TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY
Update Date: February 17, 2025
Effective Date: February 17, 2025
Dear users, you are welcome to download, install, start, browse, register, login, use (hereinafter collectively referred to as “use”) tv.sohu.com. We will collect, store, use, share, disclose and protect your personal information in accordance with TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY (hereinafter referred to as this “Privacy Policy”). We hope that you will read and understand all the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy carefully and completely before using tv.sohu.com so that you can make appropriate choices.
In addition to this Policy, under certain circumstances (such as the update of this Privacy Policy), we will separately inform you of the processing purpose, manner, scope and other rules of the corresponding information through pop-up windows, push notifications, direct messages, website announcements or other appropriate forms in compliance with the requirements of laws, and carry out the corresponding processing (if applicable) after obtaining your consent. The aforementioned information forms part of this Privacy Policy and has the same effect as this Privacy Policy.
Table of Contents
I. Reading tips
II. Introduction
III. Main text
(i) The types of your personal information we collect and use and for what purposes
(ii) How we use cookies and similar technologies
(iii) How we store your personal information
(iv) How we share, transfer and publicly disclose your personal information
(v) How we protect your personal information
(vi) Your rights
(vii) How we protect minors’ personal information
(viii) How this Privacy Policy is updated
(ix) How to contact us
(x) Access routes
(Ⅺ) EEA, UK and Switzerland Supplementary Privacy Statement
(Ⅻ) Supplementary Privacy Statement for the State of California and Other States
I. Reading tips
(i) By reading this Privacy Policy, you will learn:
Who “we” are, how to contact us, what business functions tv.sohu.com has; what types of personal information we collect about you and for what purposes when you use tv.sohu.com, and the consequences of your refusal to provide your personal information; what cookies are all about; where and for how long your personal information is stored; how we share, disclose and transfer your personal information; what measures are taken to protect your personal information; how you can access, correct and delete your personal information, change the scope of your authorized consent, cancel your account, manage targeted pushes, and obtain a copy of your personal information; how to file a complaint or submit a suggestion; and how this Privacy Policy is updated.
(ii) When reading this Privacy Policy, please pay special attention to:
1. Proper nouns with blue font color. This means that we will further explain the meaning of these terms at the end of the text.
2. Content that is highlighted by a combination of bold and italics, indicating that it is your sensitive personal information.
3. Content that is highlighted by a combination of bold and underlining, indicating that such content requires your special attention or focus.
(iii) This Privacy Policy has been updated from the previous version as follows:
To be updated.
II. Introduction
(i) “We” and “us” in this Privacy Policy refer to the operator of tv.sohu.com.
1. The basic information of the company we mainly operate is as follows:
Company name: Beijing Sohu Internet Information Service Co., Ltd.;
Registered address (usual office address): 1101, Floor 11, Block 3, No.2 Kexueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China;
2. Sohu Group refers to the enterprise group including Beijing Sohu Internet Information Service Co., Ltd., Beijing Sohu New Media Information Technology Co., Ltd., Feihu Information Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Qianjun Network Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Focus Interactive Information Service Co., Ltd. and their affiliates. Affiliates refer to companies that form a relationship with one party “where one party has the capacity to directly or indirectly control, jointly control or exercise significant influence over the other party, and two or more parties are under the control, common control or significant influence of one party”. “Control” in this context means the capacity, directly or indirectly, to influence the management of the company referred to, whether through ownership, shares with stock rights, contracts or otherwise.
(ii) Applicable scope of this Privacy Policy
1. This Privacy Policy applies to your access to and use of our products/services through the web pages, web clients, mobiles (cell phones and tablets), TVs, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) of tv.sohu.com.
Special reminders:
The products/service content of tv.sohu.com that you specifically obtain may vary depending on the type of client, software version and operating system, and if certain services are not covered or certain functions are not provided in some versions, the content of this Privacy Policy that relates to the said services/functions and relevant personal information will not be applicable.
2. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the following:
The information and/or third party services provided by third parties contained in or linked to our products and/or services (including any third party APPs, websites, products, services, etc.), which are operated by third parties. Your use of such information and/or services is subject to the rules on the collection and use of personal information separately explained to you by the third parties.
(iii) Effectiveness of this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy is aimed to explain to you all the functions of tv.sohu.com as an online video and audio product and the necessary personal information corresponding thereto.
When you initially install, use or login/register your account, we will display this Privacy Policy through pop-up windows or other appropriate forms in compliance with the requirements of laws to inform you of the rules of processing personal information. If you agree to our processing of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy after you have fully read and clearly understood all the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy, you may check the box or click “Agree” to authorize us to collect and process the necessary personal information corresponding to the basic functions.
Please be aware that we will not collect your non-necessary personal information in a blanket manner by means of mandatory bundling as a result of your consent to this Privacy Policy. For the necessary personal information corresponding to the additional functions, when you open and use an additional function of tv.sohu.com through your voluntary behavior such as active filling, clicking, etc., we will separately obtain your consent through a pop-up window or other appropriate forms in compliance with the requirements of laws.
If you do not agree with the content of this Privacy Policy, you may check the box or click “Disagree” to reject this Privacy Policy. You may select to enter the Browse Only Mode, which provides you with video browsing and search functions. In the Browse Only Mode, we will not collect any personal information from you, unless otherwise required by laws and regulations.
III. Main text
(i) The types of your personal information we collect and use and for what purposes
When you use tv.sohu.com, we will get your system version to detect whether your tv.sohu.com product requires update. In scenarios where loading web pages is required, we will collect/judge your network status and network type. For example, we will prompt your network status when you play or download videos, and use the relevant streaming-free service according to your network type.
1. Operation and product security
Please understand that in order to ensure the normal operation of the basic functions and services of our products, we need to collect and use the following information about you to provide stable product services and a secure product operating environment, including device model, device brand, device manufacturer, IP address, Open Anonymous Device Identifier (OAID), and system version. We will locally collect your Android ID to help you quickly locate problems for risk control and statistics.
2. Registering and login to tv.sohu.com
(1) Information necessary for registration and login functions
If you want to open membership, record and upload videos, make reservations, etc., you need to register/login to tv.sohu.com, and we will collect the following personal information according to the way you register/login:
Cell phone number. If you use cell phone authentication code to register/login, you need to take the initiative to provide us with your cell phone number; based on our cooperation with communication operators, when you use the “one-click login” function, with your consent, we will use the cell phone number in your device as your registration and login account by calling the operation SDK and provide you with fast registration and login service without password or dynamic authentication code for verification. If you don’t want to use the “one-click login” function, you may register and login to tv.sohu.com by other means.
If you use the code scanning login function, we will ask you through a pop-up window prompt whether you agree with us to call the camera permission or storage permission (android system) / photo library permission (iOS system).
Email accounts, cell phone numbers and passwords (for passwords, we use irreversible encryption, making it impossible to have access to the information) are personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you select to register/login with a Sohu account.
Third-party APP accounts (WeChat, QQ, Weibo) and nicknames, avatars, and third-party account IDs (please refer to the information displayed on the authorized login interface) refer to the information you authorize tv.sohu.com to read on third-party accounts when you select to use third-party accounts to register/login.
Fingerprint hardware sensor call. If you are using android system, for some phone models, after you agree to fingerprint login, we will call your fingerprint hardware sensor to realize the fingerprint login function. However, we will not collect your fingerprint information.
If you don’t provide such information, you will not be able to register/login to tv.sohu.com, nor use the functions that require registration/login. However, this will not affect your normal use of the functions that don’t require registration/login.
(2) Information you may perfect
You may perfect your personal information after logging in. Your selecting, editing and filling in your personal information is deemed as your agreeing to provide the information. Please be careful in providing it. The personal information you may perfect includes changing your avatar and nickname, filling in your profile, choosing your personalized background theme and your gender, and setting your birthday, location and tags. The gender and birthday you edit will be displayed in your personal channel with the gender tag and zodiac sign tag.
When you change your avatar, we will ask you through a pop-up window prompt whether you agree with us to call your camera permission or storage permission (android system)/photo library permission (iOS system). If you refuse our call, you will not be able to change your avatar.
