1. Introduction
This privacy policy applies to personal information collected by Philips Hearing Solutions South Africa (Proprietary) Limited ("Phillips Hearing Solutions SA"), Demant South Africa (Proprietary) Limited ("Demant SA"), Philips Hearing Solutions HQ ("Philips HQ")and Demant Enterprise A/S ("Demant") in the process of, inter alia, offering our products and services -
- through the website hearingsolutions.philips.com ("the website"); and
- through related communication channels including, but not limited to: social media pages, channels, blogs, mobile applications ("the Philips Hearing Solutions pages")
We respect and protect the privacy of our users, and we are dedicated to being transparent regarding the use of your personal information. This privacy policy explains how we collect and use your personal information.
In this privacy policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean Demant Enterprise A/S, Demant South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Philips Hearing Solutions HQ and Phillips Hearing Solutions South Africa (Proprietary) Limited.
2. Who we are
This privacy policy applies to information collected by Philips Hearing Solutions and Demant through the website and the Philips Hearing Solutions pages. The website is owned and operated by Demant and Demant manages Philips Hearing Solutions.
3. Personal information we collect and use
We collect your personal information:
- when you make inquiries, ask to be contacted, take our online hearing test, request marketing material or sign up to receive our newsletter;
- when you visit our website and cookies are placed on your computer; please see our cookie policy for further information;
- when you email, call us or write to us or provide us with information in any other way, including by interacting with us via the Philips Hearing Solutions pages, subject to the specific consents and the specific conditions set by such posts.
We process the following types of personal information:
- your name, title, postal address, telephone number and email address;
- information about your use of our call centres;
- information you provide to us during communications you have with us, whether by email, post, telephone, in person or through our website, for example comments or queries about the products and services we provide;
- information about your hearing or purchase one of our hearing aids, which may involve disclosing special personal information about your health. This could include, for example, whether you currently use a hearing aid and, if so, what type of hearing aid, information about your hearing condition and where appropriate, your family history. We will only collect and use special personal information about your health with your explicit consent.
- If you choose to register your hearing aids with us in order for us to provide you with targeted support through our Customer Care centre, regarding the use of our hearing aids, send you direct marketing materials or customized offers, we may collect special personal relating your health. This may include your current use of a hearing aid, which type of hearing aid and information about your hearing condition. We will only collect and use sensitive information about your health with your explicit consent.
We will do our best to ensure that the personal information we process about you is correct. We will also make sure to update your personal information continuously. As our services depend on your correct and updated personal information, we kindly request that you inform us of any relevant changes regarding your personal information. To update your personal information provided to us, please click here.
If you want us to permanently remove all your personal information from our databases, please click here.
4. Why do we collect and use your personal information
We use your personal information for the following purposes:
- to process and respond to requests, inquiries and complaints received from you, in accordance with our legitimate interest to provide our customers with a responsive service;
- to provide services and products requested and/or purchased by you and to communicate with you about such services and/or products; we do this as necessary in order to carry out a contract with you and in accordance with our legitimate interest to operate a business, which offers products and services related to hearing health care, subject to your right to opt out of such communications;
- for regulatory and for audit purposes, in accordance with requirements set by legislation
- to prevent or detect fraud and to establish, exercise or in defense of legal claims, in accordance with our legitimate interest to do so;
- where legally required to do so, to comply with requests from law enforcement and regulatory authorities;
- on an anonymised basis, to analyse trends and profiles, for our legitimate interest to aim to enhance, modify, personalize and improve our services and communications for the benefit of our customers;
- subject to your consent, to carry out customer satisfaction research, for our legitimate interest to aim to enhance, modify, personalize and improve our services and communications for the benefit of our customers;
- to recommend products and services we think you will be interested in. We do this in accordance with our legitimate interest to carry out direct marketing to our customers and, where we use, your email or other digital channels, only with your explicit consent.
5. How we share your personal information
We will not rent, sell or otherwise share or disclose your personal information, except as described herein or otherwise stated at the time the information is collected.
We may share your personal information with audiologist practices who stock our products and who can assist with and advise on a hearing aid device appropriate for you.
We may also share your personal information with our service providers, for tasks such as:
- assisting us with administering or troubleshooting our website,
- subject to your consent, assisting us with the supply or design of our products or with our business administration
- subject to your right to opt out, assisting us with our marketing campaigns,
- operating our call centres,
- providing us with electronic or physical storage services or systems, or
- providing services to you.
We will only share your information in these circumstances, if it is necessary in order for our service providers to perform the service for us. These service providers are not authorized to keep or use your personal information for any other purposes, and they will always be under an obligation to keep your personal information safe and confidential.
We may disclose your personal information to law enforcement agencies, regulatory authorities and our professional advisors if we are under a duty to do so in order to comply with any legal obligation.
6. Transfer of data to third countries
We will only transfer your personal information to foreign countries if you have consented to this. Once again, such consent must be informed and specific, i.e. we will inform you about where the personal information is being sent, the reason for which the personal information will be processed, by whom it will be processed offshore.
7. How long do we keep your personal information?
We will keep your personal information for as long as we need it to fulfil the purposes for which we have collected it. We will delete your personal information, when it is no longer required in relation to the purpose for our collection, processing and storage of your personal information. Click here to request the permanent removal of your information from our systems. We will store personal information that we are obliged to keep in accordance with the law.
If you would like more detailed information about our retention policy, please contact us by using the contact points below.
8. Security
We have put in place reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against loss or amendment, against unauthorized use, unauthorised disclosure and against unauthorized persons accessing your personal information.
Should a breach of security occur, we will inform you as soon as possible.
9. Your privacy rights
You have the right, at any time, to request information about the personal information we are processing about you, where the data is collected from, and what we are using it for. You also have the right to know how long we will keep your personal information and who we share your data with.
If you request so, we can provide you details (and a copy) of the personal information we hold about you. Your access can be restricted to ensure the protection of protection of the privacy of third parties, trade secrets and intellectual property rights. If you think the personal information we are processing about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request for the information to be corrected. Please contact our Information Officer, whose details appear below.
In some instances, we are obliged to delete your personal information. This might be the case if you withdraw your consent. If you believe that your personal information is no longer necessary in accordance to the purpose for which we collected them, you are entitled to request their deletion. You can also contact our Information Officer if you believe that your personal information is being processed contrary to applicable law or other legal obligations.
You have the right to object to our processing of your personal information. You can also object to our use of your personal information for marketing purposes. You can contact us at the contact points outlined at the bottom of this privacy policy if you want to submit an objection. If your objection is justified, we will ensure the termination of the processing of your personal information.
10. Right to lodge a complaint
If you have a concern in relation to how we use your data, please let us know, and we will reply to your queries and if necessary, take steps to ensure our practices are consistent with our obligations. You have the right to lodge a complaint, relating to the processing of your personal information, with the Information Regulator (https://justice.gov.za/inforeg/).
11. Children’s privacy
The website and the Philips Hearing Solutions pages are not intended or designed to collect personal information about children under the age of 18. We do not intentionally collect personal information from any person we know to be under the age of 18. If we become aware that the personal information we have received is personal information about a child under the age of 18, we will delete the information from our records.
12. Third party websites
This website may contain links to websites of other companies and organizations. This privacy policy does not apply to such third-party sites, and we suggest that you contact those third-party sites directly for information on their data collection and distribution policies.
13. Details of our Information Officer
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, or you would like to exercise your rights as a data subject, you can contact our Information Officer by using the contact points below: