OUR PRIVACY STATEMENT

The data controller for processing personal data on our Sites as defined below as set out in this Privacy Statement is Mars Inc, and/or the Mars affiliate group company in your region. Contact details are as follows:  

Mars, Incorporated  
c/o: Chief Privacy Officer  
1676 International Drive, 10th Floor
McLean, Virginia 22102
Contact: [email protected]   

The Mars representative in the EU is:

Mars Netherlands B.V. 
c/o: Chief Privacy Officer 
Taylorweg 5, 5466 AE Veghel 
Noord-Brabant Netherlands 
Contact: [email protected]   

If you apply for a job at Mars, the data controller is the Mars affiliate group company to which you applied.

We are committed to promptly responding to any questions or concerns you may have.  

If you have a general question about our personal data practices or want to contact the global privacy team or the Mars Data Protection Officer, please click here(Opens a new window). If you have a request regarding your data and would like to exercise your rights under applicable law, please click here(Opens a new window). 

This Privacy Statement tells you how we collect, use, communicate, disclose and otherwise process personal data at Mars, Incorporated and its family of companies (which includes subsidiaries and affiliates), through our websites, products, mobile apps, or other sites that display this Privacy Statement, or related to the provision of services that you obtain from us, which we will refer to collectively as our “Sites.” This Privacy Statement will also apply to personal data you give us in person, through our products, and at any of our retail or vet hospitals and clinics.  

When does this Privacy Statement not apply?  

This Privacy Statement only applies to Mars Associates when they interact with the Sites outside the scope of their employment.

Our Sites might have links or refer you to sites that don’t belong to Mars and might treat your personal data differently. If you give these sites your personal data, their policy will apply so you should look at the privacy policy of any site you go to; Mars isn’t responsible for the privacy practices of other sites you might visit.  

This Privacy Statement also does not apply to third-party video content on our Sites. Please review the privacy policies of those third parties to understand their information practices.    

We may collect or process different kinds of personal data, depending on how you interact with our Sites, products, and services. We retain and store your personal data as long as necessary for the intended purposes and in line with our data retention policy. Clicking on the sections below will take you to the parts of the Privacy Statement  that tell you more specific information about what kinds of data we collect and how we use it, whether we sell or share your personal data, how we use, communicate, disclose and otherwise process your personal data, what rights you may have and how to contact us.  

We may collect: Identifiers; Customer Records; Financial Information; Internet or Other Network Activity; Audio, Electronic, or Similar Information; Location Information; Content of Communications; Demographic Data; Video Viewing History; and any other personal data you provide to us or we and third parties collect when you interact with us. For job applicants, we may also collect Professional or Employment Data; Education Information; and any other personal data you provide to us during the application process. We may also collect Sensitive Personal Data, such as geolocation information, and from job applicants, we may also collect protected classification characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or criminal history. We may use any of the data collected to create inferences about you.  

Personal data collected is used for: internal business purposes; basic business operations; Site, service, or product improvement; advertising and marketing; security; and legal compliance. Job applicant personal data is also used to manage your application, for pre-employment screening, and to provide information to you about additional career opportunities.  

We may share the personal data collected from you: within Mars and the Mars family of companies; with service providers, vendors or agents; to third parties during a change in ownership, such as a merger or bankruptcy; with law enforcement agencies, courts, regulators, government authorities; with our social media partners; or where we have received your direction or consent to the disclosure of your personal data.  

For US residents, the “Sale or Sharing of Personal Data” section tells you how we may sell or share personal data. You can click on the “Your Privacy Choices(Opens a new window)” link to ask that we don’t sell or share your personal data for targeted advertising or call us at 1-844-316-5985. If you have a general question, including about our collection of your personal data, please see the “Contact Us” section above. If you want to make a request about your data, please click here(Opens a new window). If it applies to your location, the data controller is:  

Mars, Incorporated  
c/o: Chief Privacy Officer  
6885 Elm Street
McLean, Virginia 22101
Contact: [email protected]    

In most cases, you won’t have to share specific details about yourself with us, but there might be times   when we are required to collect certain personal data about you by law or to fulfill a contract with you. Failure to provide this information may prevent or delay the fulfillment of these obligations. We will inform you at the time your information is collected whether certain data is required and the consequences of the failure to provide such data.

