Membership Conditions & Regulations, and Privacy Policy

DECEMBER 1, 2020

Note:In this document we will use the name Costco to describe Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. and its affiliated companies. Acceptance of membership constitutes an agreement to comply with the following conditions and regulations. These conditions and regulations may be amended by Costco without prior written notice to or consent of the member, but in such cases, the changes made will apply upon the renewal of your Costco membership.

Membership

• Membership is available to qualifying individuals 18 years of age or older.
• Costco reserves the right to refuse membership to any applicant and membership may be terminated at Costco’s discretion without cause, as well as for such things as failure to comply with these conditions and regulations or abuse of your membership privileges. Failure to comply with these conditions and regulations or abuse of your membership privileges may also result in the curtailment of certain privileges.
• Membership is subject to any and all rules adopted by Costco including our privacy policies and practices.
• A Canadian federal or provincial government-issued ID must be presented at a warehouse Membership Counter when applying for a Costco membership. We do not record government ID numbers of Gold Star members.

Membership Cards and Fees

• Membership fee is for one 12-month period from the date of initial enrollment of the Primary Cardholder.
• Your membership card is valid at any Costco warehouse worldwide and is not transferable. Only Costco Canada and Costco US members with a valid membership card can shop on Costco.ca.
• The person who enrolls for a Gold Star or Business membership is the Primary cardholder (“Primary”) and is responsible for the membership.
• Primary Business members may add additional cardholders (“Affiliates”) to their membership. To add Affiliates to a Business membership, visit the Membership Counter at any warehouse.
• Primary and Affiliate members receive one free Household card for anyone over the age of 18 and living at the same address (“Household”). Household cardholders will be asked to present proof that they live at the same address as either the Primary or Affiliate member.
• All Primary, Affiliate and Household members are subject to these conditions and regulations.
• Your membership card must have a card number and recognizable, unobstructed full-face photo to be valid. If your photo is not on your card, you must present valid provincial or federal government-issued photo ID at the membership counter to have your photo added to your card.
• Termination of the Primary cardholder account for any reason will result in the termination of all other associated cardholder accounts.
• Cards remain the property of Costco and must be returned upon request.
• Gold Star Membership fee is $60 (plus applicable taxes) per 12-month period from the date of enrollment of the Primary cardholder. This entitles the Primary cardholder to one personalized membership card and one Household card.
• Business Membership fee is $60 (plus applicable taxes) per 12-month period from the date of enrollment of the Primary cardholder. This entitles the Primary cardholder to one personalized membership card and one Household card. Each Primary member may name up to 6 Affiliates for $60 each and corresponding Household cardholders at no additional cost.
• Executive Membership is $120 (plus applicable taxes) per 12-month period from the date of enrollment of the Primary cardholder. This entitles the Primary cardholder to one personalized membership card and Household card. If upgrading from a Gold Star Membership or Business Membership, upgrade amount will be prorated based on the months remaining on your current membership. Affiliate cardholders on an existing Business Membership account that is being upgraded can choose to remain as Affiliates or purchase a Gold Star or Executive Membership on their own.
• Limit of one Executive Membership per business or household.

Renewing, Adding or Deleting Cards

• If you have not signed up for auto renewal, your membership fee will be charged on your first shop of your renewal month. Renewal fees are due no later than the last day of the month your membership expires. You may remit your renewal fee by mail, online at Costco.ca or at any warehouse. Costco members may charge their membership fees automatically on any Mastercard® credit card; the card will be charged on the first day of your renewal month.
• Household and Affiliate member cards will be renewed at the same time as the Primary member regardless of the membership start date of the Household or Affiliate member.
• You will not receive new membership cards each year.
• Memberships renewed within 2 months after expiration of the current membership year will be extended for 12 months from the expiration date. Memberships renewed more than 2 months after such expiration will be extended for 12 months from the renewal date. All renewals will be at the membership fee in effect on the date the membership fee is paid.
• Only the Primary member and the Household member may renew the membership.
• The Primary Member must authorize cardholder changes, including additions or deletions, and is responsible for the membership. Household and Affiliates may make changes to their personal information.

Lost or Stolen Cards

If a membership card is lost or stolen, the cardholder must immediately notify the Membership Counter or phone us at 1-800-463-3783. If a co-branded credit card is lost or stolen, the cardholder must immediately call the credit card issuer.

