SMAC Privacy & Terms

SMAC's Privacy Policy

DAC Privacy Policy as of 08/18/2023
Released on August 2023

All users and members of SM Advantage (“SMAC”) Loyalty Program are expected to read carefully the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy for SMAC Loyalty Program.

Who We Are

Digital Advantage Corporation (DAC, “we”, “us”, or “our”) operates and manages SMAC which aims to incentivize the purchasing behavior of its members. SMAC is the biggest loyalty program in the country with the widest network of stores like SM Store, SM Markets, specialty stores, and other partner merchants where SMAC members can earn and redeem points every time they shop. SMAC members also get exclusive access to sale events, discounts, special offers, and freebies from SM group and our partner merchants. SMAC members who meet the criteria and spending level in a year may be upgraded to SMAC Prestige, an elite version of SMAC.

Our Commitment

We value and respect the SMAC members’ privacy rights under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA) and other applicable privacy laws. The objective of this Privacy Policy (or “policy”) is to inform SMAC members how we collect, use, share, retain, and dispose their personal data in relation to their membership with the SMAC Loyalty Program and its related services. This policy also outlines our practices and the security measures we have in place to ensure that our members’ personal data are protected and processed in accordance with the purposes disclosed in this policy and the law.

What We Collect

DAC may request the SMAC member to provide his or her personal data, depending on the services which the member is using. The personal data we may collect from you are as follows:

  • If you access any SMAC website or online applications
    • IP address
    • Device information
    • Browsing behavior
  • If you create a SMAC account through our website or mobile app
    • Full name
    • Mobile number
    • Email address
    • Birthday
    • Password
    • Purchase history
    • Gender
    • Civil Status
    • Shopping preferences
  • If you register your SMAC or link a retail affiliate loyalty card through our website or mobile app
    • Full name
    • Mobile number
    • Email address
    • Birthday
    • Password
    • SMAC card number
    • Loyalty account number of retail affiliates such as Ace Rewards, Mom Card, Love Your Body, Toy Kingdom
    • Purchase history
    • Gender
    • Civil status
    • Shopping preferences
  • If you visit any SMAC Prestige lounge or SMAC customer service counter
    • Video footage
    • SMAC card number
  • If you contact the SMAC contact center
    • Full name
    • Contact number
    • Email
    • SMAC card number
    • Nature and details of inquiries, concerns, or complaints
    • Birthday

The SMAC member is responsible in ensuring that the personal data he provides is accurate and updated. Any member may update his or her personal data at any time by accessing the member’s SMAC account on the SMAC website or mobile application. DAC and its affiliates, specialty stores, service group, or partner merchant shall not be held liable for any loss, damage, injury or claim arising from the member’s failure to keep his account information or personal data updated.

How We Use Your Personal Data

The personal data collected shall be used or processed pursuant to any or all of the following purposes:

  1. For administration of the SMAC loyalty program, including registration, maintenance of the SMAC account, points earning or redemption, and such services related to the SMAC Loyalty Program;
  2. To verify your identity when you access your account;
  3. For data analytics and direct marketing; For market research and analysis – to better understand your interests and preferences; To send you marketing promotions, offers, or latest news on SMAC, co-branded offers, and affiliate and partner offers, which may be sent through email, phone, and SMS and other electronic means of communication
  4. To administer any raffle draws or competitions;
  5. To render such services which may be requested by the member such as but not limited to addressing inquiries and complaints, updating or deletion of records;
  6. To develop and test any changes or improvements to our website or services;
  7. To send you service emails or communications or update you about any changes to our policies or services or any information required by law to be disseminated;
  8. To provide necessary services related to your SMAC membership;
  9. To serve DAC’s legitimate business purposes.

In certain circumstances, DAC may need to share, provide or disclose the member’s information to enable us to comply with legal or regulatory requirements, such as criminal, civil or administrative investigations, among others.

Member’s Consent

By accessing our website or app, or creating a SMAC account or registering your SMAC card through the SMAC website or mobile app, or linking your retail affiliate loyalty card to your SMAC account, or purchasing a SMAC membership kit, or by member’s continued use of SMAC website or app, and availment of privileges, the member confirms that he or she has read, understood and agree to be bound by this policy and consents to the collection, use, sharing or otherwise processing of the member’s personal data by DAC and its service group, affiliates, specialty stores, and partner merchants obtained at the time of submission of application for membership, whether manually or electronically, and/or upon purchase of the SMAC membership kit. DAC shall continue processing the member’s personal data as long as the member maintains his membership or continues to use SMAC.

