Privacy Policy
Accurate Precious Metals Refineries, Inc.
1. Who we are and what this policy covers
This Privacy Policy describes how Accurate Precious Metals Refineries, Inc., also doing business as Accurate PMR ("Accurate Precious Metals," "Accurate PMR," "APMR," "we," "us," or "our"), collects, uses, and shares information through our websites, accuratepmr.com, americagoldbuyers.com, usadiamondbuyers.com, and usasilverbuyers.com (together, the "Sites"), through which we buy and sell precious metals and related items.
America Gold Buyers, USA Diamond Buyers, and USA Silver Buyers are brand names of Accurate Precious Metals Refineries, Inc. Whichever of these Sites you use, you are dealing with the same company, this one policy applies, and information you provide on any of the Sites is received into Accurate Precious Metals' systems. Payments, checks, and some notices you receive may come from Accurate Precious Metals Refineries, Inc.
This policy covers information collected through the Sites and through the online, phone, email, and text communications connected with a transaction you begin on the Sites. If you visit our store in person, information you provide at our counter is collected in person and handled under applicable law. This policy covers our online services.
We offer our services only within the United States, and the Sites are intended for United States residents, as our Terms & Conditions describe. We do not direct the Sites to, or knowingly collect information from, persons outside the United States.
In this policy, "transaction" means a purchase from us or a sale to us through the Sites, including a checkout purchase of products from us and a mail-in sale of items to us.
In this policy, "include," "includes," and "including" mean "including, but not limited to."
If you do not agree with this policy or our Terms & Conditions, please do not use the Sites or our services.
Back to top2. Information we collect
We collect only what we need to serve you:
2.1 Information you give us. When you place an order, request a quote, request a mail-in kit, or contact us, you may provide your name, email address, phone number, and mailing address, along with the contents of your message or request.
2.2 Account information. The Sites may offer customer accounts for tracking your orders, mail-in packages, and transactions. If you create one, we collect your login credentials (your username or email address and your password) and maintain your transaction history. Passwords are stored only in hashed form, which means we cannot read them.
2.3 Transaction records. When you buy from us, we may keep records of your order, which may include the products, prices, payment, shipping and delivery, and our communications with you about it. When you send us items and we make you an offer, we may keep records of the transaction, which may include the items, photographs and video of your package and items, our evaluation, the offers and amounts, the dates, shipment tracking, and our communications with you about it, as described in our Terms & Conditions.
2.4 If you sell items to us through our online mail-in service. Many state and local laws require buyers of precious metals and secondhand goods to keep a record of who sold each item. So when you sell to us through our online mail-in service, and only where the law that applies to your sale requires it, we collect what that law requires:
- Your contact and shipping details and your confirmation that you are 18 or older.
- Your electronic signature on your offer, with its date and time, and your signed statement that you own the items and have the right to sell them.
- A copy of the front and back of your government-issued photo ID, and the information printed on it, such as your name, date of birth, address, ID number, and the ID's type, issuer, and dates. Where the law requires additional identification, we ask for that too.
- Where a state or local record law requires it, a short physical description (for example height, weight, sex, eye and hair color, or race). Most of this comes from your ID; we ask you only for what your ID does not show.
- Confirmation that your phone number belongs to you.
- Where the law of a particular state requires it, additional identifying information, which may include biometric information such as a fingerprint or a photograph of you.
- The details of the items you sell to us and the payout you receive.
We collect this only to meet those legal requirements, confirm who you are, and pay you safely. We do not sell this information, we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising or targeted advertising, and we do not use it for advertising or marketing. We disclose it only as Section 8 describes, including to law enforcement and government authorities where the law requires. Buying from us or browsing the Sites does not involve any of this, and the ID and physical-description steps apply only after you accept an offer to sell items to us by mail, and only where the law requires them.
2.5 Calls, voicemail, and text messages. When you call or text us, we collect your phone number and the date, time, and length of the call. Calls may be recorded (Section 6), and where a call is recorded we keep the recording. We also keep voicemails you leave and the content of text messages.
