Privacy policy

1. Overview

This Privacy Policy explains how Cortex USA, Inc. ("Cortex," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and shares information when you apply for a wholesale account, log in, or place an order on the Cortex USA, Inc. Exclusive Wholesale Marketplace at www.cortexwholesale.com (the "Marketplace").

The Marketplace is a business-to-business site for approved wholesale accounts. Most of the information we collect is about your business. Some of it is about the people who work there, such as the buyer who places orders or the person who signs up for the account. This policy covers both.

This policy applies only to the Marketplace. Our consumer sites, including cortexbeauty.com, have their own privacy policies. If your customers buy a product from you and register it with us for warranty, their information is covered by the privacy policy of the brand site where they register.

The Marketplace is hosted by Shopify Inc. Shopify's own privacy policy also applies to data it processes on our behalf.

2. Information we collect

Account application information. When you request a wholesale account, we collect:

• Business name, business type, and business address
• Tax ID or EIN
• Resale certificate or sales tax exemption certificate
• Website, store locations, and the sales channels you plan to use
• Name, job title, email address, and phone number of the person applying and of any authorized buyers
• Any other documents we ask for to verify the business

Order information. When you place an order, we collect the products ordered, quantities, prices, shipping address, billing address, order history, and any notes you add to the order.

Payment information. You pay by ACH. At checkout you enter your business bank account details. See Section 5 for how that information is handled.

Communications. When you email us, file a claim, or contact support, we keep the messages and any attachments, such as photos of damaged product.

Device and usage information. When you log in or browse, we automatically collect your IP address, browser type, device type, time zone, the pages and products you view, items you add to your cart, and how you move through the site. We collect this through cookies, log files, and Shopify's built-in tools. See Section 6.

When we say "personal information" in this policy, we mean information that identifies a person, such as a buyer's name or email address. Business information such as a company name, EIN, or storefront address is not personal information on its own, but we protect it the same way.

3. How we use it

We use the information we collect to:

• Review your account application and verify that your business is real and eligible
• Set up your account, assign your pricing tier, and give you a login
• Process orders, collect payment, arrange shipping, and send order confirmations and tracking
• Handle claims, replacements, credits, and refunds
• Answer questions and provide account support
• Check for fraud, unauthorized access, and resale through channels we have not approved
• Send account notices, such as tier changes, policy updates, and payment issues
• Send wholesale marketing, such as new product announcements and wholesale promotions, if you have not opted out (see Section 7)
• Keep business, tax, and accounting records
• Understand how the Marketplace is used so we can improve it
• Enforce our Terms & Conditions and comply with the law

We do not sell personal information. We do not use the information you give us on the Marketplace to advertise to your customers.

4. Who we share it with

We share information only with companies that help us run the Marketplace and only for the purposes above. They are not allowed to use it for their own marketing.

Who	What they do with it
Shopify Inc.	Hosts the Marketplace, stores account and order data, and runs checkout (Shopify Privacy Policy)
Payment processor	Processes ACH payments and refunds and screens for payment fraud
Shipping carriers and freight companies	Receive your name, address, and phone number to deliver orders
Business verification services	Help confirm your business, tax ID, and resale certificate
Email and support tools	Send order emails, account notices, and marketing, and manage support tickets
Analytics tools	Measure how the Marketplace is used (see Section 6)
Accounting and tax software	Keep invoices, payments, and tax records
Our affiliated brands	Cortex Beauty, Cortex Professional, Bellezza, Hair Rage, and La Sirena share one account system

We may also share information when the law requires it, to respond to a subpoena or court order, to investigate fraud or a security issue, to enforce our Terms & Conditions, or to protect our rights or the rights of others.

If Cortex is sold, merges with another company, or reorganizes, account information may be transferred as part of that deal. It will stay subject to this policy.

5. Bank and payment information

The Marketplace accepts ACH bank transfers only. When you pay, you enter your business bank account and routing numbers into a secure checkout form run by Shopify and our payment processor.

Your full bank account number is encrypted when it is sent and is stored by the payment processor, not by Cortex. Our staff see only what is needed to match a payment to an order, such as the bank name and the last four digits of the account.

