This privacy policy sets out how China Daily Asia Pacific Ltd and China Daily Hong Kong Ltd use and protect the information that you give the newspaper company when you use its website and other services. China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected by complying with all applicable personal data privacy laws and regulations.
It is our policy to comply with the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) (https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap486) in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong.
The policies below are applicable to websites chinadailyasia.com and chinadailyhk.com (including any versions optimized for viewing on a wireless or tablet device); apps run by the company; email newsletters published or distributed by websites; all other publications and interactive features, services, and communications provided by the company.
By visiting our websites and accessing our services, you are accepting the terms and practices described in this Privacy Policy. Please read the terms of service carefully. Please be advised that the practices described in this policy apply not only to information gathered online by our websites. It also applies to information that you may submit to us offline, or by other means, or to websites maintained by other companies or organizations to which we may have link to, if not mentioned otherwise.
We reserve the right to update the terms of our Privacy Policy from time to time without notice. Your continued use of our websites, apps, newsletters and other products following the modification of these terms will mean you accept those changes. If we intend to apply the modifications or amendments to this Privacy Policy retroactively or to personal information already in our possession, we will inform you of the modifications or amendments duly.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or don't see your concerns addressed here, please contact us by email at editor@chinadailyasia.com.
1. Control of personal information
Any personal information provided to or gathered by China Daily website is controlled primarily by the company’s websites. The meaning of "personal data" in this policy is same as that defined in the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486).
2. What information is collected and stored
We collect two basic types of information from you while you our websites – personal information and non-personal information. Personal information is information that you may supply to us when you register for our websites or any segment of them, our apps and newsletters; upload content on our own platforms or those of our affiliated organizations; participate in any community or forum that we organize or sponsor; or respond to us during any other correspondence with this company. Personal information is any information that can identify you as an individual and includes, among other things, your name, e-mail address, telephone number, postal address, and contact information. Non-personal information includes information that does not personally identify you but may include tracking and usage of information about your location, demographics, use of the websites and the internet.
3. Providing personal information
You can browse our website or use most of our products without providing us any personal information. However, there can be some circumstances whereby you may supply us with your personal information. The following are the most common scenarios in which we may collect your personal information:
Registration for an account on our websites;
Signing up for e-mail newsletters or e-mail alerts from us;
Taking part in competitions organized by the company;
Completing the contact form to contact China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong websites;
Participation on social media accounts involving China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong websites, our brand or any other products;
Participation in forums, communities, comment threads and other interactive services;
Submission of user-generated contents for any of our platforms;
Request for customer service or other assistance; and
Any other place on our websites, apps or where you knowingly volunteer personal information.
4. Collection of personal information from or through social media sites
When you interact with China Daily websites or accounts on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, WeChat, YouTube and Instagram, we may collect the personal information that you make available to us there. We will comply with the privacy policies of the corresponding social media platform and only collect and store the information that we are permitted to collect by these social media platforms. If you choose to link or login to your China Daily Asia Pacific website account with or through a social networking service, China Daily website and that service may share certain information about you and your activities. We also may share information about your activities, including what you view on the websites, with the users of the social network with your consent.
5. Non-personal information
In addition, when you interact with the websites, we may collect certain information that does not identify you individually and our servers may automatically keep an activity log of your use of our websites. Generally, we collect and store non-personal information that fall in the following categories:
Demographic data such as age, gender
Neighborhood information
Information about your devices – computer, mobile device or other devices that you use to access China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong websites, apps, newsletters etc. This information may include IP address, geolocation information, unique device identifiers, type and language of your browsers, and other transactional information.
Usage information about your use of the websites, apps and newsletter etc. This information includes a reading history. We use this information to provide you a more customized experience on our various platforms.
Additional "traffic data" such as time of access, date of access, software crash reports, session identification number, access times, and referring website addresses, your search terms and search results.
Other information regarding your use of our websites, apps, newsletters etc.
6. Collection of your source IP address/location information
We collect and store your device's source IP address which may disclose the location of your device at the time you access our platforms. In addition, in some cases our platforms can deliver you content based on your current location if you choose to enable that feature. If you enable that feature, your current location will be stored locally on your device which will be used by our platforms to serve you certain content tied to your location.
7. Collection of personal and non-personal information from other sources
We also may collect and store information about you that we receive from other sources (including by us from our offline interactions with you) to, among other things, enable us to update and correct the information contained in our database and to better customize your experience on our platforms.
8. Use of Cookies
Like many websites, we use "cookies", which are small text files that are stored on your devices when you visit certain online pages that record your preferences and actions. We use cookies to track use of our Sites and online services. We may also use cookies to monitor traffic, improve the performance of our platforms and make those easier and/or relevant for your use. You may occasionally get cookies from third parties with content or links on our platforms. We do not control these cookies, and these cookies are not subject to this cookie policy.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but, if you prefer, you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies. If you delete your cookies or if you set your web browser to decline cookies, some features of our platforms may not work as designed. For more information on cookies and how to disable them, you can consult the information provided by the Interactive Advertising Bureau at www.allaboutcookies.org.
The cookies and other technology may collect information such as your IP address, time of visit, whether you are a return visitor, and any referring website.
9. Use your information
We only use the information we get from you to help us personalize and continually improve your experience on our platforms by catering to your needs and preferences. We may use your personal and non-personal information for:
General uses;
Providing you with the content, products and services you request;
Posting your user generated content to our platforms as per your request;
Communicating with you about your account;
Communicating with you about information, features and enhancements on our platforms, various contents across our platforms that may be of interest to you;
Communicating with you about changes to our policies;
Communicating with you about your comment or feedback to a story or topic;
Personalized contents and experiences on our platforms, including recommendations based on your preferences;
Optimizing or improving our platforms, products, services and operations;
Detection, investigation and prevention of activities that may violate our policies or laws of Hong Kong; and
Perform statistical, demographic, and marketing analyses of the users of our platforms and the patterns of usage.