The above basic personal information is only displayed to friends in the APP for social purposes, and you may select whether or not to fill in the information.
3. Recommending personalized information or services for you
In order to provide you with personalized information or services, we collect and use the following personal information about you:
(1) Your viewing, favorites, and search history.
(2) Behavioral information about likes, shares, follows and comments that you voluntarily provide.
(3) Your device information, including system version, UA, network type and network IP address.
We may combine the above information and analyze it for the purpose of displaying, recommending or pushing information or services that may be of interest to you:
(1) To show, recommend or push videos that are more relevant to you and of more interest to you;
(2) To recommend videos of relevant cities and regions;
The above videos may be viewed in the “tv.sohu.com Top Column - Recommend” “tv.sohu.com Bottom - Recommend for You” “Video Detail Page - Drama You May Like” sections. After you turn off the personalized recommendation function, the amount of recommended content you may view will not be reduced. However, we will no longer collect the above information from you, and this section will be recommended for you based on our manual self-selection of high-quality video content.
(3) To recommend programmatic ads that are more relevant to you.
You may refuse to provide the above information by not viewing, favoriting, searching, liking, sharing, following, commenting, and refuse us to call device permission so as not to provide geolocation and device information. If you do not provide other behavioral information such as favorites, the information or services we show, recommend or push to you will be less accurate and relevant, but this will not affect your normal use of other functions.
If you refuse or turn off device information, the information we show, recommend or push to you will be less accurate and relevant, but this will not affect your normal use of other functions.
4. Off-site push notification
Off-site push feeds include the following:
(1) Good dramas and popular videos universally pushed.
(2) Personalized information pushed based on Article III(i)3 of this Privacy Policy. You may manage and control the push of such information in accordance with Article III(i)3 of this Privacy Policy.
(3) Video information that you subscribe, favorite, and reserve.
In order to provide push service for you, we will collect your device model, device manufacturer and brand, Android ID and OAID (only Android system push service requires collection of your above information). You may select to turn off the push service from tv.sohu.com by going to: Cell phone - Settings - Application Management - Notification Management (please refer to the system settings of the cell phone you are using for the exact path).
5. Search
You may search for videos by text.
When you type text to search, we will collect your search keyword information and search history to provide you with the best way to display search results and to continuously improve and optimize the above functions; at the same time, we will form a hot search list to display below the search box based on the accumulated search history.
When you use the copy and paste functions in the text input box, we will locally access your clipboard based on your clipboard permission so that you may paste the copied content. Please be assured that we only locally access your clipboard and do not collect information from your clipboard or upload the said information to our servers. The clipboard permission is necessary to enable the copy and paste functions, and if you refuse our local access, the copy and paste functions will not be available.
6. Opening membership
You may become a member of tv.sohu.com by opening the membership function. After becoming a member of tv.sohu.com, you may enjoy the rights and interests of members and membership fee renewal discounts, get a premium status, watch some videos before non-members, watch some video free of ads, watch videos of 1080P picture quality, and realize multi-screen interaction.
If you are a non-iOS system user, for your use of the membership opening function, we need one piece of the following information: WeChat Pay account, Alipay account, Ant Credit Pay, UnionPay, JDPAY and cell phone number for cell phone bill (the information we use depends on the payment method you select). If you refuse our call of the information, you will not be able to use the membership opening function, but this will not affect your normal use of the other non-membership functions.
7. Posting/sharing videos, graphics, links and audios
You may use the video posting function to record short videos and upload and post them to tv.sohu.com. The videos you post may be saved locally. If you need to save the recorded short videos locally or post the videos to tv.sohu.com, we will get your device model, and ask you whether you agree with us to call the storage permission (android system)/photo library permission (iOS system), camera permission and microphone permission through the pop-up window prompts. If you refuse our call, you will not be able to save your recorded videos locally or post the videos to tv.sohu.com, but this will not affect your normal use of other functions. If you choose to add the geolocation function, we will ask you whether you agree with us to call your geolocation permission through a pop-up window.
You may use the graphics posting function to take photos and upload them to post them to tv.sohu.com or share them to a third party. The pictures you post may be saved locally. If you need to save the photos you take locally or post them to tv.sohu.com or share them to a third party, we will ask you whether you agree with us to call the storage permission (for android system)/ photo library permission (iOS system) and camera permission through pop-up window prompts.
When you post content that requires link sharing, we will read your clipboard to determine whether there is relevant link information to realize such functions or services as jumping and sharing. In order to realize the above functions, we need to call your clipboard function when you enter the content posting interface (including when you open the APP or when the APP is switched from the background to the foreground) to determine whether there is relevant link information. We will send you feedback on the link you have posted only when the clipboard has the aforementioned information.
You may use the audio posting function to upload and post your local audio or recorded voice to tv.sohu.com. We will ask you through a pop-up window whether you agree with our call of the storage permission (android system) / microphone permission. If you refuse our call, you will not be able to post audios, but this will not affect your normal use of other functions that do not require such permissions.
8. Video playback
In order to optimize the video picture quality, improve the video playback experience and increase the video playback speed, we will call your network type, IP address and get your local network status. When you play the video through android system, we will collect your device capability information (high efficiency video decoding and variable speed) and call your acceleration sensor. If you rotate the screen during the video playback, the video will be played in full screen mode. When you watch our VR video, we will call your gyroscope to provide you with the VR video playback function. However, in Browse Only Mode, we will not call your gyroscope, and you will not be able to use the full VR video function.
9. Live streaming
In accordance with the requirements of relevant laws and regulations, you are required to authenticate your real name on the basis of login/registration before using the live streaming function. The necessary personal information you need to provide for real-name authentication includes your name, ID number/passport number, ID photo/passport photo and other documents that can prove your identity. If you do not provide such information, you will not be able to use the live streaming function, but this will not affect your normal use of other functions.
You may use the live streaming function to broadcast live. We will ask you through a pop-up window prompt whether you agree with our call of the storage permission (android system) / photo library permission (iOS system), geolocation permission, camera permission and microphone permission. If you refuse our call, you will not be able to use the live streaming function, but this will not affect your normal use of other functions. During the live streaming, we will report your network type in order to complete the monitoring of the quality of live streaming.
You may use the live streaming whiteboard function to synchronize the screen on your other devices, and we will call your IP address to generate a QR code for synchronizing the screen.
We may collect/use precise geolocation information with your consent through Global Positioning System (GPS) or network location information (e.g., base stations and WLAN) for the purpose of completing functions related to security and safety services and location based services (LBS).
10. Reservation function
You may reserve the launch notification for the live streaming of movie/lesson on the channel page. You will receive the corresponding launch notification for the movie/lesson you reserve after using this function. When you use the “my reservation” function, we will ask you whether you agree with us to call the calendar permission through a pop-up window. If you refuse us to call the calendar permission, you will not be reminded through the calendar on your device, but this will not affect your normal use of other functions.
11. Scanning function
You may scan the QR code of tv.sohu.com PC/iPad clients to realize the login to PC/iPad clients, and also realize the membership payment and video play renewal. When you use the scanning function, we will ask you whether you agree with us to call the camera permission or storage permission (android system)/photo library permission (iOS system) through pop-up window prompts. If you refuse our call, you will not be able to use the scanning function, but this will not affect your normal use of other functions.
12. Function of viewing contacts
You may use this function to see which contacts are using tv.sohu.com and discover the contacts’ posting records.
When you use this function, we will ask you whether you agree with us to call your contact permission through a pop-up window prompt. If you refuse our call, you will not be able to use this function, but this will not affect your normal use of other functions.
13. Web page display
When you use tv.sohu.com to enter our H5 page (e.g. to participate in tv.sohu.com member activities, to check TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY), we will collect and use your product version number, device model, browser UA, OAID (for personal information listing page only), Android ID (for personal information list page only), device model (for personal information list page only), device brand (for personal information list page only), device manufacturer (for personal information list page only), in order to display content, optimize the effect of the activity interface, and understand the product’s adaptability to and compatibility with different hardware.
