Privacy Notice for Samsung SmartThings
This Privacy Notice is supplemental to the Samsung Privacy Policy at https://account.samsung.com/membership/pp and explains the privacy practices of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a company incorporated under the laws of South Korea and headquartered at 129, Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, and Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of England and headquartered at Samsung House, 1000 Hillswood Drive, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 OPS (together “Samsung”, “we”, “us”, “our”) with respect to the information collected through Samsung SmartThings, Samsung branded Internet of Things devices, and other connected services and applications. This Privacy Notice provides details about how your personal information will be collected, used, shared, and stored in connection with Samsung SmartThings and should always be read together with the Samsung Privacy Policy.
In case of any inconsistency or conflict between the terms of this Privacy Notice and the Samsung Privacy Policy, the terms of this Privacy Notice shall prevail.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Samsung Electronics (UK) Ltd. are joint data controllers for the processing of personal data.
If we update this Privacy Notice, you will be notified of the new terms in advance by email or on-screen message and you will be required to read them to continue your use of Samsung SmartThings.
You can see when this Privacy Notice was last revised by referring to the “Version” at the top of this page.
Click on one of the links below to jump to the listed section:
l What types of information will Samsung SmartThings collect about you?
l How is the collected information used?
l How can you delete information obtained by Samsung SmartThings?
l To whom do we disclose your personal information?
l How We Protect Your Personal Information
What types of information will Samsung SmartThings collect about you?
When you use the Samsung SmartThings service, we will collect the following categories of information:
l Your Account Information: Samsung SmartThings will collect your account information, which is necessary to initiate and provide the Samsung SmartThings service to you. This will include information such as name, Samsung account ID, email address, mailing address and phone number, username, and password. Your account information will not only include the information that you input in the Samsung SmartThings application to create a Samsung account, but also the account information in the third party service partner’s application which you pass through to access Samsung SmartThings. This account information will be processed in order for each service and/or application to interact with our Samsung SmartThings application.
l Application, Appliance, and Device Usage Information: we will collect your usage information created during your use of the Samsung SmartThings application, such as app logs; groups, rules, and location names; and other configuration information. As Samsung SmartThings may consist of several sets of home appliances, sensors, Samsung SmartThings hubs, smart bulbs, home monitoring cameras, etc. (“Home IoT Devices”), Samsung SmartThings will also collect usage information related to the Home IoT Devices, such as Home IoT Device model, name, group name or nickname, and location name assigned to the device; mobile country code; mobile network operator; OS version; IP address and IMEI; sensor and configuration data; error and malfunction logs; usage information; device identifier (e.g. ICCID); and device’s Automation name and Configuration information. The main purpose of processing such information is to provide the service that you have requested. For example, when you choose to use a motion sensor, Samsung SmartThings will collect the information detected by the sensor, such as logs which indicate the motion of a person who resides at your home, to automatically turn on the light or to give you an alert if any unknown person trespasses in your home. Samsung SmartThings will also collect the usage/settings information of home appliances connected to Samsung SmartThings, where this feature is enabled. For example, the temperature information inside your refrigerator, the time information which shows how long you have used the air conditioner for, and other information about the functions you have chosen will be collected not only to display the device/appliance status through your mobile application, but also to understand your use of Home IoT Devices and so that we can continue to improve the Samsung SmartThings service.
l Video Clips Recorded by the Home Monitoring Camera: for users who connect video or audio recording devices to Samsung SmartThings, Samsung SmartThings will collect the video clips which are recorded by the home monitoring camera, based upon your choices, to provide the service you request via the Samsung SmartThings application.
l Voice Information: for users who connect the Samsung voice assistant to Samsung SmartThings, information about your conversation with the Samsung voice assistant will be collected to provide you with better feedback and to improve the service quality of the voice assistant.
l Location Information: for users who separately consent to the collection and use of location data, the geolocation data is collected to provide advanced automation features, for example Sunrise/Sunset notification, and to wake up your Home IoT devices automatically when you arrive at home. If you want to stop processing your location information, you can disable “Use location information” in Samsung SmartThings settings.
l Smart TV Information: for users who connect Samsung Smart TV to Samsung SmartThings, information about the Smart TV content these users purchase, including user voucher or gift card numbers; and information to enable users to set reminders for Smart TV and to enable calendar notification on the Smart TV will be collected.
Samsung SmartThings will also collect information about your Smart TV and other devices which will be added to and connected with the Samsung SmartThings application and the Samsung SmartThings Hub, and your use of such devices in ways that we will describe to you at the time of collection or otherwise with your separate consent.
Samsung does not knowingly or intentionally collect any sensitive personal data from you, but please note that we do not ensure that sensitive information may not be unintentionally shared with us while using the Samsung SmartThings application and other Home IoT Devices. Samsung will retain your personal information in accordance with our data retention policies, and will delete any personal information that we do not need to collect.
How is the collected information used?
