Explanation for Customers Using News Suite Application
NEWS SUITE APPLICATION PRIVACY POLICY
Last Revised and Effective Date: 2023-10-01
[ Language : English ]
This Privacy Policy explains the following items.
i. How Sony Group Corporation (“Sony”, “we”, “our” or “us”) will read, collect, use, share and/or store information about you and your use of the News Suite application and the content you access through the application. This Privacy Policy only applies to the information collected by and through the News Suite application and does not cover any information collected at any other application or website or offline by Sony (unless specifically stated).
ii. How you can contact us.
1. About the News Suite service
The News Suite service aggregates information from multiple online sources (such as news feeds with Really Simply Syndication (RSS)). You can access the service via the News Suite application that is pre-installed or can be downloaded to your device. Using the application, you can select which online sources you wish the service to aggregate. The application’s user interface will then display the combined information to you in one place as a single feed. In addition, the application has a feature that displays details about online sources that we believe you may be interested in receiving information from based on the content that you access via your News Suite application.
2. What information do we collect?
When you use the News Suite application, the application may read and communicate to us, for our collection, use and/or storage, the following types of information (collectively, “Collected Data”) for the purposes described below in Section 3. Collected Data includes information that you may provide to us and information that is collected automatically as you use the News Suite application. Some of the Collected Data may be considered personal information under applicable law in your jurisdiction.
i. Your News Suite application settings：For example, the country and language you selected during setup and whether you have enabled certain features, and which news feeds with RSS you have registered to receive information from.
ii. Your device information： For example, model name, version, OS settings, installed apps, Advertising ID (An Android Ad ID or an Identification For Advertisers (IDFA) provided by iOS) and your IP address.
iii. Unique ID： Data that is automatically generated when you first start using the News Suite application, such as a device ID.
iv. Information about your use of the News Suite application：We may also collect information about your content browsing history and preferences while using the News Suite application, including the date and time of your visit, which news feeds you read and which posts you share with others. When you use the News Suite application, data on your usage (such as the date and time of your visit, pages called up and files requested, type and version of the web browser used by you, type and operating system of the end device you use as well as your IP address) is temporarily stored in a log file on our server.
v. Upload History Log (Android smartphone, Android tablet, iOS smartphone and iOS tablet) ：For quality and feature improvement purposes, this feature sends usage statistics of News Suite application to the Sony server.
This feature requires an Internet connection.
"Upload History Log" settings can be altered.
Please note that the News Suite application may read and communicate the information above to us, even if the application is not currently displayed to you on your device.
The Collected Data will be uploaded in connection with the Advertising ID. Such Advertising ID can be disabled or reset by you in the settings on your device.
3. How Sony uses Collected Data
Sony may retain, use and disclose the Collected Data described above in Section 2, subject to applicable laws, for the following purposes:
i. Service provision
To provide you with the features and functions of the News Suite application and service that you request.
ii. To provide you with information about news feeds with RSS and other content.
These suggestions may be personalised using, in particular, Collected Data we collect about your use of the News Suite application as described in Section 2(v).
iii. Updates and development
To help the News Suite application and service run better, to provide you with software updates, and to develop and introduce new features and functions for the News Suite application and service.
iv. Future product/service development
To assist us with the development of entirely new products and services.
v. Compliance and enforcement
To enforce and ensure compliance with the terms of use for the News Suite application and service and this Privacy Policy.
vi. Advertising and Analytics
To provide you with targeted and contextual advertising and offers both within the News Suite application and elsewhere online. Also, to perform analytics, research, surveys, and product analysis and development.
By using the News Suite application, you consent to use of the Collected Data as described in Section 2 for the above purposes in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to use of the Collected Data for these purposes, you should not use the News Suite application.
4. Who else has access to Collected Data?
Collected Data that is communicated to and stored by Sony may be made available to third parties, as follows:
i. Third party contractors and service providers
(a) News searching function by keywords utilizes Bing, provided by Microsoft Corporation. The keywords you input will be sent to the server of Bing. Please refer to the Microsoft Services Agreement (https://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/microsoft-services-agreement).
(b) Message display function for Android smartphone or tablet utilizes Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), provided by Google Inc. Messages you receive and your user log will be sent to the server of Google Inc. and such information may be used for FCM and/or in accordance with Google’s Privacy Policy (https://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html). In addition, advertisements delivered by Google Inc. may be included in the messages you receive.
(c) Message display function for iOS smartphone or tablet utilizes Apple Push Notification service (APNs), provided by Apple Inc. (“Apple”). Messages you receive and your user log will be sent to the server of Apple and such information may be used for APNs and/or in accordance with Apple ’s Privacy Policy (https://www.apple.com/privacy/).
