Updated as of June 14, 2024
As you review the web pages of Gulf States Toyota, Inc. (also referred as, “GST”, “we”, “us” or “our”) posted on www.buyatoyota.com/gst, GST wants you to understand what information we collect from you, why we collect it, how we use it, and how you can protect your privacy. GST is an independent distributor of Toyota brand vehicles to Toyota dealerships in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas (collectively, the “GST Region”). Please review this Privacy Policy carefully before using this website or submitting any personal information. The collection, use and disclosure of your information by other parties through this website, is governed by the privacy policy of such other parties.
Data collected by GST online may also be combined or merged with information provided to us by means other than this site as part of our standard business operations and those of our related entities. If the same information about you is gathered from this website and also from other sources with different privacy policies, we may elect, in our sole discretion, to treat such information in accordance with the privacy policy that least restricts our use and disclosure of such information.
Section 1
What personal data is collected by GST?
You can visit www.buyatoyota.com/gst without telling us who you are and without revealing any personal information. However, this website may contain links to other websites, such as external recruiting sites, which may have privacy policies that differ from our own. We are not responsible for the activities and practices that take place on those websites. Accordingly, we recommend that you review the privacy policy posted on any website that you may access through our website. This Privacy Policy only applies to the GST web pages on this website and does not apply to affiliated or unaffiliated third party websites or content.
GST collects the following categories of personal data:
1. Identifiers, such as your name, address, email, phone number, etc. if you submit a “contact dealer” or “request quote” form to GST.
2. Geolocation Data, such as GPS, IP address location, wifi, etc.
3. Online Activities, such as internet, web, and mobile application interactions and marketing campaigns, etc.
Section 2
How does GST use personal data?
We use the information we collect to understand your needs, provide you with a better service, and in particular, for the following purposes:
1. To provide information or conduct transactions you request
2. To respond to your questions and to contact you when necessary
3. To provide advertisements to you, and tailor any communications or offers across advertising channels
4. To assist us in providing better information, and to help us improve our website and services
5. To learn more about our website traffic patterns and other use in order to improve the functionality and features of our website
6. To help us operate, maintain and improve our systems, our web pages and your user experience
Through its web pages, GST does not collect any categories of personal information beyond the categories of personal information outlined below and does not use it other than for the purposes outlined herein.
Section 3
How does GST share personal data with third parties?
We may disclose the information we collect from and about you to third parties only in certain circumstances:
1. Legal reasons
We will share personal information with companies, organizations or individuals outside our organization if we have a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is necessary:
• to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) our rights or property, customers or other users of our website, or anyone else who could be harmed by such activities;
• to respond to judicial process and provide information to law enforcement agencies or in connection with an investigation on matters related to public safety, as permitted by law, or otherwise as required by law; or
• in connection with any merger, purchase or sale of all or a portion of our business or assets.
2. Administrative, technical or marketing purposes
We will share information with third parties, business partners or related entities, subject to confidentiality agreements as appropriate, for research and analytical purposes; for administrative or technical support or other business purposes, or to analyze our data or to maintain and improve our services or your user experience. We may also share aggregated information about our customers with our advertisers and our marketing partners. We may share website usage information about visitors to our website with third party advertising companies.
3. Consent
We also share personal data with third parties, other than those described above, when we have your consent to do so.
Section 4
What personal data rights do California and Texas residents have?
Privacy Notice for Texas and California Residents
Effective as of July 1, 2024
This Privacy Notice applies to Gulf States Toyota, Inc. (“GST”) information that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable natural person (“Personal Data”) of Texas residents to the extent the information is subject to the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA). GST is not subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended, including by the California Privacy Rights Act, the “CCPA”). However, if you are a California resident, GST will voluntarily honor your requests under this Privacy Notice. This Privacy Notice does not apply to Personal Data collected pursuant to various exemptions including for (i) information collected subject to the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and its implementing regulations, (ii) medical and health information covered by HIPAA, (iii) information related to an individual acting in a commercial or employment context, (iv) Personal Data processed in compliance with the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994, and (v) de-identified or publicly available information.
How we process Personal Data
Please review the below chart for information about the categories of Personal Data we process; the purpose for processing Personal Data; the categories of Personal Data that we share with third parties, if any; and the categories of third parties, if any, with whom we share Personal Data.
Category – Identifiers
· Examples of Personal Data Processed - A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, or other similar identifiers.
· Purposes(s) for Which Personal Data is Processed - To provide products, services, marketing services and access to our web pages, mobile applications, and other communication systems and to communicate with you about our products and services.
· Categories of Third Parties to Which Personal Data is Disclosed - To affiliates of GST and their employees (“Affiliates”); To companies that support our business, such as business vendors, information technology vendors, etc. (“Service Providers”).
Category – Characteristics of protected classifications
· Examples of Personal Data Processed - Veteran, military status or other similar information.
· Purposes(s) for Which Personal Data is Processed - To improve service, and provide targeted customer experiences and service offerings.
· Categories of Third Parties to Which Personal Data is Disclosed - Affiliates and Service Providers.
Category – Commercial Information
· Examples of Personal Data Processed - Products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing histories or tendencies.
· Purposes(s) for Which Personal Data is Processed - To improve service and provide targeted customer experiences and service offerings.
· Categories of Third Parties to Which Personal Data is Disclosed - Affiliates and Service Providers.
Category – Biometric Information
· We do not process this category of Personal Data.
Category – Internet or other electronic network activity information
· Examples of Personal Data Processed - Browsing history, search history, and interaction with Websites, apps & ads, and other similar information.
· Purposes(s) for Which Personal Data is Processed - To provide targeted customer experience and service offerings; For security and operations purposes related to the safety and functionality of our information systems.
