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Online Privacy Policy
Please Note: If you are looking for the Privacy Policy related to the use of your Wii console, click here. The privacy policy listed below only applies to Nintendo's web sites. For a list of the web sites, click here. Nintendo of America Inc. Web Site Privacy Statement Date Last Modified: November 18, 2006 At Nintendo of America Inc. ("Nintendo") we respect the privacy rights of our visitors and are committed to protecting the information we collect about you online. To further this commitment, we have developed the following Web Site Privacy Policy which explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information you provide to Nintendo ("Privacy Policy") on any of the web sites covered by this agreement (each a "Web site" and together the "Web sites"). To view all such Web sites, click here. Occasionally, Nintendo will revise and update this Privacy Policy. Please check back from time to time to ensure that you are aware of any changes to Nintendo's privacy practices. If we make a material change to this Privacy Policy, we will post a notice of the change on all of the Web sites. This Privacy Policy and the certification seal located on this page confirm that Nintendo is a valid licensee and participating member in the Entertainment Software Rating Board's Privacy Online Program: ESRB Privacy Online. To protect your privacy, Nintendo has voluntarily undertaken this privacy initiative and all of the listed web sites have been reviewed and certified by ESRB Online to meet established online information collection and use practices. If you have any questions, complaints or comments regarding Nintendo's Privacy Policy or practices, please contact the Nintendo Privacy Policy Administrators at (888) 977-7627 or e-mail us at privacypolicy@noa.nintendo.com. QUICK PRIVACY CLICKS
The following Quick Privacy Clicks outline our policies on specific topics and then link to more detailed explanations of such policies.
This Privacy Policy applies only to personally identifiable information collected on the Nintendo web sites listed here and does not apply to any information collected by Nintendo through any other means or on any other web sites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to web sites operated by Nintendo's parent, subsidiaries or other third parties. This privacy policy is intended to meet the laws and requirements of the United States. Nintendo has developed a P3P policy; however, this Privacy Policy will always take precedence. In order to give you the best experience on our site, Nintendo may collect various types of information about you, including personal, demographic, and aggregate information. This information may be collected in connection with Web site registration, online store purchases, or other features. We use and/or request personal and demographic information primarily to complete a user's online registration (i.e., "My Nintendo"), to send e-mail newsletters, for participation in online bulletin boards and chat rooms, for participation in online contests and sweepstakes, surveys, for e-cards and wish lists, for processing orders through Nintendo's online store, for setting up repair orders, for online resumes and media applications, and e-mail correspondence. The type of information collected and the way the information is used will vary depending on the activity. Nintendo does not sell or rent personal information to third parties. We may share personal information with vendors who help us perform various internal functions necessary to operate our business, but we limit the information shared to that which is needed to carry out these functions. We may also share your information for law enforcement purposes or as a result of corporate reorganization. Yes, we use cookies on some of our Web sites, as well as Web beacons. Nintendo also maintains log files, which contain Internet Protocol ("IP") addresses. Nintendo maintains reasonable safeguards in an effort to ensure the security, integrity and privacy of the personal information we collect. We also have reasonable procedures in place to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. But, despite our best efforts, no security measure is ever perfect or impenetrable. If you prefer not to receive e-mail, regular mail, or other communications from Nintendo, you always have the option to opt-out from such communications during registration/information collection or later. To do so, please follow the procedures described in this section. As a member of My Nintendo, you may access your personal information by going to the "My Nintendo" section of Nintendo.com. If you are not a member of My Nintendo, access to your personal information is available by contacting Nintendo via e-mail at privacypolicy@noa.nintendo.com, by phone at (888) 977-7627, or by fax at (425) 558-7300. Questions, complaints or comments regarding Nintendo's Privacy Policy Statements or practices should be directed to the Nintendo Privacy Policy Administrators by phone at (888) 977-7627 or by email at privacypolicy@noa.nintendo.com. Nintendo will collect personal information from visitors under the age of 13 ("children" or "child") if it is submitted in connection with My Nintendo account registration and with a parent or legal guardian's prior verifiable consent. SCOPE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY
This Privacy Policy applies only to information submitted and collected online through a Nintendo Web site operated by Nintendo and does not apply to information collected by Nintendo offline or to information collected on Web sites operated by Nintendo's, parent, subsidiaries or other third parties. For a list of Nintendo Web sites covered by this Privacy Policy, please click here (each a "Web site" and together the "Web sites"). Nintendo does not operate the Pokémon Center web site located at www.pokemoncenter.com, the Pokémon web site located at www.pokemon.com, or the Pokémon: Trading Card Game web site at pokemon-tcg.com. International Users Visitors to Nintendo's Web sites from outside the United States are advised that Nintendo's Privacy Policy is intended to meet the laws and regulations of the United States, which may not necessarily be the same as the laws and regulations of your home country. For this reason, nintendo.com registration is available to residents of the United States and Canada only. By using a Web site, you agree that any information that you provide to Nintendo will be treated in accordance with the laws and regulations of the United States. P3P Some of Nintendo's Web sites support "P3P", the Platform for Privacy Preferences. P3P allows web site operators like Nintendo to convey their privacy policies, to the extent possible, in standardized, machine-readable code. This allows P3P-enabled browsers like Internet Explorer 6.0 to "interpret" the code and automatically compare it to privacy preferences selected by the user in their browser settings. In some cases, users may not actually have selected any preferences but rather may rely on the default settings in the browser. With P3P, your browser automatically informs you if the web site's privacy practices do not meet the browser settings so you can decide whether to view the site or not. While certain Nintendo Web sites support P3P, the resulting code does not convey all of Nintendo's privacy practices. There are certain inherent limitations in trying to explain human concepts about privacy in machine readable code. For example, P3P is not capable of coding policies with regard to the collection of children's information and parental consent. Moreover, different browsers may interpret Nintendo's P3P code in different and, at times, conflicting ways. Because of these limitations, P3P does not fully, and may not accurately, express all of Nintendo's data practices. Accordingly, P3P results obtained through use of your browser should only be considered as a shorthand expression of Nintendo privacy practices whereas Nintendo's Privacy Policy will always be the primary source of information for you and will take precedence over P3P for all purposes. INFORMATION COLLECTED ABOUT YOU
In order to give you the best experience on our Web sites, Nintendo may collect various types of information about you, including personal, demographic, and aggregate information. Personal information is information that can be directly associated with a specific person such as a user's name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address. Demographic information is anonymous information, which may include age/date of birth, gender, geographic area, hobbies, interests, and favorites. Demographic information is not considered personal information unless it is linked to personal information about a specific user. Aggregate information is data we collect about a group or category of services or users from which individual entities have been removed. If demographic information is collected for an activity that also requires personal information, we may combine the demographic information with your personal information. Combining data allows us to customize the notices we send you and the content we provide you according to your interests and preferences. For more on how we use your information, please read the section on use below. Under all circumstances, we will only collect the information deemed reasonably necessary to fulfill your online requests and our legitimate business objectives. USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We use and/or request personal and demographic information for any one of the following purposes: to complete a user's online registration (i.e., "My Nintendo"); to send e-mail newsletters; for participation in our bulletin boards and chat rooms; for participation in online contests and sweepstakes; for e-cards and wish lists; for processing orders through Nintendo's online store; for setting up repair orders; for online resumes and media applications; and, e-mail correspondence. The types of information requested for each activity and the way the information is subsequently handled are detailed by category below.