Product and Membership Guarantee

• On Membership: We will cancel and refund your membership fee at any time if you are dissatisfied.
• On Merchandise: We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell, and will refund your purchase price*, with the following exceptions:
  1. Electronics: Costco will accept returns within 90 days from the date of purchase for televisions, major appliances, projectors, computers, cameras, aerial cameras (drones), camcorders, digital music players, tablets, smart watches, cellular phones (return details will vary by carrier service contract), and other electronic products identified by Costco from time to time.
  2. Diamonds: Members returning items containing a 1.00ct diamond or larger must also present all original paperwork (IGI and/or GIA certificates). Costco warehouses will require additional time to verify the diamond, in which case a refund will be approved upon positive verification. This process will require approximately 2 to 5 business days.
  3. Cigarettes and alcohol: Costco does not accept returns on cigarettes or alcohol where prohibited by law.
  4. Products with a limited useful life expectancy, such as tires and batteries, may be sold with a product-specific limited warranty.
  5. Custom Installation Services: Custom product(s) manufactured to our members’ personal and unique specifications cannot be returned or refunded, except for warranty repair/replacement due to failure to meet specifications or as otherwise to the extent required by law.
• Costco may in the future restrict its return policy regarding these and other products. Restrictions will be shown at the point of purchase.

Purchasing Privileges, Guests and other Rules and Policies

• No sales will be made to any person unless they have a valid membership card.
• Each cardholder may bring their children and up to two guests into the warehouse; however members are responsible for their children and guests. Children should not be left unattended. Guests do NOT have purchasing privileges.
• Costco can refuse entry to anyone at any time at its discretion. This includes members who do not display their Costco membership cards when requested.
• Members will be required to purchase any packages or products opened or damaged by them or their guests.
• You will be required to show your membership card (either in its original physical form or as it appears on the Costco mobile application) when entering any Costco warehouse and when checking out at a payment register. Bar codes, photos or other copies are not acceptable.
• Every member using a shopping cart to carry their purchases from the warehouse to their vehicle is obligated to return the cart to the enclosure identified for this purpose in the parking lot in order to facilitate the retrieval of same, as well as to avoid carts from becoming an obstacle to the traffic flow of other members’ vehicles.
• Costco is not responsible for damage or loss caused by a shopping cart to any vehicle of a member or of any guest.
• Costco is not responsible for any personal items that are lost, missing, stolen or damaged while on Costco premises.
• Costco reserves the right to inspect any container, backpack, briefcase, bag or other package when our members and their guests enter or leave our warehouses. Our members and their guests consent to such inspections when they enter our warehouses.
• You will be required to show your receipt for the items you purchased at the warehouse exit. This ensures that our cashiers processed the items you purchased correctly and that you have been properly charged for your purchases. It is also one of our most effective methods of maintaining accuracy in inventory control.
• Use of still or digital cameras or other recording devices, or recording of prices in any manner is not permitted. Offenders will be asked to leave the premises and their membership may be revoked.
• There shall be no solicitation for any purpose on Costco premises, nor interference with employees. Offenders will be asked to leave the premises and their membership may be revoked.
• Smoking, including e-cigarettes, is prohibited at Costco.

Terms of Payment

• All purchases must be made by cash, debit card, Costco Shop Card, preprinted personal cheque or by those credit cards accepted by Costco from time to time.
• Costco reserves the right to further limit the payment method applicable to certain purchases. For example, purchase at our Gas Stations can only be made by debit card, Costco Shop Card, and those credit cards accepted by Costco from time to time.
• Costco reserves the right to limit payment from certain members to cash only.
• Business Members can make purchases with preprinted business cheques. To obtain cheque writing privileges, applicants must present two appropriate pieces of identification with their membership application. The information collected at that time will be used and retained for (1) fraud detection, (2) identification purposes, (3) a credit check, which may be conducted if you choose to pay by cheque and (4) the uses described in our Privacy Statement including sections 5, 7 and 12. Cheques must be in the exact amount. All cheques must be issued on members’ chequing accounts. Cheques must be drawn on a Canadian financial institution account and preprinted with the member’s name, address and telephone number. Any exceptions to cheque cashing rules must be pre-approved in writing by a representative of Costco.
• When paying for purchases by cheque, the member may be required to show a Canadian federal or provincial government-issued ID for fraud detection and identification purposes. Only the type of identification will be noted on the back of the cheque.
• Costco’s out-of-pocket expenses will be payable by the member for any cheque returned by the member’s financial institution.
• The Primary member is responsible for all his/her personal cheques and is jointly and severally (solidarily) liable for all cheques issued by any Household and/or Affiliate cardholders under his/her account.
• Each Affiliate member is responsible for his/her personal cheques and is jointly and severally (solidarily) liable for cheques issued by any Household cardholder under his/her account.
• Transferable company cards (a “Company card”) can be used by specified employees of the company. Company cards are no longer being issued. Purchases with the Company card must be made by preprinted business cheque, cash or those credit cards accepted by Costco from time to time. Purchases made with this card are for business use exclusively.
• Title to all merchandise passes to the member at the check stand after merchandise has been paid for and checked out. Thereafter, the member bears the risk of loss for such merchandise, except for wilful or negligent acts of Costco or its employees. See our policy regarding Receipts above.

