Simon & Schuster Privacy Policy
Last Modified: July 8, 2021
This Policy describes how Simon and Schuster, Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “Simon & Schuster”) collect, use and disclose certain information, including your Personal Information, both online and offline, and the choices you can make about that information. Simon & Schuster is part of the ViacomCBS family of companies (collectively “ViacomCBS”)
. When you use our mobile and online applications or other products and services of our brands, visit our websites, attend our live events, view our content or advertisements, or contact our customer service (collectively, the “Services”), we may collect information from or about you.
Trust is a cornerstone of our mission at Simon & Schuster . We are committed to gaining and maintaining your trust by following a core set of privacy principles:
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Transparency – We will tell you what information we collect about you and how we use it.
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Choice – When possible, we will give you choices about how your information is collected and used.
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Access – When possible, and when required by law, we will provide you with access to the information that we collect about you.
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Security – We will protect your information with reasonable security measures.
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Accountability – We will take responsibility for the secure processing of your information and do our best to address any concerns or questions that you have about how we process your information.
This Privacy Policy applies to all information about you that we collect in connection with the Services throughout the world. There may be additional notices about our information practices and choices for certain offerings. By using any of the Services, you acknowledge the data collection practices and purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy. You can learn more about Simon & Schuster and ViacomCBS by visiting our affiliates page https://about.simonandschuster.biz/divisions-and-imprints/
Click on each header below for more information or scroll down to read the full policy.
What Information We Collect About You
How We Use Your Information & Why
Who We Share Your Information With & Why
Your Choices, Rights, and Controls
Additional Information Regarding Children’s Privacy
Additional Information if You Are Located in California
Additional Information if You Are Located Outside of the United States
International Transfers
Protecting Your Information
Changes to this Policy
Contact Us
What Information We Collect About You
We collect information from and about you in connection with your use of the Services. Some of this information may be considered “Personal Information” or “Personal Data” (as defined under applicable law) which is information that identifies you or your device or is reasonably associated with you.
We also collect, use, and disclose aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify you or your device, and is not considered Personal Information.
Information You Provide
We collect information you provide to us which includes:
Registration Information. When you register for certain Services, complete an application form, enter contests, giveaways or competitions, attend one of our events, participate in sweepstakes or promotions, or respond to market research surveys that we sponsor, we may collect the information you provide, such as your name and email address.
Billing and Payment Information. When you purchase a product, subscription, or event ticket from us, we collect certain payment and identity verification information, including your name, email address, physical address, and credit card information.
Information You Post on our Services. We may collect information when you post comments or other content to our Services, which may include your username or screenname, comments, likes, interests, status, pictures, and references to your online presence.
Your Correspondence and Your Feedback about Our Services. We collect information you provide when you contact us directly or provide feedback, comments, or suggestions on our Services directly to us.
Information You Provide About Others. Sometimes, we may collect information you may provide about others, which may include names, emails, and birthdays—for example, to refer a friend or relative to certain Services.
Information You Provide When You Do Business With Us. If you are ourvendor, service provider, or business partner, we may collect information about you and the services you provide, including your or your employees’ business contact information and other information you or your employees provide to us as part of the services you may provide and our agreement with you.
Information you Provide Offline. You may also provide information to us in person and offline. You may be recorded if you visit our offices (including by security surveillance of our premises, including CCTV), or attend a live performance or the taping of one of our programs as a member of the audience, or, if you submit sweepstakes entrance forms or an application to participate in one of our programs by mail or in person.
Other information. We also collect information that relates to or is capable of being associated with you, such as passwords, personal preferences and interests, age, gender, and any other information you choose to provide.
Information Collected Automatically
When using our Services, including on third-party platforms, we, and our service providers operating on our behalf, may automatically collect or receive certain information associated with you or your network device(s), such as your computer, mobile devices, gaming systems, smart TV, or other streaming devices. This includes information about your use of our Services and your preferences. Such information may be automatically collected through device-based tracking technologies such as cookies, pixels, tags, beacons, scripts, or other technology. For more information about cookies or other tracking technologies and the choices you have regarding the use of them, please visit our Cookie Policy.
The information we automatically collect may also include geolocation information, such as (a) information that identifies the precise location of your mobile device and (b) your IP address, which may be used to estimate your approximate location.
