Samsung Local Privacy Policy

Effective: [2014.3]

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and our affiliates (“Samsung,” “we,” “us,” “our”) know how important privacy is to our customers, and we strive to be clear about how we collect, use, disclose, transfer and store your information. This Privacy Policy provides an overview of our information practices. The Privacy Policy applies to Samsung devices, websites or online applications that refer to or link to the Privacy Policy (collectively, our “Services”). 

While this Privacy Policy applies to all our Services, we also have provided certain specific privacy supplements that contain additional information about our practices in connection with particular Services. These supplements apply to your use of the Services they cover. Additional consent will be obtained for certain data processing activities. 

Please note that the Privacy Policy applies to your usage of Samsung devices (which are among the Services covered by this Privacy Policy, along with our websites and online applications). It also applies regardless of whether you use a computer, mobile phone, tablet, TV, or other device to access our Services. It is important that you read the Privacy Policy carefully because anytime you use our Services, you consent to the practices we describe in the Privacy Policy and the supplements. If you do not agree to the practices described in the Privacy Policy, you should not use our Services. 

It also is important that you check back often for updates to the Privacy Policy. If we update the Privacy Policy we will let you know about changes we consider to be material by placing a note on relevant Services. By accessing or using our Services after we have placed such a notice, you consent to the new practice(s) identified in the update. The most current version of the Privacy Policy will always be available here [https://account.samsung.com/membership/pp]. You can check the “effective date” posted at the top to see when the Privacy Policy was last updated. 

What information do we collect about you?

Information you provide directly
Some Services enable you to give us information directly. For example: 
 

• A number of our Services enable users to create accounts or profiles. In connection with these Services, we may ask you to provide certain information about yourself to set up the account or profile. For example, you can submit certain information about yourself, such as your name and email address, when you create a Samsung Account.  
• If you order a product or paid service from us, we may ask for your name, contact information, shipping and billing address(es), and credit card information in order to process your order. 
• Some of our Services enable you to communicate with other people. Those communications will be transmitted through and stored on our systems.  

Information about your use of the Services

In addition to the information you provide, we may collect information about your use of our Services through software on your device and other means. For example, we may collect: 
 

• Device information—such as your hardware model, IMEI number and other unique device identifiers, MAC address, IP address, operating system version, and settings of the device you use to access the Services.  
• Log information—such as the time and duration of your use of the Service, search query terms you enter through the Services, and any information stored in cookies that we have set on your device. 
• Location information—such as your device’s GPS signal or information about nearby WiFi access points and cell towers that may be transmitted to us when you use certain Services.  
• Voice information—such as recordings of your voice that we make (and may store on our servers) when you use voice commands to control a Service. (Note that we work with a third-party service provider that provides speech-to-text conversion services on our behalf. This provider may receive and store certain voice commands.)
• Other information about your use of the Services, such as the apps you use, the websites you visit, and how you interact with content offered through a Service.  

Information from third-party sources

We may receive information about you from publicly and commercially available sources (as permitted by law), which we may combine with other information we receive from or about you. We also may receive information about you from third-party social networking services when you choose to connect with those services.

Other Information We Collect

We also may collect other information about you, your device, or your use of the services in ways that we describe to you at the point of collection or otherwise with your consent.

You can choose not to provide us with certain types of information (e.g., information we request during Samsung Account registration), but doing so may affect your ability to use some Services.

How do we use your information?

We may use information we collect for the following purposes:
 

• to register you or your device for a Service;
• to provide a Service or feature you request;
  
• to provide customised content and make recommendations based on your past activities on our Services;
  
• for advertising, such as providing customised advertisements and sponsored content (including through our advertising service, AdHub, whose practices you can learn more about here) and sending you promotional communications;
  
• 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 understand the way people use our Services so that we can improve them and develop new products and services;
  
• to provide maintenance services for your device;
  
• to conduct free prize drawings, prize competitions or promotions, as permitted by law; and
  
• otherwise with your consent.
  

We may combine information we collect from you and use it for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy, subject to your additional consent. After you have consented to such information combination, you will be given the opportunity to disable such combination either through the settings menus of certain applicable devices or by visiting here [https://account.samsung.com/membership/service/dataCombination.do].

To whom do we disclose your information?

We will not disclose your information to third parties for their own independent marketing or business purposes without your consent. However, we may disclose your information to the following entities:
 

• Affiliates. Your information may be shared among Samsung affiliates.
• Business Partners. We also may share your information with trusted business partners, including wireless carriers. These entities may use your information to provide you with services you request (e.g., video content provided by Netflix through SmartTV), make predictions about your interests and may provide you with promotional materials, advertisements and other materials.
  
