This Privacy Policy Statement sets out how we collect, use, manage and protect the personal data or information (“Data”) that we may collect from or about you. It applies to all individuals whose Data may be handled, whether as controller or processor, by the Flo Media Limited (collectively “Flo Media“, “we“, “us” or “our“, being the Flo Media Limited, its subsidiaries, affiliates and associated companies). You shall read this Privacy Policy Statement carefully so as to ensure that you fully and clearly understand the contents herein.
Protecting your privacy
We are dedicated to processing your Data in accordance with the required standards. This includes protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your Data in compliance with, where applicable, the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Chapter 486 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (the “Ordinance”), Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (the “GDPR”) and other relevant regulations where applicable.
Before using and providing your Data for the purposes as set out in this Privacy Policy Statement, we may be required by law to obtain your written consent, and in such cases, only after having obtained such written consent, may we use your Data in the manner as specified. If you are a minor or under 16 years old or a person who are mentally incapable, you must obtain express consent from your parents or guardian before providing any personal data to us. If you do not accept the following terms of this policy, please stop accessing, browsing or using this website/our e-services.
Your Data
We may collect, use and hold a range of different Data about you. For the purposes of carrying on our business (including the verification of your identity to detect, prevent and address fraud, security or technical issues, the registration, activation and management of your account with us, and the billing and charging of our products and services (if applicable) (collectively, “Service(s)”)) and complying with laws, rules, guidelines, regulations and/or requests issued by applicable government authorities, courts, law enforcement or other authorities or regulatory bodies, you may be requested to provide Data such as, but not limited to:
- the name, birth month and other details documented on your Hong Kong Identity Card (including first four alphanumeric characters) or other legal identity card and/or travel document;
- contact details including but not limited to name, address, phone number, mobile telephone number and/or email address, etc.;
- Data that you have shared with third party social media platform operators (e.g. account login name, profile picture, contact details), etc.;
- payment details including but not limited to credit card, debit card and other electronic banking Data;
- account details or Data relating to Services registered with us including but not limited to the relevant PIN, username or password, account numbers and/or service numbers;
- device specific information such as hardware model, operating system, version, unique device identifier, serial numbers, setting configurations and software and mobile network configuration;
- information about how you use our Services such as your network usage, how you use our network, and your location when you are using our Services;
- your credit and service history to enable us to assess your eligibility to our offers of Services or to accommodate your request for transfer of Services or your account with us;
- all Data requested by applicable government authorities, courts, law enforcement or other authorities or regulatory bodies to enable us to comply with or in connection with any law, rule, regulation, judgment or court order (whether within or outside of Hong Kong); and
- any other Data as may be required by any members of Flo Media and/or their respective contractors, sub-contractors, intermediaries, agents, business partners or representatives, brokers, underwriters from time to time and which is necessary for the provision of the Services.
- In some instances, where required by law to do so, we may seek your consent to process the following types of “Special Data” to us so that we may further improve our Services and/or better tailor the type of information or content that we present to you:
- age;
- gender and ethnicity;
- marital status;
- Month of birth;
- education and profession;
- monthly income range;
- hobbies and leisure activities;
- the Services that you have subscribed for; and
- contact details, etc.
Provision of the Special Data mentioned immediately above is optional although, where the requested Service is a personalised Service or provision of a product is dependent upon your provision of all requested Data, failure to provide the requested Data may prevent us from providing those particular Services to you.
How we collect Data
We collect Data in a number of ways, including from:
- you directly, for example, when you provide Data by phone or via email, attend our functions, complete an application form or agreement for one of our Services, or when you submit your Data through our website, mobile app, or online chat sessions; or when you contact us with a query or request; or during the ordinary course of the continuation of our business relationship with you; or when we are legally required to do so;
- third parties such as related entities, business partners, or other customers, or your representatives with appropriate consent from you;
- publicly available sources;
- our own records of how you use our Services;
- your visits on our website, or mobile app (see “Privacy Data” section below); and/or
- your participation in surveys or marketing promotions organised by us or on our behalf, etc.
Participation in Voting Activities or Activities with Prize Incentives
When participating in promotional activities organized by our media or co-organized by our business parties, users may not be required to be registered as our member but will be required to provide personal data for registration.