· Categories of Third Parties to Which Personal Data is Disclosed - Affiliates and Service Providers.
Category – Geolocation Data
· Examples of Personal Data Processed - Physical location and/or movements.
· Purposes(s) for Which Personal Data is Processed - For purposes of service verification.
· Categories of Third Parties to Which Personal Data is Disclosed - Affiliates and Service Providers.
Category – Sensory Data
· Examples of Personal Data Processed - Includes audio, electronic, visual or similar information such as photographs and images (e.g., that you provide us) and call recordings (e.g., of customer support calls). Also includes recordings from GST locations, devices, or vehicles related to safety and work at or with GST.
· Purposes(s) for Which Personal Data is Processed - Quality control; compliance; To provide and improve services, for service verification, quality control and compliance.
· Categories of Third Parties to Which Personal Data is Disclosed - Affiliates and Service Providers.
Category – Non-public education information (as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99))
· We do not process this category of Personal Data.
Category – Inferences drawn from other Personal Data
· We do not process this category of Personal Data.
Category – Sensitive Personal Data
· We do not process this category of Personal Data.
We do not sell your Personal Data, but we may disclose certain cookie information about you with our third party service providers who assist us with website operations.
We do not disclose your information to third parties for purposes of targeted advertising.
We do not process your information for purposes of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning the consumer.
Your Privacy Rights
For details about how to submit a consumer request, you can email us at privacy@gstoyota.com or you can make a consumer request by calling 1-888-891-6989 or by completing this form.
Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a consumer request related to your Personal Data. You may also make a consumer request on behalf of your minor child.
Making a consumer request does not require you to create an account with us.
When you submit a consumer request, we will take steps to verify your request by email. In some cases, we may request additional information in order to verify your request or where necessary to process your request. If we are unable to adequately verify a request, we will notify the requestor. Authorized agents will be required to provide proof of their authorization and we may also require that the relevant consumer directly verify their identity and the authority of the authorized agent.
We will only use Personal Data provided in a consumer request to verify the requestor's identity or authority to make the request.
We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Data if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the Personal Data relates to you.
Right to Appeal
You may have the right to appeal our responses to your consumer requests. If you believe you have a basis for such an appeal, please contact us here at privacy@gstoyota.com to make an appeal request and provide any required information to submit your appeal.
Right to Know and Access
You have the right to request that we confirm whether or not we are processing your Personal Data and to request access to that Personal Data. To submit a request, please review the section above titled, “Submitting Consumer Requests.”
Right to Obtain a Copy of Personal Data
You have the right to obtain a copy of your Personal Data that you previously provided to us in a portable and, to the extent technically feasible, readily usable format that allows you to transmit the data to another controller, where the processing is carried out by automated means. To submit a request please review the section above titled, “Submitting Consumer Requests.”
Right to Request Deletion
You have the right to request that we delete Personal Data about you that we process. To submit a request, please review the section above titled, “Submitting Consumer Requests.”
You should be aware, however, that we are allowed to retain your Personal Data under applicable law, even if you have asked us to delete it, such as when retaining your Personal Data is necessary for us to complete a transaction with you or provide you with a good or service you have requested. We will notify you of any denial of your deletion request and the reason for such denial.
Right to Request Correction
You may have the right to request that we correct inaccuracies in your Personal Data, taking into account the nature of the Personal Data and the purposes of the processing of your Personal Data. To submit a request, please review the section above titled, “Submitting Consumer Requests.”
Contact for Additional Information
If you have questions about this policy, please contact us at privacy@gstoyota.com.
Section 5
Security
We are concerned with the security of your personal information and try to protect the security of your information. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information transmitted over the internet. Once we receive your information, we take steps that we believe are reasonably appropriate to protect its security, both internally and externally, from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction, and to ensure the integrity of the data we collect. We use a combination of technical, physical and administrative safeguards we deem appropriate to protect this data.
If you have a username and password for any of our content for certain web pages on this website, you have the responsibility of keeping your password secret. You should not reveal your password to anyone. We will not ask you in an unsolicited telephone call or email for your password. In addition, you should take reasonable precautions when using a computer that is not your own or in a public setting.
Section 6
Cookies and other tracking technology
We use certain tracking technologies to improve the functionality of our web pages on this website and your experience when you access it. To view the notice, click on the Cookie Consent Options link below. We also keep a record of third party websites accessed when you are on our website and click on a hyperlink. However, we do not track users to subsequent sites and do not serve targeted advertising to them. We may also use pixel tags (also known as “clear gifs”, “web beacons” or “1x1 gifs”) on www.buyatoyota.com and Toyota.com. A pixel tag is a type of technology placed either on a website or in the body of an email for the purpose of tracking activity on websites, or when emails are opened or accessed. Pixel tags may be used in combination with cookies. We also use Google Analytics to track how often people gain access to or read our content. We use this information in the aggregate to understand what content our site visitors find useful or interesting, so we can produce the most valuable content to meet their needs.
Section 7
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time without notice. Any changes will be posted and changes will only apply to activities and information on a going forward, not retroactive, basis. You are encouraged to review the Privacy Policy whenever you visit our web pages to make sure you understand how any information you provide, or is collected, will be used.
Section 8
Children’s privacy
Our web pages on this website is/are not directed to, and we do not knowingly solicit personal information from children under the age of 13. We recommend that parents actively participate in their children’s use of the internet. If you are under the age of 13, please do not submit your email address or any other personal information to us through this website.
Section 9
Questions or concerns
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or would like to contact us for any reason, including the possibility of submitting a claim, you can write to Privacy@gstoyota.com.