Information From Our Partners. We acquire information from other trusted sources. These business partners might include companies, such as your TV or internet service provider, mobile phone carriers, or other companies who provide services to you. We may also collect information about you from other sources, including service providers, data licensors and aggregators, marketing companies, advertising partners, programming distributors, social media platforms, and public databases.
The information our business partners provide us varies depending on the nature of their services, and may include IP addresses, device IDs or other unique identifiers, information about your interests, demographic data, purchasing behavior, and your activities online.
Information You Provide through Social Media
If you connect to us through a social media platform or navigate to a social media platform from one of our sites, the social media platform will collect your information separately from us. You should review the social media platforms’ privacy policies to understand how they are using your information and your rights in relation to such information.
Information We Derive
We may derive additional information or draw inferences about you based on the information we have collected from you directly, passively, or through third parties.
How We Use Your Information & Why
We may use information as disclosed and described here
We may use information to provide you with our Services. We may use your information to create, manage, and authenticate your account or subscriptions with us and provide you with customer support and account updates. We may use your information to complete the transactions you request and perform our contractual obligations with you or to ensure that our Services function properly.
We may use information to perform our contracts with you. If we enters into a contract with you, including in instances where you may be a vendor or service provider to us or our business partner, we may use your information to fulfill our contractual obligations.
We may use information for marketing purposes. We may use your information to send promotional messages and newsletters such as via email, text messaging, or push notifications. These might be our own offers or products or third-party offers or products we think you might find interesting. To learn about your choices for these communications, read the Your Choices, Rights and Controls section of this Policy.
We may use your information to provide you with ads or information that we think would be of interest to you. For example, based on the information we have about your use of the Services, including information provided by third parties, we may target personalized advertising to you both on and off our Services.
We may use information to improve our products and Services. We use your information to monitor and improve the operation, delivery, and general accessibility on our Services, identify popular areas or features, and optimize and personalize the Services. This may also include conducting internal research and development of our Services.
We may use information to enable you to participate in public platforms or other interactive features of the Services. For example, we may use your information when you post comments on one of our websites.
We may use information to maintain the safety and security of our Services. We use your information to protect our rights and property and the rights and property of others, and to comply with our legal obligations, including to detect, investigate, and prevent fraud and other illegal activities and to enforce our agreements.
We may use information as otherwise permitted by law. We may use your information to resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and as otherwise required by law.
Who We Share Your Information With & Why
We may share information within the ViacomCBS family of companies. Where strictly necessary, we may share information we collect about you with the ViacomCBS companies for the purposes described in the How We Use Your Information & Why section of this Policy.
We may share your information in connection with a corporate transaction. We may disclose or transfer your information as part of, or during negotiations for, any purchase, sale, lease, merger, or any other type of acquisition, disposal, or financing involving our brands.
We may share information with third parties who perform Services on our behalf. We may share your information with unaffiliated companies or individuals we hire or work with that provide us with professional advice, business support, or perform services on our behalf, including customer support, web hosting, information technology, payment processing, event providers, direct mail and email distribution, contests, sweepstakes, giveaways and promotion administration, and analytics services. These Service Providers are allowed to use your information to help us provide our Services and not for any other purpose.
We may share information with our business partners. Partners may include marketing, audience measurement, or other partners such as those working with us on co-branded Services or events and digital distribution partners where we make our Services available. Our partners use the information we give them as described in their privacy policies.
We may share your information with sponsors and other partners for contests, giveaways, sweepstakes and promotions. We may use information you provide to verify your entry into and eligibility to participate in contests, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions and to inform you if you have won. If your entry information will be used for any other purposes, we will disclose that in the applicable rules governing that sweepstake, contest, giveaway, or promotion.
We may share information to provide advertising based on your interests. For more information, please see “Your Choices, Rights, and Controls” section of this Policy.
We will share your information if you ask us to. For example, if you ask us to share your information in order for you to participate in an interactive Service that is operated by a third party.
We may share information if we think we have to in order to comply with the law or to protect ourselves. For example, we will share information when it is necessary for us to comply with applicable law or legal process, to respond to legal claims, or to protect our rights or the property or personal safety of our users, employees, or the public.
We may share your information for reasons not described in this policy. We will tell you before we do this.
Your Choices, Rights and Controls
You have certain choices about how we use your information.
Opt out of receiving our marketing emails. To stop receiving our promotional emails, follow the instructions in any marketing email you get from us. When applicable, you can also change your preferences in your account. Even if you opt out of getting marketing emails, we will still be permitted to send you transactional messages. For example, we may still contact you about any purchases you make.
