Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 11/4/2026

At R.W. Fernstrum & Company, we respect your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information through our website and other digital platforms. Changes may be made to this policy as needed. Changes will be indicated by the “effective date” listed at the top of the policy.

For information specific to the Terms of Use for this website, please see our Terms of Use page.

Who We Are

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, please contact us using the following information:

R.W. Fernstrum & Co.
P.O. Box 97
Menominee, MI 49858

sales@fernstrum.com

Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of information when you interact with us online:

• Name
• Email address
• Phone number (mobile and landline)
• Company name
• Address
• Information about your interests in our products or services
• Information about your marine equipment or operating conditions

We collect this information when you:

• Fill out the quote request forms

Information Automatically Collected

The following information may be automatically collected upon visiting the site:

• IP address, browser type, device info, referral URLs, pages visited or time on page via Google Analytics
• Location data/map-related data (e.g. approximate location when loading an embedded Google Map)

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Respond to quote form requests where necessary, to take steps at your request before entering into a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR)
• Improve the site and understand usage, based on your consent for Google Analytics standard tracking (cookies and similar technologies) where required (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR), and otherwise on our legitimate interests in measuring basic site performance in a privacy‑protective way when Google Analytics is operating in a restricted, cookie‑less consent mode configuration (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR)
• Use Google Ads tags to measure campaign performance and, where enabled, to show you more relevant advertising. We rely on your consent for any non‑essential cookies and personalized advertising features (such as remarketing) where required (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR), and otherwise on our legitimate interests in measuring basic campaign performance in a privacy‑protective, restricted configuration (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR)
• Maintain the security of our website and services and prevent fraud or misuse, based on our legitimate interests in ensuring network and information security (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR)
• Comply with legal obligations (for example, record‑keeping or responding to lawful requests from public authorities), based on Article 6(1)(c) GDPR

Sharing Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for their marketing use. We will share data with authorities only when legally required.

Data Retention

We retain quote request submissions only as long as needed for business purposes and legal obligations. Analytics data is retained according to Google’s settings.

Data Security

We take reasonable precautions to protect your data, including the use of SSL encryption and secure data storage practices, however, we cannot make a 100% guarantee of security.

Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies on our site. Some are necessary for the website to function. Others are used for analytics and advertising and are only activated based on your choices in our cookie banner.

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site (for example, which pages are visited and for how long, and which forms are used). When you give consent, Google Analytics may place cookies and collect information such as your IP address, device identifiers, and interactions with our site. We use this information to improve our website and services. When Google Analytics is operating in a restricted, cookie‑less consent mode configuration, we only receive limited, aggregated measurement data.

We also use Google Ads tags to measure the performance of our advertising campaigns and, if you consent, to show you advertising that may be more relevant to you (for example, by reminding you of our products after you have visited our site). These tags may use cookies and similar technologies to record which ads you saw, whether you visited our site from an ad, and which pages you viewed.

Non‑essential cookies and similar technologies (including those used for analytics and advertising) are only set if you choose to allow them in our cookie banner. You can change or withdraw your consent at any time via the cookie preferences link on our site. You can also adjust your browser settings to block or delete cookies, and you may use industry opt‑out tools such as optout.aboutads.info, but these tools do not replace the consent choices we present on our site.

Google Maps

Our website uses an embedded Google Maps widget to help you find our location and those of our global partners. When you view our Contact page which contains this map, Google may collect information about you, such as your IP address, browser details, device identifiers, and how you interact with the map. If you allow location services in your browser or device, Google may also receive approximate location data.

This information is sent directly from your device to Google and is processed by Google under its own privacy policy. We do not receive or store the detailed data that Google collects via the map, but we may see aggregated information such as how many times a page containing the map is viewed.

Depending on your settings, Google may use cookies or similar technologies in connection with the Maps service, and your data may be transferred outside your country (for example, to the United States). For EU visitors, any non‑essential cookies or similar tracking related to Google Maps are controlled through the same consent choices you make in our cookie banner.

You can find more information about how Google processes data in Google Maps in Google’s own privacy documentation.

International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers are located outside the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA), including in the United States. In particular, we use services provided by Google (such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Google Maps), which may involve transferring your personal data to Google LLC in the United States or to other Google entities outside the EU/EEA.

Where such transfers occur, we rely on appropriate safeguards as required by the GDPR. For transfers to the United States, this may include the EU–US Data Privacy Framework where the recipient is certified, and/or the use of the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses together with additional technical and organizational measures.

You can find more information about how Google protects personal data in its own documentation and privacy notices.

How Long We Keep Your Data

We only keep personal data for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or as required by law. In particular:

• Contact and quote requests: We do not store form submissions in our website database. When you submit a contact or quote request, the information is sent to us by email and handled like other business correspondences. We normally keep these emails for as long as needed in connection with an ongoing business relationship or legal obligations.
• Marketing communications: If we send you any marketing emails, we keep the information needed to manage your subscription for as long as you remain subscribed and for a short period afterwards to document your preferences.
• Analytics data: We keep analytics data in our Google Analytics account according to the retention settings we configure (currently 14 months), after which it is automatically deleted or anonymized by Google.
• Technical and security logs: Technical logs that may contain personal data (such as IP addresses) are generally kept indefinitely to assist, where necessary, with investigating security incidents or fraud.

We may keep information longer where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, or where a longer retention period is required by law.

Your Data Protection Rights (EU/EEA visitors)

If you are located in the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), you have the following rights in relation to your personal data under the GDPR. These rights may be subject to conditions and legal limitations.

• Right of access: You can request confirmation of whether we process personal data about you and, if so, receive a copy of that data and certain additional information.
• Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct or complete personal data that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”): You can ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example, where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, or if you withdraw consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.
• Right to restriction of processing: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example, while we verify accuracy or where you have objected to our use of your data.
• Right to object: You can object at any time to our processing of your personal data where we rely on our legitimate interests. If you object, we will stop that processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is needed for legal claims. You can always object to our use of your data for direct marketing, and we will stop using it for that purpose.
• Right to data portability: Where we process your personal data based on your consent or because it is necessary for a contract, and the processing is carried out by automated means, you can ask to receive that data in a structured, commonly used, machine‑readable format and to have it transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.
• Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before the withdrawal.

We aim to respond to all valid requests within one month. If your request is particularly complex or you have made several requests, we may take longer, but in that case, we will explain the delay.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in the "Who We Are" section of this Privacy Policy and clearly describe which right you wish to exercise and, if relevant, what information your request concerns. We may ask you for additional information to confirm your identity before we respond.

In many cases we only hold your personal data in our email systems in connection with specific inquiries, so the scope of data involved in these rights will be limited.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the EU or EEA country where you live, work, or where you believe a violation of data protection law has occurred.