smart home appliances privacy policy

PRIVACY POLICY

(Effective Date: April 1, 2017)

The privacy policy set forth below (the “Privacy Policy”) applies to the use of the App. Hisense is committed to protecting the privacy of all users of the App. The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to inform you about the types of information we gather about you when you use our mobile application (“App”) with the Hisense Smart Home Appliance (“Device”), how we may use that information, and if and how we disclose it to third parties. The App and your Devices are collectively the “HISMART@ Services”. This Privacy Policy applies to information about you that is collected by Hisense, by any company within the Hisense Group of companies (“Hisense Group Companies”). A full list of Hisense Group Companies is available upon written request.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to personal information that you provide directly to third parties whose materials you access via HISMART@ Services. You should check the applicable privacy policy of any third party service providers whose materials you access.

The HISMART@ Services are controlled and operated by Hisense within the People's Republic of China and the United States of America, and is not intended to subject Hisense or any of Hisense Group Companies to the laws or jurisdiction of any state, country or territory other than that of the People's Republic of China and the United States of America. To the extent permitted by law, Hisense does not represent or warrant that HISMART@ Services, or any part thereof, is appropriate or available for use. Those who choose to access HISMART@ Services do so on their own initiative and at their own risk, and are responsible for complying with all local laws, rules and regulations.

All users of HISMART@ Services are required to provide true, current, complete and accurate personal information when prompted and we will reject and delete any entry that we believe in good faith to be incorrect, false, falsified, or fraudulent, or inconsistent with or in violation of the Privacy Policy.

We will provide you with an opportunity to give your consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy as part of HISMART@ Services registration process. Separate from such consent, your use or participation in the HISMART@ Services will be construed as your acceptance of the Privacy Policy and of our collection, use, disclosure, transfer, management and storage of your personal information as described below. We may, from time to time, transfer or merge any personal information collected off-line to our online databases or store off-line information in an electronic format. We may also combine personal information we collect online with information available from other sources, including information received from our affiliates, marketing companies, or advertisers. This Privacy Policy covers all such personal information and will remain in full force and effect as long as you are a user of the HISMART@ Services, even if your use of or participation in any particular service, feature, function or promotional activity terminates, expires, ceases, is suspended or deactivated for any reason.

1. INFORMATION THAT WE COLLECT

Without limitation, any of the following data may be collected by Hisense through your use of the HISMART@ Services: information like your user name, account information and password, Device information (including status, usage and performance), internet connection information (including IP addresses) and connection status, location, product serial and model numbers and time-zone information, etc. Any or all of the above data and/or information may be required by us from time to time in order to understand aggregate usage patterns, administer the Device, provide you with the best possible service and experience when using the HISMART@ Services.  The information you provide through HISMART@ Services will be collected and retained in accordance with the Terms.

Information collected from Other Sources - If you use a third-party login to create your account or otherwise link to us, we may receive certain information about you from the third party based on your registration and privacy settings with those third-party services. This information may include name, user name, demographic information, updated address or contact information, interests, and publicly-observed data, such as from social media and online activity.

You have the right to withhold the above data and/or information; however, incomplete or incorrect data and/or information may, at Hisense’s sole discretion, result in a reduced or no set of features and/or capabilities being made available to you. By consenting to this Privacy Policy, you expressly grant Hisense the right to use the collected aggregate data and information to help Hisense improve the performance of the HISMART@ Services.  We reserve the right to use or disclose non-personal information in any way we see fit, including for our marketing and advertising purposes. Non-personal information may also be shared with third parties; by accepting this Agreement, you acknowledge and accept that you fully consent to Hisense collecting and sharing aggregate non-personal information with third parties without the need for further approvals or consent.

If we combine personal information with non-personal information, the combined information will be treated as personal information for as long as it remains combined.

We are committed to protecting the personal information of children. As such, HISMART@ Services are not meant for use, or to be used, by individuals under the age of 18 and we will not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under such age. If we learn that a child under the age of 18 has provided any personal information, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to delete such information. We encourage parents and legal guardians to participate in all use of their children with HISMART@ Services and instruct them to not provide any personally identifiable information to us via HISMART@ Services.

1. USE OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Our Services - We use your personal information for any of the following purposes:

- to connect you via App with your Device;

- to administer your Device (including processing any searches or requests for certain materials, recommending materials, providing blogs, open forums, discussion pages or personalized features);

- to respond to your inquires and communicate with you;

- for internal record keeping.

All of the above apply equally to the use of your personal information for such purposes by a Hisense Group Company. Subject to the disclosures in this Privacy Policy and applicable law, upon your consent to the Terms, we will retain your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. You may access your account at any time to view or amend the information, and you may need to modify or update your information if your circumstances change.