Privacy Data
To better serve your needs and preferences, our web servers may collect Data relating to your website, device or app activity. We may also collect aggregated, anonymous, statistical data on the server’s usage so that we may better cater to the behaviour of users of our website and mobile app. This type of Data may include, but is not limited to:
- browser type, version and user agent;
- operating system;
- IP (Internet Protocol) address and/or domain name;
- connection data, statistics on page views and/or referral URLs;
- device ID, location and phone contacts;
- videos watched or searched for;
- links or images clicked on;
- cookies and/or browser, app or web server log data; and
- device and software characteristics and/or configuration.
Our Website use cookies or similar tracking tools on your machine or device in order for us to, for example, personalise your user experience and/or maintain your identity across multiple webpages and/or Internet sessions. This Data may include, but is not limited to, relevant login and authentication details as well as Data relating to your activities and the preference configurations on your device and across our website and mobile app. Our Website has embedded third party features such as videos, maps and social media app that provide you with a better browsing experience. Pages with these embedded features may present cookies from feature providers. We do not collect information from these cookies and do not control the dissemination of these cookies. These cookies or similar technologies are owned and controlled by third parties, and therefore the third parties – and not Flo Media – are responsible for their use. As such, we cannot guarantee that we have listed every cookie or similar technology you might get from a third party since a third party could change them at any time as their needs change. You should check the relevant third party website for more information about these. Our website is initially set up to accept cookies. You can opt-out of or delete historical cookies by changing the settings on your web browsers; however, if you do so, you may find that certain features on our website and/or our app do not work properly. (Note: Disabling the cookies function may cause inaccessibility to some parts of our website and thus you may not be able to enjoy our Services.)
Apart from that, as for any link or advertisement on our website (if any), its owner may set or identify cookies on your browser. The use of cookies by third-party advertisers or advertising providers is not subject to this Privacy Policy, but their respective privacy policies.
How we use your Data
We may collect, retain and use your Data for the following purposes:
- to verify your identity;
- to process your application to subscribe to our Services;
- to carry out matching procedures, as defined under the Ordinance;
- to verify your eligibility to our offers of Services, games and/or promotions or other events;
- to provide, activate and/or renew Services, membership program and/or relevant services or plans that you may have subscribed for;
- to provide you with promotional benefits, updates, offers and invitation to events;
- to promote and market our Services to you;
- to provide suitable advertisement and website contents to you;
- to provide suitable products or services to you;
- to provide anonymous report and to send member notice to us or our clients;
- to conduct credit checks and detect fraudulent activities in compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615) or any other relevant regulations and in relation to other compliance purposes;
- to perform research or analyses so that we may improve and optimise the Services that can be made available to you;
- to conduct surveys and marketing, promotional, behavioural scoring for business operations and/or planning purposes;
- to carry out market and product analyses in order to generate statistical or actuarial reports (containing aggregated data that does not relate to any identified or identifiable individual);
- to process any payment instructions, direct debit facilities and/or credit facilities in relation to our supply of Services to you;
- to maintain and develop our business systems and infrastructure, including testing and upgrading of these systems;
- to maintain, enhance and develop our products and service offerings;
- to comply with applicable laws in or outside Hong Kong as may be required by applicable government authorities, courts, law enforcement, or regulatory or investigation bodies, in relation to the supply of Services and/or loyalty programs to you, including to assist in the prevention, detection of crime or possible criminal activities; and
- to distribute our publications and research materials as well as those of our business partners and counterparties.
Our legal basis for using your Data including how we disclose your Data
We have a legitimate interest in properly administering the Services. In addition, our use of your personal data may be necessary for the performance of the Services that you have requested. In order to provide the Services that you have requested, we may, to the extent permissible under applicable laws and regulations, disclose your Data to organisations or parties outside of Flo Media(which may be within or outside of Hong Kong) (collectively, “Organisations”). Your Data is disclosed to these Organisations for the strict purpose of enabling us to supply our Services to you but is not applicable to any Organisations which are not owned by Flo Media or of which its company policies are not controlled by Flo Media as well as any persons employed or managed by Flo Media.
In some circumstances as mentioned above, we may need to ask for your consent to use your Special Data where required by law to do so.
These Organisations provide support services to our businesses and operations including without limitation:
- customer enquiries;
- mailing operations;
- billing and debt-recovery functions;
- information technology services;
- installation, maintenance and repair services;
- marketing, advertising and telemarketing services;
- market research;
- customer usage and behavioural analysis;
- process management;
- surveys; and
- website usage analysis, etc.
