Shokz Privacy Policy

SHOKZ PRIVACY POLICY

Effective date: 15th November, 2023

 

INTRODUCTION

Your (“you”) privacy is important to Shokz Holding Limited, AfterShokz Euro B.V., Shenzhen Shokz Co., Ltd., SHOKZ (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD., AfterShokz LLC and its affiliated entities under common ownership and control within the Shokz family of companies (collectively, “Shokz”, “we”, “our” or “us”).

This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use, disclose, process and protect any information that you give us when you use our products and services located at uk.shokz.com , fr.shokz.com , de.shokz.com , nl.shokz.com , jp.shokz.com , shokz.com , ca.shokz , comshokz.com.au , es.shokz.com , it.shokz.com and our applications. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using Shokz products and services, it will only be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy and/or our terms and Terms of Service.

The Privacy Policy is designed with you in mind, and it is important that you have a comprehensive understanding of our personal information collection and usage practices, as well as full confidence that ultimately, you have control of any personal information provided to Shokz.

In this Privacy Policy, “personal information” means information that can be used to directly or indirectly identify an individual, either from that information alone or from that information combined with other information Shokz has access to that individual. Such personal information may include, but not limited to the information you provide to us or upload, the information specific to you that may be assigned by us (as defined in the “The Information We Collect and How We Use It” below).

By using Shokz products and services or other acting permitted by the applicable laws, you are deemed to have read, acknowledged and accepted all the provisions stated here in the Privacy Policy, including any changes we may make from time to time and that your personal information may be transferred to or accessed by entities around the world to perform processing activities such as those described in this Privacy Policy in connection with your use of our products and services. In order to comply with General Data Protection Regulation (referred to as “GDPR”) in European Union, we will specifically seek prior explicit consent to the particular processing (e.g. automated individual decision-making) of special categories of personal information. Furthermore, we are committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of your personal information by complying with applicable laws, and we are equally committed to ensuring that all our employees and agents uphold these obligations. Residents of certain jurisdictions, such as California, may have additional personal information rights and notices. Please see Section 14 (Additional Information for Certain Jurisdictions) below for more information. 

If you have questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Policy or practices, please contact us at privacy@shokz.com. We will be happy to address them directly.

This Privacy Policy contains the following sections:

 

1.The Information We Collect and Sources of Information

In order to provide our Services to you, we will collect your personal information directly from you, automatically when you use our Services or interact with us, and from third parties. We will only collect the information that is necessary for its specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes.

We may collect the following categories of information (which may or may not be personal information):

A.Information you provide directly to us or upload

When you use our Services, you may provide certain information to us. Some of the most common categories of information we collect directly from you include:

  • Identifiers, such as contact information, including name, address, telephone number, email address. If you represent an entity, we may further require your occupation or representative position information regarding such an entity.
  • Location information, your general location information such as zip code,(only for specific services/functionalities): various types of information on your location (e.g. IP address) collected from your computer or mobile device when you when you provide your feedback through our Contact Support page or access our Help Centre page on the website..
  • Customer service interaction information, such as messages, comments, and feedback submitted to us through online forms or email, and summaries or voice or video recordings of interactions with our customer service personnel.
  • Commercial information, such as your Company’s name and Number of employees,products viewed on our website.
  • Information you provide in connection with surveys, interviews or other Shokz’s marketing activities, such as your interests, preferences, demographic data (e.g., gender, age), income, lifestyle and other information you are willing to provide.
  • User behavior information: information related to your use of certain functions, apps and websites by using cookies and other anonymous identifier technologies.
  • Device or SIM-related information (only for specific services/functionalities): information related to your device. For example, IP address, IMEI number.
  • Any other information you choose to directly provide to Shokz in connection with your use of the Services.

