METIS CYBERSPACE TECHNOLOGY
Privacy Statement
Last Updated: April 2017
This privacy statement explains what personal data we collect from you and how we use it. We encourage you to read the text below and to contact us at info@metis.tech, if you’d like more information on a particular topic.
Cookies: METIS Sites use “cookies,” small text files that can be read by a web server in the domain that put the cookie on your hard drive. We may use cookies to store your preferences and settings; help with sign-in; provide targeted ads; and analyze site operations.
Personal Data: Microsoft collects data to operate effectively and provide you the best experiences with our products. You provide some of this data directly, such as when you create a Microsoft account, submit a search query to Bing, speak a voice command to Cortana, upload a document to OneDrive, purchase an MSDN subscription, sign up for Office 365, or contact us for support. We get some of it by recording how you interact with our products by, for example, using technologies like cookies, and receiving error reports or usage data from software running on your device. We also obtain data from third parties.
METIS collects data to operate effectively and provide you the best experiences with our products. You provide some of this data directly, such as when you create or sign up a METIS account, or contact us for support. We get some of it by recording how you interact with our products by, for example, using technologies like cookies, and receiving error reports or usage data from software running on your device.
We also obtain data from third parties. We protect data obtained from third parties according to the practices described in this statement, plus any additional restrictions imposed by the source of the data. These third-party sources vary over time, but have included:
- Data brokers from which we purchase demographic data to supplement the data we collect.
- Social networks when you grant permission to a METIS product to access your data on one or more networks.
- Service providers that help us determine a location based on your IP address in order to customize certain products to your location.
- Partners with which we offer co-branded services or engage in joint marketing activities, and
- Publicly-available sources such as open government databases or other data in the public domain.
You have choices about the data we collect. When you are asked to provide personal data, you may decline. But if you choose not to provide data that is necessary to provide a product or feature, you may not be able to use that product or feature.
The data we collect depends on the products and features you use, and can include the following:
Name and contact data: We collect your first and last name, your Company name, email address, postal address, phone numbers, and other similar contact data.
Credentials: We collect passwords, password hints, and similar security information used for authentication and account access.
Demographic data: We may collect data about you such as your age, gender, country, and preferred language.
Payment data: We collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security or VAT code associated with your payment instrument.
Device and Usage data: We collect data about your device and how you and your device interact with METIS and our products. For example, we collect:
- Product use data. We collect data about the features you use, the items you purchase, and the web pages you visit. This data includes your voice and text search queries or commands to METIS applications, and our chatbots.
- Device, connectivity and configuration data. We collect data about your device and the network you use to connect to our products. It includes data about the operating systems and other software installed on your device, including product keys. It also includes IP address, device identifiers (such as the IMEI number for phones), regional and language settings.
- Error reports and performance data. We collect data about the performance of the products and any problems you experience with them. This data helps us to diagnose problems in the products you use and to improve our products and provide solutions. Depending on your product and settings, error reports can include data such as the type or severity of the problem, details of the software or hardware related to an error, contents of files you were using when an error occurred, and data about other software on your device.
- Support Data. When you engage METIS for support, we collect data about you and your hardware, software, and other details related to the support incident. Such data includes contact or authentication data, the content of your chats and other communications with METIS support, data about the condition of the machine and the application when the fault occurred and during diagnostics, and system and registry data about software installations and hardware configurations.
Contacts and relationships: We collect data about your contacts, colleagues and business relationships if you use a METIS product to manage contacts, or to communicate or interact with other people or organizations.
Location data: We collect data about your location, which can be either precise or imprecise. Precise location data can be Global Position System (GPS) data, as well as data identifying nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, we collect when you enable location-based products or features. Imprecise location data includes, for example, a location derived from your IP address or data that indicates where you are located with less precision, such as at a city or postal code level.
Content: We collect the content of your files and communications when necessary to provide you with the products you use. For example, if you receive an email or other messaging application using METIS, we need to collect the content of that email to deliver it to your inbox, display it to you, enable you to reply to it, and store it for you until you choose to delete it. Examples of this data include the content of your documents, photos, music, or videos you upload to a METIS service, as well as the content of your communications sent or received using METIS products, including the:
- subject line and body of an email or other messaging application,
- text or other content of an instant message,
- audio and video recording of a video message, and
- audio recording and transcript of a voice message you receive or a text message you dictate.
We also collect the content of messages you send to us, such as feedback and product reviews you write, or questions and information you provide for customer support. When you contact us, such as for customer support, phone conversations or chat sessions with our representatives may be monitored and recorded. If you enter our facilities, your image may be captured by our security cameras.
How We Use Personal Data: Microsoft uses the data we collect to provide you the products we offer, which includes using data to improve and personalize your experiences. We also may use the data to communicate with you, for example, informing you about your account, security updates and product information. And we use data to help show more relevant ads, whether in our own products like MSN and Bing, or in products offered by third parties. However, we do not use what you say in email, chat, video calls or voice mail, or your documents, photos or other personal files to target ads to you.
METIS uses the data we collect for three basic purposes, described in more detail below: (1) to operate our business and provide (including improving and personalizing) the products we offer, (2) to send communications, including promotional communications, and (3) for some products, to show advertising.
In carrying out these purposes, we combine data we collect to give you a more seamless, consistent and personalized experience. For example, METIS can use information about the apps and services you use to make personalized app recommendations. However, to enhance privacy, we have built in technological and procedural safeguards designed to prevent certain data combinations. For example, we store data we collect from you when you are unauthenticated (not signed in) separately from any account information that directly identifies you, such as your name, email address or phone number.
Providing and improving our products: We use data to provide and improve the products we offer and perform essential business operations. This includes operating the products, maintaining and improving the performance of the products, including developing new features, research, and providing customer support. Examples of such uses include the following.
- Providing the Products. We use data to carry out your transactions with us and to provide our products to you. Often, those products include personalized features and recommendations that enhance your productivity and enjoyment, and automatically tailor your product experiences based on the data we have about your activities, interests and location.
- Customer support. We use data to diagnose product problems, repair customers’ devices, and provide other customer care and support services.
- Product activation. We use data – including device and application type, location, and unique device, application, network and subscription identifiers – to activate software and devices that require activation.
- Product Improvement. We use data to continually improve our products, including adding new features or capabilities, such as using error reports to improve security features, using search queries and clicks in Bing to improve the relevancy of the search results, using usage data to determine what new features to prioritize, or using audio recordings from voice input features to improve speech recognition accuracy.
- Security, Safety and Dispute Resolution. We use data to protect the security and safety of our products and our customers, to detect and prevent fraud, to confirm the validity of software licenses, to resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. Our security features and products can disrupt the operation of malicious software and notify users if malicious software is found on their devices. For example, many of our communications and file syncing products systematically scan content in an automated manner to identify suspected spam, viruses, abusive actions, or URLs that have been flagged as fraud, phishing or malware links; and we may block delivery of a communication or remove content if it violates our terms.
- Business Operations. We use data to develop aggregate analysis and business intelligence that enable us to operate, protect, make informed decisions, and report on the performance of our business.
Communications. We use data we collect to deliver and personalize our communications with you. For example, we may contact you by email or other means to inform you when a subscription is ending, let you know when security updates are available, remind you about items left in your online shopping cart, update you or inquire about a service or repair request, invite you to participate in a survey, or tell you that you need to take action to keep your account active. Additionally, you can sign up for email subscriptions and choose whether you wish to receive promotional communications from METIS by email, SMS, physical mail, and telephone. For information about managing email subscriptions and promotional communications, please contact us in info@metis.tech.
Advertising. Many of our products are supported by advertising. We share the data we collect with third parties so that they can select and deliver some of the ads you see on our sites and apps, as well as other sites and apps serviced by these partners. The ads that you see may be selected based on your current location, search query, or the content you are viewing. Other ads are targeted based on your likely interests or other information learned about you over time using demographic data, search queries, interests and favorites, usage data from our own sites and apps and the sites and apps of our advertisers and partners, and location data – which we refer to as “interest-based advertising” in this statement. To provide interest-based advertising, we combine cookies placed on your device using information that we collect (such as IP address) when your browser interacts with our websites. If you opt out of receiving interest-based advertising, data associated with these cookies will not be used. METIS does not use what you say in email, chat, video calls or voice mail, or your documents, photos or other personal files to target ads to you.
Why We Share Personal Data: We share your personal data with your consent or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide any product you have requested or authorized. We also share data with Microsoft-controlled affiliates and subsidiaries; with vendors working on our behalf; when required by law or to respond to legal process; to protect our customers; to protect lives; to maintain the security of our products; and to protect the rights or property of Microsoft.
We share your personal data with your consent or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide any product you have requested or authorized. For example, we share your content with third parties when you tell us to do so, such as when you send an email to a friend or link accounts with another service. When you provide payment data to make a purchase, we will share payment data with banks and other entities that process payment transactions or provide other financial services, and for fraud prevention and credit risk reduction.
In addition, we share personal data among METIS-controlled affiliates and subsidiaries. We also share personal data with vendors or agents working on our behalf for the purposes described in this statement. For example, companies we’ve hired to provide customer service support or assist in protecting and securing our systems and services may need access to personal data in order to provide those functions. In such cases, these companies must abide by our data privacy and security requirements and are not allowed to use personal data they receive from us for any other purpose. We may also disclose personal data as part of a corporate transaction such as a merger or sale of assets.
Finally, we will access, transfer, disclose, and preserve personal data, including your content, when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to:
- comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal process, including from law enforcement or other government agencies;
- protect our customers, for example to prevent spam or attempts to defraud users of our products, or to help prevent the loss of life or serious injury of anyone;
- operate and maintain the security of our products, including to prevent or stop an attack on our computer systems or networks; or
- protect the rights or property of METIS, including enforcing the terms governing the use of the services – however, if we receive information indicating that someone is using our services to traffic in stolen intellectual or physical property of METIS, we will not inspect a customer’s private content ourselves, but we may refer the matter to law enforcement.
Please note that some of our products include links to products of third parties whose privacy practices differ from METIS’. If you provide personal data to any of those products, your data is governed by their privacy statements.
European Privacy Rights: METIS adheres to applicable data protection laws in the European Economic Area, which if applicable includes the following rights:
- If the processing of personal data is based on your consent, you have a right to withdraw consent at any time for future processing;
- You have a right to request from us, a “data controller” as defined in the law, access to and rectification of your personal data;
- You have a right to object to the processing of your personal data; and
- You have a right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority.
When we process personal data about you, we do so with your consent and/or as necessary to provide the products you use, operate our business, meet our contractual and legal obligations, protect the security of our systems and our customers, or fulfill other legitimate interests of METIS as described above. We encourage you to contact us at info@metis.tech,
Security of Personal Data: METIS is committed to protecting the security of your personal data. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal data from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. For example, we store the personal data you provide on computer systems that have limited access and are in controlled facilities. When we transmit highly confidential data (such as a credit card number or password) over the Internet, we protect it through the use of encryption.