14. Cash withdrawal function
When you use tv.sohu.com to enter the “My Benefits” page to withdraw cash, you need to provide your ID number and bank card number (for “monthly withdrawals”, you need to enter the ID number and the bank card number consistent with the ID number, and for “real-time withdrawals”, you need to enter the ID number). At the same time, we will call the cell phone number you have provided to complete the bank card bundling and settlement of funds. If you do not provide such information, you will not be able to use the cash withdrawal function.
15. Desktop widgets
When you use the desktop widgets, the system will respond to the user’s operation to start tv.sohu.com and jump to the corresponding page; when you add or delete any desktop widget, the system will respond to your operation and automatically start tv.sohu.com to notify the APP to update UI.
16. Local playback
If you want to play your local video in your client through tv.sohu.com player, we need to call your storage permission (android system). If you refuse our application for this permission, you will not be able to use our player to play your local video.
17. Feedback
You may use the feedback function to give us suggestions. If you need to upload pictures or take pictures and upload them, we need to call your photo library permission or camera permission. If you refuse our application for this permission, you will not be able to give us feedback through pictures, but this does not affect your feedback by entering text.
18. IP location display
In order to meet the requirements of Internet account management and create a good platform network ecology, your IP address will be displayed on your personal channel, your video detail page, your graphic detail page, and beside your comment (for video, graphic or comment, your IP address will be displayed only when you have posted videos, graphics or comments). For official accounts (e.g. agency content creators and agency contracted talents), we will display on the authentication account registration information page of your personal channel your account’s operator, registered operating address, content production category, unified social credit code, IP location or other information required by laws; for content producers in some specialized fields, we will display the corresponding authentication information on your personal space page.
19. Exceptions to consent
When the scope, purpose and manner of processing personal information based on this Privacy Policy are changed, we will inform you again and obtain your consent. However, please be fully aware that in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, we are not required to obtain your authorization to process your personal information in the following circumstances:
(1) It is necessary for the conclusion and performance of a contract to which you are a party;
(2) It is necessary for the performance of legal duties or statutory obligations;
(3) It is necessary to respond to a public health emergency or to protect the life, health and property of natural persons in an emergency;
(4) Personal information is processed within a reasonable scope in the event of news reporting and monitoring of public opinion in the public interest;
(5) Personal information that you disclose on your own or that has been legally disclosed by others is processed within a reasonable scope in accordance with relevant laws and regulations;
(6) Other circumstances provided for by laws and administrative regulations.
Please understand and agree that if your information (e.g., search keyword) cannot identify you individually or in combination with other information, it is not your personal information in the legal sense; only if your information can identify you individually or in combination with other information, it will be treated and protected as your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy during the period of combined use.
(ii) How we use cookies and similar technologies
In the course of your use of our products/services, we automatically collect information about you using cookies and similar technologies and store such information as log information. You may clear the cookies stored on your computer or enable the “Do Not Track” function, which is available in most web browsers. Visit AboutCookies.org for more information. However, please be aware that if you clear the cookies stored on your computer or enable the “Do Not Track” function, this will result in us not being able to provide you with the full range of products/services. The purposes for collection and use are shown in the table below:
|
Various uses of Cookies |
Description |
|
|
Authentication |
Cookies inform us when you log in to our products/services so that we can provide a service and experience that suits you. |
|
|
Scenario example: When you start tv.sohu.com, cookies will notify us so that we will recognize whether you have securely logged in to the product/service and display information that pertains only to you. |
|
|
|
Recording your preferences |
Cookies can record your personalized layout, design and other personal settings, so that we can provide you with a service that is tailored to your individual demand. |
|
|
Scenario example: We use cookies to record whether you have read the content or alerts we push to you to avoid re-sending, and to help store your parameter settings (e.g. font size) so that they can be automatically adjusted to your preferences when you use the service again. |
|
|
|
Security |
We use cookies to protect your personal information and the security of our services, and to prevent fraud, criminal or other suspected criminal behavior. |
|
|
Scenario example: Cookies may recognize whether you login to our service at our normal location and prevent your data from being stolen and identify theft. |
|
|
|
Optimizing services |
We use cookies to perform the functions of our services and to improve relevant functions. |
|
|
Scenario example: Cookies may help us to pre-fill your account data to facilitate your use of our services. Cookies can record your use of our products/services to ensure that we show you and push you content that is of greater interest to you. |
|
|
|
Increasing efficiency |
We use these cookies to improve the speed, performance and efficiency of our services. |
|
|
Scenario example: These cookies facilitate the flow of router information between servers and check the speed of login for different users of our services. We may also use cookies to store data locally in your client to speed up your login and response time in using our services. |
|
|
|
Analysis and research |
We use cookies to follow up on the performance of our services and to improve service levels. Cookies also provide us with reference data for the development of new functions. |
|
|
Scenario example: Cookies help us improve your experience and that of other users by giving us more insight into how you use our services. Such data include the amount of time spent on each program while you login to our services, what programs you perform while using our services, and what pages and functions you have accessed while using our services. |
|
|
|
Improving advertising |
We use cookies to improve advertising and to ensure that these services suit your needs. |
|
|
Scenario example: Cookies help us display promotional information that is more suitable for you, and track whether you have read an advertisement in our services and have been directed to the corresponding advertiser’s web page, so as to count the number of clicks on the advertisement as one of the bases for billing our advertisers. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(iii) How we store your personal information
1. Storage region
We store personal information collected in the course of our domestic operations in the People’s Republic of China in accordance with laws and regulations, and we will not transfer the above information abroad.
2. Storage period
We consider the following three factors to determine how long we will store your personal information:
Article 21 of Cybersecurity Law: Network operators shall adopt technical measures to monitor and record the status of network operations and cybersecurity incidents, and store relevant network logs for at least six months in accordance with regulations.
Article 31 of E-Commerce Law: E-commerce platform operators shall record and store the information on the goods and services which is released on their platforms and the information on transactions. The information on goods and services and their transactions shall be kept for at least three years from the date of the completion of transactions.
Paragraph 2 of Article 14 of Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services: Internet information service providers and Internet access service providers shall keep record copies of the information they provide for 60 days.
If beyond the above-mentioned storage period for personal information, we will delete or anonymize your personal information.
(iv) How we share, transfer and publicly disclose your personal information
We are aware of the legal liabilities associated with the sharing, transferring, and public disclosure of your personal information, and will implement them in accordance with the following rules:
1. Sharing
We will not share your personal information with third party companies, organizations and individuals, except in the following circumstances:
(1) if you request it on your own.
(2) if your express consent is obtained.
(3) if laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules make provisions or government departments make mandatory requirements.
(4) if it is necessary sharing within Sohu Group.
In order to facilitate us to provide you with consistent services, personalized recommendations, identification of account anomalies, protection of Sohu Group’s or users’ or the public’s personal and property safety from infringement based on Sohu Group’s unified account system, as well as to facilitate your unified management, you are aware and agree that your relevant personal information may be shared within Sohu Group’s products if necessary; Sohu Group’s internal SDKs include QF SDKcookies advertisement SDK, passport SDK, player SDK.
QF SDK
Purpose of use: To provide live streaming services
Data types: WIFI name, log information, account number, IP address, task list, system version, device model, photo library
Click to view the official website link: https://qf.56.com/
Advertisement SDK
Purpose of use: Personalized ad push
Data types: System version, device model, network type, device manufacturer, IP, browser UA
Click to view the official website link: https://tv.sohu.com/
Passport SDK
Purpose of use: To provide passport account login (including password login, SMS login, cell phone one-click login, etc.) and management function.
Data types: Device OS, device model, device browser UA, device screen pixel aspect ratio, SDK version number, APP version number, APP ID, client package name, IP, cell phone number, system version number
Click to view the official website link: https://passport.sohu.com/
Player SDK
Purpose of use: To provide mobile video-on-demand services
Data types: Device information (CPU model), system version number
Click to view the official website link: https://tv.sohu.com/
We will only share personal information that is necessary and the sharing is subject to the purposes stated in this Privacy Policy. If the purposes for which personal information is processed are changed, your authorized consent will be sought again.