Where the law allows it, we collect or process different kinds of personal data as part of our business, as described below.

• Identifiers: name; contact information (like email or physical address); and account username. This data is collected directly from you, from other parties like data brokers or social media platforms or from data analytics providers when you interact with our Sites. For job applicants, we may also collect this information about you from third-party career sites or platforms, like LinkedIn; or from service providers, like recruitment agencies.  
• Customer Records: purchase history; billing and shipping information; and any other personal data about your transactions with us. This data is collected directly from you when you buy something from us, from data analytics providers when you interact with our Sites, or from service providers, like vendors who process payments on our behalf.  
• Financial Information: payment card information; and credit status of our business customers. This data is collected directly from you when you buy something from us or from service providers, like credit reporting agencies.
• Internet or Other Network Activity: device ID and operating system; browser information; IP address; internet activity or social media activity; information about how you interact with our Sites. This data is collected from data analytics providers or from other parties like data brokers, social media platforms, or third-party cookies. For job applicants, this data is collected from third-party career sites or platforms.  
• Audio, Electronic, or Similar Information: videos, recordings or electronic artificial intelligence generated speech to text transcripts of customer support calls; videos or images you submit to us (e.g., for a video competition). This data is collected directly from you when you contact us, interact with certain features of our Sites, or visit one of our physical locations. We may also collect this data from service providers when you contact customer support. If you are a job applicant, we may collect this data when you when you use a third-party platform, such as Zoom or from third-party career sites or platforms.
• Location Information: location information, such as IP address, that describes your general location; precise geolocation information, such as GPS data. This data is collected directly from you when you use an app or feature that collects GPS data, and general location information is collected directly from you, from data analytics providers, or from other parties like data brokers, social media platforms, or third-party cookies. We may obtain this data from job applicants via third-party career sites or platforms.
• Content of Communications: contents of phone calls, texts, or chats; any audiovisual information provided in your communications. This data is collected directly from you when you contact us or interact with our Sites, or from service providers when you contact customer support.  
• Demographic Data: gender or age. This data is collected directly from you if you choose to provide this data when you contact us or interact with our Sites.
• Video Viewing History: personal data relating to your interactions with any video content, audiovisual content, or similar content on our Sites. This data is collected directly from you when you interact with our Sites or from data analytics providers via pixels or similar technologies when you interact with our Sites.
• Inferences from Other Related Data: new information that we generate about your likely preferences, hobbies, interests, or other characteristics from any of the categories of personal data outlined above. For example, we would combine your Geolocation Information from your device and Internet or Other Network Activity from your interaction with the M&Ms website to infer that you are a California resident who enjoys chocolate. This data is collected directly from you when you interact with our Sites or from data analytics providers via pixels or similar technologies when you interact with our Sites.
• Sensitive Personal Data: precise geolocation information. This data is collected directly from you when you share your precise geolocation. From job applicants, we may also collect protected classification characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or criminal history. This data is collected directly from you when you provide this information in connection with a job application or from service providers who support the hiring process.

Additional Data Collected from Job Applicants  

• Professional or Employment-Related Data: professional licensing information; work history; current employer; personal references. This data is collected directly from you when you apply for a job with us; from service providers like recruitment agencies or from third party career sites or platforms.  
• Education Information: education history; transcripts; level of education; certificates; language and computer skills. This data is collected directly from you when you apply for a job with us; from service providers or from third party career sites or platforms.
• General Personal Data: Any other personal data provided during the application process, such as details about the type of employment you are seeking, current or desired salary, information about compensation of benefits packages, and willingness to relocate. We may also collect information related to any assessments you may take as part of the applicant screening process. We collect this information directly from you, from service providers, or from third party career sites or platforms.

Other companies may collect data automatically through cookies on our Sites. Please see the “How We Use Cookies and Similar Technologies” section below.  