(d) Collected Data may be processed by third party contractors of Sony that Sony uses to provide services that assist in the provision and operation of the News Suite application and service.
ii. Business transfer
Collected Data may be transferred by us as part of a transaction whereby we will transfer all or part of our business, in which case Collected Data held by us about our customers will be one of the transferred assets.
iii. Compliance
We may process any of the Collected Data as required or permitted by law, regulation or order, including to the police or other appropriate authorities, to investigate complaints made by or against you, or to protect or defend ourselves, or others, against illegal, criminal or harmful activities.
5. What do we use Collected Data for, on what legal basis, and for how long?
The processing of certain Collected Data (i.e. the Collected Data listed in 2.1, 2.2, 2.3) is necessary in order to provide the application and render the services and thereafter to ensure the system security. This includes in particular (i) to provide you with the features and functions of the News Suite application and service that you request, (ii) in order to help the News Suite application and service run better, to provide you with software updates, to develop and introduce new features and functions for the News Suite application and service, and (iii) to enforce and ensure compliance with the terms of use for the News Suite application and service and this Privacy Policy.
Personal data will be deleted when the above mentioned purposes are fulfilled and a legal basis no longer exists, latest after 6 months after your last use. That data may then be assessed in aggregated or anonymized form for statistical purposes and to improve the quality of our products and services.
6. Third-party analytics providers, ad servers, and similar third parties
Sony works with network advertisers, ad agencies, analytics service providers, and other vendors to provide us with information regarding traffic on the News Suite application (including pages and content viewed and the actions taken when visiting the News Suite application), to serve advertisements within the News Suite application and to serve our advertisements elsewhere online, and to provide us with information regarding the use of the News Suite application and the effectiveness of our advertisements. Our service providers may collect certain information about your visits to and activity on the News Suite application and other websites and services and may use this information to target advertising to you.
These service providers may set and access their own tracking technologies on your device and may otherwise collect or have access to information about you, which may be used to (among other things): target advertisements, prevent you from seeing the same advertisements too many times, and conduct research regarding the usefulness of certain advertisements to you. We may share usage information about visitors with third-party advertising companies, analytics providers and other vendors for similar purposes. These third party service providers may collect personal information over time when you visit the News Suite application or other third-party applications, online websites and services.
For our service providers and their privacy policies applicable to the collection and usage of your information, please see below:
https://socialife.sony.net/privacy/adnetwork_ww.html
For how to opt out of targeted advertisements by changing settings on your mobile device, see the following.
https://support.tvsideview.sony.net/5/tvsideview/apn_opt_out/top_en/index.html
Please note that advertising and analytics companies may still collect information from you and opting out through these mechanisms does not opt you out of being served advertising. You will continue to be served generic ads while online or on your device. The News Suite application is an advertising supported application. If you wish to stop the collection of data entirely by these service providers or prefer not to receive any advertisements, you must uninstall the News Suite application.
7. Welcome Screen Messages
A welcome screen may be displayed when you start the News Suite application if we have something new to tell you. For example, it may display messages from us about new content that is available via the application or an update of the application software that introduces new features and/or functionality. You can opt-out of receiving new content and general application update messages via the “Notification” setting in the application’ s settings. If you do opt-out, you may still be shown important system messages, for example, details of when the News Suite service will be unavailable for scheduled maintenance.
8. Transfer of Collected Data internationally
Collected Data will be processed and transferred for the purposes set forth above in Section 3 to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or your country of residence, including Japan and the US. Collected Data will be processed by staff operating outside the EEA and/or your country of residence who work for us or for one of our service providers and may be seen by such staff in those countries. Data protection and privacy laws in these countries may not offer the same level of protection as in the EEA and/or your country of residence and you may have fewer legal rights in relation to your information.
By using the News Suite application, you consent to these transfers taking place. If you do not consent to these transfers taking place, you should not use the application.
9. Security Control Measures
Sony seeks to maintain reasonable security measures in order to attempt to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of Collected Data. Although we strive to protect Collected Data, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information transmitted to us through our News Suite applications or that we store on our systems or that is stored on our third party contractors’ systems.
10. Children’s privacy
Sony is committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations regarding the process of personal information concerning children, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act in the United States and applicable local legislation in other countries. This application is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under the age of 16. If you are a parent or guardian and are concerned that your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, you should contact us as indicated below.
11. Privacy Rights (including EEA and California/Other U.S. State Privacy Rights)
Notice to EU Residents
In some countries, including countries in the EEA, you have certain rights with respect to the personal information Sony holds about you. These may include rights to: request a copy of the personal information that we hold about you, and/or you may request that we correct, amend, delete the Information if it is inaccurate. In some countries, including countries in the EEA, you may also ask us to provide some types of the Information to you in a structured, machine readable format and ask us to share (port) such data with another controller. These rights may be limited, for example if fulfilling your request would reveal personal data about another person, or if you ask us to delete personal information which we are required by law to keep, or have compelling legitimate interests in keeping. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us as described in Section 11 below.
