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Online Privacy Policy
Updated
June 2008. Use of this site signifies your acceptance of the terms and
conditions.
Mattel, Inc. and its
family of companies (“Mattel”) are committed to protecting your online privacy
when visiting a website operated by us. We do not collect and keep any personal
information online from you unless you volunteer it and you are 13 or older. We
also do not collect and keep personal information online from children under
the age of 13 without consent of a parent or legal guardian, except in limited
circumstances authorized by law and described in this policy. Please review the
information below to familiarize yourself with our policies on website privacy,
so that you can take full advantage of all the fun activities available at our
sites for you and your family. Please remember that this site and the servers
that make this site available are located in the U.S. By using this site you
agree to the transfer, collection, processing and use of data by this site.
A
SPECIAL NOTE FOR PARENTS AND LEGAL GUARDIANS:
Mattel adheres to the
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 and the guidelines of the
Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business
Bureaus, Inc. in each of our websites for children. You can help by spending
time online with your children and monitoring your children's online use.
Please help us protect your child's privacy by instructing them never to
provide personal information on this site or any other without your permission.
If you are under 18,
please be sure to read this policy with your parents or legal guardians and ask
questions about things you do not understand. Children under 13 should get your
parent's or legal guardian’s permission before giving out your
e-mail address or any personal information to Mattel or to anyone else on the
Internet.
1.
Does Mattel Collect Any Personal Information About Me If I'm 13 Or Older?
Mattel doesn't require anyone to share any personal information about themselves in order to enjoy any of our websites. That means
you can visit our sites without any need to register with us. However, most of
our sites contain special sections and privileges for members that register. We
do not collect any personal information from you or your teenager unless it is
voluntarily provided, for instance when signing a guest book, registering for
contests, sweepstakes, community areas, downloads, or free demos, completing
our online customer surveys or purchasing products. The personal information we
ask for is usually first and last name, mailing address, phone number and an
e-mail address. See below for how we use this information. Remember, only
people who are 18 or older may purchase products from our online stores. In
addition, only a parent or guardian can register children under age 13 to participate
in enhanced subscription services or certain community features at our
websites.
2.
What Ordering Information Does Mattel Collect In Our Online Stores?
We may offer opportunities to purchase products in our
online stores. Customers must be over the age of 18 with a valid credit card.
Visitors under 18 can use the Wish List function while browsing our online
stores but cannot make purchases. When a customer places an order or requests a
catalogue online, we collect information associated with the transaction, which
will include the customer’s name, mailing address, products ordered, shipping
address, and credit card information. We ask for this information so that we
may fulfill the order or catalogue request. We use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology
to protect credit card data during transmission to our website, and adopt
careful internal procedures to safeguard this information in our system. We
require our service providers and vendors to safeguard the privacy of any
personal information they handle and to adhere to industry-accepted best
practices to safeguard personal information.
Customers have the
option of registering certain information for future orders while completing
their online order. For the customers who choose to register, we will capture
their login name, password, name and mailing address, alternate ship-to
addresses, and credit card information. Enhanced subscription services at some
of our websites may be available to you or your child for a monthly or other
fee. To register your child, we will ask you to provide your child’s screen or
user name and password in addition to your contact details and credit card
information so we can assist you in managing your child’s account. We may also
offer you the option to be billed automatically for subscription service fees.
If you elect to automatically renew a subscription, we or our
trusted service providers will retain your registration information,
including your credit card information, so we can process your request.
When registered
customers return to the site to place subsequent orders, they can identify
themselves with their login name and password. If a customer includes a child’s
birth date and e-mail address, this information will only be used to help us
provide products and services that meet customer needs.
When a customer
places an order online, we will send a confirming e-mail message. We may also
send an occasional e-mail featuring a special promotion or product that may be
of interest to customers. Any customer who prefers not to receive an online
order confirmation or promotional e-mail should indicate this preference on the
online store order form. If you do receive an e-mail
from us that you would rather not receive, simply follow the “unsubscribe”
instructions included in the
e-mail.
