SAMSUNG PRIVACY POLICY

 

Last Updated: 1 September 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and our affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, “Samsung”, or “we” in this policy), know how important privacy is to our customers. This Privacy Policy describes the personal information we may obtain across all devices and services (from mobile phones and tablets to TVs, home appliances, online services, and more) (collectively, our “Services”), and how we may use and disclose that information. We also explain the choices available to you regarding our use of the information, the steps we take to safeguard the information, how you may contact us if you have any questions about our privacy practices.

We provide additional information about our privacy practices related to particular Services where appropriate. You can review such information before enabling such Services. Samsung also provides specific privacy notices related to certain 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.

 

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We obtain the following personal information about you when you interact with us, including but not limited to when you purchase a Samsung product, create a Samsung Account, register for or use a Service, contact Customer Support, visit a Samsung retail location, or while attending an event. We collect your personal information in a variety of ways.

Information You Provide Directly

• Account information: your Samsung account information including your name, date of birth, email address, or phone number;

• Contact information: name, email address, phone number, shipping address, or other contact information; and

• Payment information: payment method, billing address, or payment card information including your name, card number, expiration date, and security code.

• Demographic data (e.g., gender and age range);

• Information you provide when you apply for credit or financing, such as your social security number;

• Information you store on your device when you back-up your device or use a feature that requires collection (such as when you share it with other users);

• Customer Service related information: information you provide during your consultation, such as recordings of your voice, chat or communication transcripts, related products and services, and repair history;

• Transaction information: information about products and services you purchase, obtain, or consider; and

• Location data: (1) the precise geolocation of your device if you consent to the collection of this data and (2) information about nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers that may be transmitted to us when you use certain Services.

 

Information We Collect Automatically

Our Services collect some data automatically when you use the Services. This information includes:

• Device information: such as hardware and software information, information collected from your connected devices, settings, and device identifiers (including ad identifiers); and

• Usage and log information: such as diagnostic, technical, error, and usage information (including third-party websites, apps, and services connected to the Services), such as the time and duration of your use of the Services, Services installed on your devices, web pages you visit, search query terms when you enter search terms into your device in connection with a particular Service, and error reports and dump logs).

We may obtain certain information about you from publicly or commercially-available sources and from third parties who perform services for us. We also may obtain other information about you, your devices, and your use of the Services, in ways we describe at the time we collect the information or otherwise with your consent.

 

Third-Party Services

The Services may provide the ability to connect to other websites, devices, apps, and other features, which may operate independently from us (and may include the use of cookies, beacons, tracking pixels, and other tools) and may have their own privacy notices or policies. We strongly suggest you review them. To the extent any linked website, device, app, or other feature is not owned or controlled by us, we are not responsible for its content, use, or privacy practices.

 

Analytics Services

Through certain Services, we may 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 may use our own analytics services, or third-party analytics services on the Services, such as Google Analytics and Firebase Analytics. 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 or help administer the Services. To learn more about Google Analytics, please visit https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. To learn more about Firebase Analytics, please visit https://firebase.google.com/policies/analytics/.

 

Online Tracking And Personalized Advertising

Through certain Services, both we and various third parties may collect information about your online activities to provide you with advertising about products and services tailored to your individual interests.

Samsung Ads

Our Samsung Ads service is designed to serve advertisements that are personalized to users’ interests on Samsung and third-party platforms, devices, websites, and apps. Samsung Ads may deliver personalized ads based on your demographic characteristics, preferences, choices, and interests by collecting certain information about your online activities as specified in this Privacy Policy.

Please note that your privacy choices with respect to personalized ads will not affect whether or not you receive or are served with generic, basic, or contextual types of ads.

 

Ad networks

Because Samsung participates in various advertising networks, you may also see our ads on other websites or mobile apps. Ad networks allow us to target our messaging to users considering demographic data, users’ inferred interests, and browsing context. These networks can track users’ online activities over time by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of browser cookies, web beacons, pixels, device identifiers, server logs, and other similar technologies. The networks use this information to show ads that may be tailored to individuals’ interests, to track users’ browsers or devices across multiple websites and apps, and to build a profile of users’ online browsing and app usage activities. The information our ad networks may collect includes data about users’ visits to websites and apps that participate in the relevant ad networks, such as the pages or ads viewed and the actions taken on the websites or apps. This data collection takes place both on certain Services and on third-party websites and apps that participate in the ad networks. This process also helps us track the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.