(5) Sharing with authorized partners: In order to achieve the purposes stated in this Privacy Policy, we may share certain of your personal information with our partners to provide better customer service and user experience. We will assess the impact of personal information security on the sharing and transfer of personal information in advance, and take effective technical protection measures for the form of sharing. We will only share your personal information for lawful, legitimate, necessary, specific and clear purposes, and only share personal information that is necessary to provide our services. Our partners are not authorized to use the shared personal information for any other purpose. Our partners include:
We will sign strict data security and confidentiality agreements with companies, organizations and individuals with whom we share personal information, requiring them to process personal information in accordance with our instructions, this Privacy Policy and any other relevant confidentiality and security measures. If we share personal information that directly identifies you (e.g., cell phone number, ID number, etc.), we will ask for your consent again.
2. Third-party SDKs’ collecting and processing information
In order to ensure the realization of tv.sohu.com related functions and the safe and stable operation of the APP, the product may contain third-party SDK or other similar APPs. For example, when you use such services provided by third parties on our platform, you agree that your information will be collected and processed directly by them (e.g., in the form of embedded code, plug-ins, etc.).
Special reminders:
Aurora Mobile SDK will enable the associated startup function for you by default to keep the APP active. Aurora Mobile SDK will be started based on your usage. Please refer to the third-party SDK privacy agreement for details.
In our advertising service, the third-party SDKs used (including Youlianghui SDK, Baidu SDK, CSJ SDK) need to obtain your device information (device model, device ID, device language, OS type, software name, User Agent information, and network type) each time ads are pushed and data are reported, and the ads monitoring SDKs (including Miaozhen SDK, MMA SDK) need your device information (hardware model, device ID, OS type, software name, IDFA) each time ad monitoring is reported. Please enter the third-party SDK catalog to view the specific types of data obtained. When you share tv.sohu.com content to QQ, QQ SDK will be associated with the self-starting QQ client to realize content sharing.
In addition, Sohu SDK will turn on the associated startup/self-startup function by default for receiving and processing push and private messages, and QQ SDK will turn on the associated startup/self-startup function by default for content sharing.
The collection and processing of information by third-party access service providers are subject to their own privacy terms and conditions, to which this Policy does not apply. However, we will also endeavor to review the business access qualifications of such third parties and strive to require legal compliance and security of such service providers. In order to maximize the security of your information, we strongly recommend that you review the privacy terms of any third-party SDK-type service before using it. In order to protect your legitimate rights and interests, if you find that there are risks in such SDK or other similar Apps, we recommend that you immediately stop the relevant operation and contact us in a timely manner.
Third-Party SDK Catalog
3. Transfer
We will not transfer your personal information to any company, organization or individual, except in the following circumstances:
(1) Your express consent is obtained;
(2) In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, division, bankruptcy, liquidation, transfer of assets or similar transaction involving the transfer of personal information, we will inform you of the name and contact information of the new company or organization that holds your personal information, and we will require the new company or organization that holds your personal information to continue to be bound by this Privacy Policy. Otherwise, we will require the company or organization to ask for your new authorized consent.
4. Public disclosure
We will publicly disclose your personal information only under the following circumstances and with industry-standard security measures in place:
(1) Your consent is obtained for the disclosure method and the scope of personal information disclosed;
(2) Disclosure is based on laws: We may publicly disclose your personal information when required by laws, regulations, litigations, or mandatory requirements of government authorities, provided that we will verify that the above authorities have corresponding legal, regulatory or other legal document basis, such as subpoenas or investigation letters.
5. Exceptions to consent
Please be fully aware that in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, we do not need your authorized consent to share, transfer or publicly disclose your personal information under the following circumstances:
(1) It is necessary for the conclusion and performance of a contract to which you are a party;
(2) It is necessary for the performance of legal duties or statutory obligations;
(3) It is necessary to respond to a public health emergency or to protect the life, health and property of natural persons in an emergency;
(4) Personal information is processed within a reasonable scope in the event of news reporting and monitoring of public opinion in the public interest;
(5) Personal information that you disclose on your own or that has been legally disclosed by others is processed within a reasonable scope in accordance with relevant laws and regulations;
(6) Other circumstances provided for by laws and administrative regulations.
(v) How we protect your personal information
1. We attach great importance to the security of your personal information and have used the following industry-standard security measures to protect your personal information from improper use or unauthorized access, public disclosure, use, modification, damage, loss or leakage:
(1) We have established a data security and permission management system. We have implemented a permission grant system that splits executable permission into the smallest particles, and differentiated different permission levels according to the roles of access requirements; we have implemented a permission grant system that differentiates between access execution actions, and split the personal information access actions into a number of specific operational permissions such as querying, modifying, logging out, and unbundling, etc.; and we will record the application and approval process of access permission, and the login and operation by the access personnel.
(2) We have taken a number of technical security measures. We require visitors to access through the intranet; we have established a data classification management system to encrypt and store sensitive personal information; we have implemented a double backup mechanism for multiple computer rooms; and we use a trusted protection mechanism to prevent your personal information from malicious attack.
(3) We have formulated an emergency response plan for security incidents and will immediately activate the emergency response plan in the event of a user information security incident in an effort to prevent the impact and consequences of such security incidents from expanding. Once a user information security incident (leakage, loss, etc.) occurs, we will promptly inform you of the incident in accordance with the requirements of laws and regulations in the form of push notifications, etc. When it is difficult to inform you one by one, we will make an announcement in a reasonable and effective way. At the same time, we will also report the disposition of user information security incidents in accordance with the requirements of relevant regulatory authorities.
2. Although we have taken the above-mentioned reasonable and effective measures and complied with the standards required by relevant laws and regulations, please understand that as the Internet environment is not 100% secure, and because of the limitations of the technology and the possible existence of a variety of malicious means, even if every effort is made to strengthen the security measures, it is still not possible to always ensure that 100% of the information is safe, and we will do our best to ensure the security of the personal information you provide to us. You are aware and understand that the systems and communication networks you use to access our services may experience problems due to factors beyond our control. Therefore, we recommend that you take proactive measures to protect the security of your personal information, including but not limited to using complex passwords, changing your password regularly, and not disclosing your account password and other personal information to others.
(vi) Your rights
1. Access to personal information
We attach great importance to your management of your personal information and make every effort to protect your rights to access, modify, delete, withdraw consent to, cancel your account of, report complaints about, and set up privacy functions for your personal information, so that you can feel more comfortable and convenient for privacy settings and personal information management.
(1) You may check your QR code, nickname, ID, profile, gender and birthday at tv.sohu.com - Me - Edit Profile;
(2) You may check your avatar at tv.sohu.com - Me - Click Avatar;
(3) You may check your video and picture works at tv.sohu.com - Me - Works;
(4) You may check the news feed you post at tv.sohu.com - Me - News Feed;
(5) You may check your favorite videos at tv.sohu.com - Me - Like;
(6) You may check your video playback history at tv.sohu.com - Me - Playback History;
(7) You may check the users you follow at tv.sohu.com - Me - Follow;
(8) You may check your followers at tv.sohu.com - Me - Follower;
(9) You may check your membership opening status and consumption record at tv.sohu.com - Me - My VIP Membership.
2. Deleting personal information
(1) You may delete your profile at tv.sohu.com - Me - Edit Profile;
(2) You may delete your video playback history at tv.sohu.com - Me - Playback History - Edit;
(3) You may delete your favorite videos at tv.sohu.com - Me - Like - Edit;
(4) You may delete your follows at tv.sohu.com - Me - Follow;
(5) You may delete the news feed you post at tv.sohu.com - Me – News Feed;
(6) You may request us to delete your personal information for the following reasons:
You may request to delete your personal information based on the above reasons via an email to fankui@sohu-inc.com, or through “tv.sohu.com-Me-Settings-Help and Feedback”.
3. Correcting personal information
(1) You may modify your nickname, profile, gender and birthday through tv.sohu.com - Me - Edit Profile;
(2) You may change your avatar through tv.sohu.com - Me - Click Avatar;
(3) You may change your login password and cell phone number bundled through tv.sohu.com - Me - Settings - Account and Security.
4. Withdrawing your authorization
(1) You may delete the information and revoke your authorization through Article III(vi)2 of this Privacy Policy.
