Your privacy is important to us, and we take our responsibility of caring for it seriously. This policy describes what information EA collects when you use the mobile, online and downloadable products and services ("products") offered by EA and its subsidiaries. For a list of our subsidiaries, click https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/712515/000071251517000035/ex-211subsidiariesofthereg.htm. By using our products, you consent to this policy.
EA participates in the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks. To learn more visit https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBPRIVACYSHIELD/US/en/PC/.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The information we collect depends on what products you use and how you use them. The controller of the personal information collected is Electronic Arts Inc., 209 Redwood Shores Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065.
A. Information You Give Us Directly
We collect information you provide us, including:
When you participate in social features (such as chat), the information that you disclose is public information. We may store and access it, and it may be read, copied, collected or used by other users without your consent. Please make sure your privacy settings reflect your preferences.
When you participate in online multiplayer games your in-game profile information, gameplay, and statistics are visible to all. We may record your gameplay, including your controller button inputs, and replay these together with your profile information and game statistics to other players in-game without further notice to you, for example as part of a spectator mode, or for out-of-game promotional purposes.
B. Other Information We Collect When You Use Our Products
We collect other information automatically when you use our products, including:
We also may collect and store information locally on your device, using mechanisms like cookies, browser web storage (including HTML 5) and application data caches.
C. Information Provided to Us by Third Parties
PlayStation®3 & PlayStation®4 Computer Entertainment Systems. By signing up to play our products on a PlayStation®3 or PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, you agree your Sony Entertainment Network account information will be provided to EA so we can establish an EA Account for you. You need an EA Account to play EA's products online. From Sony, we receive information including your name, email address, Online ID, your country, state or province, language and date of birth. We do not receive your credit card number or other financial information.
Xbox Live. By signing up to play our products on Microsoft's Xbox Live Service, you agree that Microsoft may provide us with your Microsoft user account information so we can establish an EA Account for you. You need an EA Account to play EA's products online. From Microsoft, we receive information including your Gamertag, email address, state or province, country, language and age. We do not receive your credit card number or other financial information.
Wii / Wii U. By signing up to play our products on a Nintendo Wii or Wii U console, you agree that Nintendo may provide us with your Nintendo user account information so we can establish an EA Account for you. You need an EA Account to play EA's products online. From Nintendo, the data we receive includes your Mii information, email address, Nintendo Network ID, friend list, country, language and date of birth. We do not receive your credit card number or other financial information.
Nintendo Switch™. By signing up to play our products on a Nintendo Switch™ console, you agree that Nintendo may provide us with your Nintendo Account information so we can establish an EA Account for you. You need an EA Account to play EA's products online. From Nintendo, the data we receive includes your nickname, email address, friend list, country, language and date of birth. We do not receive your credit card number or other financial information.
Mobile Platforms. If you play or purchase our games on your mobile device and/or tablet, we receive information about you from the app stores and other mobile platform providers. This information includes your username and/or device ID and the fact that you made a purchase, for instance, but does not include any sensitive or financial information. Some of our mobile platforms also may send information to us that you authorize them to provide. Our mobile products also may request additional personal information from you, such as push notification tokens, your precise location or contact list, and we will collect this information only if you give us your explicit consent.
Other Third Parties
We may receive information from third parties, like Facebook or Game Center, when you use these services in connection with our products. We may also receive information about you when other players choose to share their contact lists with us.
We also may receive information from third parties to supplement the information we receive from you. We use information from these companies primarily to help us deliver relevant advertising to you. A representative list of these types of third parties can be found on privacyappendix.ea.com. We also may use information from third parties, for instance, to help us understand your approximate geolocation via your IP address for tax purposes, or to customize certain services to your location, and for fraud and/or abuse prevention purposes.
We collect some information from you when you provide it to us directly, such as via an online form or when you talk with our customer experience team. We and third parties also use certain technologies described below to collect information to deliver excellent experiences.
A. Cookies and Similar Technologies
Cookies are small text files stored on your Internet browser. We use cookies and similar technologies to help us understand things like what web pages, features or ads you view and what games you play. This information helps us keep track of your shopping cart, measure the effectiveness of our advertising, make sure you don't see the same ad repeatedly and otherwise help enhance your user experience. You can disable cookies, limit the types of cookies you allow, or set your browser to alert you when cookies are being sent. Please refer to http://www.allaboutcookies.org or the guidance provided by your individual web browser if you'd like help in managing your cookie preferences.
We use other technologies for similar purposes as a cookie. We use pixels or clear GIFs to collect information about your use of our products and your response to our marketing emails. We use Internet log files (which contain technical data such as your IP address) to monitor traffic on our products, troubleshoot technical problems, detect and prevent fraud and enforce our User Agreement. Other examples include HTML 5 cookies, Silverlight Application Storage, device fingerprints and "flash cookies." If you want to remove flash cookies or prevent them from being placed, adjust your preferences in the Macromedia Website Privacy Settings Panel at www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/. We currently do not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals. We may adopt a DNT standard if one is established. In the meantime, you may opt out of certain types of tracking, including certain analytics and tailored advertising by changing your cookie settings.
