Privacy and Cookie Policy

Last Updated and Effective Date: 12/09/2023

Hong Kong Tea House (referred to as "we," "us," or "our"), the operator of the official website of Hong Kong Tea House, respects your privacy concerns and values our relationship with you.

When you visit a store (referred to as "Store") established by us and authorized by our SaaS service provider, SHOPLINE (referred to as "SHOPLINE"), we may collect, process, and use personal information about you (including your employees and/or representatives, individuals who act on your behalf to process transactions). If you visit or make purchases on the Store, we may also collect, process, and use your personal information. We are fully aware of the importance of personal data to you, and we are committed to ensuring the integrity and security of the Store. This Privacy Policy describes the types of personal information we collect about you, how we use this information, who we share information with, and the choices you have regarding our use of this information.

This Privacy Policy will provide information on the following:

What we collect

Information you provide
How we use personal data
How we use cookies and similar tracking technologies
How we process, share, transfer, and disclose personal information
Your rights and choices
How we protect personal data
How we update this Privacy Policy
How to contact us
What we collect

We may obtain personal information about you from various sources. When you visit our Store or access and/or use our social media/social network pages (or their associated Stores or corresponding applications, such as Facebook, Instagram), we may collect this information. Our products are sold in many department stores or other types of physical stores. If you are a member of our Store and make purchases at physical stores, When you visit the Store, our social media/social network pages (or their associated Stores or corresponding applications), we may also collect certain information about your device or usage through automated means or the use of cookies, web server logs, and web beacons.

Categories of information provided by you

The personal data categories that the Store collects about you may include the following categories: 1. Identifiers - (1) Identifying individuals (such as members' names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.); (2) Identifying financial information (such as credit card or financial institution account information); (3) Identifiers from government records (such as ID numbers, passport numbers, tax identification numbers, etc.). 2. Personal characteristics - Personal descriptions (such as gender, date of birth, size, etc.). 3. Social circumstances - (1) Residence and facilities (such as residential addresses, etc.); (2) Property (such as ownership or other rights of movable property, etc.); (3) Immigration status (passport, work permit documents, residence proof documents, etc.); (4) Lifestyle (such as types of consumer goods used and details of services, etc.); (5) Membership in charitable organizations or other groups (such as records of participation in incorporated associations, clubs, or other voluntary groups, etc.).

The information you provided:

You can choose to provide personal information to us in various ways, such as when you register on our store, make purchases on our store, or through our social media (or their associated stores or corresponding extensions). The types of personal information you may provide to us (if applicable) include:

Contact information (such as name, postal address, email address, mobile or other phone numbers, mobile service providers);
Age and date of birth;
Gender, preferred language;
Race, gender, preferred language;
Username and password;
Payment information (such as your payment card number, expiration date, shipping address, and billing address);
Purchase history records;
Product preferences and communication channel preferences;
Content you provide (such as photos, videos, reviews, articles, survey responses, and comments);
Information provided to us when you visit our social media pages (such as your name, profile picture, likes, location, friend lists, and other information described on the social media network or application registration page, or detailed location information when using our mobile application);
Device identifiers, such as information about the device, like MAC address, IP address, or other online identifiers.

You voluntarily provide us with your personal information, but if you do not provide your personal information, you may not be able to access certain services and promotional activities.

Why we collect your personal information:

The specific purposes for which the store collects personal information are to provide you with goods or services, including but not limited to: (1) consumer and customer management and services; (2) consumer protection; (3) online shopping and other e-commerce services; (4) verifying your personal identity (such as protecting you from fraud and other criminal activities); (5) resolving various types of disputes (including but not limited to consumer disputes, intellectual property disputes, etc.); (6) enhancing secure transaction behavior; (7) debt collection; (8) notifying you of business opportunities, products, services, and updates; (9) detecting and protecting you and the store from errors, fraud, or other criminal activities, and monitoring compliance risks; (10) investigating potential unlawful acts against personal safety, property security, and breach of contract; (11) fulfilling terms and conditions and return policies; (12) complying with legal obligations; and (13) other purposes for which you have provided consent at the time of collection.

How we use personal information:

We may use the information you provide for the following purposes:

Sending you promotional content or other communications;
Providing you with requested information and services;
Contacting you to follow up or confirm your orders, returns, or refunds, and sending you other non-marketing communications related to the products and services we provide to you;
Processing your payment and/or transactions;
Creating and managing your account, including accessing your purchase history records;
Responding to your inquiries;
Customizing advertisements in our store, social media stores, and other places to match your interests and history;
Communicating with you and managing special activities, contests, sweepstakes, events (if any), surveys, and other promotions in which you participate;
Operating and communicating with you about our social networks or [mobile applications];
Operating, evaluating, and improving our business (including developing new products and services, enhancing and improving our products and services, managing our communications, analyzing our products, conducting market research, data analysis, and customer relationship management programs, and performing accounting, auditing, and other internal functions);
Complying with applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards, and our policies;

To avoid duplication and ensure the accuracy of your information, please regularly conduct data cleansing internally or through our service providers by linking or merging our records.