2.6 Information collected automatically. As permitted by law, we and our analytics and advertising providers may collect device and usage information using cookies, pixels, and similar technologies. This includes your IP address; browser type, language, and operating system; device type and screen size; device, cookie, and advertising identifiers; your internet service provider; the pages you visit, the page that referred you to the Sites, and the page you go to when you leave; the date, time, and length of your visits; how you interact with the Sites, such as clicks, scrolls, and downloads; and ad-click identifiers and campaign tags that tell us which ad or link brought you to the Sites. Section 5 describes these technologies and your choices, including how to opt out.
2.7 Email interactions. Our emails may contain tracking pixels and tracked links that tell us whether an email was opened and which links were clicked. We use this to deliver and improve our communications.
2.8 Information we derive. Where permitted by law, we may derive information or draw inferences from the information described above, for example inferring your approximate location from your IP address or your interests from your activity on the Sites.
2.9 Information from other sources. We may obtain information about you from other sources, including public records and databases, government and law-enforcement resources, industry and fraud-prevention databases, our service providers (including the identity-verification results described in Section 4), and parties involved in a transaction or dispute. We may combine it with the information described above, in particular to verify identity and ownership, conduct due diligence, prevent fraud, investigate suspected stolen or counterfeit items, and administer estates and ownership disputes as described in our Terms & Conditions.
Back to top3. Sensitive personal information
Some state laws treat certain information as "sensitive." The sensitive personal information we collect falls into these categories:
- Account login credentials: your username or email address together with your password, which we store only in hashed form.
- Identity-verification and bank-account confirmation results, where we request verification (Section 4). The underlying information is collected and stored by Plaid, our verification provider, under its own privacy policy; we may receive the results from Plaid.
- Government ID copies and ID numbers, and, where a state or local record law requires it, race as part of a physical description and biometric information such as a fingerprint or a photograph of you, collected only where the law requires it, and only from people who sell to us through our online mail-in service (Section 2.4). We ask for race only where that law requires it, use it only to complete that legal record, and ask for your consent where the law requires consent.
- Documentation you provide when we request it to complete or service a transaction, process a claim, verify ownership or authority, or comply with legal, regulatory, and compliance requirements. Identity verification itself is completed through Plaid (Section 4).
We use and disclose sensitive personal information only to provide the services you request, process claims connected with your transactions, verify your identity, secure your account, detect and prevent fraud and other illegal activity, and comply with the law. We do not use it to infer characteristics about you, and we do not sell or share it for advertising.
If we collect biometric information, we do so only where the law requires it, and we give any notice and obtain any consent the law requires at the time we collect it. We destroy biometric information when the purpose for collecting it has been satisfied, and no later than any deadline applicable law sets.
If we request identity verification, Plaid collects what it needs directly from you, on its own platform and under its own policies (Section 4). For mail-in sales where identity verification is required, we also receive and keep a copy of your ID images and the information on them, as Section 2.4 describes.
Back to top4. Payments and verification
4.1 Payments. When you buy from us, you pay by the payment methods offered at checkout, and card and other online payments are processed by our payment processor (Stripe) on its own systems. When you sell to us, we send payments by the payment methods we offer, as described in our Terms & Conditions. Where a payment method requires your account or delivery details, our payment service provider collects them directly through its own secure form. Payment details are used only to process or deliver payments and to keep records of them. Where our Terms & Conditions call for a payment method on file (for example, a card before we agree to lock a price), it is saved in a customer profile held by our payment processor (Stripe), on the processor's systems, and may be charged as our Terms & Conditions describe; we do not store card numbers ourselves.
4.2 Identity and bank verification through Plaid. All transactions, whether you are buying from us or selling to us, are subject to identity verification at our discretion. We may use Plaid Inc. ("Plaid") to verify identity and to connect or confirm bank accounts, through a Plaid window on the Sites or through a link we send you. If we request verification, you agree to complete it.