We take the required steps to ensure that these Organisations are bound by appropriate confidentiality and privacy obligations in relation to the protection of your Data and that they use your Data for the sole purpose of carrying out the services for which they have been engaged, and not for their own or other purposes (including direct marketing).
In addition, we may disclose your Data:
- to your authorised representatives and/or your legal advisers when requested by you to do so;
- for the purposes of providing administrative, payment, collection, business, legal and/or operational support, to the following parties:
- telecommunications network operators;
- our affiliates, overseas offices, assignees, transferees and representatives;
- our professional advisers, including our accountants, auditors, lawyers and insurers;
- to banks, hotels, insurance companies, insurance brokers, underwriters, billing agents and various business collaborators for reward redemption purposes and benefits applicable to members of our loyalty programs, including without limitation for the purpose of registering members for loyalty program related events;
- to government and regulatory authorities and other organisations, as required or authorised by law;
- to any proposed or actual participant, assignee or transferee of all or any part of the relevant member of our operations or business; and/or
- to charities or non-profit organisations, etc.
Direct Marketing (if applicable)
Please understand that we are principally engaged in publishing, advertising and providing a total solution multimedia marketing platform and advertisement services for clients. We will provide you with relevant online media information, promotional campaigns and client advertising information. We may, in compliance with applicable laws, rules, regulations and licence requirements, use your Data (including without limitation name, contact information, phone number, residential/office address and email address), for us (including Flo Media and its respective subsidiaries, affiliates and associated companies) and our respective dealers, suppliers, licensors, providers, advertising clients and/or business partners (collectively, “Service Providers”)) to provide you with direct marketing content (pursuant to which we may or may not receive remuneration in return), including sending to you notices and/or updates about gifts, discounts, privileged offers, benefits and promotions related to Services offered by us and/or the Service Providers, including without limitation: entertainment, information services (such as weather, finance and news information), device accessories, mobile applications and software, lifestyle, networking events, travelling, alcohol and tobacco, sports, music, gaming, transportation, household products, food and beverages, hotel, banking, finance, insurance, wealth management services, investments, education, health and wellness, beauty and cosmetics products and services, entertainment, films, cinemas, fashion and accessories, computers and electronics, social networking, technology, e-commerce, logistics, retail, real estates and shopping malls, home and décor, media and high-end consumer products and services. Marketing may be carried out in a variety of ways (such as in the form of a letter, bill insert/message, email, digital SMS, MMS, instant message, app push notification, by telephone, social media or advertisements on website or other means).
Before using and providing your Data for the purposes as set out in this Privacy Policy Statement, where we are required by law to obtain your written consent, and in such cases, only after having obtained such written consent, may we use and provide your Data for any promotional or marketing purpose.
We will honour each individual’s request to not use his/her Data for the purposes of direct marketing. You may opt-out from receiving direct marketing material and/or communications from the relevant Service and/or any notices from Flo Media. At the same time, you may resume receiving the same (if you have previously opted-out of receiving such material and/or communications from the relevant Service) by making a written request to our Data Protection Officer together with your registered name and service account number, registered telephone number or login name (as applicable).
Transfer of Data outside Hong Kong
At times it may be necessary and/or prudent for us to transfer your Data to places outside of Hong Kong, for instance, for the prevention, detection or investigation of crime or for storage, processing and other purposes for which the Data were collected. In the event that we do transfer your Data outside of Hong Kong, we will do so in compliance with the prevailing requirements of the Ordinance, other relevant regulations and the GDPR where applicable.
The safety of your Data is important to us
All required efforts are made to ensure that any Data held by us is stored in a secure and safe place and is accessible only by our authorised employees or other Organisations referred to in this Privacy Policy Statement.
When we pass your Data to third party Organisations for them to process, we seek to ensure that they have appropriate security measures in place to keep your Data safe and to comply with applicable principles in relation to data protection. Some of the people we share your Data with may process it overseas. You can contact us for more information about the safeguards we use to ensure that your Data is adequately protected in these circumstances.