If you wish to register with us online for a variety of activities and programs, you will be asked to create a username and password as well as submit personal information such as your e-mail address, mailing address, phone number, and/or mobile phone number to create a My Nintendo registration. If you are over 12 but under 18 years old, we may also ask you to provide your parent's or legal guardian's name, e-mail address, and/or mailing address. We use this information to notify your parent about your My Nintendo registration. When signing up, we may also ask you for your Nintendo Power Magazine membership number and demographic information such as your date of birth and gender. The information submitted to us during this registration process may be used to personalize content or to provide you with access to certain members-only areas of our site, such as our bulletin boards and chat rooms or to participate in members-only programs. If you opt-in, we may also use your information to send you electronic newsletters and mobile text messages. E-mail Newsletter(s) To subscribe to our e-mail newsletter(s) or to receive regular mail from Nintendo, you must register for a My Nintendo account, as described above, where you will be required to provide your personal information (e.g., name, date of birth, address, phone number). Online Contests and Sweepstakes/Surveys To enter our online contests and sweepstakes, you may be required to register for a My Nintendo account. For more information about Nintendo's contests or sweepstakes, please see the official contest or sweepstakes rules. In addition, please note that there are two types of surveys that may be conducted on our Web sites. One is where anonymous demographic or opinion information is requested that will not be tied to a participant's personal information. In other cases we may conduct surveys where the information collected will be associated with a participant's My Nintendo account. Parental permission is required under these circumstances in order for a child under the age of 13 to participate. E-cards and Wish Lists Web users who wish to send an e-card or their wish list to a friend or family member are required to give us their first name and the e-mail address(es) of the person(s) to whom they wish to send the e-card or wish list. In general, we delete the senders' and recipients' e-mail addresses after we send the e-card or wish list. Please note that some activities on our Web sites allow registered My Nintendo members and users 13 years or older to send game challenges to other users via e-cards. In such cases, we may store the senders' and recipients' e-mail addresses until the game challenge has been completed, but we do not permanently store these e-mail addresses for any other purpose. Online Store Visitors purchasing goods, services, or subscriptions through our online store or elsewhere on our Web sites may need to provide a valid credit card number, expiration date and credit card security code, in addition to name, mailing and billing addresses, phone number and e-mail address. Please note that you must be over the age of 18 to place orders online. All financial information is transmitted by SSL protocol via Nintendo's secure server. Repair Orders If you set up a repair order on any of our Web sites, you will need to provide your name, mailing and billing address, phone number and e-mail address. You may also need to provide a valid credit card number, expiration date and credit card security code. All financial information is transmitted by SSL protocol via Nintendo's secure server. Online Resumes and Media Applications Some of our sites allow users to submit personal information in a business capacity (e.g. resumes or applications to enter our Media Only site). Although personal information collected in this capacity will be used solely for the purpose specified, such information is not subject to this Privacy Policy. E-mail Correspondence/Communication Nintendo may respond to e-mail correspondence and communications if such correspondence includes a return e-mail address. Because an e-mail address is personal information, Nintendo protects the privacy of the sender by limiting access to these e-mail messages. For quality control purposes, e-mail messages may be kept for a period of time. There may, however, be certain cases where hard copies may be kept on file. Information from all e-mail messages received will not be used for marketing purposes and will be maintained in a secure location. Online Interaction Our Web sites make chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or newsgroups available to users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information in these forums. Nintendo strongly encourages parents to supervise their children's activity in all public forums on our Web sites and to advise them not to share any personally identifiable information in such areas. Both the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi Connection and the Wii Shop Channel services, WiiConnect24, and any related services and material delivered to your Wii console over the Internet ("Wii Network Services") allow gamers to interact in real time. Both of the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi Connection and the Wii Network Services have been designed with gamer privacy in mind. In order for two individuals to communicate or otherwise interact with each other, they must exchange Friend Codes. "Friend Codes" are unique to each online game and are exchanged by players off-line (by phone, by email, etc.) who are already familiar with one another. Then, when you connect, you are able to enjoy multiplayer gaming with "friends." This avoids open communication with strangers and creates a friendly environment. If a player connects region wide or worldwide on a Nintendo Wi-Fi enabled connection, they can play with anyone, not just friends. When this option