Samsung Services Terms and Conditions
Posted date: September 30, 2021
Welcome! Thank you for your interest in our services.
We, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (“we”, “our”, or “Samsung”), together with our affiliates, provide a variety of features, apps, and services that you can enjoy with our mobile devices, TVs, and other products, listed here (“Services”), and these Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) will cover your use of the Services.
ACCEPTING OUR TERMS
By creating an account or using our Services, you confirm that you accept these Terms. You also confirm that:
We may sometimes need to change these Terms. We will let you know of any changes by posting the updated Terms on our website. If we think the changes are material, we may send a notification to the email address linked to your Samsung account before the updated Terms become effective. If you do not agree to the changes, you may stop using our Services and delete your Samsung account. By continuing to use our Services after the updated Terms become effective, you confirm that you understand and accept the updated Terms.
These Terms of Service constitute a binding legal agreement between you and Samsung, including the terms and conditions regarding dispute resolution, set forth on the Governing Law/Dispute Resolution Section, below.
GOVERNING LAW/ DISPUTE RESOLUTION | The formation, existence, construction, performance, validity, and all aspects whatsoever of these Terms will be governed by the law of the State of New York, without reference to its choice of laws principles. These Terms will not be governed by the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the application of which is expressly excluded. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we may apply for injunctive remedies (or an equivalent type of urgent legal relief) in any court of competent jurisdiction.
ALL DISPUTES WITH SAMSUNG ARISING IN ANY WAY FROM THESE TERMS SHALL BE RESOLVED EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION, AND NOT BY A COURT OR JURY. Any such dispute shall not be combined or consolidated with a dispute involving service provided to any other person or entity, and specifically, without limitation of the foregoing, shall not under any circumstances proceed as part of a class action. The arbitration shall be conducted before a single arbitrator, whose award may not exceed, in form or amount, the relief allowed by the applicable law. The arbitration shall be conducted according to the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Commercial Arbitration Rules applicable to consumer disputes, and is entered pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act. The arbitrator shall decide all issues of interpretation and application of this arbitration provision and these Terms. Judgment may be entered on the arbitrator’s award in any court of competent jurisdiction.
This arbitration provision also applies to claims against our employees, representatives, and affiliates if any such claim arises from these Terms. For any arbitration in which your total damage claims, exclusive of attorney fees and expert witness fees, are $5,000.00 or less (“Small Claim”), the arbitrator may, if you prevail, award your reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and costs as part of any award, but may not grant us our attorney fees, expert witness fees, or costs unless it is determined that the claim was brought in bad faith. In a Small Claim case, you shall be required to pay no more than half of the total administrative, facility, and arbitrator fees, or $50.00 of such fees, whichever is less, and we shall pay the remainder of such fees. Administrative, facility, and arbitrator fees for arbitrations in which your total damage claims, exclusive of attorney fees and expert witness fees, exceed $5,000.00 (“Large Claim”) shall be determined according to AAA rules. In a Large Claim case, the arbitrator may grant to the prevailing party, or apportion among the parties, reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and costs to the extent allowed by the applicable law. Judgment may be entered on the arbitrator’s award in any court of competent jurisdiction.
You may opt out of this dispute resolution procedure by providing notice to us no later than thirty (30) calendar days from the date of this Service Authorization. To opt out, you must send notice by email to optout@sea.samsung.com, with the subject line: “Arbitration Opt Out.” You must include in the opt out email (a) your name and address; (b) the date of this Service Authorization; (c) the model name or model number of your Device on which the applicable Service is used; and (d) the IMEI or MEID or Serial Numbers, as applicable, if you have them (the IMEI or MEID or Serial Numbers can be found (i) on the Product box; (ii) on the Product information screen, which can be found under “Settings;” (iii) on a label on the back of the Product beneath the battery, if the battery is removable; and (iv) on the outside of the Product if the battery is not removable). Alternatively, you may opt out by calling 1 800 SAMSUNG (726-7864) no later than 30 calendar days from the initial date of this Service and providing the same information. These are the only two forms of notice that will be effective to opt out of this dispute resolution procedure. Opting out of this dispute resolution procedure will not affect the Terms of Service, and you will continue to enjoy the benefits of the Terms of Service.