Other Data We May Collect and Sources of that Data  

• Pet Data: We may collect data about your pet. Privacy laws relate to personal data about a human. Information about pets, by itself is not personal data and is outside the scope of privacy laws and this Privacy Statement. We collect pet data directly from you when you visit our vets, purchase our pet products or interact with our Sites.  
• Children’s personal data: Our websites are designed and intended for adults. You can read the Mars Marketing Code for more information. If you learn that a child has given us their personal data, please report it to [email protected]. If we learn that a child has provided personal data, we will delete the account and any personal data we can. We don’t sell or share the personal data of children under the age of 16.  
• Non-personal data: Data that is anonymized so that it can’t identify a person isn’t personal data. Data can also be made partly anonymous by removing enough data to make it hard to identify a person. Where the law allows it, we may sell or share this kind of data with third parties, or combine these kinds of data with other similar data from other sources. We don’t try to reidentify it unless the law allows it. We also may share aggregated data with third parties like telling our advertisers the number of visitors to our Sites. This sharing excludes text messaging originator opt-in data and consent. That data is not shared with any third parties. 

This section provides information about how your data is automatically processed by us and our third-party partners through the use of log files and cookies (collectively, “cookies”) as well as web beacons, pixels, or other digital tracking technologies when you visit or interact with our website and other online properties, the “Sites.” You will also find information about these tools, such as how they are used, when they are set, and how you can reject or delete them.  

What are cookies?  

“Cookies” are data files that a website sends to your device when you are using that site. These files help the website remember important things to make your experience better and more efficient. Our Sites use cookies for many reasons. We use cookies and IP addresses to obtain personal data from online visitors, and also to give them the best possible personalized online experience. With these cookies we may collect certain information about you, such as user interactions, device information, and browsing behavior.  

How long these cookies stay on your device depends on what they need to do. For example, some cookies only work while you're using the Sites and get deleted when you're done (session cookies). Others may stay on your device unless you choose to delete them (persistent cookies). Cookies may be placed by us (first party cookies) or by other businesses (third party cookies) when you visit our Sites or use our app. Those third parties are listed in our Privacy Preference Center on each Site.

Cookie technology helps us show advertising and content tailored to a visitor’s interests. Where you have provided your consent to cookies, we and third parties such as social media partners may use the data collected across our Sites for insights, data matching and where you have provided your consent to receive direct advertising, to provide you with personalized recommendations and ads.  It also makes it easier for our visitors to order products, join sweepstakes and contests, and use other features on our Sites. Sites that offer online shopping use cookies to remember and process the items in your shopping cart. When allowed, we may link personal data with a cookie file. We also use cookies to stop children from going into areas or features meant only for adults or teens

Different types of cookies used by us

The cookies used by us are based on the International Chamber of Commerce guide for cookie categories: Strictly Necessary, Performance, Functional, and Targeting. The cookies we use on our Sites are listed and explained (including their duration and type) in our Privacy Preference Center via the Cookie Settings link in the footer of each Site.  

“Strictly Necessary” cookies let you move around the Sites and use essential features like secure areas, shopping baskets and online billing. The categories of personal data collected by these cookies may include Identifiers, Customer Records, Internet or Other Network Activity, and Sensitive Personal Data.  

“Performance” cookies, which are also known as “analytics cookies,” collect details about how you use our Sites. For instance, they track which pages you visit, whether you run into problems, and your interaction with our advertising. The categories of personal data collected by these cookies may include Identifiers, Customer Records, Inferences from other personal data, Internet or Other Network Activity, and Sensitive Personal Data. These cookies may be controlled by third parties who provide web measurement services to us and may persist on your device once your session is closed. An example of performance cookies would include Google web measurement and pixel tag services from Google Inc and/or Google Ireland Limited ("Google"). For more information about how Google uses your personal data, including the legal basis that Google relied on and the way to exercise your privacy  rights requests against Google with regard to the personal data stored by Google, can be found at: Business Data Responsibility (safety.google)(Opens a new window). The general privacy policy from Google can be found at: https://policies.google.com/privacy(Opens a new window).

“Functional” cookies are used to provide services or to remember settings to improve your visit. The categories of personal data collected by these cookies may include Identifiers, Customer Records, Inferences from other personal data, Internet or Other Network Activity, and Sensitive Personal Data.

“Targeting” cookies, also known as “advertising cookies” are used to track and store data when you and others see and interact with our Sites, marketing communications and advertisements on our Sites and third-party websites. The aim is to show you relevant products and services defined by what you have previously viewed, searched or clicked when you interacted with our Sites, services or advertising. The cookies are linked to services offered by third parties, such as “Like” and “Share” buttons and may persist on your device once your session is closed. The third party provides these services in return for recognizing that you have visited our Sites.  

