Overview of Personal Information
We collect personal information that you provide directly, information about how you use our services and information from third-party sources. We use this information to provide you with services, understand how you use our services so we can improve and personalise your experience and to develop the most relevant apps, technologies and content for our customers. We also use personal information to provide personalised advertising tailored to your interests, in accordance with applicable law.
Sharing Your Personal Information
We may share your personal information with affiliate companies of Samsung Electronics, as well as with companies which provide services on behalf of Samsung Electronics. We may also share your personal information with trusted partner companies, such as mobile service providers or insurance companies, which provide you with products and services that you request, as well as information about products and services you may be interested in. We may also share personal information with law enforcement agencies when it is required by law or to protect Samsung Electronics and our users.
SAMSUNG PRIVACY POLICY
For more details on Samsung’s Privacy Policy, please follow the link below:
http://www.samsung.com/nz/info/privacy/
Effective Date: 1st February 2024
This Privacy Policy applies to all of our Samsung devices and services, from mobile phones and tablets to TVs and home appliances, from our customer services to the online services we provide. We will refer to these devices and services as the “Services” in this policy.
It is important that you check back often for updates to the Privacy Policy. We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our personal information practices with respect to the Services or changes in applicable law. We will post a notice on our website or on your device to notify you in advance of material changes to our Privacy Policy and indicate at the top of the Privacy Policy when it was most recently updated. The most current version of the Privacy Policy will always be available here: https://account.samsung.com/membership/terms/privacypolicy. In addition to this Privacy Policy, Samsung also provide specific privacy notices related to specific products and services. In the event of any deviation between the terms of this Privacy Policy and a specific privacy notice, the terms of the specific privacy notice shall prevail.
WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?
Samsung Electronics collect information from you in a variety of ways.
Information You Provide Directly
Some Services enable you to provide us with information directly. For example:
o When you create an account or profile with us, we ask for information such as your name, date of birth or contact information such as phone number and email address.
o If you order a product or paid service from us, we ask for your name, address, contact information and shipping and payment information to process your order. You can also choose to save your payment information with us so you can check out more easily next time.
o To provide responses when you contact Customer Service, we ask for certain information to verify your identity and the product you are enquiring about.
o When you communicate with our Customer Service staff or others, your communications will be transmitted through our systems.
o If you share your contacts, we will collect their phone numbers and other contact information to facilitate file sharing and messaging. You can turn off or restrict these features in the Settings on your devices.
Information About Your Use of Services
In addition to the information you provide, we collect information about your use of our Services through software on your devices and by other means. This information includes:
o Device information: Your device information, including connected devices (such as the model and manufacturer) and software information (such as the operating system and software versions), IMEI number and other unique device identifiers (such as the mobile country code, mobile network code, MAC address, IP address, serial number, device unique IDs, advertising ID (e.g. for mobile devices, Google AD ID and for Samsung visual display devices, including Samsung Smart TVs, Personalised Service ID (“PSID”) and Tizen Identifier for Advertising (“TIFA”))), phone number, sales code, access recording, cookies, pixels and similar technologies (as described below in “Cookies, beacons and similar technologies”), subscription information and settings of the devices you use to access the Services.
o Log information: Diagnostic, technical, error and usage information such as the time and duration of your use of the Services, Services installed on your devices, search query terms when you enter search terms into your device in connection with a particular Samsung Service, any information stored in cookies that we have set on your devices and error reports and dump logs.
o Location information: Information about nearby Wi-Fi access points, mobile phone masts and, with your separate consent, your device’s GPS signal may be transmitted to us when you use certain Services. In addition, for certain Services, postal codes and inferred locations using IP addresses may be transmitted to us when you use such Services.
o Voice information: Recordings of your voice that we make and collect on our servers when you enable this function and use voice commands to control a Service are covered by the separate Bixby privacy policy. We also collect and store recordings of your voice when you contact our Customer Service team. Note that if we work with a third-party service provider that provides speech-to-text conversion services or call centre services on our behalf, this provider may also receive and store certain voice commands in accordance with the contract concluded between us and the trusted third-party service provider.
o Samsung Keyboard information: The words that you type when you enable “Predictive text”. This feature may be offered in connection with your Samsung account to synchronise the data for use on your other Samsung mobile devices. You can clear the data by going to the “Predictive text” settings.
Publicly or Commercially Available or Shared Information
We sometimes gather publicly or commercially available information, including information from social networks you use, and combine this with other information about you so that we can better understand your needs, interests and preferences.
Other Information We Collect
We also collect other information about you, your devices or your use of Services that you consent to send us. We obtain your consent in accordance with applicable law.
Third-Party Analytics
Through certain Services, we collect personal information about your online activities on websites and connected devices over time and across third-party websites, devices, apps and other online features and services. We use third-party analytics services on the Services, such as those of Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics. The service providers that administer these analytics services help us to analyse your use of the Services and to improve the Services. The information we obtain may be disclosed to or collected directly by these providers and other relevant third parties who use the information, for example, to evaluate use of the Services, help administer the Services and diagnose technical issues. To learn more about Google Analytics, please visit http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html and https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.
