Privacy Policy

Privacy Statement

Effective Date: August 1, 2011

HTC respects your privacy. HTC Corporation of No. 23 Xinghua Road, Taoyuan City and County 330, Taiwan, Republic of China (email address: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) with company registration number 16003518, including its affiliates (“HTC”) provides this Privacy Statement (the “Statement”) to help you understand how HTC collects and uses the Personal Information and Non-Personal Information (each as defined below) you submit in connection with the HTC Developer website and the products, software and services available on the HTC Developer website (collectively referred to as the “Service”) and that is collected when you use the Service. “You” means an individual who accesses or uses the Service.

This Statement only governs the collection and use of information collected through the Service. It does not apply to information collected in other ways or to any other HTC websites, products, software or services, and it does not modify or alter other agreements you may have, or enter later, with HTC. For example, if HTC collects information about you from third party sources, the collection and use of that information will be governed by HTC’s agreement with you or the source, unless the privacy statement of a third party source indicates that this Statement will govern HTC’s use of your Personal Information that the third party source provides to HTC. Also, if you provide Personal Information to HTC through other means, such as when you call customer service or send Personal Information related to promotions or product registrations via postal mail, this Statement does not apply to that information. This Statement does not apply to the data collection and use practices of any third parties you may contract with using or in connection with the Service, including third party application providers and your wireless carrier.

By accessing or using the Service or providing information to HTC through the Service, you are accepting the practices described in this Statement.

In addition to this Statement, for certain features of the Service, promotions or special offers, HTC may present different or additional data collection and use practices and terms specific to those programs at the time the information is collected.

Information that HTC Collects
HTC’s Use of Information
Sharing Personal Information
Cookies and Other Technologies
Children Under Age 13
Communication Preferences
Access and Updates to Personal Information You Submit
Security of Personal Information
Third Party Sites and Services
Changes to this Statement
Your California Privacy Rights – Special notice for California Residents only
How To Contact HTC

I. Information that HTC Collects. HTC collects information when you choose to submit it to HTC as well as when you use the Service.

Personal Information You Submit. In this Statement, “Personal Information” means any information about an identifiable individual, as further defined under applicable laws. HTC collects Personal Information that you submit using the Service (for example, when you sign up for the Service, use a product, download a software update, participate in promotions or surveys, share content with friends using the Service or invite others to join you on the Service). The Personal Information collected may include your name, birth date, address, mobile, phone, or fax number, email address, account information (such as account and online registration), online activities, and other specific Personal Information.  If you choose to make a purchase from the Service, HTC may ask for additional information, such as your payment card information and billing address. In some cases, the Personal Information HTC asks you to provide will be mandatory to participate in a particular activity, service or promotion. If you do not provide this Personal Information, your participation in that activity, service or promotion may be limited, prohibited or not possible.

Non-Personal Information. HTC also collects “Non-Personal Information,” which means data in a form that does not include direct association with an identifiable individual, such as gender, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location and time zone where an HTC product or service is used, and information about customer activities on the Service, to allow HTC to better understand customer behaviour and improve HTC’s services, products and advertising. HTC collects some of this information automatically when you use the Service. For example, the Service collects certain information about actions you take while using the Service, such as which web pages are visited by users of the Service, the most popular applications and other features, and other similar information. So that you may use certain features of the Service, we may collect information about your device including the IMEI, MEID, Serial, CID, MID and eMCC ID number or SIM card ID. When you access the Service from a computer, mobile phone or other device, we may collect information from that device, such as your IP address, browser type, operating system version, location-based information, device type, and your device’s IMEI, MEID, Serial, CID, MID and eMCC ID number or SIM card ID. If Non-Personal Information is combined with Personal Information the combined information will be treated as Personal Information for as long as it remains combined.