 

B.Information that occurred or was collected online automatically

When you use our Services, we may automatically collect certain information. We use a variety of third-party technologies, including cookies and similar tools, to assist in collecting this information. Some of the information we automatically collect when you use our Services includes:

  • Online Activity and Browsing Information, such as links clicked, page views, purchases, searches, items viewed within the Site, information uploaded, items you add to your cart, the state or country from which you accessed the Site and your interactions within the Site. For more information, please see Cookies and Similar Technologies
  • Information related to your device or SIM card, such as your IP address, device type, browser type and network status.

C.Information that may be shared by Third Parties

When you participate in certain raffles, campaigns, competitions, or other third-party activities, the third party may share your personal information with us, such as your phone number and email address. If you purchase our products from a distributor, we may also collect information about your contact details, purchase details, and customer service interaction from the distributor. Additionally, we may collect and use account information assigned to you by third-party service providers if you access our Services through a third-party website or social media platform.

2.How We Use Your Information

We may use your personal information to, for example, provide the products you have ordered, advertise to you, provide customer service, improve Site functionality and user experience, improve our products and services, personalize the Site, and/or communicate with you.

In detail, we may use your information for the following purposes:

  • To Provide the Features of the Site and the Services You Request. When you use our Site, we will use your personal information to provide the requested product or service. For example, if you make a purchase on the Site, we will use your personal information to fulfill your order and complete the transaction. If you participate in a promotion, we will use the contact information you give us to communicate with you about the promotion. If you contact our consumer services, we will use information about you, such as delivery or payment information, or the product you have purchased, to help you resolve a problem or question.
  • To Communicate with You. We use your personal information to keep in touch with you regarding your orders, products and services. Meanwhile, in order to follow up on the feedback you have chosen to provide, Shokz may correspond with you using the personal information that you have provided and keep records.
  • For Research, Analytics and Improvement. We use information to better understand how consumers engage with the Site and our products and offerings, including consumer behaviors and preferences. We administer surveys and questionnaires, such as for market research or member satisfaction purposes. We also use the information for other research and analytical purposes, such as to evaluate and improve our Site and business operations, to develop services and features, to improve the usability and effectiveness of our products and for internal quality control and training purposes.
  • For Brand Marketing and Promotion. We use your personal information to conduct marketing and advertising-related activities, such as providing marketing, differentiated marketing, and promotional materials and updates. For example, we may use the email address and telephone number to provide marketing materials to you relating to Shokz products and services. You can unsubscribe by following the instructions provided in the marketing email/messages.
  • To improve Your Experience and Our Services. We use personal information, including inferences drawn from your personal information, to improve your experience on our Site.
  • Review and Content Creation Purposes. We use your personal information, including your contact information, commercial information, and audio and visual information to enable reviews of our products and to display content that you have created and allowed us to display on our Site and Services and social media.
  • To Comply with Legal Obligations and for Security and Fraud Prevention. We may also access and use your personal information, including the content of your communications, to respond to lawful requests or legal processes, to protect the rights or property of Shokz or our customers (including the enforcement of our agreements or policies governing your use of our Sites and Services), and to comply with court orders, governmental requests, and applicable law. In addition, we may need to keep some personal information as evidence in case of a dispute, complaint, or audit.
  • Other purposes. We may also use your personal information in other ways and will provide specific notice at the time of collection and obtain your consent where necessary.

3.Legal Bases for Use of Your Information

The legal bases for using your information as set out in this Privacy Policy are as follows:

  • Where use of your information is necessary to perform our obligations under a contract with you (for example, to comply with: the Terms of Services of our websites which you accept by browsing the websites/registering; and/or our contract to provide our Services to you); or
  • Where use of your information is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of others (for example, to provide security for our websites, products, applications; operate our business and our Services; ensure safe environments for our staff and visitors; make and receive payments; comply with legal requirements and defend our legal rights; prevent fraud and to know the customer to whom we are providing Services).
  • Where we have your consent, in accordance with applicable legal requirements, to use your information for a particular purpose.
  • Where we use your information to comply with applicable legal obligations (for example, keeping track of purchases for tax and auditing purposes).
  • Other circumstances of personal information use only to the extent it is allowed explicitly under local data protection laws.

4.Direct Marketing

We may use the email address to provide marketing materials to you relating to Shokz products and services.