Sales Tax (Business Members)

• Sales tax (GST, HST, QST or PST) will be charged on all taxable transactions in accordance with all applicable laws. The member agrees, in the event of his/her failure to pay Costco such tax, to hold Costco harmless and indemnify Costco from any claim, loss, assessment, or expense occasioned by such non-payment. Members purchasing merchandise for resale must advise the cashier of this before the sale is recorded in the cash register. If the member is purchasing for resale, he/she will need to complete the appropriate application certificate at the time of his/her purchase. Sales tax will not be charged at the time of purchase only on those products the member states are specifically for resale.
• If any product is purchased on a sales tax exemption basis and is used in any manner which qualifies it as a taxable item, the member agrees to report and pay any tax due, including any penalties.
• Depending on the applicable provincial law, Primary members must present, when signing up, proof of their provincial tax number or of their tobacco tax number regarding merchandise they desire to purchase for resale on a tax-exempt basis or in the case that they desire to purchase tobacco for resale. In the event that Affiliate members will need to use these tax numbers, the Primary member must give Costco written permission of this at the time of signing up.

Privacy Policy

Costco is committed to protecting the privacy of its customers. See Costco’s Customer Privacy Policy on Costco.ca for more details.

Credit

If you choose to pay by cheque or request the extension of credit from Costco, you authorize Costco to disclose, collect and retain personal information relating to your credit history and credit status to and from credit-reporting agencies, credit bureaus and financial institutions in order to assess your creditworthiness and to process the transaction. If you choose to pay by debit or credit card, you authorize Costco to disclose and collect personal information to and from the debit card and/or credit card issuer in order to process the transaction.

Other

Costco may realize a profit or receive rebates, discounts or other allowances in respect of contracts with suppliers of member services which Costco shall be entitled to retain for its own use/credit without accounting to members.

Calculation of Executive Reward

2% Reward: Executive Members enjoy an annual 2% Reward (the “Reward”) on certain Costco purchases as described below

The 2% Reward is based on the annual Costco Wholesale purchases (see “Calculation of Reward” below) made by the Primary and Household cardholders on the membership account. The Reward coupon is mailed to the Primary member with the annual membership renewal notice and may only be used by the Primary member toward Costco Wholesale purchases.

Costco Purchases

The Reward Program is subject to the following restrictions. Costco Wholesale reserves the right at its discretion to discontinue or change the Reward Program at any time or to disqualify or cancel members’ participation. A member must be an active, paid Executive Member at the time the Reward is earned and issued in order to receive the annual 2% Reward. Only purchases made by the Primary and Household cardholders are used to calculate the Reward.

Calculation of Reward*

The Reward is approximately 2% of pre-tax purchases of most merchandise including Costco Travel,** and will be calculated on purchases by Canadian residents of merchandise through the front-end registers at Costco Wholesale warehouses in Canada and the United States and online at Costco.ca. Rewards will not be calculated: (i) on purchases of cigarettes or other tobacco-related products; (ii) on purchases that are not recorded through Costco Wholesale’s front-end registers, such as services, purchases at Costco Wholesale’s gas stations, food courts, optical centres (Quebec only), and pharmacies; (iii) on purchases of alcoholic beverages; (iv) on membership fees; (v) on miscellaneous fees, deposits and taxes, including applicable sales tax and goods and services tax; (vi) on purchases of services, including auto and other services; (vii) on purchases where prohibited by legal or regulatory restrictions; (viii) on certain other categories as determined from time to time at Costco Wholesale’s sole discretion; or (ix) on purchases made by anyone other than the Executive Membership account’s Primary and Household cardholders. Costco Wholesale warehouses outside Canada can provide a list of exclusions specific to those locations. The period of calculation will run approximately from the date of the member’s paid enrollment or upgrade to Executive Membership through the date approximately three months prior to the member’s renewal date. Purchases from the last three months will be added to the following year’s Reward calculation. Calculation of a Reward is capped at, and will not exceed, $1,000 for any 12-month period. Executive Members who downgrade to Gold Star or Business status or cancel their membership and receive a refund of their membership fees will not receive a Reward.