We also use Analytics, Advertising, Anti-Cheat and Anti-Fraud technologies in our products that utilize the same cookies and similar mechanisms. These technologies are described below.
B. Analytics Technologies
We use our own game servers and internal and third party analytic technologies to collect information about how you use our products, your computer or device and the health of our products.
For instance, EA may collect and store data from your computer or device when you use our products. This information includes technical and related information about your computer or device and operating system (such as IP Address and device ID), information about your feature usage, gameplay and usage statistics, system interactions and peripheral hardware for purposes described in section 3, below. If you play a game offline, this data will be stored on your device and transmitted to EA when your device connects to the Internet. If you participate in online services, EA also may collect, use, store, transmit and publicly display statistical data regarding game play (including scores, rankings and accomplishments), or identify content that is created and shared by you with other players.
Third party analytics services integrated into our products may combine the information they collect in connection with EA's services with information they have independently collected over time and across different websites. Many of these companies collect and use information under their own privacy policies. A representative list of third party analytics companies that operate in our products can be found at privacyappendix.ea.com.
C. Ad Serving Technologies
Some of our products employ ad serving technologies that use cookies, clear GIFs, web beacons, tracking pixels, and other similar technologies like identifiers to deliver offers to you. Some of these technologies can sync or connect behavior across different websites, mobile apps and devices. The ads can be tailored to your interests. For instance, you may be presented with an offer for a game we think you might enjoy. Or if you express interest in a game, you might receive an advertisement later for that game or similar products on EA or third party sites. Other in-game advertising technologies enable advertising to be temporarily uploaded to your game, web browser, or mobile device and later replaced while you are online.
These technologies collect and use information so we can serve appropriate advertising to you and help track results and measure effectiveness. In addition to identifiers, this information includes:
Third party advertising companies may combine the information collected in the context of delivering an ad to you via our Products and Services with other information they have independently collected over time and across different websites. Many of these companies collect and use information under their own privacy policies. A representative list of ad serving companies that operate their own networks on our sites and online and/or mobile products and/or services as well as how to opt out to the extent applicable can be found at privacyappendix.ea.com.
To learn more about some of these ad networks' practices, or to opt out of third party targeted advertising, you can visit https://www.networkadvertising.org, https://www.aboutads.info/choices/, http://youradchoices.ca/, or https://www.youronlinechoices.eu. Note that opting out does not mean you won't see ads; it just means that the advertising you see may be less relevant to your interests.
D. Anti-Cheat and Fraud Prevention Technologies
EA strives to provide a safe and fair gaming environment for all players. When you log in to one of our products, set up an EA Account or make purchases, we or third parties may use cookies and similar technologies, or collect data about your machine or device, to create a machine "fingerprint" or "hash" of your machine components, for fraud prevention, security and authentication purposes. We also may use other anti-cheat technology with our products.
We use your personal and non-personal information, both individually and combined together, in the following ways:
To operate our business and to enhance and personalize your game experience including to:
To provide you support, including to:
To personalize our communications with you, including to:
4. Information We Share with Third Parties
We do not share personal information that directly identifies you (such as your name, e-mail or postal address) with independent third parties without your consent, unless it is either required by law or we determine that disclosure is reasonably necessary to enforce our rights, property or operations or to protect our players or third parties. We may share anonymous or aggregated information, or other data that does not directly identify you, with third parties, for instance your persona on leaderboards or to show trends about use of our products.
We employ third parties located in and outside of your country of residence (including outside of the European Economic Area (EEA)) to collect or process personal information on our behalf for various reasons, such as conducting market surveys, facilitating credit card processing, or sending emails. When our third party agents or service providers collect or receive personal information, we require that they use the data only on our behalf and for purposes consistent with this policy.
We do not knowingly disclose personal information about children under 18 years of age to independent third parties even with consent.
However, in the event of a reorganization, divestiture, merger, sale or bankruptcy, we may transfer all information we collect to the relevant third party and will obtain your consent to do so if required by law.
We do not control information sent from your browser to third parties, such as advertising networks and analytics companies that receive information in the normal course of your Internet activity. When third party technologies or social tools are integrated into our products, those third parties may collect information when you use our products. An example is the Facebook "Like" button.
5. Where We Hold Your Information
Personal Information we collect may be stored and processed for the purposes set out in this Privacy and Cookie Policy in the United States or any other country in which EA, its subsidiaries, or third party agents operate. By using our products, you consent that your personal information may be transferred to recipients in the United States and other countries that may not offer the same level of privacy protection as the laws in your country of residence or citizenship.