To provide better user experience, we may recommend the above-mentioned products, services and activities based on information about your purchase history, website browsing history, and location.

We will only so use your personal data after we obtain your prior explicit consent and involve a clear affirmative action or indication of no objection in accordance with local data protection laws, which may require separate explicit consent. You have the right to opt out of our proposed use of your personal data for direct marketing by contacting us at customer.service@shokz.com. ·If you no longer wish to receive certain types of email communications, you may opt-out by following the unsubscribe link located at the bottom of each communication. We will not transfer your personal data to our business partners for use by our business partners in direct marketing.

 

5.Cookies and Similar Technologies

Like many websites, we use cookies, tracking pixels and other tracking technologies (collectively referred to as "Cookies"). Cookies are files stored on your computer's hard drive by your browser to enable the Website to remember you, your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time. This allows us to optimize the shopping experience, hold selections in a shopping cart when a user leaves the website without checking out and send you reminder e-mails about your shopping orders and other shopping opportunities. We also use Cookies to gather statistical information about the use of the website in order to improve its design and functionality, understand how the website is used, and assist us with resolving questions.

We use the following categories of Cookies on our Services

  • Strictly Required Cookies. These cookies are required for the website to run and cannot be switched off. Such cookies are only set in response to actions made by you such as language, currency, login session, and privacy preferences, and do not gather information about you for marketing purposes.
  • Analytics and Statistics Cookies. These cookies collect passive information about how you use our Services, including web pages you visit and links you click. We use the information collected by such cookies to improve and optimize our Services. We do not use these cookies to target you with online marketing. Before using these cookies, we will ask you for permission to activate the function, and you can disable these cookies as set forth below.
  • Marketing and Retargeting Cookies. These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. First-party advertising cookies: These cookies, which are proprietary to Shokz, serve advertisements on our Services that are solely related to your activities on our Services. These cookies do not collect or use information about your activities on other websites or services. Our third-party advertising partners may use these cookies to build a profile of your interests and deliver relevant advertising on other sites. Before using these cookies, we will ask you for permission to activate the function, and you can disable these cookies as set forth below.
  • Functional Cookies. These cookies enable our website to remember your choices so we can tailor our Services to provide you with enhanced features and personalized content. Before using these cookies, we will ask you for permission to activate the function. While these cookies can be disabled, this may result in less functionality during your use of our Services.

Some of the cookies and similar technologies we use are operated by third-party companies. We use third-party services, such as Google Analytics or Meta Pixel, which may collect usage data (using cookies, pixel tags and similar tools) about our Site to provide us with reports and metrics that help us to evaluate usage of our Site, improve performance and user experiences, and serve relevant advertising to you. In some cases, the processing of this data is subject to these third parties’ privacy policies (for example, for Google Analytics, see Google’s Privacy & Terms). If you do not want Google Analytics to collect and use information about your use of our Websites, then you can learn about Google’s practices by going to www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/ and exercise the opt-out provided by Google by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/

Most browsers accept Cookies automatically but allow you to disable them or be given the choice of declining or accepting a particular Cookie from a particular website. You can find out how to do this for your particular browser by clicking “help” on your browser’s menu or visiting https://www.allaboutcookies.org . In addition, if you prefer to opt out of having your information used for cookie-based ad-targeting activities or other purposes, you can visit the "Preferences" link at the bottom of our websites.

6.How We Share and Disclose Your Information

We do not “share” your personal data as that term is defined in California. We promise that we do not exchange your personal information for monetary consideration, however, we may share or disclose your information with Shokz’s affiliates or service providers who act on our behalf, in order to conduct business operations smoothly in providing you with the full capabilities of our products and services.

