Privacy Policy - San Diego Gemological Laboratory

Effective Date / Last Updated: June 4, 2026

San Diego Gemological Laboratory (“San Diego Gem Lab,” “SD Gem Lab,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information when you visit our website at www.sdgemlab.com (the “Website”), shop in our retail locations, contact us by phone, email, or text message, sell items to us, apply for financing or a collateral loan, use our jewelry repair, custom design, or appraisal services, or otherwise interact with us (collectively, the “Services”).

By using our Services or providing personal information to us by any means — whether in a store, by phone, in correspondence, through our Website, or otherwise — you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this Policy, please do not use our Services.

1. Personal Information We Collect (Notice at Collection)

“Personal information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with you or your household. We have collected the following categories of personal information within the last twelve (12) months. The “Sold or Shared” column indicates whether we may “sell” or “share” that category as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CCPA”), including for cross-context behavioral (targeted) advertising.

Category	Examples	Collected	Sold or Shared
A. Identifiers	Real name, alias, postal address, email address, phone number, account name, IP address, online identifiers, and government-issued identification numbers (such as a driver’s license number) where required for financing, collateral loans, or purchases of items from the public.	Yes	Yes (excluding government ID numbers, which are not sold or shared)
B. Customer records (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e))	Name, signature, address, telephone number, payment card information, bank account information, Social Security number, driver’s license or state ID number, employment and income information (collected only when you apply for credit or a collateral loan, or when legally required for transactions in which we buy items from you).	Yes	No
C. Protected classifications	Age or date of birth (for example, to verify you are old enough to enter a financing or loan transaction, or to send a birthday offer you request).	Yes	No
D. Commercial information	Records of products or services purchased, sold to us, considered, repaired, custom designed, or appraised; purchase and return history; wish lists; important dates you provide (such as birthdays and anniversaries); shopping preferences.	Yes	Yes
E. Biometric information	Fingerprints, faceprints, voiceprints.	No, except where a thumbprint or similar identifier is required by law for certain regulated transactions (such as collateral loans or secondhand purchases); such information is never sold or shared.	No
F. Internet or other electronic network activity	Browsing history on our Website, search history, pages visited, time and date of visit, time spent on pages, interactions with our Website, emails, and advertisements; device type, browser type and version, operating system, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data.	Yes	Yes
G. Geolocation data	Approximate location derived from your IP address.	Yes	Yes
H. Sensory data	Video footage from security cameras in and around our retail locations, collected for safety, security, and loss-prevention purposes.	Yes	No
I. Professional or employment-related information	Occupation, employer, and income information you provide when applying for financing or a collateral loan, or when applying for a job with us.	Yes	No
J. Non-public education information	Education records.	No	No
K. Inferences	Preferences, characteristics, and shopping behavior inferred from the information above, used to personalize offers and our communications with you.	Yes	Yes
L. Sensitive personal information	Social Security number, driver’s license or other government ID number, and financial account information (collected only when needed to process a credit application, collateral loan, payment, or a legally regulated purchase of goods from you).	Yes	No

We use and disclose sensitive personal information only for purposes permitted by applicable law, such as performing the services you request, processing transactions, verifying your identity, preventing fraud, ensuring security, and complying with our legal obligations. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you, and we do not sell or share sensitive personal information.

We retain each category of personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including to satisfy legal, regulatory, accounting, recordkeeping, dispute-resolution, and fraud-prevention requirements, as described further in Section 9 below.

2. Sources of Personal Information

We collect personal information from the following sources:

Directly from you — for example, when you make a purchase in store or online, create an account, sell or pawn an item to us, apply for financing or a collateral loan, request a repair, appraisal, or custom design, join our email list, enter a promotion, contact us, or fill out a form.
Automatically — through cookies, pixels, web beacons, tags, scripts, log files, and similar technologies when you use our Website or interact with our emails and advertisements, and through security cameras when you visit our retail locations.
From third parties — such as payment processors, financing partners and lenders, credit bureaus (in connection with credit or loan applications), analytics providers, advertising networks, social media platforms, data providers, and shipping carriers.
From other people — for example, if someone purchases a gift for you or provides your information for delivery, gift, or referral purposes.

