Privacy Policy for ARC Liquor (arcliquorstores.ca) (arcliquor.com)

Effective Date: Nov 30, 2025 (Last Updated)

Summary Edition

Armstrong Regional Cooperative (doing business as ARC Liquor, referred to as “ARC”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you visit or interact with our website arcliquorstores.ca. We comply with applicable privacy laws and regulations, including British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). By using our website, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Personal Information We Collect

• Contact Information (e.g., name, email address, phone number)
• Identification and Age Verification
• Transaction Information (via third-party providers such as Moneris)
• Membership Information
• Communications & Correspondence
• Usage Data (collected through cookies and analytics tools)

How We Use Your Information

• To provide services and respond to inquiries
• To manage membership benefits
• To process transactions
• For customer service and communication
• With your consent, to send marketing and promotional materials
• To analyze site usage via Google Analytics
• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations

Cookies and Analytics

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. These include session cookies, preference cookies, and analytics cookies from services like Google Analytics. For more details, visit Google Analytics Opt-out.

Disclosure of Your Information

We may disclose your personal information:

• Within Armstrong Regional Cooperative and its affiliates
• To service providers (e.g., payment processors, analytics tools)
• As required by law or to protect rights, property, or safety
• In the event of a business transition (e.g., merger or acquisition)

Third-Party Links and Services

Our website includes links to third-party platforms, including our online store: ARC Liquor E-Commerce. Please review their respective privacy policies, including those of payment processors such as Moneris.

Data Security

We implement safeguards to protect your information, including encryption, access controls, and secure servers. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.

Data Retention

We retain data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy or as required by law. When no longer needed, personal information is securely deleted or anonymized.

Your Rights and Choices

• Access or correct your personal data
• Withdraw consent at any time
• Request deletion of personal information
• Manage your cookie preferences
• Submit complaints to the OIPC BC

Children and Age Restrictions

This site is intended only for individuals of legal drinking age (19+ in BC). We do not knowingly collect data from individuals under 19 years of age.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. Please check this page regularly for updates.

Contact Us

Privacy Officer – Armstrong Regional Cooperative
Mailing Address: Box 250, Armstrong, BC V0E 1B0, Canada
Office Address: 973 Otter Lake Cross Road, Spallumcheen, BC V0Y 0N7
Phone: 1-250-546-9438
Email: info@armstrong.coop

Thank you for trusting ARC Liquor.

Armstrong Regional Cooperative (doing business as ARC Liquor, referred to as “ARC”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you visit or interact with our website arcliquor.shop. We comply with applicable privacy laws and regulations, including British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which sets out rules for how organizations can collect, use, and disclose personal information (1) PIPA Privacy Policy By using our website, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Personal Information We Collect

We may collect personal information (information about an identifiable individual) from you in a variety of ways, including when you provide it to us directly and through your use of the site. The types of personal information we collect may include:

• Contact Information: Such as your name, email address, telephone number, mailing address, or other contact details if you fill out a form or communicate with us.
• Identification and Age Verification: If required (for example, ensuring you are of legal drinking age in BC, which is 19), we may collect your date of birth or ask you to confirm your age. Our site is intended for adults of legal drinking age and not for anyone under 19 years old.
• Transaction Information: If you make a purchase or sign up for a membership through our site or affiliated services, we may collect information necessary to process the transaction. This can include your payment details (e.g. credit card number, expiration date) and billing information. Note that online payments, if available, are handled by a secure third-party payment processor (such as Moneris); Moneris will collect your name and credit card information for processing the payment, and we do not store your full credit card details (2). (Moneris maintains ownership of the information it collects and does not sell personal information .(2) By submitting your payment or membership information, you consent to the transfer and storage of your information with our payment processor for the the purpose of processing the transaction. (2)
• Membership Information: If you apply for or inquire about an ARC membership through this site, we may collect information such as your membership number or application details. Any personal information provided in a membership application will be used to administer your membership account and benefits. (3)
• Communications: Records of correspondence with you, such as inquiries or feedback you submit, and our responses.
• Usage Data and Technical Information: When you use our site, we automatically collect certain information about your device and browsing actions through cookies and similar technologies. This may include your IP address, browser type, device identifiers, pages viewed, and the dates/times of your visits. This data helps us understand how visitors use our site and improve its functionality, but we do not use it to identify you personally in our routine analytics.