If you save a bank account to your profile for faster checkout, it is stored by the payment processor under the same protections. You can remove it from your account settings at any time.

We use payment information only to collect payment, issue refunds, investigate failed or reversed payments, and keep accounting records. We never share it with carriers, marketing tools, or any other vendor that does not need it to process the payment.

6. Cookies and tracking

The Marketplace uses cookies and similar tools. A cookie is a small file saved on your device.

Cookies we need to run the site. These keep you logged in, remember your cart, show the prices for your tier, and protect the site from attacks. The Marketplace does not work without them.

Analytics cookies. We use Shopify's built-in analytics and may use Google Analytics to see which pages and products are viewed, where visitors come from, and where they drop off. This helps us improve the site. You can opt out of Google Analytics with the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on.

Advertising cookies. We do not run advertising pixels or retargeting on the Marketplace. The site is password protected and is not used for consumer advertising.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block the cookies we need to run the site, you will not be able to log in or check out. For more on cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Do Not Track. There is no agreed standard for "Do Not Track" browser signals, so the Marketplace does not change how it works when it receives one.

7. Marketing emails

When your account is approved, we add your account email to our wholesale list. We send:

• New product and restock announcements
• Wholesale promotions and seasonal programs
• Brand news that affects how you sell our products

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of any marketing email or by emailing us. Unsubscribing does not stop account emails we have to send, such as order confirmations, shipping notices, payment issues, claim updates, and changes to our policies.

We do not send marketing text messages to wholesale accounts. The Cortex Beauty Mobile Messaging Program is for consumers only.

8. How long we keep information

We keep account and order records for as long as your account is open and for 7 years after it closes. This matches the period we need for tax, accounting, warranty, and legal purposes.

Resale certificates are kept for as long as the law requires us to prove that a sale was tax exempt.

Support emails and claim records are kept for 3 years after the claim is closed.

Device and usage data is kept in summary form for analytics and is deleted or made anonymous within 24 months.

If you ask us to delete information (see Section 10), we will delete what we are not required to keep.

9. Security

We use reasonable safeguards to protect the information we hold. The Marketplace is password protected, data is encrypted in transit, and payment details are handled by a PCI-compliant processor. Access to account data inside Cortex is limited to staff who need it.

No website or system is completely secure. You are responsible for keeping your login private and for telling us right away if you think your account has been accessed by someone else.

If we learn of a data breach that affects your information, we will notify you as the law requires.

10. Your choices and rights

You can update your business details, buyer contacts, shipping addresses, and saved bank accounts in your account settings or by emailing us.

Depending on where you live, state law may give you the right to:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you
• Ask us to correct it
• Ask us to delete it
• Get a copy of it
• Opt out of targeted advertising or the sale of personal information (we do neither on the Marketplace)
• Appeal if we deny a request

To make a request, email Helpdesk@cortexbeauty.com with "Privacy Request" in the subject line. We may ask you to confirm your identity and your connection to the account before we respond. We will reply within 45 days, or tell you if we need more time.

Many state privacy laws, including California's, do not apply to information collected in a business-to-business context. We will still honor reasonable requests from the people named on an account.

Residents of the EEA, UK, or Switzerland. We process your information to perform our contract with your business, to meet legal obligations, and for our legitimate business interests. Information is stored in the United States. Where the law requires, we use standard contractual clauses or similar safeguards for the transfer.

11. Other things to know

Minors. The Marketplace is for businesses. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has given us information, email us and we will remove it.

International accounts. If you access the Marketplace from outside the United States, your information is transferred to and stored in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your country.

Third-party links. The Marketplace may link to other sites, such as carrier tracking pages or our brand sites. Those sites have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for them.

Your customers' information. We do not collect information about your customers through the Marketplace. If a customer registers a product warranty or contacts us directly, that is covered by the brand site's privacy policy.

12. Changes and contact

We may update this policy to reflect changes in our practices or the law. When we do, we will change the date at the top and, for significant changes, email the account contact on file.

Questions, privacy requests, or complaints:

Email: Helpdesk@cortexbeauty.com

Mail: Cortex USA, Inc. Attn: Privacy Compliance Officer 5820 NW 163rd Street Miami Lakes, FL 33014 United States

Wholesale support hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, excluding holidays.