PRIVACY POLICY
Effective Date: February 18, 2015
Introduction
Information We Collect
Our Use of Information We Collect, Including Opt-Out Options
Sharing of Information with Third Parties, Including Opt-Out Options
Third-Party Advertising, Including Opt-Out Options
Security
Children
Third-Party Access Points, Devices and Links
Deleting Your Hulu Account
Applicable Law
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Questions/Contacting Us
1. INTRODUCTION
Hulu, LLC ("Hulu," "we" or "us") respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how, when and why Hulu collects, uses, and shares information from or about you. Our video service, including the selection of television shows, movies, and other content we offer (collectively, the "Content") and our player for viewing the Content (the "Video Player"), as well as any other products, features, tools, materials, or other services offered from time to time by Hulu through a variety of Access Points are referred to collectively as the "Hulu Services." The term "Access Points" refers to, collectively, the hulu.com website (the "Hulu Site"), applications, and other means through which the Hulu Services may be accessed, including websites and applications of Hulu's third-party distribution partners and other websites where users or website operators are permitted to embed or have otherwise licensed the Video Player.
By viewing any Content or otherwise using the Hulu Services, whether you are a subscriber, other registered user, or a visitor who has not subscribed to or registered for the Hulu Services, you consent to the collection and use of information from or about you as explained in this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to the collection and use of information from or about you in accordance with this Privacy Policy, then you may not use the Hulu Services.
Please note that this Privacy Policy includes certain embedded hyperlinks that, depending on the device through which you are viewing it, may not be accessible. Therefore, you may need to visit the Hulu Site to access the hyperlinks. back to top
2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT
Hulu may collect the following information from or about you:
Information You Provide To Us. We collect information you provide to us. For instance, when you register to use the Hulu Services, we collect your name, email address, birth date, and gender. If you are a paying subscriber, we also collect your credit card information, which may include your billing address and zip code. In addition, Hulu may collect information you provide to us when you respond to surveys, contact Hulu through customer service or by other means, or participate in promotions that Hulu may offer from time to time.
Usage and Log Data. We collect information when you use the Hulu Services or view Hulu advertising outside of the Hulu Services. This information may include your IP address, device and software characteristics (such as type and operating system), location, activity on the Hulu Services including title selections and watch history, page views, ad data, referral URLs, network state, device identifiers or other unique identifiers such as advertising identifiers (e.g., "ad-ID" or "IDFA"), and carrier information.
Data Collected Through Cookies and Similar Technologies. Like many online services, we use various technologies to collect usage data and store preferences. One such technology is called a cookie. A cookie is a small data file that is transferred to your computer's hard disk. We may use both session cookies and persistent cookies to better understand how you interact with the Hulu Services or Hulu advertising published outside of the Hulu Services and to monitor aggregate usage by our users and web traffic routing on the Hulu Services. This allows us to improve the Hulu Services. Also, we may create a unique device or user ID for you and store it in a cookie so we can recognize you and customize your experience based on your preferences.
We may collect information through other kinds of local storage (also referred to as "Flash cookies") and HTML5 local storage, including in connection with features such as volume/mute settings for the Video Player. Because these technologies are similar to browser cookies, they are sometimes called "browser cookies," even though they may be stored in different parts of your computer.
Most Internet browsers automatically accept cookies. You can instruct your browser, by changing its settings, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. For information about disabling cookies or deleting information contained in Flash Cookies, please click here. Please note that disabling cookies or deleting information contained in cookies or Flash Cookies may interfere with the performance and features of the Hulu Services, including the Video Player. For example, we may not be able to store any of your preferences or login information or customize the Content to your viewing habits.
In addition to cookies, we may use other technologies such as web beacons or pixel tags, which can be embedded in web pages, videos, or emails, to collect certain types of information from your browser, check whether you have viewed a particular web page or email message, and determine, among other things, the time and date on which you viewed the Content, the IP address of your computer, and the URL of the web page from which the Content was viewed.
