Privacy Policy

Introduction

Protecting your privacy and ensuring that your personal data is held securely is very important to Sony. We want you to be confident that we are looking after your interests and that is why we have set out our information practices in this Privacy Statement.

This Privacy Statement will apply when you use our website to discover more information about Sony and its products or when you purchase products and/or services from Sony, through our trading division Sony Style, or from one of our Sony Centres which are operated by a network of independent, authorised retailers. We explain the types of data that Sony and/or the Sony Centres may collect and hold, how that data is used and with whom the data is shared. We also set out how you can contact us if you have any queries or concerns about your personal information.

This Privacy Statement is applicable to data collected by Sony United Kingdom Limited, Sony Europe (Belgium) N.V. and other Sony group companies in Europe for use by these companies and other Sony companies worldwide (together "Sony").

List of sections

Click on the relevant heading to move to that section.

What data Sony needs
Why Sony collects Personal Data
How Sony collects Personal Data
Making a purchase via a Sony website or over the telephone
Your preferences
When Sony discloses Personal Data
Postings to Forums
Security of collected data
Cookies and web beacons
Access to your Personal Data
Links to other sites
Children’s privacy (children 14 years of age and under)
Industry standards
Contacting us

1. What data Sony needs

In general, you can visit Sony’s websites on the Internet without telling us who you are and without providing any Personal Data. There are times, however, where not providing the minimum necessary data as indicated in the relevant data entry sections and other pages in the relevant website, may result in Sony (or where relevant, a Sony Centre) not being able to sell you products and/or provide you with certain services, including after sales services.

This Privacy Policy applies to the www.sony.co.uk , www.sonystyle.co.uk and www.sonycentres.co.uk websites.

2. Why Sony collects Personal Data

Personal Data means any data related to an identified or identifiable person, such as your name, age, telephone number, e-mail and mailing address ("Personal Data").

Sony (and where relevant, a Sony Centre) would like to collect, maintain and use your Personal Data to:

fulfil its obligations under any sale and purchase contract, including the processing of any payment payment or ensuring that you benefit from any relevant special offer or promotion, as well as any other contract with you;
provide customer care, including services related to Sony businesses, such as warranty and after sales services;
ask your opinions on Sony products and services and conduct product surveys;
facilitate and process your searches and requests for information on Sony and its products and services;
provide you with the latest Sony products and services information, including upgrades and special offers in which you may be interested;
improve Sony products and services for you;
conduct prize draws, contests and other promotional offers; and
consider employing you if these data are requested on one of Sony’s job application websites.

For these purposes, Sony may share, make available or transmit Personal Data to other Sony group companies within Europe and Sony group companies worldwide, including countries that do not have effective data protection laws and where you may have fewer legal rights in respect of your Personal Data. However, even in such countries, Sony group companies will use your Personal Data only for the purposes outlined above, and they are or will be subject to stringent policies and terms on Personal Data use and protection. (“Sony group companies” are Sony Corporation, and any entity, firm or corporation, the majority of whose shares or equity is owned or controlled directly or indirectly by Sony Corporation).

3. How Sony collects Personal Data

Sony (and where relevant a Sony Centre) collect data about you in several ways. For example, we might ask for your contact information when you correspond with Sony, call Sony to make a purchase or request service, register your purchased product for after sales service, register to participate in an online survey or to any promotional offers, chat rooms, or on bulletin boards.

Here are some of the most typical examples of how Sony (and where relevant a Sony Centre) collects your Personal Data.

When you register a Sony product or service, we will collect your name, address data and the product or model name, etc;
When you purchase a product from us and submit your payment details to us (see section 4 below, for further details);
When you ask our customer service for help, we will keep a record of your name, the product(s) you bought, the technical issues at hand, and our advice to you, etc.
When you want to participate in online communities, we need to record your account details and preferences. Some of our web sites allow for some personalisation of the content according to your interests, in which case we are recording your preferences.
Keeping a record of your contact details and any resulting financial transaction in the context of a repair

Data collected online may also be combined with data you provide to Sony at other times. For example, during product registrations, calls to our call centres or at public events, such as exhibitions and trade shows. The Personal Data you provide in these cases may be consolidated with existing databases and stored, so that our customer data management systems are simplified.

4. Making a purchase via a Sony website or over the telephone

Making a purchase via a Sony website

When you make a purchase via this website, you are purchasing your products and/or services from one of a number of Sony Centres or from Sony (through Sony Style). Sony has facilitated this on its website by providing a means for you to select a Sony Centre convenient to you and to buy products and/or services from that Sony Centre online. On occasion you may buy products and/or services from Sony Style.

When you buy online, you will be asked to select a Sony Centre to purchase from. The Personal Data you provide in placing an order (such as your name, address and other details) is collected on behalf of that Sony Centre, which will be the “data controller” of your Personal Data for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. The Sony Centre will also record information about your purchases.

