiled in a Consumer Report where permitted by applicable law. The requesting end-user may use the Consumer Report to evaluate an applicant for the open position. This evaluation is necessary for the requesting end-user to determine whether to enter into an employment or contracted work agreement with you and for the requesting end-user to pursue its legitimate interests of ensuring the fidelity of its workforce.
The requesting end-user will not disclose the Consumer Report to any unaffiliated third party except in exceptional circumstances, such as to seek advice from its professional advisors or to defend legal claims. Your information is retained by the Company for a minimum of six (6) years unless otherwise restricted by applicable laws and regulations.

Children Under the Age of 13

Our Website is not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under age 13 may provide any information to or on our Website. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on this Website or through any of its features, or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at info@thecolegroup.com.

Information We Collect About You and How the Company Collects It

We may employ third-party companies and individuals due to the following reasons:

by which you may be personally identified, such as name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number, name of company with which you are associated, job title, website of company with which you are associated, any other identifier by which you may be contacted online or offline (”personal information”); and
about your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Website, and usage details.

We collect this information:

directly from you when you provide it to us; and
automatically as you navigate through the site. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies.

Information You Provide to the Company

The information the Company collects on or through our Website may include:

information that you provide by filling in forms on our Website, including information provided at the time of requesting further products or services;
information you provide to the Company if you report a problem with our Website;
if applicable, information provided during your background screening; and
records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us.

Information the Company Collects Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies

As you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including:

details of your visits to our Website, including traffic data, logs, and other communication data, including times and dates of your visits to our Website;
the resources that you access and use on our Website, such as the pages you visit on our Website, the amount of time you spend on pages you visit, and other statistics; and/or
information about your computer and internet connection, including your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, operating system type and/or version, and browser type and/or version.

The information we collect automatically may include personal information, or we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways. Such information collection helps us to improve our Website and to deliver a better service.

The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:

Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Website.

How the Company Uses Your Information

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:

to present our Website and its contents to you;
to provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us;
to fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it;
to notify you about changes to our Website or any products or services we offer or provide though it;
in any other way we may describe when you provide the information; and/or
for any other purpose with your consent.

Disclosure of Your Information

The Company does not distribute, sell, or otherwise disseminate any identifying personal information obtained in connection with our Website to any outside sources, domestic or overseas, other than those that have been consented to and requested by you, except, to the extent permitted by law, to our Service Providers as discussed below. In the event you suspect that any of your information may have been compromised as a result of your use of our Website, please contact The Cole Group at info@thecolegroup.com.

Service Providers

We may employ third-party companies and individuals due to the following reasons:

to facilitate providing our Website, including information technology (“IT”) services;
to facilitate receiving requests from you seeking information regarding the Company’s products and/or services;
to facilitate responding to requests from you seeking information regarding the Company’s products and/or services;
to facilitate the rendition of our services to our end users when permitted by applicable law; and/or
to assist the Company in analyzing how our Website is used.

It would be impractical to list all Service Providers here, so we have listed above types of Service Providers instead of individuals or organizations. To understand which Service Providers may receive your personal information, please contact us at info@thecolegroup.com.

Security

The Company values your trust in providing us with any of your personal information. Therefore, the Company uses commercially acceptable means of protecting it. Unfortunately, no method of transmission over the Internet is completely secure and reliable. Although the Company does our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any security measures contained on the Website.

Links to Other Sites

The Website includes links to other websites. If you click on a third-party link included on the Website, you will be directed to that website. Note that these external websites are not operated by the Company. Therefore, the Company strongly advises you to review the privacy policy of such websites. The Company has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites or services.

Changes to The Company’s Privacy Policy

It is the Company’s policy to post any changes we make to this Privacy Policy on this webpage. If the Company makes material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you by updating the Privacy Policy on this webpage. The date this Privacy Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for periodically visiting our Website and this Privacy Policy to check for any changes.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about this Privacy Policy and/or the Company’s privacy practices, please contact us at info@thecolegroup.com.

Privacy Policy of The Cole Group

Privacy Policy of
The Cole Group