Use of Reward

Reward coupons will be mailed with membership renewal notices. Reward coupons may be redeemed by the Primary member toward purchases of most merchandise through the front-end registers at Costco Wholesale warehouses throughout Canada only. Reward coupon may not be redeemed for cash. Reward coupons may be used toward purchases of merchandise only. Reward coupons may not be used: (i) toward purchases of certain merchandise such as alcoholic beverages, cigarettes or other tobacco-related products; (ii) toward purchases that are not recorded through Costco Wholesale’s front-end registers, such as purchases at Costco Wholesale’s gas stations, food courts, optical centres (Quebec only), pharmacies and online at Costco.ca and Costcobusinesscentre.ca; (iii) toward purchases of services, including travel, auto and other services; (iv) toward purchases where prohibited by legal or regulatory restrictions; or (v) toward certain other purchases as determined from time to time at Costco Wholesale’s discretion. Reward coupons will not be replaced if lost or stolen. A complete list of products and services that cannot be purchased with Reward coupons is available on Costco.ca and at the Membership Counter in each of our warehouses.

Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. Customer Privacy Policy

October 23, 2018

This Privacy Policy explains our privacy practices for customer information we collect, use or disclose, including at Costco warehouses and through our websites (including through Costco.ca and other Internet sites, mobile apps, and social media sites, which we will refer to collectively as “Sites”), as well as our customer service interactions with you. In this Privacy Policy, the terms “Costco,” “we” and “our” refer to Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. and all of its subsidiaries with respect to its operations in Canada, unless otherwise indicated. Personal information and personal health information that you provide when you visit non-Canadian Costco websites or warehouses outside of Canada are governed by the privacy policies that are posted on those websites or that apply in those warehouses.

This Privacy Policy is incorporated into the Terms and Conditions of Use for our Sites and into the terms applicable to Costco members and persons applying for Costco membership. By using our Sites, by applying for membership, or by using a membership, you are consenting to this Privacy Policy.

1. Costco’s commitment to Privacy

Costco is committed to protecting the privacy of its customers. We have and will take measures that protect the privacy of personal information and personal health information held by us. This Privacy Policy provides you with details regarding:

• why we collect personal information and personal health information;
• what we do with that information;
• what steps we take to ensure that the information is secure;
• who you should contact if you have questions or concerns about our policies or practices.

Since we regularly review our policies and practices, your comments are always welcome. We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time; however, any changes or additions to Section 5 regarding the reasons we use personal information will not apply to you unless you consent to them. We will alert you that changes have been made by indicating at the top of the Privacy Policy the date that it was last updated. This Privacy Policy was last updated on October 23, 2018. We encourage you to review our Privacy Policy carefully to make sure that you understand how information that you provide will be used or disclosed.

Children: We encourage parents to take an active interest in their children’s use of the Internet. We do not intend to collect information from children who are under 18 years of age. If you are under 18, please do not provide information on our Sites.

2. What is personal information?

In general terms, personal information means any information about an identifiable individual. For example, this includes your name, postal and email address, telephone number, credit card number, the photograph included on your Costco membership card, demographic information and purchasing history. A special category of personal information is “personal health information,” which we describe in Section 3 below.

Personal information does not include aggregate information, such as data about a group or category of products, services or customers, from which individual customer identities have been removed. For example, information about how you use a service may be collected and combined with information about how others use the same service, but no personal information will be included in the resulting data. Likewise, information about the products you purchase may be collected and combined with information about the products purchased by others.

We may also gather aggregate information about how Costco customers use our Sites. Aggregate information about product purchases helps us understand trends and customer needs, and assists us in product selection, product ordering and sizing, and the introduction of new products and services. It can also assist us in determining where it would be appropriate to build new warehouses by looking at the geographic location of members or to build new Site functions by looking at anonymized browsing activities.

We may automatically collect some information when you visit our Sites, such as your computer’s network address and operating system, the site from which you linked to us, and the time and date of your visit and purchases. This information is not linked by us to personal information, but rather is only used to compile aggregate information. This information may be collected through the use of cookies (see our “Online privacy practices” in Section 12 below).

3. What is personal health information?

Personal health information means any information relating to your physical or mental health collected or generated in the course of our providing you with the health services you request, such as optical, pharmacy and hearing aid services, and prescription profiles for fulfillment of pharmacy orders. Examples of personal health information may include your medical history, drug prescription information, eyeglass prescription information, or health insurance information, which we may require in order to provide you with pharmacy, hearing aid, optical and other health-related services. It may also include information you provide to Costco health services personnel when receiving counselling or advice, or when contacting Costco with a comment, question or complaint about our health services.

