Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Mr. Pest Control (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the website located at https://www.bugsrbad.com/ (the “Website”). We are a locally owned and operated pest control company serving Beaufort and Jasper County, South Carolina, and have been in business since 1955.

We are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect when you visit our Website, how we use it, how we protect it, and what rights you have regarding your information.

This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected through this Website. It does not apply to information collected offline, by phone, or during the delivery of our pest control services in person.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using this Website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the practices described in this Policy.

2. Applicable Laws & Regulatory Framework

We operate in South Carolina and handle personal information in accordance with the following applicable laws and regulations:

Federal:

  • Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 15 U.S.C. § 6501 et seq. — governing collection of data from children under 13
  • CAN-SPAM Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7701 et seq. — governing commercial electronic communications
  • Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45 — prohibiting unfair or deceptive practices, including deceptive privacy practices

South Carolina:

  • South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 39, Chapter 1 — South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act
  • South Carolina Data Breach Security Act, S.C. Code § 39-1-90 — requiring notification to affected individuals and the South Carolina Attorney General in the event of a breach of personal information
  • South Carolina Insurance Data Security Act, S.C. Code § 38-99-10 et seq. — establishing information security standards (to the extent applicable)
  • South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 37 — South Carolina Consumer Protection Code

Note on the South Carolina Consumer Data Protection Act: As of the effective date of this Policy, South Carolina has not enacted a comprehensive consumer data privacy law equivalent to Virginia’s CDPA or California’s CCPA. We nonetheless apply similar principles of transparency, data minimization, and user rights as a matter of good practice and in anticipation of future legislative developments.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Information You Provide Directly

The only mechanism through which this Website collects personal information is our contact and free quote request form. When you voluntarily complete and submit this form, you may provide:

  • Name — your first and last name
  • Phone number — your primary contact number
  • Service address or ZIP code — the location where pest control services are needed
  • Property type — whether your property is residential or commercial
  • Services of interest — the type of pest control service you are inquiring about
  • Urgency level — how soon you need service
  • Message content — any additional details you choose to share about your pest situation

We do not request or collect through this Website:

  • Email addresses
  • Payment, credit card, or financial account information
  • Social Security numbers or government-issued identification
  • Medical or health information
  • Racial, ethnic, religious, or political information
  • Biometric data
  • Precise geolocation data beyond a service address you voluntarily provide
  • Information from individuals we know to be under the age of 13

3.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit this Website, certain technical information may be collected automatically by standard web server and analytics technologies, including:

  • IP address — your internet protocol address, used to understand general geographic traffic patterns and protect against abuse
  • Browser type and version — the web browser you are using
  • Device type — whether you are using a desktop, tablet, or mobile device
  • Operating system — the operating system on your device
  • Referring URL — the website you visited immediately before arriving at ours
  • Pages visited — which pages of our Website you viewed and for how long
  • Date and time of visit — when you accessed the Website

This automatically collected information is used in aggregate form to understand how visitors use our Website and to improve its performance. It is not combined with personally identifiable information from our contact form unless required for security purposes (for example, to detect and block abusive or automated form submissions).

3.3 Cookies and Similar Technologies

This Website may use cookies — small text files stored on your device — and similar technologies for the following limited purposes:

  • Essential cookies: Required for the Website to function properly (for example, maintaining session state)
  • Analytics cookies: Used to understand aggregate visitor behavior (for example, which pages are most visited)
  • Security cookies: Used to support spam prevention and protect our contact form from automated abuse (honeypot and bot detection)

We do not use cookies for:

  • Cross-site tracking or behavioral advertising
  • Building personal profiles for marketing purposes
  • Selling data to third-party advertisers

Your cookie choices: Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can configure your browser to refuse all cookies, accept only certain cookies, or notify you when a cookie is being set. Please note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of this Website. Refer to your browser’s help documentation for instructions on managing cookies.

4. How We Use Your Information

Information collected through this Website is used exclusively for the following purposes:

From your contact form submission:

  • To respond to your free quote request or general inquiry
  • To contact you by phone to discuss your pest control needs
  • To schedule an inspection or service appointment
  • To provide you with information about our services that is relevant to your inquiry
  • To detect and prevent fraudulent or abusive form submissions

From automatically collected technical data:

  • To monitor Website performance and uptime
  • To understand aggregate visitor behavior and improve the Website’s usability
  • To detect, investigate, and prevent security threats or abuse
  • To comply with legal obligations

We do not use your information for:

  • Unsolicited marketing emails or text messages
  • Selling or renting your information to third parties
  • Building advertising profiles
  • Any purpose unrelated to responding to your inquiry or providing our pest control services

5. How We Share Your Information

Mr. Pest Control does not sell, rent, trade, or lease your personal information to third parties for their own marketing or commercial purposes. Period.

