Privacy Policy

Last Updated: February 2008

Mountain Hardwear's official website (i.e. www.mountainhardwear.com) (the "Website") is operated by and for Columbia Sportswear International Sàrl, 12, avenue des Morgines, Switzerland and/or any of its affiliates (the “Company”). The Company understands that its customers and Website visitors ("you") care about how personally identifiable information is gathered and used when you visit the Website. The Company appreciates that you trust it to act carefully and responsibly with your personally identifiable information.

By accessing and browsing the Website, you unequivocally consent to the collection and the use of personally identifiable information as described in this Privacy Policy.

PRIVACY POLICY. This Privacy Policy describes the Company 's privacy practices with respect to individuals, and explains the choices you have about the way your personally identifiable information is collected and used when you are on the Website and when you use services on the Website. It also explains the security measures taken by the Company to protect your personally identifiable information, and how you may contact the Company with any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy. Please review this Privacy Policy periodically for current information, as the Company reserves the right to change or update the Website at any time without notice to you.

LINKS. The Website may display content of, and/or contain links to, third party sites that are independently run sites outside of the Website domain. Please read each third party site's privacy policy carefully, since it may differ significantly from this Privacy Policy. The Company is not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites to which you choose to link from the Website.

PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE. The Company does not collect personally identifiable information from you unless you voluntarily provide it to us (except cookies; see below cookies). The personally identifiable information may include but is not limited to the following; e-mail address, last name, first name, address, zip code, country of residence, nationality and date of birth or some other personal information when:

  • you register to receive information from the Company or any of its affiliates.
  • you send questions, comments, or other messages to the Company.
  • you request specific information, materials, or warranty service.
  • you participate in surveys, promotions, premiums, or contests.
  • you register products.

Once you register with the Company and/or sign in to products or services, you are not anonymous to the Company

The Company also automatically receives and records information on its server logs from your browser including your Internet Protocol address (IP address) which identifies your computer, the Company's cookies information and the page you requested.

The Company may use your personally identifiable information to:

  • register you in programs;
  • create and maintain accounts or, more generally, to technically administrate the Website;
  • provide you with information related to your account and your purchases;
  • respond to your messages, questions and requests;
  • better understand your needs and interests to improve the Company's services and marketing strategies, and, as the case may be, to customize the advertizing and content you see, based on the details given by you at registration and your activity on the Website;
  • improve its products and services; and
  • otherwise fulfill the purpose for which you provided the information.

The Company and its licensees and affiliates may also use your personally identifiable information to send you (via regular or electronic mail) special offers and product information that may be of interest to you, in particular the Company's newsletter if subscribed by you. You will have an opportunity to "opt out" of receiving such promotional messages when you provide personally identifiable information to the Company online and when promotional messages are addressed directly to you.

CONSENT TO TRANSFER OF PERSONAL INFORMATION. Please note that your personally identifiable information may be stored, processed and used in different jurisdictions depending on the location of affiliates, business partners and other entities who are permitted to access such information under the terms of this Privacy Policy (and such locations may include countries which may not afford the same level of protection of such data as the country from which you provided the information). By using the Website or otherwise providing information to us, you consent to any such transfer and/or storage of information outside of your country.

CHILDREN'S PERSONAL INFORMATION. The Website is not targeted at children. The Company does not knowingly collect information from children.

The Company does not take specific steps to protect the privacy of children who disclose their personally identifiable information to the Company, except that, if the Company determines that it has unintentionally collected personally identifiable information from children, it will delete it from its data bases and will not use or share the information.

DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION. The personally identifiable information that you provide to the Company will not be sold, rent or shared with third parties (i.e. outside of the Company) except under the following limited circumstances:

  • you specifically authorize the Company to share your personally identifiable information with third parties; or
  • the information is shared with a company that (i) is more than 50% owned by the Company, (ii) owns the Company by more than 50%, (iii) more than 50% of which are owned by the same owner as more than 50% of the Company, (iv) is licensed to provide the Company branded products and services, or (v) works on behalf of the Company under confidentiality agreements. Please note that these companies are required to use shared information only for the same purposes permitted by the Company under this Privacy Policy; or
  • your personally identifiable information is shared in aggregate, non-personal form (such as a collection of visitor demographic statistics); or
  • it is necessary or advisable to verify information that you provide to the Company; or
  • The Company believes, as determined in its sole discretion, that it is required to do so by applicable law or regulation, or that it is otherwise necessary or advisable to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud and/or violation of the Company's Terms and Conditions of Use, or to ensure the safety, health, or life of people or property; or
  • it is necessary to respond to courts or authorities, or to other legal process; or
  • it is in connection with an audit of the Company; or
  • the third party assists the Company in the processing of orders and the delivery of products or services to you; or
  • it is to assist the Company in sending messages regarding products and services that it or a third party offers that may be of interest to you; or
  • if the Company goes through a business transition, such as a merger, being acquired by another company, or selling a portion of its assets, your personally identifiable information will usually be part of the assets transferred. Thirty (30) days advance notice of such a transfer will be posted on the Website, and any transferee will be subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

NON-PERSONAL INFORMATION. The Company automatically collects and stores certain non-personally identifiable information about you when you visit the Website. This information may include your number of login attempts, the domain name from which you access the Internet, your browser type, the date and time that you accessed the Website, the length of your Website visits, the Internet address of any website from which you linked directly to the Website, and the particular items or pages that you viewed or downloaded during your visit. From time to time, the Company will also ask you to provide other anonymous demographic information, such as your age, gender, and interests.

The Company uses non-personally identifiable information in any way that it determines is useful to it, including to maintain and improve the quality of its products and services and to offer information and promotions.

COOKIES. A "cookie" is a small text file containing a unique identification number that is transferred from a site like the Website to the hard drive of your computer so that the Website administrator may identify your computer and passively track its activities on the Website. If your browser accepts "cookies," the Company and its affiliates and third-party retailers may use both persistent and session ID cookies to determine if you are a repeat or new visitor; to understand how many different visitors come to the Website; to customize the content of the Website or other sites you visit or will visit; to offer you information that is appropriate to your demographic interests and preferences; to monitor and improve its services to you; to keep tracks of the preferences you specify while you are using the Company's services and to facilitate your shopping session. You can usually modify the settings in your browser to decline or accept cookies at your preference; however, declining cookies may limit your ability to receive the benefit of all of the features of the Website and other sites.

CHANGE TO USE OF INFORMATION. If any material change is made in the way in which the Company uses the personally identifiable information that you previously provided to us, the Company will notify you of the change by posting an announcement on the Website and provide you with an opportunity to "opt out" of having your information used for a different purpose. We will also place an updated version of this Privacy Policy on the Website.

SECURITY. Your personally identifiable information is stored on computer servers in a controlled environment, reasonably protected from unauthorized access, misuse, alteration or disclosure. Although the Company strives to secure your personally identifiable information with the same degree of care that it secures its own confidential information, there can be no assurances that your personally identifiable information will remain confidential, in particular whilst in transit via the internet. If you communicate with the Company by e-mail, you should note that the secrecy of internet e-mail is uncertain. By sending sensitive or confidential e-mail messages or information which are not encrypted you accept the risk of such uncertainty and possible lack of confidentiality over the internet.

NO LIABILITY. As explained in the Terms and Conditions of Use, IN NO EVENT WILL THE COMPANY OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE COMPANY, INCLUDING ANY FAILURE BY THE COMPANY OR AN AFFILIATE TO COMPLY WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY, EVEN IF THE COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY, SO THIS SECTION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

FOR MORE INFORMATION.

The Company gives you the ability to access the personally identifiable information held about you, to require their deletion at any time, or to opt out of receiving future marketing messages. The Company allows you to challenge the personally identifiable information that it holds about you and you may have such data corrected, updated, amended, completed or changed at any time. If you wish to do so, or if you have any other questions or comments regarding the Company, please write at:

Columbia Sportswear International Sàrl
Attn: Webmaster
Geneva Business Center
12, Avenue des Morgines
CH-1213 Petit-Lancy
Switzerland

Please note that in certain circumstances the Company may withhold access to your personally identifiable information where it has the right to do so under current data protection legislation.