We may also use this information in other ways, and we will provide specific notice when collecting the information.

If you provide us with your personal information, we intend to use it for direct marketing purposes to offer or promote the availability of our goods and/or services. However, we will confirm that you do not object to receiving such marketing messages when we first send you marketing communications. If you do not wish to receive marketing messages, you can express your preference when you first receive the marketing message or opt out at any time.

If you provide us with the relevant data and explicitly consent to such use, we may use the various types of personal information described in the section "Information You Provide" for direct marketing purposes.

Direct marketing communications may be sent to you through various channels, including telephone, mail, email, SMS, mobile applications, web applications, social media stores, and other communication methods. If we have obtained your consent, the personal data provided in the form or provided when subscribing to the above will be used for the marketing purposes. Our handling of any data transmission issues in this paragraph will be consistent with the content provided in this privacy policy.

If you do not want us to use your personal information for direct marketing, you can choose to opt out of our direct marketing at any time by following the procedures described in the section "Your Rights and Choices." If necessary, we must stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes without charging you any fees.

We will only use the personal information you provide for direct marketing in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act. Our direct marketing may take several forms, including but not limited to marketing mail, email, and SMS, as detailed in the following sections.

How we use "Cookies" and similar tracking technologies:

(1) What are "Cookies"?

Cookies are small files stored by the store's server on your computer, mobile phone, or any other smart terminal device when you log in to or browse the store's content. They typically contain identifiers, store names, and some numerical and character data. When you revisit the store, the store can identify your browser through the cookie. Cookies may store user preferences and other information.

(2) How we use "Cookies":

When you use our store, we may collect information about the subject's device model, operating system, device identifier, and login IP address, as well as cache the subject's browsing and click information to view the subject's online environment through cookies or similar technologies. Cookies allow us to identify your identity when accessing the store, continuously optimize the user-friendliness of the store, and adjust the store according to your needs. You can also change your browser settings to reject cookies on our store, but this may affect your use of certain functions on the store.

On the store we have built on SHOPLINE, with the help of cookies and other similar technologies, we can identify whether you are an existing user or member without the need to log in and authenticate on each page.

3）How to Manage Cookies

You can manage or delete certain types of tracking technologies based on your preferences. Many browsers have a "Do Not Track" feature that sends a request to websites to not track you.

In addition to the controls we provide, you can also choose to enable or disable cookies in your internet browser. Most internet browsers also allow you to choose whether to disable all cookies or only disable third-party cookies. By default, most internet browsers accept cookies, but you can change this setting. For more information, refer to the "Help" menu in your internet browser or the documentation of your device.

The following links provide instructions on how to control cookies in all major browsers:

谷歌瀏覽器：https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en
IE：https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/260971/description-of-cookies
Safari（桌面版）：https://support.apple.com/kb/PH5042?locale=en_US
火狐瀏覽器：https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/cookies-information-websites-store-on-your-computer?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=Cookies
歌劇：https://www.opera.com/zh-cn/help

If you use any other browser, please refer to the documentation provided by the browser.

In the store, you can delete existing tracking technologies by clearing the cache.

When you browse web pages without logging in, we collect cookies necessary to implement browsing functions in order to provide you with relevant services.

Please note that if you refuse to use or delete existing tracking technologies, you will need to manually change user settings each time you visit, and we may not be able to provide you with a high-quality user experience, and certain features may not function properly.

How We Handle, Use, Share, Transfer, and Disclose Personal Data

(1) Handling and Use

Certain features of the store may be provided by our third-party partners, and we may engage partners (including technical service providers) to process certain personal data. For example, when you use the automatic payment function, we may request a third-party payment company to process your credit card information to charge you for relevant service fees according to your instructions. When making payments on the official website of Hong Kong Tea House, we may request third-party service providers to process personal data of you and your customers, and these service providers can facilitate "know your customer" as well as transaction monitoring and risk management. We will enter into confidentiality agreements with third-party service providers to manage the purposes of data processing, processing period, and responsibilities of both parties, and will require partners to process data in accordance with our instructions and this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to the collection of personal data necessary for providing relevant services by our partners, you or your customers may not be able to use the relevant services.

(2) Sharing

We do not share personal data with any third parties unless one or more of the following circumstances exist:

According to your request or with your explicit authorization or consent in advance;
Related to fulfilling our obligations under laws and regulations;
Directly related to national security and defense;
Directly related to public safety, public health, and significant public interests;
Directly related to criminal investigation, prosecution, trial, and enforcement;
To safeguard significant legitimate rights and interests such as life and property of you or any other person, but it is difficult to obtain the consent of that person;
The personal data involved is disclosed to the public by you;
The personal data involved is collected from lawful and publicly disclosed information.
Shared with Hong Kong Tea House and its subsidiaries: In order to provide Hong Kong Tea House products and services to you, make recommendations that you may be interested in, resolve account issues, and protect the personal and property safety of our subsidiaries or other users or the public, you acknowledge and agree that we may share your personal data and the personal data of your customers with our subsidiaries. We will only share personal data within the necessary scope and subject to the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy. If we share sensitive personal data or if our affiliated companies use and process personal data for different purposes, we will seek your authorization and consent again.
Shared with our third-party partners: We only share personal data for lawful, legitimate, necessary, specific, and explicit purposes, and only share personal data necessary for providing relevant services to you or your customers. We will not share personal data that can identify your identity unless required by law or regulations. Typically, these third-party partners are also data controllers, and they will process personal data in their own accounts after obtaining your consent. Such partners may have their own separate privacy policies and user agreements.