The use of these various technologies in connection with advertising on the Hulu Services is explained further below.
Social Networking Data. If you choose to log-in, access or otherwise connect to the Hulu Services, or contact Hulu, through a social networking service (such as Facebook), we may collect your user ID and user name associated with that social networking service, as well as any information you make public using that social networking service. We may also collect information you have authorized the social networking service to share with us (such as your user ID, public profile information, email address, birthday, friends list, and pages you have "liked").
Third-Party Data. We may collect information about you from other sources, such as data aggregators, public databases, and our business partners. This may include information about your interests, demographic data, purchasing behavior, and your activities online (such as websites visited and advertisements viewed).
We may combine the information we collect from or about you and use it in the manner described in this Privacy Policy. back to top
3. OUR USE OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT, INCLUDING OPT-OUT OPTIONS
Use in General. We use the information we collect from or about you in order to help deliver a first-class user experience. Our use of this information may include the following:
contacting you, including for promotional purposes;
customizing the Content (including advertising) you view;
fulfilling your requests for the Hulu Services;
identifying Content you share;
customizing recommendations;
conducting research;
compiling aggregate data for internal and external business purposes;
preventing potentially illegal activities;
protecting your and our rights;
other uses in accordance with our Terms of Use; and
any other purpose disclosed to you at the time we collect the information.
Our Use of Payment Information. We only use payment information, such as credit card numbers, to process payments from a subscriber (we use a third party payment processor to do this), to retrieve account information for a subscriber, to determine whether a subscriber is eligible for particular promotions, and to detect abuse of the Hulu Services.
Use of Aggregate or De-Identified Information. In addition to the individual data use described in this Privacy Policy, we may aggregate information about you and other individuals together, or otherwise de-identify the information about you, so that the information does not identify you personally. We may use information in these forms for a variety of purposes, including for research and analysis, administration of the Hulu Site, advertising, and promotional purposes.
Opt Out Options: You have choices regarding how we use certain information from or about you.
Hulu Opt-Out. If you do not want Hulu to use information about websites you visit (other than the Hulu Site) in the browser you are using, please visit our Opt-Out Page to set your preference.
Do Not Track. Hulu supports "Do Not Track" browser settings. If you enable Do Not Track settings in the browser you are using, Hulu will not use information about websites you visit (other than the Hulu Site) using that browser. To learn more about Do Not Track, including how to enable Do Not Track, click here.
Promotional Communication Opt-Out. You may opt out of receiving promotional communications from Hulu by accessing your account and clicking on "Manage Email Notifications." You may also opt out of certain promotional communications by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in a particular promotional communication. Please note that you cannot opt out from receiving all communications from Hulu, including administrative messages, service announcements, and messages regarding the terms and conditions of your account.
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4. SHARING OF INFORMATION WITH THIRD PARTIES, INCLUDING OPT-OUT OPTIONS
Business Partners. Except for name and other contact information, we may share information collected from or about you with our business partners as explained further below, including advertisers, content licensors, distributors, and other companies that are not affiliated with Hulu. With respect to name and other contact information, we will obtain your consent before sharing yours with any business partner who wishes to contact you or send you promotional information about their products and services directly, unless a business partner is acting on our behalf or you have provided your contact information as part of co-promotion by Hulu and a business partner.
Social Networking Services. When you choose to share information with social networking services about your activities on the Hulu Services, including shows you watch or like on Hulu, Hulu may share information about you and your activities with that social network.
Sharing with Facebook. In addition to Hulu collecting certain information from Facebook if you connect your Hulu and Facebook accounts (as described above), you may choose to share information about your activities on the Hulu Services with Facebook and its users, including publishing your watch activity to Facebook. If you visit Hulu while logged into Facebook, then Facebook may be able to identify your browser and associate the technical information provided by your web browser with other information that Facebook already has about you. In addition, when you choose to share information about your activities on the Hulu Services with Facebook, Hulu may send information about you to Facebook. Facebook may make that information visible to Facebook users in accordance with applicable law, the Facebook Data Use Policy, and your Facebook privacy settings. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with Facebook's Data Use Policy and privacy controls.