USING OUR SERVICES
LICENSE | We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable license to use our Services. You may only use our Services for personal and non-commercial purposes, according to these Terms and the instructions we provide in our Services. All references to our Services include all related content and any other materials used to implement and provide access to our Services, including updates, upgrades, enhancements, modifications, revisions, or additions to our Services we make available to you. You acknowledge and agree that our Services belong to us and our partners, and are protected under applicable copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent, and other intellectual property laws and treaties. These Terms do not grant you any ownership interest in or to our Services, but only a limited right of use that can be revoked according to these Terms. The availability and features of our Services may vary depending on where you live, which device you are using, or which software or operating system version you have.
USER GUIDELINES | We work hard to protect the security and safety of all users of our Services. We also strive to make our Services available without interruptions. To help us meet these goals, you agree that:
INTERNET | Our Services may require Internet access to provide certain features to you. You acknowledge that access to the Internet may result in charges depending on your payment plan, and that we are not responsible any such charges, nor for the availability or speed of the Internet.
UPDATES | We are always working to make our Services better. To share improvements and new features with you, we may provide updates or upgrades to our Services. These updates and upgrades are designed to improve, enhance, and further develop our Services and may include bug fixes, patches, enhanced features, plug-ins, and new versions. Essential updates, such as critical bug fixes or security updates, may be downloaded and installed automatically without your consent to protect you and other users. For other non-essential updates, you will be notified in advance and be able to choose whether to download and activate the update.
THIRD PARTY SERVICES | We work with a global network of partners to provide you with useful content in our Services. This may include information, links, advertisements, or other contents provided by third parties (“Third-Party Services”). We are not responsible for, and have no control over, any Third-Party Services, and we are not liable for any damages or losses that are caused by any Third-Party Services.
ADVERTISEMENTS | We provide most features of our Services for free. To keep these features free, we may show you ads or promotions provided by us or third parties while you use our Services.
PRIVACY POLICY | Your use of the Services is subject to Samsung’s Privacy Policy for the U.S., located at: http://account.samsung.com/membership/terms/privacypolicy. We provide additional information about our privacy practices related to particular Services where appropriate. To the extent a Service has its own privacy notice, that privacy notice will also apply to your use of such Service. We recommend that you review the privacy notice of each Service for more information about our privacy practices.
SAMSUNG ACCOUNT
You may need to create an account to use some of our Services (“Samsung account”). By creating a Samsung account, you agree that:
You can delete your Samsung account at any time on our website.
IDENTITY VERIFICATION CODES
As an added layer of security designed to help keep your account safe from unauthorized users, we use two-step verification to verify your identity. For example, two-step verification may be required when you are initially setting up your account, or when you are attempting to access your account from a new or unrecognized device or location. When it is required, we will generate and send you a single-use identity verification code to enter onto the screen where prompted in order to gain access to your account. There is no need to sign up for this feature. It is an automatic service for your added security and protection. Please note that standard wireless carrier message and data rates may apply for SMS text messages. Carriers are not liable for any delayed or undelivered messages.
USER CONTENT
Some of our Services allow you to share things like comments, photos, messages, or documents with us or with other users. When you share content, you continue to own the intellectual property rights to your content and you are free to share the content with anyone else however you would like. However, to use your content in our Services, you need to grant us a license for any content that you create or upload using our Services. When you upload, transmit, create, post, display, or otherwise provide any information, materials, documents, media files, or other content on or through our Services (“User Content”), you grant us an irrevocable, unlimited, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to copy, reproduce, adapt, modify, edit, distribute, translate, publish, publicly perform, and publicly display such User Content (“User Content License”) to the full extent allowed by Applicable Law. We do our best to keep User Content safe, but we are not responsible if any of your User Content or other data is lost. You should keep local copies or make backups of contents and other data, just in case something goes wrong.