The Electronic Arts privacy practices, described in this Privacy and Cookie Policy, comply with the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules System. The APEC CBPR system provides a framework for organizations to ensure protection of personal information transferred among participating APEC economies. More information about the APEC framework can be found at https://www.apec.org/Groups/Committee-on-Trade-and-Investment/~/media/Files/Groups/ECSG/CBPR/CBPR-PoliciesRulesGuidelines.ashx.
6. How We Protect Your Personal Information
Security of our players' information is a priority at EA, and we take a range of measures to help protect it, including encryption of sensitive financial information. Even so, no security measure is 100% perfect. This means we cannot guarantee the security of your information and do not assume any responsibility for the unauthorized use or access to your information under our control.
Protecting children's privacy online is extremely important to EA. Many EA online or mobile products and services are intended for general audiences and do not knowingly collect any personal information from children. When users identify themselves as being children (i.e. under the age of 13 or under the minimum age in the relevant territory), consistent with applicable law we will: (1) not provide a path for them to input personal information, (2) collect certain information for limited purposes only (consistent with applicable law), (3) block or restrict the child from accessing relevant services (such as chat functionality); and/or (4) obtain consent from parents for the collection, use, and sharing of their children's personal information.
Through our mobile applications your child will be able to receive local in-app notifications, which do not collect any personal information.
Please note that if you grant consent for your child to use EA's online or mobile products and services, this may include such general audience communication services as email, instant messaging, and online groups, and your child will be able to communicate with, and disclose personal information to, other users of all ages.
If you are a parent and wish to revoke your previously provided consent, review information collected from your child or have that information deleted, contact the appropriate Privacy Policy Administrator for your country listed at privacyadmin.ea.com, by writing to Privacy Policy Administrator, 209 Redwood Shores Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065 or by telephone at (650) 628-1393.
Information collected is secured in a manner consistent with this Privacy and Cookie Policy (see Section 6 above). If we make material changes to how we use, collect, or share your child's personal information, we will notify parents by email or by in-game notice in order to obtain verifiable parental consent for the new uses of your child's personal information.
We encourage you to talk with your children about communicating with strangers and disclosing personal information online. You and your child should review our Online Safety web page at https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/OnlineSafety/US/en/PC/ for additional information about using the Internet safely.
Under no circumstances do we condition a child's participation in an activity—like contests—on the child's disclosure of more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the activity. On certain sites, we may not permit children to participate at all regardless of consent.
We give you meaningful choices when it comes to important uses and collection of information. For example, you can update your account information and preferences, choose to opt in or out of EA marketing emails and choose whether to share your information with select EA partners. If you would like to opt out at any time after granting approval, contact the appropriate Privacy Policy Administrator for your country listed at privacyadmin.ea.com or write to Privacy Policy Administrator, Electronic Arts Inc., 209 Redwood Shores Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065.
You also can review and change most of your preferences through your EA Account settings. If you need additional assistance, please contact help.ea.com.
You may deactivate your EA Account or delete the personal information associated with your account by contacting help.ea.com or your Privacy Policy Administrator in your country listed on our site at privacyadmin.ea.com. If you do so, you will no longer have access to the EA games or services associated with your account. Note that EA may retain information needed to resolve disputes, enforce our user agreements, protect our legal rights, and comply with technical and legal requirements and constraints related to the security, integrity and operation of our products. Otherwise, we will retain your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide you services, create and improve our products, comply with the law, and to run our business.
You can access the personal information we hold about you. To request access, send us an email at privacy_policy@ea.com headed "Subject Access Request". Before we process any request, we may ask you for certain personal information in order to verify your identity and we may request payment where allowed by law. Where permitted by local law, we may reject requests that are unreasonable or impractical. We will respond to your requests in a reasonable timeframe.
You also may adjust your browser settings to block certain online tracking, such as cookies.
Our websites and products may contain advertising or third party services (such as the Facebook Like button or links to third-party websites). If you click on those links, including an advertisement, you will leave the EA website and go to the site you selected. If you visit a third party website or use a third party service, you should consult that site's or service's privacy policy.
We may update this policy from time to time, so please review it frequently. We'll notify you of material changes via a notice on our home page (www.ea.com) thirty days before they go into effect. Your continued use of our products means you accept the changes. Once you accept this policy, we will not enforce future changes we deem in good faith to be material absent your express agreement to the changed terms. If you are asked to affirmatively accept material changes to this policy and you decline to do so, you may not be able to continue to use the product provided.
If you have a complaint or question about this policy, you may contact us at privacy_policy@ea.com. If you have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that we have not addressed satisfactorily, please contact our U.S.-based third party dispute resolution provider (free of charge) at https://feedback-form.truste.com/watchdog/request.
To review a list of websites that are certified by TRUSTe, please go to https://privacy.truste.com/privacy-seal/validation?rid=7d587a12-773f-4bf9-a209-d18047ee5f05. For mobile applications, go to https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/CERTIFIEDAPPS/US/en/PC/.
For more information and updates to this policy, visit privacy.ea.com.