GE Appliances - a Haier company

Connected Data Privacy Policy
GE WiFi Connect Appliances
Last Updated August 30, 2017

If you choose to use the GE Appliances WiFi Connect Appliance Platform ("Platform"), GE Appliances will collect personal information about you, including various data from each connected appliance and/or device ("Appliances") configured on your home network, as well as smart devices used to access the Platform. In this Connected Data Privacy Policy ("Policy") we refer to data collected from your Appliances and smart devices used to access the GE Appliances WiFi applications collectively as "Connected Data". This Policy describes our practices when collecting and processing Connected Data.

To use the Platform, you will need to first register for an account with GE Appliances, unless you have registered for an account previously. All account registration information you provide shall be held by GE Appliances in accordance with the GE Appliances Privacy Policy, which can be found at https://www.geappliances.com/privacy/privacy_policy.htm.

Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances is responsible for collection, use and disclosure of your personal information (including Connected Data) when using the Platform.

Contact details can be found in the section 'How to Contact Us' below.

WHAT DATA ARE WE COLLECTING?

After creating an account with GE Appliances (as noted above), you will need to sign in on the Platform and provision your Appliances to connect to the Platform. Only after you have completed these steps will Connected Data be collected, as described in this Policy.

Connected Data includes, but is not limited to:

  1. Appliance information, such as model number, serial number, order number, software and hardware version numbers, performance, and configuration, including work tools or other peripheral devices attached to Appliances.
  2. Electronic information, such as sensor logs, trends, histograms, event data, other alerts, digital state data, fault codes, idle time, service meter hours, electronic data files downloaded manually or automatically from an Appliance, troubleshooting data, and other data, depending on the type of Appliances used.
  3. Real-time usage information for your Appliances that depends on the type of Appliances, such as the (number of) times an Appliance is turned on or off, the type and/or number of cycles run by an Appliance, different modes used, and the date your Appliance was installed.
  4. Location and Communication Information. We will collect specific geolocation information from your smart device, such as GPS coordinates, location name or geo-fence information. In addition, we will we will collect information from your Appliance such as the Appliance's IP address, MAC address, RFID and/or WiFi connection.
  5. Electricity, water, and gas consumption data for your Appliances.
  6. Status, service and diagnostic information for your Appliances, specifically alerts, tips, maintenance, renewal, performance and repair information. This may include work orders (records of all maintenance, repair, parts purchases, replacement and modification to an Appliance), component life (history of usage and wear life of a component), maintenance schedule, planned maintenance, warranty coverage data, maintenance and repair contracts, service intervals (scheduled interval for planned maintenance of component replacement activities for an Appliance), component lists (lists of parts that make up an Appliance), and service letters (describing special service actions recommended by GE Appliances to correct a known problem with an Appliance).
  7. Smart device information, error reporting, application interaction data, crash reports and network information, such as your smart device's IP Address and network SSID. This information is necessary for you to use the Platform from your smart device.
  8. Service Information-including when your Appliance was serviced and by whom.

We may need to collect and use some of the abovementioned information because we are either legally required to do so, or because we need it to provide the requested services to you (legitimate interest), or we have acquired your consent. If you do not provision your Appliance to connect with the Platform, we will not be able to provide you with the requested services.

HOW WE MAY COLLECT CONNECTED DATA

We and our service providers may collect Connected Data in a variety of ways, including:

  • Through Appliances: We may receive information via a wired or wireless connection, such as RFID, Bluetooth or WiFi from Appliances. Some information may be collected automatically, such as fault codes, crash reports and hours of operation.
  • From component manufacturers &e; original equipment manufacturer (OEMs): We may obtain Connected Data from manufacturers of the components in your Appliances, or from your other product/service providers, if you connect your Appliances to their products or services. For example, connecting your Appliance to a smart home hub. This information may be provided to us automatically.
  • From Others: We may receive additional Connected Data from third parties who assist us in: call center operations, repair service, and product or service offerings. We may also receive your Connected Data from other sources, such as joint marketing partners, and from other third parties. We may collect or generate Connected Data from troubleshooting data and/or your service providers (such as maintenance, electricity, water, and gas providers).

HOW ARE WE GOING TO USE IT?

We will use Connected Data:

  • To provide our services to you, to communicate with you (including send you administrative and contractual information, such as information regarding the terms and conditions, warranty policies or service contracts) and to provide you other customer-related services, such as handle your queries and complaints.
  • To register your Appliances.
  • To improve the products and services we provide, and to enhance your experience with the Haier family of companies. We will analyze the Connected Data and provide recommendations to you on how to optimize the use of your Appliances, and provide you with, tips, maintenance, and repair programs related to our products and services.
  • To personalize your experience of Appliances by presenting products and offers tailored to you, and to facilitate social sharing functionality.
  • For internal purposes which include, but are not limited to, administration of our websites, data analytics, market research purposes, identification and execution of sales, marketing and advertising opportunities and compliance with law or legal process and our policies and procedures.
  • To protect against and prevent fraud, unauthorized transactions, claims and other liabilities, and manage risk exposure and quality;
  • To conduct investigations and comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, industry standards and our policies and terms, such as this and other Haier sites' terms of use;
  • To ensure the safety of our products and services, information resources and employees.
  • We may create aggregate/anonymized data sets that do not identify an individual. This data tells us such things as geographic information on our user community and comparative performance and usage data. We may use this data for our business purposes and may share this data with third parties.
  • For additional uses, as agreed by you and us.