II. HTC’s Use of Information. HTC uses the Personal Information it collects to:

  1. enable the features of the Service to operate, such as helping you register to use the Service and contribute your ideas;
  2. carry out the downloads, purchases or transactions you have requested or authorised;
  3. analyse HTC’s business, products and other services in order to develop and improve its services, websites, products, content and advertising;
  4. provide you with more effective customer service;
  5. detect fraud, abuse or other illegal activity and meet legal and regulatory requirements;
  6. share any comments you make on the Service with other users of the Service;
  7. moderate any comments you may make on the Service;
  8. communicate with you, including sending:
    1. service communications (such as welcome emails, communications about any changes to our terms, conditions and policies, information about software or service updates, or information on technical service issues or security announcements);
    2. communications about purchases or transactions you have requested or authorised;
    3. product or service surveys; or
    4. promotional communications to inform you about other HTC products or services (unless you have opted out of receiving promotional communications);
    5. provide you with other features of the Service and as described in the End User License Agreement for your HTC device and any other literature describing the Service;
    6. occasionally send you product surveys or promotional mailings to inform you about other products or services available from HTC, and to fulfill promotions; and
    7. to enforce our agreements with you and third parties and for other legally permissible purposes and generally to ensure that HTC complies with applicable laws.

HTC may collect, use, transfer and disclose Non-Personal Information to allow HTC to better understand customer behaviour, improve HTC’s services, products and advertising, and gather broad demographic information about those who use the Service. This information may be aggregated to measure the number of visits, average time spent, page views and other statistics about activity when the Service is used and also to monitor Service performance and to make the Service easier and more convenient to use.

Information collected through the Service may be stored and processed in the United States, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Singapore and any other country in which HTC or its service providers maintain facilities.  By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of information outside of the country where you reside, including jurisdictions that may not have data privacy laws that provide equivalent protection to such laws in your home country.

III. Sharing Personal Information. Except as described in this Statement, HTC’s practice is to not disclose Personal Information about you outside of HTC and its affiliates without your consent.  HTC may disclose the Personal Information described in Section 1 of this Statement to its third party service providers so they may complete transactions or perform services on HTC’s behalf, transactions on your behalf, or transactions related to providing services to you. For example, HTC may contract with third parties to host the Service, collect and provide product reviews, provide promotions or surveys, send HTC’s emails, perform billing transactions and fulfill product orders and promotions. HTC may also access, use, store and disclose Personal Information (including the content of your communications) to comply with the law and lawful requests or legal process, enforce the terms and policies governing your use of the Service, including investigations of any potential violation, to detect or prevent security breaches, fraud or technical issues, to protect the rights or property of HTC and its customers, and when HTC believes in good faith that the disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of HTC, its employees and customers or the public. Also, HTC may disclose Personal Information in connection with (but not limited to) the following circumstances:

  1. Certain Business Transfers. HTC may disclose Personal Information as part of a corporate business transaction, such as a merger or acquisition, joint venture, corporate reorganization, financing, or sale of company assets. HTC may also disclose Personal Information in the event of insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership in which Personal Information could be transferred to third parties as one of the business assets in the transaction.
  2. Co-Branded Services. Some services in connection with the Service may be co-branded and offered together with another company. If you register for or use these services, both HTC and the other company may receive your Personal Information collected in connection with the co-branded services.
  3. Comments/Forums in the Service. To the extent that you choose to provide Personal Information in a comment, forum, bulletin board or chat in the Service, such Personal Information may be shared with other users of the Service who access those comments. HTC encourages you to avoid including Personal Information in such comments.
  4. Other Purposes. HTC may disclose Personal Information as consented to by you from time to time, including to fulfill any other purposes that are identified when the Personal Information is collected.

HTC will not use or disclose Personal Information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with your consent or as required or permitted by law. Consent may be express or implied, and given in writing, by using or not using a check-off box, electronically, orally, or by your conduct, such as through your use of services or products

IV. Cookies and Other Technologies. HTC’s websites, services, interactive applications, email messages and advertisements may use “cookies” and other mechanisms such as pixel tags and web beacons. These technologies are either strictly necessary for your use of the Service and to administer the Service or help HTC to better understand user behaviour and analyze trends. A “cookie” is a small data file that the Service transfers to your computer or device for storage to allow HTC’s server to “remember” specific information. Pixel tags and web beacons are graphic images that are placed on a web page, web-based document, or in an email message. These technologies generally are invisible to you because they are usually very small and either transparent or the same color as the background of the web page, document or email message. HTC may use cookies, pixel tags, web beacons and other tracking mechanisms to help support the integrity of registration processes on the Service and to track marketing efforts.

HTC and its partners may also use cookies and other technologies to remember Personal Information when you use our Service, websites and applications, in order to retain changes that you make and to make your user experience more convenient and personalized. For example, when you log-in to the Service, HTC may welcome you with your first name. Knowing your contact information and information about your device helps us register your products and provide you with better service. You may be able to disable some cookies by modifying your browser preferences. If you disable cookies, certain Service features and functionality may no longer work properly, or at all. To the extent that cookies are not strictly necessary for your use of the Service or to administer the Service, HTC will seek your consent to the use of such cookies.