YOU ARE ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USER CONTENT PROVIDED BY YOU AND FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THAT USER CONTENT (INCLUDING ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED OR INCURRED BY US OR OTHER USERS). YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT (I) YOU ARE THE OWNER OF ALL RIGHTS PERTAINING TO THE USER CONTENT, OR OTHERWISE AUTHORIZED TO GRANT US THE USER CONTENT LICENSE; (II) THE USER CONTENT WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OR OTHER THIRD PARTY RIGHTS; (III) THE USER CONTENT WILL COMPLY AND CONFORM TO ANY AGE CLASSIFICATION RULES AND REQUIREMENTS (INCLUDING ACCURATE AND ADEQUATE CLASSIFICATION AND RATING OF ANY USER CONTENT, AS THE CASE MAY BE) UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
CHANGE / TERMINATION
CHANGE | We may, at any time:
ENDING THESE TERMS | BY YOU | You may terminate these Terms at any time by deleting your Samsung account and stopping your use of our Services.
ENDING THESE TERMS | BY SAMSUNG | We may suspend or delete your Samsung account or stop providing you with all or part of our Services at any time, if:
NOTICE | We will provide you with reasonable notice of any change, suspension, or discontinuation of our Services, unless it is urgently required, in which case we will notify you at the same time as the change, suspension, or discontinuation. To the maximum extent permitted by Applicable Law, we will not be liable to you or to any third party if we exercise such rights.
DISCLAIMER/LIABILITY
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY | TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, OUR SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ON AN “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND FROM US, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OR OTHER TERMS EXPRESSED, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR TERMS OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, RELIABILITY OR AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, LACK OF VIRUSES, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, OR OTHER VIOLATION OF RIGHTS. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US OR OUR AFFILIATES SHALL BE DEEMED TO ALTER OUR DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY REGARDING OUR SERVICES, OR TO CREATE ANY WARRANTY OF ANY SORT FROM US.
WITHOUT LIMITING THE PREVIOUS DISCLAIMER, AND TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE DO NOT REPRESENT, WARRANT, OR GUARANTEE THAT OUR SERVICES OR THE CONTENT THEREIN WILL (i) OPERATE IN AN UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE MANNER; (ii) WILL BE FREE FROM ALL HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR ERRORS; (iii) WILL BE SECURE OR IMMUNE (INCLUDING THE CONTENT DELIVERED TO YOU OR THE INFORMATION YOU PROVIDED) FROM UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS; OR (iv) WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR RELIABLE, THAT THE QUALITY OF THE SERVICES WILL BE SATISFACTORY TO YOU, OR THAT ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED. IN ADDITION, WE DO NOT WARRANT, ENDORSE, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIRD-PARTY SERVICES, ADVERTISEMENTS, CONTENT, OR ANY OTHER PRODUCT OR SERVICES ADVERTISED OR OFFERED BY A THIRD PARTY ON OR THROUGH OUR SERVICES.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY | TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, REVENUE, GOODWILL, BUSINESS, OPPORTUNITY, OR DATA, WHETHER INCURRED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, OR ANY OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO SPECIFIC SERVICES EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR SUCH SPECIFIC SERVICE. THE LIMITATIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY TO ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, STATUTE, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, AND WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ANY SUCH DAMAGE, AND EVEN IF A REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE, AND EVEN TO ANY CLAIMS YOU MAY BRING AGAINST ANY OTHER PARTY TO THE EXTENT THAT WE WOULD BE REQUIRED TO INDEMNIFY THAT PARTY FOR SUCH CLAIM. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR PERSONAL INJURY OR OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THESE LIMITATIONS ARE REASONABLE GIVEN THE BENEFITS OF THE SERVICES AND YOU WILL ACCEPT SUCH RISK AND/OR INSURE ACCORDINGLY.
