Customization Service U.S. Privacy Notice
Customization Service U.S. Privacy Notice
Effective Date: April 20, 2023
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., along with our affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, “Samsung”) respects your concerns about privacy. This Customization Service U.S. Privacy Notice applies to the personal information we obtain through Customization Service. It does not apply to information collected by other apps, websites or services provided by Samsung.
This Privacy Notice supplements the Samsung Privacy Policy for the U.S. (available at https://www.samsung.com/us/account/privacy-policy) (“Samsung US Privacy Policy”) and provides additional information about how we may collect, use and share your personal information in connection with Customization Service. In the event any portion of this Privacy Notice conflicts with the Samsung US Privacy Policy, the relevant provisions of this Privacy Notice will govern.
Older devices where the software hasn’t been updated to the latest version or that do not support the latest version may not properly display certain granular data collection settings in Customization Service. However, for these devices, Customization Service does not collect the corresponding data (Call/message history (Phone), Search data (Internet), Browsing history (Internet), Location (GPS)). To provide the proper service, please update the Customization Service software to the latest version.
What is the Customization Service?
Samsung devices, apps and services (each a “Service” and collectively, the “Services”) are designed to provide you with customized services by supporting your desires and needs in a smart and intelligent manner. Samsung’s Customization Service provides an enhanced user experience, including customized content and recommendations, based on the information obtained about you and your use of the Services. For example, the Customization Service can improve your user experience with the Services by offering hints and information customized for you when you use Samsung’s voice recognition service, or remembering music you used to listen to on rainy days and recommending it later. Furthermore, if you give the command, “Remind me to buy a bottle of water when I am almost home,” the Customization Service can remember the command and remind you to purchase a bottle of water when you are almost home.
You have choices regarding how the Customization Service uses and analyzes certain types of personal information, such as your call and text message history, relationship information, event and calendar information, search terms, location data, listening & viewing information, or internet browsing history. The Customization Service also provides you with the choice to opt out of the Customization Service’s use of your personal information. For more information, please see the “Your Rights and Choices” section, below.
Information We Obtain
The more the Customization Service understands and learns about you, the faster and more accurately it can provide you with customized content and information. The Customization Service is designed to help understand your interests, preferences and location, and may collect and analyze the following types of information about you in various ways:
• Device Information.
Unique identifiers (such as an IMEI and serial number), settings information (such as language and lock settings), status information (such as connections with other devices) and other information (such as hardware and software information and Services installed or currently running on your device) about the devices on which you’ve logged into your Samsung account (your “device/devices”). The Customization Service may also collect information about how, when and for how long you use the devices.
• Information about Your Music and Photos.
Information such as titles, genres, and artists on previously played or saved music and information about your photos, such as the times and locations at which your saved photos were taken.
• Contacts and Communications Data.
The Customization Service may access your contact list and will analyze within your devices your incoming/outgoing call and text message history to provide you with services, such as to determine your relationships with others (e.g., your family and friends), who your most important contacts are and to display information about them (e.g. missed calls), who contacts you most frequently and your preferred contact method, and to find contacts you refer to while using voice recognition. This information about your call and text message history remains on your mobile device and is not collected by us.
• Content information.
Content viewed or listened to on your devices (including the networks, channels, websites visited and programs), as well as content purchased, downloaded, or streamed through Services on your device and applications you have accessed through your device.
• Calendar Information.
The Customization Service will access your device’s calendar and may collect and analyze your calendar data to learn your preferences, record special occasions and identify your location.
• Internet Browsing History.
Your Samsung Internet browsing history (such as visited websites, search keywords and bookmarks) to learn your interests and preferences, to display more relevant search results and provide the most appropriate information in different contexts, and to provide you with other services, as described in this Privacy Notice. Your search history from Samsung Internet browsing done in Secret mode (Incognito or Private mode) will not be collected.
• Location Information.
The Customization Service will access and analyze your location (including your precise location) and other information related to your location on a regular basis through Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi signals, calendar entries and other technologies and data for certain purposes, such as to provide location-related notifications or information you request. In order for the Customization Service to access location information, Location settings must be enabled on your device. Therefore, in some cases, the Customization Service will request that you enable Location settings. Location information remains on your mobile device and is not collected by us.
