1. Our role in your privacy

If you are an Xperia customer or user this privacy policy applies to you. We explain what happens when you use Xperia, including how we use your interactions with Xperia. We also explain what your rights are.

Sony Corporation is the data controller of your personal data. This means that we are responsible for deciding how and why your personal data is used.

2. Your responsibilities

• Read this privacy policy
• Please also read any contract between you and Sony (this is often called “End User License Agreement” or “Terms of Use”)

If you give us information about other people, or if others give us your information, we will only use that information for the specific reason for which it was provided to us. By submitting the information, you confirm that you have the right to authorise us to process it on your behalf as described in this privacy policy. Some of the information we collect may be considered “personal data” in certain jurisdictions.

3. Information that you provide us

Some of our applications or services require you to create an account. When creating your account(s), we may ask you to provide your name, date of birth, location, contact details, applicable device ID(s) relating to the devices you are using to access and receive particular applications and services, interests and account and marketing preferences and your current mobile network operator.

4. Information that we collect

Information on how you use Xperia

• Your device ID, IP address, log in information, browser type and version, time zone setting, domain, browser plug-in types, geolocation information about where you might be, operating system and version.
• Your usage patterns, content (including any advertisements) that you view and interact with including personal data on the services and applications you are using on-device to personalise services to your specific needs,
• Device and application settings, errors and hardware activity,
• Device information and service, product or server logs which hold technical data, which may include personal data, about your use of our service, product or websites,

Personal data we collect in relation to social networks

If you use any of our social network features, pages or plug-ins, or you use our products or services that allow interaction with social networks, we may receive personal data relating to such use. For instance:

• If you log in to one of our websites, applications or services using your social network account, we receive basic details from your social network profile. The basic details we receive may depend on your social network account privacy settings. Typically, this includes your social network ID and name. We only receive additional personal data from your profile if you give us permission to access it.

Please read your social network’s privacy policy so understand how it will use your information.

What about sensitive information?

We don’t collect any “sensitive” information about you except when we have your specific consent. By “sensitive”, we mean information like racial or ethnic origin; political opinions; religious/philosophical beliefs; trade union membership; genetic information; biometric information; health information; information about your sexual life or orientation; or information about offences or alleged offences.

5. How Sony uses the information that we collect

Here are the reasons for which we use your information:

A. Keeping Xperia running

• We may use information we have collected, including personal data, to:
  • provide you with a product or service you have requested, including any back-up and restoration services;
  • process your registration with us or create an account;
  • provide you with required notices and software updates which may contain critical security and functionality patches that make your device more secure and protect the personal data on the device; and
  • send important information (including via text message, push notifications) regarding essential changes to applicable terms of use and/or other communications or notifications as may be required to fulfil our legal and contractual obligations.

B. Improving Xperia

We work constantly to make our products and services better. We work to ensure quality, to develop identity management, and to strengthen network and information security. To make product improvements, provide software updates, manage bugs and crashes, Xperia obtains your permission to access the relevant data on your device. We are able to analyze software errors and hardware issues so that we can improve our products and services and give you the best possible Xperia experience.
The data we access is your device ID, device and application settings, errors and hardware activity. We use your IP address to determine your general location and use this to serve you information in your local language.

Such product improvement/development is only done on an aggregated basis, not on an individual user level, so specific users are not targeted.

We obtain your consent for product improvement through the Xperia Services app or the Setup wizard. If you go to [Settings > About phone > Detailed Diagnostics] you can manage your consent .

Please note that we automatically conduct some analysis of technical errors on your phone by accessing some of the log data on your phone.

C. Marketing and advertisement

We work with Sony offices in your local region to bring you the latest information, articles, offers and promotions about Xperia and Sony’s other products and services available to you in your area. As part of this, we may use and share your information with your local Sony office and also use your information to send you offers, news and updates to your device on behalf of your local Sony office.