Your Options
You can choose not to provide us with certain types of information, such as information requested as part of purchasing a product or service. In some cases, this may limit your ability to use some Services. We will do our best to explain these limitations when we ask for your information so that you can make an informed decision.
HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
o To help you or your device register for our Services.
o To provide a Service or feature you request.
o To provide customised content and personalised services based on your past activities on our Services.
o To provide personalised and/or generalised advertising, promotions and offers that might interest you on our Services, websites, third-party websites and online platforms such as social media sites (in accordance with applicable law). We will only send you personalised advertising, promotions and offers when you have provided your consent to receive marketing communications from Samsung.
o To provide promotions and offers by way of direct marketing communications (such as via email, push or text messages), only where you have given us your separate consent.
o To operate, evaluate and improve our business, including developing and improving new and existing products and services, managing and improving our communications, analysing our Services and customer base (including conducting market research, asking for your opinions on our products and services and carrying out customer surveys, with your separate consent if required) and aggregating and anonymising data.
o To provide software updates, maintenance services and support for your devices.
o To provide customer support to you when your devices are in warranty.
o To ensure product safety and to prevent fraud when your products are out of warranty, we will collect your IMEI and serial number.
o To verify your device for repairs.
o To protect the legal rights and interests, property or safety of Samsung Electronics or any of our affiliates, business partners or customers.
o To respond to your requests and queries, including about your personal information.
o To protect against, identify and prevent fraud and other criminal activity, claims and other liabilities.
o To comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards and our policies, including the Samsung Privacy Policy.
o To analyse a defective device that is returned to Samsung. Samsung take measures to ensure that all defective devices are wiped of personal data before such devices are analysed.
We use and combine the information we collect about you from our Services, devices or other sources to provide you with a better experience. For example, you can save payment information you have used to make a purchase on our website so that you can check out faster next time you make a purchase. We also use the information you provide directly or through other sources as described above to provide content you may like or that you have personalised.
You can make choices about your information. Check out the WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS? section to learn more.
Non-targeted Ads
Please note that your privacy choice with respect to interest-based or personalised ads (“targeted ads”) will not affect whether or not you receive or are served with generic, basic or contextual types of ads (“non-targeted ads”) that are not specifically based on the information we describe to you to provide targeted ads for a particular Service.
For mobile devices, the information we use to show you non-targeted ads includes the applicable app information (e.g. app package, version, name and domain), device information (e.g. device type, manufacturer, operating system, version, display information, telecommunications provider, country and language) and device identifiers (e.g. IP and advertising ID). We share this data with trusted business partners and trusted service providers to provide you with non-targeted ads, subject to appropriate contractual safeguards being in place.
These ads might be less relevant because they are not based on your interests.
WHO DO WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH?
We disclose your information internally within our business, as well as to the following entities, for the purposes described above.
o Affiliates: Other Samsung Electronics Group companies which we control or own.
o Business Partners: Partners who we work together with. For example, we may work with a bank so that you can use one of our Services to make faster and more efficient payments. These business partners control and manage your personal information.
o Service Providers: Carefully selected companies that provide services for or on behalf of us, such as companies which help us with repairs, customer contact centres, customer care activities, advertising (including personalised advertising on our websites, third-party websites, online platforms and social media platforms), conducting customer satisfaction surveys, billing or which send emails on our behalf. These providers are also committed to protecting your information.
o Other Parties When Required by Law or as Necessary to Protect Our Services: For example, it may be necessary by law, legal process or court order from governmental authorities to disclose your information. They may also seek your information from us for the purposes of law enforcement, national security, anti-terrorism or other issues that are related to public security.
o Other Parties in Connection with Corporate Transactions: We may disclose your information to a third party as part of a merger or transfer, acquisition or sale or in the event of a bankruptcy.
o Other Parties with Your Consent or at Your Direction: In addition to the disclosures described in this Privacy Policy, we share information about you with third parties when you separately consent to or request such sharing.
HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SECURE?
We take data protection seriously. We have put in place physical and technical safeguards to keep the information we collect secure. We also take appropriate measures, in compliance with applicable law, to ensure that the personal information collected by third parties remains secure. However, please note that although we take reasonable steps to protect your information, no website, Internet transmission, computer system or wireless connection is completely secure.
WHERE DO WE SEND YOUR DATA?
Your use of our Services will involve the transfer, storage and processing of your personal information within and outside of your country of residence, consistent with this policy. In particular, your personal information will be transferred to the Republic of Korea.
In addition, your use of the Services may also involve the transfer of your personal information to other countries and storage and processing of your personal information in other countries where necessary; such countries include, without limitation, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, China, Singapore, Vietnam, India, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines and Japan. Please note that the data protection laws and other laws of countries to which your information may be transferred might not be as comprehensive as those in your country. We will take appropriate measures, in compliance with applicable law, to ensure that your personal information remains protected.
WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?
Your personal information belongs to you. In accordance with applicable law, you have the right to ask us to provide details about what we have collected, to delete it or to exercise any other right you may have. However, requesting the deletion of your personal information may also result in a loss of access to Services we provide. We will not delete data that we are required by law to retain.
To make a request concerning your rights or to make an enquiry, contact us. See the CONTACT US section.
HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?
We will not keep your personal information for longer than is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless otherwise required by applicable law. This means that information will be destroyed or erased from our systems when it is no longer required.
WHAT THIRD-PARTY SERVICES DO WE USE?
Some of the content, advertising and functionality in our Services is provided by third parties. These third parties may use cookies, beacons, tracking pixels and other tools to collect information about your use of these Services. These third parties are not controlled directly by Samsung, so we recommend that you check their privacy policies to understand how they use your data.
For some apps and services, including social networks, we receive and store sign-in information, as well as other information that you allow us to receive when you connect with these apps and services.
We, along with certain third parties such as content providers and advertisers, may also use technologies called cookies, beacons or pixels, as well as other tools (collectively known as “technologies”) that communicate information from your device to a server. These technologies can be embedded in online content, videos and advertisements. They allow a server to read certain types of information from your device, know when you have viewed particular content or a particular advertisement and determine the time and date on which you viewed the content as well as information about your device, including the IP address of your device. We, and third parties, use these technologies for purposes such as verifying that content and ads have been delivered and viewed correctly.
Cookies
Cookies are small files that store information on your computer, TV, mobile phone or other devices. They enable the entity that put the cookie on your device to recognise you across different websites, services, devices and browsing sessions. Cookies serve many useful purposes. For example:
• Cookies can remember your sign-in credentials so you do not have to enter them each time you log on to a service.
• Cookies help us and third parties understand which parts of our Services are the most popular because they help us to see which pages and features visitors are accessing and how much time they are spending on the pages. Studying this information helps us to adapt our Services and provide you with a better experience.
• Cookies help us and third parties understand which ads you have seen so you do not get the same ad each time you access a Service.
• Cookies help us and third parties provide you with relevant content and advertising by collecting information about your use of our Services and other websites and apps.
We may allow carefully selected third parties to place cookies or similar technologies on our Services. For example, and without limitation, we use Google remarketing tags to allow our retail partners to advertise products which you have browsed on our website. You can learn more about how Google remarketing tags work here: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/. In addition, third parties such as Facebook may place cookies to track you across applicable websites and across other websites.
We may also work with carefully selected business partners to deliver advertising jointly. This may involve combining cookie data collected from our website with data collected by our business partner. We may also use information collected to understand our customers’ preferences and to influence future advertising campaigns including how we select who we direct our marketing to.
We, and our carefully selected business partners, may place cookies when we show ads for our products or services on third-party websites and when you click on those ads, so we know which sites and ads our customers have seen and which ads have been interacted with. You may be able to adjust your preferences in relation to these cookies on those third-party sites.
Third-party cookies: Our Services may also display content from a third-party website or service, which may result in cookies from third parties being stored on your device. You can manage your preferences for these third parties in the same way as for Samsung cookies. Please see below for more details on how to manage your preferences. We do not control the storage and use of these cookies by these third parties, and you should refer to the privacy policies of the relevant third parties for more information.
Beacons and Pixels
We, along with certain third parties, use technologies called beacons or pixels that communicate information from your device to a server. Beacons can be embedded in online content, ads, videos and emails, and can allow a server to read certain types of information from your device, know when you have viewed particular content or a particular email message and determine the time and date on which you viewed relevant content as well as the IP address of your device. We and certain third parties use beacons for a variety of purposes, including to analyse the use of our Services and, along with other information, to provide content and ads that are more relevant to you.
Other Local Storage
We, along with certain third parties, use other kinds of local storage technologies, such as Local Shared Objects (also referred to as Flash cookies) and HTML5 local storage, in connection with our Services. These technologies are similar to the cookies discussed above. They are stored on your devices and can be used to store certain information about your activities and preferences. However, these technologies make use of different parts of your device from standard cookies, so you might not be able to control them using standard browser tools and settings. For information about disabling or deleting information contained in Local Shared Objects, visit http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/disable-local-shared-objects-flash.html.
Cookies are retained for no longer than necessary to provide the function for which they are used. This will vary depending on the specific Service. For example, a cookie to authenticate log-in may be kept for a longer period of time than a cookie used to allow you to place items in a shopping basket as a guest on our website.
How to Manage your Preferences
Where we use these technologies on our Services, you can manage your preferences at any time. However, some technologies are essential or necessary to run the Service and cannot be changed. Visit the settings or cookie preference menu on the relevant Services or on your device for more information on how to manage these options.