U.S. PRIVACY POLICY

At Staples, we value our customers' trust and respect your privacy. The following includes general information about our privacy policy and applies to all U.S. transactions (in our stores, through our catalog businesses, or on our Internet web sites).

We collect and store personal information that you give us when you shop at one of our stores, register on our website, complete an application, request a catalog, place an order, enroll in a promotional or rewards program, submit for a rebate, call us, or send us a letter or e–mail. This information may include your name, mailing address, e–mail address, telephone number, fax number, credit card number and expiration date, and other optional demographic information. If you respond to a sweepstakes or contest, we will ask you to verify that you are old enough to participate. If you apply for a Staples–branded consumer or business credit card, we will need your age, social security number, and/or employment data.

We use the personal information we collect to process your orders, identify you within our systems, contact you if we have questions about your order, notify you about new services or special promotional programs, and submit for rebates. Staples and the sponsoring manufacturer will have access to any rebate information you provide.

We share your personal information within the Staples family of businesses and with third parties that perform services for us or on our behalf (for example, credit card companies, financial institutions, shipping companies, printing houses, consultants and advisors, market research firms and rebate processors) and when, in our judgment, we believe it is necessary or appropriate to prevent fraud, injury, or harm to persons or property, to protect our rights or the rights of others, to comply with applicable laws and regulations, or as otherwise required by law. We limit the scope of the information provided to third parties, and we allow its use only for the purposes for which it was disclosed. Personal information may be transferred in connection with a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition, insolvency, or asset sale involving any Staples business or asset to which the information pertains. If you shop at a retail store, through our catalog, or via Staples.com®, we may share your name and mailing address (but not your e–mail address or telephone number) for external direct mail campaigns conducted by companies or organizations which offer products or services we believe may be of interest to our customers. Staples National Advantage® and Staples Business Advantage® customer information is not shared for this purpose.

If you shop with us online, we use third–party advertising technology to help us improve our marketing efforts. This technology uses non–personally identifiable information about your visits to Staples.com® and the sites upon which we advertise. We use Coremetrics, a service provider, to assist us with data collection and reporting. As part of that process, a "cookie" may be placed on your browser. Cookies are small data files that are stored on your computer's hard drive. Coremetrics does not have the right to use the information we provide to them beyond what is necessary to assist us. For more information, including how to opt–out, go to www.coremetrics.com/info_eluminate2.html. In the course of delivering our online advertisements to you, a unique third–party "cookie" may be placed on your browser. We also use a technology called "web beacons" that enable our advertising service provider to track which advertisements bring users to our site. To learn more about our third–party advertising service provider and how to "opt–out", please go to www.doubleclick.com/com/us/about_doubleclick/privacy/.

We generally do not seek to collect personal information through our web site from children under age 13. If we conduct an online program that is open to children, personally–identifiable information from children under age 13 will be collected and used only with the consent of the child's parent or guardian, or the child will be able to participate without providing personally–identifiable information.

For your convenience, our website may contain links to the sites of affiliates, manufacturers, and other companies. Please keep in mind that these sites are not under our control and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of the companies that run them. If you shop on one of these sites, we encourage you to locate and familiarize yourself with the applicable privacy policy.

Staples provides customers with marketing and promotional materials via e–mail, mail, telemarketing, and fax. If you'd prefer not to receive these materials, let us know using the instructions included in the following Q & A:

Q. How can I contact Staples?
A. You may contact us using any of the following options:

• Send an e–mail to us at support@orders.staples.com
• Call us toll–free at 1–800–333–3330
• Fax us toll–free at 1–877–490–2660
• Write to us at Staples Direct Marketing Services, 500 Staples Drive, Framingham, MA 01702.

Q. I don't want to receive marketing materials. What should I do?
A. To remove your name from our marketing lists, please follow the instructions noted below.

• E–mail – Click on the "unsubscribe link" located in all of our promotional e–mails (Requests to opt out of promotional e–mails will be honored within 10 business days.)
• Postal Mail, Fax and Telephone – Call, write, or send an e–mail to Staples, using the contact information provided above. You also may ask to be removed from our postal mailing list on–line by clicking here.

When submitting a request by telephone or mail, please be sure to include all of the contact information you have ever used or provided to Staples even if it is no longer current, including:

• All e–mail addresses
• All telephone numbers
• All names and addresses, including city, state, and zip code

You may continue to receive direct mail or catalog mailings after you have asked us not to send them. This can occur due to timing delays in updating applicable computer systems or due to incorrect, out of date or duplicate contact information. If that happens to you, call us.

Q. I'd prefer not to have my name and postal mailing address shared with other companies for marketing purposes. What should I do?
A. If you'd prefer not to have your name and postal mailing address shared with other companies, let us know in writing via e–mail, fax, or letter using the contact information provided above. Please be sure to include your name and postal mailing address as well as specific instructions.

It is important that our databases are accurate and current. To review and make any appropriate changes or deletions to information about you, please contact us in one of the ways provided above.

We maintain reasonable physical, technical, and procedural measures to limit access to personal information to authorized individuals with appropriate purposes. Our web site is a "Secure Site" recognized by VeriSign, a leading computer network security company. If you believe that someone has improperly used personally identifiable information about you or has made purchases that you did not authorize, please contact us immediately. We are a member of BBBOnline, the online area of the Better Business Bureau, and we will strive to resolve any customer service complaints promptly in accordance with BBB procedures.

Staples may change its privacy policy or practices from time to time. We will post the most current version of our privacy policy online at www.staples.com/privacy. If policy changes materially affect our uses and disclosures of personal information that we have previously collected, we will notify you and, if appropriate, provide an opportunity to prevent us from applying the revised policy to such information.

 

Effective Date: November 3, 2005

Last Revised Date: December 8, 2006