The parties with whom we may share or disclose your personal information include:

  • Shokz Affiliated Entities. We may disclose personal information within our affiliated entities under common ownership and control within the Shokz family of companies who are essential to maintain our worldwide brand and service, enable our global management, and enhance our Services and your customer experience.
  • Third-Party Service P We may disclose your personal information from time to time to our third-party service providers to provide services to us or on our behalf, such as shipping and deliveries, warehousing, stocking orders, providing customer service, marketing, distributing emails, chat support and functionality, web analytics and data analysis. These third-party service providers have access only to such personal information as appropriate to perform their functions and are contractually obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of your information.
  • Online Analytics Partner. As discussed in the Cookies and Similar Technologies section above, we may use third-party analytics services on our Services (e.g., Google Analytics or Meta Pixel) and allow certain third parties to collect your personal information. While we not sell or share your personal information in exchange for monetary consideration, these service providers may set and access their own cookies and similar technologies on our Services and on third-party services to collect information that can be used to track users over time and across services, which may be considered as “selling” in some jurisdictions.
  • Government, Courts and Law Enforcement. We may disclose information about you to these parties to comply with legal obligations as described above.
  • Business Transfers. As we continue to develop our business, we may engage in transactions with other companies regarding the purchase or sale of a business, parts of a business or our assets. We may disclose your information as part of, or in contemplation of, such transactions. If a portion or all of Shokz’s assets are transferred to a third party in connection with such transactions, your information may be among the transferred assets.
  • With Your Consent. We may disclose your personal information to any other third party where you have provided your consent.

7.Security and Retention of Your Information

A．Security Safeguards

We are committed to ensuring that your personal information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access, disclosure or other similar risks, we have put in place reasonable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect on Shokz websites.

We will take all practicable steps to safeguard your personal information. However, you should be aware that despite our efforts, no data transferred over the Internet is guaranteed to be 100% secure., and for this reason we cannot guarantee the security or integrity of any personal information that is transferred from you or to you via the Internet. You can help keep your data safe by taking reasonable steps to protect your personal information against unauthorized disclosure or misuse.

We regularly monitor our Services for possible vulnerabilities and attacks. If you have any concerns about the security of our Services, please contact us as detailed in the Contact Us section below so they may be addressed and resolved in a timely and effective manner.

B. Retention of Your Information

We retain information for different periods of time depending on the purposes for which we collect and use it, as described in this Privacy Policy. We will delete, anonymize or de-identify information when it is no longer needed to fulfill these purposes unless a longer retention period is required to comply with applicable laws. There may be technical or other operational reasons why we are unable to fully delete, anonymize or de-identify your information. Where this is the case, we will take reasonable measures to prevent further processing of your information.

8.Your Rights and Choices

Shokz recognizes that privacy concerns differ from person to person. Therefore, we provide you with the ability to exercise certain controls and choices regarding our collection, use, and disclosure of your information. Your legal rights to exercise such controls and choices vary based on the laws of your jurisdiction.

A.Privacy Rights

The privacy rights you may have include the following:

  • Right to know and access your personal information. You may have the right to know what personal information we collect about you, including the categories of personal information, the sources from and purposes for which we collect it, and the types of recipients we disclose it to, and to request a copy of the specific pieces of personal information that we maintain about you.
  • Right to withdrawal of consent. You have the right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used format and transmit the information to another data controller. You may withdraw your consent for the collection, use and/or disclosure of your personal information in our possession or control by submitting a request. This may be done by contacting us at privacy@shokz.com. We will process your request within a reasonable time from when the request was made, and thereafter not collect, use and/or disclose your personal information as per your request.Please recognize that your withdrawal of consent could result in certain legal consequences. Depending on the extent of your withdrawal of consent for us to process your personal information, it may mean that you will not be able to enjoy Shokz’s products and services.
  • Right to correct your personal information. Right to correct inaccurate personal information that we maintain about you.
  • Right to delete your personal information. You may request the deletion of the personal information that we have collected about you, subject to certain exceptions. We may not delete all of your personal information if one of the following exceptions applies:
  • Transactional: to complete a transaction for which the personal information was collected, provide a product or service requested by you, or perform a contract we have with you;
  • Security: to detect data security incidents; preserve the integrity or security of systems; or investigate, report, or prosecute those responsible for any such action;
  • Error Correction: to debug or repair any errors;
  • Legal: to protect against fraud, harassment, malicious or deceptive activities, or illegal activity or to comply with applicable law or a legal obligation, or exercise rights under the law, such as the right to free speech; to assist another party with any of its obligations under applicable privacy laws; or
  • Internal Use: to use your personal information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which you provided the information (i.e. to improve our services).
  • Right to opt out of “sales” or “sharing”. You may request to opt out of our sale of your personal information and sharing of the personal information. As discussed in the Cookies and Similar Technologies section above, certain third-party analysis service providers (e.g., Google Analytics or Meta Pixel) may collect your personal information, and these types of disclosures may be deemed a “sale” or “sharing” of your personal information under applicable privacy laws.
  • Sensitive Personal Information. We do not collect or process Sensitive Personal Information, as defined by California Law, for inferring characteristics or use or disclose Sensitive Personal Information for purposes other than those permitted by law.