4. When we collect personal information

We only collect such personal information as is strictly necessary for the purposes outlined in Section 5. We collect personal information when you:

• apply for membership (including information about your credit history that may be collected, used, or disclosed if you choose to pay by cheque);
• apply for a Costco co-branded credit card;
• renew your membership;
• contact us with questions, inquiries, comments, complaints or requests;
• sign up for certain products or services (such as rebates, the executive membership program and other business and consumer services, collectively known as the “Costco Services”);
• use our Sites;
• participate in any of our programs;
• place orders, make purchases, return or exchange items, or seek further information about our products and services;
• place orders or make purchases, return or exchange items, or seek further information through our affiliated companies, including Costco Wholesale Corporation (Costco and its affiliates are referred to collectively as the “Costco Affiliates”);
• enter into a contest or sweepstakes or respond to one of our surveys; and
• ask us to place you on a “Do Not Email” list so that we can ensure that your wishes are respected.

Please note that Costco Services may be provided by unaffiliated third parties and their affiliates, agents and subcontractors (“Service Providers”) as described in greater detail in Section 6 below. These Service Providers may collect and provide us with personal information in connection with the Costco Services, such as a list of our customers who have signed up for Costco Services and information about the use our customers make of such Costco Services (for example, frequency of use and customer feedback).

We may also take video footage on our properties or otherwise monitor those properties to protect the rights, property or safety of Costco, its customers, employees, or the public.

5. How we use personal information

As part of our business operations, we hold and use certain personal information pertaining to you in order to process your requests, provide you with Costco Services, and to understand your needs so that we can serve you better.

Specifically, we may use personal information for the following purposes:

• Notifying you of recalls or safety issues;
• Approving you as a member when you apply for membership;
• Managing the provision of goods, services and privileges to you, including monitoring your membership, processing exchanges or returns, to conduct a credit check if you choose to pay by cheque, to determine your credit status and for fraud detection and identification purposes;
• Managing invoicing, accounting and information security services related to our transactions with you;
• Monitoring your satisfaction with our programs, including the Executive Membership program, the services offered by our suppliers of Costco Services and contacting you regarding the status of such programs and services (for example, to inform you of changes to or the termination of particular Costco Services);
• Protecting against harm to the rights, property or safety of Costco, its customers, employees, or the public;
• Internal management purposes, including planning, resource allocation, policy development, quality improvement, monitoring, audit, evaluation and reporting;
• As described in our “Online privacy practices” in Section 12 below;
• Managing our “Do Not Email” lists; and
• Using personal information to create aggregate information as described above in Section 2.

If you ask us to, we will also tell you about news, promotions, special offers and other information from Costco, regarding Costco, Costco Affiliates and selected partners, such as our promotional programs. You may unsubscribe from these kinds of messages at any time by visiting Costco.ca and setting your Communication Preferences.

6. When we share personal information

Personal information we collect in accordance with this Privacy Policy may be shared with the Costco Affiliates for the purposes listed above, provided that such shared information is required for and is used and disclosed for such purposes only. Personal information may also be disclosed to unaffiliated third parties in connection with the sale, assignment or other transfer of our business, in which case we will require such third parties to adhere to the terms of this Privacy Policy. We will also disclose personal information in accordance with Section 12 below when the information is collected online at our Sites.

From time to time we engage Service Providers to perform various services. For example, a Service Provider may be asked to perform credit card processing services, manage claims, deliver certain products or services, administer a contest, deal with customer inquiries, or help us better serve you, including by notifying you of special programs regarding products or services that may be of interest to you. We also may use a Service Provider to host and administer one or more of our Sites, process and store data, and fulfill administrative, marketing or technology-related functions on our behalf, including as described in Section 12 below. In these circumstances, the personal information that the Service Provider receives is limited to only the personal information held by us that they need in order to render their service to us. The companies that are provided with the personal information are obligated to keep the information confidential and secure and prohibits them from using it for unauthorized purposes. Service Providers have policies and processes in place to ensure that the confidentiality of information in their care is properly safeguarded at all times.

We have engaged Service Providers to provide us with cloud computing services. Cloud computing is the provision of network-based services, located on remote computers, that allow individuals and businesses to use software and hardware operated by third parties. Examples of these services include online file storage, webmail and online business applications. As of the date of this policy, our main email cloud computing Service Provider processes and stores information in the United States, the European Union, Taiwan, Singapore and Chile. This may change from time to time; for a current list of storage locations, visit: https://www.google.ca​/about/datacenters/inside/locations/

As of the date of this policy, our Costco Affiliates and our other Service Providers provide us with services from Canada, the United States, India, and the Philippines.

You acknowledge that if Costco Affiliates or Service Providers provide services from other countries (such as the ones named above), your personal information may be processed and stored in these countries and the governments, courts or law enforcement or regulatory agencies of these jurisdictions may be able to obtain disclosure of your personal information in accordance with their laws.

