This Samsung Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) applies to online and mobile websites, interactive applications, services and products (each, a “Service”, and collectively, the "Services") that link or refer to this Privacy Policy, and that are provided and operated in the United States by or for Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., principally located at 129 Samsung-Ro, Maetan-3dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 443-742 Korea, or its subsidiaries in the United States, including Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Samsung Telecommunications America, Inc. and Samsung Information Systems America, Inc., and their respective affiliates (together “Samsung”, “we” or “us”) (unless a different policy is provided on a particular Service, site or application, in which case such different policy shall govern and control).

This policy sets out how we use the information that you provide to us or that we otherwise collect through your use of the Services. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. Your use of any of the Services indicates that you have read, accepted and agreed to the Samsung privacy practices, as outlined in this Privacy Policy, and any other applicable terms.

We may update this Privacy Policy over time. We will notify you of these changes by updating this page, so please check it from time to time in order to ensure that you are aware of any changes. For changes to this Privacy Policy that we consider to be material, we will place a notice on the Website for a period of time. The most current version of this Privacy Policy will be available on https://account.samsung.com (the “Website”) and will supersede all previous versions of this Privacy Policy. Continued use of any of the Services will signify that you agree to any such changes and the updated Privacy Policy. Please see the end of this Privacy Policy for the date this Privacy Policy was last updated.

What information do we collect about you?

- Information you provide

In general, you can use many of our Services without giving us any personal information. However, for some Services or certain features within some Services, we will request information about you, such as your name, email address or telephone number. You can choose whether or not to provide this information, but you will be able to access our full Service features only if you have submitted the information required for the registration process. If you want to fully utilize the sharing feature of some of our Services, we may also ask you to create an account and/or a publicly visible profile. One or more of the Services may contain an online or cloud-based store from which you can purchase certain products. We will be required to collect certain information such as name, contact information, shipping and billing address(es), and credit card information in order to process your order. We may also keep records of your transactions with us.

Some of the information that you provide will be “Personal Data”. This means data related to you and which identifies you personally. In this Privacy Policy, we use the terms “Personal Data”, “your information” and “information about you” interchangeably.

- Information we obtain from your use of the Services

Beyond the information you provide, we may collect information about the Services that you use and how you use them, such as when you view and interact with content offered through a Service. For example, when your computer or mobile device contacts our web servers, such as when you visit the Website or view an HTML e-mail, our web servers automatically collect usage information. Such usage information includes information about how our visitors use and navigate our Services.

- Other information we collect may include:

* Device information (e.g., your hardware model, IMEI number, unique device identifiers, MAC address, IP address, operating system version, device settings);
* Log information (e.g., details of how you use the Service or applicable hardware devices, such as time and duration of your use of the Service, browser cookies, web cookies, flash cookies and web beacons (as explained in a separate section below); and
* Location information (further explained in a separate section below).

- Children

We recognize the importance of safeguarding the privacy of children and encourage parents to regularly check and monitor their children’s online activities and use of online services. We do not knowingly collect any Personal Data from children under the age of thirteen (13) without parental consent. If we learn that a child under the age of thirteen (13) has provided us with any Personal Data, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to delete such Personal Data as soon as possible.

What do we do with your information?

We may use information about you for any of the following purposes:

• to register you for a Service or to administer our Service features (including processing any searches or requests for information about our products or services, or providing customized advertisements and sponsored content), and to allow you to use those features (e.g., blogs, open forums and discussion pages);
• for assessment and analysis of our market, customers, products and services (including asking you for your opinions on our products and services and carrying out customer surveys);
• to enable us to monitor, review and improve the products and services we offer;
• to recommend services or contents that may be of interest to you;
• for internal record keeping purposes;
• for marketing purposes; and
• to conduct free prize drawings, prize competitions or promotions, as permitted by applicable law.

We may, from time to time, transfer or merge any Personal Data collected off-line to our online databases or store off-line information in an electronic format. We may also combine Personal Data we collect online with information we obtain from other sources, including information received from our affiliates, marketing companies or advertisers. We may share Personal Data and non-Personal Data with any Samsung affiliate. A list of Samsung affiliates is available upon request. Each of the Samsung affiliates with whom we share your Personal Data will use your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that we retain information about you only for so long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as required under any contract or by applicable law.

What about anonymous information?

We may automatically collect information which alone cannot be used to identify you when you connect to or use the Services. We collect such information to help us identify users' browsing preferences. This information is used for internal purposes so that we can carry out research on user demographics, behavior and interests. Anonymous or generic information from which you cannot be personally identified is not Personal Data.

What about location-based services?

Our location-based services or functionalities ("Location-Based Services"), such as Samsung’s “Find My Mobile” Service, work by collecting, storing, transmitting or processing location data tied to your Samsung device after you consent to the use of such Location-Based Services. We may combine this data with your personal information so that we can provide you with Location-Based Services. Any location information that is also Personal Data will be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

To whom do we disclose your information?