 

HOW WE USE INFORMATION WE OBTAIN

• To help you or your device register for our Services.
  To provide a Service or feature you request.
• To provide customized content and personalized services based on your past activities on our Services.
• To provide personalized and/or generalized 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 personalized advertising, promotions, and offers when you have provided your consent to receive them from Samsung.
• 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.
• To operate, evaluate, and improve our business, including developing and improving new and existing products and services, managing and improving our communications, analyzing 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 anonymizing data.
• To provide software updates, maintenance services, and support for your devices.
• To provide customer support to you when your devices are in warranty.
• To ensure product safety and to prevent fraud when your products are out of warranty, we will collect your IMEI and serial number.
• To verify your device for repairs.
• To protect the legal rights and interests, property, or safety of Samsung Electronics, or any of our subsidiaries, affiliates, business partners, or customers.
• To respond to your requests and queries, including about your personal information.
  To protect against, identify, and prevent fraud and other criminal activity, claims, and other liabilities.
• To comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards, and our policies, including the Samsung Privacy Policy.
• To analyze a defective device that is returned to Samsung. Samsung takes measures to ensure that all defective devices are wiped of personal data before such devices are analyzed.
• We may combine information we obtain about you from different Services, devices, or other sources for the purposes described above.

 

[For European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, and Switzerland Residents only]

Samsung processes personal information for the purposes described above. Samsung’s legal basis to process personal information includes processing:

(i) So that we can keep our promises to you (performance of contract, GDPR Article 6(1) (b)), such as providing you with a Service.
(ii) To promote our business interests (legitimate interest, GDPR Article 6(1) (f)) (for example, to manage our relationship with you, improve your customer service experience, and provide generic ads), including communications on our website, third party websites, and online platforms.
(iii) To comply with the law and legal processes (GDPR Article 6(1) (c)).
(iv) With your consent (GDPR Article 6(1) (a) (and Article 9 in the case of special categories of data), for example, to send direct marketing communications. When we ask for your consent, we will give you information about what information we are using and how you can revoke your consent. Alternatively, to revoke your consent, you can contact us as specified in the CONTACT US section of this Privacy Policy.

Samsung Electronics is the data controller of your personal information as described above. Some of our European Samsung subsidiaries also process your personal information. In some situations, they will act as a data controller, including for customer services and some marketing activities. Where the European Samsung subsidiary is a data controller, you can refer to its own local Privacy Policy on its website to understand how it processes your personal information.

 

INFORMATION SHARING

We will disclose your information internally within our business, as well as to the following entities, for the purposes described above.

• Affiliates: other Samsung Electronics Group companies which we control or own;
• Business Partners: partner who we work together with, such as wireless carriers, financing partners when you apply for and use credit or financing programs, and third parties who operate apps and services that connect with certain Services. These partners control and manage your personal information. This kind of sharing may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” under certain United States state privacy laws;
• Service Providers: carefully selected companies that provide services for or on behalf of such. These providers are also committed to protection your information;

• Other Parties When Required by Law or as Necessary: by law, legal process, court order or when necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss, or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual fraudulent or illegal activity;

• Other Parties in Connection with Corporate Transactions: such as part of a merger or transfer, acquisition or sale, or in the event of a bankruptcy; and

• Other Parties with Your Consent or at Your Direction: we may share information about you with third parties when you separately consent to or request such sharing.

Your use of our Services 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. 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. Samsung’s international transfer of personal data collected in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, and Switzerland is governed by Standard Contractual Clauses to safeguard the transfer of data outside of the EEA, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. To request more information or to obtain a copy of the Standard Contractual Clauses, contact us. See the CONTACT US section.

 

PERSONAL INFORMATION SECURITY AND RETENTION

We maintain physical and technical safeguards designed to protect personal information we obtain through the Services.

We will not keep your personal information for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. This means that information will be destroyed or erased from our systems when it is no longer required, or anonymized.

We take appropriate steps to ensure that we process and retain your personal information based on the following logic:

1. At least the duration for which the information is used to provide you with a Service;

2. As required under law, regulatory obligation, a contract, or with regard to our statutory obligation; and

3. Only for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, is processed, or longer if required under any contract, by applicable law, or for statistical purposes, subject to appropriate safeguards.