Our sites may also use Web Audience Measurement Cookies. These cookies enable us to track when you and others see and interact with our Sites, marketing communications and advertisements and on third party websites. The information we record includes mouse actions and scrolling movement, as well as basic interactions with website forms and other content. In promotional e-mails or newsletters, they help us to count how many people have read them.

The categories of personal data collected by these cookies may include Identifiers, Customer Records, Inferences from other personal data, Internet or Other Network Activity, and Sensitive Personal Data like your exact location, if you have location services turned on.  

These cookies also allow you to share content across social media via the use of sharing settings and may allow the social networking website to track your activity. They may be set when you visit our Sites and when you visit third party websites showing our advertisements.  

Third party cookies that we use include: “Like” and “Share” buttons from Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd (“Meta”), owner of e.g. Facebook and Instagram, is a joint data controller with us of the personal data that is collected via Meta cookies. We have entered in a Controller Addendum with Meta to determine the respective responsibilities for compliance with the obligations under the privacy laws with regard to the joint processing. Meta is responsible for enabling rights requests under privacy laws with regard to the personal data stored by Meta after the joint processing. More information about how Meta processes your personal data, including the legal basis Meta relies on and the ways to exercise your privacy rights requests against Meta with regard to the personal data stored by Meta, can be found in Meta’s privacy policy at https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy(Opens a new window).

What are web beacons and how do we use them?  

Some of our web pages and e-mail updates may contain electronic images called web beacons, sometimes known as one-pixel GIFs, clear GIFs, or pixel tags. Web beacons allow us to gather statistical information about the activities and features that most interest our users. This helps us provide more personalized content. These web beacons will appear on your browser regardless of your cookie settings but will not process your personal data if you decline cookies or change your browser settings.  

Mobile location analytics data

When allowed by law, we may use tracking tools to collect certain data about your Wi-Fi enabled mobile device, which includes the presence of your device in our stores, its signal strength, its brand, and a unique identifier known as its Media Access Control (“MAC”) address (collectively, “Customer Mobile Device Data”). This data may be collected to determine the amount, location, and frequency of customer visits to our stores. A mobile device’s MAC address identifies a specific device to the surrounding Wi-Fi networks.  

You may opt-out of having your MAC address recorded by visiting the following link and entering your mobile device’s MAC address: https://optout.smart-places.org/(Opens a new window). To learn more about the use of Customer Mobile Device Data and your choices, please visit: https://smart-places.org/(Opens a new window).  

AdChoices Notice

At times we display ads both on our Sites and on the websites of third parties. When you visit one of our Sites or view ads that we serve elsewhere online, you may see different kinds of ads, such as text ads next to search results or video ads on web pages. Sometimes, these ads are based on the content of the pages on which they appear. Other times, these ads are generated by matching that ad to your interests, based on your online activities collected over time. With interest-based advertising, the goal is to show you the most relevant ads.

We support the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising of the Digital Advertising Alliance(Opens a new window). Ads that we place online using interest-based data are expected to be delivered with the Advertising Option Icon to help you understand how your data is being collected and used and to provide choices for people who want more control. The Icon looks like this:

By clicking on the Icon when it appears, you can review and follow information about online interest-based ads, including who is collecting and using your online data, how you can opt-out from these ads, and more. To stop receiving interest-based ads from any of our Sites, you can also opt-out by <a href=" https:="" privacyportal-eu-cdn.onetrust.com="" dsarwebform="" draft="" target="_blank">clicking here. Opting out does not mean you will no longer see ads from us online, just that the online ads from us you do see will not be based on your specific interests.

Depending on where you live, you may be able to access one convenient place to indicate your preferences, including the option to make one “universal” opt-out of interest-based advertising with participating entities:

In the United States, visit this site: Ad Choices(Opens a new window).  
In Canada, visit this site: Your Ad Choices(Opens a new window). 
In the EU, visit this site: Your Online Choices(Opens a new window).