• Samsung account and Samsung Services Data.
Information stored in or associated with your Samsung account (such as your Samsung account ID, contact information, name, date of birth and gender). The Customization Service also may collect and analyze information related to your use of the Services, such as music played on your device, the websites you visit, the searches you make, your usage history of Samsung apps, your voice commands given via the voice recognition service, notifications set in Reminder, and weather data provided to you.
• Customer Service Data and E-Commerce Data.
When emails submitted for Customer Service matches your Samsung account, the Customization Service may access, collect and analyze data obtained through your interactions with Samsung Customer Service, such as records of repair and customer interactions with Customer Service personnel, your purchase history at Samsung stores and information about promotions in which you have participated.
• Information Related to Third-Party Apps and Services.
By permitting the connection to a third-party app or service, you can enable the Customization Service to utilize the data regarding your usage of these third-party apps and services, and to provide you with customized features. We may collect personal information about your online activities on your devices over time. We will also collect information made available through third-party platforms and apps, namely the frequency, time and duration of app usage (but no information on what actions you have performed within an app), through online databases or directories, or that is otherwise legitimately obtained.
Please be informed that Customization Service may as part of the data categories described above also collect sensitive data or data which in combination may allow conclusions on sensitive information. Such potentially sensitive information will be eliminated from further processing and will not be used by Samsung for customized servicing nor improve personalized advertising.
We also may collect other information about you, your devices and apps, and your use of Customization Service in ways that we describe to you at the time of collection or otherwise with your consent.
How We Use the Information We Obtain
Customized Servicing
The Customization Service combines and analyzes your information to create a profile about you and provide your data to the Services and third-party apps you have authorized for the following purposes:
• to provide you with customized content and information;
• to analyze methods of providing you with better Services; and
• to improve and develop the Services.
Customized Advertising and Direct Marketing
Based on your separate consent to “Improve personalized ads with Samsung account data,” we will customize the advertising we send you with data we have collected through the Customization Service about products and services offered by Samsung and third parties that are more relevant to your interests. Please be informed that the profile we create from the raw data will also be used to provide you with advertising, where you have separately consented to receive advertising or news and special offers from us.
In addition to the above, we use the information collected for the purposes described in the Samsung US Privacy Policy and for the following purposes:
• to identify and authenticate you so you may use Customization Service;
• to respond to your requests, inquiries, and instructions made through or about the Customization Service and/or Services;
• to allow you to interact with and use participating Samsung and third-party apps and services; and
• to operate, evaluate and improve the Customization Service and Services and our business (including developing new products and services; enhancing and improving our products and services; managing our communications; analyzing our products, services and customer base; conducting market research; performing data analytics; and performing accounting, auditing and other internal functions).
We use and combine the information we collect about you from Customization Service with data from other services or features you use, and your devices, as well as 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 for the purposes above.
Improve personalized advertising with Samsung account data
If you have consented to Improve personalized ads with Samsung account data, in addition to any of our other advertising consents, you may see relevant advertising based on your Samsung Account data and information we collect through the Customization Service, including app usage, search terms and/or internet browsing history and apps. If you have also consented to Improve personalized ads with precise location data, the advertising you see will be relevant according to the precise location of your mobile device.
You may choose to disable Improve personalized ads with Samsung account data on your devices at any time via the Samsung account Settings > Security and Privacy menu in your Samsung account.
Please see Advertising section in Samsung Account Privacy Notice https://account.samsung.com/membership/policy/privacy for more detail on how your data is used for advertising.
Information Sharing
As stated above, this Privacy Notice supplements the Samsung US Privacy Policy (available at https://account.samsung.com/membership/terms/privacypolicy), which describes our information sharing practices.
Your Choices (including how to withdraw your consent to using the Customization Service)
Samsung respects the choices made by you and strives to offer a variety of ways for you to control your information. You may, at any time, disable the Customization Service via the “Customization Service” option in the Settings menu of your Samsung account, in which case Samsung will suspend the provision of customized content and information, as well as the Customization Service’s collection, combination and analysis of your information.