When a customer
places an order or registers on a site where transactions are handled by a
third-party vendor, those transactions are conducted through the vendor’s
website. You should be sure to review the vendor’s website terms and conditions
and privacy policy before submitting any personal information or engaging in
any transactions through any third-party website, as Mattel is not responsible
for any transactions made through third-party websites or for any content,
terms and conditions, or privacy policies of such third-party websites.
3.
Does Mattel Collect Any Personal Information About Anyone Under 13?
We do not collect personal information online from children
under 13 without consent of a parent or legal guardian except in special,
limited circumstances. If your child is under 13 and wants to use our sites
with special activities, like scavenger hunts, personalized pages, games or
clubs, we might ask your child to “register.” They can often do so anonymously
by just providing a user name and password, but sometimes we need their first
name and e-mail address. When we ask for your child's first name, your child is
encouraged to use a "screen name" (not their real name) that only
they know. Sometimes we will ask your child to make up a special password so
that only they can see their customized areas on the site. With your verifiable
consent, we may collect personal information from your child such as a last
name, address or e-mail address when the information is necessary for a particular
activity. If we need more than just your child's first name (or screen name)
and e-mail address for your child to participate in a particular online activity, we will ask your child for your e-mail or
mailing address so that we can notify you of your child's request and get your
permission. When we ask for your permission, we will tell you what we will do
with the information you or your child provides us, and we will tell you how
you can review your child's information and ask us to delete the information.
We don't keep your (or your child's) e-mail address unless you tell us it is
okay.
Mattel might collect
an e-mail address and first name (or screen name) from your child under 13
without your consent, but only in the following special cases:
If a child under 13
sends a request to us, we keep their e-mail address for long enough to respond
to them. Mattel deletes this information from our system after we answer their
question.
If a child under 13 signs up for an e-mail newsletter, or other activity that
requires multiple online contacts with the child, we also ask the child for a
parent's or legal guardian’s e-mail address so we can notify you and give you
an opportunity to opt out.
Occasionally, Mattel
has special site activities or promotions like sweepstakes or contests that are
open to children even if they are under 13. In these activities, we are not
allowed to ask for more information from your child than what is necessary for
your child to participate in the activity.
In the latter situation
we require your child to give us your e-mail address, too, so that we can tell
you that they have registered in a promotion or for a service. If we need more
than an e-mail address and first name (or screen name) to enter your child in
the promotion or offer the service, we will notify you, explain what
information we need and why, and generally ask that you (not your child)
provide it. For instance, we might ask you for your mailing address so that we
can send to you, for your child, any prizes your child wins, or for your
telephone number so that we can tell you when your child has won. Any
information you or your child give us in the above special circumstances will
be deleted from our database once the promotion, program or activity is
concluded, and after any legally required period for keeping such information
is complete.
We may offer enhanced
services available to children under 13. In such cases, a parent must register
for the service and establish the appropriate permission level for the child.
Content and activities available to you or your child may vary depending on the
subscription and site. Parents will be provided with information on the type of
content and activities their child may access at the time they subscribe and
are always in charge of their child’s account. Subscription fees may apply for
some services.
We do not require a child to disclose more information than is reasonably
necessary to participate in a contest, game or other activity as a condition of
participation. If you no longer wish your child to participate in an e-mail
newsletter, simply click on the link that is provided for removal or contact us
at Service@mattel.com. Upon proper
identification, parents or legal guardians may review the personal information
we have collected about their child, request deletion, or refuse to allow
further collection or use of the information. Click here
to print a copy of our Personal Information Review Access Request, fill it out
completely and mail it to:
Personal Information
Review Access Request
Mattel, Inc.
International & Regulatory Affairs
333 Continental Boulevard
M1-1202
El Segundo, CA 90245
However, if you ask
us to delete your child's information, we may have to ask your child not to
participate in our activities.
4.
What Does Mattel Do With The Information We Collect?
We use the personal information we collect for the purposes
indicated at the time you or your teenager or child (with your consent)
provides such information. For instance, if you register in a contest, we will
use the registration information to notify contest winners, or if you purchase
a product, we will use the information to fulfill the order. Occasionally, and
only with consent at the time we ask for information, we might also e-mail or
mail you or your teenager or your child to provide information on upcoming
Mattel products, website updates and promotions. With your consent, we may also
share information with other Mattel brands and Mattel family companies so that
they can let you and your family know about products that might be of interest.