Plaid collects the information you provide to it, including any bank login credentials, directly from you under its own terms, and stores it on its own systems. We do not receive your bank login credentials. Plaid provides us and our payment processor with the information needed to verify your identity or complete your payment. By using Plaid, you agree to your information being collected, transferred, stored, and processed by Plaid in accordance with the Plaid End User Privacy Policy, and you grant us and Plaid the right, power, and authority to act on your behalf to access and transmit your personal and financial information from the relevant financial institution. We may decline or limit service if verification cannot be completed.
Mail-in sales. When you sell to us through our online mail-in service, identity verification is required before we can pay you wherever the law that applies to your sale requires us to record who sold the item. In that case, after you accept your offer, we send you a secure Plaid link. Plaid confirms your phone number and checks your government-issued photo ID, along with any other verification step the law of your state requires. Plaid shares the verification result with us, along with copies of your ID images and the information on them, which we keep as our legal record of the sale.
Back to top6. Phone calls, voicemail, chat, and text messages
6.1 Call recording. Calls with our phone numbers may be recorded. You will hear a notice at the start of the call; continuing the call after the notice constitutes your consent to the recording. Recordings may be processed by our service providers, including through automated tools. Recordings, transcripts, summaries, and voicemails are our business records, and we use them for our business purposes.
6.2 Chat. If we offer live chat or a chatbot on a Site, chat conversations are recorded and may be processed by our service providers, including automated and artificial-intelligence tools. A notice will appear in the chat window before you begin.
6.3 Text messages. Text messages are sent and received through our messaging service providers.
Back to top7. How we use information
We may use the information described above to:
- Provide our services: orders, payment processing, and shipping of products you buy; quotes, mail-in kits, evaluations, offers, payments, and return shipments for items you sell; and customer support.
- Create and administer your account and let you track your orders, packages, and transactions.
- Communicate with you about your transactions, including the transactional notices described in our Terms & Conditions.
- Send marketing communications you can opt out of at any time (Section 9).
- Measure and improve our advertising, Sites, services, communications, and customer experience, including through automated and artificial-intelligence tools.
- Protect Accurate Precious Metals and our customers: verify identity and ownership, screen against sanctions lists, prevent fraud, detect counterfeit or stolen goods, secure our systems, enforce our Terms & Conditions, and defend our legal rights, including pursuing available remedies and limiting damages we may sustain.
- Comply with law, including record-keeping, tax, reporting, and unclaimed-property obligations, and the record-keeping laws that apply to buying precious metals and secondhand items, which may require us to confirm a seller's identity and age and that the seller owns the items.
9. Your choices
9.1 Marketing email and SMS. Email: use the unsubscribe link in any marketing email. Opting out of marketing email does not stop transactional email about your active transactions, which we send as described in our Terms & Conditions. SMS: reply STOP to any text to stop all text messages from us (you may receive one final message confirming your opt-out), or HELP for help. After you text STOP, notices about your active transactions continue by email. No mobile opt-in data or consent is shared with third parties or affiliates for their marketing purposes, excluding the providers of our text-messaging services who deliver our messages.
9.2 Cookies and advertising. The consent banner, the Your Privacy Choices footer link, and the GPC signal, per Section 5. These also cover the hashed-identifier advertising measurement in Section 8.7. You can also opt out of it by contacting us (Section 15).
9.3 Your account. You can review your account information by logging in. For your protection, changes to your account information, in particular the address your items or payments are sent to, are made by contacting us so we can verify the change. We may require verification before changing where your items or payments go.
9.4 Sign-up bonuses. Some promotions offer a bonus for joining our email or text list, as our Terms & Conditions describe. The information involved is your name and contact details. Joining is optional and done by signing up on our forms; you can withdraw at any time by unsubscribing or replying STOP. We estimate the value of the information you provide as equal to the bonus offered in the current promotion, and promotions may change or end at any time.