For clarity, the travel providers described in Section 13 below are not Service Providers, but will be collecting your personal information through Costco Canada Travel Inc.

Accordingly, when you book travel through us, any personal information you provide will be subject to the privacy policies and the local laws of those travel providers.

As outlined above, Costco Services (such as rebates, the Executive Membership program, and other business and consumer services) may be provided by Service Providers. When you sign up for Costco Services, we will share your name, membership status, membership number and type and such other personal information as is necessary with the Service Provider so they can confirm your eligibility for the Costco Service you requested. Service Providers who are suppliers of Costco Services can only use the personal information that we share with them to provide the Costco Services or, if you have consented, for other purposes specifically identified by the Service Provider, including to notify you of their offerings and to evaluate new and existing products, offerings or services. We are not responsible for any additional information you provide directly to these Service Providers, and we encourage you to become familiar with their privacy and security practices and policies before disclosing information to them. There may be instances when we provide information relating to our business customers to various suppliers such as tobacco companies, so they can conduct market studies and other promotional activities. In the case of tobacco products, the information we provide is the business customer’s name, address, the brand name of the tobacco products purchased and the amount of tobacco products purchased.

When you apply for a Costco co-branded credit card, we will share with our credit card partners (including the issuing institution, the payment processing network, and other organizations providing services relating to the Costco co-branded credit card) the information you provide on the application form. If the application is approved, we will share with these partners your Costco membership number(s) and start date(s), your Costco membership photograph(s) that will appear on the co-branded card, your company name and resale permit number (if applicable) and the type and status of your Costco membership. For clarity, credit card partners are not Service Providers. Accordingly, when you apply for a Costco co-branded credit card, any personal information you provide will be subject to the privacy policies and the local laws of those credit card partners. We encourage you to review these privacy policies carefully before applying for a co-branded credit card.

We may disclose personal information without your knowledge or consent if a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order legally authorizes us or requires us to do so. We may also disclose personal information to protect the rights, property or personal safety of Costco, its customers, employees or other members of the public.

Except as set out above, we do not sell, rent, share or disclose the personal information or personal health information we hold or make our membership list available to others for a fee without your consent.

7. When we collect, how we use and when we share personal health information

In the course of providing you with pharmacy, hearing aid, optical and other health-related services and programs we introduce from time to time, we collect, use and disclose personal health information.

Costco, Costco Affiliates and their Service Providers may collect, use or disclose your personal health information in connection with:

• providing you with the health services you request;
• communicating with your health service providers;
• storing electronic health records within onsite or offsite servers;
• processing or obtaining payment for government-funded health services (for example, obtaining authorization from your insurer or provincial authorities for direct payment of pharmacy services);
• processing or obtaining payment from your health insurance provider;
• internal management purposes, including planning, resource allocation, policy development, quality improvement, monitoring, audit, evaluation and reporting;
• providing Costco with technological or administrative services as described in Section 6 above; or
• the sale, assignment or other transfer of our business, in which case we will require such third parties to adhere to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

We may also disclose personal health information without your knowledge or consent if a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order legally authorizes us or requires us to do so or to protect the rights, property or personal safety of Costco, its customers, employees or other members of the public. We may also be required to disclose certain personal health information in order to maintain standing with professional health bodies, including those for pharmacists, audiologists and opticians.

Personal health information may be stored by Costco or Costco Affiliates outside of Canada. As noted above, as an example, as of the date of this policy, our main cloud computing Service Provider processes and stores information in the United States, the European Union, Taiwan, Singapore and Chile. This may change from time to time: for a current list of storage locations, visit: https://www.google.ca​/about/datacenters/inside/locations/. You acknowledge that if Service Providers provide services from other countries (such as the ones named above), your personal health information may be processed and stored in these countries, and the governments, courts or law enforcement or regulatory agencies in these jurisdictions may be able to obtain disclosure of your personal health information in accordance with their laws.

8. How long do we hold personal information and personal health information?

Personal information and personal health information are retained only for so long as is necessary for the purposes set out above. When no longer required, we will destroy, erase or de-personalize the personal information and personal health information. Legal requirements may necessitate our retaining some or all of the personal information and personal health information for a period of time that is longer than we might otherwise hold it. However, Costco will restrict access to such information to prevent it from being used except for the fulfillment of these legal requirements.

9. Accuracy

To ensure that the personal information and personal health information you provided is accurate, complete and up to date, we urge you to provide us with updates regarding such information and to inform us of any errors affecting the personal information and personal health information we hold. You may update, review or correct your Costco.ca online account information at any time by accessing your password-protected registration page via the “My Account” area of the Sites. To update any other information, please visit the Membership Counter in any of our warehouses with your membership card to confirm your identity.