3. How We Use Personal Information

We may use personal information for the following business and commercial purposes:

To provide and maintain our Services, including processing purchases, returns, exchanges, layaways, repairs, custom design projects, appraisals, and transactions in which we buy items from you;
To process and administer financing applications, collateral loans, and payments, including verifying your identity and creditworthiness;
To create and manage your account and respond to your inquiries, requests, and customer service needs;
To communicate with you about orders, repairs, services, appointments, and transactions;
To send you marketing communications — including emails, catalogs, mailings, and (with your consent) text messages — about products, services, events, and special offers, unless you have opted out;
To administer email sign-up offers, discounts, promotions, contests, sweepstakes, and similar programs;
To personalize your experience and deliver content, offers, and advertising tailored to your interests, on our Website and on third-party websites and platforms;
To measure and improve the effectiveness of our advertising and marketing campaigns;
To operate, analyze, maintain, improve, and develop our Website, products, and Services, including analyzing usage trends;
To maintain the safety and security of our customers, employees, premises, inventory, and Services, including through in-store video surveillance, fraud detection, and loss prevention;
To comply with applicable laws and regulations, including federal anti-money-laundering requirements and California laws governing secondhand dealers and pawnbrokers (which may require us to collect identification information and report certain transactions to law enforcement);
To respond to law enforcement requests, court orders, subpoenas, and other legal process, and to exercise, establish, or defend legal claims;
To conduct internal auditing, accounting, recordkeeping, and administrative functions;
To evaluate or carry out a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, dissolution, bankruptcy, or sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, in which personal information may be among the assets transferred; and
For any other purpose disclosed to you at the time of collection or with your consent.

We may also anonymize, aggregate, or de-identify personal information so that it can no longer reasonably be linked to you, and we may use and disclose such information for any lawful purpose. We will maintain de-identified information in de-identified form and will not attempt to re-identify it.

4. Cookies, Tracking Technologies, and Interest-Based Advertising

We and our third-party partners use cookies, pixels, web beacons, tags, scripts, and similar technologies to operate the Website, remember your preferences, analyze traffic and usage, measure advertising performance, and deliver advertising tailored to your interests. The technologies we use include:

Necessary / essential cookies, which are required for the Website to function, including authentication, shopping cart, and security features;
Functionality cookies, which remember your choices and preferences to provide a more personalized experience;
Analytics and performance cookies, such as Google Analytics, which help us understand how visitors use the Website so we can improve it; and
Advertising and targeting cookies and pixels, placed by us and by third-party advertising partners (such as Google and Meta/Facebook), which collect information about your online activity over time and across websites to deliver advertisements tailored to your interests and to measure their effectiveness.

The use of advertising and targeting technologies may constitute a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information under California and certain other state privacy laws. You can opt out as described in Sections 10 and 11 below. In addition, you may limit interest-based advertising through the following industry tools:

Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA): http://optout.aboutads.info
Network Advertising Initiative (NAI): http://optout.networkadvertising.org
For mobile devices: http://www.aboutads.info/appchoices, or your device’s “Limit Ad Tracking” (iOS) or “Opt out of Ads Personalization” (Android) setting.

These opt-outs are typically cookie-based and specific to each browser and device; if you clear your cookies or use a different browser or device, you may need to opt out again. You can also adjust your browser settings to refuse or delete cookies, but some features of the Website may not function properly without them.

Google Analytics: To learn how Google collects and processes data, visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners. You may opt out of Google Analytics by installing the browser add-on available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control: Some browsers transmit “Do Not Track” (DNT) signals; because no uniform standard for DNT has been adopted, our Website does not currently respond to DNT signals. However, we do honor opt-out preference signals such as the Global Privacy Control (GPC) as described in Section 10 below.

5. How We Disclose Personal Information

We may disclose each category of personal information identified in Section 1 for business purposes to the following categories of recipients:

Service providers that perform functions on our behalf under contract, such as payment processing, website hosting, e-commerce platforms, order fulfillment and shipping, email and SMS delivery, marketing services, analytics, IT and security services, and customer support;
Financing partners, lenders, and credit bureaus, when you apply for financing, credit, or a collateral loan, or as needed to administer those accounts;
Professional advisors, such as attorneys, accountants, auditors, and insurers, where necessary;
Law enforcement, government agencies, and courts, when required by law — including reporting required of secondhand dealers and pawnbrokers under California law — or in response to valid legal process, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect and defend our rights or property, prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing, protect the personal safety of customers, employees, or the public, or protect against legal liability;
Successors and assigns, in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, acquisition, financing, sale of assets, reorganization, dissolution, bankruptcy, or other change of ownership or control, in whole or in part; and
Other parties with your consent or at your direction.