For more information regarding marketing and your choices, please refer to the “Marketing Communications” section below.

D. Fraud prevention investigation and compliance

• Xperia may use personal data to prevent fraud and to investigate violations or our policies. We may use personal data to comply with applicable laws, regulations and court orders and to comply with valid legal information requests from such bodies. We may use your personal data to enforce or defend the legal rights of any Sony group company or the terms of use of any Sony product or service.

E. Other purposes

• We may use your personal data for other purposes:
  • to link or combine the personal data that we collect from the different sources outlined above (including personal data received from other Sony group companies about your use of other Sony group products and services). Personal data may be linked via a unique identifier, such as an account number. Alternatively, we may decide to combine two or more databases into a single database of customer information. We may link or combine personal data for your and/or our convenience (for example, to allow you to more easily register for a new service), and to provide you with better, personalised services and content.

6. Sharing data about you

Sharing of data by Sony

In general, Sony does not sell, rent or otherwise disclose data about you to third parties without your consent. However, there are exceptions:

Other Sony group companies

We may disclose personal data about you including related product or service usage information and any customer preference information as provided by you from time to time to other Sony group companies where:

• you use other Sony group companies’ products or services and have shared personal data with them previously. In such circumstances, we and the other relevant Sony group company may combine all of Sony’s data about you and use it in accordance with our respective privacy policies;
• we have engaged such other Sony group companies to provide data processing services to us (and these other Sony group companies will only process your personal data in accordance with our instructions and shall be subject to appropriate confidentiality and security obligations);
• you use your Xperia devices and/or applications or services to access, purchase or download content, services, applications or products that are published, developed, supported or offered by other Sony group companies. They may combine this personal data with other details they hold about you. Unless they provide you with their own privacy policy, they may use your personal details for the purposes explained in this privacy policy. Where you have multiple accounts with different Sony group companies, these Sony group companies may also share personal data with us in accordance with their own privacy policies; or
• Sony sells or transfers a portion or all of our business to another Sony group company.

Our service providers

We regularly use third party service providers and other Sony group companies to provide us with services: for example, to host apps, conduct data analytics and provide account management and back-up services. When we do this we sometimes have to share data that we hold with them to get these services to work properly. Your personal data is shared only when strictly necessary. We ensure that these service providers and other Sony group companies have the same safeguards to protect personal data as detailed in this privacy policy.

Third Party Advertising Partners

Where you download and/or use any Xperia applications and/or services that include third party advertisements (whether featured within the application or service itself or displayed to end users using a frame, wrapper, pop-up or any other form of advertising functionality), we may share personal data we collect about your usage of the applications and services with our advertising partners so that they can better target and/ or personalise advertisements displayed within any Xperia service or application used by you. Some of our third-party advertising partners act independently, and thus will handle shared data under the terms of their own privacy policies. When such sharing occurs, our applications and/or services will notify you when you first activate the application and/or service. Additionally, you can control personalised ads in your browser’s cookie settings and in your Android device via the Settings menu (Settings -> Google -> Ads)

Legal and business purposes

We may also disclose information we collect:
To government bodies and law enforcement agencies to prevent fraud, to comply with the law and to meet a reasonable request from such bodies;
To third parties (including professional advisors) to enforce or defend the legal rights of any Sony group company or the terms of use of any Sony product or service;
To a third party purchaser or seller, and its and our professional advisors, in connection with a corporate event such as a merger, business acquisition or insolvency situation.

Statistics and generic information

We prepare anonymous, aggregate or de-identified information (including “generic” statistics) for a number of purposes as outlined above. As we consider that you cannot reasonably be identified from this information, we may share it with any third party (such as our partners, advertisers, industry bodies, the media and/or the general public) or with any other Sony group company.

7. International transfers of your information

Sony is part of the Sony group, which is a global organisation. For the purposes explained in this policy, your information may be transferred to Sony group companies (including service providers operating on their behalf) and other third parties in countries which do not have the same level of data protection laws as those in the country where you are located.