E-mail Communications - If you send us an e-mail with questions or comments, we may use your personal information to respond to your questions or comments, and we may save your questions or comments for future reference. However, aside from our reply to such an e-mail, it is not our standard practice to send you e-mail unless you request a particular service that involves e-mail communications, in which case you consent to being contacted by e-mail, or to receiving from us (either from ourselves or a related company) information about products and services which we believe may be of interest to you.

1. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES

Except as specifically set forth in this Privacy Policy, we do not disclose your personal information to a third party without your permission, except:

- to a Hisense Group Company; or

- Ayla Networks, a HISMART@ Services cloud server provider; or

- where is it necessary to enable any of our staff, employees, agents, contractors, suppliers or commercial partners to provide a service to us or to perform a function on our behalf; or

- to our professional advisors; or

- to the purchaser or potential purchaser of our rights and obligations relating to the Device; 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.

For any disclosure of your personal information by us to a carefully selected third party or to any third party referred to in this Privacy Policy, we will comply with data protection law by ensuring that there are arrangements in place to ensure that the third party does not use your personal information for any purposes other than the purposes we specify and in accordance with the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy and keep it secure.

1. SECURITY OF THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

The security of your personal information is important to us. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to secure your personal information. However, please remember that there is always some risk in transmitting information electronically prior to our collection. The personal information we collect is stored within databases that we control. As we deem appropriate, we use security measures consistent with industry standards, such as firewalls and encryption technology, to protect your information. We restrict access to personal information to employees, contractors and agents who have a need to know that information in order to operate, develop or improve HISMART@ Services. These individuals are bound by confidentiality obligations and may be subject to discipline, including termination and criminal prosecution, if they fail to meet these obligations.

Hisense is committed to maintaining the security of the data you provide us and will take reasonable precautions to protect your personal information. Because there is always some risk in transmitting information over the Internet, you agree that when you use the HISMART@ Services, your communications may be intercepted by others. For this reason, Hisense cannot guarantee the security and privacy of wireless transmissions or transmissions via the Internet, and you agree that Hisense will not be liable for any lack of security relating to the use of the HISMART@ Services by you. You agree that you will not hold Hisense liable for any damages resulting from any loss of privacy or security occurring in connection with any communications over such networks. Data stored as part of the HISMART@ Services, on a Device or App, transmitted over the networks, or stored by Hisense or its service providers may be deleted, modified, or damaged, and Hisense will not be liable for any such deletions, modifications or damage.

1. BULLETIN BOARDS AND OTHER PUBLIC AREAS

We may offer bulletin boards or other public functions and any posting by you is considered public information available to other users. We do not control, and are not responsible for, the actions of other users of the Device with respect to any information you post in Public Areas. In addition, information that you submit to Public Areas may be collected and used by others to send you unsolicited messages and for other purposes. Any posting is governed by the Terms for the Device or the terms and conditions of third parties web sites. You should take care to not use personal information in your screen name or other information that might be publicly available to other users.

1. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER OF INFORMATION

We may transfer and store personal information you provide to us via HISMART@ Services on servers located in countries outside of your jurisdiction. We may also transfer personal information we collect from you to the People's Republic of China or to other countries outside of your jurisdiction to our Hisense Group Companies or to the third parties referred to in this Privacy Policy. By providing your personal information to us, you consent to us transferring your information outside the United States of America.

1. ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Any questions you may have regarding this Privacy Policy, the accuracy of your personal information, the use of your personal information, or any requests to access your information or that we correct, update or remove your information in our databases, should be directed via e-mail to the Customer Service Director at Hisense via phone, email or regular mail to:

Hisense USA Corporation.

ATTN: Customer Service Director

7310 McGinnis Ferry Road, Suwanee, GA, 30024

If we receive a request to change your information, we will make reasonable efforts to ensure that all of your personal information stored in databases we actively use to operate the Device will be updated, corrected, changed or deleted, as appropriate, as soon as reasonably practicable.

We will not retain personal information for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it was intended, or as required under any contract or by law. However, we reserve the right to retain in our archival files any information removed from, or changed in, our active databases. We may retain such information to resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems and enforce our Terms for the Device. In addition, it is not technologically possible to remove each and every record of the information you have provided to us. A copy of your personal information may exist in a non-erasable form that will be difficult or impossible for us to locate.

The HISMART@ Services may have links to third-party sites or applications, which may have privacy policies that differ from our own. We are not responsible for the practices of such sites or applications.

This Privacy Policy is effective as of the Effective Date first given above. We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time or for any reason and at our sole discretion, without the need for further notice. We will post any changes to this Privacy Policy within a reasonable period. You are responsible to check the App for any changes to this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of this App subsequent to such changes shall constitute your acceptance of all such changes.