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?
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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).
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- 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?
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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?
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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?
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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).
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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If you have any specific questions, please contact us at:
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Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
129 Samsung-Ro, Maetan-3dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
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Email: through the “Contact Us” section of http://help.content.samsung.com.
Last updated on March 11, 2013
2013-09-23