(2) You may withdraw your authorization by going to tv.sohu.com - Me - Settings - Privacy Settings - System Privacy Permissions and choosing to turn off calendar permission, camera permission, photo library permission, contacts permission, geolocation permission, microphone permission, device information permission and storage permission.
Please understand that each service function requires some basic personal information to complete. When you withdraw your consent or authorization, we will not be able to continue to provide you with the services and functions corresponding to the consent or authorization you withdraw, and no longer process your corresponding personal information. However, your decision to withdraw your consent or authorization will not affect the processing of personal information previously carried out on the basis of your authorization.
5. Path to cancel the account
You may apply to cancel your tv.sohu.com account or apply to cancel your Sohu passport. Once you cancel your tv.sohu.com account, you will not be able to use tv.sohu.com services with this account, and all the rights and interests that have been generated but not yet consumed during the period of using tv.sohu.com products and services as well as future expected benefits of the account will be cleared, but this will not affect the use of other products of Sohu Group through Sohu passport. We will delete or anonymize your personal information in accordance with the principles established in Article III(iii)2 of this Privacy Policy. The above actions and consequences of cancellation are irreversible, so please proceed with caution:
If you select to cancel Sohu passport, you will not be able to use all the Sohu products that you have logged in to with your current login account. Please make sure that there are no important assets in your account, empty the content that needs to be deleted, and cancel all the contracted deductions before you cancel the account;
If you need to apply for cancellation of tv.sohu.com account, you may cancel it through the page prompts at tv.sohu.com - Me - Settings - Account and Security - Account Cancellation, and we will feedback within 15 working days.
Please refer to Account Cancellation Agreement in Annex I for the process, impact and review of cancellation.
6. Managing your targeted push
You may manage and select your “targeted push” in the following ways:
(1) tv.sohu.com - Recommendations - Bottom right corner of the video - Not interested;
(2) Deleting relevant information in accordance with Article III(vi)2 of this Privacy Policy;
(3) Reducing the relevance of advertisements through the path of “tv.sohu.com - Me - Settings - Privacy Settings - System Privacy Permission - Allow tv.sohu.com to use personalized advertisement recommendation function”.
(4) Canceling personalized content recommendation, display and push through the path of “tv.sohu.com - Me - Settings - Privacy Settings - System Privacy Permission - Allow tv.sohu.com to use personalized recommendation function[LJ4]”.
The above actions allow you to independently control the personal information on which the personalized short video display depends, giving you the capacity to regulate the extent to which the personalized short video display is relevant.
7. Ceasing operations
If we cease to operate, we will promptly cease activities that continue to collect your personal information, will notify you of the cessation of operations by way of an announcement, and will delete or anonymize the personal information we hold about you.
8. Obtaining copies of personal information
The scope of the copy of your personal information you request to obtain includes, if you are a non-live streaming user, your cell phone number, Sohu account number, avatar, nickname, and gender that you have voluntarily provided or filled out in accordance with Article III(i) of this Privacy Policy.
If you are a live streaming user, in addition to the above information, you may obtain a copy of the following personal information: name and ID number.
Please send an email to fankui@sohu-inc.com. Customer service will verify your identity and related information after receiving the email, and send you a copy of the above personal information online after verification.
9. Rights of the next of kin of the deceased
In the unfortunate event that a tv.sohu.com user passes away, his/her next of kin may contact us through the contact information disclosed in this Privacy Policy to obtain the relevant guidelines for exercising his/her lawful and legitimate rights and interests under the law.
10. Responding to your request for rights
Please understand and agree that, in principle, we will not charge you for reasonable requests, but we will charge a certain cost for repeated requests that exceed reasonable limits. We may refuse requests that require excessive technical means, high costs or other significant difficulties (e.g., the need to develop new systems or fundamentally change existing practices), or that pose a risk to the legal rights and interests of others.
After verifying your identity, we will reply to you or give you an explanation within 15 days or the period provided for by laws and regulations, regardless of whether your request will be realized or not.
(vii) How we protect minors’ personal information
We attach great importance to the protection of minors’ personal information. In accordance with relevant laws and regulations, if you are a minor under the age of 18, before using our services, please have your parents or guardians read this Privacy Policy and obtain your guardian’s consent and guidance before submitting your personal information.
We protect the personal information of minors in accordance with relevant national laws and regulations, and will collect, use, store, share, transfer or disclose the personal information of minors only as permitted by law, with the express consent of parents or other guardians, or as necessary for the protection of minors; if we discover that personal information of minors has been collected without first obtaining verifiable parental consent, we will attempt to delete the relevant information as soon as possible.
If you are the guardian of a minor, please contact us at the contact information disclosed in this Privacy Policy when you have questions about the personal information of a minor in your custody.
In particular, if you are a child under 14 years of age, we have also specially formulated the Statement on Children’s Privacy Protection for you. Children and their guardians should carefully read this Privacy Policy and Annex II Sohu’s Statement on Children’s Privacy Protection before completing the registration of an account for a child under 14 years of age.
At the same time, in order to protect the security of children’s personal information, we have developed a “Minor Mode” in the mobile client of tv.sohu.com. You may set the Minor Mode through “tv.sohu.com - Me - Settings - Minor Mode”. Under the Minor Mode, you may use the video for no more than 40 minutes a day, and the screen will be locked from 22:00 to 6:00 the next day to prevent excessive use, and you need to enter a password set in advance to continue your use.
(viii) How this Privacy Policy is updated
We may revise the terms of this Privacy Policy.
We will post changes to this Privacy Policy on this page. For material changes, we will prominently display a notice on our homepage or notify you in other ways. If you do not agree with the updated version, please stop using tv.sohu.com. If you continue to use our products/services, it means that you agree to be bound by the revised Privacy Policy.
A “material change” means one of the following:
(1) Material changes in our underlying business model.
(2) We experience material changes in our ownership structure, organizational structure, etc. such as changes in ownership due to business restructuring, bankruptcy and mergers and acquisitions.
(3) Changes to the primary recipients of personal information to be shared, transferred or publicly disclosed.
(4) Material changes in your rights to participate in the processing of personal information and the manner in which you exercise the rights.
(5) We are responsible for handling complaints and suggestions regarding personal information and changes in the contact information in this Privacy Policy.
(6) The personal information security impact assessment report indicates a high risk.
(ix) How to contact us
We attach great importance to the protection of the rights of users’ personal information subjects, and we have appoint persons in charge of personal information protection and a special channel for feedback of personal information. If you have any complaints, suggestions or questions about our privacy policy or about our processing of personal information, you may give us feedback in the following ways. We will review it as soon as possible and respond within 15 days after verifying your user identity.
(1) You may send questions and complaints about personal information to privacy@sohu-inc.com, the unified feedback mailbox for Sohu personal information protection.
(2) You may send your feedback to the person in charge of personal information protection through the following mailing address: Floor 18, SOHU.com Media Plaza, No.2 Kexueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100086 (Attn: Law Center)
(3) If you have any other complaints or suggestions about our services, please contact us at:
All contact details for customer service:
Customer service hotline: 4008816666
Online customer service: App - Me - Settings-Help and Feedback - I want to feedback
Official QQ group: 435505340
Official WeChat: tv.sohu.com User Service
Official Weibo: tv.sohu.com User Service
Official email: fankui@sohu-inc.com
(Working hours: 09:00-21:00 every day)
Under normal circumstances, we will reply within 15 days. If you believe that our personal information processing behavior harms your legitimate rights and interests, you may follow the WeChat official account “APP Personal Information Reporting” or send an email to pip@tc260.org.cn to report to “APP Special Governance Working Group”. You may also file a complaint or report to the cyberspace affairs department (reporting phone number: 12377), industry and information technology department (reporting phone number: 12321), public security department and industry and commerce department and other regulatory departments.
(x) Access routes
You may access our Privacy Policy by going to “Me - Settings - Privacy Setting Bottom”.
You may use “Settings - Privacy Settings - System Privacy Permission-Allow Use of Your OAID” to control the OAID to be turned off or on in basic function or personalized advertisement recommendation scenarios (android system).