Back to top10. State privacy rights
Depending on your state of residence, you may have the right to know what personal information we have about you, access it, correct it, delete it, obtain a copy of it, and opt out of targeted advertising and sharing. We honor these rights where the law provides them, and we do not discriminate against you for exercising them. We reserve the right to decline a request where the law does not require us to comply with it, and we will tell you the reason if we do.
10.1 How to make a request. Contact us at [email protected] or through the contact information in Section 15, or use the request form on the Sites where available.
10.2 Requests to know and access. Where the law provides it, you can request the categories of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, our purposes, the categories of third parties we disclosed it to, and the specific pieces of personal information we hold, generally covering the 12-month period before your request. Once your request is verified, we deliver our response securely to the email address associated with our records, or through your account if you have one.
10.3 Verification. We must verify your identity before acting on a request to know, access, correct, or delete, and we cannot act on a request we cannot verify. We verify by matching the information you provide against the information we already have, and we may ask for additional information where reasonably necessary; anything you provide for verification is used only for verification. If we cannot verify your identity to the degree of certainty the law requires, we will tell you so and will not act on the request. For deletion requests submitted online, we will send a confirmation email to the email address associated with our records, and we act on the request once you confirm it.
10.4 What deletion does and does not cover. When we honor a deletion request, we delete the personal information the law requires us to delete, for example, your site account and login credentials, your profile, and your entries on our marketing lists. State privacy laws also recognize that some information must or may be kept, and we retain information to the extent permitted, including to:
- Complete a transaction you began with us, ship an order, deliver a payment, return your items, or perform our Terms & Conditions.
- Keep the records of completed transactions, orders, offers, payments, and shipments that document what happened, including for tax, accounting, unclaimed-property, and other record-keeping obligations.
- Keep identity-verification and sanctions-screening records, the seller identity records that purchase-record laws require us to keep (Section 2.4), call recordings, and related records used to verify identity and ownership, detect and prevent fraud and other illegal activity, investigate suspected stolen or counterfeit items, and pursue those responsible.
- Comply with federal, state, or local law, a court order, a subpoena, or an inquiry from a government authority, and cooperate with law enforcement.
- Exercise, establish, or defend legal claims, and enforce our Terms & Conditions, including the dispute-resolution provisions.
- Debug and secure our Sites and systems.
- Conduct solely internal uses reasonably aligned with your expectations from your relationship with us.
Where we keep information under one of these grounds, we use it only for that purpose. Information deleted from our active systems may persist for a time in secure archived or backup systems; as the law permits, we apply the deletion to that data when the backup is restored to an active system or is next accessed or used.
10.5 Analytics and advertising data. The usage data collected by the analytics and advertising tools in Section 5 is held by those providers and is keyed to cookies and device identifiers, not to your name. We cannot reasonably associate that data with you, so we cannot locate or delete it in response to a deletion request; the law does not require us to delete data we cannot reasonably link to the person requesting. When we honor a deletion request, we also remove your contact information from the customer lists we upload to advertising partners (Section 8.7). Your controls for cookie-based data are the consent banner, the Your Privacy Choices link, the GPC signal, and each platform's own privacy tools.
10.6 Information held by Plaid. Identity-verification information collected by Plaid is stored by Plaid for as long as our agreement with Plaid requires, unless we ask Plaid to delete it sooner, and under the Plaid End User Privacy Policy. A deletion request to us does not reach Plaid's systems; you can make privacy requests to Plaid directly through the Plaid Privacy Request Form or the Plaid Portal. Plaid applies its own legal-retention and fraud-prevention exceptions, and verification records connected to a transaction with us may be retained under the grounds described above.
10.7 Authorized agents. An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf with proof of valid authorization, such as a signed permission or power of attorney; we may also confirm the request with you directly.