When you opt-out using these methods, a cookie will be placed on your device indicating that you have opted-out of interest-based advertising. If you delete your cookies, you will need to opt-out again.

What if you don't want cookies?

1. Privacy Preference Center

You can manage your consent for all but Strictly Necessary cookies in our Privacy Preference Center via the Cookies Settings link (available in the footer of each Site). If you don’t consent to some types of cookies, it might impact your use of the Sites and the services we can offer.  

To see which cookies are on our Sites and how these third parties use your personal data, go to the Privacy Preference Center via the Cookies Settings link (available in the footer of each Site), choose the type of cookies from the menu on the left, then click on “Cookies Details.” For example, to see how Google will use your personal data, visit Google’s Privacy & Terms site(Opens a new window).

2. Your browser settings

Another way to control cookies it to set your computer to warn you when a cookie is being set, or to turn off all cookies through your browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Firefox). Check your browser’s HELP menu to learn the correct way to change or update your cookies.

You can also visit www.aboutcookies.org(Opens a new window) which contains more information on how to do this on many different browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your computer as well as more general information about cookies. Please see your mobile phone’s manual for information on how to do this on your phone’s browser. Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of Mars Sites. 

Our purposes for processing

We may process any of the data we describe above for these purposes:  

• Internal business purposes. To pool within our family of brands. This helps us understand our customers and do market research. That lets us improve our products and services. This also helps us understand our staffing needs and how we can write better job descriptions. The legal basis for processing your personal data for these purposes is mainly our legitimate interest.  
• Basic business operations. To sell you our products and services, like processing payments, shipping products, sending appointment reminders, and accounting. The legal basis for processing your personal data for these purposes is mainly contractual necessity or our legitimate interest.  
• Site, service, or product improvement. To improve and grow our Sites, products, and services, including to develop new products and services and understand how our Sites, products, and services are being used, our customer base and purchasing trends, and the effectiveness of our marketing. We also use this data to improve and grow our Sites and understand how our Sites are being used, our job applicant pool, and the effectiveness of our career postings. The legal basis for processing your personal data for these purposes is mainly our legitimate interest, including for scientific research purposes or your consent.
• Advertising and Marketing. To build insights, data matching in order to send you targeted marketing communications, to personalize the ads you see on our Sites or other sites, such as on social media platforms (including using  ‘Custom Audiences’ (where targeted ads are sent to users on Facebook or other social media sites) and to see how well our ads work. The legal basis for processing your personal data for these purposes is mainly your consent or our legitimate interest.  
• Security. To protect our Sites, network, and business operations, and to stop activities that may violate our policies or be fraudulent or illegal. The legal basis for processing your personal data for these purposes is mainly our legitimate interest. 
• Legal compliance. To comply with legal process like warrants or court orders, and to comply with law. The legal basis for processing your personal data for these purposes is mainly for our compliance with our legal obligations.  

Additional purposes of processing for job applicants  

Notwithstanding the legal bases described above, in jurisdictions in which consent is required to conduct the relevant type of processing activity, we rely on your consent (express or implied). 

We may share or disclose your personal data in the following situations:

• To fulfill a service to you or to respond to communications from you.  
• To comply with the law or respond to legal process or lawful requests, including from law enforcement and government agencies.  
• To investigate consumer complaints or possible breaches of law, to protect the integrity of the Sites, to fulfill your requests, or to cooperate in any legal investigation.  
• To protect the rights or property of the Mars family of companies or our customers, including enforcing the terms governing your use of the services.  
• To act on a good faith belief that access, communication or disclosure is necessary to protect the health or safety of our associates, customers, the public, and pets.  
• To create tailored content and advertisements that are relevant to your interests, for the purpose of targeted advertising, promotional campaigns, and enhancing your experience on these platforms.
• To support other legitimate business purposes, as permitted by applicable law. This includes but is not limited to legal compliance, furthering clinical studies, evaluating diagnosis and treatment of pets.  