Please note that some of our servers are located in Japan and Europe. Japan has been recognised as a country that offers the same levels of protection as the EEA.

Please contact us if you want to receive further information regarding international data transfers.

8. Marketing Communications

Your local Sony office may send you emails and provide you with information, recommendations and targeted and/or personalized advertisements and marketing regarding Sony products, services and other offerings that may be of interest to you. Such advertising may be delivered to you directly or across websites that you visit. Your local Sony office can support you with your preferences for what marketing you receive from them. You can unsubscribe from emails at any time. Please refer to the below links for more information:

Sony Electronics Inc. (US):

Sony Electronics Privacy Policy

Sony of Canada, Ltd. (Canada):

Sony of Canada Privacy Policy - English
Sony of Canada Privacy Policy - French

Please note that we may occasionally send you important information about Xperia products and services that you are using or have used (such as product safety announcements and service changes) or your accounts. These notices are not affected by your marketing communication preferences.

9. Security of your information

What we do to protect your information

We take reasonable security measures (i.e. a number of steps) to protect your information from accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access, including where appropriate:

• Using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption when collecting or transferring sensitive information, (SSL encryption is designed to make the information unreadable by anyone but us)
• Limiting access to the information we collect about you (for instance, only those of our personnel who need your information to carry out our business activities are allowed access)
• Putting in place physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards in line with industry standards

What you should do to protect your information

As general best practice on the Internet, it is recommended that individuals take great care with user accounts, and follow some basic rules:

• Do not use trivial passwords (such as single dictionary words)
• Do not use the same password for multiple accounts
• Do use very long passwords (at least 10 characters, but preferably much longer)
• Do use passwords which contain a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters e.g. $%^& etc.
• Do keep passwords securely (never written down or shared with anyone) and change periodically

If you believe your privacy has been breached, please contact us immediately.

10. Notice to California Residents - California Privacy Notice

California Privacy Notice (Effective April 2021)

Our Practices Regarding Collection and Use of your CA Personal Information

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 may have additional rights with regard to how we use your information. We have included this California-specific information below.

CA Personal Information. Consistent with the sections describing the information that we collect, we may collect the following categories of personal information about California residents ("CA Personal Information") for the purposes described in the “How Sony uses the information we collect” section of this Privacy Policy, specifically:

• Personal Identifiers: such as name, mailing address, telephone number, email address and similar identifiers
• Other Identifiers: such as Device IDs, IP address, or other unique identifiers;
• Commercial Information: such as product or service types or applications purchased or obtained, or transaction information;
• Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity: such as device data and connected device information, operating system, screen views, traffic to and from applications, other standard connectivity information;
• Geolocation Data: such as data about your location, if you use location-based services;
• Other Consumer Characteristics: such as demographics (e.g., gender, age, profession or job title, etc.), and inferences drawn from collected information

Sources of CA Personal Information. Consistent with the sections above regarding the information that we collect, we may collect CA Personal Information from the following sources:

• Directly from you: such as when you voluntarily provide CA Personal Information to us when activating a product or registering an account, or when it is collected automatically from your Xperia product;
• Third-Party Business Partners: such as retail stores or mobile network operators;
• Third-Party Applications: such as social networks or other blogs or chatrooms.

CA Personal Information Disclosed For Business Purposes.

• Sharing 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: Personal Identifiers, Other Identifiers, Commercial Information, Internet or Other Electronic Activity, Geolocation Data and Other Consumer Characteristics. This information may be shared with Sony group companies, third party business partners, ad networks or legal authorities for the purpose of providing services to you, for product development, monitoring and quality assurance, managing and delivering communications and advertisements, for legal compliance or to protect legitimate interests, in compliance with law.
• Sale of CA Personal Information: We do not “sell” (as defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act) any categories of CA Personal Information.