China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong websites respect the users' privacy and will not disclose their personal information or change their registered information without authorization unless it:
(i) has obtained the user's explicit authorization beforehand;
(ii)is required by relevant laws and regulations;
(iii)is requested by competent government authorities; and
(iv)has to protect public interests.
10. Combination of your personal information
We use information gathered in different segments of websites, newsletters and other platforms, which are owned and run by China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong. We may combine information gathered from various segments of our platforms into a single customer record. We also use and/or combine information that we collect off-line or we collect or receive from third party sources to enhance, expand, and check the accuracy of your user records.
11. Use of your location information
We generally use your location information to:
provide you with the contents and services you request,
personalize contents and experiences on our platforms, and making recommendations based on your preferences,
personalize your newsletters and other communications for our services or special events,
optimize or improve our products, services and operations,
detect, investigate, and prevent activities that may violate our policies or are illegal, and
perform statistical, demographic, and marketing analyses of users of our platforms and their usage patterns.
12. Who do we provide your information to?
Except as disclosed in this Privacy Policy, we do not share your personal information with companies which are not part of China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong or its subsidiaries or related entities. As disclosed below, we may provide your information to our partners. But in no event will we sell or rent your personal information as part of a customer list or similar transaction.
13. Third-party agents
We have third party agents, subsidiaries, affiliates and partners that perform functions on our behalf, such as hosting, content syndication, handling content management systems, social media integration, marketing, analytics, customer service, fraud protection, etc. These entities have access to the personal information needed to perform their functions and are contractually obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of such information. They are restricted from using, selling, distributing or altering this data in any way other than to provide the requested services to our platforms.
14. Business partners and third parties
China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong may share your personal information with our business partners from time to time. We may also share the information with third parties that provide products and services that we think you may be interested in. Although our treatment of your personal information is governed by this Privacy Policy, the business partner or third party's treatment of your personal information will be governed by the business partner or third party's privacy policy. You may withdraw your consent to our sharing of your personal information with business partners and third parties at any time by following the opt-out process described below.
15. Emergency Situations
We may also use or disclose personal information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to applicable law or comply with legal process served on us or our platforms; (b) protect and defend our rights or property, our platforms or our users, and (c) act under emergency circumstances to protect the personal safety of us, our affiliates, agents, or the users of our platforms or the public.
16. Use of non-personal information
The company may disclose or share non-personal information (or other information, other than personal information) in any other manner that we deem appropriate or necessary. Among other things, we may disclose non-personal information to third parties to help us determine how people use our platforms and who our users are so that we can improve and enhance the performance of our platforms. We may also disclose non-personal information to our partners and other third parties about how our users collectively use our platforms.
17. Steps taken to protect your personal information
We are determined to ensure the security of your personal information. Personal information collected by our platforms are stored in secure operating environments that are not available to the public. Our security procedures mean that we may occasionally request proof of identity before we disclose your personal information to you. We expect you to understand that while we try our best to safeguard your personal information, no transmission of data over the internet or any other public network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.
18. What happens when we link to other websites?
Our platforms may contain links to other websites operated by affiliates of China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong or third parties. Please be advised that the practices described in this Privacy Policy do not apply to information gathered through those platforms. We are not responsible for the actions and privacy policies of third parties and other platforms.
19. Public areas, comments and community areas
Please remember that any information you share in public areas, such as comments to stories, becomes public and anyone may take and use that information. Please be careful about what you disclose on such platforms. Do not post any personal information there that you may want to keep private or expect others to protect as your private information.
20. Offensive or inappropriate contents
If you post or send offensive, inappropriate or objectionable contents or otherwise engage in any disruptive behavior on any of the China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong platforms, we may use your personal information to stop such behavior. The company reserves the right of interpretation and judgment regarding the above mentioned contents.
21. Governing law
China Daily Asia Pacific and China Daily Hong Kong publish its websites, apps, newsletters and other products in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). We work earnestly to protect the personal information of all users who are accessing our platforms from across the world. But our contents are published in the HKSAR, we fully comply with local data protection and consumer rights laws to the extent they may apply to our services.
22. Notice to users outside the HKSAR
If you are located in a place outside the HKSAR and voluntarily submit personal information to us, you thereby consent to the general use of such information as provided in this Privacy Policy. If you are uncertain whether this Privacy Policy conflicts with the applicable local privacy laws where you are located, you should not submit your personal information to us. Our policies are directed at compliance with the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) of the HKSAR as well as other relevant laws of the country.
23. Assignment
We may change our ownership or corporate organization while running our platforms and providing services we currently do. We may also sell certain assets associated with our platforms. As a result, please be aware that in such event we may transfer some or all of your information to a company acquiring all or part of our assets or to another company with which we may merge with. Under such circumstances we would, to the extent possible, require the acquiring party to follow the practices described in this Privacy Policy, as it may be amended from time to time. Nevertheless, we cannot promise that an acquiring company or the merged company will have the same privacy practices or treat your information the same way as described in this Privacy Policy.
24. Modification of this policy
As our platforms continue to change in order to better serve the users, we may add new services and features to our platforms. In the event that these additions affect our Privacy Policy, this document will be updated appropriately and timely. We will post those changes prominently to keep you abreast of the modification. We do, however, recommend that you read this Privacy Policy each time you use our platforms in case you missed our notice of changes to the Privacy Policy. We will not, however, materially change our policies and practices to make them less protective of personal information we have previously collected from you without your express consent.