10. Security measures

We will continue to keep in place security measures in an effort to protect personal information and personal health information held by us from unauthorized use, access, disclosure, distribution, loss or alteration. We employ physical, administrative, contractual and technological safeguards to protect personal information, and insist that our Service Providers do the same. We will continue to keep in place security measures in an effort to protect personal information and personal health information held by us from unauthorized use, access, disclosure, distribution, loss or alteration. We employ physical, administrative, contractual and technological safeguards to protect personal information, and insist that our Service Providers do the same. Please be aware though that, despite these efforts, no security measures are perfect and no systems are impenetrable. Your privacy can be enhanced by taking care to use suitably strong passwords that others cannot guess, that are kept safe by you, and that are not re-used on other sites. Taking steps like avoiding dictionary words or proper names, and adding extra character and punctuation marks can also help protect you. If you believe your password has been compromised, you should change it immediately.

Access to personal information and personal health information will be restricted to authorized personnel who require the information in order to perform their duties properly. In addition, access will be limited to only that information that is strictly necessary for the performance of those duties. Please also see our “Online privacy practices” in Section 12 below.

We periodically update our policies regarding information security measures in an effort to protect the personal information and personal health information held by us in the most effective manner possible.

11. Accessing personal information and personal health information

Our customers are entitled to access the personal information and personal health information held by us concerning them. In recognition of the importance we attach to each customer’s personal information, you can only access personal information and personal health information we hold about you, but not personal information and personal health information about your spouse or others who may have been issued a membership card on your account. Under limited circumstances, we may give you access to personal information or personal health information that we hold about others, but only if required or permitted by law (for example, a parent or guardian may, in certain instances, be given access to the personal information or personal health information of a child or a person who requires a substitute decision maker).

You can access your personal information and personal health information by showing your membership card at the Membership Counter in each warehouse to confirm your identity and completing a written request for such information on a form we provide. We will generally respond to your request for information within thirty (30) days, unless, for reasons beyond our control, a longer response time is necessary, in which case you will be advised accordingly. While our response will generally be provided at no cost, you will be informed in advance of any charges that apply in connection with the information request. Charges may relate to the transcription, reproduction or transmission of personal information or personal health information held by us.

In very limited circumstances, we may not be able to supply personal information and personal health information for reasons of a legal nature, including privileged communications between professional and client or a pending judicial proceeding. In each case, we will provide written reasons outlining why your request for access has not been granted.

12. Online privacy practices

Collection: We may collect personal information and personal health information online when you visit our Sites as described in Sections 4 and 7.

In addition, we may collect cookie and Web beacon information when you browse the Sites. Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer, and Web beacons are electronic images that allow us to count visitors visiting certain Web pages, to access cookies, and to analyze whether advertising banners on our site or other sites were effective. At Costco.ca, we may use cookies and beacons to help optimize your shopping experience, to evaluate use of the Sites, and to support Site analytics and marketing campaigns. In doing so, we may collect technical information such as your IP address, your browser type, the addresses of referring Sites, and your path through the Sites.

Cookies help us to customize our home page for you and to better display pages according to your browser type. While cookies are optional for browsing Costco.ca, they are required for registering, logging on, purchasing or adding items to your cart. If you wish to purchase items or set up an account on Costco.ca, you will need to accept a Costco.ca cookie. (In order to control the ability of website providers to place cookies on your computer, you should consult your browser’s “Options” and “Help” pages to learn how to adjust your settings to suit your privacy preferences.)

Use: We use personal information and personal health information collected online as described in Sections 5 and 7 above. In addition, we use personal information and personal health information:

• to facilitate and monitor certain features of the Sites that you choose to interact with;
• to respond to your questions and concerns and to understand your needs and preferences;
• to fulfill your online orders for products and services and to facilitate product deliveries, pickups and returns;
• to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; or
• to protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of Costco, its users or the public as required or permitted by law.

Sharing: We share personal information and personal health information collected online as described in Sections 6 and 7 above. In addition, we may provide Service Providers and product manufacturers and vendors with certain information that is necessary to fulfill an order you have placed with us. For example, if you request shipment for a purchase, we may provide your address to the shipping carrier and customs Service Provider, and if you pay by credit or debit card, your card number and sales transaction information are passed to the card processor and/or issuer (including their service providers such as fraud verification services). We also may use Service Providers to host and administer the Sites, process and store data, and fulfill other technology-related functions on our behalf. However, we only give or permit access to vendors, suppliers and other Service Providers involved in Site administration and the commerce distribution chain the limited information needed to perform their duties and provide you with the products and services you order. We are not responsible for any additional information you provide directly to these parties.