We will not disclose your Personal Data to third parties for their own independent marketing or business purposes without your consent; however, we may disclose your Personal Data as follows:

• to a Samsung affiliate;
• to service providers that help us provide the Services to you to the extent it is needed to perform their duties and functions;
• to our professional advisers;
• when legally required to do so, at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation or to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing our Services and applicable laws. We may also disclose such information when we have good faith belief that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of Samsung, or any of our respective affiliates, business partners, customers or others as required or permitted by law;
• to the purchaser or potential purchaser of our rights and obligations relating to our Services, in which case personal data held by us about our customers will be a transferred asset of any purchase, and we may transfer your personal information to such third party; or
• where it is necessary in order to pursue our legitimate interests, or if we are required to or are permitted to do so by law.

Consent to International Transfer of Data

By using or participating in any Service and/or providing Samsung with your information, you consent to the collection, transfer, storage and processing of your information outside of your jurisdiction of residence, consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Links to external content resources

Our Services or website may link or direct you to other websites, services or external content resources which are outside of our control. Whilst we try to ensure that we link or direct you only to services or websites that share our privacy and security standards, once you have left our Services or our website we cannot safeguard and are not responsible for the protection and privacy of any Personal Data which you provide on other websites. You should exercise caution and review the privacy statement applicable to the respective service or website. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for those policies.

Direct Marketing

We may use information about you to provide you with information about third party products, promotions, and other matters that may be of interest to you (“Direct Marketing”). You may set your Direct Marketing preferences when you complete the Service registration process or by adjusting the privacy setting on the relevant device.

You can change your mind about your Direct Marketing preferences by following the unsubscribe instructions included in the Direct Marketing communication, adjusting the privacy setting on the relevant device or by updating your user or account profile. If you do so, we would not remove your Personal Data from our database(s) to the extent that it is still required by us to offer the applicable Service, but we would note your changed Direct Marketing preferences as soon as reasonably possible.

Accessing your information/ Your California Privacy Rights

Under the laws of some jurisdictions, you may have the right to request details of your Personal Data which we collect. If permitted by law, we may charge you a small fee for providing you with such information. If you would like to make any such request, please contact our customer service department at the email address provided below.

California residents are entitled once a year, free of charge, to request and obtain certain information regarding our disclosure, if any, of Personal Data to third parties for their direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year (e.g., requests made in 2013 will receive information about 2012 sharing activities). As set forth in this Privacy Policy, we comply with this law by offering our visitors the ability to tell us not to share your Personal Data with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, consistently exercise your opt-out choice whenever you provide Personal Data to us or send an e-mail to opt-out-shine-the-light-law@sisa.samsung.com. Samsung may need to ask you to provide follow-up information in order to duly process your e-mail request.

Please help us to ensure that your information is accurate and up to date. If you think that any of your information is incorrect or incomplete, please write to our customer service department.

What do we do to keep your information secure?

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to do so, we have put in place reasonable physical and technical measures and procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect through the Services. This has been done with a view to prevent unauthorized or unlawful processing of your Personal Data, and accidental, unauthorized or unlawful access, use, processing, copying, alteration, transfer, loss or destruction of, or damage to your Personal Data. Although we take reasonable steps to protect your Personal Data, no website, Internet transmission, computer system or wireless connection is completely secure. Samsung will respond to unauthorized access, hacking, data loss or other breaches in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

We protect the security of your information by:

• using encryption where appropriate;
• using password protection where appropriate; and
• limiting access to your information (that is, only employees who carry out the purposes referenced above have access to your information).

You must also take appropriate steps to keep your information secure by not using an obvious login name or password, changing your password regularly, and ensuring that you do not divulge your password to any other person.

Social Networking

Samsung may offer you the possibility to connect your accounts from third party social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter (each, a “Social Networking Site”), with the Services by an application programming interface (API) or other software. If you allow Samsung to connect the Services with your accounts on such Social Networking Sites, we may access your account information and other information, which may include Personal Data, from such Social Networking Sites. In addition, we may collect, use and store such information as set forth in this Privacy Policy and we may combine this information with other information in our records. While your account from such Social Networking Site is connected to the Services, we can display on the Services information about your social networking activity and account. It is your choice whether to use any such Social Networking Site, and you understand that in some instances such Social Networking Sites may request permission to access and publish information about you or your friends that is included in your Samsung account.

Linking

The Service may link to other websites and services which are outside our control. Once you leave the Service, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide on other websites or to other services. You should exercise caution, and review the privacy statements applicable to the websites you visit or the services you use. We have no responsibility or liability for your use of third party websites and services.