Samsung SmartThings will use the collected information described above for the following purposes:
l to enable you to control the Home IoT Devices, Smart TV, and other devices via the Samsung SmartThings application;
l to provide services or features you request via the Samsung SmartThings application;
l to respond to your requests and enquiries, and to communicate with you about Samsung SmartThings;
l to provide users who contact the customer service centre with a remote maintenance service for errors or malfunctions associated with Samsung home appliances connected to Samsung SmartThings;
l to link your account information with selected Third Party Service Partners’ applications, devices, features, and services;
l to operate, evaluate, and improve our business (including developing new products and services; enhancing and improving our products, services, and Samsung SmartThings; analysing our products and services; aggregating and anonymising data and performing data analytics; and performing accounting, auditing, and other internal functions);
l for users who enable “Customisation Service” in Samsung account, to use data collected through the Samsung SmartThings app (The data will be used for the purposes described in the “Privacy Notice for Customisation Service”. If you want to stop using the data for the Customisation Service, please visit the [https://account.samsung.com/mobile/account/CustomizedServiceContentOAuth2.do] for more information.);
l for Samsung Smart TV users, to (i) enable users to purchase Smart TV digital content, (ii) provide a history of purchased Smart TV digital content, (iii) enable users to set reminders for Smart TV digital content, and (iv) enable users to receive calendar notifications on Samsung Smart TV; and
l to comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards, and our policies, including this Privacy Notice, the Samsung account Privacy Policy, and the Samsung SmartThings Terms and Conditions.
How can you delete information obtained by Samsung SmartThings?
Information collected and processed by Samsung SmartThings will be deleted when you delete your Samsung account. You also may request the deletion of data that has been collected by Samsung SmartThings at any time, even before deleting your Samsung account, via “Personal Information” in the “Settings” menu of this application. Please note that, in some cases, it may take some time before the information saved on our servers is completely deleted.
To whom do we disclose your personal information?
We may disclose your information internally within our business to the relevant teams such as, without limitation, the customer services team, the legal team, and where you have chosen to receive marketing messages, the marketing teams. We will not disclose your information to third parties for their own independent marketing or business purposes without your separate consent. However, we may share your information with the following entities:
l Third Party Service Partners: we may share your information with Samsung SmartThings business partners, including wireless carriers and third parties that operate apps and services that you connect with Samsung SmartThings. The main purpose is to link your use of our Samsung SmartThings service to the third party’s service. These entities may provide their own applications or services, and when using their services, other information not described in this Privacy Notice may be collected and used for their own business purposes. To the extent any linked device, app, or feature is not owned or controlled by us, we are not responsible for the security, privacy, or data processing of any information collected by or shared with such third party service partners. We strongly recommend that you review the privacy statements applicable to such third parties via their services, applications, or websites.
l Affiliates and Service Providers: we may share your personal information with our subsidiaries and affiliates, as well as with third party service providers who help us to provide and maintain the Samsung SmartThings service and to improve the service quality. We do not authorise them to use or disclose the information except as necessary to perform requested services on our behalf or to comply with legal requirements.
l Other Users who use the same Home IoT Devices as you: as the Samsung SmartThings application enables you to create your own Samsung SmartThings location groups and share the operating status with other users who are in the same location group, information related to your use of Samsung SmartThings may also be disclosed to such users in the same location group. If you are a user of the location group and are not willing to disclose your usage information with other users in the location group, then you should remove yourself from the group. If you are the primary user, you can withdraw certain members from the group to which the device is assigned.
l We, our subsidiaries and affiliates, and our third party service providers also may disclose information about you (1) if we are required to do so by law or legal process (such as a court order or subpoena); (2) in response to requests by government agencies, such as law enforcement authorities; (3) to establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights; (4) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical or other harm or financial loss; (5) in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity; (6) in the event of a potential or actual sale or transfer of all or a portion of our business or assets (including in the event of a merger, acquisition, joint venture, reorganisation, divestiture, dissolution, or liquidation); or (7) otherwise with your separate consent.
How We Protect Your Personal Information
We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we obtain through Samsung SmartThings against unlawful or unauthorised destruction, interference, loss, alteration, access, disclosure, or use. However, please note that despite our reasonable efforts to protect your information, no system or wireless connection is completely secure.
Your use of Samsung SmartThings may involve the transfer, storage, and processing of your information outside of your country of residence, consistent with this policy. Such countries may include, without limitation, the Republic of Korea, the United States of America, and Japan. 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. We will take appropriate measures, in compliance with applicable law, to ensure that your personal information remains protected.
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, disconnect specific Home IoT Devices from Samsung SmartThings to stop the data collection from such devices. When you disconnect the device, then the data stored on our server may not be deleted immediately, and will be retained in accordance with legal requirements, but the data from such device will no longer be collected unless you reconnect the same device to Samsung SmartThings.
You are entitled, in accordance with applicable law, to object to or request restriction of the processing of your personal information, and to request access to, rectification, or removal of your own personal information. Requests can be made to our customer service department via the “Contact us” menu on the Samsung SmartThings customer support webpage at https://help.content.samsung.com, or to the European Data Protection Officer, Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited, Samsung House, 1000 Hillswood Drive, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0PS. Please note, however, that if you decline to allow Samsung SmartThings to collect or share certain information, you may not be able to use all of the features available through Samsung SmartThings.
Samsung also ensures your right to data portability. You may be entitled to extract your data in connection with your account information from the server where your data collected via the Samsung SmartThings application is stored. Please visit “Personal Information” in the “Settings” menu of the Samsung SmartThings app and click the “Download” button to extract your data.