• Service providers. We also may disclose your information to companies that provide services for or on behalf of us, such as companies that help us with billing or that send emails on our behalf. These entities are limited in their ability to use your information for purposes other than providing services for us.
  
• Other Parties When Required by Law or as Necessary to Protect Our Services. There may be instances when we disclose your information to other parties: 
  • to comply with the law or respond to compulsory legal process (such as a search warrant or other court order);
  • to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing our Services; and
    
  • to protect the rights, property, or safety of Samsung, or any of our respective affiliates, business partners, or customers.
    
• Other Parties in Connection With Corporate Transactions. We may disclose your information to a third party as part of a merger or transfer, or in the event of a bankruptcy.
  
• Other Parties With Your Consent or At Your Direction. In addition to the disclosures described in this Privacy Policy, we may share information about you with third parties when you consent to or request such sharing.
  

Your Choices

We offer a variety of choices about how we use your information. You can make choices about whether to receive promotional communications from us by following the unsubscribe instructions included in the communication. In addition, you can also generally make choices in your settings , or by visiting relevant webpages as listed below;
 

• with respect to targeted advertising that may interest you, for example by AdHub [https://account.samsung.com/membership/service/adsCombination.do]; and
• with respect to choice for the combination of your information across services and devices for the purposes set out in the Privacy Policy [https://account.samsung.com/membership/service/dataCombination.do].
  

And you may be able to make choices in specific Services or when we give you a just-in-time notice.

What do we do to keep your information secure?

We have put in place reasonable physical and technical measures to safeguard the information we collect in connection with the Services. 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.

Consent to International Transfer of Data

By using or participating in any Service and/or providing us with your information, you consent to the collection, transfer, storage and processing of your information outside of your country of residence(e.g.,South Korea), consistent with this Privacy Policy. Please note that the data protection and other laws of countries to which your information may be transferred might not be as comprehensive as those in your country.

Accessing Your Information

Under the laws of some jurisdictions, you may have the right to request details about the information we collect and to correct inaccuracies in that information. Any further statutory user rights remain unaffected. If permitted by law, we may charge you a small fee for providing you with this ability. We may decline to process requests that are unreasonably repetitive, require disproportionate technical effort, jeopardize the privacy of others, are extremely impractical, or for which access is not otherwise required by local law. If you would like to make a request to access your information, please contact our customer service department at [http://help.content.samsung.com].

Data Retention

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.

Third-Party Links and Products on Our Services

Our Services may link to third-party websites and services that are outside our control. We are not responsible for the security or privacy of any information collected by websites or other services. You should exercise caution, and review the privacy statements applicable to the third-party websites and services you use. 

We also may make available to you certain products or services (e.g., apps available through Samsung Apps) developed by third parties. Samsung is not responsible for these third-party products or services.

Third Parties that Provide Content, Advertising or Functionality on Our Services

Some of the content, advertising, and functionality on our Services may be provided by third parties that are not affiliated with us. For example:
 

• We enable you to watch video content provided by companies such as Netflix through SmartTV;
• Third parties develop apps that we make available through the Samsung App Store;
  
• Certain third parties may serve advertising or keep track of which advertisements users see, how often they see those advertisements, and what users do in response to them; and
  
• We enable you to share certain materials on the Services with others through social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and LinkedIn.
  

These third-parties may collect or receive certain information about your use of the Services, including through the use of cookies, beacons, and similar technologies, and this information may be collected over time and combined with information collected across different websites and online services. Some of these companies participate in industry-developed programs designed to provide consumers choices about whether to receive targeted advertising. Please visit the websites operated by the Network Advertising Initiative [https://thenai.org/] and Digital Advertising Alliance [http://www.aboutads.info/] to learn more.

If you connect with a social networking service, we may receive and store authentication information from that service to enable you to log in, as well as other information that you allow us to receive when you connect with these services.

Also, please note that if you choose to connect with a social networking service on a device used by people in addition to you, those other users may be able to see information stored or displayed in connection with your account on the social networking service(s) with which you connect.

Cookies, Beacons and Similar Technologies

We, as well as certain third parties that provide content, advertising, or other functionality on our Services, may use cookies, beacons, and other technologies in certain areas of our Services.