Cookies, flash cookies, web beacons and other technologies

As mentioned earlier in this Privacy Policy, we may use cookies, JavaScript, web beacons, and other technologies in certain areas of our Services. Cookies are files that store information on your hard drive or browser. They enable us to recognize whether you have visited the Services before and allow us to provide the Services to you. Cookies help us to understand which sections of the Services are the most popular because they allow us to see which pages visitors are accessing and how much time they are spending on the pages. By studying these types of information, we are better able to adapt the Services and provide you with a better user experience.

When you use a web browser to access the Services on applicable devices, you may configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is sent. Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences. Please note, however, that the websites providing Services may be designed to work using cookies and any disabling of the cookies may affect your usage of the Services, such as preventing you from fully using the Services we provide. We do not exchange cookies with any third party websites or external data suppliers, except with third parties working with us to provide services to you.

Our Services enable the use of the Adobe Flash Player. Adobe’s Flash Player is used by many websites that offer video and other interactive content. By default, your use of the Adobe Flash Player generates “flash cookies” (also known as “persistent identification elements” or “local shared objects”). The Adobe Flash Player (and similar applications) uses flash cookies to remember user settings, preferences and usage similar to the browser cookies referenced above, but flash cookies can store more information than browser cookies and are managed through a different interface than the one provided by your web browser. You can control the degree to which you accept flash cookies by accessing your Adobe Flash Player management tools directly through the settings manager for Adobe Flash. If you do not allow flash cookies to take any disc space on your computer, you may not be able to take advantage of or participate in certain features of the Services. The Adobe Flash Player is not the only technology used in online and mobile content environments. HTML5 is an increasingly popular web standard used for presenting content, especially content delivered to mobile devices. Some HTML5 code may allow your response to advertising and other activities to be monitored across websites and such information to be stored on your computer or mobile device. Technology solutions that allow users to opt-out of or block this sort of tracking continue to evolve.

The Services and the communications generated from using and/or registering on the Services, such as promotional emails, may contain electronic images known as "web beacons". Web beacons generally work in conjunction with cookies, and we may use them in the same way we use cookies.

Choice of Law

This Privacy Policy, including all revisions and amendments thereto, is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in the United States where you are a resident, without regard to its conflict or choice of law principles which would require application of the laws of another jurisdiction.

Arbitration

By using the Services in any way, you unconditionally consent and agree that: (1) any claim, dispute, or controversy (whether in contract, tort, or otherwise) you may have against the officers, directors and employees of Samsung and its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates (all such individuals and entities collectively referred to herein as the “Samsung Entity(ies)”) arising out of, relating to, or connected in any way with the Services or the determination of the scope or applicability of this agreement to arbitrate, will be resolved exclusively by final and binding arbitration administered by JAMS and conducted before a sole arbitrator in accordance with the rules of JAMS; (2) this arbitration agreement is made pursuant to a transaction involving interstate commerce, and shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16; (3) the arbitration shall be held in San Jose, California; (4) the arbitrator’s decision shall be controlled by the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy and any of the other agreements referenced herein that the applicable user may have entered into in connection with the Services; (5) the arbitrator shall apply California law consistent with the FAA and applicable statutes of limitations, and shall honor claims of privilege recognized at law; (6) there shall be no authority for any claims to be arbitrated on a class or representative basis, arbitration can decide only your and/or the applicable Samsung Entity’s individual claims; the arbitrator may not consolidate or join the claims of other persons or parties who may be similarly situated; (7) the arbitrator shall not have the power to award punitive damages against you or any Samsung Entity; (8) in the event that the administrative fees and deposits that must be paid to initiate arbitration against any Samsung Entity exceed $125 USD, and you are unable (or not required under the rules of JAMS) to pay any fees and deposits that exceed this amount, Samsung agrees to pay them and/or forward them on your behalf, subject to ultimate allocation by the arbitrator. In addition, if you are able to demonstrate that the costs of arbitration will be prohibitive as compared to the costs of litigation, Samsung will pay as much of your filing and hearing fees in connection with the arbitration as the arbitrator deems necessary to prevent the arbitration from being cost prohibitive; and (9) with the exception of subsection (6) above, if any part of this arbitration provision is deemed invalid, unenforceable or illegal, or otherwise conflicts with the rules of JAMS, the balance of this arbitration provision shall remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with its terms as if the invalid, unenforceable, illegal or conflicting provision were not contained herein. If, however, subsection (6) is found to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal, the entirety of this arbitration provision shall be null and void, and neither you nor Samsung shall be entitled to arbitrate their dispute. For more information on JAMS and/or the rules of JAMS, visit their website at www.jamsadr.com.

Further information

If you have any specific questions, please contact us at:

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
129 Samsung-Ro, Maetan-3dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea

Email: through the “Contact Us” section of http://help.content.samsung.com.

Last updated on March 11, 2013

2013-09-23