Smart TV Privacy Policy January 2024
Last Updated: January 2024
The following policy is intended for users of Smart TVs in the United States.
Alphonso Inc. develops and distributes certain “Video AI” software for set top boxes and smart televisions. Video AI refers to Alphonso’s ability to collect and analyze publicly available content (TV shows, advertisements, movies, video games) being played on or through a TV, including Alphonso’s automatic content recognition (ACR) collection technology. The Video AI data collection, storage, analysis and reporting tools are collectively referred to as the Service.
This policy explains how Alphonso collects, uses and shares information when consumers interact with the Service. You opt-in to the Service through the configuration options on your Smart TV, either during the initial setup, or by going back to the settings menu and selecting the option to opt-in to ACR. Similarly, you may opt-out of the Service at any time through the settings menu on your Smart TV, by turning off ACR within the settings.
Information Collected
Whenever you interact with the Service, you provide your consent a variety of technologies employed to collect data, which may include:
- Device type;
- Make and model of device;
- Operating system type;
- The time of your interaction with the Service;
- Device identifiers, such as IP address;
- Information about your location.
We also may receive information, such as demographic, interests, and other information described in this policy, about you from certain third-party partners. The combined information is only used in the manner described in this privacy policy.
The Service only collects data from your device if you have agreed to participate. If you agree, the Service may collect video and/or audio information from what you are watching through your device, regardless of the source of the information (e.g., TV, video and audio streaming devices, set-top boxes, etc.) in order to determine the programs you have watched and the advertisements you have seen. The information collected is referred to as the “Viewing Data”. While the Service does collect device identifiers (such as IP Address) which are associated with your Viewing Data, your Viewing Data is never associated, in any of the materials we provide to our Data Partners, with your name, postal address, or email. Importantly, Alphonso’s Video AI does not recognize human conversation, ambient sounds, and other non-commercial audio or video content.
Use & Sharing of Information
Alphonso differentiates between Service Providers, Data Partners and Clients. Service Providers receive Viewing Data which may include device identifiers. Service Providers do a variety of tasks, including performing matches to append data, performing blind matches so that data sets can be created that have no identifying criteria (e.g., no device identifiers), or services relevant to advertising to you. These Service Providers are contractually limited in how they are allowed to use any Viewing Data, and are required to delete all Viewing Data once they have performed their function.
Data Partners receive Viewing Data which may include device identifiers. They are able to use the data to create products that will be sold or otherwise shared with Clients. Data Partners are allowed to keep Viewing Data for however long they need, but they are contractually required to ensure that none of the products they provide to their clients will include any identifiable data. Additionally, all Data Partners contractually agree to delete data related to any particular individual in response to a verified request received by either the Data Partner or Alphonso, in accordance with any applicable privacy law or regulation.
Clients will only receive Viewing Data in aggregated or anonymized form. They are able to use the data however they like, and can keep the data for however long they choose. But, again, none of that data is identifiable to an individual.
Alphonso and its Service Providers use Viewing Data for a variety of purposes, including to:
- Deliver marketing and advertising materials on our behalf, and for other third parties, that we believe are relevant to you, both to your Smart TV as well as to other devices that are connected to your Smart TV, either directly or through wireless connections;
- Offer recommendations to you about programing content on your TV and other devices we believe you may enjoy; and
- Perform marketing services.
Alphonso and its Data Partners use Viewing Data for a variety of purposes, including to:
- Maintain, operate, improve and provide the Service; and
- Generate reports analyzing user trends and behaviors.
Alphonso also uses the various types of information it collects in its legitimate interest:
- To maintain, operate, improve our business;
- To support our business development efforts;
- To provide customer service, communicate with and market to our customers; and
- To monitor the Service for legal compliance, and compliance with your terms of use.
Alphonso may share any data it collects with a variety of parties, including:
- As part of a corporate sale, merger, acquisition, or other transfer of all or part of our assets, including as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. Alphonso’s successor will have all of the rights and be subject to all of the obligations of this privacy policy; or
- Pursuant to a subpoena, court order, or other legal process or as otherwise required by law, or to protect our rights, or the rights of third parties.