If you purchase products and/or services from Sony Style then Sony will be the data controller of your Personal Data and we will record information about your purchases.

You will be provided with the name and contact details of whichever Sony Centre you choose prior to your purchase or if you are dealing with Sony Style this will be made clear to you.

Making a purchase over the telephone

When you make a purchase over the telephone, you are purchasing your products and services from one of a number of Sony Centres or from Sony (through Sony Style).. Sony has facilitated this at its call centre by providing you with a means to select a Sony Centre convenient to you and to buy products and services from that Sony Centre over the telephone. On occasion you may buy products and/or services from Sony Style.

When you buy over the telephone, you will be asked to select a Sony Centre from a list based on which Sony Centres operate in your area or where you would like to have your purchase delivered to. The Personal Data you provide (such as your name, address and other details) is collected on behalf of that Sony Centre, which will be the “data controller” of your Personal Data for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. That Sony Centre will also record information about your purchases.

If you purchase products and/or services from Sony Style then Sony will be the data controller of your Personal Data and we will record information about your purchases.

You will be provided with the name and contact details of whichever Sony Centre you choose prior to your purchase or if you are dealing with Sony Style this will be made clear to you.

How your Personal Data is used

Whether you make an order online or over the telephone, the Sony Centre you choose to purchase from or Sony, if you have purchased from Sony Style, will use your Personal Data to complete the sale and provide product and after sales support to you. Your Personal Data is shared with Sony and the Sony Centres and may be combined with other information they hold about you as a customer, such as details of other purchases you have made from Sony or a Sony Centre. This information is used to provide you with better service and a more personalised experience, whether you shop at any of the Sony Centres or at Sony Style. Sony and the Sony Centres may also analyse purchase information to learn more about their customers’ shopping preferences in general. If you would prefer that your Personal Data is not shared with Sony and the Sony Centres, or have any other queries regarding the handling of your Personal Data, please send an email to privacy@eu.sony.com.

If you agree, Sony and Sony Centres may also use your Personal Data to send you updates and details of offers relating to products or services by post, email, telephone or text message. If you would like to stop receiving these offers and updates please send an email to privacy@eu.sony.com. Alternatively, if you have registered with Sony online and have a "MySony" profile then you may log-in and amend your marketing preferences.

5. Your preferences

The Personal Data we collect may be stored in different databases. Sony makes every effort to take into account the various preferences you may have expressed over time in order to process your data in a consistent way. If for any reason you receive incorrect data, the Sony Customer Information Service can be contacted at the address set out in section 14.

6. When Sony discloses Personal Data

Sony will not disclose Personal Data to third parties other than Sony group companies, without your consent, except in the following cases:

Personal Data may be disclosed to third parties to enable the performance of contracts you are party to or for other purposes mentioned in section 4 or to ensure that you benefit fully from any relevant special offers and promotions.Sony (and where relevant a Sony Centre) uses other companies to perform functions on its behalf, such as fulfilling orders, delivering packages, sending postal mail and e-mails, providing marketing assistance, processing credit card payments and providing customer services. Such companies will have access to Personal Data needed to perform these functions, but may not use it for any other purpose and are required to process the data in accordance with applicable law.

As described in section 4 if you purchase products or services through a Sony website or over the telephone, your Personal Data may be shared with Sony and the Sony Centres (unless you ask us not to do so).

Personal Data may be disclosed to third parties where Sony or a Sony Centre reasonably considers it necessary to prevent fraud, comply with law, to enforce or defend the legal rights of Sony or any Sony Centre, or in connection with corporate activity such as a merger, acquisition or insolvency situation. If Personal Data is disclosed to third parties to enable them to provide services for, on behalf of, or at the direction of Sony, then Sony takes measures to ensure that the third parties comply with our own privacy policy, and that such recipients:

do not use the Personal Data for any other purposes than those permitted;
obtain and process Personal Data only on condition that they protect that Personal Data from unauthorised use and adopt and comply with similarly stringent policies and terms on Personal Data protection and use; and
comply strictly with applicable laws.

Anonymous or generic data (including “generic” statistics) from which you cannot be identified are excluded from use, processing, disclosure, transmission and other Personal Data use restrictions.

7. Postings to Forums

Postings on certain Sony websites (whether in chat rooms, on message boards or via other methods of communication within the Forums) will generally be available to, and freely accessible by, other users of Sony Forums. Therefore, users should not expect any information they post to be kept private or confidential and they are encouraged to exercise discretion when using the Sony Forums. Additionally, your member name will always be posted in conjunction with your posting in the Sony Forums.

8. Security of collected data

Sony intends to protect your Personal Data and to maintain its quality. Sony will use all reasonable efforts to take all appropriate technical and organisational measures and precautions to keep Personal Data it holds about you secure and protected from unauthorised access, use or alteration and unlawful destruction. Measures include using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption when collecting or transferring sensitive data, such as credit card details. SSL encryption is designed to make the data unreadable by anyone but us.