We will only collect personal information that is necessary for the purposes identified in this policy or that you voluntarily provide to us. You may choose not to provide certain personal information; however, this may limit your ability to access some features of the site (for example, you cannot make a purchase or become a member without providing necessary information).

How We Use Your Information

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes, as applicable:

• To Provide Services and Information: We use your information to operate our website and provide you with the information, products, or services you request. For example, if you contact us with a question or fill out a form, we will use your contact information to respond.
• Membership Administration: If you become a member of Armstrong Regional Cooperative (ARC), we use your information to open, maintain, and administer your membership account and benefits. This includes communicating with you about your membership and fulfilling any membership rewards or rebates.
• Transaction Processing: For any purchases or orders you initiate through our site or linked services (such as our affiliated online store), we use personal and payment information to process those transactions and provide you with the products or services. Payment information is used solely for processing payments and is handled by our third-party payment provider as noted above.
• Communication and Customer Service: To communicate with you about your inquiries, requests, or account. We may send administrative emails or notifications related to your use of the site (for example, responding to customer service inquiries or sending you information you have requested).
• Marketing and Updates (with Consent): To send you news, updates, promotions or marketing communications about our products and services, but only if you have consented to receive such communications. For instance, if you provide your email to subscribe to a newsletter or indicate interest in promotions, we may use it to inform you about ARC Liquor events, promotions, or products. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time.
• Research and Analytics: To analyze usage of our website and services in order to understand trends and improve our offerings. For example, we may use data about website traffic and user behavior (collected via cookies and Google Analytics) to improve site content, layout, and functionality . This helps us tailor our website to better meet customer needs.
• Legal and Regulatory Compliance: To comply with applicable legal obligations and regulatory requirements. For example, because we operate in the liquor retail industry, we may need to verify age and identity to comply with laws, or retain certain transaction records for auditing and taxation as required by law. We will also use or disclose personal information if necessary to cooperate with law enforcement or to meet other legal obligations (such as responding to lawful requests or court orders).
• Protection of Rights and Interests: To protect the safety, rights, property, or security of ARC (Armstrong Regional Cooperative), our customers, our employees, or the public as required or permitted by law. This includes using information to detect and prevent fraud or other unauthorized activities.

We will only use the personal information for the purposes we have identified or purposes that are reasonably related to those purposes, unless we obtain your consent for new uses. The personal information you provide is collected and used in accordance with our internal privacy policies and practices.

Cookies and Analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience and to collect usage data for improvement of our services. A cookie is a small text file placed on your device that helps us analyze web traffic and remember your preferences. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual and tailor your experience (for example, by remembering your site preferences). Google Analytics: We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, to understand how visitors engage with our site. Google Analytics uses cookies to track visitor interactions, such as what pages are visited, how long users stay, and how they navigated to our site.

The information generated by these cookies (which may include your IP address and usage data) is transmitted to and stored by Google on servers (which may be outside of Canada, e.g., in the United States). Google Analytics provides us with aggregated statistical data that helps us analyze website traffic and improve our website. Importantly, Google Analytics does not give us information that personally identifies you – it provides generalized insights (e.g., number of visitors, popular pages).

We do not collect or store any personal information in the cookies ourselves. Cookie Choices: By using our site, you consent to the placement of cookies as described. You can control or delete cookies through your web browser settings. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer; note that disabling cookies may affect some features of the site or your user experience. If you wish to opt out of Google Analytics tracking, Google provides an opt-out browser add-on you can install, or you can adjust your browser's Do Not Track settings. Please note that our site does not currently respond to "Do Not Track" signals, but you can still control cookies as described above. For more information on how Google collects and processes data through Google Analytics, you can refer to Google’s Privacy Policy.

We are not responsible for Google's data practices, but we only use Google Analytics to collect information helpful for running and improving our website. In addition to Google Analytics cookies, our site may use essential cookies required for core functionality (for example, to remember if you’ve dismissed a notification or to enable you to navigate between pages efficiently). We do not use cookies to serve third-party advertisements on our site at this time.