is selected, Nintendo games that include a chat feature limit the chat to only "closed" or pre-canned text. Also, the only information displayed to the other player is game information and the nickname of the other player. No personal information or specific location is provided to the other player. Games in the future may allow players to exchange other information stored on their Nintendo DS or Wii. To be safe, parents should monitor their children's exchange of Friend Codes to make sure that this feature works as intended. Parents should also monitor any multiplayer game play done through the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi Connection or the Wii Network Services. With respect to the Nintendo DS local wireless mode (wireless play without the use of the internet), the Nintendo DS will automatically exchange Friend Codes when playing in a local wireless multiplayer mode so parents should monitor their children's use of this feature closely. If there is any concern during this auto exchange, each player has the option to not have their Friend Code added to another's Friends Roster and the option to prevent others from being added to theirs. Parents of children under the age of 13 should supervise their children's activity in all multiplayer games. Linking Accounts If you have a Wii console, you can link your Wii Shop Account to your My Nintendo account in order to participate in a variety of activities, promotions and programs. If you would like to link your accounts, you can do so when you register your Wii console on the Wii Shop Channel. Once you have linked your My Nintendo account to your Wii Shop Account, we may personalize content and provide you with access to several exclusive features. If you also opt-in to receive messages from us in your My Nintendo account, we may send messages to your automatically generated Wii message address or certain messaging devices including, but not limited to, your mobile phone. Your Wii message address will remain anonymous unless you (a) share it with other people when sending Wii messages or (b) link your Wii Shop Account to your My Nintendo account. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Nintendo does not sell or rent personal information to third parties. We may share personal information with vendors who help us perform various internal functions necessary to operate our business (e.g., mailing of Nintendo Power Magazine subscriptions), but we limit the information shared to that which is needed to carry out these functions. We may disclose personal information in the good faith belief that we are required to do so by law, or that doing so is reasonably necessary to comply with legal process; respond to any claims; or, to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Nintendo, our customers, or the public. In addition, information about our customers, including personal information, may be disclosed as part of any merger, sale, transfer of company assets, or acquisition, if permitted by and done in accordance with applicable laws. NINTENDO'S USE OF COOKIES, IP ADDRESSES AND WEB BEACONS (WEB BUGS)
Nintendo uses cookies on some of our Web sites. Cookies are small text files that a web site places on your hard drive whenever you visit the site. These files identify your computer and record your preferences and other data about your visit so that when you return to the site, the site knows who you are and can personalize your visit. Cookies may be linked to personal information about you. Specifically, Nintendo uses cookies to keep track of your shopping cart and wish lists and to prevent you from having to reenter your registration data (e.g., user name and password) at each connection. In addition, we may use information collected by cookies, as well as other tools such as log files or Web beacons, for other purposes, such as helping us determine how to improve our sites by seeing which areas, features, and products are most popular; personalizing the site and making recommendations based on products you have linked to in the past; and completing transactions you have requested. Most browsers are automatically set to accept cookies. If you disable this function, some areas of our Web sites will not function properly. If we employ a third party advertising company to display ads on any of our Web sites, please be aware that these ads may contain cookies and that any information gathered through such cookies is collected by the third party ad company, not Nintendo. We have no access to or control over these cookies or the information contained within them. Nintendo maintains log files, which contain Internet Protocol ("IP") addresses. An IP address is a numeric address that is assigned to your computer by your Internet Service Provider. Nintendo does not link IP addresses to personal information. In general, we use log files to monitor traffic on our Web sites and to troubleshoot technical problems. In the event of abuse, however, we may block certain IP addresses. Nintendo uses a common Internet technology called "Web beacons" (a.k.a. "Web bugs," "action tags," "pixel trackers," or "clear GIFs") on some of our sites. Web beacons are small graphic images placed on a Web page, Web-based document, or in an e-mail message that is designed to allow us or our vendors to collect certain information and monitor user activity on our sites. Web beacons are invisible to the user because they are typically very small (only 1-by-1 pixel) and the same color as the background of the Web page, document or e-mail message. We do not use Web beacons to collect personal information about you. We may use Web beacons to collect non-personal information such as the IP address of the computer that the Web beacon is sent to, the URL of the page the Web user comes from, and the time the Web beacon is activated (such as when you view the Web page, advertisement, or e-mail that contains the Web beacon). In general, we do not link such non-personal information to personal information already collected about you; however, we may use Web beacons to record whether individual users that are 13 years old and over view e-mails from Nintendo. This allows us to more effectively manage our database of active registered members. We may also use Web beacons to display e-mails in the appropriate HTML or text format. From time to time, we may permit vendors to place Web beacons on our sites or in e-mails sent on our behalf. Web beacons used by our vendors collect the same types of information and are treated in the same manner as specified above. NETWORK AND INFORMATION SECURITY