Furthermore, you can choose the categories of information that the Customization Service may collect and analyze, as well as the Customization Service’s support for certain Services. However, any subsequent decisions will not affect the information already collected, combined and analyzed by the Customization Service and disabling the Customization Service will not cause information previously collected and analyzed by the Customization Service to be deleted. Even if you disable the Customization Service, you can still use the default features provided by each of the Services. You can select a variety of options, outlined below:
To change the Customization Service’s settings in your Samsung account, please perform the following:
a. Smartphones/Tablets: Settings > Privacy > Customization Service
b. Smart Hub enabled devices including Smart TV: Settings > Samsung Account > My Account > Security and Privacy > Customization Service
The specific settings above may be subject to change with updated or new device models supporting the Customization Service. Please note that your customized user experience may change as a result of disabling the Customization Service.
How can I delete information obtained by the Customization Service?
Information collected and analyzed by the Customization Service will be deleted after you delete your Samsung Account. You also may request the deletion of specific categories of data that have been collected and analyzed by the Customization Service at any time, even before deleting your Samsung Account, via the Data management menu in your Samsung Account. Please note that, in some cases, it may take some time before the information saved on our servers is completely deleted.
What happens if I delete information collected by the Customization Service or stop the Customization Service’s collection of some of the information?
If you delete collected information, the accuracy and/or quality of the customized content delivered to you by the Customization Service may decrease. Moreover, some customization features may require information that you have deleted or to which you have denied the Customization Service access, and it may only be possible to resume receiving those features by allowing the Customization Service to collect and use the relevant information again.
Notice To California Residents
If you are a California consumer, for more information about your privacy rights, please see the California Consumer Privacy Statement, available at https://www.samsung.com/us/account/privacy-policy/california.
Notice to Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia Residents
If you are a Colorado, Connecticut, Utah or Virginia resident, for more information about privacy rights that may be available to you subject to applicable law, please see the section of the Samsung US Privacy Policy called “Your Rights and Choices,” available at https://account.samsung.com/membership/terms/privacypolicy.
Updates to This Privacy Notice
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time and without prior notice to you to reflect changes in our personal information practices with respect to the Customization Service. We will indicate at the top of this Privacy Notice when it was most recently updated.
Effective Date: April 20, 2023
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., along with our affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, “Samsung”) respects your concerns about privacy. This Customization Service U.S. Privacy Notice applies to the personal information we obtain through Customization Service. It does not apply to information collected by other apps, websites or services provided by Samsung.
This Privacy Notice supplements the Samsung Privacy Policy for the U.S. (available at https://www.samsung.com/us/account/privacy-policy) (“Samsung US Privacy Policy”) and provides additional information about how we may collect, use and share your personal information in connection with Customization Service. In the event any portion of this Privacy Notice conflicts with the Samsung US Privacy Policy, the relevant provisions of this Privacy Notice will govern.
Older devices where the software hasn’t been updated to the latest version or that do not support the latest version may not properly display certain granular data collection settings in Customization Service. However, for these devices, Customization Service does not collect the corresponding data (Call/message history (Phone), Search data (Internet), Browsing history (Internet), Location (GPS)). To provide the proper service, please update the Customization Service software to the latest version.
What is the Customization Service?
Samsung devices, apps and services (each a “Service” and collectively, the “Services”) are designed to provide you with customized services by supporting your desires and needs in a smart and intelligent manner. Samsung’s Customization Service provides an enhanced user experience, including customized content and recommendations, based on the information obtained about you and your use of the Services. For example, the Customization Service can improve your user experience with the Services by offering hints and information customized for you when you use Samsung’s voice recognition service, or remembering music you used to listen to on rainy days and recommending it later. Furthermore, if you give the command, “Remind me to buy a bottle of water when I am almost home,” the Customization Service can remember the command and remind you to purchase a bottle of water when you are almost home.
You have choices regarding how the Customization Service uses and analyzes certain types of personal information, such as your call and text message history, relationship information, event and calendar information, search terms, location data, listening & viewing information, or internet browsing history. The Customization Service also provides you with the choice to opt out of the Customization Service’s use of your personal information. For more information, please see the “Your Rights and Choices” section, below.