(Ⅺ) EEA, UK and Switzerland Supplementary Privacy Statement
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom or Switzerland, we invite you to read this Supplementary Privacy Statement. This Supplementary Privacy Statement, supplemental to Sohu Video Privacy Policy, describes how we process your personal data when you use our products or services. If you apply this Supplementary Privacy Statement, and in the event of any inconsistency between this Supplementary Privacy Statement and the Sohu Video Privacy Policy, this Supplementary Privacy Statement shall prevail.
If you are located in the EEA, we will process your personal data in accordance with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and your local data protection legislation, as the case may be. If you are located in the United Kingdom, we will process your personal data in accordance with the UK's General Data Protection Regulation. Any reference to "GDPR" in this context will refer to the General Data Protection Regulation applicable to your country. If you are located in Switzerland, we will process your personal data in accordance with the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (FDPA). References to the GDPR in the following provisions of this Supplementary Privacy Statement should be construed by analogy in order to make the FDPA applicable thereto.
Beijing Sohu Internet Information Service Co., Ltd(“Sohu”). is the controller of your personal data. Our registered address is Room 1101, 11/F, Building 3, No. 2 South Academy of Sciences Road, Haidian District, Beijing.
Please refer to "Types of and Purposes for which we collect and use your personal data" in Sohu Video Privacy Policy.
Please refer to "How do we share, transfer and publicly disclose your personal data" in Sohu Video Privacy Policy.
Normally, we process your personal data with your prior consent so as to process your personal data as required by applicable laws. You shall have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, provided that the legality of the processing based on such consent prior to the withdrawal shall not be affected.
We will also process your personal data under the GDPR if it is necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party or if it is necessary to perform certain activities at your request prior to conclusion of a contract.
We will comply with the requirements of the GDPR and will perform any data processing necessary to meet our legal obligations. This may include data processing on a legal basis in compliance with applicable legal obligations under the EEA and UK law.
In accordance with the GDPR, we will use your personal data where necessary to achieve legitimate interests, provided that these interests do not exceed your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. We will test the balance between our own interests and yours, as well as fundamental rights and freedoms. You can contact us via e-mail at privacy@sohu-inc.com.
See "How we share, transfer, and publicly disclose your personal information."
We may disclose personal data to third parties within the territory of the PRC. We will conduct cross-border transfer of your personal data in accordance with GDPR and other relevant laws and regulations (including standard contractual terms on cross-border transfer) to protect the security of your personal data and comply with cross-border data transfer standards. In case of doubt about cross-border data transfer or need more information, you can always contact us via e-mail at privacy@sohu-inc.com.
See "How we store your personal information."
In the EEA, Switzerland and the UK you have the following rights, in respect of your personal data, subject to conditions set out in GDPR and/or local data protection laws:
（1）Right to Access
You have the right to obtain confirmation if your personal information is being processed and the right to request details of the processing and copies of data in relation to this.
（2）Right to Correct
If you find that your personal information is inaccurate, you have the right to request us to correct your information. You may also be able to correct your personal data in relation to settings within our products or services.
（3）Right to Delete
You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data. However, a deletion request may not apply in circumstances:
1 In order to fulfil a legal obligation under any Applicable Law to which we conform or where we perform a task in the public interest; or
2 In order to establish, enforce or defend a legitimate claim.
（4）Right to Limit Use
In some circumstances you may request us to limit the processing of your personal data which we may mark and which we may use only for certain purposes.
（5）Right to data portability
You have the right to receive personal data provided to us about you in structured, normal, machine-readable format and to transfer that data to another entity without hindrance by us.
（6）Right to Object to Processing
You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in accordance with Article 6 (1) (e) or (f) of the GDPR at any time, including analyses conducted under these provisions, for reasons related to your particular circumstances. In addition, you have the right to opt-out of the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes.
（7）Right to Withdraw Consent
Where you have provided consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the legality of the data processing carried out on the basis of the consent prior to the withdrawal.
（8）Lodging a complaint with a regulator
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant regulator or data protection authority in your country, if you are not satisfied with the way we are processing your personal data.
To exercise any of your above rights, please contact us via e-mail at privacy@sohu-inc.com. Before processing your request, we may need to verify your identity or account details in order to confirm the request.
You also have the right to contact your local regulator if you are not satisfied with our response to a request.
List of regulators and contact details:
EEA: https ://edpb. europa .eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_en
UK: https ://ico. org. uk/global/contact-us/
Switzerland: https ://www .edoeb. admin. ch/edoeb/en/home/the-fdpic/contact. html
(Ⅻ) Supplementary Privacy Statement for the State of California and Other States
If you reside in the State of California or the States of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Oregon, Texas, Montana, Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire or New Jersey, we invite you to read this Supplementary Privacy Statement. This Supplementary Privacy Statement, supplemental to Sohu Video Privacy Policy, describes how we process your personal data when you use our products or services. If you apply this Supplementary Privacy Statement, and in the event of any inconsistency between this Supplementary Privacy Statement and the Sohu Video Privacy Policy, this Supplementary Privacy Statement shall prevail.
This section applies to the State of California residents covered by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 ("CCPA"). The CCPA provides certain legal rights to California residents such as access, deletion, disclosure or "do-not-sell" information. If you are a California resident, the following applies.
（1）Collection and Use of Personal Information
During the past 12 months, through your use of our products or services, we may have collected or disclosed the following categories of personal information from or about consumers, as defined in the CCPA:
1 Identification information, such as real names, postal addresses, unique personal identifiers, IP addresses, e-mail addresses, account names, etc.;This kind of information is collected directly from the consumer or the device;
2 Any information that is identifiable, relating to, describing or associable with you. This kind of information is collected directly from the consumer or the device;
3 Business information, including records of products and/or services purchased, obtained or considered, or other purchase or consumption history or consumption tendencies. This kind of information is collected directly from the consumer or the device;
4 Information about Internet or other electronic network activity, including, without limitation, browsing history, search history and information about consumer interactions with Internet web sites, applications or advertisements. This kind of information is collected directly from the device.
Please refer to "Types of and Purposes for Which We Collect and Use Your Personal Information" in the Sohu Video Privacy Policy for additional information about the uses on which each type of personal information may be used. We may collect, use and disclose identifier information, browsing and usage data of California residents for the purpose of personalizing information or services (including personalizing advertising), which the CCPA treats as the "sale" and "sharing" of personal information.
（2）Disclosure of Personal Information
We may disclose various items of personal information that are identified in the Sohu Video Privacy Policy to the following types of entities:
1 The relevant group company within our company group that processes your personal information for the purposes of Operation Service.
2 Authorized partners, including partners providing payment services, third party login services, data services (including data statistics, data analytics), technical services and others;
3 Regulatory agencies, jurisdictional authorities and law enforcement agencies.
（3）Your Rights
You have the following rights under CCPA:
1 Right to Know: You have the right to request more information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected, sold, and disclosed for a business purpose in the 12 months.
2 Right to Delete: You have the right to request deletion of your personal information.
3 Right to Non-Discrimination: You have the right to be free from discrimination for exercising your rights under the CCPA.
4 Right to Opt-Out: You have the right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal information.
5 Right to Correct: You have the right to correct inaccurate personal information we may have.
6 Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information: You have the right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information we may have.
To exercise any one of these rights, please contact us via email at privacy@sohu-inc.com. If you exercise your right to Opt-Out, you may turn off personalized advertising by tapping on "Settings," tapping on "Privacy Settings," tapping on "System Privacy Settings" and "Permit Sohu Video's use of personalized advertising recommendation feature."
Under the CCPA, you may also designate Authorized Agents to submit certain requests on your behalf. In order to verify the identity of an Authorized Agent, you must provide them with your signed, written permission or power of attorney to make such requests. We may also contact you to verify your identity before processing requests for an Authorized Agent.
（4）Other California Privacy Rights
The California Anti-Consumer Disclosure Act (Civil Code § 1798.83) permits users of our website residing in the State of California to request certain information about our disclosure of personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes. If such a request is made, please send email to privacy@sohu-inc.com.
The following policy is applicable only to residents in the states of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Oregon, Texas, Montana, Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire and New Jersey.
