EA SPORTS™ ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY
Electronic Arts ("EA") and its subsidiary companies respect the privacy rights of our online visitors and recognize the importance of protecting the information collected about you. We have adopted an Online Privacy Policy that guides how we collect, store and use the information you provide online.
If you have any questions, complaints, or comments regarding our privacy statement or policies, please contact the EA Privacy Policy Administrator for the country in which you reside. Details on how to contact the EA Privacy Policy Administrator are available through Electronic Arts customer support and online at http://www.ea.com/global/legal/privacy_noseal.jsp.
This Privacy Policy applies to the online features, community and game play of EA SPORTS™ brand packaged games. By using any EA SPORTS™ online site or service, you signify your assent to this EA SPORTS™ Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not register for or use any EA SPORTS™ online site, feature or service.
Updates to this policy.
The Privacy Policy that you are reading is in a text file. Thus, we cannot provide you with updates to this document. However, we reserve the right to make changes to this privacy policy at any time. In order to view the updates, you will need to visit http://www.ea.com/global/legal/privacy_noseal.jsp. The date the Privacy Policy was modified will appear at the top of the page Please check the Privacy Policy each time you use any EA SPORTS™ online service or web site to ensure you are aware of any changes in our privacy practices. Also, if there is a substantive change in the way that we use your personal information, we will notify you via e-mail of the relevant changes. If you choose to opt out of our changed practice, our e-mail will contain instructions on how to opt out. Your continued use of any EA SPORTS™ online service or site will signify your acceptance of the changes to our Privacy Policy.
What personal information is collected?
Personal information is information that identifies you and may be used to contact you on-line or off-line. Electronic Arts only collects personal information from our online visitors on a voluntary basis and only during (1) contests (registration or claiming a prize), (2) warranty registration and/or during customer support or technical service requests, (3) player match-up services, (4) registration for games, game features, or special game-specific event participation, (5) marketing surveys and email campaigns, (6) registration for membership on our sites, (7) when you order products from us online, or (8) when you request services from third party service providers on our site. Information collected may include your name, e-mail address, phone number, home address and birth date.
Whatever the purpose may be, we will only collect information to the extent reasonably necessary to fulfill your requests and our legitimate business objectives.
You may choose to disclose information about yourself in our online chat rooms or in creating user "profiles" when you play games on our sites. Information that you disclose in chat rooms or in "profile" information is public information, and there is no expectation of privacy or confidentiality in either place. Please see our Membership Agreement on this point and for other guidelines about posting content on our web sites.
A Special Note About Children
Children 12 and under may not participate in the EA SPORTS™ online services to which this Privacy Policy applies. Electronic Arts will not keep, use or provide to any third party any information that we know to have been provided by children 12 and under.
What about cookies?
Cookies are small files downloaded to your computer to track movements within web sites. Certain of our sites use cookies to deliver content specific to your interest and for other purposes. For example, certain of our sites use "cookies" or other methods to monitor website usage. We collect information on what games are played, how much time is spent playing the games and which ads or links are clicked. We may link cookie information to personal information.
What happens to the information provided?
Electronic Arts does not disclose any personal information to third parties about anyone under 18 years of age who has registered on any of our websites or for any of our online services, regardless of parental consent, or share or disclose personal information other than as set forth in this policy; provided however, that in the event of a merger, acquisition, or the unlikely event of bankruptcy, management of Electronic Arts' customer information may be transferred to its successor or assign.
If you register to become a member of an EA SPORTS™ online service, and you are 18 years of age or older, your email address is also provided to our partner, America Online, Inc. and you are automatically registered for an AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) Account. AOL will email you directly concerning your AIM account. As with all third party sites, Electronic Arts does not control AOL's privacy policies and practices. We urge you to review AOL's privacy policy at www.aol.com.
Members may sometimes be able to register for other services from our site(s). If you opt in to any of these services, we may collect additional information requested by a service provider and pass this information, together with all other registration information (including personal information), to that service provider. Use of your information by a service provider will be governed by that service provider's terms of service and privacy policy. We may also retain any additional information collected for use in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy. Participation in these other related services is optional and is not required to participate in any EA SPORTS™ online service.