Protection: Personal information and personal health information we collect on our Sites is stored electronically, and may be combined with other off-line information. Personal information and personal health information entered on our Sites is encrypted using a security protocol called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). SSL encrypts information entered on our site before it is sent over the Internet. SSL also allows you to view securely your online account and registration information. Account information is accessible online only through the use of a password. To protect the confidentiality of personal information and personal health information, you must keep your password confidential and not disclose it to any other person. You are responsible for all uses of our Sites by any person using your password. You are advised that, unlike communication within our Sites, we have no control over the privacy of your email communications with us while in transit. We recommend that you do not include confidential, proprietary, personal or personal health information in emails, including credit card numbers, passwords, prescriptions and other similar information. Also, if other people have access to your email account, they may be able to access your password and obtain personal information about you (such as your credit card information), or change information about your user profile. You should not use an email account operated by your employer because many employers have the legal right to access such email accounts. Please advise us immediately by email at webservice@contactcostco.ca or by dialing 1-888-426-7826 if you believe your password has been misused.

Online links to other sites: Through links provided on our Sites or through messages from us, you can link to other sites of third parties who have agreed to offer goods and services to our members. Any personal information you provide on the linked pages is provided directly to that third party and is subject to that third party’s privacy policy. Except as described above, we are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of sites to which we provide links. Links from our Sites to third parties or to other sites are provided for your convenience. We encourage you to learn about their privacy and security practices and policies before providing them with personal information.

13. Costco Canada Travel

Costco Canada Travel Inc. acts as an agent to help our members book flights, cruises, hotels, rental cars and other travel-related goods or services in Canada and throughout the world. Since, in this instance, we are acting as an agent connecting our members to various travel providers, any personal information you provide to us will be transferred to the travel providers and their agents, and will be subject to their privacy policies and their local laws. Your information may be accessible in Canada or in foreign jurisdictions to governments, courts or law enforcement or regulatory agencies in accordance with applicable laws. We are not responsible for the privacy and security practices or policies of these travel providers or their agents, and we encourage you to learn about their privacy and security practices and policies before booking travel through us.

The personal information requested by travel providers may include, among other things, financial information, travel document details, trip details, citizenship, gender, date of birth, credit card information, special needs information, travel preferences, loyalty program details, and emergency contact details. This personal information is required for purposes including booking your trip, contacting you in association with your trip, providing mandatory information to government authorities, personalizing your travel experiences, and for other purposes identified by the travel providers in their privacy policies. We may retain some or all of this information in order to provide services to you in association with your bookings. The information held by us will be subject to our Privacy Policy.

When you make a reservation for someone else through us, we will ask you for their personal information. You should ensure that you have the consent of other individuals before providing us with their information. By providing us with that information, we consider that you have these other individuals’ consent and authorization to provide us with their personal information and to make bookings on their behalf in accordance with our travel providers’ privacy policies.

If another person who has your full name and booking reference numbers contacts us and seeks information on your booking or wishes to make changes to it, we will disclose that information and allow that other person to make changes to your booking, as we will assume that you have given that person the consent to do so. Likewise, if your bookings are made through or by third parties, such as employers, family members or others, we will consider those people to be authorized by you to provide your personal information in accordance with this Section, unless or until you tell us otherwise.

14. Complaint process

If you wish to obtain a copy of Personal Information held by us concerning you, please refer to Section 11, above.

If you are not completely satisfied with or wish to submit comments concerning this Privacy Policy or its application by us, we invite you to convey your concerns or suggestions by email to costco.member.privacy@costco.com or by mail to Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd., 415 West Hunt Club Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2E 1C5 Attention: Privacy Officer. We will reply as quickly as possible and inform you of the steps, if any, that have been or will be taken in order to address the concern or implement the suggestion. You can also file a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner in the province in which you reside or with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, in Ottawa.

15. Choice

If you previously consented to the sharing of the personal information you provided or are a Business Member and you do not want us to disclose information about your tobacco purchases, you can change your mind by:

1. Contacting us at any Membership Counter at any Canadian Costco warehouse location;
2. Calling our Member Service representatives at 1-800-463-3783;
3. Emailing Customer Service at service@contactcostco.ca with Attention: Privacy Officer in the subject line;
4. Writing us at: Member Service, 415 West Hunt Club Road, Ottawa, Ontario K2E 1C5 Attention: Privacy Officer.

If you wish to unsubscribe from electronic messages providing news, promotions, special offers and other information from Costco, regarding Costco, Costco Affiliates and selected partners, such as our promotional programs, you may do so at any time by visiting Costco.ca and setting your Communication Preferences.