We may disclose your personal data to the following recipients:  

• Within Mars and the Mars family of companies. Mars also uses global systems as well as group-wide integrated business services and functions provided by employees in various companies of the Mars group. For this purpose, we may share your data with the other Mars group companies.
• With service providers, vendors or agents, which have been carefully selected beforehand. For instance, we may share your personal data with our service providers that perform marketing services and other business operations for us. These companies may only use your personal data to the extent necessary to provide the services requested by us, and are not allowed to use it for any other purpose. They must keep your personal data confidential unless you otherwise consent.  
• During a change in ownership, such as a merger or bankruptcy, your personal data may be reviewed and transferred along with other business assets, subject to applicable law.
• With law enforcement agencies, courts, regulators, government authorities or other third parties when required by law (like during an investigation) or to protect our rights or the rights of any third party. Whenever possible, we will attempt to notify you of such requirements.
• With our social media partners, to help us deliver personalized content, promotional messages, and advertisements that align with your interests and preferences, such as for the purpose of creating ‘Custom Audiences’ (where targeted ads are sent to users on Facebook).  
• Where we have received your direction or consent to the disclosure of your personal data.  

To personalize our ads and marketing experiences, or to personalize our ads for current job openings, we work with ad and analytics partners, ad networks, and social media sites. These partnerships may be considered a ”sale” or “sharing” under some US laws, even when no money changes hands.  

The personal data we might “sell” or “share” includes your basic name and contact information, online activity information, customer records, and sales data. When you login to your account on a web page where cookies are present, that may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of your personal data. If you want to opt out of this use, click on this the “Your Privacy Choices(Opens a new window)” link.

Mars does not sell or share the personal data of children under the age of 16.  

• Your Account: Please log in to update your account information.
• Email Unsubscribe: If you don’t want to receive marketing emails from us or emails about open jobs, please use the Unsubscribe link in any email you’ve received or make a request at Your Privacy Choices. Even if you opt out of marketing emails, you may still get emails to complete a transaction that you have already entered with us. When you opt out of job opportunity emails, you may still get emails about completing an application you have already started with us.  
• Contact Us Section: You can exercise your rights by clicking here(Opens a new window).  
• Text or SMS Messaging: We may also offer text/SMS messaging to you. In some circumstances, we might require you to opt-in to receive text messages from us. At any time, you may opt out of receiving particular text messages from us (other than text appointment reminders) by texting STOP in response to any text message.  
• By Telephone: If you are in the United States, you may make a request by calling 1-844-316-5985, or by contacting a specific Mars entity with whom you have a relationship, including:  
  • Banfield Pet Hospital: by clicking here(Opens a new window) or by calling 1-888-899-7071  
  • BluePearl Specialty + Emergency Pet Hospital: by clicking here(Opens a new window) or by calling 1-855-900-8444  
  • VCA Animal Hospitals: by clicking here(Opens a new window) or by calling 1-844-276-5786.  

Depending on your location, you might have different rights. Mars responds to rights requests according to local law.  

Residents of the EEA, UK, Switzerland, Canada, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Montana, Texas, Utah and Virginia, as well as other jurisdictions, may have the following rights:

• Right to access: You may have the right to confirm whether your personal data is being processed and to get access to it and other information.  
  
  You may have the right to get a copy of your personal data. Where possible and allowed by law, we will provide a copy of the personal data we are processing. For more copies, we may charge a reasonable fee. If you make the request by electronic means, and unless otherwise requested, the data shall be provided in electronic form. Residents of Oregon may also request a list of specific third parties, other than individuals, to which Mars has disclosed your personal data.
• Right to correction, rectification, and completion: You may have the right to correct, rectify, or complete your personal data if inaccurate or incomplete.  
• Right to deletion or erasure (“right to be forgotten”): You may have the right to the deletion or erasure of your personal data.
• Right to restriction of processing: You may have the right to request that we restrict our processing of personal data.
• Right to data portability: You may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or where technically feasible to have it directly transferred to another controller.
• Right to object to processing: You may have the right to object to processing of your personal data which is based on our legitimate purposes.  
• Right to withdraw consent: where consent is relied upon to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw consent, subject to legal restrictions.
• Right to provide instructions: in some restricted jurisdictions, you have the right to provide instructions regarding the use of your personal data after death.
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: Users who are located in the EEA, UK, Switzerland or other countries that may offer this recourse have the right to lodge a complaint about our privacy practices with a supervisory authority.  

Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Montana, Texas, Utah and Virginia may have the following additional rights:

• Right to opt-out of profiling: If we base decisions solely on profiling or automated decision-making that may result in important legal or other effects, you may have the right to opt-out.  
• Right to opt-out of sale, sharing, and targeted advertising: You may have the right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal data to third parties for targeted advertising. To exercise this right, you may submit a request by clicking here(Opens a new window). Note that we do not sell or share the personal data of individuals under 16 years old. Please also note that in some jurisdictions, this is an opt-in right to which we comply by obtaining express consent at our points of collection.  
• Right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal data: You may have the right to limit the use and disclosure of your sensitive personal data if we use such information to infer characteristics about you. 
• Right to Nondiscrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

In other jurisdictions, including Australia, you may have different or additional rights, like the following:

• Right to anonymity: You may also have a right to request anonymity. If you choose to exercise this right, we may not be able to provide you with your requested goods or services.  

In other jurisdictions, including Mainland China, you may have different or additional rights, like the following:

• Third Party Disclosures: You may have the right to request a complete list of third parties with whom Mars shares your personal data, including detailed information such as their names, contact details, purpose of processing, type of information processed and so on.

Making Rights Requests and Submitting Appeals  

You may under certain circumstances authorize another individual or a business, called an authorized agent, to make requests on your behalf.

We must verify your identity before responding to your request. We do this by asking you to provide information that we can match against information we may have about you already. We may need to follow up with you to request more information to verify your identity. We will not use personal data we collect in connection with verifying or responding to your request for any purpose other than responding to your request.

We may have a reason under the law why we do not have to comply with your request, or why we may comply with it in a more limited way than you anticipated. If we do, we will explain that to you in our response. You may have the right to appeal a denial of their request by contacting us as described in the notice of denial.  

See here for metrics regarding Access, Delete, and Do Not Sell My Personal Information requests submitted pursuant to California law that Mars received, fulfilled (in whole or in part), and denied in the last full calendar year.  

For Russian residents wishing to contact us regarding enquiries or requests regarding their personal data, please contact our Russian Privacy Team by clicking here.

The California “Shine the Light” Law  

California law allows California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal data to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please put “Shine the Light” in the ”Request Details” portion of your request on the form above or in the subject line, if submitted by e-mail.  

Note that there are restrictions on the number of times you can exercise some of these rights. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. The agent must provide proof of your authorization. We may deny a request from an agent that does not submit proof that they have been authorized by you to act on your behalf.   

This section applies to residents of the U.S. when we offer you financial incentive programs or bona fide loyalty programs like discounts and special offers in exchange for your personal data. The personal data requested in connection with the offer, as well as other terms, will be provided at the time you sign up. We may share your data with service providers and marketing partners to provide the program. We will provide the name of any program partners at the time you sign up. In calculating these offers, we consider the expenses related to the offer and the value of your data.

You may withdraw from any of the programs at any time by following the instructions provided. Please note that if you opt out or request to delete your data, we may no longer be able to provide you with the benefits. For offers involving your e-mail, you may unsubscribe via the “unsubscribe” link in any marketing email you have received. For offers involving text messaging, you may text STOP. For all other offers, you may follow the instructions provided with the offer.  

Storage and transfer of your Personal Data  

Within our enterprise, employees may need to access your personal data to perform their duties. Depending on the type of personal data handled, this may include employees in customer support and service, IT and security, legal and compliance, management and administration, marketing and content creation and finance roles.

Your personal data may also be processed outside your country or jurisdiction, in particular if we engage service providers and distribution partners for the provision of our services, the provision and maintenance of our products, as well as distribution and marketing. The processing of your personal data may take place worldwide but will occur primarily in countries in which we have subsidiaries or our service providers located in the EU and the USA.  This means personal data we collect or receive may be stored and processed in a country or jurisdiction that does not have the same privacy laws as your area, and may be accessed by courts, law enforcement or national security entities in these jurisdictions.  If you have any questions or would like written information about our policies and practices with respect to the processing or storage of personal data by foreign service providers or affiliates on our behalf, please contact us at the information provided at the Contact Us section above.