In addition, we may sell or share the following categories of personal information with advertising networks, analytics providers, and social media platforms for cross-context behavioral (targeted) advertising, as described in Section 4: identifiers (Category A, excluding government ID numbers), commercial information (Category D), internet or other electronic network activity information (Category F), geolocation data (Category G), and inferences (Category K). You may opt out of these sales and sharing at any time as described in Section 10.

We do not sell or share sensitive personal information, government identification numbers, financial account information, security camera footage, or the personal information of consumers we know to be under 16 years of age.

Mobile/SMS opt-in data: No mobile information, including text messaging originator opt-in data and consent, will be shared with or sold to third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.

6. Text Message (SMS) Marketing

If we offer a text message marketing program and you opt in, you consent to receive recurring automated marketing and informational text messages from us at the phone number you provide. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Message and data rates may apply, and message frequency may vary. You may opt out at any time by replying STOP to any message, and you can reply HELP for assistance or contact us at info@sdgemlab.com. Opting out of text messages does not affect other communications, such as emails about your orders or services.

7. Notice of Financial Incentives

We may offer discounts, special offers, or other benefits when you sign up for our email list, opt in to text messages, participate in a promotion, or provide certain personal information (for example, a welcome discount for joining our email list). These programs may be considered “financial incentives” under California law. The categories of personal information involved typically include your name, email address, and/or phone number. We have made a good-faith determination that the value of the personal information collected is reasonably related to the value of the discount or benefit offered, based on the expense to us of providing the benefit. Participation is entirely optional, and you may withdraw at any time by unsubscribing from our emails (using the link in any email), replying STOP to our texts, or contacting us at info@sdgemlab.com.

8. How We Protect Personal Information

We use commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, alteration, and destruction. These measures include secured systems and facilities and limiting access to personal information to personnel with a legitimate business need. Payment card information you provide online is transmitted to and processed by our third-party payment processors, which adhere to the PCI-DSS standards managed by the PCI Security Standards Council; we do not store complete payment card numbers on our own systems. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach affecting your unencrypted personal information, we will notify you and, where required, the appropriate regulators in the manner and within the timeframes required by California law and other applicable law. Please also take steps to protect your own information, such as safeguarding your account passwords.

9. Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary or relevant for the purposes described in this Policy, and as required or permitted by law. In determining retention periods, we consider the nature of the information, our ongoing business needs, and our legal and regulatory obligations — for example, tax and accounting requirements, recordkeeping rules applicable to secondhand dealers, pawnbrokers, and credit transactions, fraud prevention, the need to maintain accurate records of your dealings with us, and potential or actual disputes, claims, or investigations.

10. Your California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, the CCPA provides you with the following rights regarding your personal information, subject to certain exceptions:

Right to Know / Access. You may request that we disclose the categories of personal information we have collected about you; the categories of sources; our business or commercial purposes for collecting, selling, or sharing it; the categories of third parties to whom we disclose it; and the specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.
Right to Delete. You may request that we delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to exceptions (for example, where we need the information to complete a transaction, detect and protect against fraud or illegal activity, comply with a legal obligation, or for certain internal uses compatible with the context in which you provided it).
Right to Correct. You may request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing. You may direct us not to sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. To exercise this right, email us at info@sdgemlab.com with the subject line “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information,” or use the cookie/advertising opt-out tools described in Section 4. We also honor opt-out preference signals: if your browser transmits a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we will treat it as a valid request to opt out of the sale and sharing of personal information linked to that browser. Because such signals are browser-specific, you may need to enable them on each browser and device you use.
Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information. We use sensitive personal information only for purposes permitted by law, so no additional limitation right currently applies; if that changes, we will provide a means to exercise this right.
Right to Data Portability. You may request a copy of your personal information in a portable and readily usable format.
Right to Non-Discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights — for example, by denying you goods or services, charging different prices, or providing a different level of quality. Note that participation in a financial incentive program (Section 7) may result in different prices or benefits that are reasonably related to the value of the information you provide.

How to Submit a Request

You may exercise your rights by:

Emailing us at info@sdgemlab.com;
Calling us at (619) 286-6614; or
Writing to us at San Diego Gemological Laboratory, 1851 San Diego Ave #130, San Diego, CA 92110.