Disclosure of Your Information

We do not sell or rent your personal information to unrelated third parties. However, we may disclose or share your information in the following circumstances, as part of operating our business and providing services:

Within Armstrong Regional Cooperative and Affiliates: ARC Liquor is part of Armstrong Regional Cooperative. We may share personal information with other divisions of Armstrong Regional Cooperative or affiliated organizations as needed to carry out the purposes described in this policy. In particular, Armstrong Regional Cooperative is a member of Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), which provides centralized services for Canadian co-ops. We may disclose certain personal information to FCL for purposes such as accounting (e.g., tracking purchases for member equity and rebates) and marketing or research initiatives.

FCL may in turn need to share that information with its contracted service providers for data processing (for example, to help manage member information, process rebate calculations, or conduct surveys).

In all such cases, only the necessary information is provided, and it is used strictly for the stated purposes in accordance with applicable privacy laws. Other than sharing with FCL for these necessary purposes, we will not disclose your personal information to any other organization without your consent, except where required or permitted by law.

Service Providers: We use trusted third-party service providers to perform certain services on our behalf, and we may need to share personal information with them to fulfill those services. Examples include: technology providers (for website hosting or data storage), payment processing companies (for secure handling of credit card transactions), analytics providers (like Google, as described above), and email or marketing platforms (to send newsletters or notifications, if you have subscribed). These service providers are given only the information necessary to perform their functions, and they are not authorized to use or disclose the information for their own marketing or any other purposes. We require that our service providers handle personal information in compliance with appropriate privacy and security standards.

Legal Compliance and Protection: We may disclose personal information if we are required to do so by law or legal process (for example, in response to a subpoena, court order, or regulation), or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to comply with legal obligations. Additionally, if necessary, we may disclose information to enforce our website terms and conditions, to protect against fraudulent or illegal activity, to protect the rights, property, or safety of ARC, our customers, or the public, or in connection with an investigation of fraud or other wrongdoing.

Business Transactions: In the unlikely event that Armstrong Regional Cooperative (or the ARC Liquor business) undergoes a business transition such as a merger, acquisition, or transfer of assets, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. If such a transfer occurs, we will ensure that your information remains protected by appropriate privacy safeguards and that you are notified of any significant changes to the handling of your personal information.

When we share personal information with third parties as described above, we take steps to ensure those parties provide a comparable level of protection for your data. Aside from the situations described in this Policy, we will not disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent, unless required or permitted by law.

Third-Party Links and Services

Our website may contain links to third-party websites or integrate with third-party services that are not operated by us. For example, when you click a link to our online store or e-commerce portal, you may be directed to an external website (such as an Armstrong Co-op e-commerce site for ARC Liquor) that is governed by its own terms and privacy policy. Please be aware that once you leave our site or are redirected to a third-party platform, this Privacy Policy no longer applies. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or data handling of any third-party websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any external sites you visit via links on our site.

This caution also applies to our presence on social media or any external platforms. If you engage with ARC Liquor via social media (for example, through a link to our official Facebook or Instagram page), your interactions are subject to the privacy policies of those social media platforms. E-Commerce and Payments: If you proceed to make a purchase through our affiliated e-commerce store (for example, when ordering products for pickup or delivery), that transaction may be handled by a separate system or provider. As noted, our payments are processed by a third-party provider like Moneris, and you will be subject to Moneris’s privacy policy when you provide payment information.

We provide a link to the payment provider’s privacy policy at the time of transaction (for reference, Moneris’s privacy policy can be found on their official website.

While we choose reputable third-party services, ARC is not responsible or liable for any loss or damage in connection with those third parties’ privacy practices or content.

In other words, if you have concerns or questions about how your information is handled by an external service (such as the payment gateway or the e-commerce platform), you should review the privacy statement of that service and you may direct your inquiries to them as needed. That said, if you encounter any issue or have feedback regarding information handling by third parties we work with, you can also contact us (using the contact information below) and we will do our best to assist or provide you with relevant information.

Data Security

We take the security of your personal information seriously. ARC implements appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, loss, theft, or alteration. These measures include secure network protocols, encryption and security safeguards for financial transactions, firewalls, and access controls to personal data. We also limit access to personal information to those employees and service providers who need to know it for the purposes described in this Policy, and all such parties are subject to confidentiality obligations. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, please be aware that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee absolute security of information. You share and transmit information at your own risk. We will promptly notify affected individuals and the appropriate authorities of any data breach that poses a real risk of significant harm, as required by law.