You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. To learn about how you can control our use and sharing of information we collect, or to withdraw consent that you previously provided, please see the “Your Choices” section below. Please note that if you do not provide consent, or if you choose to withdraw your consent, the advertising you see on your devices may be less relevant to you, and you will not receive personalized content recommendations on your TV.
Your Choices
The Service
You opt-in to the Service through the configuration options on your Smart TV, either during the initial setup, or by going back to the settings menu and selecting the option to opt-in to ACR. If you choose to opt-in to the Service, you consent to our collection and use of data about the video and audio content on that Smart TV to customize advertising in other connected devices, to provide you with television content recommendations, and for other uses as outlined above. If you would like to withdraw that consent at any time, you can do so in the settings menu of your Smart TV, by turning off ACR within the settings.
Interest-Based Advertising
Interest-based advertising is generally defined as the use of cookies, web beacons, device IDs, and other technologies to collect information about how services across the Internet are used. The information collected may include IP addresses, web browsers, pages viewed, time spent on pages or in apps, links clicked, and conversion information. To the extent, as outlined above, that Alphonso uses any of these methods to collect data, Alphonso adheres to the Digital Advertising Alliance’s (“DAA”) Self-Regulatory Principles regarding interest-based advertising.
If you would like to exercise choice regarding interest-based advertising on a browser, you can visit www.aboutads.info/choices. To make choices about interest-based advertising on a mobile device, you can download the version of AppChoices for your device via www.youradchoices.com/appchoices.
If you choose to opt-out of interest-based advertising through the tools described above, we will stop using data from that device for interest-based advertising on that browser, mobile device, and on associated devices. We will also stop using data collected from associated devices for interest-based advertising on the device where choice was exercised.
Children
Alphonso will not knowingly collect personally identifiable or other information from children under the age of 13 (or an age set by local law in a jurisdiction where we offer our Services). Where information is collected electronically, Alphonso may not be able to determine whether information was collected from someone under the age of 13, and such information is treated as if it had been collected from an adult. If we become aware that a person under 13 has provided information, Alphonso will take steps to remove such information and terminate that individual’s access and use of the Service.
Security
Alphonso takes reasonable physical, technical, and administrative steps to help maintain information we collect, store, and use in a secure manner. These steps include the hashing (or other encryption) of data, along with limitations on who is allowed to access an personal data.
Data Retention
Alphonso retains data we collect through the Service only as long as it is needed to provide our services or for our use for our legitimate interest such as accounting and legal compliance After this time has passed, that data is deleted or de-identified.
Consumer Data Privacy
The processing of certain personal data may be subject to various statutes and regulations across the United States. These privacy laws give you certain rights with respect to the processing of your personal information. Alphonso provides all residents across the United States with the ability to access the rights listed below.
Under no circumstances does Alphonso collect any sensitive personal information, including data relating to social security, driver’s license, state identification card, or passport numbers; log-in, financial account, debit card, or credit card numbers in combination with any required security or access codes, passwords, or credentials; or data revealing racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual orientation, union membership, citizenship or immigration status, or precise geolocation data.
Right to Know
One consumer right is the “Right to Know”, sometimes referred to as a “Right to Access” or a “Right to Confirm”. This right allows you to know whether we have collected any information about you and what that information contains. You can request information about our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information over the prior 12 months, and ask that we provide you with the following information:
- Categories of and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.
- Categories of sources from which we collect personal information.
- Purposes for collecting, using, or selling personal information.
- Categories of third parties with which we share personal information.
- Categories of personal information disclosed about you for a business purpose.
- If applicable, categories of personal information sold about you and the categories of third parties to which the personal information was sold, by category or categories of personal information for each third party to which the personal information was sold.
Right to Delete
You also have a right to request – with some exceptions – that we delete personal information we have collected about you.