INDEMNIFICATION | You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless us, our licensors, our agents, and all officers, directors, and employees from any and all third party claims, actions, losses, damages, liabilities, judgments, grants, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from: (i) your use of our Services or use by any person that you allow to use our Services that is not in accordance with these Terms, (ii) any breach of this Agreement by you or by any person that you allow to use our Services, or (iii) any violation of any laws or regulations or the rights of any third party by you or by any person that you allow to use our Services.
INFRINGING CONTENT | If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that any content on the Services infringe upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) by providing our Copyright Agent with the following information in writing:
You can send your notice to SamsungDMCA@sea.samsung.com.
A copy of your DMCA Notification will be sent to the person who uploaded the material addressed in the Notification. Please be advised that under Section 512(f) of the DMCA, you may be held liable for damages and attorneys’ fees if you make material misrepresentations in a DMCA Notification.
ENTIRE AGREEMENT / SEVERABILITY | These Terms, our Privacy Policy, any additional terms that accompany our Services, any amendments, and any additional agreements you may enter into with us shall constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to our Services, and supersede all prior or contemporaneous oral or written communications, proposal, and representations with respect to our Services or any subject matter covered by these Terms. If any provision of these Terms is deemed to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable (in whole or in part), then that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in full force and effect. You may be subject to additional terms and conditions that govern your use of third-party services, content, or software.
NO WAIVER | If we do not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which is set out in these Terms or which we have the benefit of under any Applicable Law, this will not be construed as a formal waiver of our rights or remedies, and such rights or remedies will remain available to us.
RESERVATION OF RIGHTS AND FEEDBACK | Nothing in these Terms gives you a right to use the Samsung name or any of the Samsung trademarks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features. All rights, titles, and interest in and to our Services (excluding content provided by third parties) are, and will remain, the exclusive property of Samsung and its licensors. If you choose to make available any comments, ideas, feedback, or suggestions, we will be free to use such comments, ideas, feedback, or suggestions as we see fit and without any obligation to you.
EXPORT LAW | You acknowledge and agree to comply with any and all Applicable Laws in using our Service, including, without limitation, all applicable export restriction laws and regulations.
SURVIVAL | Any provisions within these Terms that by their nature should continue to be in effect, including without limitation the following Sections: License, Disclaimer of Warranty, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, and General, shall survive the expiration or termination of these Terms, and remain valid and binding.
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS | You agree to receive all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications electronically, including by email, push notification, pop-up, or text.
SERVICES SPECIAL TERMS
These Terms generally apply to all of our Services, while the terms in this Section (“Special Terms”) only apply to the specified Services. If there is any conflict between these Special Terms and the rest of these Terms, the Special Terms will apply, except with respect to Governing Law/Dispute Resolution. We may additionally provide separate terms, policies, and guidelines within each Service.
Samsung Cloud | If you do not use Samsung Cloud for more than twelve (12) months, we reserve the right to delete all of your contents stored on Samsung Cloud. Even if you use Samsung Cloud, if you do not use content in a specific category of Samsung Cloud (e.g. contacts, calendars, photos, videos, keyboard data) for more than twelve (12) months, we reserve the right to delete the respective category and the content therein. We will provide you with thirty (30) days advance notice prior to any such deletion of your contents. For purposes of this provision, “use” or “used” shall mean accessing, uploading to, or downloading contents from Samsung Cloud. Please note that this provision does not apply while you are subscribed to a paid option of Samsung Cloud. If you do not back up any content from your device to Samsung Cloud for more than twelve (12) months, we reserve the right to delete any content backed up from such device to Samsung Cloud (e.g. SMS, MMS, app installation package data, app settings, music files, document files, voice recordings, device settings). We will provide you with the backup expiration date within the Samsung Cloud application starting from thirty (30) days in advance of any such deletion of your content. You are responsible for backing up your content to your own storage devices or media, as we do not guarantee or warrant that you will always be able to retrieve the content you store or back up through Samsung Cloud. You acknowledge and agree that Samsung is not liable or responsible for any loss that occurs due to you not taking action to separately back up or store your content.