The security and confidentiality of your information is extremely important to us. That's why we have technical, administrative, and physical security measures in place to protect your personal information from unauthorized access and improper use. We also review our security procedures periodically to consider appropriate new technology and updated methods. But, despite our best efforts, no security measure is ever perfect or impenetrable. OPTING OUT
If you do not want Nintendo to send you e-mail, regular mail, or other messages about our products and services, you can opt-out at the time of registration or information collection. If you have opted-in and, at a later date, wish to have your name removed from our e-mail or regular mail databases, you can log onto My Nintendo and update your preferences in "Communications Central". With respect to the Wii Network Services and Wii message service, you have the ability to choose through the Parental Controls system whether or not to allow use of the Wii message service on your console. If you choose not to use the Wii message service, you will not receive emails from third parties. However, you may still receive messages on your Wii message board that originate from members of your household as well as messages from Nintendo that are related to transactions or services you have specifically requested, in response to any email from you to us, to notify you of updates or changes to our policies and procedures, or to otherwise provide you with information important to all Wii users. If you are not a registered member of My Nintendo, and would like to be removed from our mailing lists, please send an e-mail to remove@cmail.nintendo.com. Put the word "REMOVE" in the subject line. In the body of the e-mail, please include your name and address and the database(s) from which you would like your information to be removed. That way we can ensure that we have all the information needed to remove you from our lists. You may also call (888) 977-7627 or send a fax with your request to (425) 558-7300. In some instances, despite your opt-out selections, Nintendo may send you e-mail communications regarding transactions or services you have specifically requested, e.g. to communicate with you if you order from Nintendo's online store, have a Nintendo Power magazine subscription, or if you contact Nintendo. In addition, we may send you service related announcements that tell you about updates to our Privacy Policy, any security breaches, new areas or features on any of our Web sites, changes to our online service or technical support policies, and any other information we feel all users should know. Please note that our systems require time to update so it may take some time before your account is fully updated. CHECKING ACCOUNT INFORMATION FOR ACCURACY
As a member of My Nintendo, you may access your personal information by logging in and going to the "My Nintendo" section of the Nintendo.com Web site. Once there, you may view and change your personal information at "My Profile." If you are not a registered member of Nintendo.com, access to your personal information is available by contacting us via e-mail at privacypolicy@noa.nintendo.com, by phone at (888) 977-7627, or by fax at (425) 558-7300, and we will review or update your information as appropriate. Please be aware that you will need to provide the updated information to our Online Administrators; to protect your privacy, no information that we have on file will be given out. If you would like to delete your personal information, please contact us and we will delete your personal information unless we have a good faith belief that we are required by law to retain the information. If you are a parent or legal guardian of a child under the age of 13, please see our Children's Privacy Policy section for information about accessing your child's personal information. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY POLICY
Nintendo will collect personal information from visitors under the age of 13 ("children" or "child") if it is submitted in connection with our "My Nintendo" account registration process and with a parent or legal guardian's prior verifiable consent. To determine who is younger than 13 years old and whether parental consent is required, we ask users who wish to register to submit their date of birth. Users that indicate they are under 13 are directed to our Parent/Guardian Permission Form. If given verifiable permission from a parent or legal guardian ("parent"), Nintendo will collect and store the following types of personal information about a child under 13: child's name, child's e-mail address, child's mailing address, child's cell phone number (to receive text messaging), child's Nintendo Power member number (if one exists), parent's name, parent's mailing address, parent's phone number, and parent's e-mail address. Nintendo will also collect the child's date of birth and link it to the child's personal information after obtaining consent. Nintendo will only collect this information if it is voluntarily submitted to us by the child or parent and provided with the parent's verifiable permission. When providing consent, parents have the ability to choose which activities