California Consumer Rights. Subject to certain exceptions, as a California consumer, you may have the following rights regarding your CA Personal Information:

• Request to Know. Request information regarding your CA Personal Information that we have collected, used, or disclosed within the preceding 12 months;
• Request to Delete. Request deletion of your CA Personal Information.

Exercising Your Rights. If you are a California consumer and wish to exercise any of these rights, you may:

• (a) submit a Request to Know or a Request to Delete here: Data Requests;
• (b) email us at privacy@am.sony.com with the specific nature of your request, referencing “California CCPA Request”; or
• (c) call the following toll-free number 1-833-681-9900.

Verifying Requests. 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. In response to a Request to Know, we may also require a signed declaration under penalty of perjury that you are the consumer whose CA Personal Information is the subject of the request before providing specific pieces of Personal Information. If we are unable to verify that the individual submitting the request is the same individual about whom we have collected information (or someone authorized by that individual to act on their behalf), we will not be able to process the request.

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. Please note that you are limited by law in the number of requests you may submit per year.
Authorized Agents. If you are an agent making a request on a consumer’s behalf, you must provide appropriate documentation that includes your name, the name of the individual who is the subject of the request, and a clear description of the permission granted; alternatively, you may submit a valid, designated power of attorney as defined in the California Probate Code sections 4000-4465. The consumer’s identity, in addition to your own, will need to be verified in order for us to be able to fulfill your request. We may also ask the consumer to directly confirm with us that you were granted permission to submit the request. If we do not receive adequate proof that you are authorized to act on the consumer’s behalf, we may deny 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 whom Sony 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, and a reference to “Your California Privacy Rights”. We are not responsible for requests that are not labelled or sent properly, or do not have complete information.

11. How long we keep your personal data

We will only retain your personal data in accordance with our internal retention policies or for as long as is reasonably necessary for the various purposes set out in “How Sony uses the information we collect” section above, as well as to otherwise comply with any applicable laws and regulations concerning the mandatory retention of certain types of personal data relating to our customers and/or any commercial transactions with them. Should any personal data held by us no longer be required by us for any of the purposes set out in “How Sony uses the information we collect” section above, we undertake to take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify any personal data after a reasonable period of time has elapsed. If you are concerned that we have not complied with your legal rights or applicable privacy laws, you may contact us or your local data protection authority.

12. Links to other sites

Some of our websites may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Sony, including websites operated by other Sony group companies.

While Sony tries to link only to sites that share Sony’s high standards and respect for privacy, we are not responsible for the content, security or privacy practices of those other websites. You should view the privacy and cookie policies displayed on those websites to find out how your personal data may be used.

13. Children’s privacy

Sony considers a child to be anyone under the age of 16. We do not knowingly seek or collect personal data from or about children without the consent of a parent or guardian.

If Sony becomes aware that personal data that has been submitted to us relates to a child without the consent of a parent or guardian, Sony will use reasonable efforts to:

• Delete that personal data from its files as soon as possible; or
• Ensure, where deletion is not possible, that this personal data is not used further for any purpose, nor disclosed further to any third party.

Any parent or guardian with queries regarding our processing of personal data relating to their child should contact us

14. Changes

Sony reserves the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time for any reason. We will notify or request your consent (whenever necessary under the applicable law) of any changes to this Privacy Policy through Xperia.

15. Contact us

If you have any questions or comments about our practices regarding your information or about this privacy policy, please contact us at:

United States:

Sony Electronics Inc.
115 West Century Rd., Suite 250
Paramus, NJ 07652
Attn: Privacy Office

Telephone: 1-833-681-9900
Email: privacy@am.sony.com

Canada:

Sony of Canada Ltd.,
Attn: Privacy Officer, Law Department
2235 Shepard Avenue East, Suite 700 Toronto, ON M2J 5B5

Telephone, toll-free (within Canada): 1-888-494-7669
Email: privacy@am.sony.com