B.Exercising Your Rights and Choices

You may submit privacy rights requests and manage your privacy choices in several ways.

  • Access, Correction, and Deletion of your Personal Information. You have the right to request to know more about and access your personal information (including in a portable format), request deletion of your personal information (including request closing the Shokz account), and request correction of inaccurate personal information.

To protect the privacy and security of your personal information, you may be asked to verify your identity before we proceed with your request. Once we obtain sufficient information to accommodate your request for access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, we shall proceed to respond to your request within any timeframe set out under applicable data protection laws. A copy of your personal information collected and processed by us will be provided to you upon your request free of charge (up to twice a year).

Only you or a person you are formally authorized to act on your behalf may make a verifiable consumer request related to your personal information. If you use an authorized agent to submit such a request, we will require written proof that the authorized agent has been authorized to act on your behalf or a copy of the power-of-attorney document granting that right.

If you wish to make multiple requests under this section, we recommend sending the deletion request last, as we will not be able to fulfill your other requests once we have deleted your information. We will maintain a record of your request to know or request to delete.

Please note that if we delete your personal information, many of our Services will not work the same. Some examples include, but are not limited to:

  • Customer Service: Our ability to handle customer service requests may be limited. We will not have the ability to look up prior orders or account information and may request proof of purchase in order to service your needs.
  • Marketing Communications: We will no longer be able to provide you with any marketing communications, including marketing communication such as information about new products, services and offers tailored to your interests.

To exercise your rights, you may make updates within your Shokz account on the Site, or you may contact us at privacy@shokz.com or make a request by calling customer service at 737-215-4011.

  • Unsubscribe from Our Marketing Communications. If you do not want us to use your email address to send you marketing materials or non-transactional promotional materials, you can easily opt out by clicking on the unsubscribe link provided at the bottom of any of our email messages. Alternatively, you may contact us by sending an email to privacy@shokz.com to request removal from our marketing communications.

For text (SMS/MMS) messages, if you wish to opt out, simply follow the instructions included in the messages you receive from Shokz. You can also reach out to us via email at privacy@shokz.com to opt out of receiving text messages.

Please note, that opting out or unsubscribing may not prevent you from receiving communications about your orders, products, or other important notices such as changes to our terms and policies, which are not marketing in nature.

  • Appeal for Shokz’s Response. We are concerned about your personal information and would like to hear from you if you are not satisfied with our responses to your requests. We have established an internal appeal mechanism, as the laws in some jurisdictions require, to review whether our decision about the prior request is correct.

If you feel unsatisfied with our responses to your right requests, please contact us at privacy@shokz.com adding [APPEAL REQUEST] in the email title. We will shortly commence the appeal proceeding in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

  • “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” Request. Under the laws in certain US jurisdictions, you may be able to request that we not sell or share your personal information in exchange for valuable consideration. While we do not sell your information in exchange for money, we may use analytics or online advertising tools that result in the disclosure of your information to our third-party partners and that are subject to this opt-out right. We do not “sell” or “share” Sensitive Personal Information (as defined under applicable state privacy laws).