Service Providers. We may share the information collected from or about you with companies that provide services to us and our business partners, including companies that assist with payment processing, analytics, data processing, account management, customized marketing messaging, and other services. However, our agreements with these companies limit the types of information we share and how they may use it.
Advertisers and Advertising-Related Service Providers. We may share the information collected from or about you in aggregated or de-identified forms with advertisers and service providers that perform advertising-related services for us and our business partners in order to tailor advertisements, measure advertising effectiveness, and enable other enhancements. This information includes your use of the Hulu Services, websites you visited, advertisements you viewed, and your other activities online. However, our agreements with these companies limit the types of information we share and how they may use it.
Audience Measurement Providers. Our business partners, such as content licensors and advertisers, seek to measure the performance of their creative material across many platforms, including the Hulu Services. Accordingly, Hulu may permit the use of proprietary measurement software that enables third parties (such as Nielsen) to include your viewing on the Hulu Services in calculating measurement statistics such as TV Ratings.
In connection with Nielsen specifically, you can access more information about Nielsen's measurement software and learn about your choices, including opt-out options, by clicking here or visiting "About Nielsen Measurement" in your application's settings for viewing on mobile devices, or clicking here for viewing on websites.
Third Parties When Required By Law or When Necessary to Protect Your or Our Rights. In the following instances, it may be necessary for us to disclose information from or about you without providing you with a choice: to protect the legal rights of Hulu and our affiliates, and each of our respective equity holders, directors, officers, employees, agents, and business partners; to protect the safety and security of users of the Hulu Services; to enforce our Terms of Use; to protect against fraud; for risk management purposes; and to comply with or respond to the law or legal process or a request for cooperation by a government entity, whether or not legally required. If you notify us that you believe your legal rights have been violated by Hulu or another user of the Hulu Services, we may provide the information that you provide to us to others to the extent that we believe it is necessary to evaluate and respond to your complaint.
Third Parties in Connection with Certain Transactions. If we sell all or part of our business, make a transfer of assets, or are otherwise involved in a change of control transaction, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy, we may transfer information from or about you to one or more third parties as part of the transaction.
Parties with Your Consent. In addition to the sharing described in this Privacy Policy, when we have your consent we may share any information from or about you, including your name, address, telephone number, and email address, with any party. back to top
5. THIRD-PARTY ADVERTISING, INCLUDING OPT-OUT OPTIONS
We place Hulu advertisements both on and outside of the Hulu Services. We also display advertisements from other companies, often enabling users to click through to websites or other properties owned or operated by other companies. This section provides additional information about the collection and use of information from or about you in connection with such advertising.
Use of Cookies and Similar Technology in Third-Party Advertising. Advertisers, advertising technology companies, and service providers that perform advertising-related services for us and our business partners may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information from or about you in order to tailor advertisements, measure advertising effectiveness, and enable other enhancements. This information may include your use of the Hulu Services, websites you visited, advertisements you viewed, and your other activities online. Advertising that is based on information collected from or about you across websites, applications and other platforms over time is known as interest-based or online behavioral advertising.
Opt-Out Options for Third-Party Interest-Based or Online Behavioral Advertising. Some of the advertisers, advertising technology companies, and service providers that perform advertising-related services for us and our business partners may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI"), a cooperative of online marketing companies that offers a centralized tool for opting out of interest-based or online behavioral advertising delivered by each of its member companies. If you would like to obtain more information about the NAI and make choices about their members' use of information from or about you, please click here. In addition, some of the third parties that collect information from or about you on the Hulu Services in order to provide more relevant advertising to you participate in the Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising. This program offers a single location where users can make choices about the use of their information for ad targeting. To learn more, please click here.