How Sony protects your data

we limit access to your Personal Data. Only those employees who need to come into contact with that data, to provide products and services to you, will do so;
we have physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with regulations to protect your Personal Data; and
we allow for your account data to be password protected.

As general best practice on the internet, it is recommended that individuals do not use trivial login names and passwords. Passwords should contain a combination of letters and numbers, be kept securely and changed periodically.

9. Cookies and web beacons

Certain Sony websites may employ an industry-wide technology called “cookies”. These are small pieces of data that are placed on your hard disk drive when you access a website or a certain part of a website. Cookies help Sony understand which parts of its websites are the most popular, where Sony visitors are going, and how much time they spend there.

Sony uses cookies to study traffic patterns on its sites in order to improve website performance, to customise the user experience, and to better match the users’ interests and preferences. For example, Sony keeps track of the domains from which people visit, and also measures visitor activity on Sony websites. However, these tracking records are performed and maintained in ways that keep the data non-identifiable.

Cookies may also be used to recognise your computer next time you visit a website. This might save you time (e.g. by ensuring that you don not have to register again) or help you by customising your internet settings.

If you do not wish to accept cookies, they can be disabled by referring to your browser manufacturer’s instructions. Please refer to your browser instructions or help screen to learn more about these functions. For example, in Internet Explorer, you can go to the Tools/Internet options/Security and Privacy Tabs to adapt the browser to your expectations.

Web beacons, also known as single pixel or clear gif technology, or action tags, may be used on our site. This technology tells us which visitors clicked on key elements (such as links or graphics) on a Sony Web page or a Sony email. When you ask us to send you information on a promotion or a newsletter, we may use web beacons to establish which emails are actually opened. We use this information in order to optimise our content and services.

These Web beacons usually work in conjunction with cookies. If you don't want your cookie information to be associated with your visits to these pages, you can set your browser to turn off cookies. In Microsoft Outlook 2003 or similar, downloading of pictures can be turned off on a site by site basis.

10. Access to your Personal Data

You have the right to access your Personal Data, and to rectify or delete inaccuracies in your Personal Data, and to object to the processing of your Personal Data.

If you would like to view, correct, amend or update your Personal Data stored in Sony’s database, contact Sony at the address given in section 14 below by e-mail, fax, phone or letter. For privacy protection reasons, you will be asked to provide some proof of identification.

If you would like to unsubscribe from an email sent to you, follow the ‘unsubscribe’ link and/or instructions placed (typically) at the bottom of the mail. If you use more than one e-mail address to shop or contact Sony, unsubscribe from each e-mail account you use.

If you have made a purchase over the website or the telephone, you can view, amend, correct or update your Personal Data held by Sony or the relevant Sony Centre by contacting Sony or that Sony Centre on the details provided with your purchase.

11. Links to other sites

Some Sony websites may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Sony. Sony does not share your Personal Data with those websites (other than as described in section 6). While Sony tries to link only to sites that share Sony’s high standards and respect for privacy, Sony is not responsible for the content, security, or privacy practices employed by other sites and expressly disclaims all liability associated with your use of such other sites and the content found there.

12. Children’s privacy (children 14 years of age and under)

Sony does not knowingly solicit or collect Personal Data from or about children (aged 14 and under) without the consent of a parent or guardian, and Sony does not knowingly market its products or services to children. If Sony becomes aware that the person submitting Personal Data, through any part of Sony’s websites, is a child, Sony will use reasonable efforts to delete that Personal Data from its files as soon as possible. Sony will also use reasonable efforts to ensure that this Personal Data is not used for any purpose, nor disclosed to any third party. As Sony does not seek to collect any Personal Data about children, and Sony deletes any data collected inadvertently as soon as it is discovered, Sony retains no data about children that could be reviewed or deleted. If a parent requests review or deletion of data about their child before Sony has discovered and deleted the data, then Sony will of course honour that request.

13. Industry standards

This privacy statement has been established in cooperation with the Federation of European Direct Marketing (FEDMA). FEDMA is the first trade association whose data protection code of practice, which was developed in negotiations with the European Data Protection Authorities (Article 29 Working Group), recognized by the EU Commission.

14. Contacting us

If you need further assistance or would like to make a comment, please e-mail privacy@eu.sony.com or contact us at the following address:

Sony Europe (Belgium) N.V.
acting through its Belgian branch office at Customer Privacy
Da Vincilaan 7-D1
B-1935 Zaventem
Belgium

Sony Europe (Belgium) N.V. acts for the Sony group companies in Europe, including Sony United Kingdom Limited, on matters related to data protection.

Alternatively, you can contact our UK Customer Information Centre:
Sony United Kingdom Limited
Jays Close
Viables
Basingstoke RG22 4SB
Telephone: +44 (0)845 6000 124
Last Updated: January 2010