their children may participate in. We do not collect personal information about a child through the use of passive collection mechanisms such as cookies; however, information contained in a cookie may be linked to a child's personal information. For more information on how we use cookies and other information collection tools, please see our section on cookies, IP Addresses and web beacons. We encourage parents to create a parent/child relationship on Nintendo.com by registering for My Nintendo. By doing so, parents will be able to visit their My Nintendo account to view information that we have on file, adjust permission settings as they wish, and add additional children without having to submit additional permission forms. See Parental Access below for other methods of accessing your child's information. Once a child's registration is collected with parental permission, the child's information will be used to provide the child the benefits that come with registration. These benefits may include participation in surveys, community features (such as chat rooms and message boards), and other site activities and features (e.g., submitting game reviews and uploading graphics). With a parent's permission, we may also use a child's information to send the child messages (via e-mail, regular mail, or text messaging) from Nintendo or on behalf of our partners. For more on how we use children's information, please see our section on use. Please note that we are prohibited from conditioning a child's participation in an activity - like registration - on the child's disclosure of more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the activity. This means that when children participate in our online activities, they are not required to volunteer or provide more personal information about themselves than is necessary to participate in the activity. For example, if the activity only requires name, age, mailing address, and email address to participate, we would not require, as a condition of participation, that the child also provide the name of his or her grade school, favorite TV show, or other related information. To read about the steps Nintendo takes to protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of children's personal information, please see our section on security. In some instances, certain portions of our site may allow children under 13 to submit personal information such as their e-mail address without first obtaining their parents' consent. Such portions of our site operate activities or provide services in a way that does not require prior parental consent. Site Operator's Contact Information Any personal information that a child discloses on a Web site is collected by Nintendo of America or by a vendor on Nintendo's behalf. Nintendo's contact information is available above. Disclosure of Children's Personal Information Please read our section titled Disclosure of Personal Information for our policy on the disclosure of personal information collected from and about children under 13. Parental Access A parent who has given Nintendo permission to collect their child's information can, at any time, do the following: (1) confirm, correct or have deleted the child's personal information; (2) discontinue further use of the child's information or online collection of the child's personal information and/or communication with the child; and/or (3) revoke his or her earlier consent to collect and use the child's information. If you are a registered member of Nintendo.com and have established a parent/child relationship on Nintendo's site, please login and go to the "Parental Controls" section to view your child's information, update the permission settings, or deactivate your child's account. If you are not a registered member of Nintendo.com, please contact us by email at privacypolicy@noa.nintendo.com, or call (888) 977-7627, or send a fax to (425) 558-7300, and we will review or update your child's information as appropriate. Please be sure to include in your e-mail or fax message the username and password your child used to register. Please be aware that you will need to provide information on your child; for security reasons, no information we have on file will be given out. THIRD PARTY WEB SITES
If you decide to provide personal information to any third party web site linked from one of Nintendo's Web sites, the sharing of such information will be subject to the privacy policy of that company, not Nintendo's privacy practices. Be cautious before providing any personal information to any third party. EU SAFE HARBOR
Personal information collected on any of Nintendo's Web sites may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Nintendo or its affiliates, subsidiaries or agents maintain facilities, and by using any of Nintendo's Web sites you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country. Nintendo abides by the safe harbor framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of data from the European Union. CONTACT US FOR PRIVACY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS OR CONCERNS
If you have any questions, complaints or comments regarding our Privacy Policy Statement or practices, please contact the Nintendo Privacy Policy Administrators via e-mail at privacypolicy@noa.nintendo.com, by phone at (888) 977-7627, or by regular mail at Nintendo, Attn: Online Privacy Policy Administrators, 4820 150th Avenue NE, Redmond WA 98052. Nintendo is a licensee of the ESRB's Privacy Online Program. If you believe that we have not responded to your inquiry or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, please contact ESRB at http://www.esrb.org/privacy/contact.jsp. ESRB Attn: Privacy Online Program, 317 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor New York, NY 10017 (212) 759-0700 or privacy@esrb.org.  |
     Nintendo of America is an official participant in the ESRB Privacy Online Program. |