By using SMAC and/or participating in the SMAC Loyalty Program, the member reaffirms his consent to the processing of his personal data. Below is a copy of the member’s consent:

“By accessing the SM Advantage (SMAC) website or app, or creating a SMAC account or registering your SMAC card through the SMAC website or app, or linking your retail affiliate loyalty card to your SMAC account or purchasing a SMAC membership kit, or by member’s continued use of the SMAC website or app, or availment of SMAC privileges, you signify that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy of Digital Advantage Corporation (DAC) for SMAC.

Subject to applicable laws and regulations on data privacy and protection, you hereby give your full and absolute consent to DAC and its parent company, affiliates, specialty stores, partner merchants, and service group to collect, use, store, share or otherwise process your personal data in accordance with the purposes disclosed in the SMAC Privacy Policy, such as but not limited to, account management, direct marketing, data analytics, announcements on system enhancements, updates, discounts, sales and marketing promotions and/or for the performance of such other services which you may request from DAC. In case you are chosen as a winner in any SMAC contests, promotional campaigns or automated electronic draws, you hereby give your consent to DAC to publish your full name in social media or in such media which may be necessary to comply with requirements of regulatory agencies.”

The member can withdraw or modify the scope of consent anytime by contacting our data protection officer in the contact details below or through the opt-out procedures in our emails or your SMAC account. Please note that should you opt to withdraw or limit the scope of consent provided, we may not be able to provide certain services and the member is unlikely to receive our optimal overall member experience. If you opt out of receiving promotional communications from us, we may still send you non-promotional communications such as emails about your accounts or our ongoing business relations.

Data Sharing

  1. Our service providers and contractors

In order to deliver certain services to you, we may need to share your personal data with our service group consisting of the following:

  1. Our officers, employees, personnel, and consultants;
  2. Our parent and/or affiliate companies which may render support services to us in line with the administration of the loyalty program;
  3. Our authorized service providers, such as but not limited to: IT providers, data encoders, website and database hosts, couriers and delivery, advertising and marketing service providers, card printers.

Our service providers have confirmed that they apply appropriate data protection policies and security controls to keep your personal data safe and secured. We have also imposed contractual obligations on these service providers to ensure that they will only use your personal data to render the services agreed upon in relation to your SMAC membership. We only share such information that is needed to provide services to you and if we stop using a third party, we require them to return, destroy or remove your information from their systems. We do not, and will not, sell your personal data.

  1. Disclosure to third parties

SMAC will not disclose your personal data outside DAC and its service group, except to third parties as set out below:

  1. SM specialty stores and/or selected merchant partners where you have used your SMAC/SMAC Prestige card and for purposes of:
    1. offering promotions and privileges;
    2. awarding and/or allowing redemption of SMAC points in their stores;
  2. Any business or company which acquires all or part of the SMAC business;
  3. Governmental bodies, regulators, law enforcement agencies, courts or tribunals, or insurers when we are required to do so, e.g., to comply with a legal obligation, to exercise a legal right, to prevent or aid an investigation of a crime or to prosecute offenders and/or to protect our employees or members.

Where We Process and Store Data

DAC stores, processes and transmits personal data within the Philippines. DAC shall comply with the applicable laws and regulations should it become necessary to process or store your data in another jurisdiction.

Information Security

DAC ensures the security and protection of your personal data against risk of data loss, unauthorized access and disclosure, alteration and unlawful processing. Aside from establishing policies, rules and procedures, the company also ensures that all information are secured and protected within the scope of the organization. DAC conducts periodic Privacy Impact Assessments to evaluate and manage the privacy implications of projects, programs and processes. DAC also ensures that a Personal Data Breach Management is in place.

DAC uses various appropriate measures to safeguard your personal information. This includes but not limited to:

Organizational measures: appointment of Data Protection Officer, access control policy, security awareness training, among others.

Physical measures: security on data centers, card storage, biometric devices, among others.

Technical security measures: encryption, anti-virus software, among others.

How Long We Will Store Your Information

DAC will store your information for as long as the member retains his or her membership to the SMAC Loyalty Program or, for as long as needed for us to be able to provide the relevant services to the member. DAC’s general retention policy is to retain information for 3 years from expiration or termination of SMAC membership.