Subject to applicable law, you have the right to require your personal data controller to:
（1）Confirm whether it is processing your personal data and provide copies of such data;
（2）Correct inaccuracies in your personal data, taking into account the nature of the personal data and the purposes for which the personal data is being processed, but not available in Iowa and Utah;
（3）Delete your personal information or you have provided;
（4）Elect not to use your personal data for the purposes of: (a) personalizing advertising; (b) selling personal information; or (c) profiling for the purpose of making decisions that have legal or similar significant impact on you.
When you use our products and/or services, we may collect, use and disclose your identification information, viewing and usage data for the purposes of personalizing advertising described above. Some of the laws that apply to our processing of personal data treat our collection, use and disclosure of personal data for the purposes of personalizing advertising as constituting the "sale" of personal information. You may turn off personalizing advertising by clicking on "Settings", clicking on "Privacy Settings", clicking on "System Privacy Settings", and clicking on "Allow Sohu Video to use personalizing advertising recommendation feature". You may also elect not to participate in personalizing advertising and such sales by contacting us email at privacy@sohu-inc.com.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, complaints, access requests and any other concerns, or would like to comment about this Supplemental Privacy Statement, please contact us via email at privacy@sohu-inc.com.
Annex I: TV.SOHU.COM ACCOUNT CANCELLATION AGREEMENT
Dear users, before you formally start the next step in the tv.sohu.com account cancellation process, we first make the following special instructions for you: after the cancellation of the tv.sohu.com account, unless otherwise provided for by laws and regulations, your personal information under the Sohu account will be deleted or anonymized, and products and services previously associated with the tv.sohu.com account will no longer be associated. Once the tv.sohu.com account is canceled, it will not be restored, so please be careful.
If you still decide to cancel your Sohu account after careful consideration, please be sure to first carefully read and fully understand this TV.SOHU.COM ACCOUNT CANCELLATION AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) and agree to all the contents of this Agreement. If you follow our cancellation procedure to start the cancellation process, or if you check this Cancellation Agreement and start the next step, you shall be deemed to have agreed to and complied with all the contents of this Agreement.
If you need to use our services again after cancellation, you are welcome to register and login again.
I. You are aware and agree that after your tv.sohu.com account is canceled, there will (may) be consequences including but not limited to the following, which you are solely responsible for:
1. You will not be able to login, use this tv.sohu.com account, nor use tv.sohu.com services with this account;
2. If you have used the tv.sohu.com account to login to other Sohu user products, your cancellation of the tv.sohu.com account will not affect your use of other Sohu products.
3. Unless otherwise provided by laws or regulations, your personal information under this tv.sohu.com account will be deleted or anonymized. You will not be able to retrieve your personal information, nor do you have the right to request us to retrieve your personal information, which includes but is not limited to: avatar, nickname and other profile information, device information, favorites, subscriptions, playback history, viewing history, browsing history, subscription/follow information, direct messages, membership information, and information on purchases, top-up, points and coupons;
4. You agree that once you agree to this Agreement or you cancel this tv.sohu.com account, it shall be deemed that you waive the rights and interests that have been generated and may be generated in the future by the tv.sohu.com account in the period of using tv.sohu.com. We have the right to clear all the rights and interests under this tv.sohu.com account, including but not limited to: membership rights, other rights and interests that have been generated but not consumed, or future expected rights and interests, and the consequences arising therefrom will be borne by you.
5. This tv.sohu.com account, once canceled, will not be restored. Even if you apply to us to register and login to tv.sohu.com again with the same or other login means provided by Sohu as tv.sohu.com account after cancellation, the account will be regarded as a new user account at this time. Therefore, we kindly remind you to make a backup of the content that needs to be backed up in advance before applying for cancellation. We also recommend that you clear your system cache before applying for cancellation;
6. Once the tv.sohu.com account is canceled, the Sohu Service Agreement (“Service Agreement”) that you signed with us in relation to tv.sohu.com shall be terminated (except where it has been agreed to remain in force). However, the termination of the Service Agreement does not affect the relevant responsibilities you should bear for using tv.sohu.com services before the cancellation of tv.sohu.com account. You still need to bear corresponding responsibilities for using tv.sohu.com services before the cancellation of tv.sohu.com account, including but not limited to possible liabilities for breach of contract, damages and performance obligations;
7. Other (possible) consequences due to account cancellation.
II. Before you apply/continue to apply to us for cancellation of tv.sohu.com account, in order to protect your account security and related rights and interests, you need to check and ensure that the tv.sohu.com account you apply for cancellation of has met the following conditions at the same time, including but not limited to:
1. The tv.sohu.com account is legally owned and logged in for your own use, and is in compliance with the provisions of the User Agreement and the related description rules regarding tv.sohu.com accounts;
2. The tv.sohu.com account has been unbundled from other shared devices; it has been released from the authorization or bundling relationship with other Sohu product accounts or other third-party products or platforms;
3. The tv.sohu.com account is in a secure state: the account is in normal use and there are no violations, blocks or theft;
4. The relevant rights and interests in this tv.sohu.com account (see Paragraph 4 of Article I of this Agreement) have been settled or properly dealt with. Please properly dispose of your product rights and interests, and you can wait until the relevant rights and interests have been used up and then cancel the account. If you do not deal with it and continue with the tv.sohu.com account cancellation process, you are deemed to voluntarily waive all the relevant assets or rights and interests under the account (including those have been generated but have not been consumed or the future expected benefits). After the account is canceled, you do not have the right to request us to restore or retrieve the foregoing rights and interests;
5. There is no outstanding order under this tv.sohu.com account; if the foregoing circumstances exist in your tv.sohu.com account or occur during the account cancellation period, we have the right, in our sole discretion, to terminate the cancellation of the account or freeze the account.
6. The membership fee auto-renewal function involved with this tv.sohu.com account has been lifted;
7. There is no dispute involving this tv.sohu.com account: including complaints and reports, being complained about and reported, investigations by state authorities, arbitration and litigation;
You may try to handle the above problems yourself first. If you can’t handle them or have any doubts in the process, you may contact customer service for assistance.
III. How to cancel the tv.sohu.com account?
1. You need to follow the cancellation process and operation guidelines provided by our official channels, and perform the cancellation operation on the relevant function setting page;
2. You have agreed to this Cancellation Agreement in its entirety; at the same time, you have checked and confirmed that the conditions set forth in Article II of this Agreement have been met;
3. After you have completed Paragraph 2 above, in order to further protect your relevant legitimate rights and interests, we have the right to comprehensively judge whether your account meets the conditions for cancellation based on the security status of your account as well as your use of relevant products and services. In order to protect your account security and property rights and interests, we have the right to authenticate the cancellation application to determine that you are the authorized user of the Sohu account (e.g., you provide operation-related information for us to verify, etc.). If we find after comprehensive judgment that the tv.sohu.com account does not meet the conditions for cancellation, or identity verification fails, your cancellation may fail. You can follow our guidelines for subsequent operations or contact customer service for assistance. Even if we determine that you meet the conditions for cancellation, it is a formal review based on your commitment (that is, your own commitment to ensure that tv.sohu.com account meets the above cancellation conditions), and you are still responsible for ensuring that tv.sohu.com account meets the above cancellation conditions. We will not bear corresponding legal liabilities;
4. We consider that you have successfully submitted an account cancellation request to us after you have successfully completed the “identity verification” in Paragraph 3 above.
The specific cancellation process and operation shall be subject to the official announcement. You understand and agree that during your application for account cancellation, if we need to verify the relevant information, complaints or other matters related to your account, or if we have other reasonable grounds, we shall have the right to freeze your account and temporarily do not provide you with cancellation services.
If there are reasonable grounds to suspect or find that the same account has or may have repeated registration and cancellation to obtain illegal benefits in marketing activities and other illegal acts, we shall have the right to limit the frequency of cancellation applications for the account.
IV. Miscellaneous
This Agreement is part of the User Agreement, and the User Agreement shall apply to any matters not covered by this Agreement. In case of any inconsistency between this Agreement and the User Agreement, this Agreement shall prevail. At the same time, you are aware and agree that: even if your tv.sohu.com account is canceled, it does not relieve or exempt you from the relevant responsibilities that you should (possibly) bear according to relevant laws and regulations, relevant agreements and rules.