Change or update the information you have given us. If you have an account or subscription to one of our Services, you can correct or delete information or update account settings by logging into your account and following the instructions or by contacting the customer service team.
Control cookies and tracking tools. To learn how we—and our vendors—use cookies and other tracking tools, please visit the Cookie Policy.
Ad Choices. We, our affiliates, and any associated third-parties may collect information on our Services and on third-party websites to help serve advertising that will be relevant to your interests across your devices, browsers, and on and off our Services. This is known as interest-based advertising. We rely on third parties who collect information on the Services to provide opt-outs or other controls to you. For more information on how to opt-out of receiving interest-based advertising on desktop and mobile websites, please visit:
You can also opt out of interest-based advertising with some of the service providers we use, such as Google Please note that, if you opt out of interest-based advertising, some information will still be collected for other purposes, such as research, analytics, and internal operations. You will also continue to receive contextual advertisements, but they may be less relevant to your interests.
On many mobile devices, you can control interest-based advertising through your device’s settings. These options can include resetting your device’s advertising ID or selecting “Limit Ad Tracking” (for iOS devices) or “Opt out of Ads Personalization” (for Android devices) in your device settings.
Ad choices settings and options will vary depending on your browser and device settings, and this is not an exhaustive list. Please note that your opt-out choices will only apply to the specific browser or device from which you opt out. We encourage you to explore your device and browser settings to better understand your choices.
Push Notifications. When you use any of our Services that send push notifications or offers to your mobile device, you can change your preferences at any time through the settings on your mobile device.
Precise Location. You can withdraw consent for our collection, use, and transfer of precise location information by adjusting the location settings on your device.
Nielsen Video Measurement. The Services may feature Nielsen proprietary measurement software that will allow you to contribute to market research, such as Nielsen’s TV Ratings. For more information about Nielsen digital measurement products, please review Nielsen’s privacy statement.
Connected Devices and Our Partners’ Services. Connected devices (such as tablets, connected TVs, set top boxes, streaming devices and gaming consoles) may also use an advertising ID or other methods to identify you or serve you interest-based advertising. In some cases, you can disable tracking by selecting options like “limit ad tracking” or disabling options like “interest-based advertising” in your connected device’s settings. These options will vary by device and we do not control the policies or practices of third parties’ providing these devices. Neither Simon & Schuster or ViacomCBS is responsible for tracking on connected devices or our business partners’ services and may not have visibility on choices you may have made with respect to tracking on connected devices or our business partners' services.
Additional Rights. For specific rights you may have depending on your location, please visit the “Additional Information If You Are Located in California” or “Additional Information if You are located Outside of the United States” sections of this Policy.
Additional Information Regarding Children’s Privacy
Our Services are for general audiences, and are not intended for use by anyone younger than the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from individuals younger than age 13.
For users located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK or Switzerland, we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from individuals younger than age 16.
Additional Information if You are Located In California
California Consumer Privacy Act. If you are a California resident, you have specific privacy rights governed by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). These rights include:
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Right to Know. You have the right to request a report showing the Personal Information collected, shared, and sold about you in the past 12 months.
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Right to Opt-Out of Sale of Your Personal Information. You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your Personal Information to third parties.
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Right to Deletion. You have the right to request that we delete any Personal Information collected from you.
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Right to Non-Discrimination. We shall not discriminate against you based on your exercise of any of the above rights.
You or your authorized agent may submit a request to exercise any of the above rights by completing the form on our https://www.viacomcbsprivacy.com/managemyrights or calling us at 1 (888) 841-3343.
We may require additional information to verify your identity or to verify that your authorized agent has the authority to make the request on your behalf before responding to a CCPA rights request. We will respond to your request within 45 days if possible and required under the law.
Personal Information Collected on California Residents
The following are categories of Personal Information that we may collect about you, as well as examples of the types of Personal Information that may be collected:
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Identifiers
Legally Protected Characteristics
Commercial Information
Financial Information
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Inferences drawn from Personal Information categories
Geolocation
Internet/ Electronic Activity
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We collect Personal Information from the following sources:
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Directly from you (e.g. Information provided when you register with one of our Services, submit payment for Services, post on our Services, when you correspond with us, information provided and collected offline, etc.);
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Automatically collected information (e.g. collected automatically through cookies and other online tracking technologies, etc.);
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Business partners (e.g. Analytics companies, etc.);
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Third parties (e.g. data brokers, marketing companies, advertising partners, social media platforms, data aggregators, public databases, etc.); or
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Inferences from your profile or online behaviors.