To protect your information, we must verify your identity before responding to a request to know, delete, or correct. We may ask you to provide information that allows us to reasonably verify that you are the person about whom we collected personal information, and to describe your request with enough detail for us to evaluate and respond to it. We cannot respond to a request if we cannot verify your identity or authority and confirm the personal information relates to you. We will respond to verifiable requests within forty-five (45) days of receipt; if we need more time (up to an additional 45 days), we will notify you of the reason and extension in writing. We will not charge a fee to process or respond to your request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded.

Authorized agents. You may designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf. We may require the agent to provide proof of your written authorization or power of attorney, and we may require you to verify your identity directly with us or confirm that you authorized the request.

Appeals. If we decline to take action on your request, you may appeal our decision by emailing info@sdgemlab.com with the subject line “Privacy Request Appeal.”

California “Shine the Light” Rights (Civil Code § 1798.83)

California’s “Shine the Light” law permits California residents to request, once per calendar year and free of charge, information about our disclosure of certain categories of personal information to third parties for those third parties’ own direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year, including the categories of information disclosed and the names and addresses of those third parties. To make such a request, email us at info@sdgemlab.com with the subject line “California Shine the Light Request,” or write to us at San Diego Gemological Laboratory, 1851 San Diego Ave #130, San Diego, CA 92110. Please include sufficient information for us to verify that you are a California resident and locate your records. We will respond within thirty (30) days of receiving a valid request.

Automated Decision-Making

We do not use automated decision-making technology to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you. Credit and financing decisions are made by our third-party lenders and financing partners under their own policies and applicable lending laws; please refer to the disclosures provided by those lenders. If our practices change, we will update this Policy and provide any pre-use notices required by law.

11. Privacy Rights in Other States

Residents of other states with comprehensive consumer privacy laws (including, for example, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, and Oregon) may have similar rights, which may include the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of personal information; the right to opt out of the sale of personal information, targeted advertising, and certain profiling; and the right to appeal a denied request. We extend the request and appeal procedures described in Section 10 to residents of those states to the extent required by applicable law. To exercise your rights, contact us using the methods in Section 10.

12. Financing, Collateral Loans, and Financial Privacy (GLBA)

When we provide financing, collateral loans, or related financial products and services, certain non-public personal information we collect (such as your Social Security number, income, account balances, and payment history) is protected by the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and California financial privacy law. We collect this information when you open an account, apply for financing or a loan, make payments, or engage in similar transactions, and we may also receive it from credit bureaus. We disclose this information only as permitted by law — for example, for our everyday business purposes (such as processing your transactions, maintaining your account, responding to court orders and legal investigations, or reporting to credit bureaus), to service providers that support those functions, and for our own marketing of products and services to you. We do not sell this information, and we do not share it with non-affiliated third parties for their own marketing purposes. We protect it with security measures that comply with federal law, including computer safeguards and secured files and facilities.

If your financing is provided by a third-party lender or financing company, that lender’s own privacy policy — which will be provided to you by the lender — governs its collection and use of your information. This Policy does not govern information you provide directly to third-party lenders.

13. In-Store Information Collection

Our retail locations use video security cameras in and around the premises for the safety of our customers and employees, crime prevention and investigation, loss prevention, and compliance with insurance and legal requirements. Video footage is retained for a limited period consistent with these purposes and applicable law, is accessible only to authorized personnel, and may be disclosed to law enforcement where required or appropriate. When we buy items from the public or make collateral loans, California law requires us to collect and record certain identification information and report certain transaction details to law enforcement; we collect and handle that information solely as required by law.

14. Children’s Privacy

Our Services are intended for adults and are not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13, and we do not sell or share the personal information of consumers we actually know are under 16 years of age. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at info@sdgemlab.com and we will take steps to delete that information from our systems.

15. Links to Other Websites and Social Media

Our Website may contain links to third-party websites, plugins, and services (including social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, X, YouTube, Yelp, and LinkedIn) that are not operated by us. If you click a third-party link or interact with a social media feature, you may be directed to that third party’s site, and that third party may collect information about you. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of every site you visit.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the revised version on this page and update the “Last Updated” date at the top. For material changes, we will provide notice as required by law, such as by email or a prominent notice on our Website before the change takes effect. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of the Services after changes are posted constitutes your acknowledgment of the updated Policy.

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:

Email: contact@sdgemlab.com
Phone: (619) 286-6614
Mail: San Diego Gemological Laboratory, 1851 San Diego Ave #130, San Diego, CA 92110
Website: www.sdgemlab.com