You can opt out by emailing us at privacy@shokz.com, or exercise the opt-out provided by Google by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

  • Right Against Discrimination. You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of the rights described in this section. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your right to know, delete or opt out of sales.

9.Transfer of Personal Information Outside of Your Jurisdiction

Shokz stores data on secured servers in several countries around the world. Please be aware that the data controller may differ depending on where you live, and the information you provide to us or we obtain as a result of your use of this Sites may be processed and transferred to countries other than the country where you domicile.

For example, if you reside in the EU, to provide delivery and after-sales services, we may need to transfer your personal information to our Shokz family of companies, Third-Party Service Providers, or other business partners, who may be located in a country or area outside the EU. We will do so on the basis of EU standard contractual clauses or any other safeguards under the GDPR.

In particular, we will ensure that all transfers will be in accordance this Privacy Policy and your local applicable local data protection laws, by putting in place appropriate safeguards. You will have the right to be informed of the appropriate safeguards taken by Shokz for this transfer of your personal information.

10.   How We Process Minors’ Information

Our products and services do not target at minors( at the age under 18 years old or the equivalent age as specified by law in your jurisdiction), do not directly provide products or services to minors, and do not use minors’ personal information for marketing purposes.

If you are a parent or guardian, and you believe that a minor has submitted personal information to us, please send an email to privacy@shokz.com to ensure that such personal information is deleted immediately and to ensure that the minor unsubscribes any applicable service.

11.Third-Party Links and Features

Our Privacy Policy does not apply to products and services offered by a third party. Shokz products and services may include third parties’ products, services and links to third parties’ websites. When you use such products or services, they may collect your information too. For this reason, we strongly suggest that you read the third party’s privacy policy as you have taken time to read ours. We are not responsible for and cannot control how third parties use the personal information that they collect from you. Our Privacy Policy does not apply to other sites linked to our Services.

12.Updates to the Privacy Policy

We keep our Privacy Policy under regular review and may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to our information practices. In that case, the “last updated” at the top of this page will also change. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices. By continuing the use of products and services on the websites or software, you are confirming that you have read and understood the latest version of the Privacy Policy. If there are material changes to this Privacy Policy or to how Shokz will use your personal information, we will provide you with additional notice (such as by adding a statement to the Website or sending you a notification).

13.Contact Us

If you have any comments or questions about this Privacy Policy or any questions relating to our collection, use or disclosure of your personal information, please contact us at privacy@shokz.com, or phone at 737-215-4011, or give your feedback through our Contact Us page on the website.

In addition, Shokz set up a Data Protection Officer (DPO) in charge the data protection under GDPR, and the contact of DPO is privacy@shokz.com.

In addition, we have several data controllers, which are Shokz family of companies taking primary responsibility for the collection and processing of personal information under this Privacy Policy. The data controllers are listed below:

  • If you live in the United States or Canada, the data controller for your information is AfterShokz LLC, 3200 Gracie Kiltz Lane, Suite 300 Austin, TX 78758, The USA.
  • If you live in Mainland China, the data controller for your information is Shenzhen Shokz Co., Ltd., Floors 1-4, Factory Building 26, Shancheng Industrial Park, Shixin Community, Langxin Community, Shiyan Street, Bao'an District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
  • If you live in a country in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the data controller for your information is AfterShokz Euro B.V., Schipholweg 103, 2316XC Leiden, The Netherlands.
  • If you live anywhere else, the data controller for your information is Shokz Holding Limited, Room 2603A, 26/F., Tower 1, Lippo Centre, 89 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong, China.

14.Additional Information for Certain Jurisdictions

  • California “Shine the Light” disclosure. The California “Shine the Light” law gives residents of California the right under certain circumstances to opt out of the disclosure of certain categories of personal information (as defined in the Shine the Light law) with third parties for their direct marketing purposes, or in the alternative, that we provide a cost-free means for consumers to opt out of any such disclosure. We do not currently disclose your personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.

For more information about the privacy rights you have with respect to your personal information and how to exercise them, please see the Your Rights and Choices section of the Privacy Policy.