Information We Obtain
The more the Customization Service understands and learns about you, the faster and more accurately it can provide you with customized content and information. The Customization Service is designed to help understand your interests, preferences and location, and may collect and analyze the following types of information about you in various ways:
• Device Information.
Unique identifiers (such as an IMEI and serial number), settings information (such as language and lock settings), status information (such as connections with other devices) and other information (such as hardware and software information and Services installed or currently running on your device) about the devices on which you’ve logged into your Samsung account (your “device/devices”). The Customization Service may also collect information about how, when and for how long you use the devices.
• Information about Your Music and Photos.
Information such as titles, genres, and artists on previously played or saved music and information about your photos, such as the times and locations at which your saved photos were taken.
• Contacts and Communications Data.
The Customization Service may access your contact list and will analyze within your devices your incoming/outgoing call and text message history to provide you with services, such as to determine your relationships with others (e.g., your family and friends), who your most important contacts are and to display information about them (e.g. missed calls), who contacts you most frequently and your preferred contact method, and to find contacts you refer to while using voice recognition. This information about your call and text message history remains on your mobile device and is not collected by us.
• Content information.
Content viewed or listened to on your devices (including the networks, channels, websites visited and programs), as well as content purchased, downloaded, or streamed through Services on your device and applications you have accessed through your device.
• Calendar Information.
The Customization Service will access your device’s calendar and may collect and analyze your calendar data to learn your preferences, record special occasions and identify your location.
• Internet Browsing History.
Your Samsung Internet browsing history (such as visited websites, search keywords and bookmarks) to learn your interests and preferences, to display more relevant search results and provide the most appropriate information in different contexts, and to provide you with other services, as described in this Privacy Notice. Your search history from Samsung Internet browsing done in Secret mode (Incognito or Private mode) will not be collected.
• Location Information.
The Customization Service will access and analyze your location (including your precise location) and other information related to your location on a regular basis through Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi signals, calendar entries and other technologies and data for certain purposes, such as to provide location-related notifications or information you request. In order for the Customization Service to access location information, Location settings must be enabled on your device. Therefore, in some cases, the Customization Service will request that you enable Location settings. Location information remains on your mobile device and is not collected by us.
• Samsung account and Samsung Services Data.
Information stored in or associated with your Samsung account (such as your Samsung account ID, contact information, name, date of birth and gender). The Customization Service also may collect and analyze information related to your use of the Services, such as music played on your device, the websites you visit, the searches you make, your usage history of Samsung apps, your voice commands given via the voice recognition service, notifications set in Reminder, and weather data provided to you.
• Customer Service Data and E-Commerce Data.
When emails submitted for Customer Service matches your Samsung account, the Customization Service may access, collect and analyze data obtained through your interactions with Samsung Customer Service, such as records of repair and customer interactions with Customer Service personnel, your purchase history at Samsung stores and information about promotions in which you have participated.
• Information Related to Third-Party Apps and Services.
By permitting the connection to a third-party app or service, you can enable the Customization Service to utilize the data regarding your usage of these third-party apps and services, and to provide you with customized features. We may collect personal information about your online activities on your devices over time. We will also collect information made available through third-party platforms and apps, namely the frequency, time and duration of app usage (but no information on what actions you have performed within an app), through online databases or directories, or that is otherwise legitimately obtained.
Please be informed that Customization Service may as part of the data categories described above also collect sensitive data or data which in combination may allow conclusions on sensitive information. Such potentially sensitive information will be eliminated from further processing and will not be used by Samsung for customized servicing nor improve personalized advertising.
We also may collect other information about you, your devices and apps, and your use of Customization Service in ways that we describe to you at the time of collection or otherwise with your consent.
How We Use the Information We Obtain
Customized Servicing
The Customization Service combines and analyzes your information to create a profile about you and provide your data to the Services and third-party apps you have authorized for the following purposes:
• to provide you with customized content and information;
• to analyze methods of providing you with better Services; and
• to improve and develop the Services.
Customized Advertising and Direct Marketing
Based on your separate consent to “Improve personalized ads with Samsung account data,” we will customize the advertising we send you with data we have collected through the Customization Service about products and services offered by Samsung and third parties that are more relevant to your interests. Please be informed that the profile we create from the raw data will also be used to provide you with advertising, where you have separately consented to receive advertising or news and special offers from us.