Data Retention

We will retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected (as outlined in this Policy) or as required or permitted by law. This means, for example: If you become a member, we will retain your personal information for the duration of your membership and for a reasonable period thereafter to administer any continuing rights or obligations (such as equity payout or legal record-keeping).
If you make a purchase or transaction, we will retain the information related to that transaction for as long as needed for customer service, warranties, refunds, and for legal/accounting purposes (e.g., maintaining transaction records for tax and financial reporting).
If you contact us with an inquiry, we may retain your correspondence and our response for a period of time in case further follow-up is needed, and to evaluate and improve our customer service. Web analytics data (collected via cookies) is retained as long as necessary for analysis purposes. Google Analytics data may be kept for a set retention period (e.g., 14 months or as configured) and is automatically deleted afterward in accordance with Google’s policies.

When we no longer need your personal information for the identified purposes, we will securely destroy, erase, or anonymize the information. For instance, paper records may be shredded and electronic data securely deleted or anonymized so it no longer identifies you.

Your Rights and Choices

You have rights regarding your personal information and choices in how it is used:
Access and Correction: You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, and to request corrections or updates to ensure it is accurate and up-to-date. For example, if you are an ARC member and your contact information changes, or if you believe we have incorrect information about you, you can request that we correct it. We will respond to access requests within the timeframes required by law and may ask for information to verify your identity before providing details. In certain circumstances, we may not be able to provide access to all information (for example, if it contains personal information of others or for legal reasons), but we will explain any such restriction.

Withdrawal of Consent: Where you have given consent for a specific use of your personal information (for example, for receiving marketing emails), you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time (subject to legal or contractual restrictions). If you withdraw consent, we will stop using your information for that purpose going forward. For instance, if you no longer wish to receive promotional emails, you can unsubscribe via the link provided in the email or contact us to be removed from the mailing list. Please note that withdrawing consent for certain uses of your information may limit our ability to provide certain services to you. (For example, if you withdraw consent for us to use your information to administer your membership, we may not be able to continue your membership benefits.)

We will inform you if such a situation arises.

Deletion of Information: You may request that we delete your personal information from our records, and we will do so where required by law. If you are not a member or have no ongoing relationship that requires us to keep your data, we will make reasonable efforts to honor requests for deletion. However, some data must be retained for legal compliance (e.g., transaction records) or technical reasons. We will explain if we cannot fully delete data you requested due to legal requirements.

Cookies Choices: As described above, you can choose to disable or clear cookies in your browser. You can also opt out of Google Analytics tracking if you wish. These actions are under your control. Note that core functionality cookies may be necessary for the website to function.

Complaints: If you have a concern or complaint about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us so we can address it. We will investigate and respond to any privacy complaints. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC), which oversees private sector privacy compliance in BC.

To exercise any of these rights or for any inquiries about your personal information, you can reach out to us using the contact information provided in the Contact Us section below. We may require you to verify your identity before proceeding with certain requests, especially those involving access to personal data.

Children and Age Restrictions

Our website and services are intended for adults of legal drinking age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 19 (the legal drinking age in British Columbia). If you are under 19, please do not use this website or provide any personal information. We do not sell alcohol or offer membership to minors. In the event that we discover we have inadvertently collected personal information from a person under 19, we will delete that information promptly.

Parents or guardians who believe that we might have any information from or about a minor under 19 may contact us immediately, and we will remove the personal data accordingly.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update or revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. If we make significant changes, we will post the updated Privacy Policy on this page with a new effective date, and we may provide a more prominent notice (such as a banner on the website or an email notification, if appropriate). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information. Your continued use of the website after any changes to this Policy constitutes acceptance of those changes.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal information, please contact us. We are here to help and will respond to your inquiries as soon as reasonably possible.

Privacy Officer – Armstrong Regional Cooperative (ARC)

Mailing Address: Box 250, Armstrong, BC V0E 1B0, Canada

Office Address: 973 Otter Lake Cross Road, Spallumcheen, BC V0Y 0N7, Canada

Telephone: 1-250-546-9438

Email: info@armstrong.coop (or an appropriate contact email for ARC Liquor)

Please include attention to “Privacy Officer” in any written correspondence.

By contacting us with a privacy-related inquiry or request, you consent to our use of any information you provide in order to respond to you. We will use your contact information only for addressing your inquiry and will retain that correspondence as outlined in this Policy.

Thank you for visiting ARC Liquor. We value your privacy and trust.
If you have any further questions about this Privacy Policy, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.