Right to Data Portability
You have the right to obtain a copy of your personal data that you previously provided to Alphonso.
Right to Correct
You have the right to correct any inaccuracies you find in your personal data, based on the nature of the personal data and the purposes of processing it.
Right to Opt-Out of the Sale or Profiling of Personal Information
Generally, a “sale” means providing to a third party personal information for valuable consideration. You have the right to direct us not to sell any personal information we have collected from you (commonly known as the “right to opt-out”). Importantly, this right to opt-out should not be confused with your ability to opt-out of the collection of data through your Smart TV. If you want to opt-out of data collection through your Smart TV, please see the “Your Choices” section above.
You also have the right to direct us not to use any data we may have for profiling purposes. This right allows you to request that any information we may have about you not be used to create profiles which could be used to analyze or predict your interests and not be used to provide you with advertisements specifically relating to your behavior.
Right to Appeal
You have the right to appeal Alphonso’s failure to act within the time set forth in the applicable consumer data privacy law.
Making a Request
You can make a request to opt-out of the sale by us of any personal information we have related to you, you can click on the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” on the Alphonso website (available at https://choice.alphonso.tv/donotsell) or by sending us an email to the address set out in the “Contact” section below.
For all other consumer privacy requests, please go to https://choice.alphonso.tv/otherconsumerrequests. Alternatively, you can send us an email to the address set out in the “Contact” section below.
If you provide personal information in obtaining products or services from Alphonso, you are entitled to request and obtain from us, once a calendar year, information about the customer information we shared, if any, with other businesses for their own direct marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of customer information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared customer information for the immediately prior calendar year. For any such requests , please send us an email to the address set out in the “Contact” section below.
Because Alphonso collects such a limited amount of personal data, we have to verify all incoming requests to make sure that we are only providing data relevant to the person making the request. To verify your request and to associate your request to the data that we have, it is necessary for us to obtain your IP Address (as stated above, IP Address is the only personal information we collect from you). To verify the IP Address, we have created a tool that will send the correct IP Address to us. This tool will also ask for an email address, so that we can respond to you with the information you have requested. This email address will be used for no purpose other than to provide you with the information you have requested.
Household Data
As described above, all data collected by Alphonso is associated with a household, as opposed to an individual, and all data is associated with the IP Address of that household. If any member of the household makes a request pursuant to the guidelines set out above (and properly verified through the verification tool), we will respond to the individual request as if the individual is representing the entire household, and will provide all household data.
Requests Made Through Agents
You may have the option to designate, through the use of a proper legal instrument, an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf to exercise your rights. Before accepting such a request from an agent, we will require that the agent provide proof you have authorized them to act on your behalf, and we will need you to verify your identity directly with us, as described above.
Discrimination Based on the Exercise of Rights
While Alphonso would never discriminate against anyone who chooses to exercise their statutory rights, it is important to note that our provision of services to you may be completely related with our ability to collect data. Therefore, if you have asked us to stop collecting data about you, then we may be unable to provide you with services. For example, on some TVs, Alphonso offers the ability to provide you with recommendations of TV shows you may not know about buy may have an interest in based on the shows you have watched in the past, and if Alphonso is unable to collect information about the shows you have watched in the past, then we can’t make those kinds of recommendations.
Updates
Alphonso reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to update, modify or replace this privacy policy, in whole or in part, at any time. For any non-material change (for example, if we get a new physical or email address), continued access or use of the Service following such a change constitutes your acceptance of that change. All non-material changes will be listed on the applicable Alphonso Privacy Policy web site. For any material change (for example, if we alter the way we collect, use or share data), you will receive a communication through your device and will be asked to re-Opt-in to the Privacy Policy. In that event, if you choose not to re-Opt-In, the Service will no longer be active on your device.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding the User License Agreement, the Privacy Policy or your dealings with the Service, please contact us in our role as a data controller, at:
Alphonso Inc.
Attn: Privacy Policy
2440 W El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA 94040 USA
E-mail: info@alphonso.tv