For Mainland China, Mars transfers fourteen different fields of personal data overseas:

• Contractor Personal Data: Name (with and only in Pingyin), email address, date of birth (month and date), name (English name or Pingyin) of the direct manager of the contractor, and department of the contractor;
• Supplier Personal Data: Supplier name, supplier contact name, supplier phone number, supplier contact email address
• Customer Personal Data: Customer code, customer name, customer mobile number, customer phone number, customer email address

Mars takes the security and protection of your personal data very seriously. To the extent we transfer or store your personal data to/in countries outside your jurisdiction that do not ensure a level of data protection considered adequate by competent authorities, we have put into place appropriate safeguards (such as the standard contractual clauses approved by relevant jurisdictions or other cross border mechanisms as prescribed by relevant jurisdictions) to ensure that your personal data will always be protected adequately and as required by imminent risks. For more information on the appropriate safeguards in place, please contact us under the Contact Us section above.  

How long do we store your Personal Data?  

We retain and store your personal data as long as necessary for the intended purposes and in line with our data retention policy. When personal data is no longer required for legal or other business purposes, we will delete, destroy or anonymize it in accordance with legal requirements.

How do we safeguard your Personal Data?  

We maintain (and require our service providers to maintain) appropriate organizational, administrative and technical measures to protect the security of your Personal Data. No data transmissions can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We can’t ensure the security of any data you send us. You understand that any data that you send is at your own risk.  

If we learn of a security breach, we may try to notify you electronically, when allowed by law. We may post a notice on our Sites if a security breach occurs. We may also send an email to you. If you have any questions on the security measures we use, you may contact us using the contact information provided at the top of this Privacy Statement.  

For residents of Quebec, in compliance with data protection law, we disclose that our personnel have the following roles and responsibilities when handling personal data from its collection to its deletion.  

• The Data Protection Officer handles everyday tasks relating to Mars’s privacy and data protection. This includes responding to rights requests, creating rules and policies, and creating and providing privacy training.
• The security team’s job is to make, put in place, and manage Mars’s data security measures.
• Business leaders are responsible for ensuring that the company and its personnel are meeting their legal obligations related to privacy matters.

All other employees must follow our company policies about privacy and data security when doing their jobs. 

 Do Not Track and Opt-Out Preference Signals  

The “Do Not Track” privacy preference may be available in some web browsers. It allows you to opt-out of tracking by websites. We try to honor Do Not Track settings; we may not be able to respond to all user settings or signals.  

We honor the Global Privacy Control as another way to opt out of the sale of your personal data or the sharing of it for targeted advertising purposes. The GPC is available here(Opens a new window). GPC only works on your browser ID. If you have an account with us, we can’t tell based on your browser ID as it is not linked to your account. In that case, please click this “Your Privacy Choices(Opens a new window)” link.

Chatbot Features and Session Replay Technology  

We may use session replay technology to monitor how you interact with our Sites or services. The personal data collected by this technology may include which links you click on, pages and content you view, information that you type into our online forms, recordings of mouse clicks and movements, and information about your device or browser.  

Our Sites may also have chatbot features for customer support purposes. These features may collect the content of your communications and other personal data you provide while interacting with the chatbot. Please discontinue use of the Sites if you do not consent to the collection of such information by us and our vendors.

Public Posting Areas and Social Media Pages  

We may offer chat rooms, message or bulletin boards, or interactive areas where visitors may publish comments or information. If there is a chat room, bulletin or message board, social networking opportunities or other interactive areas, be sure to check posted rules. You will be bound by posted rules, as well as our Site Terms of Use. Rules for participation may establish age and other restrictions, such as posting abusive, offensive or inflammatory content. Anything you post online is public information. We are not responsible for anything you voluntarily post online. Users should use caution when disclosing personal data online. 

Disclaimer Regarding Video Content  

The Sites may contain social media pixels, cookies, or other similar tools which provide us and third parties with analytics regarding how website visitors interact with video content, audiovisual content, or content of a like nature. You may see targeted advertising on third-party websites or platforms because of these tools. Video content is provided to enhance the user experience on the sites. You understand that your personal data, including your video viewing history, may be processed according to this Privacy Statement.  

Please note that this Mars Privacy Statement does not apply to third-party video content on our Sites. Please review the privacy policies of those third parties to understand their information practices. You may visit the Privacy Preference Center via the Cookies Settings link available in the footer of each website to review specific cookies in use and to update your settings.