V. Children Under Age 13.  The Service does not target and is not intended for children under the age of 13. HTC does not knowingly, market to, or solicit information, accept service or collect information from any person under the age of 13. If you are under 13, do not provide HTC any information about yourself, including without limitation your name, address, telephone number or email address (directly or on communication features of the Service, etc.). If HTC discovers Personal Information from children under age 13, HTC will delete that information.

VI. Communication Preferences. You may opt-out of receiving future marketing emails from HTC by following the instructions in email. If you opt-out of receiving future marketing emails, HTC may still send you service communications such as (but not limited to) support, software and security updates and product recall information. You may be able to set contact preferences and choose the parties with whom you share your contact information by accessing your HTC Developer account. These choices do not apply [to the display of online advertising or] to the receipt of mandatory service communications, which you may receive periodically unless you terminate the Service.

VII. Access and Updates to Personal Information You Submit. You may be able to update your Personal Information through the Service by updating registration information you provide in connection with the Service. You will be required to sign in with your user name and password. HTC does not maintain all Personal Information it collects in a form that can be accessed or updated by you. HTC may keep records of changes to your Personal Information (including deletions). Certain types of communications that you send to other users cannot be removed, recalled or otherwise deleted, such as messages.

VIII. Security of Personal Information. HTC is committed to protecting the security of your Personal Information. HTC and the third party service providers that provide hosting services for the Service use a variety of commercially reasonable security technologies and administrative procedures to help protect your Personal Information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure with security measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. For example, your Personal Information is stored on computer systems located in controlled facilities with limited access.

IX. Third Party Sites and Services. The Service may contain links to third-party websites, products and services, such as social networking sites and third parties who may offer additional products and services through the Service. Information collected by third parties, which may include information such as location data and contact details, is governed by the third parties’ privacy practices. Please be aware that HTC cannot control and is not responsible for information collection practices of such websites and third parties, which may differ from those of HTC. HTC encourages you to review and understand the privacy policies of those websites and third parties before providing any information to them.

X. Changes to this Statement. This Statement is effective as of the effective date at the top of this Statement.  HTC may periodically update this Statement to reflect changes in its practices or applicable laws or regulations. If HTC updates this Statement, HTC will post the updated version of this Statement and it will change the “effective date” at the top of this Statement. If the updated version of the Statement contains material changes to how HTC collects, uses, or shares your Personal Information, HTC will post a prominent notice of the updated version on the Service website and send you an email in which HTC will provide you with an opportunity to opt-out of any material changes to the Statement or alternatively, delete the information that you have provided to HTC that you do not wish to be subject to the new Statement.

For any non-material changes to the Statement, your continued use of the Service constitutes your binding acceptance of the updated Statement. We recommend that you check the Service from time to time to inform yourself of any changes in this Statement or any of our other policies.

XI. Your California Privacy Rights – Special notice for California Residents only

Residents of the State of California who provide Personal Information through the Service are permitted to request certain information regarding HTC’s disclosure of Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. As described above, HTC may provide Personal Information to third parties that co-brand services with HTC and those third parties may use such Personal Information to market their own products or services. To make a request concerning these types of disclosures, please send an e-mail to [insert email address] or write to HTC at [insert postal address].

HTC will provide a list of the categories of Personal Information, if any, disclosed to third parties for third-party direct marketing purposes, along with the names and addresses of these third parties. This request may be made no more than once per calendar year. HTC reserves its right not to respond to requests submitted other than to the e-mail or postal address specified above. You should put “California Privacy Rights” in the subject line and in your request. You must provide HTC with specific information regarding yourself so that we can respond accurately to the request.

XII. How To Contact HTC. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this Statement or about HTC’s privacy practices, please direct your privacy-related comments or questions to the following address:

Data Controller

HTC Corporation
No. 23 Xinghua Road
Taoyuan City and County 330
Taiwan, Republic of China
Email address:.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Company registration number: 16003518

Nominated Representative

HTC Europe Co. Ltd
Communications House
Presley Way
Crownhill
Milton Keynes
MK8 0ES UK
Email address:.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Company registration number: 04826012