Personal Information Disclosed for a Business Purpose to Third Parties
The categories of Personal Information listed above may be disclosed to the following categories of third parties:
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The ViacomCBS family of companies;
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In connection with a corporate transaction (e.g. any purchase, sale, lease, merger, acquisition, disposal, or financing involving our brands);
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Our service providers (e.g. cloud services providers, technical service providers, law firms, accounting firms, etc.);
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Business partners (e.g. audience measurement companies, marketing companies, sweepstakes partners, other partners who are working with us on co-branded Services or events, etc.);
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Sponsors and other partners for contests, giveaways, sweepstakes, and promotions;
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Advertising partners to provide advertising based on your interests;
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When you ask us to provide information to a third party; or
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To law enforcement or others if required by law.
The disclosures to third parties listed above may be for any of the following business purposes
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To provide you with our Services;
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For marketing purposes;
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To provide you with ads or information we think may be of interest to you;
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To improve our products and Services;
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To enable you to participate in public platforms or other interactive features of the Services;
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To maintain the safety and security of our Services; or
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As otherwise permitted by law.
Information about the Sale of Personal Information
Because of the broad definition of “sale” under CCPA, some information that we share with third parties may constitute the “sale” of your information. For instance, some of our brands share identifiers, such as cookies and the advertising identifier associated with your mobile or internet-connected device with our advertising partners, and those partners use and share those identifiers to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests.
Where a brand does this or otherwise “sells” your information, we will give you the opportunity to opt out by clicking the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” on the home page of the relevant website, mobile and online application, or other service. Please note that, when you use these tools on our properties, you will need to renew your choices if you clear your cookies or use a new browser or device.
The following types of information may be “sold”:
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Names and Aliases;
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Email Address;
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IP Address;
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Unique Identifier;
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Information about transactions or content choices made on or in connection with our Services;
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Customer preferences and attributes, such as likes, interests, social media statuses and updates, pictures, and references to your online presence;
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Information related to your preferences, attitudes, online behaviors, demographics, product and ad choices, and preferences;
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Information related to your location, including your IP address;
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Information collected through cookies and web beacons; or
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Device attributes.
We do not engage in any “sales” of Personal Information of users that it has actual knowledge are minors under the age of sixteen.
Do Not Track. Our websites and apps are not designed to respond to “do not track” requests from browsers.
“Shine the Light” and “Eraser” Laws. Residents of the State of California may request a list of all third parties to which we have disclosed certain information during the preceding year for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes.
If you are a California resident under the age of 18, and a registered user of the website where this policy is posted, you may request removal of content or information you have publicly posted. Please be aware that such a request does not ensure complete removal from the Internet of the content or information you posted, and there may be circumstances in which the law does not require or allow removal.
For all requests under the “Shine the Light” or “Eraser” Law, please use our Privacy Rights Manager. We will accept requests to exercise these rights only through this mechanism.
Additional Information if You are Located Outside of the United States
This Privacy Policy is global in nature and our goal is to meet the requirements in each country where our Services are provided. Where required, we provide you with specific rights and choices. If you have questions about how we treat your Personal Information in your country, please submit a “General Privacy Request” form on our Privacy Rights Manager. Specific countries where we provide additional or different privacy protections are listed below.
EEA, the UK or Switzerland
If you are located in the European Economic Area (the EEA,) in the United Kingdom (the UK) or in Switzerland, you may have certain rights under applicable data protection laws:
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The right to request access to, and a copy of, the information we hold about you, including details as to how we process this information.
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The right to object to, or restrict, our processing of your information.
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The right to request that your information be erased from further use.
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The right to correct, amend, or update information you have given us (in some instances, where you have an account with us, you can also do this by logging in and updating your information).
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The right of portability, which allows you to request that we share your information with others.
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The right to withdraw any consent to processing you have provided us.
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Please note that we do not engage in any automated decision-making about you.