If you want to stop receiving such updates and product information at any time,
just contact us at Service@mattel.com
or call us at 800-524-TOYS. Our mailings and e-mail will also include
information allowing you to ask not to receive such information in the future.
5.
Does Mattel Share Information About Me With Others?
If you consent, Mattel may provide your information to
outside companies that offer products or services that may be of interest, and
if your teenager 13 or older consents, we may likewise provide their
information. Except as described in this policy, we never share personal
information that we receive online from children under 13 with other companies
outside Mattel for their marketing purposes. We will remove your name from the
list we provide to outside companies if you contact us at Service@mattel.com or call us at
800-524-TOYS, and we will do the same for your teenager's name if they request
removal. In special circumstances, Mattel may give other companies access to
our information database, but only if necessary to allow them to provide
database or server maintenance or security, manage transactions, help us
process and fulfill orders or requests, or provide other similar services to
Mattel. If we do provide access, we require those other companies to sign
confidentiality agreements promising to keep secret any information they see.
If Mattel believes that anyone's behavior on our sites may damage us or our
sites or anyone else, we may disclose the relevant personal information in
order to prevent this harm. In that case, we might try to identify the
wrongdoer, contact them or bring legal action against them. We may also
disclose personal information if we believe that the disclosure is required by
law, or in response to a legal request.
6.
How Does Mattel Use Cookies?
A "cookie" is a small file that we save on your
computer’s hard drive that contains non-personal information. Our cookies help
to give you faster access to pages you have already visited; they allow you to
personalize your pages and us to customize our offerings; and they help you to
participate in some activities or events on the site. For instance, some of our
sites have scavenger or treasure hunts, and we need to use cookies to keep
track of your progress. If you leave the site and then return, cookies will
tell us what things you have already collected so that you do not have to start
all over again. Cookies keep track of items in your shopping cart and wish list
in our online stores. We also use cookies to help us figure out how many people
visit our sites, which of our Web pages they stop at and how long they stay
there. This information helps us figure out which of our Web features are
successes and what sites might need improvement. For administrative purposes, we
collect IP addresses, which is the automatic number assigned to your computer
when you surf the Web. Certain Internet Service Providers may assign the same
IP address to many users. The IP address allows us to count the total number of
"hits" on our sites. However, your IP address and cookie are not
connected to any personally identifiable or online contact information like a
name and address, so you and your family remain anonymous. We also use other
technology, called clear GIFs, to provide us with
other important anonymous information, such as when an e-mail
has been opened.
7.
Does Mattel Ever Collect Information Without Consent?
Mattel does not collect information passively through cookies or other tracking
mechanisms except in the circumstances described above. However, third-party
advertisers may, so please review section 8 below. Mattel cookies DON'T contain
any personal information about a specific user. We don't use cookies or other
non-consensual methods to take personally identifiable or online contact
information about you or your family off of your computer. Except for certain
activities like treasure hunts, which we talked about above, Mattel doesn't use
cookies for direct marketing or promotional purposes. Mattel does not use
cookies to collect information specifically about you or your family for
sharing with third parties.
8.
Do Mattel's Third-Party Advertisers Use Cookies?
In the course of serving advertisements to this site, our
third-party advertisers may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser.
Some of these companies may use non-personal information (which means
information that does not include your name, address, e-mail address or
telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites to provide
advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like
more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having
this information used by these companies, click here.
And Finally...
We want you and your
family to have fun surfing all our sites and urge you and your family to follow
common sense whenever disclosing personal information - on this site or
anywhere on the Internet.
Thanks for reading
our privacy policy. We hope you have a better understanding of the many
activities offered on our websites and the ways in which we really are
committed to safeguarding online privacy. Remember, we may change our policy
from time to time. When this happens we will notify you of the new policy by
posting it on our sites.
If you have any
questions, please don't hesitate to contact us!
Mattel, Inc.
Consumer Relations
636 Girard Avenue
East Aurora, NY 14052
In the U.S. 800-524-TOYS
(800-524-8697)
In Canada: 800-665-6288
Legal Terms / Conditions © 2010
Mattel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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