In addition to the above, we use the information collected for the purposes described in the Samsung US Privacy Policy and for the following purposes:
• to identify and authenticate you so you may use Customization Service;
• to respond to your requests, inquiries, and instructions made through or about the Customization Service and/or Services;
• to allow you to interact with and use participating Samsung and third-party apps and services; and
• to operate, evaluate and improve the Customization Service and Services and our business (including developing new products and services; enhancing and improving our products and services; managing our communications; analyzing our products, services and customer base; conducting market research; performing data analytics; and performing accounting, auditing and other internal functions).
We use and combine the information we collect about you from Customization Service with data from other services or features you use, and your devices, as well as 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 for the purposes above.
Improve personalized advertising with Samsung account data
If you have consented to Improve personalized ads with Samsung account data, in addition to any of our other advertising consents, you may see relevant advertising based on your Samsung Account data and information we collect through the Customization Service, including app usage, search terms and/or internet browsing history and apps. If you have also consented to Improve personalized ads with precise location data, the advertising you see will be relevant according to the precise location of your mobile device.
You may choose to disable Improve personalized ads with Samsung account data on your devices at any time via the Samsung account Settings > Security and Privacy menu in your Samsung account.
Please see Advertising section in Samsung Account Privacy Notice https://account.samsung.com/membership/policy/privacy for more detail on how your data is used for advertising.
Information Sharing
As stated above, this Privacy Notice supplements the Samsung US Privacy Policy (available at https://account.samsung.com/membership/terms/privacypolicy), which describes our information sharing practices.
Your Choices (including how to withdraw your consent to using the Customization Service)
Samsung respects the choices made by you and strives to offer a variety of ways for you to control your information. You may, at any time, disable the Customization Service via the “Customization Service” option in the Settings menu of your Samsung account, in which case Samsung will suspend the provision of customized content and information, as well as the Customization Service’s collection, combination and analysis of your information.
Furthermore, you can choose the categories of information that the Customization Service may collect and analyze, as well as the Customization Service’s support for certain Services. However, any subsequent decisions will not affect the information already collected, combined and analyzed by the Customization Service and disabling the Customization Service will not cause information previously collected and analyzed by the Customization Service to be deleted. Even if you disable the Customization Service, you can still use the default features provided by each of the Services. You can select a variety of options, outlined below:
To change the Customization Service’s settings in your Samsung account, please perform the following:
a. Smartphones/Tablets: Settings > Privacy > Customization Service
b. Smart Hub enabled devices including Smart TV: Settings > Samsung Account > My Account > Security and Privacy > Customization Service
The specific settings above may be subject to change with updated or new device models supporting the Customization Service. Please note that your customized user experience may change as a result of disabling the Customization Service.
How can I delete information obtained by the Customization Service?
Information collected and analyzed by the Customization Service will be deleted after you delete your Samsung Account. You also may request the deletion of specific categories of data that have been collected and analyzed by the Customization Service at any time, even before deleting your Samsung Account, via the Data management menu in your Samsung Account. Please note that, in some cases, it may take some time before the information saved on our servers is completely deleted.
What happens if I delete information collected by the Customization Service or stop the Customization Service’s collection of some of the information?
If you delete collected information, the accuracy and/or quality of the customized content delivered to you by the Customization Service may decrease. Moreover, some customization features may require information that you have deleted or to which you have denied the Customization Service access, and it may only be possible to resume receiving those features by allowing the Customization Service to collect and use the relevant information again.
Notice To California Residents
If you are a California consumer, for more information about your privacy rights, please see the California Consumer Privacy Statement, available at https://www.samsung.com/us/account/privacy-policy/california.
Notice to Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia Residents
If you are a Colorado, Connecticut, Utah or Virginia resident, for more information about privacy rights that may be available to you subject to applicable law, please see the section of the Samsung US Privacy Policy called “Your Rights and Choices,” available at https://account.samsung.com/membership/terms/privacypolicy.
Updates to This Privacy Notice
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time and without prior notice to you to reflect changes in our personal information practices with respect to the Customization Service. We will indicate at the top of this Privacy Notice when it was most recently updated.