10.8 Appeals. If we decline a request, you may appeal by replying to our decision or writing to [email protected] with the word "Appeal." We will respond in writing with the reasons for our decision. If your appeal is denied, you may contact your state attorney general.
10.9 Categories of personal information. For residents of states whose laws call for it, this summarizes the categories of personal information we collect, as described in this policy. We collect each category from the sources described in Section 2, use it for the purposes in Section 7, and keep it under the criteria in Section 11.1.
- Identifiers (such as name, email address, phone number, mailing address, IP address, account login, and cookie, device, and advertising identifiers). Disclosed to service providers, shipping carriers and insurers, professional advisors, and as the law requires. Sold or shared: cookie, device, and advertising identifiers, and hashed contact information, with advertising partners (Sections 5 and 8.7).
- Customer records and documentation (such as contact details, payment-delivery details, signatures, and documentation you provide). Disclosed to service providers, carriers and insurers, professional advisors, and as the law requires. Not sold or shared.
- Commercial information (such as products you buy, items you send us, offers, and transaction records). Disclosed to service providers, carriers and insurers, professional advisors, and as the law requires. Not sold or shared.
- Internet and device activity (such as pages visited, interactions, referring pages, and session replay) and approximate location derived from IP address. Disclosed to analytics and advertising partners and other service providers. Sold or shared with advertising partners (Section 5).
- Audio and visual information (such as call recordings, voicemails, photographs or video of packages and items, and, for mail-in sellers, ID images). Disclosed to service providers, insurers, professional advisors, and as the law requires. Not sold or shared.
- Inferences drawn from the information above. Disclosed to service providers and analytics and advertising partners. Shared with advertising partners (Section 5).
- Characteristics of protected classifications (such as age, sex, and, where a record law requires it, race), collected from mail-in sellers only. Disclosed to service providers and as the law requires. Not sold or shared.
- Biometric information (such as a fingerprint or a photograph of you), collected from mail-in sellers only where a state law requires it. Disclosed to service providers and as the law requires. Not sold or shared.
- Sensitive personal information (account login credentials, identity-verification results, bank-account confirmation results, and, for mail-in sellers, government ID copies and numbers and, where required by law, race and biometric information), used only as described in Section 3. Disclosed to service providers, including our identity-verification provider, and as the law requires. Not sold or shared.
11. Retention and security
11.1 Retention. We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy. How long we keep a given record is determined by criteria including the nature of the record and of our relationship with you, our legal, tax, audit, and regulatory record-keeping obligations, fraud prevention, security, resolving disputes, and enforcing our agreements. Records of transactions may be retained for as long as the law permits. Seller identity records from mail-in sales (Section 2.4) are kept for as long as state or local law requires, then deleted.
11.2 Security. We store information on systems we operate and on the systems of service providers that process it on our behalf. We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards appropriate to the information we hold. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, we cannot guarantee absolute security, and any transmission of information to or from the Sites is at your own risk. If a security incident affects your personal information, we will notify you as required by law.
Back to top12. Links to other websites
The Sites may contain links to websites we do not operate, including the websites of our service providers. We do not control those websites and are not responsible for their content or privacy practices. Any information you provide to them is governed by their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to review.
Back to top13. Children
Our Sites and services are for adults. You must be at least 18 to use them, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. We have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing the personal information of anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it as the law requires.
Back to top14. Disputes about privacy; changes to this policy
Any dispute relating to this policy or to our collection, use, recording, or sharing of information, including claims under privacy, wiretap, or tracking statutes, is governed by the Dispute Resolution provisions of our Terms & Conditions, including individual arbitration, the class-action waiver, and the informal resolution process, to the fullest extent permitted by law.
We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top shows the current version. Material changes will be posted prominently on the Sites. Your continued use of the Sites after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Back to top15. How to contact us
Privacy requests and questions: [email protected]
Mail: Accurate Precious Metals Refineries, Inc., 1855 Hawthorne Ave NE, Salem, OR 97301, United States
Phone: (503) 400-5608
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