Notice to California Residents
California Privacy Notice
If you reside in California, we are required to provide additional information to you about how we collect, use and disclose your information, and you have the right to request that we provide you with access to Collected Data, delete Collected Data, and to opt-out of any sale of personal information. Please refer to this California-specific information below.
CA Personal Information. Consistent with the "Collection of Information" section above, we may collect certain categories of information about California residents ("CA Personal Information"), specifically:
o Other Identifiers: such as Advertising ID, IP address, or other unique identifiers;
o Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity: such as usage Information, device and connection information, browser type, operating system, page views, and application usage and other standard weblog information collected via cookies, web beacons, and related tracking technologies;
Sources of CA Personal Information. Consistent with the "Collection of Information" section above, we may collect CA Personal Information from the following sources:
o Directly from you: such as when you voluntarily provide CA Personal Information to us or our service providers, or automatically when you download and use the application;
o Third-Party Business Partners: such as Google, Inc.;
CA Personal Information Sold or Disclosed For Business Purposes.
• Sharing of your CA Personal Information for Business Purposes: In the preceding twelve months, we may have shared the following categories of CA Personal Information for business purposes: Advertising ID, Internet or Other Electronic Activity.
• “Sale” of CA Personal Information: In the preceding twelve months, we may have “sold” (as defined under California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”)) the following categories of CA Personal Information to Advertising Networks: Advertising ID, Internet or Other Electronic Activity.
California Consumer Rights. Subject to certain exceptions, as a California resident, you may have the following rights to your CA Personal Information:
• Request to Know. Request access to your CA Personal Information that we have collected, used, disclosed for business purposes, or “sold” within the preceding 12 months;
• Request to Delete. Request deletion of your CA Personal Information; provided that, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we may be required to retain some of your CA Personal Information, and certain CA Personal Information is strictly necessary in order for us to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
If you wish to exercise a right listed in this section, you may submit a request here: https://socialife.sony.net/en_ww/newssuite/contact/privacy/
“Do Not Sell My Personal Information.” If we sell your CA Personal Information to a third party, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your CA Personal Information. If you wish to exercise this right, you may submit a request here:
https://support.tvsideview.sony.net/5/tvsideview/apn_opt_out/top_en/index.html
We do not knowingly sell the CA Personal Information of users younger than the age of 16.
Exercising Your Rights. If you are a California resident and wish to exercise any of these rights, please: (a) use the appropriate links above; or (b) call the following toll-free number 1-833-681-9900 with the specific nature of your request, referencing “California Privacy Rights – News Suite application”. When submitting your request, you must include your first and last name, email address, and zip code or mailing address. You may be asked to provide additional proof of identification so that we can verify your identity, and we may require that you validate your request. Please note that you are limited by law in the number of requests you may submit per year.
We will not discriminate against you by offering you different pricing or products, or by providing you with a different level or quality of products, or in connection with promotions and other offerings, based upon you exercising your rights with respect to your CA Personal Information.
Authorized Agents: To the extent that you elect to designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf, they must provide appropriate documentation including written, signed permission from you, proof of your identity, and verification of their identity; or a valid, designated power of attorney as defined in the California Probate Code. We may require additional proof of authority or may need to contact you directly to validate the request.
Additional Notice to California Residents:
If you are a California resident, under the California “Shine the Light” law, you have the right to receive: a) information identifying any third party company(ies) to which we may have disclosed, within the past year, personal information pertaining to you and your family for that company's direct marketing purposes; and b) a description of the categories of personal information disclosed. To obtain such information, please email your request to privacy@am.sony.com, and include your name, email address, address or zip code, and a reference to “Your California Privacy Rights.” We are not responsible for requests that are not labeled or sent properly, or do not have complete information.
Notice to Nevada Residents – Your Nevada Privacy Rights:
If you are a Nevada resident, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of certain personally identifiable information we have collected about you to third parties. Sony does not currently sell your personally identifiable information as those terms are defined under Nevada law. However, if you wish to submit a request to opt-out of the sale of such information if Sony were to engage in such a sale in the future, you may submit your request in writing to: privacy@am.sony.com. Your request must reference your Nevada rights and include your name, mailing address, zip code, and email address. Your request is subject to verification of your identity by us and validation of your request. We are not responsible for requests that do not come through the designated request mechanism or do not contain sufficient information to allow us to process your request. Sony will respond to valid requests within sixty (60) days.
12. Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. We will post the revised version, with an updated revision date, at the menu of “Setting >> About >> Privacy Policy” in News Suite application and/or on our website, and the changes are effective when we post them (or on such date as indicated in the updated policy). By continuing to access or use the News Suite application after those changes become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Privacy Policy. If we update this Privacy Policy, we may, in our discretion, choose to notify you through the News Suite application or via any other method.
13. Contact Information
For further information on our Privacy Policy, including inquiries, complaints, or disputes related to the collection and use of your information, please submit your request via https://socialife.sony.net/en_ww/newssuite/contact/privacy/
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