The personal information you provide will allow us to alert you to new products, features and enhancements; special offers; upgrade opportunities; and contests and events of interest. From time to time, we are approached by companies and organizations that provide products or services that we believe may be of interest to you, and we may provide your personal information to such third parties. We see this as a value-added service helping you to find useful products or services. We strive to limit use of the information you provide to those offers that we think you would appreciate receiving. You may opt out of this service. See the opt out information below.
We may use survey information in marketing surveys to select and direct advertising that is more likely to be of interest to a particular member. This information may be transmitted to an ad server owned by the advertising company to match members with ads that they are more likely to be interested in. However, we do not disclose any member's personal information to our advertisers without the member's consent. Participation in member surveys is entirely optional. We may share aggregate consumer data (which does not contain personal information) with the advertising companies.
From time to time, Electronic Arts may employ third-party contractors, such as Doubleclick, to collect personal information on our behalf, or to provide email delivery, product or promotional fulfillment, or other services on our sites. When requesting these services, you may be asked to supply your name, mailing address, telephone number and email address. When our third-party contractors collect and/or have access to the personal information you provide when requesting such services from Electronic Arts, Electronic Arts requires that they adhere to our stated privacy policies and protect the confidentiality of personal information they collect or have access to in the course of their engagement by Electronic Arts.
Finally, we may use your personal information for our internal marketing and demographic studies, so we can consistently improve our sites to better meet our visitors' needs. To enforce legal rights and the law, or when we have reason to believe that a disclosure is necessary to address potential or actual injury or interference with our rights, property, operations, users or others who may be harmed or may suffer loss or damage, we may also disclose personal information to law enforcement, or the appropriate civil authorities.
Where is the information held?
Electronic Arts is a global organization and many of the computer systems on which Electronic Arts collects, stores, and uses the information it collects or receives are based in Australia, Europe, the United States and elsewhere. Your personal information may be transferred to, used, processed or held by Electronic Arts in the United States and in other countries, including countries both in and outside the European Union, and used for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
Opt-out Provision
When we first collect information about you, we will offer you the opportunity to opt-out of having your personal information shared with parties outside of Electronic Arts or its subsidiaries (except to the extent required by law, court order, or as requested by other government or law enforcement authority). In addition, if you do not want Electronic Arts to send you e-mail or postal mail about our products and services, you can opt out at the time of registration or information collection. If, at a later date, you choose to have your name removed from our mailing list, you can do so by telephoning, sending an e-mail or faxing the EA Privacy Policy Administrator in your country. Details on how to contact the EA Privacy Policy Administrator are available through Electronic Arts customer support. You may also click the unsubscribe link on our email offers and newsletters.
Safeguarding Your Personal Information
We will only collect and use personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy to the extent deemed reasonably necessary to serve our legitimate business purposes, and we will maintain appropriate safeguards to ensure the security, integrity, accuracy and privacy of the information you have provided. In addition, we will take reasonable steps to assure that third parties to whom we transfer any personal information will provide sufficient protection of that information.
Review, Correction of Your Information and Requesting Removal from Mailing Lists and Deactivating Your Account
If for any reason you are concerned that the personal information maintained by Electronic Arts is not correct, or should you wish to have your account(s) deactivated or be removed from our mailing list, please contact the EA Privacy Policy Administrator in your country. Details on how to contact the EA Privacy Policy Administrator are available through Electronic Arts customer support or our online privacy policy at http://www.ea.com/global/legal/privacy_noseal.jsp. We will be happy to review, update or remove information as appropriate. We may still retain your information in our files however, to resolve disputes, enforce our Membership Agreement, and due to technical and legal requirements and constraints related to the security, integrity and operation of our websites and online services.
Third Party Sites
If you click on a link to a third party site, including on an advertisement, a link to America Online (AOL), or an Ad company, you will leave the EA SPORTS™ site you are visiting and go to the site you selected. Because we cannot control the activities of third parties, including AOL or other service providers, we cannot accept responsibility for any use of your personal information by such third parties, and we cannot guarantee that they will adhere to the same privacy and security practices as Electronic Arts. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any other service provider from whom you request services. If you visit a third party website that is linked to an EA SPORTS™ site, you should consult that site's privacy policy before providing any personal information.
© 2003 Electronic Arts Inc.