Viewing Ads. When you view an advertisement, whether or not you click on it, the advertiser, advertising technology companies, and service providers that perform advertising-related services for us and our business partners may collect some information from or about you. The information practices of these third parties are governed by their own privacy policies and are not covered by this Privacy Policy. Please be aware that Hulu does not notify you when you have chosen to click through to another website or property when using the Hulu Services. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of such websites or properties to determine how they handle any information they separately collect from you. back to top
6. SECURITY
We use reasonable physical, technical, and administrative measures to safeguard information in our possession against loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure, and modification. For example, passwords and other sensitive information are encrypted in transit. We also take steps to ensure that only those Hulu employees, agents, and contractors who have a legitimate business reason to obtain access to sensitive information from or about you are granted access.
When you enter payment information (such as credit card information on our order forms), we encrypt that information using secure industry standard protocols for billing transmission in order to help protect the financial information you send us.
Despite these efforts, please note that there is always a possibility that a breach in data transmission or storage may occur. We want you to feel confident in our security when using the Hulu Services, but we cannot guarantee the security of any information from or about you 100% of the time. Please refer to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's website for information on how to protect yourself from identity theft. back to top
7. CHILDREN
Hulu prohibits registration by, and does not knowingly collect personal information from, anyone under 13 years of age. back to top
8. THIRD-PARTY ACCESS POINTS, DEVICES, AND LINKS
The Hulu Services may be provided through third-party websites, applications and other means of access operated by other companies (collectively, "Third-Party Access Points"). For example, you can access the Hulu Services through websites of our distributors. In addition, you may launch a Third-Party Access Point using various devices such as gaming systems, smart TVs, mobile devices, and set top boxes. The Hulu Services also may contain links to third-party websites or applications. None of these Third-Party Access Points, devices, websites or applications are operated by us, even if they contain our name or logo, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of their operators. Accordingly, we recommend that you review their privacy policies. back to top
9. DELETING YOUR HULU ACCOUNT
You may delete your Hulu account, in accordance with our Terms of Use, or via the link accessible on the Account page. Paying subscribers must cancel their subscription before they are able to delete their account. Please note that, after you delete your account, we may retain some information from or about you in accordance with applicable law. back to top
10. APPLICABLE LAW
Hulu is headquartered in the U.S. and the Hulu Services are intended for users in the U.S. If you are viewing any Content or otherwise using the Hulu Services, please be aware that information from or about you is subject to U.S. laws. By viewing any Content or otherwise using the Hulu Services, you consent to the transfer of information to the U.S. to the extent applicable, and the collection, storage, and processing of information under U.S. laws. back to top
11. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
From time to time, we may revise this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the law or the Hulu Services or for other reasons. Therefore, it is important to check the effective date of the Privacy Policy posted at http://www.hulu.com/privacy each time you visit the Hulu Site or use any of the Hulu Services to ensure you are familiar with our most updated policies and practices. If we make any material change to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by posting a notice on the Hulu Site. If you are a registered user, we will also send an email to the email address you most recently provided to us prior to the change taking effect. Accordingly, please keep your account information, including email address, updated. Any material change to this Privacy Policy will be effective automatically 30 days after the revised Privacy Policy is first posted or, for users who register or otherwise provide opt-in consent during this 30-day period, at the time of registration or consent, as applicable. If a material change relates to the use or disclosure of information from or about you that, under the Privacy Policy prior to such change, would have required your consent, we will obtain your consent before such use or disclosure. back to top
12. QUESTIONS/CONTACTING US
At Hulu, we expect that our first-class customer support team will be able to resolve most issues you may have using the Hulu Services. You can find answers to frequently asked questions or contact our customer support team by going to our help center. In addition, if you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, you may email us at privacy@hulu.com or contact us by mail addressed to: Attention: Legal Department
Hulu, LLC
2500 Broadway, 2nd Floor
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Thank you for taking the time to read this Privacy Policy. We hope you enjoy the Hulu Services! back to top
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