 

COOKIES, BEACONS, AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

We, along with certain third-parties such as content providers and advertisers, may obtain information by automated means such as through the collection of cookies, pixels, web server logs, web beacons, and other technologies (and with your consent in accordance with applicable law). 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.

Among other purposes, these technologies help us (1) remember your information so you will not have to re-enter it, (2) track and understand how you use and interact with the Services, (3) tailor the Services around your preferences and provide personalized ads and marketing, (4) manage and measure the usability of the Services, (5) understand the effectiveness of our communications, and (6) otherwise enhance the Services.

Your browser may tell you how to be notified when you receive certain types of cookies or how to restrict or disable certain types of cookies. You can find out how to do this for your particular browser by clicking “help” on your browser’s menu or visiting www.allaboutcookies.org. For mobile devices, you can manage how your device and browser share certain device data by adjusting the privacy and security settings on your device. Please note that without cookies, you may not be able to use or benefit from all of the features of our Services.

 

YOUR RIGHTS AND CHOICES

We offer you certain choices in connection with the personal information we obtain about you.

Subject to applicable law and to the extent applicable to each Service and the jurisdiction you are in, you may (1) request access to, or correction or deletion of, the personal information we maintain about you; (2) receive, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, certain of your personal information that you have provided to us. Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to have this information transmitted to another company, where it is technically feasible; (3) restrict or limit processing, sharing, or transfer of your personal information; and (4) object to processing on the basis of legitimate interests and marketing purposes, including profiling.

You can choose not to provide us with certain types of information. In some cases, this may limit your ability to use some Services.

To make a request concerning your rights or to make an inquiry, please contact us as specified in the CONTACT US section below.

 

UPDATES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time and without prior notice to you to reflect changes in our personal information practices with respect to the Services. We will indicate at the top of the policy when it was most recently updated.

 

CONTACT US

The easiest way to contact us is through the Support section of https://www.samsung.com/.

Data Controller

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do 16677, Republic of Korea

 

SUPPLEMENT TO THE SAMSUNG PRIVACY POLICY

 

This supplement to the Samsung Privacy Policy (“Supplement”) describes additional personal information practices and should be read in conjunction with the Samsung Privacy Policy.

Samsung Electronics is the data controller of your personal information as in the Samsung Privacy Policy. For some direct marketing communications and some personalized advertising, SAMSUNG GULF ELECTRONICS FZE, which is located in the United Arab Emirates, is also the data controller of your personal information.

 

COOKIES, BEACONS, AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

We, as well as certain third parties that provide content, advertising, or other functionality in our Services, use cookies, pixels, 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 recognize 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 don’t have to enter those credentials each time you sign in 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’re spending on the pages. Studying this information helps us to adapt the Services and provide you with a better experience.

Cookies help us and third parties understand which ads you’ve seen so you don’t get the same ad each time you access a Service.

Cookies help us and third parties to 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 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. Your device operating system may contain additional cookie controls. Note that some Services are designed to work using cookies, so 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. They’re stored on your devices and can be used to store certain information about your activities and preferences. However, these technologies may make use of different parts of your devices 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

Beacons

We, along with certain third parties, 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’ve viewed particular content or a particular email message, and 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 analyze the use of our Services and, along 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.

Custom Audiences and your preferences

We may share hashed portions of your personally identifiable information (“PII”) with our social media platform strategic partners to make our business more responsive to your interests and/or those of like-minded consumers. For example, we may aggregate your email address together with the email addresses of others who place orders on our site, locally hash such data, and transmit the resulting hashed data to Facebook for the purpose of creating “Custom Audiences” (where targeted ads are sent to people on Facebook who have already been on our website), and “Lookalike Audiences” (where targeted ads are sent to people on Facebook who have similar characteristics to people on our Custom Audience list). If you wish to opt-out of this use of certain hashed portions of your PII, please complete the form at the following link, and we will begin the process of removing your data from our Custom Audience list. 

 

CONTACT US

Samsung Electronics has offices across regions, so we can ensure that your request or query will be handled by the data protection team based in your region.

The easiest way to contact us is through our Privacy Support Page at https://www.samsung.com/request-desk or https://samsung.menaprivacy.com   

You can also contact us at privacy.mena@samsung.com