In addition, when we use the store, we may use third-party features or services (including Apps Store, payment gateways, or logistics service provider applications). Please note that such features or services are provided by third parties. The rules and procedures described in this privacy policy do not apply to such third-party features and services. Any information you provide to the third-party store or service will be directly provided to the network operators of these services. Even if you access them through the store, you must comply with the applicable privacy policies and user agreements of these third parties (if any). We are not responsible for the content of any third-party store or the third-party policies regarding personal data and security measures. Before providing any personal data to a third party, you should read and understand the third party's privacy policy and user agreement.

(3) Transfer

In principle, we will not transfer control of personal data to any third party, except in the following cases:

At the request of the data subject, or with your explicit authorization or consent in advance;
Related to fulfilling our obligations under laws and regulations;
Directly related to national security and defense;
Directly related to public safety, public health, and significant public interests;
Directly related to criminal investigation, prosecution, trial, and enforcement;
To safeguard significant legitimate rights and interests such as life and property of you or any other person, but it is difficult to obtain the authorization and consent of that person;
The personal data involved is disclosed to the public by you;
The personal data involved is collected from lawful and publicly disclosed information;
In the event of a transfer due to acquisition, merger, restructuring, or bankruptcy of the operating entity.

Note: If it is necessary to transfer the information for the reasons mentioned above, we will inform you of the purpose and type of information to be transferred, as well as the transferee (if sensitive information is involved, we will also notify you), and obtain your consent, unless otherwise provided by law or regulations. The transferee will continue to fulfill the obligations related to personal data under this agreement. If we go bankrupt or cease operations without a transferee, we will delete or anonymize your personal data.

(4) Public Disclosure

In general, we do not disclose your personal data to the public or unspecified groups. However, we may disclose your personal data in accordance with our agreement with you or applicable laws and regulations.

Minors

This store is not intended for individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided personal information to us, please contact us at the address above to request deletion.

Your Rights and Choices

For the personal data we collect from you, we provide you with certain choices, such as how we use that information and how we communicate with you. To update your preferences, request removal of your information from our mailing lists, or submit requests, please follow the instructions below to contact us.

Email Opt-Out Statement

You can unsubscribe from receiving marketing communications from us at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the marketing emails you receive from us or by contacting us as described in the "How to Contact Us" section below. You may also choose not to receive our marketing emails by sending an opt-out request to [insert store's customer service email].

SMS Opt-Out Statement

You can contact us as described below to request that we stop sending you text messages.

Social Media App Opt-Out Statement

To remove or delete our social media applications from your social media accounts, please follow the instructions provided in your social media settings.

Geolocation Information

When you use our mobile application, you may be asked to provide your geolocation through that mobile application. You can choose not to share your precise geolocation information by adjusting the location services settings on your mobile device. To refuse the sharing of your precise geolocation information, please follow the instructions for changing relevant settings on your mobile device; otherwise, contact your service provider or device manufacturer.

Withdrawal of Consent

You may withdraw any consent you previously provided to us or object to the processing of your personal data at any time for legitimate reasons. We will apply your preferences in the future. In certain cases, withdrawing your consent to our use or disclosure of your personal data may mean that you cannot take advantage of certain products or services we offer.

Access, Update, and Correction of Personal Data

We may retain and use your information as necessary to fulfill the purposes described above. You have the right to request access to and receive detailed information about the personal data we maintain about you, update and correct inaccuracies in your personal data, and, where appropriate, block or delete that information. In certain cases, the right to access personal data may be limited by local law requirements. We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. You can do this by sending an email to enquiry@hkteahouse.com.hk.

How We Protect Personal Data

We maintain appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal data you provide from accidental, unlawful, or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure, or use. However, no system is perfectly secure or free from vulnerabilities, and we cannot guarantee the security of information about you in all circumstances, including the security of your data during transmission to us or the security of data on your mobile device.

For information on how SHOPLINE retains and protects personal data, please refer to the SHOPLINE Privacy Policy( https://shopline.tw/about/privacy)

How We Update This Privacy Policy

This privacy policy may be updated periodically without prior notice to reflect changes in our personal data practices. We will post prominent notices on our store to inform you of any material changes to our privacy policy and indicate the date of the most recent update at the top of the policy.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments regarding this privacy policy, or if you wish to update information about you or your preferences, please contact us via email at enquiry@hkteahouse.com.hk.

[Last Updated: 12/09/2023]