If there are any problems in the process of account cancellation that you cannot handle or if you have any doubts in the process, you may contact customer service for assistance. You may also send your questions to fankui@sohu-inc.com, and we will review the issues involved as soon as possible and respond to you after verifying your user identity.
Annex II: SOHU’S STATEMENT ON CHILDREN’S PRIVACY PROTECTION
Sohu is committed to protecting the personal information of children who use our products or services. SOHU’S STATEMENT ON CHILDREN’S PRIVACY PROTECTION (this “Statement”) and TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY are aimed to explain to guardians (“You”) and children how we collect, use, store and process children’s personal information and the ways we provide You and Children to access, correct, delete and protect such information. Terms and acronyms used in this Statement shall have the same meanings as those in TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY.
Special notes for children’s guardians:
If You are the guardian of a child user, please read carefully and choose whether to agree to this Statement. We hope that You will work with us to protect children’s personal information, educate and guide children to enhance their awareness and ability of personal information protection, and instruct, remind and request them not to provide any personal information to any online product and service providers without your consent.
Special notes for children:
If you are a minor under the age of 14, you need to read this Statement carefully with your guardian and obtain your guardian’s consent to use our products, services or provide information to us.
Please choose whether to agree to the Privacy Policy and whether to consent to the use of our products or services by You and children under your custody after You have carefully read and fully understood TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY and this Statement. If you do not agree with the content of the Privacy Policy and this Statement or do not consent to the provision of information necessary for the services, it will likely result in our products or services not functioning properly or not achieving the expected service results, and You and children under your custody may not be able to use our products, services or related specific business functions normally.
Your clicking “Agree” indicates that You consent to our collection, use and processing of information about You and children under your custody in accordance with TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY and this Statement.
Please understand that this Statement only applies to our products or services specifically for children under the age of 14, products or services with functional sections specifically for children under the age of 14, or products or services that require the user to enter birthday, age information, etc. that can identify the user’s age. For products or services that do not recognize or actively recognize the user’s age, TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY applies. The products and services we provide may include products or services provided by third parties. Please note that such third parties may collect, use or process information about children, which requires such third parties to obtain your consent separately. We recommend that You have children seek your consent before authorizing the collection and processing of any of their personal information by third parties.
Please note that we have used bold font to specifically remind You of the important clauses in this Statement that are (potentially) closely related to the rights and interests of You and the children under your custody, so please pay special attention to them.
I. Types of personal information collected about children
1. Personal information about children that You consent to and voluntarily provide
By voluntarily providing us with your child’s personal information in connection with your use of our products and/or services, such as photos, videos, or other information about your child that You share in the comments, communities, and other information posting functions that we make available to You, You are indicating that You have given us consent to the collection and processing of your child’s personal information in accordance with this Statement.
2. Minor mode
Tv.sohu.com only activates the “Minor Mode” in the registration mode, which can recognize that the person using the account may be a minor. As tv.sohu.com does not track the age of users, we only record in the background that the user has activated the “Minor Mode”.
After entering the “Minor Mode”, we only collect information about the user’s viewing history. We strongly recommend that You instruct your children not to provide their real names, portraits, contact information, etc., if not necessary, and not to share or publicly release their personal information with others when using our products or services.
If You opt out of the “Minor Mode” for your child, the user will be able to use all functions of tv.sohu.com. The type of information collected and the purpose of use will be in compliance with TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY.
3. Personal information of children necessary for the provision of services
In the absence of “Minor Mode”, we may collect and use children’s personal information for the purpose of providing our services. For the relevant rules, please refer to the section “The types of your personal information we collect and use and for what purposes” under TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY, which will be applied/referred to depending on the actual situation. Due to business needs, when there is a genuine need to collect and use the personal information of children under your custody beyond the aforementioned agreed purposes and scope, we will inform You again and obtain your consent.
II. How we use such information
We strictly comply with the provisions of laws and regulations and agreements with users, and do not make any personalized recommendations or commercial use of the information thus obtained about children, and the information collected about You and the children under your custody is used for the following purposes:
1. To verify identity of children and guardians.
2. To provide the necessary products or services and to fulfill specific functions of the products or services. For the relevant rules, please refer to the section “The types of your personal information we collect and use and for what purposes” under TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY.
3. For product or service optimization, safety and security, and service survey purposes.
If we need to use your personal information or that of a child under your custody for purposes other than those listed above, we will tell You again and ask for your consent.
III. How we share, transfer and disclose children’s personal information
1. We strictly limit the sharing, transfer and disclosure of children’s personal information in compliance with laws and regulations. In general, Sohu will not share children’s personal information with third parties. We may share children’s personal information with third parties only with the prior consent of the guardian:
2. In general, we prohibit the transfer and disclosure of children’s personal information. However, we may transfer and disclose children’s personal information for the following purposes:
IV. Storage and management of children’s personal information
Sohu will take encryption and other technical measures to store children’s personal information to ensure information security. Sohu will not store children’s personal information for longer than is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it is collected and used. Please refer to the sections “How we store your personal information” and “How we protect your personal information” under TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY to learn more about how we store and protect children’s personal information.
You may exercise your rights to inquire, delete, and correct personal information in accordance with TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY.
V. Managing children’s personal information
During the children’s use of our products or services, in order to make it easier for You and the children to access, correct and delete the relevant personal information, we have provided You with corresponding operational settings in the design of our products. Please refer to the section “Your rights” under TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY for details on how to exercise the rights to access, delete and correct personal information.
You may also use the contact information provided by us to give feedback and inquire about relevant information. We will contact You promptly after verifying your feedback. Please understand that during the verification process, we may require You to provide personal information such as the child’s account number, date of birth and contact information in order to continue to respond to your needs after completing the identity verification and problem verification.
VI. Application of this Statement
This Statement applies only to our products or services specifically for children under the age of 14, products or services with functional sections specifically for children under the age of 14, or products or services that require the user to enter birthday, age information, etc. that can identify the user’s age. For products or services that do not recognize or actively recognize the user’s age, only TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY applies.
Please understand that for matters not covered in this Statement, refer to TV.SOHU.COM PRIVACY POLICY.
VII. Contact us
If you have any questions about this Statement or matters related to this Statement, any complaints or suggestions about our services, please contact us at:
(1) You may send questions and complaints about personal information to privacy@sohu-inc.com, the unified feedback mailbox for Sohu personal information protection.
(2) If you have any complaints or suggestions about our services, please contact us at:
Customer service hotline: 4008816666
Online customer service: App - Me - Settings-Help and Feedback - I want to feedback
Official QQ group: 435505340
Official WeChat: tv.sohu.com User Service
Official Weibo: tv.sohu.com User Service
Official email: fankui@sohu-inc.com
(Working hours: 09:00-21:00 every day)
Under normal circumstances, we will reply within 15 days. If you believe that our personal information processing behavior harms your legitimate rights and interests, you may follow the WeChat official account “APP Personal Information Reporting” or send an email to pip@tc260.org.cn to report to “APP Special Governance Working Group”. You may also file a complaint or report to the cyberspace affairs department (reporting phone number: 12377), industry and information technology department (reporting phone number: 12321), public security department and industry and commerce department and other regulatory departments.
Definitions:
1. Personal Information: According to the provisions of the national standard Information Security Technology―Implementation Guidelines for Notices and Consent in Personal Information Processing (GB/T42574-2023), Personal Information refers to all kinds of information recorded electronically or by other means relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, excluding information processed after anonymization.
2. Sensitive Personal Information: According to the provisions of the national standard Information Security Technology―Implementation Guidelines for Notices and Consent in Personal Information Processing (GB/T42574-2023), Sensitive Personal Information is personal information that, once leaked or illegally used, is likely to result in the infringement of a natural person’s human dignity or jeopardize his or her personal or property safety.
3. Cookie: A cookie is a small file containing a string of text that is stored on your computer, cell phone or other devices when you log on to a website or other web content.