In some circumstances, such as to meet our legal or regulatory obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud and abuse, or enforce the SMAC Terms and Conditions, we may retain your personal data beyond the 3-year period.

Disposal of Your Personal Data

Electronic files shall be erased, while physical records shall be shredded for disposal. When appropriate, anonymization techniques may be performed to permanently remove identifiable information from our records. In all cases, we will make sure that the personal information is destroyed in a way that prevents unauthorized people from accessing, processing, or retrieving it.

Collection of Computer Data

We or our authorized service providers may use cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies for storing information to provide you with a better, faster, safer and personalized experience when you use the SMAC services and/or access our digital platforms and technologies.

Cookies contain information about the web activities of the user. This allows DAC to understand more about your visit and help us to enhance your experience and may be used for authentication and storing website information or preferences. You are free to accept or decline cookies by modifying your browser setting to decline cookies. However, should you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the features of our website and app.

Web beacons are small graphic images that may be included in the services available on our website and app digital. These will allow DAC to count users who have viewed these pages, the time spent on the pages, items searched for, among others, to better understand your preference and interests so we can improve our services.

If you do not want to accept cookies from the SMAC website and app, you can remove or reject cookies in your browser settings. If you choose to do this, please be aware that SMAC website and app may no longer function as intended.

The Rights of the Data Subject

As provided under the DPA, you have the following data privacy rights:

Right to be informed. You have the right to be informed of the collection and processing of your personal data, the purpose for which they will be processed, among others. Thus, you are required to read this privacy notice before giving your consent to the collection and processing of your personal data.

Right to object. You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. You will be given an option or opportunity to withhold your consent to the processing of your personal data whenever DAC communicates with you.

Right to access your information.  It is your right to obtain confirmation on whether or not data relating to you are being processed as well as other relevant information about the processing involved.

Right to updating or rectification. You have the right to rectify or correct any inaccuracy or error in your personal data through the SMAC website and app or by submitting your request for rectification or correction.

Right to erasure or blocking. You have the right to the erasure or blocking of your personal data in accordance with the requirements of the DPA, subject to restrictions imposed by other regulations.

Right to damages. You have the right to be indemnified if you incur damages due to inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, false, unlawfully obtained or unauthorized use of your personal data.

Right to data portability. You have the right to obtain a copy of your data in an electronic or structured format if the same is processed by electronic means and in a structured and commonly used format by submitting a proper request.

Right to file a complaint. If you have reason to believe that your personal information has been misused, maliciously disclosed, or improperly disposed of or that your data privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint.

If you intend to exercise any of your abovementioned data privacy rights you, may contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO). We may ask some information in order to verify your identity to avoid unwanted disclosure of personal information.

Minors

Our website and mobile application are intended only for persons who are at least eighteen (18) years old. We neither offer products or services nor knowingly collect personal data of persons below eighteen (18) years old (“Minors”) without any legal basis or consent of the minor’s parent or guardian. Should we learn that we were provided with personal data of Minors, we will delete the same from our database.

Inquiry

For inquiries relating to your personal data or about this Privacy Policy, or if you would like to exercise any of your rights as data subject or if you would like to raise concerns regarding data privacy, please contact our data protection officer at:

DAC Data Protection Officer

4th Floor One E-com Building Harbor Drive
Mall of Asia Complex Pasay City, Philippines 1300

Email: dpo@smadvantage.com

 

Any data privacy complaint, request or inquiry should be made in writing, clearly state the material facts, specify your contact information and include supporting evidence, if applicable. DAC reserves the right to require further documentation from you, depending on the nature of your request/inquiry.

 

Helpdesk Contact Number

+63 288 338 888 / +63 27 944 388 (for Metro Manila)

0917-833-2090 (Globe)

0998-533-8888 (Smart)

 

We urge you to submit your inquiries, request or concerns in writing for proper documentation and monitoring. Kindly provide our DPO with the factual background and documentary evidence. Please provide information on how we can contact you regarding your concern/inquiry or complaint.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

This policy is subject to periodic review. We may update this policy as we may deem fit or as may be necessary to comply with government regulation. We may also revise this policy to comply with the industry’s best practices or if there is a need to revamp the website to adapt to new requirements of technologies or security protocols. All changes on this policy will be posted on our official privacy policy page https://digiweb.smac.ph/privacy-policy  and on the SMAC mobile application.

Version 08/18/2023

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