We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

5.1 Service Providers

We may share information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating this Website or conducting our business, such as:

  • Website hosting providers
  • Analytics service providers (such as Google Analytics, if used)
  • Form processing or customer relationship management tools

These service providers are contractually obligated to use your information only to perform services on our behalf and are prohibited from using it for any other purpose.

5.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in response to:

  • A valid subpoena, court order, or legal process
  • A request from law enforcement or government authorities
  • Legal obligations under South Carolina or federal law
  • Protection of the rights, property, or safety of Mr. Pest Control, our customers, or the public

5.3 Business Transfers

In the event that Mr. Pest Control is acquired, merged with another company, or transfers its business assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information by updating this Privacy Policy.

5.4 With Your Consent

We may share your information for any other purpose with your explicit prior consent.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal information submitted through our Website contact form only for as long as is necessary to:

  • Respond to and fulfill your service inquiry
  • Maintain records required by applicable law or regulation
  • Resolve any disputes that may arise from our interactions

In general, inquiry records are retained for no longer than 3 years from the date of submission, after which they are securely deleted or anonymized. You may request earlier deletion of your information at any time (see Section 8 — Your Rights).

Automatically collected technical data (such as server logs) is typically retained for 90 days and then purged.

7. Data Security

We implement reasonable and appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

  • Spam and bot prevention on our contact form (honeypot filtering and validation)
  • Secure hosting of the Website on reputable infrastructure
  • Access controls limiting who within Mr. Pest Control can access submitted form data
  • No storage of sensitive data — we do not store payment information, Social Security numbers, or other sensitive categories of data on this Website

Important limitation: No method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we use commercially reasonable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. By using this Website and submitting information through our contact form, you acknowledge this inherent risk.

7.1 South Carolina Data Breach Notification

In the event of a security breach that compromises your personal information, Mr. Pest Control will comply with the South Carolina Data Breach Security Act (S.C. Code § 39-1-90), which requires:

  • Notification to affected individuals in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay
  • Notification to the South Carolina Attorney General if the breach affects more than 1,000 South Carolina residents
  • Notification through written notice, electronic notice (where the affected person has consented to electronic communications), or substitute notice where direct notification is not feasible

8. Your Rights

As a visitor to this Website and a resident of South Carolina, you have the following rights with respect to personal information you have submitted through our contact form:

8.1 Right to Know

You have the right to request information about what personal data we have collected from you through this Website.

8.2 Right to Access

You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you that was submitted through this Website.

8.3 Right to Correction

You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate personal information we hold about you.

8.4 Right to Deletion

You have the right to request that we delete personal information you have submitted through our Website contact form, subject to any legal obligations that require us to retain certain records.

8.5 Right to Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights. Exercising your privacy rights will have no effect on the availability, quality, or pricing of any pest control services we provide.

8.6 How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of the rights listed above, please contact us through:

We will respond to verifiable requests within 45 days. In some cases, we may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request to protect against unauthorized disclosure or deletion of another person’s information.

9. Children’s Privacy

This Website is not directed to, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from, children under the age of 13.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child under 13 has submitted personal information through our Website contact form without your consent, please contact us immediately through our Contact page or by calling (843) 295-4555. We will take prompt steps to delete such information from our records.

If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete it as soon as reasonably practicable and in compliance with COPPA.

10. Third-Party Websites & Embedded Services

This Website may contain links to or embed content from third-party websites and services, including but not limited to:

  • Facebook (facebook.com/LowCountryMrPestControl) — for social media
  • Google Maps — for service area visualization

These third-party services operate under their own independent privacy policies, which we encourage you to review:

Mr. Pest Control is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or data collection activities of any third-party website or service. Clicking a link to a third-party website means you are leaving our Website and are subject to that third party’s terms and privacy policy.

11. Do Not Track Signals

Some web browsers offer a “Do Not Track” (DNT) feature that signals to websites that you do not want your online activities tracked. Because there is currently no universally accepted standard for how websites should respond to DNT signals, our Website does not currently respond to DNT signals. We do not track your activity across third-party websites.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.

Your continued use of the Website after the posting of any changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes. If you do not agree with the updated Privacy Policy, please discontinue use of this Website.

13. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of South Carolina, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any disputes arising from this Privacy Policy shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Beaufort County, South Carolina.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us.