International Transfers. Information that is collected from the EEA, the UK or Switzerland may be transferred to countries outside of the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, as applicable, that may not provide levels of protection for your Personal Information equivalent the protection provided by the laws of the European Union, the UK or Switzerland, including the United States. For the purposes of such cross-border data transfers, and to protect your information, we have executed Standard Contractual Clauses with all such Controllers and Processors located outside the EEA, the UK or Switzerland and, where necessary, implemented further measures to ensure the Personal Information is subject to equivalent protection.
We will retain your Personal Information as long as it is needed for our business purposes and in accordance with applicable law. In determining this, we will be considerate of the amount, nature and sensitivity of the Personal Information, the potential risk of harm to the Personal Information, and whether our purposes can be achieved through other means.
Legal Basis for Processing. We will only collect, store, or otherwise process Personal Information collected from you in the EEA or the UK in the following situations:
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When we have your consent to do so. For example, if you opt in to receive promotional emails. You can withdraw your consent at any time as described below or directly through the Services.
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When we need to use your Personal Information to perform our responsibilities under our contract with you (e.g. providing the Services you have requested).
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When we or a third party have a legitimate interest in processing your Personal Information. For example, we may process your Personal Information to communicate with you about our Services, to provide, secure, and improve our Services, and, in certain circumstances, to deliver advertising to you. You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Information that is based on our legitimate interests.
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When we are required by law to process the Personal Information.
For the purposes of our processing of Personal Information in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, Simon & Schuster (UK) Limited of Mitre House, 160 Aldersgate Street, London EC1A 4DD is the Controller. Should you have any questions or would like to make a complaint, you may contact the Controller and our Data Protection Officer at eu.dpo@viacomcbs.com.
If you would like to exercise your rights under the GDPR (or similar laws in the UK or Switzerland), please submit your request using our Privacy Rights Manager.
Please note that, while we will carefully assess every request we receive, your rights may differ according to your place of residence and we may not always have to comply. When this happens, we will explain why.
If you have any unresolved privacy concerns that we have not addressed satisfactorily after contacting us, you have the right to contact the UK or Swiss Data Protection Authority or an EU Data Protection Authority and lodge a complaint.
Additional Information if You Are Located in Countries Outside the U.S., EEA, the UK or Switzerland
In certain jurisdictions, including Argentina, Brazil and Singapore, we require your consent or authorization to use or share your Personal Information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. By providing your Personal Information to us, you expressly provide such consent or authorization.
In addition, you may have additional privacy rights under certain jurisdictions such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, and Taiwan, including but not limited to:
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The right to access your Personal Information.
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The right to correct/update/rectify your Personal Information.
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The right to delete your Personal Information
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The right to object or restrict to the processing or sharing of your Personal Information
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The rights to addition or disassociation with respect to your data.
India
If you are a resident of India, your Personal Information is controlled by
Nickelodeon India Pvt Ltd or Simon & Schuster Publishers India Private Limited for Simon and Schuster when you use our Services.
How to Contact Us and Exercise Your Rights:
If you would like to exercise your rights or if you have any questions or concerns regarding the Privacy Policy, including contact information for the relevant data protection officer in your jurisdiction, please contact us through our [Privacy Right Manager]. If you would prefer to submit your questions or comments by mail, please send a letter to the address below:
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
ATTN: Data Privacy Administrator/Legal Department
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 17th Floor,
New York, NY, USA 10020-8510
If we are unable to resolve your request, you may also have the right to lodge a complaint before the proper regulatory authority in your jurisdiction.
International Transfers
We Transfer Personal Information across Country Borders in Accordance with Applicable Law. We operate globally and may transfer your information outside of your country of residence, including to the United States. This is necessary for our Services and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. When we do this, we take reasonable steps to ensure an appropriate level of protection for your information, in compliance with applicable law.
Protecting Your Information
We use reasonable security measures. We are committed to protecting your information. We have adopted commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and physical security procedures to help protect your information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, and alteration. Please note that no data transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We want you to feel confident using our Services, but we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us.
Changes to this Policy
From time to time, we may change this Privacy Policy to accommodate new technologies, industry practices, regulatory requirements, or for other purposes. We will provide notice to you if these changes are material and, where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent. Notice may be by email to you at the last email address you provided us, by posting notice of such changes on our websites, applications and Services, or by other means, consistent with applicable law.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you may contact us through our General Privacy Request form in the Privacy Rights Manager. If you would prefer to submit your questions or comments by mail, please send a letter to the address below:
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
ATTN: Data Privacy Administrator/Legal Department
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 17th Floor,
New York, NY, USA 10020-8510