Retention of your Data
We will retain your Data in accordance with our internal policies. Our policies are in compliance with the Ordinance and the GDPR where applicable, and cover the following principles:
(a) Data will only be retained for as long as is necessary to fulfil the original or directly related purposes for which it was collected, unless the Data is also retained to satisfy any applicable legal, regulatory or contractual obligations; and
(b) Data are purged from our electronic, manual and other filing systems based on the above criteria and our internal procedures.
Links
Our website and mobile application (if any) may contain links to other websites, webpages and mobile applications operated by third parties. We have no control over the content of the linked websites, webpages and mobile applications or the way in which the operators of those websites, webpages and mobile applications deal with your Data, and are not responsible for the content of such third party websites, webpages or mobile applications. You should review the privacy policy of such third party websites, webpages and mobile applications to understand the ways in which your Data may be used by those third parties.
Your right to access, correct and delete Data
We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that the Data we collect, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date. However, the accuracy of that Data depends to a large extent on the Data you provide. You have a right to request access to, and correction of, your Data and we recommend that you:
(a) let us know if there are any errors in your Data; and
(b) keep us up-to-date with changes to your Data.
If you wish to access or amend any of your Data we hold, or request that we delete any of your information that is no longer necessary for the provision of our Services, you may contact us on the Contact Us page.
You may exercise your right of access and correction by writing to our Data Protection Officer at the details stated in the Contact Us page.
You may decline to share Data with us and/or withdraw any consents which you may have provided, in which case, we may not be able to provide you with some of our Services.
At any time, you may object to us holding or processing your Data, on legitimate grounds, save and except as otherwise permitted by the applicable law.
Conditions to upload content
When you submit content to or share material with Flo Media, you must only submit/share your own original content. If your content contains the work(s) of others (e.g. music, images and/or video), you must have obtained the necessary rights or permissions to use that material. You also undertake not to use our website to upload, post, email, offer or otherwise transmit any contents that infringe any proprietary rights or intellectual property rights including, without limitation, patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright of any party.
If your content clearly identifies anyone else, you will need to ensure that the persons concerned have consented to the content being used by Flo Media. Where your content clearly identifies children under the age of 16, you must ensure that their parent or guardian has provided their consent as set out above.
According to Flo Media’s rules, you should not submit or share any material or information:
- That is knowingly false or misleading, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, threatening or invasive of a person’s privacy or unlawful in any way;
- Which you do not own or for which you have not obtained all necessary licences and/or approvals as may be required by law;
- Which is technically harmful (including, without limitation, files that contain viruses, corrupted files or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another’s computer);
- Impersonating any person or entity, or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation with anyone or any entity;
- Deleting any author attributions, legal notices or proprietary designations or labels in any file that is uploaded; and/or
- Falsifying the origin or source of software or other material contained in a file that is uploaded; and/or
- Advertising or offering to sell any goods or services, or conducting or forwarding surveys, contests or chain letters, or downloading any file posted by another user of Flo Media website that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally distributed in such a manner.
Flo Media reserves its right to reject or remove or edit any inappropriate information from its website or social media records. If in doubt, please do not share your contents with Flo Media. If you post on, or transmit to, our website or social media platforms any material of the type prohibited under the above paragraphs or any applicable laws and regulations, and Flo Media incurs any costs, expenses, liability or losses as a result then you agree to indemnify Flo Media for all such costs, expenses, liability and/or losses.
You should be aware that Flo Media is entitled to reveal your identity (or any information which it has about you) to any third party who is claiming that any of that material violates any of their rights or to any government or regulatory authority that may request Flo Media to do so.
Sensitive Data
Unless specially required or requested by us, please do not send or publish any personal sensitive data (e.g. contents in relations to race, political views, religious or other beliefs, health record, criminal record or chamber membership, etc.) to us or through our website or social media platforms. If we specially required or requested your provision of sensitive data, we must obtain your prior express consent.
How to contact us
For all issues and enquiries regarding our compliance with our obligations under the Ordinance and the GDPR where applicable, and any request for access to, correction or deletion of your Data, please contact us on [email protected]
To raise an issue regarding our handling of your Data, please contact us in order that we can attempt to resolve your issue.
This Privacy Policy Statement may be amended from time to time and all handling of Data will be governed by the most recent version of this Privacy Policy Statement, available on our website at (https://www.theflomedia.com/privacy-policy).
We keep our privacy policy statement under regular review. This privacy policy statement was last updated in January 2022.