Samsung Health | SAMSUNG HEALTH IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASE OR OTHER CONDITIONS, OR IN THE CURE, MITIGATION, TREATMENT, OR PREVENTION OF DISEASE. SAMSUNG HEALTH IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, MONITORING, MANAGEMENT, OR TREATMENT OF ANY MEDICAL CONDITION, DISEASE, OR VITAL PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OR FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF TIME-SENSITIVE HEALTH INFORMATION. ANY INFORMATION FOUND, ACQUIRED, OR ACCESSED THROUGH SAMSUNG HEALTH IS MADE AVAILABLE ONLY FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, AND SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE FROM A DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING A NEW FITNESS OR LIFESTYLE REGIMEN. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT ANY INFORMATION YOU OBTAIN FROM SAMSUNG HEALTH MAY NOT BE SUITABLE, ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR RELIABLE AND THAT SAMSUNG, EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR IN THESE TERMS, WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY INJURIES, DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND/OR COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH SAMSUNG HEALTH, NOR FOR THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION FOUND, ACQUIRED, OR ACCESSED THROUGH SAMSUNG HEALTH. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT SAMSUNG IS NOT ENGAGED IN THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, AND THAT SAMSUNG DOES NOT DETERMINE THE APPROPRIATE MEDICAL USE OF SAMSUNG HEALTH. SAMSUNG HEALTH DOES NOT GENERATE ANY INDIVIDUAL BENEFIT FOR PATIENTS.
Samsung Pass | YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS IF YOU ALLOW ANYONE THAT IS NOT YOU TO USE OR HANDLE YOUR DEVICE, YOUR SAMSUNG PASS, OR YOUR SAMSUNG ACCOUNT. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAINTAIN THE SECURITY OF YOUR DEVICE AND YOUR ACCOUNT. WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY LOSSES OR DAMAGES SUFFERED BY YOU DUE TO YOUR LOST, STOLEN, OR DAMAGED DEVICE. YOU MAY REGISTER YOUR BIOMETRIC INFORMATION TO VERIFY YOUR IDENTITY WHEN YOU USE SAMSUNG PASS. THIS HELPS PREVENT OTHERS FROM USING SAMSUNG PASS IF YOU LOSE YOUR DEVICE. YOU AGREE TO NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY IF YOUR ACCOUNT BECOMES KNOWN TO SOMEONE ELSE OR IS OTHERWISE COMPROMISED.
Samsung SmartThings | CERTAIN PRODUCTS AND/OR THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS MAY NOT WORK OR MAY CEASE TO WORK WITH SMARTTHINGS DESPITE SUPPORTING THE SAME STANDARDS. WE DO NOT PROVIDE ANY GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY OF COMPATIBILITY FOR THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS, EVEN IF SUCH THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS ARE ACCESSIBLE THROUGH SMARTTHINGS. PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ADD MEMBERS, SUCH MEMBERS WILL HAVE FULL ACCESS AND CONTROL OVER ANY AND ALL OF YOUR CONNECTED PRODUCTS.
Samsung Digital Key | You are responsible for keeping your Digital Key secure. Anyone with access to your device or Samsung account will be able to use your Digital Key and any related services, so make sure not to share your device or Samsung account with others. You are not allowed to use someone else’s Digital Key without their permission. Be careful not to lose your Digital Key or to allow it to be stolen or damaged. Samsung is not responsible for any losses or damages caused by you or someone else using your Digital Key, whether or not you gave them permission.
Samsung Internet | THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE AVC PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSE FOR THE PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE OF A CONSUMER TO (i) ENCODE A VIDEO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AVC STANDARD (“AVC VIDEO”) AND/OR (ii) DECODE AN AVC VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM A VIDEO PARTNER LICENSED TO PROVIDE SUCH AVC VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM MPEG LA, L.L.C. SEE HTTP://WWW.MPEGLA.COM.