Connected Data and other information concerning the function of your Appliances may be provided to you via smart device or web portal, as such features become available. You can use this Connected Data to remotely monitor and control your Appliances. In addition, functionality may be available to allow you to change the behavior of your Appliances including, but not limited to, adjusting the settings of your Appliances and the ability to download software updates to your Appliances. If you use these functions, information will also be provided to you in the form of text messages, push notifications or email alerts from your Appliances connected to the Platform; this may include notifications of Appliance faults, product alerts, end of cycle signals and other similar product notifications.

INFORMATION WE SHARE

We may share Connected Data:

  • Within the Haier family of companies;
  • With third party service providers who assist us in: product delivery and installation; warranty or service contract claims clearinghouse; call center operations, parts delivery, repair service, product recall; order processing; billing; payments processing; processing and mailing rebates; offering promotions, discounts, and/or products; quality of product or service surveys; data modeling for marketing analysis; and product or service offerings. These companies are contractually restricted from using or disclosing your Connected Data except as outlined in this Policy or to comply with legal requirements;
  • If you are a Canadian resident, with GE Appliances Canada (MC Commercial, Inc.);
  • With third parties, to permit them to send you marketing communications, consistent with your choices;

In addition, we may disclose your Connected Data (i) if you have instructed us or have otherwise provided consent to transfer your Connected Data to a third party, (ii) if we are required to do so by law or legal process (which may include laws outside your country of residence), (iii) to law enforcement authorities or other government officials pursuant to a subpoena, court order or other mandate (which may include authorities outside your country of residence), or (iv) when we have a reasonable belief disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss.

We may furthermore use, disclose or transfer your Connected Data to a third party in the event of any reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings).

We may also use and disclose your Connected Data in other ways, with your consent.

INFORMATION WE TRANSFER

Connected Data is collected from your connected Appliance and transmitted to the GE Appliances' central servers located in the U.S. and Ireland (for Connected Data collected from the EU).

The services are controlled and operated by us from the U.S. Your Connected Data may be stored and processed in any country where we have facilities or in which we engage service providers, and by using the services you consent to the transfer of information to countries outside of your country of residence, including the United States, which may have data protection rules that are different from those of your country. In certain circumstances, courts, law enforcement agencies, regulatory agencies or security authorities in those other countries may be entitled to access your Connected Data.

If you are located in the EEA: Some of the non-EEA countries are recognized by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of protection according to EEA standards (the full list of these countries is available here.

With regard to transfers to other countries, we have put in place adequate measures, such as standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission, to protect your Connected Data. You may obtain a copy of these measures by contacting us as outlined in the 'How to Contact Us' section below.

THIRD-PARTY SITES

We may provide links to third-party web sites for your convenience and information. These sites may have their own privacy practices which we recommend you review if you visit any linked web sites. We are not responsible for the content of linked sites or any use of the sites.

YOUR CHOICES

We give you choices regarding our use and disclosure of your personal information for marketing purposes. See the GE Appliances Privacy Policy at https://www.geappliances.com/privacy/privacy_policy.htm for additional information on how you can exercise your choices.

HOW YOU CAN ACCESS, CHANGE OR SUPPRESS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

If you would like to request to review, correct, update, suppress/restrict or delete personal information that you have previously provided to us, or if you would like to request to transfer your personal information to another company (to the extent this right to data portability is provided to you by applicable law), you may do so contacting us as outlined in the section titled 'How to Contact Us'.

In your request, please make clear what personal information you would like to have changed, whether you would like to have your personal information suppressed from our database, or otherwise let us know what limitations you would like to put on our use of your personal information. We will try to comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable.

RETENTION PERIOD

We keep your personal information for as long as needed or permitted in light of the purpose(s) for which it was obtained. The criteria used to determine our retention periods include (i) for as long as we have an ongoing relationship with you (such as delivery of products or services, an online account, receiving our newsletter); as required by a legal obligation to which we are subject to; or as advisable in light of our legal position (such as in regard of applicable statutes of limitations, litigation, or regulatory investigations).

HOW WE PROTECT DATA

We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect against unauthorized disclosure, use, alteration or destruction of Connected Data. Unfortunately, no data transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure, please immediately notify us in accordance with the 'How to Contact Us' section below.

COMPLAINTS

You have the right at all times to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority competent for your country or region.

UPDATES TO OUR POLICY

This Policy may be updated periodically to reflect changes in our online information practices. We will post a prominent notice on the www.geappliances.com/connect website to notify you of any changes to our Policy and indicate at the top of the statement when it was most recently updated. In the event of a material change to this Policy, such as substantive changes in the handling of information, new types of Connected Data being collected, or the use of a different method for the sharing of Connected Data with third parties from what is outlined in this Policy, we will provide you with notice or obtain your consent as required by law or our policy.

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any questions or comments about this Policy or if you would like us to update information we have about you or your preferences, please contact us by completing this online form.

For Canadian residents, please contact GE Appliances Canada electronically at servicerequest@mabe.ca, via telephone at (888) 561-3344, or via post to GE Appliances Canada, P.O. Box 5345, Burlington, Ontario, L7R 5B6, Attention: Legal Department, Privacy Officer.