Cookies

Cookies are small files that store information on your computer, TV, mobile phone or other device. They enable the entity that put the cookie on your device to recognise you across different websites, services, devices, and/or browsing sessions. Cookies serve many useful purposes. For example:
 

• Cookies can remember your sign-in credentials so you don’t have to enter those credentials 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. By studying this kind of information, we are better able to adapt the Services and provide you with a better experience.
  
• Cookies help us and third parties understand which ads you have seen so that you don’t receive 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.
  

When you use a web browser to access the Services, you can 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. The operating system of your device may contain additional controls for cookies.

Please note, however, that some Services may be designed to work using cookies and that disabling cookies may affect your ability to use those Services, or certain parts of them.

Other Local Storage

We, along with certain third parties, may 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 in that they are stored on your device and can be used to store certain information about your activities and preferences. However, these technologies may make use of different parts of your device from standard cookies, and so you might not be able to control them using standard browser tools and settings. For information about disabling or deleting information contained in Flash cookies, please click here .

Beacons

We, along with certain third parties, also may use technologies called beacons (or “pixels”) that communicate information from your device to a server. Beacons can be embedded in online content, 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, determine the time and date on which you viewed the beacon, and 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 (in conjunction with cookies) to provide content and ads that are more relevant to you.

By accessing and using our Services, you consent to the storage of cookies, other local storage technologies, beacons and other information on your devices. You also consent to the access of such cookies, local storage technologies, beacons and information by us and by the third parties mentioned above.

Social network plugins

Our Services make use of social network plugins (“Plugins”). When you use a Service that contains Plugins, information may be directly transferred from your device to the operator of the social network. We have no influence on the data gathered by the Plugin. If you are logged into the social network, your use of our Service can be referenced to your social network account. If you interact with the Plugins, for example by clicking “Like”, “Follow” or “Share”, or enter a comment, the information may automatically show in your social network profile. Even if you are not logged into your social network account, it may be possible that the Plugins transmit your IP address to the social network operators. Please consider this when using our Services.

For information about the social network operators of the Plugins used in our Services (“Operators”) please see below:

Operators of Plugins used in our Services

If you are a member of one or more of the following social networks and do not want the Operator to connect the data concerning your use of our Services with your member data already stored by the Operator, please log off the social network before using our Services.

Facebook

Data controller: Facebook Ireland Limited, Hanover Reach, 5-7 Hanover Quay, 2 Dublin, Ireland (“Facebook”). For further information you may visit Facebook’s privacy policy website at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

Google+

Data controller: Google Inc., Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). For further information you may visit Google’s privacy policy website at http://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/terms/regional.html.

LinkedIn

Data controller: LinkedIn Ireland, Gardner House, Wilton Place, Wilton Plaza, Dublin 2, Ireland (“LinkedIn”). For further information you may visit LinkedIn’s privacy policy website at http://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy?trk=hb_ft_priv.

Twitter

Data controller: Twitter, Inc., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA (“Twitter”). For further information you may visit Twitter’s privacy policy website at https://twitter.com/privacy.

Further information

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

Samsung Electronics South Africa (Proprietary) Limited. 
2929 William Nicol Drive, Bryanston, Gauteng , South Africa, 2021

Users in Europe, please contact us at:

Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited
Samsung House, 1000 Hillswood Drive, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0PS

In case users in Europe have questions about the payment of online services, please contact us at:

Samsung Electronics GmbH
Samsung House, Am Kronberger Hang 6, 65824 Schwalbach/Ts., Deutschland

Email: The Legal Affairs and Corporate Compliance department at 
complianceafrica@partner.samsung.com

[Hyperlinked Key Terms]

[Provide customised content and make recommendations]: We may use information we collect to provide you with customised content and make recommendations that are based in part on your past activities on our Services. For example, Samsung Hub provides you with recommendations about video, music, applications and third-party content that we think will interest you. Your SmartTV provides recommendations about video content you might like. Please visit the settings menu on your device or service for information about privacy choices you may have available to you in connection with these services.

[Improve them and develop new products and services]: We may use information we collect to understand the way you use the products and services we offer so that we can improve them and develop new products and services. For example, we may use this information to make better-informed decisions about the design of our devices and the selection of Samsung and third-party content that is accessible through our devices and services.

[Affiliates]: The term ‘affiliates’ refers to companies related to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. by common ownership or control. Our affiliates include companies with the Samsung Electronics name, such as Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited. Affiliates may also include other companies related by common ownership or control, such as Samsung Information Systems America.